Friday Face Off : The earliest fantasy you recall reading
14 May 2021
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Books by Proxy, Friday Face off, JRR Tolkien, Lord of the Rings
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 (this doesn’t have to be a book that you’ve read), compare a couple of the different covers available for that particular book and choose your favourite. Future’s themes are listed below – 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 start of Wyrd and Wonder. A month long celebration of fantasy. The earliest fantasy you recall reading – or the first fantasy book you really loved, maybe the book that kickstarted your love of fantasy
May is the month of Wyrd and Wonder so for the FFO themes I’m choosing fantasy books:
This is an easy one for me I did read a few fantasy books that I recall quite young, The Wizard of Oz, The Borrowers and The Wind in the Willows spring to mind immediately. But, without doubt the book that sealed my love of fantasy fiction was Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien, I’m pretty certain I read this when I was about 15 and I’m also fairly confident that I formed a huge crush on Aragorn. Here is a small selection of covers.
My favourite this week: I can’t really choose but I like these three because : Gandalf/Epic/Ring:
I’ve updated the list now to include themes for next year. If you know of an event that’s coming up let me know and I’ll try and include covers that work for the event itself so that you can link up to the Friday Face Off and, as always, if you wish to submit an idea then leave me a comment – or if you’d like to host a week then simply let me know. Also, I would just mention that it’s very possible that some of these might be repeats from previous FFOs although I have tried to invent more ‘open ended’ prompt that can be interpreted differently and also prompts that relate to emotions. Finally, don’t struggle with any of these, this is meant to be a fun way of highlighting books. If you can’t come up with a book you think fits for a particular week use a freebie – perhaps a recent read for example:
Next week – The start of Wyrd and Wonder. A month long celebration of fantasy : The Top Hat
2021
May
Month of Wyrd and Wonder
21st – The Top Hat
28th – The Hood
June
4th – The nose boop – any animal, or human, with a close up shot.
11th – A cover that annoyed you and why
18th – Out of Perspective, or make you feel a bit dizzy
25th – Upside down, back to front or topsy turvy
July
2nd – A book with a landscape you’d like to visit
9th – A Wicked Grin
16th – Books with ‘book’ in the title
23rd – A Black Hole – could be in the universe or going deep into the ground
30th – Chaos – maybe too much going on in this one
August
6th – “They cluck their thick tongues, and shake their heads and suggest, os so very delicately!” – The Motel
13th – A favourite holiday read
20th – Dressed to kill (could be literally someone dressed to kill, or someone dressed up for a big night out
27th – Sunbathing or on the beach
September (RIP event)
3rd – 1920s feel, noir detective
10th – I’m Henry the Eighth I am – let’s look at Kings or other Emperors/rulers
17th – Books with ‘Murder’ in the title
24th – A favourite thriller
October
1st – A Halloween read
8th – Chills – anything at all that almost makes you too scared to pick up the book (your own pet hate)
15th – Your favourite book of magic
22nd – Books with ‘Queen’ in the title
29th – Must be gothic
November – Sci Fi Month
5th – Your earliest sci-fi read or the first sci-fi you reviewed
12th – A book with ‘star’ in the title
19th – Futuristic vista
26th – A Black Hole – in the universe or going deep into the ground
December
3rd – Windswept, the classic figure, stood majestically, with wind blowing out in a fetching way
10th – A fairytale retold
17th – Winter Solstice approaching – anything cold and seasonal
24th – All things fire – red hair, red covers, fire breathing dragons, simply fire?
31st – What’s your catnip – if it’s on a cover you have to pick it up
#SPFBO 2018 – coming soon!
The Self Published Fantasy Blog Off, brainchild of Mark Lawrence, will soon commence it’s fourth year. In just under 48 hours 300 entries were received from self published authors and the doors are now closed. If you want to read more about the competition find a link here to Mark Lawrence’s blog and some helpful information about the aims of the competition. If you click on this link you will be able to see all the books submitted this year. The books I’ve been allocated are listed there and I’m really excited to take a closer look at them all.
To all the authors taking part I’d like to say a big thank you – there wouldn’t be a contest without you and I wish you all the best of luck. I hope you enjoy the competition, make a whole heap of friends and get the most from the experience. I truly appreciate you putting your books out there for scrutiny and also realise how nerve wracking that can be.
The only advice I would give is to interact as much as possible and have a presence in the competition. Use the facebook page, follow the #SPFBO twitter feed, chat, discuss and ruminate.
For my part, I will be shining a light on my books as often as possible. If any authors would like to pay me a visit to either take part in interviews or submit written articles about their own piece of work or any other topic of choice – one and all are welcome. I’m sure other aspiring authors would greatly appreciate any tidbits you can throw their way.
Finally, in the much repeated words of the Highlander :
THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE
My list of books and authors will be posted shortly.
My twitter feed is : @LynnsBooks
My email: lynnsbooks64@gmail.com – if you email me and I haven’t responded then please try again, unfortunately my emails can be a bit busy sometimes and it’s easy to overlook something – don’t be shy.