Can You Judge A Book By Its Cover?

Back in 1974 a chap called M John Harrison wrote a story called ‘The Centauri Device’. 

The thrust of the tale was woven around a chap called John Truck who wanted to steal this device because… well… because everyone else wanted it. Also, he was, it seems, the only person who could use it; so everybody else was after him.

He had a beaten up old freighter, as I recall, named ‘The Green Carnation’ and that, in itself, was a chuckle for me because there was a scandalous book, written by Robert Hichens (but first published anonymously in 1894), called ‘The Green Carnation’. It was partly due to this book that Oscar Wilde spent time in prison even though he was, in this case, entirely innocent.

This is the one I remember.

(Peter Jones’ cover for the 1975 edition)

(Fred Gambino’s cover for the 1986 edition)

(Paul Lehr’s cover for the 1980 edition)

(Chris Moore’s cover for the 2000 edition)

(I love this one)

(Stephane Martinière’s cover for the 2006 German edition)

(uncredited - sorry)

This was the dawn of the age of the ‘anti-hero’. M. John Harrison has been bemused by the idea that what he considers to be his best works are now out of print yet ‘The Centauri Device’ lingers on.

It is a superb story beautifully written and is the tale that cemented my brain into the idea of writing science fiction myself. 

To get some idea of the decadence involved in this story—and, make no bones about it, it is severely decadent, and for the curious, the complete list of spaceship names: Driftwood of Decadence. New English Art Club. Liverpool Medici.  Gold Scab. Whistler.  Seventeenth Susan.  Solomon.  Nasser.  Strange Great Sins.  Maupin.  Trilby.  Green Carnation.  Les Fleurs du Mal.  Madame Bovary.  Imagination Portraits.  Syringa. White Jonquil.  Forsaken Garden.  Let Us Go Hence.  Melancholia that Transcends All Wit.  My Ella Speed. Fastidious.  La Vie de Bohème.  Atalanta in Calydon.

‘Atalanta in Calydon’! Genius.

Yet look at the different covers. Each for a different year or a different national audience. There were a couple of others and, sadly, I do not have the accreditation for them nor do I have access to some of them.

But it gives you an idea of what the variety of thinking was (is?) for the representation of that story.

Do any of the covers give any clue as to what the story is about?

No. Not really.

They are designed to intrigue and attract a would-be reader into buying the book.

If you want to know about the story then ‘Google’ the title and go to ‘Wikipaedia’ or ‘Science Fiction Ruminations’.

What of the stories from other people?

The artwork for the cover of Ray Owen’s book, ‘The Hole’ is beautifully done and, now that I have read the story, I can relate to the thinking behind it. 

Similarly, the covers for RB Clague’s ‘Whitefella Dreaming; Robin Gregory’s ‘The Improbable Wonders of Moojie Littleman’ and even my own stories do not describe what is told within the pages. Possibly only Michelle Sellman’s children’s books give a definitive clue as to what is going on inside.

Michelle Sellman's 'BFF Crew'

Thus it is with all books.

Look up your favourites, as I have peered at the covers for Isaac Asimov’s stories, and tried to ascribe a script to those tales. 

What, I asked myself, is the similarity between the story and the cover.

Usually, a space opera has a delightful picture—beautifully worked, of a space ship; murder mysteries invariably have a gun or a semi-naked woman on the cover.

Can you judge the worth of a book by its cover?

 No. 

Are you able to decide if a book is worth purchasing by its cover?

No.

Only by reading the reviews can you get an idea of what a book is about and whether to buy it or not.

And that, dear readers, is why all authors need your help. If you read a book then please, we beg you, write a review.

We are happy if it is good and we are pleased if it is bad because then we can use constructive criticism to move forward in our craft.

To all of you that do write reviews—thank you.

From the very bottom of my heart.