Cover comparison: I Shall Wear Midnight | 2nd October 2010, 23:01

I Shall Wear Midnight is the latest in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, the final episode of the young adult 'sub-series' focussed on trainee witch Tiffany Aching. Above are the cover images for both the US (left) and UK (right) hardback editions. There are a lot of things I like about the US cover. The image makes Tiffany look like a real person rather than a caricature, and the Wee Free Men (the small blue chaps) even look mildly realistic and have a nice 3D effect. The flames Tiffany holds are a plot element, but there is very little else in the cover that links to this book rather than any of its three prequels (1, 2, 3). The image on the UK edition is much more cartoony, admittedly in keeping with the other recent releases in the Discworld series. It contains many more plot elements, including the older witch, the hare and the club, and Tiffany is wearing the correct colour - as she says, when she is old she will wear midnight, not yet. The image also ties in well with the cover I've included at the bottom of the post, which appears to be a re-release of The Wee Free Men, Tiffany's first adventure. This could be compared to the original cover which the library copy I read sported, also pictured below. Both options have a restrained amount of text. The US version does have to go with the clichéd New York Times reference, but the interesting difference is that the US edition sells itself as a Tiffany Aching 'adventure' whereas the UK edition as a Discword novel. Perhaps 'Discworld' as a concept is not as popular in the US? Perhaps Tiffany Aching herself is more popular in the US? The text that completely lets down the US cover however is the title. It's an ugly font that is hard to read, and it's been placed right over the focus of the cover image. The artist probably spent more time working on the flames than any other part of the image and it's been hidden away behind this hideous font. In conclusion, apart from the robes' colour and the title font, I like the US cover better, and the UK one would not sell itself to me without the name Terry Pratchett on it.

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