YA Review: The Kings of Clonmel by John Flanagan

I have not disappeared off the ends of the earth. I have been reading. You can see the evidence here as I posted a review of The Kings of Clonmel on my other blog -- Ms. Martin Teaches Media. I am trying to limit this blog to my YA and adult reading and shift my middle grade reading to that blog.

I do have a question for this blog relating to the covers. To the right is the cover of the book I read. This book was published by Random House Australia.

Below is the cover for the US edition which will be published by Philomel on May 18, 2010. There are some major differences in the way the book is portrayed.

My thoughts are that the Australian cover portrays the characters as younger than I think they would be in the story. Also I get a little "Lord of the Rings" vibe from that cover which is missing from the US cover.

The US cover seems to focus more on the action aspect of the book as it depicts a scene from late in the novel and with no recognizable characters.

Does that say something about the marketing? Are US kids more likely to choose a book with action on the cover rather than portraits of the characters?

I am just curious. I will admit that I would purchase the book with either cover. All I'm looking for on the cover is John Flanagan's name and Ranger's Apprentice as the series. The rest of the cover could be blank for me. I am already hooked.