Cover Story: Lady Julia Grey series by Deanna Raybourn

Deanna Raybourn has just announced the cover for her next Lady Julia Grey book, Dark Road to Darjeeling, which is due out in October 2010. I am really looking forward to getting my hands on it and seeing what happens next with Julia and Brisbane, and I am excited at the prospect of at least some of the action taking place in India.

The cover is another new direction for this series. We had previously done a Cover Story post for this series a while ago, but this cover is so different again, I thought it would be a fun idea to have a look at the variety of different styles of cover that this series has had. Given that it is only the 4th book in the series, in a way it seems that they are still looking for a direction for the covers, and I hope they find one soon, because a set of matching covers looks so much better sitting on the bookshelf!

So here is the original cover that Silent in the Grave (Mira Books 2007 hardcover)

And then there were the cartoon covers (Mira UK 2008 paperback)

And the Australian cartoon covers (Harlequin trade paperback)

And the there were the half headed woman covers which seemed to have a more romancey feel to them (Mira Paperback 2009)

And now we have the cover for Road to Darjeeling:

I actually do really like this cover. I think it is eye-catching and different from most other historical fiction out there. I do wonder though if it is a nod to the Twilight style covers that it all the rage in other genres. Either way, I really hope that there is going to be a style that the publishers stick with at some point in time.

So, what do you think? Do you like the new cover? Prefer the older ones. Don't like any of them?