# Godawful book covers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 11, 2007, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godawful-book-covers/399608 "2007-04-11T05:05:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godawful-book-covers/399608/1 "2007-04-11T05:05:14Z")
Check [this](http://www.trafford.com/4dcgi/robots/06-1027.html) out! The rest of the information about the book is almost as good. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godawful-book-covers/399608/2 "2007-04-11T05:18:43Z")
It’s rather refreshing to learn that Christians don’t have a monopoly on sappy “spiritual” romance novels with ghastly glurgey artwork on the covers. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godawful-book-covers/399608/3 "2007-04-11T06:17:49Z")
My teeth hurt! My brain is melting! ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godawful-book-covers/399608/4 "2007-04-11T07:01:11Z")
He’s a mystic AND a scientist! ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godawful-book-covers/399608/5 "2007-04-11T07:51:09Z")
Well _Batman’s_ a scientist… ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godawful-book-covers/399608/6 "2007-04-11T09:37:57Z")
> [@pinkfreud](#): > > It’s rather refreshing to learn that Christians don’t have a monopoly on sappy “spiritual” romance novels with ghastly glurgey artwork on the covers. Are you kidding? I work at a bookstore. The romance novel covers I see would blow your mind. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godawful-book-covers/399608/7 "2007-04-11T12:56:14Z")
And here I thought the OP was going to be about [Darrell K Sweet](http://www.sweetartwork.com/DKSmainPage.html). ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godawful-book-covers/399608/8 "2007-04-11T12:58:11Z")
Not even in my top twenty. You can beat that with any random PublishAmerica or iUniverse cover: [http://www.publishamerica.com/inside\_story/index.asp](http://www.publishamerica.com/inside_story/index.asp) [http://www.publishamerica.com/greetingcardpro/createcard1.asp?PostCardID=14161](http://www.publishamerica.com/greetingcardpro/createcard1.asp?PostCardID=14161) [http://www.publishamerica.com/greetingcardpro/createcard1.asp?PostCardID=12548](http://www.publishamerica.com/greetingcardpro/createcard1.asp?PostCardID=12548) [http://www.publishamerica.com/greetingcardpro/createcard1.asp?PostCardID=13033](http://www.publishamerica.com/greetingcardpro/createcard1.asp?PostCardID=13033) [http://www.iuniverse.com/bookstore/book\_detail.asp?isbn=0-595-20374-4](http://www.iuniverse.com/bookstore/book_detail.asp?isbn=0-595-20374-4) [http://www.iuniverse.com/bookstore/book\_detail.asp?isbn=0-595-27837-X](http://www.iuniverse.com/bookstore/book_detail.asp?isbn=0-595-27837-X) ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godawful-book-covers/399608/9 "2007-04-11T15:32:52Z")
Hey, you can beat that with the latest [Nebula Awards Showcase](http://www.amazon.com/Nebula-Awards-Showcase-2007/dp/0451461347/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-5625761-1946464?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1176305412&sr=8-1). The [larger image](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/0451461347/sr=8-1/qid=1176305412/ref=dp_image_text_0/002-5625761-1946464?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books&qid=1176305412&sr=8-1) looks even worse. You can see her stubble. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godawful-book-covers/399608/10 "2007-04-11T16:06:18Z")
> [@](#): > > And here I thought the OP was going to be about Darrell K Sweet. Aw, c’mon. I like DKS’s work. You give him some interesting aliens (Like all the Jack Chalker Well World books he did covers for) and you could get some wonderful images. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godawful-book-covers/399608/11 "2007-04-11T16:30:03Z")
The American covers of some of Terry Pratchett’s books are criminally hideous. _Monstrous Regiment_ and _Night Watch_ come to mind, especially. ---
**Author:** ![DustyButt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc348/32.png) [@DustyButt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DustyButt)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godawful-book-covers/399608/12 "2007-04-11T16:50:08Z")
[QUOTE=Hunter Hawk] Check [this](http://www.trafford.com/4dcgi/robots/06-1027.html) out! The rest of the information about the book is almost as good. [/QUOTE] _GAG!_ _SWALLOW!_ Nasty… All thats missing is a unicorn and rainbow. This is on page 45 of “Diary of a Hack PhotoShop Artist” ---
**Author:** ![Aioua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@Aioua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aioua)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godawful-book-covers/399608/13 "2007-04-11T17:02:09Z")
Well when the first cover in the series is [this,](http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0064471837/ref=sib_dp_pop_fc/102-5859207-4341718?ie=UTF8&p=S001#reader-link) and the last one in the series is [this,](http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0060278250/ref=sib_dp_pop_fc/102-5859207-4341718?ie=UTF8&p=S001#reader-link) (though admittedly they’re not _that_ great) you really get let down by the middle one… [ugh.](http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0060005424/ref=sib_dp_pop_fc/102-5859207-4341718?ie=UTF8&p=S001#reader-link) I hated having to read the 2nd book, just because I was so embarrased by the cover. Not bad fantasy though, if you’re a young teen. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godawful-book-covers/399608/14 "2007-04-11T17:13:50Z")
> [@cher3](#): > > The American covers of some of Terry Pratchett’s books are criminally hideous. Boy howdy! I’d say most of them, though. ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godawful-book-covers/399608/15 "2007-04-11T17:57:42Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] Not even in my top twenty. You can beat that with any random PublishAmerica or iUniverse cover: [http://www.publishamerica.com/greetingcardpro/createcard1.asp?PostCardID=12548](http://www.publishamerica.com/greetingcardpro/createcard1.asp?PostCardID=12548) [http://www.publishamerica.com/greetingcardpro/createcard1.asp?PostCardID=13033](http://www.publishamerica.com/greetingcardpro/createcard1.asp?PostCardID=13033) [/quote] I love how these two use the same clip art. I remember when people at AW would go through a week of PA’s releases and find the matching clip art covers. There were a lot of them. Though nothing beats the one where the cover art was Orlando Bloom as Legolas but with fangs (it was a vampire book.) ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godawful-book-covers/399608/16 "2007-04-11T18:39:37Z")
I remember seeing a cover for some anonymous fantasy novel. Objectively speaking, it was pretty nice - a Roman-style arch with a tree on top, with several figures stading beneath it; one is pointing a crossbow at the others. No problem, there, except for one fact: the publisher had taken the painting from the cover of \*another \*fantasy novel - _A Song for Arbonne_, by Guy Gavriel Kay. Which would be fine (it was a nice picture from a paperback edition published a dozen years earlier), except that _it depicted a scene from the novel_. From the prologue, in fact. In other words, they published a book with a cover portraying a scene from a completely different, and much better, book. Which is pretty damn stupid. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godawful-book-covers/399608/17 "2007-04-11T18:51:01Z")
> [@](#): > > In other words, they published a book with a cover portraying a scene from a completely different, and much better, book. Which is pretty damn stupid. Oh, heck, I’ve seen plenty of that. I have an edition of Jules Verne short stories, but the paperback cover is obviously an ilustration from Arthur C. Clarke’s **Rendezvous With Rama**. Or my edition of **Quest for Riverworld** whose cover is the same as **Tales of Riverworld** flipped _backwards_! For TOR the cover made sense. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godawful-book-covers/399608/18 "2007-04-11T18:54:52Z")
Story-Wallah is a great collection of short stories by Indian writers, but the cover art…[just look](http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/catalog/titledetail.cfm?titleNumber=689624). Way too much going on, plus it’s tacky as all hell. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godawful-book-covers/399608/19 "2007-04-11T20:07:03Z")
[QUOTE=cher3] The American covers of some of Terry Pratchett’s books are criminally hideous. _Monstrous Regiment_ and _Night Watch_ come to mind, especially. [/QUOTE] I’m probably going to get bonked by the Scone of Stone for a heretic, but I’ve never really been crazy about Josh Kirby’s work–the style is just _too_ weird for me. Paul Kidby’s okay, though. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godawful-book-covers/399608/20 "2007-04-11T20:34:50Z")
I humbly submit that the cover of [_The Little People_ by John Christopher.](http://groovyageofhorror.blogspot.com/2007/03/little-people-by-john-christopher-avon.html) occupies the precise point where ‘godawful’ intersects with ‘awesome.’ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godawful-book-covers/399608.md?page=2)