100% agree about boring book cover these days. I cannot wrap my head around why many publishers decide to move away from hiring an artist to draw / design an interesting cover like the old times. I understand some books benefit from a minimalistic cover design, but when we are talking about the fantasy / sci fi genre, you would expect somethings interesting to capture reader imagination. The only reason I can think of is that selling physical books is no longer profitable and these days only big names sell books. People will always buy Stephen King’s new book even if there is no cover art while a lesser known author’s book will not not be able to compete even with excellent cover…
I was shocked the last time I went to the book store and saw the new covers for the Wheel of Time books. They removed all the great old fantasy art and replaced it with solid color covers that look so boring I would never pick them up as a new reader.
Some say the devil is dead The devil is dead, the devil is dead Some say the devil is dead And buried in Killarney More say he rose again, Rose again, rose again More say he rose again And joined the British Army
I agree that this book was difficult to read. I feel like you have to approach Lafferty through the lenses of folklore and archaeology. I usually read his novels and short stories 2 or 3 times until I notice something in the layers. I strongly recommend Archipelago which I felt was more 'of a pattern' than The Devil is Dead. I'm sure some Lafferty fans will challenge that assessment. I felt like Archipelago gives a deeper sense of a whole web of thought that can inform The Devil is Dead. I'm not sure I entirely understand either of the books. I have come away from many a Lafferty story or novel not knowing much about plot or story, but more about a felt adventure. It's visceral. Love your review.
Thanks for this thoughtful comment! Lafferty can truly be a tough nut to crack, but almost always worth the effort. I think this is the only book I've read from him, though, that I'm not sure about the effort. :)
Thank you for this review! I have the same feeling about R.A Lafferty! What a weird storyteller. I read Reefs of Earth and found it very funny because I thought the "bad guys" failed at being "bad guys" and there was always something that they did wrong leading to their failure! At the same time, its true that at some point I was just lost in all the story because of the mix of narration style, going from straight deictic narration, to stream of consciousness, to dialogs, poetry and to direct interpellation of the reader! Anyway thanks for the review and I would really like to know more about the cover art of those books because as you were saying nowadays the cover are really dull and I'm wondering why is it so! (Sorry for my broken english, I usually speak french)!
Sure thing! Thanks for watching and commenting. Lafferty is so unique. He’s as tough nut to crack, and even when I’m liking him I’m never sure I’m fully getting him.
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Awesome. I love the synth intro. Those old Ballantine and DAW covers were simply the best. Lafferty is a prophetic madman.
100% agree about boring book cover these days. I cannot wrap my head around why many publishers decide to move away from hiring an artist to draw / design an interesting cover like the old times.
I understand some books benefit from a minimalistic cover design, but when we are talking about the fantasy / sci fi genre, you would expect somethings interesting to capture reader imagination.
The only reason I can think of is that selling physical books is no longer profitable and these days only big names sell books. People will always buy Stephen King’s new book even if there is no cover art while a lesser known author’s book will not not be able to compete even with excellent cover…
I was shocked the last time I went to the book store and saw the new covers for the Wheel of Time books. They removed all the great old fantasy art and replaced it with solid color covers that look so boring I would never pick them up as a new reader.
Some say the devil is dead
The devil is dead, the devil is dead
Some say the devil is dead
And buried in Killarney
More say he rose again,
Rose again, rose again
More say he rose again
And joined the British Army
I agree that this book was difficult to read. I feel like you have to approach Lafferty through the lenses of folklore and archaeology. I usually read his novels and short stories 2 or 3 times until I notice something in the layers. I strongly recommend Archipelago which I felt was more 'of a pattern' than The Devil is Dead. I'm sure some Lafferty fans will challenge that assessment. I felt like Archipelago gives a deeper sense of a whole web of thought that can inform The Devil is Dead. I'm not sure I entirely understand either of the books. I have come away from many a Lafferty story or novel not knowing much about plot or story, but more about a felt adventure. It's visceral. Love your review.
Thanks for this thoughtful comment! Lafferty can truly be a tough nut to crack, but almost always worth the effort. I think this is the only book I've read from him, though, that I'm not sure about the effort. :)
Lafferty was a genius.
Thank you for this review! I have the same feeling about R.A Lafferty! What a weird storyteller. I read Reefs of Earth and found it very funny because I thought the "bad guys" failed at being "bad guys" and there was always something that they did wrong leading to their failure! At the same time, its true that at some point I was just lost in all the story because of the mix of narration style, going from straight deictic narration, to stream of consciousness, to dialogs, poetry and to direct interpellation of the reader! Anyway thanks for the review and I would really like to know more about the cover art of those books because as you were saying nowadays the cover are really dull and I'm wondering why is it so! (Sorry for my broken english, I usually speak french)!
Sure thing! Thanks for watching and commenting. Lafferty is so unique. He’s as tough nut to crack, and even when I’m liking him I’m never sure I’m fully getting him.