Cover Artist: Kekai Kotkai
The US cover of Hannu Rajaniemi's highly touted debut has a remarkably different feel than it's UK counterpart [displayed below]. Nonetheless, I like them both, particularly the sharp lines of the lasers/light beams and the geometric style of the "wings." And the horizontal lines stagger throughtout are subtle but cohesive. There is an element of "hard science fiction as magic" in The Quantum Thief that I think this cover captures well. It's definitely not the typical spaceporn that is assigned to most SF. Ignoring the title, I could definitely buy this as new design work for the newest Final Fantasy Game. I don't know if that's a good thing or not but I think it's applicable.
The font treatment also reminds me of another SF cover but for the life of me I can't figure out which one. Any help?
The font treatment also reminds me of another SF cover but for the life of me I can't figure out which one. Any help?
UK edition
The Quantum Thief is out now in the UK from Gollancz and will be released by Tor in the US in May of 2011.
Jean le Flambeur is a post-human criminal, mind burglar, confidence artist and trickster. His origins are shrouded in mystery, but his exploits are known throughout the Heterarchy - from breaking into the vast Zeusbrains of the Inner System to steal their thoughts, to stealing rare Earth antiques from the aristocrats of the Moving Cities of Mars. Except that Jean made one mistake. Now he is condemned to play endless variations of a game-theoretic riddle in the vast virtual jail of the Axelrod Archons - the Dilemma Prison - against countless copies of himself. Jean's routine of death, defection and cooperation is upset by the arrival of Mieli and her spidership, Perhonen. She offers him a chance to win back his freedom and the powers of his old self - in exchange for finishing the one heist he never quite managed . . .The Quantum Thief is a dazzling hard SF novel set in the solar system of the far future - a heist novel peopled by bizarre post-humans but powered by very human motives of betrayal, revenge and jealousy. It is a stunning debut.
The font is similar to the cover of Karl Shroeder's Sun of sons series.
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