Still no covers for Cold Equations??

[Therin of Andor]

JD wrote:

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It would look a lot better if the colors lined up on the first two.

When the books come out, there is often much variation on colour saturation, spine positioning and where guillotine lines end up, even in one pile of the same title.

shanejayell wrote:

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Cloudbury, maybe

Jasminder Choudhury.

[ryan123450]

I agree it would have been better with two characters on Book 3. A Lit-verse character would have been nice to see in that case. The way it is it just looks weird, but I guess the balance of the triptych wasn't as big a concern as each individual cover.

[Edit_XYZ]

These covers seem thrown together on the cheap and in a hurry.
The best element in them is the equations background - and it's nothing special.

Indeed, 'nothing special' is the best description for the entirety of the covers.

[JD]

ryan123450 wrote:

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I agree it would have been better with two characters on Book 3. A Lit-verse character would have been nice to see in that case.

I've given up hope of seeing any more Lit-verse characters on the covers. At this point they seem to be pretty much sticking with the canon characters. I can understand that though, it's got to be a lot cheaper and easier to just use preexisting photos than to hire a model for a new character.

[Greg Cox]

JD wrote:

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I've given up hope of seeing any more Lit-verse characters on the covers. At this point they seem to be pretty much sticking with the canon characters. I can understand that though, it's got to be a lot cheaper and easier to just use preexisting photos than to hire a model for a new character.

More importantly, I have to assume that recognizable TV and movie characters sell more books, especially to impulse buyers, librarians, people in airports, etc. It's the smart, commercial thing to do.

There's a reason you put Wolverine on the cover of an X-Man novel!

[JD]

Yeah, that too.

[Therin of Andor]

JD wrote:

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I've given up hope of seeing any more Lit-verse characters on the covers. At this point they seem to be pretty much sticking with the canon characters. I can understand that though, it's got to be a lot cheaper and easier to just use preexisting photos than to hire a model for a new character.

The other consideration is that casual browsers would tend to say (and I've heard them) "Who the hell is that supposed to be?"

It's not too bad if the new lit character has something distinctively alien to their look (ie, "Oh look, it's an Andorian!" for Shar), or is a recognisable past guest star, but for random human, non canonical crewmembers it just doesn't work. Especially if readers have already decided a particular look in the minds from previous novels.

We've had debates here about who two of the characters are meant to be on the cover of "TNG: Reunion", and people have asked for character lists for the four-part covers of "DS9: Mission Gamma". There are people who don't actually recognise that mustachioed, long-haired Sulu is on the cover of "The Entropy Effect".

I'm sure there is past correlation on sales/covers on record at Simon & Schuster. Covers with characters not readily recogisable probably don't sell as well, just as we know that covers featuring Spock and Picard do.

[JD]

They wouldn't have to be the only ones on the cover. They could always do what they did with the first few Titan books, and put a canon character and a non-canon character on the cover together. I would have loved to have seen Choudhury with Worf on the cover for The Body Electric. Or would people still be turned off by the novel character, even if a canon character is on the cover with them?

[Therin of Andor]

JD wrote:

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Or would people still be turned off by the novel character, even if a canon character is on the cover with them?

I've heard Star Trek fans say angrily, in the book shop, "Who are all these strangers?" when looking at covers with non canonical characters. You'd think it would arouse curiosity, but it can backfire.

[Ben]

Anyone else getting a "Search for Data" vibe from these covers and book titles? I hope this trilogy does end up leading to the return of Data. He's been sorely missed, and it was a huge mistake to kill him off.

It reminds me of when DC Comics came out with a (really great) comic book series about the Gotham City police detectives, but it wasn't until after Gordon had retired and Bullock quit in disgrace. There were two huge holes in that cast, and I feel the same way about the post-Nemesis TNG books (as great as I think they've been).

[Paris]

Ben wrote:

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...It reminds me of when DC Comics came out with a (really great) comic book series about the Gotham City police detectives, but it wasn't until after Gordon had retired and Bullock quit in disgrace. There were two huge holes in that cast, and I feel the same way about the post-Nemesis TNG books (as great as I think they've been).

Gotham Central. Montoya was great, but i agree on the Gordon front. As far as i remember, Bullock eventually showed up. Great series. Too bad Dan Didio never lived up to his promise to not cancel the book while he worked for DC Comics.

As for Data coming back...I miss his presence in the TNG-verse and I'd love to see him again, but with that other character already coming back from the dead this year, it may be overkill..

[Paper Moon]

Ben wrote:

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Anyone else getting a "Search for Data" vibe from these covers and book titles? I hope this trilogy does end up leading to the return of Data. He's been sorely missed, and it was a huge mistake to kill him off.

It reminds me of when DC Comics came out with a (really great) comic book series about the Gotham City police detectives, but it wasn't until after Gordon had retired and Bullock quit in disgrace. There were two huge holes in that cast, and I feel the same way about the post-Nemesis TNG books (as great as I think they've been).

As much as I love Data (very very much), I don't think that's the way to go with him. (B-4 or another Soong android, that'd be different.)

Also, David Mack has been pretty clear that the three novels share thematic material and some subplots, but are effectively independent of each other. As such, I don't think the whole trilogy will be leading up to his return.

Which leaves the possibility of him coming back in book one. It's possible, I suppose, but I'm doubtful for two reasons.

1) It would be a major spoiler, if someone picked up book two or three before reading book one. Casual reader picks up book two, finds out Data's alive, realizes it happened in the last book, says, "Oh well, don't need to read it now, I know what happens."

2) The title of book one is The Persistance of Memory, and the person on the cover is an image of a young Noonien Soong from Data's dream in Birthright, Part 1. I don't want to get into story ideas, but those don't seem to point to a resurrection to me...

[Christopher]

Paper Moon wrote:

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1) It would be a major spoiler, if someone picked up book two or three before reading book one. Casual reader picks up book two, finds out Data's alive, realizes it happened in the last book, says, "Oh well, don't need to read it now, I know what happens."

Or, more likely, they go, "Wow, that happened? Now I need to read that so I can find out how and why it happened!" It's not as if the only reason you read or watch a story is to find out what events occurred. If that were the case, every story would just have an ending and nothing more. "Page 1: It was a dark and stormy night. Suddenly, a shot rang out! Turns out the butler did it. The end." The reason we sit through all the stuff that comes before the ending is because that's the part that actually makes it interesting. Knowing the outcome isn't as important as knowing the process. And indeed, knowing the outcome in advance can create interest in knowing how it got that way. That's why there are so many prequels and origin stories and Young [Insert Hero Here] Chronicles.

Which is not, of course, to confirm or deny the speculation about what might happen in Book 1.

[Paris]

Christopher wrote:

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..Which is not, of course, to confirm or deny the speculation about what might happen in Book 1.

Nice save

[Mage]

I doubt Data will be back. I mean, it's already been made quite clear that B-4 is technologically no way near as advanced as Data was. B-4's positronic network is just not capable of handing the sophisticated programs of Data. They'd need to build a better positronic brain, something that Federation technology is just not capable of yet.