Mistborn Paperbacks 2019
Brandon’s art director Isaac here. The Mistborn series book covers have had a colorful history of different illustrations: the beautiful originals by Jon Foster, Chris McGrath’s iconic renditions that we can probably thank for some of the paperbacks’ success over the years, and of course let’s not forget Sam Weber’s fantastic covers for the young adult editions. Then there was that one cover with the grim reaper. Yeah, we don’t talk much about that one.
Book design, just like fashion and automotive design, goes through phases. Thankfully we’re not quite getting a different “book look” with each season of the year, but the way a book cover is illustrated and designed can definitely tell you about how long it’s been on the market.
Sometime last year, we got into a discussion with Brandon’s agent Joshua about the Mistborn mass market covers. They’ve been on the paperback books for over a decade now, and it was time for a refresh. This is a testament to the Mistborn series’ longevity that it’s stayed in print long enough to even need new covers!
After a few brainstorming sessions, we were drawn to some of the symbolic book cover illustrations that Sam Weber has done recently. His work on Robert Jackson Bennett’s Divine Cities trilogy is beautiful. (Please note, City of Stairs is one of my favorite fantasy books ever. It’s got more swears than Brandon’s books, so be aware of that, but oh man, can I get a leatherbound version of it someday, please?) Sam’s work for Kiersten White’s And I Darken series has resulted in some of my favorite book covers in any genre in any era. And have you seen his painting for Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology? Wow! And Sam’s cover for the YA version of Mistborn clearly showed that he really groks the series. So we asked Tor if Sam was available. We cheered when he was.
Here are the results. Symbolic paintings that hopefully convey the feeling of each of the books in the series. We hope these will reach across genres and capture readers’ attention. We hope they will stand out on the shelves and woo new readers at airports. Ultimately, we also hope the fans will like them. Hats off to Tor, and to Sam Weber, for putting these together. You have done the Cosmere a great service.
One more thing to note, Tor has redesigned the interiors of the mass market reissues, basing the text on the preferred versions found in our Dragonsteel leather editions. The result is a clean, very readable text, with fixes for the few typos and continuity glitches we’ve discovered over the years.
Please enjoy!
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Oh wow. The Hero of Ages one is particularly awesome!
Wow such a great choice in artist! Sam Weber is absolutely one of my favourites. His Ken Liu book covers are also gorgeous.
Where will they be available? I'm always hesitant with buying newer editions from anywhere but bookstores, because sometimes sites update the cover image upon purchase, but do not ship what they show.
Wait, there's a YA version of Mistborn?!
Chris wrote: "Wait, there's a YA version of Mistborn?!"Abomination!
Alderlv wrote: "Chris wrote: "Wait, there's a YA version of Mistborn?!"Abomination!"
Is it really so bad for teens to read these books?
Jon wrote: "Alderlv wrote: "Chris wrote: "Wait, there's a YA version of Mistborn?!"Abomination!"
Is it really so bad for teens to read these books?"
I was just surprised that there would need to be a special edition for YA. Nothing about the original book seemed to me to be particularly inappropriate for that age group
Ricardo wrote: "Oh wow. The Hero of Ages one is particularly awesome!"I absolutely second that opinion. Fantastic!
The content was not different, just the covers were different to appeal to multiple markets.Chris wrote: "Jon wrote: "Alderlv wrote: "Chris wrote: "Wait, there's a YA version of Mistborn?!"
Abomination!"
Is it really so bad for teens to read these books?"
I was just surprised that there would need t..."
I feel like I'm okay if the covers are the only thing that is different. I've had a hard time with the industry not classifying Mistborn as YA. The series focuses around a teenage protagonist. I feel like the book industry would classify it as YA if the author was female. I'm a book seller, so I understand that it is easier to sell books to teens in their own section, but it feels to me like male sci-fi fantasy authors are all in the sci-fi/fantasy section and female sci-fi/fantasy authors are all the the YA section. I don't think this is the authors' faults, but marketing and sexism in our society.
Anyway, rant over, I really like the new covers.
Sierra wrote: "The content was not different, just the covers were different to appeal to multiple markets.
Chris wrote: "Jon wrote: "Alderlv wrote: "Chris wrote: "Wait, there's a YA version of Mistborn?!"
Abom..."
Tommy wrote: "Ricardo wrote: "Oh wow. The Hero of Ages one is particularly awesome!"
I absolutely second that opinion. Fantastic!"
Elizabeth wrote: "I feel like I'm okay if the covers are the only thing that is different. I've had a hard time with the industry not classifying Mistborn as YA. The series focuses around a teenage protagonist. I fe..."The age of the protagonist doesn't determine the publishing category, otherwise Ender's Game would be middle grade.
Exactly, he is a male protagonist written by a male author. Same with Ready Player One. If you're a teenage girl in a book written by a woman you're shelved in YA.
Elizabeth wrote: "Exactly, he is a male protagonist written by a male author. Same with Ready Player One. If you're a teenage girl in a book written by a woman you're shelved in YA."No, that's not it either.... It's more the feel of the book that determines where it goes. Middle grade tends to be more lighthearted, but still deals with heavy emotional topics more often that I ever get used to, while still being simple to read and comprehend.
YA almost always has a romantic interest. Almost always. There are some exceptions, but usually YA is either action-packed fantasy or dystopian with a romance, be it a love triangle, a forbidden relationship, or just two normal people being obsessed with each other. There are also books that take place in modern times with modern people and modern problems. They usually feel more exciting, like emotional roller coasters.
Adult is very polarized. The vast majority is romantic disgustingness but there are also a huge variety of mysteries, thrillers, fantasy that is typically denser than necessary and sometimes hard to follow, as well as others. I feel like one thing that distinguishes adult fiction is that they don't shy away from the harsher ideas or themes, whereas YA does very much of the time.
They each have benefits and drawbacks. The age or gender of the characters has nothing to do with it.
I'll agree that Ender's Game doesn't have much romance. But Ender's Shadow, Ready Player One, and Dune have very strong romantic interests, teenage characters, emotional roller coasters, one could argue that all three are in dystopian futures. I agree that books are not shelved only upon age and gender, but it is a huge factor.
Why aren't there more female authors and characters in sci/fi/fantasy? Why aren't there more male authors and characters in YA? YA feels (and yes, I'm using feels) like it is for teenage girls, not for teenagers. Sci-fi/fantasy does have some great female characters and authors, but tends to be very male dominated.
It would be interesting to get authors perspectives on this, but I'm pretty sure unless you're John Green it is hard to get a YA book deal if you're a man and I'm pretty sure it is harder to get "adult sci/fi/fantasy" book deals if you're a woman.
I do think Ender's Game, Ender's Shadow (and it's sequels) should be shelved with middle school books. Now that's harder with The Book of the Dead and Xenocide, but I still feel a middle schooler could read them. I think Mistborn will fit right in with the YA section. From what I've seen of the Throne of Glass it should be shelved in the fantasy (adult) section.
I can't think of a YA book that doesn't have a teenage protagonist. I'm sure there is one, but I can't think of it.
Elizabeth wrote: "I'll agree that Ender's Game doesn't have much romance. But Ender's Shadow, Ready Player One, and Dune have very strong romantic interests, teenage characters, emotional roller coasters, one could ..."But the book isn't YA because the protagonist is a certain age, the characters are a certain age because people of that age are the target audience. Ender's Game isn't middle grade, Even though he's under fifteen the entire book. The mature themes and philosophical messages are very much adult, if only because kids in elementary school won't be able to understand what's happening.
In YA, most of the readers are teenage girls, so most authors writing for that audience write from the perspective of someone that age. But I can think of several adult books that star teenage girls, and they aren't YA.
