What's With The Cover of a Science Fiction Book

Never thought about the cover page of a book as much as I am doing now. With the upcoming TheScian Stories book, all things bookish has become an obsession. Yesterday evening, wife was plugging away at the numerous things that need to be arranged before publishing a book and she had covered the table with the covers of various SF books (Neuromancer, The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul, The Dispossessed, The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke, and more). I noticed a theme in all the covers (except Neuromancer): diffused backlight as if a star was lurking behind. This thematic convergence, I think, is not a coincidence. Science Fiction's most important theme is to speculate on the unknown, the hidden light (of knowledge, power and other motifs) that are almost within our grasp. The possibility of the cloud parting and the hidden star(or a brightly lit flying saucer) being revealed is a significant mover in SF.

So, what's the cover of TheScian Stories going to be? I have no idea. Your suggestions welcome. Perhaps, something along these lines: a thoughtful andriod sitting on the edge of a skyscraper, spaceships in the backgroud, the skyline dotted with domes, a gigantic temple structure nearby (that's where the 'Indian' bit comes in?)... Wife is looking at me strangely now. Great. That's one of the effects I wish the book would evoke. (One other effect would be to have you readily part with a bit of your money). Publishing a book is a fascinating process - the editorial, and the business decisions you need to make teach you a lot about yourself (I am enjoing all this, btw). I'll write more about this as we go along.