Last Act In Palmyra (Falco #6) by Lindsey Davis
I love all the book covers (in this particular style) from the Falco series by Lindsey Davis. I could hardly chose between them which one to insert in this post, so in the end I went with my favourite book in the series. The frescoes really ensure the reader is fully grounded in the Roman world as soon as they pick up the books. I think this is really important because sometimes what is on the outside of a book has nothing to do with what is found inside it. That sort of misrepresentation is annoying…
Anyway, I love frescoes. They provide a window into the past, capturing what otherwise must be left to the imagination. And, perhaps most importantly of all, they make the people of the past appear more real when we are separated from them by such a great spanof time.
I’ve yet to get around to re-reading and thus reviewing Last Act in Palmyra, but you can find my review from earlier books in the series by following the links below:
Sammi Loves Books 
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That’s a pet peeve of mine too, when the book cover gives me the wrong impression of the book and then I’m unnecessarily confused or frustrated for the first however many pages. I like the fresco covers, and yes, I can see how great they’d be for getting the reader into the proper Roman frame of mind.
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It’s so very annoying, and it’s not fair on the author (if it’s a traditionally published book), if the said confusion makes me think negatively about what I’m reading…
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It’s not even always the publisher’s fault if the covers are vague, although come on, they could be more clear in their blurbs. I recently read a book that I had thought would be fantasy short stories, or at least speculative fiction, based on how it had been recommended to me. So I kept being frustrated that it wasn’t actually very speculative (and then kicking myself, and telling myself to just appreciate whatever it was) — and then suddenly there would be a bit of magical realism, but not much. That’s the kind of book that I think has to be described *very* well on the back cover, because it didn’t feel speculative enough for me, but I wonder if it would be seen as “too weird” by readers who thought they were reading a book of “literary”/non-genre short stories. (There are many people out there who just hate anything speculative on principle; I don’t understand their thinking, but I recognize that it exists.)
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Misleading blurbs are worse than misleading covers because someone has taken the time to sell that book in that particular way…
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Like you, I’m a fan of Lindsey Davies, but I have such a terrible memory for titles, without a quick read of the blurb I don’t know whether I’ve read this one.
However, the style of cover design did influence me when I was posting *Neve*, which story features a pre-1066 example of the Bayeau Tapestry. I used the Bayeau-stye for one of the episode graphics.
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“Neve” sounds interesting and so do the episode graphics… 🙂
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And having said about that one, I now can’t find it! Yet I do remember doing it. Hidden somewhere … 🙂
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🙂
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