Recently, while doing the electronic equivalent of rummaging through my bookish attic I came to the shelf where the covers for The Gathering Of The Lost are stored neatly in their row and was ‘struck all of a heap’ — because, dear readers, I realized that the published version of the UK/AU/NZ cover is not the original version.

I have always liked the The Gathering Of The Lost‘s UK/AU/NZ cover, but when I saw the original version I not only realized that it is different from the published version, but I also remembered how much I loved it when I first saw it. Before I say any more though, here it is, in all its glory:

Now, it’s still very similar to the published cover, which is this:

The main difference is that the “surround” of the final cover has been “blacked out” and the pale blue and the light-burst surrounding Malian seem muted by contrast—although I acknowledge that Malian herself is highlighted more, too, which is probably an improvement on the original. And overall, it’s still a great cover. Nonetheless, I really love the brighter, almost lapis-lazuli blue of the original concept and the contrasting brilliance of the light-burst around Malian. The title lettering seems more silver in effect as well, which I also heart.

Obviously more artistic decisions were made between the initial cover concept and the final look, and probably for very good reasons, such as highlighting the figure of Malian. All the same, having rediscovered the original in the book e-attic, sekretly, I love its overall look just a teensy bit more.