Friday Face Off : “The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn. Go back to the Shadow!
17 May 2019
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Books by Proxy, Catherynne M Valente, Fantasy Beasts, The Friday Face Off, The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making

(May is the month of Wyrd and Wonder – details here, Twitter: @wyrdandwonder)
Here we are again with the Friday Face Off meme created by Books by Proxy . This is a great opportunity to feature some of your favourite book covers. The rules are fairly simple each week, following a predetermined theme (list below) choose a book, compare a couple of the different covers available for that particular book and choose your favourite. Future week’s themes are listed below – the list has been updated to help out those of you who like to plan ahead – if you have a cover in mind that you’re really wanting to share then feel free to leave a comment about a future suggested theme. I’ve also listed events that take place during the year, that I’m aware of, so you can link up your covers – if you’re aware of any events that you think I should include then give me a shout. This week’s theme:
“The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn. Go back to the Shadow!” – A cover featuring a fantasy beast
Obviously I wanted to go with Tolkien this week but decided not to because I do tend to overdo it – although is it possible to overdo Tolkien? I don’t think so. Anyway, this week I’ve gone with The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland In A Ship Of Her Own Making (Fairyland #1) by Catherynne M. Valente. Now, most of the covers are fairly similar and just involve colour variations – but what do you think of the fantasy beast? Anyway, here they are:
I think these are all quite nice, but I’m going to have to go for:
Which one is your favourite?
Like last week I’ve added a Mr Linky here so that you can leave a link if you wish or please leave me a link in the comments so we can all visit and check out each others covers. Thanks
I’ve updated the list and included themes through to the end of 2019 – I’ve also included events that I’m aware of so that you can perhaps link your themes up where possible (if you know of an event you’d like to share that let me know in the comments). I also have a list prepared for 2020 and so will set up a separate page soon for forthcoming themes. As always, if you wish to submit an idea then leave me a comment.
Next week – A cover featuring ‘magical things’
Future themes: (if you’re struggling with any of these themes then use a ‘freebie’ or one of your favourite covers)
2019
(May is the month of Wyrd and Wonder – details here, Twitter: @wyrdandwonder)
24th May – “bibbity, bobbity, boo” – A cover that features ‘magical things’
31st May – “simples” – A favourite fantasy cover
7th June – “One swallow does not make a summer” – A cover that makes you think of Summer
14th June – “Coraline opened the box of chocolates. The dog looked at them longingly.” – A cover featuring something sweet
21st June – Summer Solstice – the longest day of the year – Pagan rituals/standing stones/blazing suns – a cover with your own interpretation
28th June – “And who decided which people wore the striped pyjamas” – A cover that is striped
5th July – “The question of whether or not we are alone in the universe… has been answered” – a cover featuring something/somebody historic
12th July – A wrap around cover
19th July – “You can’t choose between life and death when we’re dealing with what is in between.” – A cover that is grainy or looks like ‘white noise’
26th July – “Ludo ….. down” – A cover that is Upside Down
2nd August – “There are children here somewhere. I can smell them.” A cover featuring children
9th August – “I’m disinclined to acquiesce to your request.” – A cover featuring Pirates
16th August – “The haft of the arrow had been feathered with one of the eagles own plumes” – a cover featuring feathers
23rd August – A cover that is a movie tie in
30th August – “I wandered lonely as a cloud” – a cover that is predominantly yellow
6th September “Warm September brings the fruit” – a cover that is seasonal for Autumn/Fall
13th September – Friday the 13th – unlucky for some! A cover with ‘curse’ in the title
20th September – “Your hair is winter fire,January embers.” – A cover featuring hair
27th September – Freebie
4th October – “Feed me Seymour” – A cover that is 60s horror
11th October – ““And, though there should be a world of difference between the smile of a man and the bared fangs of a wolf, with Joss Merlyn they were one and the same.” – a cover featuring an Inn
18th October – “It’s your favorite scary movie, remember? He had on the white mask, he stalked the babysitters.” – A cover featuring a scream
25th October – for Halloween – pick any scary cover you like
(I’m hoping that November will once again bring to us SciFiMonth – Twitter @SciFiMonth)
1st November – A cover that is predominantly grey
8th November – “big badda boom” – a cover that features an explosion
15th November – “No thinking thing should be another thing’s property, to be turned on and off when it is convenient.” – a cover featuring a robot
22nd November – A cover that is Futuristic
29th November – “When a day that you happen to know is Wednesday starts off by sounding like Sunday, there is something seriously wrong somewhere.” – a cover that is 60s sci fi
6th December – Now is the winter of our discontent, Made glorious summer by this sun of York” – a cover that puts you in mind of winter
13th December – A cover that features a temple/or religious icon
20th December – Longest Night – a dark and foreboding cover
27th December – the festive season – a cover that is glittery or sparkling
(2020 – January is Vintage SciFi month so I’ll be including possible themes to take that on board.)
[…] UK and US book covers and decide which is we prefer. This meme is currently being nurtured by Lynn’s Book Blog and the subject this week featuring on any of our covers is FANTASY BEASTS, so I’ve selected The […]
I really love that dragon – and yes… your favourite is definitely the best, for starters that arresting image really pops against that delicious teal. A close second it the small middle cover on the top row – I love the scrollwork which again, nicely complements the lovely dragon… Good choice, Lynn:)
Dragons on covers is always such a winner.
Lynn 😀
I think I like the first one best, in red. Maybe because it’s the version I’m most familiar with😊
Yep, that’s usually how things work for me too – but I love that blue version and it was such a surprise.
Lynn 😀
I like the expression of the dragon in these covers: in all of them it’s a cross between curiosity and cunning and I can’t decide if it signals danger or not…
And there can NEVER be too much Tolkien in this world! 😉
Quite right – you can’t have enough Tolkien.
Lynn 😀
[…] Friday Face Off is a weekly meme created by Books by Proxy, and run by Lynn’s Book Blog. […]
I like the same one because I like the blue background. Kind of breaks up all the red. I LOVE that dragon though and think that it’s cool that he pretty much stays the same in all of them. Great choice of book this week!
The dragon is great and I’m not surprised it’s consistenly the same image – I love that blue background though.
Lynn 😀
That is a weird looking dragon, but somehow adorable too? I like the green cover best because it looks like an old fashion fairytale cover
Old fashioned fairytale is spot on and this is a series with a very whimsical feel.
Lynn 😀
Of all the color combinations, I think that one is my favorite too 🙂
I just love that colour combo and the detail.
Lynn 😀
[…] fabulous beasts it is. Brittany at Perfectly Tolerable, Tammy at Books, Bones & Buffy, and Lynn herself all had some awesome covers to […]
I prefer the green Italian cover.
Good choice – they’re all lovely tbh 😀
Really love the covers for this one, I think I would go with your pick in the end, too.
I love the little leaves round the bottom edge.
Lynn 😀
I actually own three versions of this (I really, really love the series) and the creamy orange one has to be my favourite! Though I do love the vine/flower decal on the blue one!
That’s the cover I owned so I do have a soft spot but I’d not seen the blue before and it just really stood out to me – and I loved the vines/leaves.
Lynn 😀
I agree Lynn, I don’t think it’s possible to overdo Tolkien 😛
Great minds eh??
Lynn 😀
😀
[…] A cover featuring a fantasy beast […]