Cover Battle: Which is the Best Cover of The Best of All Possible Worlds?

It’s been about a month since the Cover Battle of 2012 culminated in an epic battle in which the cover of Chuck Wendig’s Blackbirds was crowned Best Cover of 2012 after a very close race with the cover of Seanan McGuire’s Discount Armageddon. Now 2013 is well underway, and there are already a lot of gorgeous covers coming out. Like last year, we will again prepare for the Cover Battle of 2013 with a series of qualifying duels.

Therefore, I now present the first duel of 2013!

In this one, Karen Lord is taking on… Karen Lord! Her newest novel, The Best of All Possible Worlds, is due out from Del Rey in the US on February 12, and from Jo Fletcher in the UK on January 31. Both copies happen to have perfectly gorgeous covers. Here are the covers, followed by the blurb:

.

.

Karen Lord’s debut novel, the multiple-award-winning Redemption in Indigo, announced the appearance of a major new talent—a strong, brilliantly innovative voice fusing Caribbean storytelling traditions and speculative fiction with subversive wit and incisive intellect. Compared by critics to such heavyweights as Nalo Hopkinson, China Miéville, and Ursula K. Le Guin, Lord does indeed belong in such select company—yet, like them, she boldly blazes her own trail.

Now Lord returns with a second novel that exceeds the promise of her first. The Best of All Possible Worlds is a stunning science fiction epic that is also a beautifully wrought, deeply moving love story.

A proud and reserved alien society finds its homeland destroyed in an unprovoked act of aggression, and the survivors have no choice but to reach out to the indigenous humanoids of their adopted world, to whom they are distantly related. They wish to preserve their cherished way of life but come to discover that in order to preserve their culture, they may have to change it forever.

Now a man and a woman from these two clashing societies must work together to save this vanishing race—and end up uncovering ancient mysteries with far-reaching ramifications. As their mission hangs in the balance, this unlikely team—one cool and cerebral, the other fiery and impulsive—just may find in each other their own destinies… and a force that transcends all.

.

The American cover, to the left, is published by Del Rey and features beautiful photographs by Bruce Talbot and James A. Mosley.  The jacket was designed by Charles Brock from Faceout Studio. To view a high-quality version of the entire jacket, click here.

The British cover, to the right, is published by Jo Fletcher books, a young publisher that is garnering fame for creating wonderful covers. It was designed by Peter Cotton using photographs from Shutterstock. For more information and images of the jacket, click here.

.

So, which one of these amazing covers of The Best of All Possible Worlds is the best? Your vote decides which shall feature in the Cover Battle of 2013!

If you like this, you might also like:

	Discuss this article on our forums!
	Visit the Ranting Forums, where you can discuss many topics with our reviewers and other readers, including recent reviews, upcoming books, the fantasy genre, your favorite books, movies, characters, authors, and much more.

	The Assassin’s Curse vs. Discount Armaged...
	There have been two phases and a total of seven rounds in which your vote has reduced the competition in this Cover Battle of 2012 from sixty to eight covers. These eight covers have now reached the...

	Blackbirds vs. The Serpent Sea — Cover Battle S...
	Two phases and a total of seven rounds have reduced the competition in this Cover Battle of 2012 from sixty to eight covers. These eight cover met head-on in four quarter finals. Now, only four...