Book cover ideas

[Mavramorn]

I thought it would be fun to think what would be the best picture or scene from each book to put on the cover.

Well, here's mine:

The magician's nephew: The moment Digory is striking the bell whilst holding back a struggling Polly, with the 'waxworks' in the background.

The Lion, the Witch and the wardrobe: Lucy looking up at the Lampost for the first time in the snowy wood.

The Horse and his boy: Shasta escaping on Bree under a crescent moon, with the Arsheesh's hut and the sea in the background, along with cypresses and cedars.

Prince Caspian: The giant Rumblebuffin(?) and Edmund offering the treaty with Miraz.

The voyage of the Dawn Treader: The travellers looking at the pump being worked 'on its own' with the magician's house in the background.

The silver chair: The moment after Rillian says ''in the name of Aslan'' and Puddleglum and the others looking at each other wondering what to do.

The last battle: The stable door open and black entrance with the Tarkaan offering someone to go in, with bonfire in foreground and crowd all around and Tirian etc behind the stable

[Messenger_of_Eden]

The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe: The moment the children meet Aslan.
Prince Caspian: The fight inside Aslan's How.
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader: Eustace as a dragon, flying above the ship.
The Silver Chair: Aslan blowing Jill over the cliff toward Narnia.
The Horse and His Boy: The children walking the Horses through Tashbaan.
The Magician's Nephew: Can't decide. Either 1) The children in the magnificent, desolate city of Charn or 2) Jadis riding the cab through London like a chariot, Strawberry's eyes wild and foam flying from his mouth.
The Last Battle: Tirian bound to the tree, crying out for the Friends of Narnia.

[Mavramorn]

I really liked some of your ideas, esp. the MN one. With so many memorable images in each book, its so hard to find sjut one, isnt it?

[Messenger_of_Eden]

[Mavramorn]

I'm re-reading MN now, and apart from what you've just said, I also find her comical in a sense, but obviously at the same time frightening and impossibly exotic. That's one of the things I love about Lewis' writing: how he mixed humour and terror and strangeness almost in the same breath. Jadis in MN exemplifies this.

[King Edmund]

Too many for me to begin with.

[Messenger_of_Eden]

*bump*

Begin in whichever Order you choose, and just let your imagination go!! You do have an imagination. Don't you?? I bet you do!! I wanna see what other people come up with!

[Erekose]

Hows about using the scene from the film LWW where the wolves run across the top of the frozen waterfall?

Then first time readers can worry themselves silly thinking they've got a book with missing pages. "MOMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The waterfall bits missing!!!!!!!!!!!!" :shocked:

/me is just being silly


For book covers how about...

LWW Lucy and Susan dancing with Aslan near the broken stone table

PC Caspian riding through a forest at night , whilst on the back two dwarves and a badger watch him.

VDT Eustace, Caspian, lucy, Edward and Reepicheep leaving the Dawntrader to land onto a shore.

SC Eustace starting to crawl through a small tunnel whilst being watched by numerous underworld people, the tunnel going through to the back cover where Puddleglum and Jill have emerged into another cave to see sleeping "prehistoric" type animals.

HB Two children and two horses on the front cover, on the back cover a black cat in the foreground, a number of stone domiciles in the background

MN Digory and Polly on Fledges back, as he flies over towards the mountains, the back cover showing some of the mountains as seen from above

LB A fight scene, apparently in darkness of night, a hint of smoke on the left edge of the front cover, coming from the back cover where the fight scene continues with a large fire in the background (the source of the smoke), and a stable behind that.

Hows that?




OotSP three men looking through a viewscreen at a distant red planet, the interior being in darkness

THS remains of buildings after an earthquake-like catastrophe.

oops got carried aways

[jo]

[Messenger_of_Eden]

True, but if a single scene could ever be truly represetative of what a book is about, wouldn't books be very short and boring?

Erekose I LOVE extending this to Space Trilogy books too!!

Out of the Silent Planet: Ransom fighting the Hnakra.

Perelandra: A scene with the Green Lady (okay it has been a while since I read them--is her name Tinidril?) surrounded by the exotic creatures of her world, perhaps with a fruit in her hand.

That Hideous Strength: The banquet scene where Merlin confounds the languages and animals are running wild.

[Mavramorn]

Erekose are you having a laugh?? Or is it just an amazing coincidence that you chose the same covers as Pauline Baynes lol
BTW I think some of her covers are weak (although her actaul illustrations are excellent). Like for instance in LWW, there isnt any snow! Thats one of the iconic ingredients or texture of that book.
Plus the VDT cover is on land!!

For me, book covers should make the reader ask questions and want to read the book - make it seem mysterious - "whats that lampost doing there?" "Why is that guy smashing a chair" etc.

O of the S P : Ranson riding on the Sorn's back on the Handramit (sp.) (uplands).

Perelandra: The moment when the green lady is laughing at 'peibald' Ransom across a body of water.

T H S: Mark Studdock encountering Wither outside the NICE building when moments before he had been inside

[jo]

I have an old American copy of OOSP which Marcus from this forum kindly sent me. It has the most appalling cover picture imaginable. I don't have it to hand but I seem to recall thinking as I looked at it that the artist had obviously not got the faintest idea what the book was about and had just drawn a generic out of space picture. Does anyone know the one I mean?

[Stanley Anderson]

Remember this aborted Photoshop experiment I tried a few years ago? I had meant to make the fruits above into bubble tree fruits and when other things started going astray, I just gave up and zapped all the colour effect sliders to wild extremes to give it a psychedelic 60's look. But with a few modifications, I suppose it could make an interesting Perelandra cover?:-)

(by the way, it was Monica, I think that said her monitor didn't show the face well, so it may not display the same on different monitors.)
--Stanley

[VixenMage]

http://www.noosfere.com/showcase/images/Pan_213.jpg

It wouldn't be that one, would it, Jo? I kinda blinked when I saw it... doesn't look at all like OotSP.

ETA: My mistake... it does. I was thinking of Perelandra.

[jo]