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'Carte Blanche' UK cover art tweaked

MI6MI6 Administrator
edited April 2011 in Literary 007 Posts: 677
In the <a href = "index.php?itemid=9366">recently released teaser trailer</a> for 007's forthcoming literary adventure, Carte Blanche, astute fans noticed that the cover art of the book had been tweaked slightly since its <a href = "http://www.mi6-hq.com/sections/articles/literary_jeffrey_deaver_carte_blanche_announced.php3">big reveal in Dubai</a>, some four months ago.

The updated artwork has found its way onto the internet:

<img src = "http://www.mi6-hq.com/sections/literary/cover_art/carte_blanche/preview4.jpg"; />

The above artwork is now adorned with the literary 007 logo and red, rather than tan text. The tagline has subtally changed from "A James Bond Novel" to "The New James Bond Novel".

<a href = "http://www.mi6-hq.com/sections/articles/literary_jeffrey_deaver_carte_us_cover.php3">Click here to view the previously released US and UK cover art.</a>
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Comments

  • BartlebyBartleby
    Posts: 110
    I think that the text looks better in red. I much prefer this cover to the US version.
  • nick_007nick_007 Ville Marie
    Posts: 443
    I prefer this version too but neither of them really grab me.

    It's a shame too; I always judge books by their covers.
  • HASEROTHASEROT has returned like the tedious inevitability of an unloved season---
    Posts: 4,399
    i liked the more subtle gray color for the text on the older cover... but the red definitely jumps out at you.... this cover isn't really anything special - but it's miles better than the US release... hell, i would rather have a 4 year old's finger painting as the cover of the US novel - at least you would know that the 4 year old was using his imagination.. lol
  • Mr_SterlingMr_Sterling
    Posts: 99
    I must admit im getting rather excited about this novel, especially as i'll be out in the dubai area just weeks before its release.
  • doubleonothingdoubleonothing Los Angeles
    Posts: 864
    I'm not sure what I'm expecting, but probably better than that.

    There's certainly something to be said for 'less is more" but this cover tells me nothing of the character or the themes and has no kind of inventiveness. At least DMC had something a little more interesting and actually relating to the theme of the book. This, by contrast, seems rather uninspired.

    Honestly, I've seen much better results from our Mi6 competitions. Yes, this is simple and bold, but it doesn't jump off the shelf and scream "read me!". I'm really not that impressed.
  • saunderssaunders Living in a world of avarice and deceit
    Posts: 987
    It's certainly slightly less rubbish than the previous design!
  • doubleonothingdoubleonothing Los Angeles
    Posts: 864
    I'm sure there's some sort of adage pertaining to this...
  • Samuel001Samuel001 Moderator
    Posts: 13,356
    I'm still hoping for a good novel from Deaver. The cover art is better but that's not enough!
  • MajorDSmytheMajorDSmythe "I tolerate this century, but I don't enjoy it."Moderator
    Posts: 13,999
    It's a bit... underwheling, if you ask me. There have been far better Bond book covers down through the years.
  • Dusty59Dusty59
    Posts: 91
    Yeah, not the most awe-inspiring of covers is it? :-?
  • St_GeorgeSt_George Shuttling Drax's lovelies to the space doughnut - happy 40th, MR!
    Posts: 1,699
    As dublo and others have said, it's rather... rubbish. Less pants than the one before though, so that's something at least... ;)
  • Dusty59Dusty59
    Posts: 91
    Mmm, a move back towards the glory days of the Pan covers wouldn't go amiss.
  • St_GeorgeSt_George Shuttling Drax's lovelies to the space doughnut - happy 40th, MR!
    Posts: 1,699
    Quoting Dusty59: Mmm, a move back towards the glory days of the Pan covers wouldn't go amiss.
    Give that woman a food parcel... :-D
  • BounineBounine
    edited April 2011 Posts: 2,599
    I prefer the grey writing. It looked more stylish as it harmonised better with the grey smoke. It's good that the 007 logo is there but I have never been a fan of the literary logo. Don't like that circle. Anyway, in its entirety, it's on the boring side not unlike the Higson covers. Maybe the paperback version will be more inspired. I just hope it will be a good book, like Higson's Young Bond tales. The fact that Deaver has written in his style, while incorporating the Bond/Fleming elements is encouraging. It would be interesting to know what percentage of the Deaver fan market buys this book - not because it is Bond but because it's a Deaver. I've pre-ordered mine at Amazon.
  • ChuckChuck
    Posts: 212
    I'd have to agree with those that are underwhelmed with the cover art. It was an underwhelming cover before they changed the text color, and that change did help it a bit, but not much. It's still better than the US cover art, although that's not really saying a whole lot.
  • MajorDSmytheMajorDSmythe "I tolerate this century, but I don't enjoy it."Moderator
    edited April 2011 Posts: 13,999
    Quoting Dusty59: Mmm, a move back towards the glory days of the Pan covers wouldn't go amiss.
    I'm quite partial to the girls 'n gun style of the Triad/Granada/Panther covers of the late 1970's/early 1980's, myself. But I wont hold my breath for a return to that style.
  • MI6MI6 Administrator
    edited April 2011 Posts: 677
    A teaser for 007's 21st century literary adventure by American author Jeffery Deaver has been posted to the Amazon.com page for "Carte Blanche".

    The text reads:

    “The face of war is changing. The other side doesn’t play by the rules much anymore. There’s thinking, in some circles, that we need to play by a different set of rules too . . .”

    James Bond, in his early thirties and already a veteran of the Afghan War, has been recruited to a new organization. Conceived in the post-9/11 world, it operates independent of MI5, MI6 and the Ministry of Defense, its very existence deniable. Its aim: To protect the Realm, by any means necessary.

    A Night Action alert calls James Bond away from dinner with a beautiful woman. Headquarters has decrypted an electronic whisper about an attack scheduled for later in the week: Casualties estimated in the thousands, British interests adversely affected.

    And Agent 007 has been given carte blanche.

    Carte Blanche is due to be published by Hodder and Stoughton in the UK, a few days before Fleming’s birthday, on 26th May 2011. It has been commissioned by Ian Fleming Publications Ltd.

    Jeffery Deaver comments, “I’m really excited about being back in Dubai. It is an inspirational and awe-inspiring city and makes a perfect Bond location—especially for a novel that pushes our hero to new extremes.”
  • AgentJamesBond007AgentJamesBond007 Vesper’s grave
    Posts: 2,634
    I like the description. The red text is easier to see than the grey. But the cover still needs work, the smoke and the title isn't going to work.
  • Samuel001Samuel001 Moderator
    Posts: 13,356
    Interesting description. I'm awaiting this book with great anticipation now. Only just over a month to go.
  • bondboy007bondboy007
    Posts: 267
    Looks good. Interested to give this a read, I've had it pre-ordered for close to a year now.
  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
    edited April 2011 Posts: 15,723
    Bond not being part of MI6 seems... odd, IMO.
  • BounineBounine
    edited April 2011 Posts: 2,599
    "Bond not being part of MI6 seems... odd, IMO."

    I don't really like the sound of this either. Unless they meant that it's an independent organisation but SET UP BY Mi6 outside the Vauxhall Cross building. Hope the headquarters are located in a grey, anonymous building overlooking Regents Park.

    The rest excites me though. Bond has always been a part of the official British Secret Service though. I just can't warm to him being part of another organisation. Glad he's in his thirties instead of his twenties!
  • St_GeorgeSt_George Shuttling Drax's lovelies to the space doughnut - happy 40th, MR!
    Posts: 1,699
    @DaltonCraig007 @Bounine I'm not crazy about the sound of that either. Still, best to approach the book with an open mind, eh? Well, probably anyway... ;)
  • saunderssaunders Living in a world of avarice and deceit
    Posts: 987
    I agree with having an open mind being the best approach, but I'm finding it difficult as I haven't found anything positive about this book yet, the covers uninspired, the setting is contemporary, the title is mind numbingly dull, the author's not of English origin (leading me to fear this could be another Raymond Benson (spit!) Americanisation of Bond) and now it seems Deaver is radically altering the Secret Service set up.
    Unlike most I really enjoyed Sebastian Faulks 'Devil May Care' and while not in anyway perfect at least he tried to write both respectfully and in the style of Ian Fleming. If your not going to take that approach why even bother to write a Bond novel at all, you might as well just rename the character and have an original concept.
    Still an open mind is the key, and despite my worries it may surprise me and turn out to be really good, after all I remember before DAD was released thinking that it would be a good Bond film and look how wrong I turned out to be...
  • UndiscoveredCountryUndiscoveredCountry
    Posts: 50
    So is Bond getting his own CTU/IMF/U.N.C.L.E.? That's intriguing, to say the least. I still haven't sampled any of Bond's post-Fleming literary lineage (largely due a skepticism for such tie-ins built up by years of being a fan of the Star Trek and Star Wars franchises, where the novels are usually little better than poor fan fiction), but if Deaver's book is well-reviewed, I might give it a shot.
  • BounineBounine
    Posts: 2,599
    Well, the second trailer is certainly better. I was scared for a minute. I was hoping like hell that young whipper snapper running around wasn't going to be James Bond!
  • MrSpyMrSpy
    Posts: 116
    The 2nd trailer gave me a chuckle.

    I wish they'd've kept the gun in the UK cover.

    The US cover looks like a 45 single from 1985...terrible.
  • MrSpyMrSpy
    Posts: 116
    Wait! No sooner said than I find this:

    http://www.45cat.com/image/026/duran-duran-a-view-to-a-kill-emi.jpg

    Ugh...
  • Gaz1961Gaz1961
    Posts: 117
    UK collectors alert: W. H. Smith are giving away this booklet now - look for a cardboard stand with the "007" logo on it. It's only a few pages long but it's quite an interesting read, and it's worth having for nowt.
    They're disappearing fast though, so you'd better hurry if you want one.
    30-04-2011
  • MrSpyMrSpy
    Posts: 116
    Can someone scan this & post it?
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