Re: (Space Opera) You Sexy Thing by Cat Rambo

On Fri, 24 May 2024 19:34:28 +0200, D <nospam@example.net> wrote:

On Thu, 23 May 2024, John Savard wrote:

I was, however, surprised that the cover of the novel was not what I
expected.

Same here. What a missed opportunity, with that name!

Well, for one thing, the author, Cat Rambo, is presumably a woman,
with Cat being short for Catherine.

So I wouldn't go so far as to say that they _missed an opportunity_,
as it's entirely possible that the only opportunity they missed, in
this day and age, was one to shoot themselves in the foot.

None the less, the history of science fiction covers, from the 1930s
to at least the 1980s, if not beyond, is so filled with covers that
follow the proverb "sex sells" that I did do a search to see if other
editions of this novel had different covers, with James Nicoll simply
choosing the one he was more comfortable with, as it showed more
respect for women.

But no, that was the only cover, there was no edition with the more
conventional style of cover - generaously proportioned women in
stereotypical pirate costumes adapted slightly to space rather than
the open sea, with plenty of cleavage.

But since the book was apparently written by a woman, perhaps its
contents were such that that kind of cover would attract entirely the
wrong audience for the book. Perhaps it focuses on the protagonist's
feelings rather than being escapist adolescent adventure.

John Savard