Friday, April 5, 2019

The Friday Face-Off: Desert Setting



Friday Face Off New
Welcome to The Friday Face-Off, a weekly meme here at Books by Proxy. Join us every Friday as we pit cover against cover, and publisher against publisher, to find the best artwork in our literary universe. You can find a list of upcoming topics at Lynn's Books.

This week's topic is:
‘nomad is an island’ – A cover featuring a desert landscape

This ended up being way harder than it should have been. I had a lot of great books with desert settings pop into my head right away (Master Assassins by Robert V.S. Redick, Throne of the Crescent Moon, etc.), but they all either, 1) didn't have a desert setting depicted on the cover; or 2) only have one or two covers. In the end, I finally stumbled upon two different books I could use and since I have absolutely zero decision-making capabilities, I'm just doing both! The first is What is the What by Dave Eggers, a compelling story about a Sudanese child refugee who eventually immigrates to the United States, and the second is The Girl Who Rides Like a Man by the incredible Tamora Pierce, part of her Song of the Lioness series.

What is the What by Dave Eggers

  What Is the WhatWat is de Wat: de autobiografie van Valentino Achak DengWeit Gegangen
2007 US Vintage || 2007 Dutch || 2013 German

  Le grand QuoiWhat Is the WhatO que é o quê
2009 French || 2008 Catalan; Valencian || 2009 Portuguese


The Girl Who Rides like a Man by Tamora Pierce

The Woman Who Rides Like a Man (Song of the Lioness, #3)The Woman Who Rides Like a Man (Song of the Lioness, #3)Das zerbrochene Schwert (Alanna von Trebonds Abenteuer, #3)

1992 Random House || 1986 Atheneum Books || 2001 German

The Girl Who Rides Like a Man (Song of the Lioness, #3)Chaman du désert (Alanna, #3)Das zerbrochene Schwert (Alanna von Trebonds Abenteuer, #3)

1992 Red Fox || 2010 French || 1993 German

My choices:
More difficult decisions. For What is the What, I like the Vintage and Portuguese editions. There's something I really like about the up close outline of the character's face with the desert  tree in the back, but I feel like the Portuguese edition showcases the themes of the book better, such as it being a journey he's on alone. 
For Tamora Pierce, I love both the 1986 Atheneum edition and the French, but I have to say I'm really drawn to the French one--and yes, it's mainly because of that gorgeous horse. I find it amusing that the covers have different colored horses because I'm sure her horse's fur is specified (I genuinely do not remember what it looked like, haha.)

O que é o quê  Chaman du désert (Alanna, #3)

Which covers do you like best?

What is the What: Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

The Girl Who Rides Like a Man: Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound



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