I'm going to have to repeat the opinion that both feel cluttered and dark. The typography looks somewhat off, perhaps partly because of the font choice. I personally believe the text should be more lined up - think webdesign, where the boxes below are equal width with the ones above (aka grid-based design), which I find very helpful when designing
my covers. But that could be just a matter of taste, I'm probably biased here.
Reducing the space between the title lines could help as well. Also, just the
amount of text is scary. If all the small text is really required, I'd try see how it looks when made smaller, so that it can only be read with closer inspection (unless this is an e-book cover). Finally, maybe experiment with the publisher logo placement? Centering it could look a little more graceful, since then it wouldn't stand out from all the other text so much.
As for the pictures themselves, the first one is the better one. It feels less crowded, though the rocks still make it a little so, since they bump into the bell.