The UK Cover Is Posted Too

You can check it out here at the Leaky Cauldron.

And we thought there was something ominous about the US cover...check this one out! The UK art has always been less subtle and "gives away" more of a story moment. It's interesting art too though, reminds me a bit of a comic book.

The details here are intriguing. We have our trio together, clearly fighting against the enemy. Harry's got a superhero look about him. There's what looks like a dragon's horde of treasure at their feet, and flying all around them. (Any horcruxes there? There are golden cups, anyway...) I get the sense they're being sucked into that circle behind them, like it's some sort of vortex, but that's just an idea.

And I am going to have to rescind my earlier first impressions of the US cover art :-) because I just saw the back cover, also posted at the Leaky Cauldron, which gives us an expanded view of the front cover image.

Harry is clearly on his feet, not flying. He and Voldemort appear to be having a rather public showdown (don't those look like shadowy people in the stands behind them?). Harry is clearly waiting for something -- my new guess is that he has "accio-ed" something and is waiting for it, or is waiting for Fawkes to swoop down with a weapon. I like the latter idea, but would bet it's the former -- note that Voldemort (and it's definitely Voldemort, you can see his long bony fingers and those red slits for eyes under his hood) is also gesturing like he's waiting for something or has accio-ed something.

And note: THEY'RE BOTH WANDLESS. Which could lead us to what seems like a predictable conclusion, that they're waiting for their wands. EXCEPT we know that they can't fight conventionally, with their brother wands -- unless they knowingly choose to deal with priori incantatem, which is a bit hard to believe. Or unless Voldemort has a new wand, and everybody knows about it, including Harry -- remember Ollivander had disappeared as of book 6, and no one really knew where he'd gone or whose side he was on. Even if you believe Ollivander to be a good guy, there is the possibility that he was coerced into tweaking Voldemort's wand or creating a new one altogether.

OK, I've ranged far afield from what's actually available in the cover art. Over to you, Erin -- eagerly awaiting your thoughts!

Edited to add: if you "click to expand" the US back cover image, there are other interesting details. The broken stone or wooden object -- some sort of dais or table? (Made me think of the Stone Table in Narnia, on a smaller scale.)

Oh That Beautiful Cover!

I'm so glad Erin posted the cover to the seventh book! Thanks, Erin! :-) I've been a bit out of the news loop when it comes to the HP world in the past couple of weeks, so this is the first glimpse I've had of it. I was going to leave a comment, but it's been so long since I've had a chance to post here, I thought I'd go ahead and post and provide my first impressions.

Bear in mind these are *very* first impressions: my immediate thoughts upon looking at the cover. I haven't read anybody else's thoughts (except Erin's astute-as-always observations) and I've no clue yet whether or not most HP fans are reacting favorably. Though I confess I will probably treat myself to some time over at the HogPro boards later this week, just to hear the buzz!

My first impression was favorable. I didn't immediately think orange (though you're right, it's pretty orange!) I thought of gold. The first thought of gold, and the immediate first impression that Harry's arm was raised gave me a quick first thought of victory. So that was a positive reaction.

Upon a second look, I too thought the wall behind Harry looked like a coliseum or some sort of ruin. That gave me an ominous feeling, but perhaps it's because I've been reading some on ancient Christian martyrs (so my first thought was Harry against lions or other fearsome creatures, or dying like a martyr)...

But then I looked again. It *could* be a stadium, and I have a sense that Harry's arm is raised not so much in triumph as in seeking. There's something about this picture that has a major quidditch look about it. I agree with Erin -- it's hard to tell if he's standing or flying -- but this picture almost looks like Harry is poised to snatch the golden snitch.

Now that's interesting if it's at all accurate. All of the other Scholastic book covers have given us a glimpse of a scene, usually an important scene, in the story. It's hard to imagine any scenario where Harry could wind up playing Quidditch in book 7 -- and I don't think that they would just give us a symbolic cover (they never have before) although how symbolic that would be! Harry at the end of his quest! Harry snatching at victory! (We hope!)

Oh my. I am officially excited.

The Seventh Cover Revealed!

So I was browsing around MSN today, and I happened upon an intriguing announcement. The cover of the long-awaited seventh Harry Potter book is no longer a mystery! It's orange, which I've always found to be an ominous color, associated with fire and dying grass and leaves and Halloween. Not that any of these are necessarily bad, but... I don't know, I've always gotten a rather unfriendly vibe from orange. So it seems like an appropriate color for a book in which a great many bad things are expected to happen. Otherwise, the cover reveals little. Harry looks like he's in some sort of colosseum or something, unless it's an odd angle of Hogwarts. We only get him from the waist up, so it's not entirely clear if he's walking or hovering high above the ground on a broomstick. I wonder if it might be the latter, since flying is probably Harry's most prominent skill, and maybe in the seventh book he will have an opportunity to use it for something much more important than Quidditch. I guess we'll just have to wait and see!

Leprechauns!

Goodness, has it been a month already? That'll be amended soon. But for now... Hooray for leprechauns! They're such mischievous little blighters; their cheeky nature comes across at the Quidditch World Cup - "The leprechauns had risen into the air again, and this time, they formed a giant hand, which was making a very rude sign indeed at the veela across the field." - and later when their gold disappears before a disgruntled Ron's eyes. I'm trying to think of other mentions in the books and none are springing to mind, but I would think that the Weasleys might make a big deal out of St. Patrick's Day. I wonder how they would celebrate it...