Thanks. This was fun to see the history of the covers.
I ran into this minefield of covers and trying to find a used copy. Ironically I ended up with the most recent because others had really poor condition assessments. Probably an indicator of a well read book.
I'm quite into the swooshy 1985 title-in-space one with Anarres top left and Urras bottom right: it's a dynamic composition, it catches some of the in-between-planets-ness of the plot, and I dig the font. I see why you like the 2024 one but to my eye it has a bit of a hipster vibe, ironically retro
Wonderful post! I have the 85 Avon edition, but am also enamored of the most recent 50th anniversary edition.
My partner collects editions of Le Guin's A Wizard of Earthsea, which are also wonderfully diverse and often quite bizarre, especially in the fact that many of them depict the main character as a white man, which Le Guin quite clearly says he is not. You can see many of them here (https://isfdb.org/cgi-bin/titlecovers.cgi?7653), my favorite that we own is probably the 1975 Puffin cover.
The third and sixth covers, looking over the shoulders of Shivek, I presume, could be visual quotes of the work of Caspar David Friedrich, German, 18th and 19th century. perhaps his most famous painting is "The Wanderer above a Sea of Mist," 1817-1818. These rear-view figures insert you in place of the wanderer, alone in nature.
Man I love this book so much. Ever since I finished it last year I've been feverishly reading anarchist theory and dreaming of a future like Annares.
These have been super cool to read, so thank you. I actually started reading your articles for your read through of Nicomachean Ethics, sent here from your YouTube (which rules btw, I'm still early in my philosophy journey but thanks to you I've got an idea of who and what I'm interested in spending my time diving into).
Most of these covers focus on the contrast between Urras and its moon. This is a good way to visually convey the theme of the book.
Even the 1976 cover is adequate in this regard. It shows someone, perhaps Shevek, looking at Urras as an outsider.
The 2014 cover also displays this idea adequately, if blandly. I would prefer a more intricate scene that plays up the wealth and technological sophistication of Urras.
While attractive and detailed, the 1974 cover is one of the worst in this regard. It gives no sense of what the story is about. If the person is supposed to be Shevek, he could be drawn in simple clothes, surrounded by lavishly dressed Urrans, like in the dinner party scene.
I still have the 1985 Avon edition which may look a bit cheesy now but makes a bold marketing statement that it fits into the mid century science fiction genre we followed. It’s hard to judge covers because the goal of marketing is to use color, type, and design that jumps off the bookstore shelf using color, type, and illustration that is different from competing publishers.
Thanks. This was fun to see the history of the covers.
I ran into this minefield of covers and trying to find a used copy. Ironically I ended up with the most recent because others had really poor condition assessments. Probably an indicator of a well read book.
I'm quite into the swooshy 1985 title-in-space one with Anarres top left and Urras bottom right: it's a dynamic composition, it catches some of the in-between-planets-ness of the plot, and I dig the font. I see why you like the 2024 one but to my eye it has a bit of a hipster vibe, ironically retro
Wonderful post! I have the 85 Avon edition, but am also enamored of the most recent 50th anniversary edition.
My partner collects editions of Le Guin's A Wizard of Earthsea, which are also wonderfully diverse and often quite bizarre, especially in the fact that many of them depict the main character as a white man, which Le Guin quite clearly says he is not. You can see many of them here (https://isfdb.org/cgi-bin/titlecovers.cgi?7653), my favorite that we own is probably the 1975 Puffin cover.
The figures at the bottom of the anniversary edition remind me of one of those map projections that’s meant to fold up into a globe.
The third and sixth covers, looking over the shoulders of Shivek, I presume, could be visual quotes of the work of Caspar David Friedrich, German, 18th and 19th century. perhaps his most famous painting is "The Wanderer above a Sea of Mist," 1817-1818. These rear-view figures insert you in place of the wanderer, alone in nature.
Man I love this book so much. Ever since I finished it last year I've been feverishly reading anarchist theory and dreaming of a future like Annares.
These have been super cool to read, so thank you. I actually started reading your articles for your read through of Nicomachean Ethics, sent here from your YouTube (which rules btw, I'm still early in my philosophy journey but thanks to you I've got an idea of who and what I'm interested in spending my time diving into).
I’m surprisingly fond of the Olive Editions one.
Most of these covers focus on the contrast between Urras and its moon. This is a good way to visually convey the theme of the book.
Even the 1976 cover is adequate in this regard. It shows someone, perhaps Shevek, looking at Urras as an outsider.
The 2014 cover also displays this idea adequately, if blandly. I would prefer a more intricate scene that plays up the wealth and technological sophistication of Urras.
While attractive and detailed, the 1974 cover is one of the worst in this regard. It gives no sense of what the story is about. If the person is supposed to be Shevek, he could be drawn in simple clothes, surrounded by lavishly dressed Urrans, like in the dinner party scene.
I have the 1985 Avon books one. So good
I still have the 1985 Avon edition which may look a bit cheesy now but makes a bold marketing statement that it fits into the mid century science fiction genre we followed. It’s hard to judge covers because the goal of marketing is to use color, type, and design that jumps off the bookstore shelf using color, type, and illustration that is different from competing publishers.