By the Cover: Charlaine Harris: Dead Until Dark

[devilwrites]

Charlaine Harris's Southern Vampire series has received a lot of attention lately thanks to the HBO adaption True Blood. It certainly got my attention, and I don't even watch the show! Would if I could, but we don't have HBO

Comments

[araken]

I haven't read any of Harris's books. The first cover reminds me of the opening to Bewitched; I agree it implies that the story's going to be light and fluffy. The second cover's more eye-catching, but since urban fantasy's not my subgenre of choice (though I do like Carrie Vaughn), my reaction's "Oh, just another vampire book." I'm sure other people have the same reaction to covers with random spaceships shooting at each other, or to epic fantasy art.

[devilwrites]

Very true, though I worry that urban fantasy suffers more from similar-cover syndrome than other SF/F genres. I bet that'd be a fun comparison to make in this journal though, wouldn't it? :)

[tezmilleroz]

The first is too cutesy, the second is too generic. By that I mean similar photos have been used for the film Jennifer's Body, which may have been inspired by an Angelina Jolie photo.

Have a lovely day! :-)

[hildebabble]

I can't see it too closely from the poll, but the first cover reminds me of the Harry Potter covers, which makes me think it's part of the publishing world's version of the British Invasion--piggybacking on the success of another series.

The HBO cover is a total turnoff to me because of my pet peeve, which is when a woman's face is segmented. Especially when the eyes are masked or not shown. Maybe I've just got Jean Kilbourne whispering in my ear about dehumanizing sexualization. :)

[devilwrites]

I see your point, but I'm giggling anyway since it's a vampire on the cover and they aren't human anyway. ;) The books actually stress that in a way, talking about vampire rights and how they're really, really DEAD and how differently they behave from humans, which can often strike humans as inhumane.

But I understand the pet peeve. I was also reminded of the US Harry Potter covers for the original.

[devilwrites]

They have indeed! I'll add it to the list, thanks. :)

[chicklitter]

Like I told you in our email conversation, I HATE the original covers. They look cartoonish and just...ick. I hear lots of good things about her, too, but I just could not get past those covers (and the fact that she writes more vampire stories). I did buy the first book in the series, though, just haven't read it yet.

And, uh, I could give you TONS of examples of covers from romance. Srsly.

[devilwrites]

I have no doubt you could.

The more I read in this series, the more I see it as something you would like, actually. You know me and vampires too, and they haven't bugged me yet in this series. I really can't wait to hear your thoughts on book one. The covers are worth getting over, IMHO.

[michaelmay]

I said neither.

I like the whimsical quality of the original cover much better. I would stop and look at it, but then I'd realize it's a vampire romance and I'd keep moving.

The HBO cover tells me right away that it's a vampire romance, and it does it in the goofiest way possible. I'd actively avoid it.

[devilwrites]

The sad thing is, these are pretty decent mysteries. A lot of UF has a loose mystery as a plot to get the romance going, but not so much in this case.