US edition House of chains cover art

[Rane Longfox]

Wow. Finally, a decent US cover!!
New artist did it, Todd Lockwood. Here is what he said about it on the malazan forums:

That's Karsa Oorlong, in the opening scene in which he prays to the gods in the cliff-face.
The cliff face is hardly described in that scene, so I took it upon myself to give it some interest by imagining a reason for there to be war dogs carved on a cliff from times long gone. I entered this series late, and had no opportunity to read the previous books, so if there is a disconnect in the continuity of that cliff face, blame me or blame the editors whose job was to fill me in. But insofar as the descriptions in the opening chapter go, the scene is not inaccurate, just expanded visually. If they are described in greater detail later... well, oops. I honestly cannot read all of every book I illustrate, or I'd have no time to paint! Especially when deadlines are short.

And here it is with the writing and such:

[GOLLUM]

Yep, I think is superior to the UK cover.

[Green]

I think the darker version at the top is better than the UK one, but the actual look of the book below looks a bit wishy-washy. Maybe due to the scanning or something?

Still, not a bad cover

[Dolorous Edd]

really like it, but i perfer the UK version. Love the statues of the Deragoth. It just sums up the whole serious i.e. "F*cking HUUUUUUUUUUGE!"

[Dead Riverdragon]

That guy looks pretty tough, but Karsa Orlong tough? I just don't see it...

[bendoran]

i am reading house of chains at the moment, but where does it say the faces in the rock look like hounds? in the uk cover i always thought they were the hounds of darkness statues , not the faces in the rock. But this definitely implies karsa at the start.

weird

[Green]

It's not really true to the story in the strictest sense, I don't think.

The faces in the rock are not hounds (Karsa's rendition of them in Raraku proves that), and the hounds on the cover of the UK version are the statues of the Deragoth. This cover seems to just blend the two ideas.

[Brys]

I still prefer the UK edition to this. (Just for reference, here it is):


I feel that this tone is a bit darker and more appropriate to the story. There's no denying that both are great pieces of fantasy artwork - I just think that the idea of the Hounds of Darkness is done so much better here - it reminds me exactly of the scene it's meant to depict. The other one, like so much other US Malazan coverart, is great traditional fantasy art but to me seems a bit inappropriate to the series. (The faces in the rock are not the hounds of darkness). The character in it really doesn't seem to suggest Karsa Orlong to me - doesn't have the correct aura of size and strength exuded by Karsa, and he's far too subservient in that pose.

At least they're relatively the same style though, and of the US-unique pieces of artwork, this is by far the best. The top version I wouldn't mind as a cover, the lighter cover though I don't like as much. Not bad enough to put me off, like the US MoI cover, but the truth is I'd be buying that despite the cover, not because of it. For the UK version, I have no problem with it at all. As usual, to me it seems that the US cover represents heroic fantasy while the UK version leaves you in no doubt that it is epic fantasy.

[Rane Longfox]

Ah, but of course at the beginning of House of Chains, Karsa was just a typical Teblor, and was subservient to his gods. It was his father who was the one who thought it was all stupid...

[bendoran]

if you look closely on the uk cover the figure on the left is bald, so clearly indicates trull, yet theres no way thats onrack beside him as trull was taller than the t'lan imass. both have their faults.

i prefer the uk version though!!!