| The Drowned World causes endless problems to cover illustrators, provoking some of the most tedious and literalistic of Ballard's covers, though the story itself is intensely visual, with its arabesques of crocodiles, luxurious penthouse suites sinking into water and decay, and endless, dripping jungles. Set in a world no longer fighting its apocalypse, with scientists and privateers fighting pointless rearguard actions against a world sinking back into the primaeval, The Drowned World is the wildest of the Apocalypse books, combining the cruelty of The Drought with the intellectual strangeness of The Crystal World. Penguin opts for the simple approach, with a futuristic font and single-colour treatment of a close-up photo of polyps. Respect to the design of Richard Hollis. |
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