As I mentioned the other day when I unveiled the final cover for MultiReal, the great Stephan Martiniere is also doing the cover for Solaris’ mass market paperback release of Infoquake. Well, wait no longer. Here’s the final version of the new cover. (I don’t have a larger size image yet, but when I do I’ll make sure to link it here.)
What is there to say about this cover that isn’t implied by “holy fuck!!!!”? It complements the MultiReal cover incredibly well. You’ve got the buildings curving at exactly the opposite angle, you’ve got a color scheme that provides a nice contrast, and you’ve got the same circular mechanical whatchamacallits that are present in the other painting.
When you enlarge the pic, you can see all kinds of groovy stuff here too. I love the way those pink light rays or whatever they are frame the illustration. The holographic image to Jara’s left is, I think, the same one that appears to Natch’s left on the MultiReal cover.
Once again the illustration doesn’t quite match up with the vision I had in mind. I never provide a detailed description of hoverbirds in the books, but I’m pretty confident I never implied they were supposed to look like the cover of Led Zeppelin’s first album. And if that’s Jara standing there, she doesn’t have the mass of curly dark hair and Sephardic features I described in the book. (Nor could I ever picture her wearing a slinky dress and a flower in her hair.)
But once again, I just don’t care. Jara’s posture captures her attitude perfectly, and the world outside her window feels more like the world of Infoquake than an actual photograph from the year 359 YOR would.
I noticed a few slight differences in the covers of Infoquake and MultiReal, and I’m not sure if they’re intentional or simply oversights, because not everybody’s as obsessive-compulsive as me. The title type for MultiReal is transparent while here it’s white. There are also slight font sizing, spacing, and leading differences throughout. If they’re intentional differences because of the different demands of trade paperback and mass market paperback publishing, heck, that’s just fine with me. And if they’re unintentional… well, rest assured that the same maniacal and pointless attention to insignificant detail I’m exhibiting here also goes into my novels.
One last note: as far as I’m aware, Pyr will still be using the old black-and-blue Infoquake cover with the curved building on their trade paperback edition, and they have no plans to recover it. Which I’m perfectly okay with, because I really dig that cover too and would hate to see it disappear from the shelves altogether. But I’m sure if the Infoquake mass market zips to the top of the Amazon sales charts and Oprah finally returns my calls, Pyr might be moved to reconsider. (Oprah, if you’re reading this, that’s a hint.)
Feel free to leave digital burnt offerings on the altar of Martiniere in the comments below.
Yes, the differences are intential. Jackie Cooke and I shared our design, fonts, etc… with Solaris so that the two covers would compliment each other (and the blue tones of the new Infoquake cover came about from my suggestion to Stephan that he use blue as a link with the original Dave Stevenson cover from the trade paperback edition of Infoquake), but we made it clear while they were free to emulate us they were also free to ignore us. I think what they did is AMAZING, and the white text shows up better than transparent would have on this art. Also, differences in leading, etc.. are now doubt do to the different size and proportion of a mass market vs a trade paperback. I think the results are INCREDIBLE, personally, and I honestly don’t know which cover I prefer. I can’t wait to see them side by side on the bookshelf – they compliment each other remarkably well. And, most importantly, I think they do a good job of positioning the Jump 225 trilogy as belonging in the same family as Vernor Vinge, Charles Stross, Neal Stephenson, and Cory Doctorow – all the writers the reviewers are (justifiably) comparing you with.
Thanks for the info, Lou. You know that I preferred the white type even on the MultiReal cover, and it’s totally understandable that Solaris would want to make the tagline more readable on the mass market scale.
Both covers look incredible, and I can’t wait to actually see them side-by-side.
my first reaction wasn’t as strong to this as the last one. and my main conscious reasoning for that is that it looks too much like the last one. that’s probably the intent (to keep them all apiece), but it would be nice to have more distinction between them.
the above was written from memory of the multireal cover. now looking back at it, i still have to say i like it better. i like the vanishing perspective in relation to the figure, how it feels more open at the top, and i prefer the color scheme and title treatment.
This could well be the reason I will need to own more than one copy of Infoquake.