Here comes part 2 of my German covers exploration. For those looking for the first part, head over here. This time, I compare covers for novels by Brandon Sanderson, Tom Lloyd, Chris Evans, Greg Keyes, Robin Hobb, David Anthony Durham and Robert V.S. Redick.
For the first part, I thought that covers were pretty nice whether they were for Germany or US/UK. In this second sample, I clearly see some lacks in the German covers.
For the first part, I thought that covers were pretty nice whether they were for Germany or US/UK. In this second sample, I clearly see some lacks in the German covers.
As I said last time, I'll probably post a third and final part with Erikson, Martin and maybe one or two more. Then I'll head to France! Here you go:
Brandon Sanderson - Multiple series
Same kind of design for the German covers... not ugly but not looking great either.
| German | US/UK |
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Tom Lloyd - The Twilight Reign series
Again, same kind of covers for all the books. Any of the US/UK covers looks way better.
| German | US/UK |
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Chris Evans - The Iron Elves
And again, same kind of covers... it blends way too much... although the original cover for A Darkness Forged in Fire was not really good.
| German | US/UK |
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Greg Keyes - A Kingdom of Thorn and Bone
Closer this time and at last some differences in each iterations for the German art. However, I would still go with the US/UK, aside for the Born Queen.
| German | US/UK |
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Robin Hobb - The Farseer trilogy
And we return to the same kind of cover art for each book of the series.... Not that bad though. As for the US/UK, there were way too much different covers to post them all...
| German | US/UK |
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David Anthony Durham - The Acacia trilogy
It's not an error, the same art was used for The Other Lands in the US/UK and for Acacia in Germany. Aside for the original Acacia cover, they all look great.
| German | US/UK |
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Robert V.S. Redick - The Chathrand Voyage series
Clearly a win for the US/UK cover art. The German one is way too generic.
| German | US/UK |
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I'm really kind of torn with these. Usually I can pick out covers I like better but on this one it's kind of a 50/50 thing with me. Some covers look amazing in both english and german. I did enjoy the english covers for Greg Keyes better than the german ones, but that was really the only clear one out of this group. Interesting, nonetheless, to see the book covers in German, though. Very cool.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny how some of the titles are the same, but sometimes the German ones are totally different. I realize there's translation issues, but The Hero of Ages could be somewhat closer than The Ruler of the Light.
ReplyDeleteI'm German and I live in Germany.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest I see the most of the German covers for the first time.
I prefer to buy and read the English editions.
Seak is right that there are translation issues.
German publishers like to split books.
Example: A Song Of Ice And Fire
So far four books in English BUT eight books in German.
The Wheel Of Time is a highlight:
Book 1 - 12 in English = 33 !! books in German.
I really happy that I can read books in English :-))
Thanks for an interesting post.
it cracked me up to see my maiden name on the Chris Evans cover art. Stahl - Steel? Iron?
ReplyDeleteAnd I adore the German cover art for Robin Hobb's Farseer trilogy. I'm half way through those books right now, and really appreciate that in the German artwork, it's obviously the same person looking a little bit older each time.
Hum, I had not noticed the translation issues. I think it's the same in french, they change the titles a bit and sometimes it can almost mean something completely different. They also like to split the books in multiple volumes...
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