The Deathly Covers of HP7
March 30th 2007 17:43
The Harry Potter publishers have released the book covers of the last book in the series and know what, they are without doubt, the ugliest covers in HP history.
The American cover first. It is daubed with orange and features both Harry and Voldemort from a scene in the book. Voldemoert has featured for the first time on the cover. Even though it looks like the scene is cut out from a dramatic confrontation, the cover is boring because it is so static and empty. Apart from Harry and Voldemort, there is hardly any other detail and whatever there is ( the locket, the shapes behind, the curtains, the deadwood) is so blurry failing to perk up our interest. Orange is not a color I am fond of and the cover is daubed generously with it. Arthur Levine , the publisher, even remarked that they had to extend the flaps in size because they had to fit in the extra art work. After seeing the cover, I didn't know why they bothered.
The British publishers have released two covers actually, one for the children's edition and one for the adult edition.
If the US cover suffers from lack of detail, the UK children's cover suffers from an excess of it. It shows the trio of Harry, Ron and Hermione in a position that's askew, looking as if they were being sucked into a portal, surrounded by a gaudy treasure. It looks like a bad Uncle Scrroge rip off. None of the three are appealingly drawn. The back of the cover shows a vacant Hogwarts with an open door, with a burnt Forbidden Forest in the background. The US cover is merely boring, this is cringe worthy. the only redeeming feature is the handsome stag which should have been featured more prominently.
The UK adults version though has a beautiful rendering of the Slytherin locket, the first horcrux Harry will hunt forin this book. It is the only bright spot.
It is not a secret that the series is going downhill with the last two books not measuring up to the previous ones. My theory is that the three years that Rowling took as a break between Goblet of Fire and Order of Phoenix broke her natural rhythm which she hasn't regained yet. Now that the covers are released and they are uniformly dreadful, they are raising fears in me about the final book. WIll it be as bad as well?
I can take Harry or even the entire trio dying. I can live with shock and emotional distress which will undoubtedly follow. Even thogugh I cried when Sirius died and was angry for day at Dumbledore's death, I remain a stoic at heart and believe in letting the author make the decisions she wants to and not impose my own views on the matter.
Yes, I can brace for any tragedy. What I can't stand is a sub-standarnd, content-less, magic-less book. HBP came close to being one such and I sincerely hope Deathly Hollows won't follow suit. If it's bad, it might even retroactively kill the earlier books for me and that will be the biggest tragedy.
American cover
The American cover first. It is daubed with orange and features both Harry and Voldemort from a scene in the book. Voldemoert has featured for the first time on the cover. Even though it looks like the scene is cut out from a dramatic confrontation, the cover is boring because it is so static and empty. Apart from Harry and Voldemort, there is hardly any other detail and whatever there is ( the locket, the shapes behind, the curtains, the deadwood) is so blurry failing to perk up our interest. Orange is not a color I am fond of and the cover is daubed generously with it. Arthur Levine , the publisher, even remarked that they had to extend the flaps in size because they had to fit in the extra art work. After seeing the cover, I didn't know why they bothered.
The British publishers have released two covers actually, one for the children's edition and one for the adult edition.
UK cover
UK adult version
The UK adults version though has a beautiful rendering of the Slytherin locket, the first horcrux Harry will hunt forin this book. It is the only bright spot.
It is not a secret that the series is going downhill with the last two books not measuring up to the previous ones. My theory is that the three years that Rowling took as a break between Goblet of Fire and Order of Phoenix broke her natural rhythm which she hasn't regained yet. Now that the covers are released and they are uniformly dreadful, they are raising fears in me about the final book. WIll it be as bad as well?
I can take Harry or even the entire trio dying. I can live with shock and emotional distress which will undoubtedly follow. Even thogugh I cried when Sirius died and was angry for day at Dumbledore's death, I remain a stoic at heart and believe in letting the author make the decisions she wants to and not impose my own views on the matter.
Yes, I can brace for any tragedy. What I can't stand is a sub-standarnd, content-less, magic-less book. HBP came close to being one such and I sincerely hope Deathly Hollows won't follow suit. If it's bad, it might even retroactively kill the earlier books for me and that will be the biggest tragedy.
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