Shelf Candy Saturday No. 196: The Lost Prince, by Julie Kagawa

Welcome to Shelf Candy Saturday!

***Late Edition***

This is my weekly feature

showcasing beautiful covers!

It also provides information, 
if available, on their 
very talented creators!

This week, I'm comparing two
book covers for the same book!

The Lost Prince
(The Iron Fey: Call of the Forgotten, Book 1)
(American Edition Book Cover)
Julie Kagawa 
Library Binding , 304 pages 
Turtleback Books 
October 23,2012
Fantasy, Paranormal Romance,  
Young Adult Fiction 

My Thoughts About This Cover

This stunningly beautiful cover is the one for the American edition of the book. it's incredibly visually appealing, and not only because of the cover model. The colors, the whole design, font, ornamental flourishes around the top and bottom of the cover -- everything is just eye candy!

The model, of course, is a very handsome young guy, but what makes him even more pleasing to the eyes is the weird designs all over his torso and left arm. I'm not sure whether or not they're tattoos. Whatever they are, they make him blend in with the vegetation. It's as if he's part of the forest.

The font used for the title contributes to the overall fantasy feeling of this cover. I love all the embellishments to the letters, as well as the color gradations!

Also contributing to the fantasy effect are the ornamental flourishes I mentioned above.

Last but definitely not least, the color saturation is amazing! This intense green is not found in nature -- the color has been enhanced, and is so beautiful, it's actually competing for my affection for the color blue! Lol.

Sadly, I have not been able to find out who designed this glorious cover..... Goodreads lists it as the one for the paperback edition, but, when I checked out the book on Amazon, I got the Library Binding edition instead. Furthermore, the Amazon preview does not make the artist's name available.

I'm going to look for the paperback on eBay, as I really don't like Library Binding on books. I know it makes books more permanent, but, for some reason, I just don't like it much.

  

The Lost Prince

(The Iron Fey: Call of the Forgotten, Book 1)

(Early UK Edition Book Cover)

Julie Kagawa

Trade Paperback, 399 pages

Mira Ink

January 6, 2013

Fantasy, Paranormal Romance,

Young Adult Fiction

 

  

My Thoughts About This Cover

It looks like this was an early cover, since discarded. I certainly can't find it anywhere except on Goodreads, although it's listed as being the one for the UK edition. When I checked out Book Depository, though, I could not find it.

At first sight, I found this to be a very striking cover. And I love the mysterious, enigmatic feel of it. However, as I have checked it out further, I must admit that I don't like it as much as the first cover above. That's because it does give me a feeling of confusion.  I understand that the male character pictured is in the middle of a forest, and he's apparently hiding out there, but still, the design just doesn't have the well-put-together appeal of the first cover. It's just a bit too chaotic. Perhaps that was why this cover was apparently discarded. 

There's another thing about this cover I don't like -- the feeling of eeriness, of impending horror, that I get from it. Although I've stated that I like its mysterious atmospheric look, I really don't like the intensity of the model's gaze out upon the viewer. Nor do I like the way the tree branches seem to actually imprison the young man. The bright light in the upper right-hand corner could be the moon, distorted by the clouds or tree branches. It, too, gives a rather ominous look to this cover that makes me feel very uneasy....    

I do like the way the title and author's name have been handled, though not as much as the way they were done on the first cover. 

Since it does look like this cover is unavailable, of course I haven't been able to find out who created it, either. However, it's obviously inferior to the first cover pictured above.

Concluding Remarks

It's incredible how different artists and designers conceptualize book covers differently, based on the very same book sysnopsis given to them by publishers! Some covers are simply more successful than others, based on details such as the ones I've pointed out above. 

I will certainly be adding the American edition to my shelves sometime next year! However, I will strive to get the paperback, as I definitely prefer that one to the Library Binding Edition.  

    

 

What do you think of this 
week's covers?
Do you agree or disagree
with my analysis?
Please leave a comment
and let me know!