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Dec 14

Everyone loves robot limbo!Click for full image

MisterBOB’s Art Direction: Make the armour shiny… it’s a David Drake book!
Published 1991

Actually, that cover IS a classical work of art!I would touch it without protective gloves.I've seen worse. Far, far, worse.Interesting, but I would still read it in public.Middlng: Neither awful nor awfully goodWould not like to be seen reading that!Awful... just awful...That belongs in a gold-lame picture frame!Gah... my eyes are burning! Feels so good!Good Show Sir! (Average: 7.36 out of 10)
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30 Responses to “Northworld – Vengeance”

  1. THX 1138 Says:

    Do I spy a 3D cover? It’s the future of reading! Or is it actually a pop-up book?

  2. Jaouad Says:

    I have all kinds of questions, seeing this cover. But the most pressing one is: who won the twist contest?

  3. Phil Says:

    I’m afraid our robots aren’t tought enough to withstand robot-to-robot combat. Better give them shields.

    Loving the embossing.

  4. Phil Says:

    TOUGH. I meant TOUGH. Sorry.

  5. Adam Roberts Says:

    Snow, Christmas trees, battling contortionist silver robots — it’s what this time of year is all about.

  6. Simon Says:

    Is one belabouring the other with a red liquorice shoelace?

  7. Adam Roberts Says:

    Simon: You’ve slipped into your Jeeves voice. ‘Is one belabouring one’s enemy with a red liquorice shoelace, sir? It’d not the done thing, I’m afraid.’

  8. Michael Toland Says:

    And somehow yet another artist with no knowledge of basic anatomy gets work.

  9. Muttley Says:

    If that’s a “laser beam” why is it bent around the edge of the other guys shield?

    If it’s a staff of some kind, how is he holding it?

    This cover definitely needs the wtf tag

  10. A.R.Yngve Says:

    King Arthur: “Who are you?”
    Shiny Knight With Broken Anatomy #1: “We are The Knights who say BAEN!”
    King Arthur: Not — not The Knights who say Baen!”
    Shiny Knight With Broken Anatomy #2: “The same!!”

  11. Dave Van Domelen Says:

    The premise of Northworld is that there’s these high-tech dimension-traveling sorts with really good power armor who have set themselves up as the Scandinavian gods in a parallel Earth (discovered by a guy named North, hence Northworld). Yes, that’s an energy beam, and it’s supposed to be glancing off the shield, but the angle is so shallow it’s hard to tell.

  12. A.R.Yngve Says:

    In other words: Americans get to rule Scandinavia.
    A plot premise that didn’t win David Drake a whole lot of Scandinavian readers!

  13. Yoss Says:

    Laser beam, schmaser beam. That’s a highly advanced robo form of the “pull my finger” gag if I ever saw one. And the other robot is juuuuust about to fall for it.

  14. SI Says:

    Transformers playing jump rope! Wow.

  15. Alessandra Kelley Says:

    Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots
    Rode forth from Camelot …

  16. Anti-Sceptic Says:

    It looks like the two robots were about to shake hands, but then the one on the left pulled his hand away and decided to trip the other robot by sticking his leg out. The one on the left looks like he is trying to squirt some ketchup at the other robot as he’s falling….Silly robot (on left), doesn’t he know that the other’s shield is made of titanium? No amount of ketchup is going to put a dent in that thing. What was he thinking!

  17. Anti-Sceptic Says:

    I meant the one on the RIGHT pulled his hand away.

  18. Tat Wood Says:

    Shame, in a way, that this was a one-off. If they’d done a sequel it would have had to have included robots going around with knotted hankies on their heads (and maybe a Peter Greenaway crossover) http://www.visitsuffolk.com/suffolk-places/southwold/

  19. A.R.Yngve Says:

    “The premise of Northworld is that there’s these high-tech dimension-traveling sorts with really good power armor who have set themselves up as the Scandinavian gods in a parallel Earth”…

    …and behind it lurks the hidden premise: That David Drake fans are such manly tech-gods, they would be accepted as rulers by Vikings.
    But of course they would… right, Olaf? Sven? Nils? Anyone?

  20. anon Says:

    @Muttley: That’s a rubber band attached to the fir on the right. It’s bent because the other robot is touching it with its shield.

  21. Anna T. Says:

    The Northworld Robot Knight Dance Contest Finals

  22. James SAUNDERS Says:

    The Northworld Trilogy by author David Drake (originally published by Ace Books circa 1990 through 1992 namely; Northworld, Justice, and Vengeance respectively) are my all time favorite works of Science Fantasy fiction (see reference #1 below) bar none. David describes the origins of his works on his site (reference #2) for those who are interested to read. He is an amazing author with a lifetime of many successful publications and an endless wealth of unique imagination. Additionally he is very personable, does his best to make himself available to his fans, answers an astonishing amount of questions, does public appearances, and values human equality. All characteristics I admire in an author let alone a person. The vast majority of comments in this thread on a serious note clearly show immaturity and ignorance yet on a lighter note are definitely smirk worthy, perhaps even the occasional full on smile. I’d encourage those who poke fun to also include a compliment, but too each their own.

    References:

    #1 – Wikipedia definition Science Fantasy – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_fantasy
    #2 – Origins overview by author – http://david-drake.com/2000/northworld/
    #3 – Gift to haters – https://www.dictionary.com/browse/humility

  23. Tag Wizard Says:

    @James SAUNDERS – Always happy to share a compliment. How about “David Drake has the most annoying fanboys”.

    This is an art forum about book cover illustrations. Why do you assume we actually read these things? Shouldn’t you be on Amazon arguing with the one-star reviewers?

  24. Bibliomancer Says:

    I would like to compliment David Drake on having a disproportionate number of book covers on this blog.

  25. B.Chiclitz Says:

    I would like to compliment David Drake for having a better command of the English language than his fans. “Endless wealth of unique imagination”? (Unless, of course, that’s his line.) No harm meant, Mr. Saunders; you just don’t quite get the endless wealth of unique GSS going around here.

  26. GSS ex-noob Says:

    Yeah, he values human equality so much he attends a convention that deliberately does NOT enforce a code of conduct.* Con staff and their friends are exempt from any punishment.

    Pull the other one, SAUNDERS, it’s got bells on.

    I would like to compliment David Drake for being a pretty good writer, and thus he’d presumably be able to easily discern that this website is about the covers of books and not the content. Heck, he could insult us in fluent Latin, except he’s smart enough to avoid engaging with goofball humor sites instead of stomping in over 7 years late with embarrassing pseudo-intellectual butt-hurt.

    No sweat, Dave; we won’t hold this pouty fanboy against you, and I hope he didn’t embarrass you too much.

    I would also like to compliment David Drake for understanding capitalization rules, which SAUNDERS apparently doesn’t. Or is it supposed to represent how loudly James says his own last name?

    Doesn’t poor Roger Hargreaves have embarrassing fanboys who scour the net for “insults” to his artwork?

    *I’m sure the Vietnamese he interrogated during the Late Unpleasantness of the 1960’s felt real respected too.

  27. Bruce A Munro Says:

    Fan grumbles aside, I gotta say this looked a lot better in my memory, with some sort of (still shiny and embossed) flying battle bike or some such, with lasers going off and zooming towards the viewer, rather than two clumsily rendered robots or men in battle armor fighting over a huge piece of strawberry licorice. Am I remembering another book in the series?

  28. GSS ex-noob Says:

    @Bruce: I believe you’re thinking of the last in the trilogy, which had a flying laser platform zooming towards the viewer. Much less naff.

  29. Emster Says:

    1. thoroughly enjoyed the banter on this one.

    2. @ARY #12 – still fresh a decade later – GSS (anything Monty Python-esque sends me into a fit of giggle-snorts)

    3. If those are knights instead of battlebots, I sure hope their suits are heated, otherwise brrrrrrrrrrr, they’re wrapping that fight up early to go home for hot chocolate and a blankie by the fire.

    4. Don’t take this cover outside on a sunny day, you’ll burn holes in your retinas.

  30. GSS ex-noob Says:

    I was reading this over and thought “Did I tell off that SAUNDERS prat back in the day? I should have.”
    Good job, 2019 me. (Stock up on hand sanitizer. Trust 2023 me.)

    This is far from his best work, so anyone who says it’s his favorite and goes around lecturing random web sites (with footnotes!) has bad taste and needs to get a life. 🤓⬅ SAUNDERS.

    @Emster: Not sure if these are guys in suits or bots. Presumably if they’re guys with sooper-science armor, it’s heated. Although if they’re setting themselves up as Norse gods, why do they look so late-medieval? Why not get force-fields and wear the traditional outfits?

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