Atlan Series Alt Covers

Another run to my favorite local nerdy used bookstore loaded me up with the rest of the Atlan Series—and some alternative covers while I was at it.

The version of The Serpent I bought several years ago was the mass market paperback version which published in 1968. As I’ve already established, it has the above amazing cover.

I can’t entirely articulate why I adore this cover so much. Maybe it’s because her body is realistic, and while the pose is undeniably sexual, it’s not exactly ‘sexy.’ Regardless, I absolutely love it.

Eventually, The Serpent was split into two books: The Serpent and The Dragon. I assume this has something to do with the length of the original Serpent and nothing else because in no way can the story covered in The Serpent be split into two satisfying books. It’s a packaged deal.

Well, today I picked up the version of The Serpent that isn’t the entire story. This copy, published by DAW, came out in 1985. While the cover doesn’t make me inordinately happy like the mass market paperback, I do like it—especially the bird. James Gurney is the cover artist.

Following The Serpent—The full version of The Serpent—is Atlan. Because I’m just a glutton for cover art, I picked up two versions.

The version on the left was published by Paperback Library in 1968, and the version on the right is from First Pocket Books, 1979. I can’t find anything about the cover artist for the Paperback Library version, but a signature on the First Pocket Books version simply says “Boris.”

Note that the one says it’s book #2 and the other #3, due to the splitting of The Serpent.

If you guessed that the cover for my copy of book #3/#4, The City, is from the 1970s—you’re right. First Pocket Books, 1979—cover artist: Boris.

And then finishing it up, Some Summer Lands:

This cover is still First Pocket Books, 1979, but it looks toned down, somehow. I guess the inclusion of a child meant they didn’t feel like they could throw all of their overt sexuality at it with quite the same fervor? Cover artist is still Boris.

After seeing Boris’s name a few times, I decided to figure out who, exactly, he is. Check him out.