20th Anniversary Edison Cover Unveiled for The Difference Engine

20th Anniversary Edition

The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling was the first well known Steampunk novel building on everything Jeter and Blaylock started, but with its own darker path. This year is the 20th anniversary of its publication and Spectra has given us the best cover yet. Doesn't that cover just take you aback? It is creepy and cool in all the right ways. The eye! Gah! The eye!

While The Difference Engine isn't my favorite cup of tea in the Steampunk area I do appreciate what it did for the genre and I'm glad it has gotten such a classy treatment. It almost makes me want to read it again. The new edition hits shelves late in July and features an introduction from Cory Doctorow.  Here are a few of the treatments The Difference Engine has received around the world, which shows how boring all the US editions thus far have been.

US HC

UK HC

UK paperback

French HC

Spanish

US Mass Market

UK Masterworks Edition

Which one catches your eye?

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COVER EVOLUTION | The Martian Chronicles (1950-2009)

After reviewing The Martian Chronicles: The Complete Edition (here) I started to think about the evolution of covers quite a bit, especially those books that have been around for decades.  Below are a few examples of cover treatments given to The Martian Chronicles over the years, which include some beautiful and some not so beautiful versions.

1950 First Edition

I've seen this listed as the first edition cover of The Martian Chronicles, but I'm not entirely sure if it is. I have to say it is one of my favorites though. The usual treatment of Bradbury's name and the coloration of the art are wonderful and set the tone for many other covers to come. This is the type of cover that never feels old such as the cover for Fahrenheit 451 that has been used for years.

1951 First Paperback edition

One of the worst version out of the lot, but it was a product of its time.

1958 Edition

A fairly basic design, but still a nice austere look.

1954 Edition

A pulp cover that looks designed for a young audience.  Ohh, rocket ships!

1967 Edition

Very bland cover, but it definitely fit with the time period of 1960s movie posters.

1984 Grand Master Series Edition

This is one of the few editions that show the Martians. It seems most of the covers want to show the human factor or some dry bleakness.

Unknown Year, but I'd guess in the 70s or early 80s.

Again another very bland version. For some reason his publishers' love showing a globe of some sort.

1976 Japanese Edition

Believe it or not, but this is a very sedate cover for a Japanese edition.

1997 Newest Trade Edition

Simple and straight forward.  Notice how the title is much smaller than Bradbury.  You can definitely tell that as Bradbury's fame grew so has his name on most covers.

2008 UK Edition

Makes me think of a more turn of the century type book.

2009 Sub Press Limited Edition

Overall, this is definitely one of the better covers.  It does a good job of giving you an alien feel yet some how homey.

So which one's do you like or hate?

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