Mar 01
Click for larger imageRyan Comments: Did the cover artist blunder into the Adult section of the Ren Fair?
Published 1998
(Average: 3.95 out of 10)
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Ryan Comments: Did the cover artist blunder into the Adult section of the Ren Fair?
Published 1998
(Average: 3.95 out of 10)Loading...
(9.25 out of 10) (9.18 out of 10) (9.01 out of 10) (8.97 out of 10) (8.93 out of 10) (8.93 out of 10) (8.93 out of 10) (8.92 out of 10) (8.88 out of 10) (8.88 out of 10)
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March 1st, 2022 at 9:15 am
Did you say “That sword is longer than your legs. So how does it fit in the scabbard?”
March 1st, 2022 at 10:07 am
Well, as a companion piece to the volume DID YOU SAY HUNKS? it works fine.
You know, that other book that Baen published… what? You’re saying they didn’t?
Strange…
March 1st, 2022 at 12:00 pm
BAEN didn’t want to appear too over the top on this one, which surprises me. One half T/half A model instead of two models, one full T/ one full A. If they didn’t want to spring for two, Raven – Swordsmistress of Chaos and a mirror would have done the job. That title deserved an historically inappropriate cover.
March 1st, 2022 at 1:48 pm
What’s he taking pictures of? Macro images of her belly button? There’s probably a web site for that, but still…
March 1st, 2022 at 2:28 pm
Ren Faire?
More like Baen Fare…
March 1st, 2022 at 2:45 pm
Ren Faires have adult sections? How have I missed this?
March 1st, 2022 at 3:58 pm
Someone may have had an idea to satirise the way lady warriors are shown in impossible positions to display all their assets at once (as GS ex-noob will attest). But the Martin Short-style photographer is in the wrong position and the prospective buyer is still ‘treated’ to a ginge mooning him and looking over her shoulder.
(I say ‘him’ advisedly).
And both parties on the cover are looking at someone other than us so it’s not us who are being rebuked. This looks like a slimy have-your-cake-and-eat-it ploy by the publishers.
March 1st, 2022 at 4:40 pm
After the success of Barbarella Roger Vadim tried to convince Jane Fonda to stake her career on the sword-and-sorcery genre. Luckily, after a few bad publicity stills, she demurred.
March 1st, 2022 at 5:13 pm
This is totally. . . [sees Baen logo] an admirable example of self restraint.
March 2nd, 2022 at 5:21 am
These are actually pretty good books, but cover-wise… welp, look at the publisher.
I actually find the font abuse more offensive than the warrior chick! I think it illustrates one of the short stories, where a woman who’s the star of a TV show that is absolutely *nothing like* Xena 😉 travels to Faerieland to make an episode for them while a writer’s strike is on.
The fact that the series as a whole is mostly written by (and bought by) women, and many of the stories are heavily satiric and making fun of this sort of thing is lost on the average consumer of this product. Which is why this cover is restrained by the standards of BAEN!!!boobsbuttbadfonts.
Presumably the “real” woman in the story has a normal spine, and I like how the guy is an ugly little perv instead of their usual manly man with guns.
The back cover and spine are exactly the same color as the word CHICKS. Maybe a touch brighter.
They don’t publish these lately — I guess their remaining audience doesn’t find it stupid enough and there aren’t any guns. The final story in this book features a sci-fi con panel wherein the villainous men are racist, sexist, homophobic terrible writers; maybe it hit too close to home?
@JuanPaul: That’s after it closes, the punters go home, and the people who work there and are camping out break out the booze and drugs. I have heard tales.
March 3rd, 2022 at 12:34 am
I think Mr. Pervtographer is pretty esoteric – taking extreme close-ups of her left wrist isn’t quite as erotic as he’d like it to be….
March 31st, 2022 at 4:08 am
Actually read this book because, well, the cover was over the top awful. Was hopeful for a hidden gem amongst the wreckage. As I recall, one story was “accidentally time travelled and became warrior princess”. Cover is appropriate, and in this case, the “awfuller” the better.
August 18th, 2023 at 12:59 pm
@JuanPaul: I read an article about the fact that ren faires do, indeed, have adult sections.
They are a result of many of the vendors there making various leather goods, including whips and leather clothing. Enterprising vendors realized that they might as well start catering to the bondage crowd. Those goods are usually kept out of sight in adults-only tents.
August 20th, 2023 at 12:36 am
@Tor: Can also attest to that from the leather workers, I knew one for a couple of years in the 80s. All hush-hush and profitable.
I still don’t think there’s sleazy magickal dwarves and women who have spines that bend that way at Ren faires. But that’s more a matter of physics than what goes on after closing time.
Speaking of this publisher, one of their assistant editors lied about the Nebula Awards process (and/or fell for a photoshop and spread the lie; I forget) last spring, which engendered even more dislike. And then he also threatened the lives of Kevin Smith and Joss Whedon, which — brace yourself — actually got him banned from Twitter. Which nobody thought happened any more.
Evidently the book he was doing this on behalf of is actually good, but after this debacle, it’s missed even the long list of all subsequent awards. Everyone’s sorry for the author.
Ultimate kicker: He’s also a publicist. Yes. A PR blunder of massive proportions, from a publicist. And he still has his job!
There is wondering afoot if they’ll still get their (US/Canada only) physical distribution, which has been handled by Simon and Schuster the whole time. Since S&S has been bought by one of those vulture capitalist conglomerates to get asset-stripped. It would be real easy for them to cut off a PR nightmare that can’t be making any money to pump up the bottom line/stock price. Even though vulture capitalists don’t mind their content.