Who the hell perpetrates sci-fi book covers? Whoever it is, I bet they don't read this kind of literature. Far-fetched? And can you think of a cogent explanation of this overt belittling of the average reader's sense of taste? Don't know about you, but I feel terribly uneasy every single time I pass by The Science Fiction + Fantasy Section of the local bookstore. Wouldn't be seen dead in this creepy area teeming with greasy-haired teenagers wearing combat trousers or heavy boots (or both, god forbid), browsing through cheesy-looking novels. And I myself go for sci-fi quite often.
Being the hopeless aesthete I am, however, I'll think twice before I purchase a book featuring an image of an overmuscular guy clutching a peculiar-looking killing device; let alone a machine in the background, one that I can't even think of a possible application of. Actually, this vivid description concerns the cover of the novel I am currently reading. Be considerate and don't ask why I'm doing this and how I acquired the ownership. The questionable quality of the cover was the only reason for my compulsive reluctance to open the thing, which lasted over two months. And it's quite okay, in the middle there.. Here's another story, once upon a time there was a book I desperately wanted to possess. You already guessed, I suppose: the only problem was that I didn't like the front image (a woman made of icicles, another bunch of icicles behind and the title in acid-pink.. Too tacky, sorry). In the end, I did purchase it, not sure if I would not end up with my eyes gouged out at the sight of it. How delighted I was to find out they didn't have this edition in stock and would send me a different book instead! It was bluish, dignified, perfect. Don't even think of persuading me that a cover makes no difference. It's make-or-break, just like all kinds of first impressions.
Pushing it further, I believe that the poor quality of covers is detrimental for sci-fi as a genre. I know it's called a subgenre and a well-earned scapegoat for critics. But I don't blame them, do you? The truth is that science fiction literature will not be given the approbation it deserves as long as the recklessness of the designers and frolicsome overgeneralisations regarding the average reader's profile go unpunished. The cover of a book is a promise and its judgement is a kind of foreplay. What do we call a sexual intercourse without foreplay again? Surrogate? Rape?
The strangest-looking sci-fi book I've ever bought was one with a plain cover. A one-off, a relict. No aggressive pictures putting me off, no bright colours generating visual disorders. Instead, the unique modesty characteristic of true art. Do I have to say it's been an object of my affection since the very first encounter? Readers will always judge books by their covers. Go ahead, call me shallow. I read sci-fi, I'm used to it.
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