Covertalk

The illustrated covers on the left are the ones I read when I was first discovering these books. The pale-faced women with the dark hair seemed the perfect accompaniment. The style is very plain and stark, which suited the bleak fantasy of Nix's world. I saw the new covers and was shocked. Is it merely sentiment, or is there more to it than that?

I've examined them now, and the new covers aren't bad. I'm assuming the design are meant to be charter marks, which is the way magic is channeled Sabriel's world. The fiery edges are meant to convey the power of the magical current, and the simplicity of the design probably speaks to the finality and mystery of Death.

Thats all well and good- but I would arguethat the plain lyricism of the original covers conveys all that and more. The new ones are too slick. Too shiny. Give me an hour in photoshop, and I could do as well. These easy computer generated graphics read to me as

a cheapening of Garth Nix's vision. His world was more than charter magic and Death. It is complex, and reading one gets the feeling of ancient history. This is what the original covers display: a world older than our own, a people nobler than our own, a life filled with a different sort of danger. The charter marks are more than magical sigils. They are part of a network, laid down by people, defended by the abhorsens. It is a disservice to the whole system to portray the marks so graphically, and without any of the rest to back it up. Aside from all this, the original illustrations are beautiful and enticing. The flatness of traditional media

works perfectly for stories from the Old Kingdom, and after reading the books I now view these covers as old friends.