Book Traveling Thursdays: A New-to-You Author

It’s time for another Book Traveling Thursdays! This week we are to choose a new-to-you author that you discovered this year. That new-to-me author is Ursula K. Le Guin. Because I read and loved her novella, Paradises Lost, I’m choosing the anthology I found it in: The Birthday of the World and Other Stories.

Paradises Lost is about losing innocence and keeping secrets. To be more specific, a ship was sent from Earth to find a new planet six lifetimes away that might be inhabitable for human life. The book follows the lives of two people who are supposed to be elderly by the time they reach the new Earth. They grow up as the rising sect of Angels grows stronger and more popular. The Angels believe that they’re already in Heaven, so landing on this new planet will take them to Hell.

Most of my judgment about content is going to be based on Paradises Lost since I haven’t read anything else in the anthology.

Book Traveling Thursdays is a weekly meme, created by Danielle at Danielle’s Book Blog and Catia at The Girl Who Read Too Much to compare covers from around the world. It’s now hosted by Lauren at Comma Hangover. Based on the theme of the week, you pick a book and post the original cover, the cover from your country, your favorite cover, and your least favorite cover. If you would like to participate or find out more, check out the Goodreads page!

Original Cover

This cover is okay. People are going to a “new” planet, so a view of a person and the sun is alright. It’s also an American cover.

A U.S. Cover

All this cover is is a blue tone of the original cover, but I like the blue tone more. It strikes me as new and pure, like the idea of the new planet they’re heading to in Paradises Lost.

Favorite Cover

This is the Chinese cover. This cover is stunning, especially for fitting Paradises Lost. It shows what might be the ship and the darkness and void that scares the Angels. Actually, it scares me too. The color scheme also emphasizes that the Angels are trying to make this a good-vs-evil narrative to life, that it’s Heaven in the ship and Hell outside of it. This cover actually takes me back to the novella and makes me want to reread it.

Least Favorite Cover

This cover looks dated and cheesy to me. Yes, it’s sci-fi. Yes, at least one work in the anthology takes place in outer space. But does it have to be this supernova with a face over it? I’m not even sure that this happens in any of the stories.

>^..^<

Who is one author that you discovered this year? Which of their books introduced you to them? Have you had a chance to read anything else they wrote?