As a German who hates the translations and doesn't own a single German Trek novel, I have to say, these covers look awesome. I only recently saw them back to back for the first time at a local comic book store.
It's funny that they do their own covers. Wouldn't Pocket Books just send them the covers? It would be cheaper for them, too.
Ah. I had guessed that. Although, my copy isn't nearly as fat. The German version must have bigger print.
^ If I remember correctly Marco Palmieri did everything to keep the book at the usual price, so the print was rather small, the paper thinner than usual etc. Cross Cult on the other hand sold the book at a higher price.
They do use the original covers a lot; I assume it just comes down to what they think of the originals.
Yeah, that's pretty much what they said in posts on their forum IIRC. MarkusRohde is the editor of the German ST novel line by the way, so if I do remember incorrectly I guess he will correct me.
Don't forget about first 13 TNG books (Farpoint-original silver front cover version + #'s 1-12) having the space spines.
Sure but, as great as it is to have consistency in spine art, they can also become less competitive as fresher, newer book cover designs come into vogue and sit alongside them. I recall, in the 90s, readers maligning the distinctive Boris Vallejo TOS covers of the 80s (with others remembered with fondness) and then a backlash against the "floating heads" of the early TNG covers. The starfield spines on TNG novels do look quaintly retro these days. Space hardware covers often leave me cold, but others love them. It's all very subjective, but we are arguing with trained marketers and designers, and their next job depends on success with the current one.
While the collection of Cross Cult spines looks great, I prefer my collection of mis-matched, non-conformist books. After all: Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations!
I really like Cross Cult's covers for the Romulan War series. I also really like that they split it up into a trilogy. That story really could have used three books; it's a shame the latter two got condensed into the way-too-crowded To Brave the Storm.
Those spine pictures aren't necessarily from the the cover of the book they are on. For the first ten DS9 they went with the character pics from the Mission Gamma series and for the New Frontier series they went with specifically made character pics.
Wow, that does look sharp. Most of my purchases are kindle nowadays but I did finish out Vanguard with the MMPB version so the spines would look nice on my shelves. Same for the upcoming Lost Era book. I plan to do the same with Seekers.
I think no one has posted the German cover drafts for the S.C.E./CoE books #5 - #8 yet: Interphase 2 Kalte Fusion (Cold Fusion) Unbesiegbar 1 (Invincible 1) Unbesiegbar 2 (Invincible 2)