The difference
Over in the comments, Jo Walton
One of which was: Market it as science fiction, or as fantasy?
I couldn’t help wondering, at that time: If people think it’s fantasy, then when those who prefer fantasy realize somewhere down the line that it’s realy science fiction, will they feel cheated? But on the other hand, if people assume it’s fantasy, those who prefer science fiction won’t even pick it up at all!
And won’t this totally screw my sales numbers?
It’s a good question to ask, all these years after the first release. I wonder how much effect that ambiguity did have…
But what happened was this: Del Rey came down on the side of “Market it as SF”:
cover art by Richard Hescox
(See the original on the Northern Arts website, here. Where it is for sale.)
And the British publisher, Pan, went for fantasy:
cover art by John Higgins
(See the version on Higgins’ website, where you’ll have to click it from a list on the left.)
When I asked Pan why they made that choice, they said that they believed that women would especially like the book, and “more women read fantasy”.
That’s what they said, folks.
Anyway, I like both covers, for different reasons.
