Chart of Fantasy 2009

[Sfinx]

One of the great things about the human mind: it's capability to encompass multiple truths -- which enables me to completely agree with Hobbit in finding these survey results very funny - and to agree with you Kat in stating that it is quite pathetic to first bumble a job , then to join the laughing crowd - and in the meantime succeeding in belittling the people who keep you in business...

Cheers,

Sfinx.

PS: mayhap a small cure for a cranky week:

Fisherman: "Are you saying that the human race was created to irritate Satan?"
Djinn: "That is correct. Jehovah is infinite in his snottiness."

..had me laughing at least

[KatG]

One of the great things about the human mind: it's capability to encompass multiple truths -- which enables me to completely agree with Hobbit in finding these survey results very funny - and to agree with you Kat in stating that it is quite pathetic to first bumble a job , then to join the laughing crowd - and in the meantime succeeding in belittling the people who keep you in business...

Cheers,

Sfinx.

PS: mayhap a small cure for a cranky week:

Fisherman: "Are you saying that the human race was created to irritate Satan?"
Djinn: "That is correct. Jehovah is infinite in his snottiness."

..had me laughing at least

That did make me laugh. What's it from?

[Hobbit]

Whilst we're on such matters, there's an Update:

http://www.orbitbooks.net/2010/08/17...urban-fantasy/

Mark

[Sfinx]

That did make me laugh. What's it from?

Practical Demonkeeping, by Christopher Moore. Picked it up thanks to a recommendation from Randy M. And I'm glad I did; it certainly has its flaws (which Randy i think also pointed out) - but there's some hilarious stuff there. Not often that a book has me laughing out loud

Cheers,

Sfinx.

[Loerwyn]

The sad thing is, both are incredibly accurate. One of my favourite books of this year (Col Buchanan's Farlander) had a cover that pretty much satisfied all the clichés mentioned in part 1.

[Hobbit]

I liked the Farlander cover, less so the book.

Same with Left Hand of Dog.

I think both of those would be good examples of covers that are de mode this year.

Mark

[Loerwyn]

I liked the Farlander cover, less so the book.

Oddly, I think it's grown on me since I read it. It has Redheads and Boobs, what else do I need? :P Been trying to find information on the sequel, but nothing so far. Drat

Same with Left Hand of Dog.

The cover was probably the best thing about it!

[KatG]

Practical Demonkeeping, by Christopher Moore. Picked it up thanks to a recommendation from Randy M. And I'm glad I did; it certainly has its flaws (which Randy i think also pointed out) - but there's some hilarious stuff there. Not often that a book has me laughing out loud

Cheers,

Sfinx.

Oh for goodness sakes, I should have recognized it. Moore is a satiric genius. Read all of his books. Practical Demonkeeping was his first novel. My favorite one is A Dirty Job.

[Hobbit]

Boy, that intern's busy:

Chart 3: Dragons!




and Chart 4: Trends and Fonts:



Any surprises there?

*goes off to write a no-doubt best selling novel, using as many of those words as possible*

Mark

[Loerwyn]

Dwarves. That surprised me, as the only series I can think of with them is that... is it Heitz' series? Guessing most of those "big words" come from Paranormal/Supernatural Romance novels

But yay, Dwagginsses!

[KatG]

I will say that hooded figures on covers tend to make me smile. There is something inherently silly about them perhaps, or I'm just thinking of old movies.

[Engelbrecht]

On something of a tangent, I've always wondered why cover artists are so rarely acknowledged. On the copyright page, I occasionally see an "art designer" (or some such thing) there (and even more rarely, the editor), but hardly ever any reference to the actual cover artist. Indeed, I more often see, at the end of the book, an entire page about the font used in the typesetting ("The font used in this book is the exquisitely asymmetrical Gen-Eric font, chosen for it's readability and percussive lubricity. Hand-rolled by the legendary Claude Garamonde in 1559..."). Why a book's font is acknowledged more often than the cover artist is beyond me.

I know that that there are awards for genre artists, so why is overt recognition of these artists so rare?

[Sfinx]

and Chart 4: Trends and Fonts:

Any surprises there?

*goes off to write a no-doubt best selling novel, using as many of those words as possible*

Mark

Please enter you contribution HERE

Cheers,

Sfinx.

[KatG]

On something of a tangent, I've always wondered why cover artists are so rarely acknowledged. On the copyright page, I occasionally see an "art designer" (or some such thing) there (and even more rarely, the editor), but hardly ever any reference to the actual cover artist. Indeed, I more often see, at the end of the book, an entire page about the font used in the typesetting ("The font used in this book is the exquisitely asymmetrical Gen-Eric font, chosen for it's readability and percussive lubricity. Hand-rolled by the legendary Claude Garamonde in 1559..."). Why a book's font is acknowledged more often than the cover artist is beyond me.

I know that that there are awards for genre artists, so why is overt recognition of these artists so rare?

Well, usually either they have the names for the cover designer and the cover artist on the copyright page or inside cover flap, or there's nothing at all. It used to be you'd never know who a cover artist was unless you followed the art field closely at conventions and such. Now it's become more common to put the artist's name in the book or at least on the Internet press releases. I think it should be set practice for category SFF titles and that they make a bigger deal out of it for promotional purposes.

[Hobbit]

Please enter you contribution HERE

Cheers,

Sfinx.

LOL. I'd forgotten that thread, Sfinx. Thanks for the reminder...

usually either they have the names for the cover designer and the cover artist on the copyright page or inside cover flap, or there's nothing at all. It used to be you'd never know who a cover artist was unless you followed the art field closely at conventions and such. Now it's become more common to put the artist's name in the book or at least on the Internet press releases. I think it should be set practice for category SFF titles and that they make a bigger deal out of it for promotional purposes.

Agreed. It has varied enormously over time, though it still doesn't always happen. However I do think that Art Work can make a book. One of the things about the Gemmell Awards I was pleased about, for example, is that there is a chance to nominate and award the artwork as well as the book.

I love old art work, though it tends to be old SF art work that grabs my attention.

That and 'dwagginz', Dwaggz..

Mark