HDM Covers

[kincuri]

I'm pretty sure there probably been threads on this before, but I'm interested to see what Covers of the series people have, or even just like.

I have this set:



I was attracted to these, as they seemed to have some amount of charm compared to the rest of the covers that came out after the Film.

If I ever had to replace my set I would probably get these:

[Acchon]

All my covers look like this. but with difftent collor filters:

TGC: Blue (this one)
TSP: Green
TAS: Gold

[jasman71]

These three from a triple box set. These have the notes, sketches and letters of the "extended" versions in the backs of them.

[Leif]

Mine:

[aklebury]

I don't have a matching group of books
The second and third are from the same set but the first one is different.

[Ian]

Yes I'm a big fan of theses. Were rather expensive but entirely worth it.

My original set of books are like those aklebury shows. 1 & 2 at least. I have TAS in first edition hardback.

Then I have random ones in Edinburgh. But the lantern slide editions are by far my favourite.

[Aletheia Dolorosa]

I have this one for the first book (in hardcover), this one for the second book (also in hardcover) and this one for the third book, also in hardcover. The reason they're all different is that when I started reading the series, only NL had been written, so I had to *wait* for the other ones to come out. Since most books come out late in Australia, ordered them from overseas, wherever it was fastest, hence the mish-mash of editions. I like the new black and white ones better, but I have a special love for my old hardcovers, with dust-jackets removed for ease of reading, with cracked spines and fading colours in the place where my hands hold them. They remind me of how painful it was to have to wait to find out what happened in the series while Pullman wrote them. Sorry for the size of the images.

[Philharmonic]

I have these ones:



It was either really big from BTTS or really small from Google, so...

[jasman71]

These last three covers seem far more descriptive in their artwork, about key elements of the respective books... with the possible exception of TSK, which I always imagined Will cutting nice little squares or doorways, instead of abstract tears, but then I'm being nitpicky...

[Philharmonic]

with the possible exception of TSK, which I always imagined Will cutting nice little squares or doorways, instead of abstract tears, but then I'm being nitpicky...

I'd think the windows would look like what the camera moves through to get from this to Lyra's universe at the beginning of the film.

Anything could happen.

[jasman71]

I'd think the windows would look like what the camera moves through to get from this to Lyra's universe at the beginning of the film.

I think that was more of a curtain?

As you say, anything could happen, but I can't see him cutting esoteric shapes when a "window" would do (although obviously had he known at the time that they'd all have to be closed again, he'd have made them as small as possible with as few cuts as needed). But again, I guess I'm over analyzing this, and it's not quite the right thread to argue the pedantics of inter-dimensional window cutting....hmm, there's a possible chat-up line to use sometime... ...................... or not

[Somewhat]

I have these:

Got them as a box set off Amazon for some ridiculously cheap price. Funnily, exactly opposite to Kincuri, I want to buy the black-and-white editions now. Let's trade, Kincuri! Except mine are sort of falling apart.

[kincuri]

I think the main reason I like the american set is because of the cover to The Golden Compass.
The art of Lyra and Pan riding on Iorek is awesome. I love they way that they've done both Lyra and Iorek's faces

[bee]

I've got this one, beat up and in paperback (my first copy, so it has a very special place in my heart):


This one is also paperback, although it is temporarily missing from my shelves. I'm not crazy about it. I love the shininess of the knife, but the monkey in the background is terrifying. I swear that monkey was not on the cover of mine when I first read these books, but I can find no evidence to support that.


My friend bought this for me last May when she went to England...


My dad bought these for me when the movie was going to come out and he wanted to read the books (he only read TGC, but he wanted all the books to match).


And for Christmas, I got advance reader copies (from long long ago!) which have utterly delightful plain covers. I'll take a picture I suppose if I can't find one.

[Mockingbird]

I bought this edition at a Philip Pullman book signing last year:



...did I mention that it is signed by Philip Pullman?

I think the main reason I like the american set is because of the cover to The Golden Compass. The art of Lyra and Pan riding on Iorek is awesome. I love they way that they've done both Lyra and Iorek's faces

That's the set that I have but I dislike it mainly because of The Golden Compass cover art. It almost turned me off from reading the book, and then where would I have been?

I remember when my friend lent me her copy and I said "Why would I want to read a book about a little girl and her pet rat and pet polar bear? Why didn't that polar bear eat her?" I wonder if other older readers, who didn't have friends to say "Just shut up and read it," have been turned away by the cover?

Creating fitting and appealing fantasy cover art seems to be a difficult business.

[kincuri]

I remember when my friend lent me her copy and I said "Why would I want to read a book about a little girl and her pet rat and pet polar bear? Why didn't that polar bear eat her?" I wonder if other older readers, who didn't have friends to say "Just shut up and read it," have been turned away by the cover?

I didn't think about it that way, but I guess that makes sense for those who've never read the books.

I guess I see it differently because I've already encountered Lyra, Pan and Iorek and remember the part of the book it comes from.

I know it's cliched to say "Don't judge a book by it's cover", but I guess a lot of people do when buying books, especially if they don't already have an idea what it's about.

[aklebury]

...Funnily, exactly opposite to Kincuri, I want to buy the black-and-white editions now. Let's trade, Kincuri! Except mine are sort of falling apart.

I was so tempted by the black and white editions and ended up buying them today.
Mainly because I wanted to have the latern slide extra-thingees at the back but also because I love love love the woodcuttings by (i believe?) John Lawrence who also did LO and Once...In The North.

I definitely think covers affect me, and had the first edition I got had some of the more clearly 'aimed-at-kids' coverart, I don't think I would have ever bothered to read them. Which would have been a great pity.

[sfsraffie]

...did I mention that it is signed by Philip Pullman?

I've got all three US hardcovers signed, with TAS signed to my daemon's name!

I think the main reason I like the american set is because of the cover to The Golden Compass. The art of Lyra and Pan riding on Iorek is awesome. I love they way that they've done both Lyra and Iorek's faces

That's the set that I have but I dislike it mainly because of The Golden Compass cover art. It almost turned me off from reading the book, and then where would I have been?

I remember when my friend lent me her copy and I said "Why would I want to read a book about a little girl and her pet rat and pet polar bear? Why didn't that polar bear eat her?" I wonder if other older readers, who didn't have friends to say "Just shut up and read it," have been turned away by the cover?

I decided not to read the book based on that cover because there was a girl and no boy. I was 10 at the time... but once I reluctantly gave the first chapter a shot, I was hooked.

To me, those paintings *are* Lyra. DBR does an excellent interpretation, but while Craig and Kidman will probably replace whatever mental images I had of their characters, as terrific as DBR was, she was just a bit too tall, thin, and delicate-looking. I love how Lyra's got a slightly pug-ish face in those paintings.


And while it definitely isn't accurate to the text, I love that green TSK painting above. It's a terrific riff on the theme, and certainly reflects the spirit of the thing.

[Roll_with_it]

This one is also paperback, although it is temporarily missing from my shelves. I'm not crazy about it. I love the shininess of the knife, but the monkey in the background is terrifying. I swear that monkey was not on the cover of mine when I first read these books, but I can find no evidence to support that.

I can't stop laughing at that for some reason.

I have the full set of the British covers, the original editions and i'm in love with them. They just sort of define the series for me and don't give too much away, which is good.

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n4/n23213.jpg

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n4/n22884.jpg

http://website-archive2.nt-online.org/t ... 4&max=1000

[Blossom]

I read them in the original covers which i like the best, they're the prettiest. For some reason we only seem to have this one http://www.bridgetothestars.net/coverar ... nixtas.jpg