Country vs Country - Weather Wardens

Danielle's back and this time round we're going to be talking about Weather Wardens by Rachel Caine (one of my favourite authors).

Joanne Baldwin is a Weather Warden - a member of a shadowy organisation whose job it is to stand between the murderous intentions of Mother Earth and the rest of us.  She an control the weather, but not her fate: she's on the run from her colleagues, accused of the murder of her boss, and at the mercy of the storms she's trying to defeat.  Add in a whirlwind romance with a rogue rebel Djinn, and the forecast is for trouble ... with a chance for Apocalypse.

DANIELLE: This is a series I'm not sure I like the UK covers better for.  I'll admit I don't love the North American covers either.  I find them cartoon-y.  Maybe not cartoon-y, but they look animated.  I like the simplicity of the UK, but I like that her car is on the cover of the NA.  I think for me, round one goes to NA.
JULIE-ANNE: I agree about the US covers looking cartoon-y and the car being involved. Jo's love of cars is a very big part of the entire series so it makes sense that they appear on the cover.  I do prefer the typeface of the title in the UK ones and I like the colour palette better.  Also a little thing that I like is when book series include the book number somewhere on the cover, it just makes it easier to pick up the right one if you're in a book shop looking for new stuff.  UK for me.

D: This one I don't actually like either cover at all.  The UK cover feels a bit cheesy, but the cartoonishness (yes, cartoonishness!) just really turns me off.  It reminds me of the "Choose Your Own Adventure" books from when I was a kid.  If I have to choose though, I think I'll go with NA here. I think.  Maybe
J: As much as I love the UK covers (they're what made me buy the series, well Ill Wind was), this is my least favourite of the series.  I don't know what it is about it, maybe her top?  Maybe the fact that she looks kinda like she's underwater? Who knows! I think US for this one.

D: Again, I don't love either cover but I do prefer the simplicity of the UK cover, VS the cartoon NA cover.  Though I do enjoy the view of Vegas in the background, I think a real picture of it, with a different main part of the cover would have been better.  I'm really not a fan of having faces on book covers, just because I like to get my own impression of the characters, so the UK cover disappoints me that way.  I will choose it over the NA cover here though.
J: I've always loved this UK cover,  I think its her face.  I like her hair and her make-up.  I agree with Danielle on the background of the US one but overall, I'm not a fan of the cover.  UK for this one.

D: The NA cover on this one reminds me a lot of Kim Harrison's A Fistful Of Charms.  I don't mind it though.  I prefer that the model is facing away.  The UK cover model looks a little more like a young adult to me.  I think if I saw this book on the shelf, and had never heard of the series before, I might have assumed it was a YA book.  I think the NA cover wins here for me though, even with the similarity to AFFOC.
J: I've never been a fan of the whole "looking back over my shoulder" thing on book covers.  I do like the background better in the UK one though.  But I think (just for the stance, and maybe the outfit) I'm going to go with US.

D: These two covers are quite similar.  I prefer the fact that the model's face is obscured in the NA cover, and I also like the fire in the back ground better.  I think this round goes to NA for me as well.
J: Danielle's right in that they are similar enough, at least compared to the other books in the series.  I kind of prefer the background in the UK one but I don't like her face.  I'm going to go with UK for this one.

D: I like the colours and the background picture on the UK cover here.  The forest almost feels a little haunted.  I don't like the wet girl facing the camera though.  I think I pick the NA cover for this round as well.
J: I prefer the woman on the US cover but I prefer the background on the UK.  US just ekes the win for this one.

D: All right.  This is where the UK covers changed.  I like the colours and the font of the UK cover here quite a lot.  I don't like the model's makeup, or again, that she's facing the camera.  The NA cover is really dull though.  But I love the car shot.  This is a tough one for me.  I think I'll go with UK just because I really like the colours and the font.  Though I do like the leaves and the car.  Hmm.  It’s a tie!
J: I hated that the UK covers changed here, it bugs me when my books get messed up and the cover change also meant the last 3 books were really delayed in being released over here.  But I'm not here to bitch about that.  I don't like her expression on the UK cover (although I do like the typeface more) so I'm going to go with US here.

D: More with the new and improved UK covers here.  The colours, the font, the storm in the background - all good.  I also think the models face is obscured enough that I don't mind her facing the camera.  The NA cover models outfit is just ... no.  I don't like it for Jo at all.  I don't like her facing the camera.  I don't like this cover much at all.
J: I like that the US cover has a (hint of a) boat on it and I like her expression.  But I think overall, I like the UK one.

D: I love the font and colours on the UK, again.  I like the cover on the whole, save for the model.  I wish she had hair over her face, or was turned away, or something.  The NA cover is very unattractive though.  The colours okay, though they're honestly a little dull.  The model also looks really young.  Though the UK cover model does as well.  I think this round goes to the UK.
J: They're both orange but I prefer the colouring of the UK one.  I actually prefer the whole UK cover over the US.



DANIELLE: I read this series in its entirety, back to back.  It was highly recommended to me by another friend, as this is one of her all-time favourite series.  I enjoyed them quite a bit, though I never fell in love with them.  If I'm going to read Rachel Caine (and I do, frequently.  She's an excellent story teller) I prefer the Morganville series, as well as her Revivalist series.  I didn't read Outcast, simply because I didn't enjoy the Djinn that series is based on, and I didn't love the WW books enough to continue.  I do recommend the Weather Warden series though.  They're fast paced, the characters are likeable (with the exception of some minors).  I wasn't a super fan of how the series ended.  I’ll leave it at that, as I don’t want to give spoilers.  It wasn't a bad ending, just not the one I would have liked.
JULIE-ANNE: I love this series but I have a confession to make - I haven't finished it yet. And I honestly don't know why because I love Jo and David and all the supporting cast, it's just that I've picked up Cape Storm a couple of times but never seem to get very far before a new book or much anticipated book pulls my attention away. Of the covers, I think UK gets my vote by numbers.