53. Latest Harry Potter Excitement

Here's the cover art for the new front cover of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I found it over at ShelfTalker (a lovely blog thanks to the folks at Publisher's Weekly). My first reaction is that Harry is playing tennis--he's just tossed his ball into the air to serve an ace.

But wait-here's the full cover as it wraps around the book.



It's an odd assortment of images. The curtains at each end make it look like a stage play. The arched structure in the background looks Roman, and like a stage set. The orange sky looks both uplifting, like dawn, and troubling, like rampant fire. The dementer (or inferi? or is it Lord Voldemort with red eyes?) [ed. OKAY, it's official, it's Lord Voldemort] on the left seems to be reacting to something other than Harry, not threatening Harry. And Harry's arm in the air still seems ridiculous.

I wonder what the splintered wood in the foreground is--it seems incongruous, unrelated to the curtains or the stone arches. And are the shadows in the background a throng of observers, spectators? They add to the feeling that this is "staged."

I wish the characters were relating to each other or something in the picture. And I wish that Daniel Radcliffe's image hadn't worked it's way into the GrandPre vision of Harry. ED. I just noticed that Harry has something around his neck--the locket? or something else?

I think this cover will grow on me, though. I like the orange vibrancy.



And there's this--the book cover to be released in the UK.



Harry looks like he has buck teeth (maybe we do need the Daniel Radcliffe version after all!). Hermione looks like a floozy. And Ron's red hair isn't (red). And they, too, are reacting to something outside the cover. (Or have they been sucked into a vault at Gringott's?) Perhaps that's a stylish innovation, but it doesn't work for me.

So I'm happier with the "American" cover art. Although, I do also like this "adult" cover for the UK (although I think the locket should be gold, not silver).

And I can't wait to read the books. Seeing the cover art is exciting. It makes the book's imminent appearance all that more real.