The book is a collection of short stories by Kim Edwards, who, judging by the increase in point size of her name since her last book, is doing well for herself, (I guess having an NYT Best Seller will do that. It’s also interesting that this book came out in 1997 originally, but has been reprinted as a paperback due to the increased interest.) Generally, the stories are about women coming into their own, in one way or another.

What’s interesting here is that the same gripes and praises that are applicable for this cover are the same ones that applied to its predecessor, The Memory Keeper’s Daughter. Same designer, mind you. Again, the imagery is beautiful, but, again, the type leaves it a bit short of amazing. Either way, the artwork, (which we have credited to “Nest” in our notes), does a great job of conveying a sense of feminine mystery and strength without being cliché about it.

We also wanted to note how similar this cover is to Corral’s treatment for The King’s Evil, seen below. We have nothing else to say on the matter, it’s just interesting.

— , 2007-08-12 18:09:00 -0400

I definitely prefer The King’s Evil to the Kim Edwards cover. Like you said, the treatment of the text hinders the success of her cover. For me, none of the text works well. Especially the upper quadrant of the cover that serves as a disconnect from the design. Goofy. Don’t get me started on the “sprinkled” look of the actual book title. There’s no order there.

I think The King’s Evil is better balanced—less (ohh) flowery, as it work. Less processed. And I think if need be Rodrigo Corral could have figured out an effective way to include the extra verbiage Edward’s cover called for.

Secrets of the Fire King is a pleasing enough design, but I wouldn’t pick it up because neither the cover nor its title speaks to be in a “transcending the bookshelf” kind of way. Looks like something you’d find on an end-cap in the greeting cards section at Wal-Mart.

On its own it’s quite striking, but I prefer The King’s Evil. I actually quite fancy the typography. Sometimes simple is best.

I’ve always loved the soft, eerie nature of this cover. It is definitely a stopper on the shelf. The placement of the type and especially the word “stories” is right-on and very readable.

Kins Evil is nice, but the type needs help. Slapping something into a banner element is not always the solution and is way over used. Talk about Wal-Mart. But the fact is that it’s pretty successful for your book to have made it into a Wal-Mart. From an authors and a designers perspective. Can’t get more mainstream then that.

If you’ve seen the cover in the bookstore, it has a good aura amongst a shit storm of other books. Perhaps it’s the hard, yet soft contrast, or the spooky quality of the image—whatever the case—it has caught my eye a number of times. Why haven’t I read it? Cause every other book out there seems to have the word “SECRETS” in it. And I hate secrets.

I like how the little triangulur patch between her legs (no, the other one) creates an arrow pointing to “stories.”

Hmmm, take your pick of Zuzana Licko fonts: Mrs. Eaves on the one or Filosofia on t’other….

I’m a little bummed about the type. It floats around in that silhouette in an unsettling way. ...Now I’m wondering if that was intentional. How else could it be I wonder? I imagine it making little plinking sounds as it bumps into the edges.

Rodrigo’s cover seems like an apple to this orange. Totally different effect. In fact, the only similarity is that the gesture of the silhouette in both is similar. I like Rodrigo’s type better. It seems to know where it belongs, however maybe that was intentional.

hex – yes!
My original post credited you, and then I took it out for some reason. Sorry!

I wish i had some more insight on The King’s Evil typography, maybe there’s a particular reason for the ‘banner’ that was obvious in the book. But I read it too long ago…all I can remember is it seriously creeped me out.

Love the art; hate the type; really hated The Memory Keeper’s Daughter—dreadful book.

me parece muy bueno el manejo que se le dio al color y la forma , la ausencia de profundidad està muy bien trabajada, me parace de lo mejor que he visto . is very good.

This book is so awesome, I feel as if I want to throw up my intestines all over the floor, eat them, and then throw them up.

Holy smokes! That cover image was made by my photo instructor in art school. Martha Madigan’s process was to coat a large sheet of paper with photo-sensitive chemicals, lay down the subject in the sunlight for a while, and develop the resulting print. She usually did cyanotypes, so I wonder if the designer converted this to grayscale. The cyanotype process is quite toxic (it releases cyanide gas), so I don’t think she does this anymore.

The Secrets of a Fire King

— C-Dog , 2007-08-12 22:24:00 -0400

— Blake , 2007-08-13 00:36:00 -0400

— Ian S. , 2007-08-13 04:53:00 -0400

I would like to think that I inspired this post. ;P

— , 2007-08-13 05:17:00 -0400

— Gurn Blanston , 2007-08-13 06:12:00 -0400

— , 2007-08-13 09:21:00 -0400

This is a beautiful cover. The art is gorgeous.

Anyone who really knows their type agree? Disagree? Thoughts?

— , 2007-08-13 09:47:00 -0400

— Ben Pieratt , 2007-08-13 09:52:00 -0400

It’s all good! I’m glad you guys posted it.

— , 2007-08-13 16:16:00 -0400

— , 2007-08-16 03:21:00 -0400

Any idea how to get in touch with Greg Mollica?

— anonymous , 2007-09-02 13:22:00 -0400

greg.mollica@us.penguingroup.com>

— , 2007-09-10 03:45:00 -0400

Actually, I like this book cover very much. Mouthwatering!!!!

— Sirimewan Amaratunga, SRI LANK , 2007-09-14 19:25:00 -0400

— Leonardo ariza ardila , 2007-11-13 07:56:00 -0500

this is cool.

— , 2007-11-20 05:01:00 -0500

yeah but you are gay

— , 2007-11-20 05:03:00 -0500

— , 2007-11-20 05:04:00 -0500

Yes, the type treatment does not do justice to the photograph.

— Andrew Brozyna , 2008-06-25 19:15:00 -0400

bune olm

— yapay havuz , 2009-12-03 09:33:37 -0500

garlica

— garlica , 2010-01-20 07:32:31 -0500

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— red pepper , 2010-01-28 06:14:13 -0500