The Weird Ones

Any readers out there might be noticing a trend in these posts by now. Perhaps. I'm firmly convinced that science fiction is one of the best literary genres out there. This contention is, I will admit, partly supported by the fact that almost all sci fi books have amazing covers. The Weird Ones, a short story anthology out of a pile of many I keep by my bedside, is no exception.

This one features something of a staple of sci fi book cover design: the highly detailed painting-of-aliens-in-outlandish-setting. Sadly, search though I might, the book gave no clues as to the designer of the cover. Bad form! However, what I am most in love with about this cover is the title:

There is really something delicious about the combination of colours there, and the slightly quirky, off-kilter sixties lilt to the typeface (this particular edition was published in 1967). If anyone knows which typeface it could be, I would love to know! This cover almost looks like it could be a poster for a band. Don't anyone get ideas!

Pacific Book of Science Fiction

This book is well worth a read by Australians for its interesting, 12-story collection of scifi stories by Australian authors, most of them set in Australia. In a market dominated by foreign writers (although the large majority of them are very good) it's nice to read some fantastic tales with familiar backdrops. It's a bit dated now but I love it all the same.

This cover, I will admit, is half the reason I bought the book in the first place. I really like the quasi-futuristic computer typeface used for the title and there's nothing like wacky geometric patterns to catch the eye. This cover was designed in 1969 and it shows but, like orange lamps, patterned lino and brown tiled showers, it holds a special place in my heart. C.R. Evans, designer of this book cover, I salute you.

The Day of the Triffids

I would have to say that The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham is my favourite book, ever. There's something about the cozy catastrophe genre that I love, and it also helps that most scifi novels come with extremely awesome covers. This one is no exception. There have been plenty of versions of the Triffids cover since it was first published, but something about this one strikes me particularly.

I think it's the combination of the stereotypical "Penguin book" look with the completely unexpected "triffid" line drawing. It doesn't look like I imagined a triffid would at all; it looks like the sort of thing that would say "mip" and be fuzzy.

Regrettably, my copy of the book doesn't tell me who the designer is. However, kudos to you, Penguin employee. I love your work.

The Causes of the Civil War

Hello! The idea for this blog came to me the other day when researching for an essay which is, thankfully, behind me now. I was struck, for some reason, by the amazing design on the cover of one of the books I had been using, and decided to scan it to share with my friends. A few days later, I had an impulse to scan another, and decided that, rather than spamming my friends, I'd make it a regularish thing and give it its own blog to live in.
Hence, CoolBookCovers was born.

I'd like to kick us off by sharing with you the cover of the book that first struck me: The Causes of the Civil War, by Kenneth M. Stampp. The book's content is actually quite a useful study of the primary causes of the American Civil War through source documents, although the analyses are somewhat dated now. The book provided no information as to who had designed the cover, but look!

I'm sort of in love with the marching soldier stamps. One the one hand, this could be the most half-arsed attempt at a book cover ever; on the other, it could be genius. Either way, I like it.
Also, the editor's name is "Stampp" so it's sort of appropriate.

(If you guys have suggestions for other cool book covers, please send me a decent scan, a bit of a summary of what the book is about and, if possible, the designer of the cover! I'd love your input.)