I think it's because they want the books to fit in with the other supernatural/urban fantasy books out there.

Simon | January 23, 09:40 CET

I think it's licensing. You have to pay to use the logo, the term "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" with the font they use, etc. They had the licensing for original work, but these are reprints, so I would guess they would need to approach Fox re cover art again.

gossi | January 23, 09:41 CET

They look pretty stylish.

Allycat | January 23, 11:27 CET

Redesigned for the Twilight generation

fivebyfivefaith | January 23, 11:34 CET

I guess we really are old.

curlymynci | January 23, 11:38 CET

A pedant writes:

The correct plural of "Omnibus" is "Omnibuses". It comes from the dative plural of the Latin "Omnis", All, and literally means "for all". The OED calls "Omnibi" 'an assumed or (humorously) confected ‘plural’ of classical Latin omnibus, after Latin plurals in -i'.

mr_waterproof | January 23, 12:58 CET

Yep, people already said it -- shameless pitch to make them reminiscent of the "Twilight" series covers. Foxtrot Foxtrot Sierra, again.

KingofCretins | January 23, 15:18 CET

KingofCretins: So true.

But as many of the books as I do have, I don't think I have those (except Halloween Rain apparently) and they are still really pretty (I'm kinda shallow sometimes for the pretty) so I kind want those.

druzilla | January 23, 15:31 CET

Sigh, not commenting on the new cover art...

But I do remember when the original series of novels were first released. I think I was around 8 or 9 at the time and already a Buffy fanatic. I saw an ad in a magazine for the novels and demanded that I be taken to every book store, while we were on vacation in Florida, until I found them all. I was a bit of a bitch as a child.

Knuckleball | January 23, 16:40 CET

But you're okay now, right? :)

Seriously though, I rather like the cover art for both, and they mostly remind me of the style of the Chosen Collection DVD set.

kungfubear | January 23, 17:35 CET

that cover is super pretty as said above. to be honest all of those old novel covers (as well as comic covers) are pretty cheesy looking. i'm digging this new look.

Cazador | January 23, 19:09 CET

mr_waterproof, thank you for being the Latin pedant in my absence.

Kiba | January 23, 20:15 CET

I remember, 10 years ago, reading 'Coyote Moon' and 'Halloween Rain' (and aaaaall the others) on the way to school. It's quite tricky to read and walk, but that's how in love with Buffy I was. Strange to think that it's all being re released with a different edge to it; lovely to realise that it's still so relevant to people.

fivebyfivefaith | January 23, 20:47 CET

There were probably red candles at some point in the series that I'm forgetting, but is that pendant a prop from a certain ep ? It doesn't look like Spike's/the big gaudy Wolfram & Hart resurrecting-necklace-thing, but maybe from another ep ? Doesn't look like Anya's green Vengeance Demon pendant either, or what I vaguely remember Halfrek's looking like.

Oh whatever, these aren't even canon and I'm not as much caring about the covers as I would for comic books where art is part of the contents.

Kris | January 23, 20:54 CET

Well...I personally have zero issues with the covers for the re-releases, but I wasn't super-obsessive about tie-in books for IPs like Buffy or Star Wars or Star Trek having certain kinds of cover art.

Honestly, while I've only ever glanced at the pre-film release versions of Twilight books' cover art, I find them only vaguely similiar. Plus, the Harry Potter series did it as well (and maybe first?), with Bloomsbury or Scholastic releasing versions of the series with rather stylistic art on the cover instead of the "regular" drawn art representations of Harry & co. on their adventures. Something about keeping adults obsessed with the series from getting teased ;)

BlueEyedBrigadier | January 23, 21:24 CET

Perhaps these public transport friendly new releases are an excuse for me to start legitimately re-reading all that crap...

fivebyfivefaith | January 23, 21:34 CET

I think they look awesome, I really like them.

Allen Doyle | January 23, 22:54 CET

I'm absolutely okay with them trying to appeal to teenage girls/older women who particularly dug Twilight and it's relatively stylish IMO so I don't mind the covers really changing the logo does bother me a bit. I'll accept that thing about not wanting to pay for licensing the logo though it seems pretty silly for both sides since presumably they'd both want to keep up brand familiarity.

I'm not sure if I read any of these books in particular but most of the ones I remember seeing all had photo covers that didn't particularly reflect the content within (whether focusing on the right characters or even if their wardrobe corresponded with the right season) so I'm okay with this more abstract imagery.

That said, it really irked me when I saw things in the common domain reprinted like Romeo and Juliet or Wuthering Heights to try and market themselves with that exact same style of stark imagery.

orangewaxlion | January 23, 22:58 CET

Point taken and appreciated, Mr. Waterproof. As something of a pedantrist myself, I am in complete sympathy with your observation.

However, for the sake of simplicity, I opted to use what seems to have become the more common phrase these days for omnibus plural. It may not be good English, but its found its niche nonetheless (see also normalcy and agreeance).

For what it's worth, in their communications with me, Simon & Schuster have described the books with the terms "collections" and "bind-ups", so I can stick with either of those in the future. :)

Shiai | January 24, 00:27 CET

I like the covers, actually. I believe I have already read all the novels collected in the two volumes, but that has been a long time ago so I think it would be fun to go back and revisit them in collected form. I plan on getting these because I am a shameless fool for anything Buffy. lol. Does anyone know how many volumes they are planning to release?

Jossfan_21 | January 24, 06:20 CET

Jossfan 21, the publisher said they'd like to do more...provided, of course, the first two sell well.

Shiai | January 24, 07:43 CET

ouch, English degree and I used "omnibi" in a sentence just this week. (Ducks under desk) so, novels worth reading? I found in other fandoms not so much, but Buffy is always the ego to the id.

hopitopia | January 24, 13:13 CET

I really like these! They look to me like they could be the original covers to the lost (nonexistent) books that Buffy was based on.

nathanieletc | January 24, 19:16 CET

I really like these new covers.. they're very pretty. :D

a little pez witch | January 24, 21:56 CET

Simon & Schuster is now listing the first volume to be released in June, rather than the originally announced month of May (no specific date yet). The second book remains listed for August.

[ edited by Shiai on 2010-01-25 03:56 ]

Shiai | January 25, 03:56 CET