The Friday Face-Off is a new meme created by Books by Proxy, where the idea is to compare the UK and US covers of a book with each week being a certain theme, this week’s theme is a cover which features a Fool or Jester.
For the theme this week I have chosen: Fool’s Errand (Tawny Man Book 1) by Robin Hobb.
I know, I know, you may well say that I have taken the easy option this week and while technically true I am a huge Robin Hobb fan so for me there is only one quintessential Fool in fantasy, be it Fool, Amber or Lord Golden! And also in my humble opinion this book contains one of the best passages ever written in fantasy, such a heartbreaking, sad, emotional and poignant moment but Hobb writes it beautifully.
For the Face-Off this week I am going to give you a choice of 6 different covers, labelling them A through to F.
Cover A:
Cover B:
Cover C:
Cover D:
Cover E:
Cover F:
The Winner: Cover C:
Quite a variety of artistic styles this week for the various covers but I’m going with Cover C as I think it looks really smart and awesome looking, great in-depth analysis there I know but I just really like the aesthetics/look of these types of cover and it gets bonus points for having Nighteyes on to! And hey, it’s Robin Hobb, the book could have a blank cover or even no cover and the writing and story inside would still be top quality! 🙂
Thoughts?? Agree?? Disagree??
For anyone that wants to join in, the theme for next week’s Friday Face-Off is a cover which features Weapons.
The Tattooed Book Geek 
Yeah, I agree with you. I have cover D for my copy and I think it is the dumbest thing ever. I do like cover A too. 🙂
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Yeah, cover A is quite cool, it was definitely between A and C for me. D has a classic look to it. 😊
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I think that’s the most number of covers I’ve sen for one book!
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Wow! You really have given us a great choice here, Drew:). Yes – I’d agree with you – but Cover F also caught my attention. It’s the first time I’ve seen anyone have a serious go at drawing Fool (I think we can discount the sad, squalling-baby depiction that defaces Cover B) and I think they’ve done a great job. I love the expression on the face. Great job on today’s face-off – it was something of a challenge, wasn’t it?
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I didn’t think it was a challenge this week, there’s been harder for me, when I read Jester or Fool I immediately thought Robin Hobb’s fool as I’m a huge Hobb fan. 😊 Weapons next week, there should be thousands of fantasy covers with weapons on them but I bet it’ll be a struggle finding and picking one. 😊
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Ha ha! Absolutely. From struggling to find an appropriate cover to a FEAST of options…
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The explosion face-off from last week for me has been the worst to find, glad this week’s was easier. 😊
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I was okay with that one – it was the gold week that had me tearing my hair out:).
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I agree. My favs were F, C, B. I just started reading Robin Hobb’s books, I’m just completed the first Farseer book, and I’m enjoying it. I couldn’t think of a fool for this one so I used a clown.
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I’d pick C as well. Several of the others were a bit of a letdown really.
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I pick B though , that kinda makes me want to go “Woah! what’s going on here” and also looks cool . Also that looks like the only cover with a Jester in it
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None of these covers would pique my interest, but I like cover C best.
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Ah, alas not all covers can look like the fifty shades trilogy! 😂
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Sadly, the covers are the only appealing thing about those books. 😂 And I liked the Twilight covers and hated the books. I like simple covers. But when I see one that really stands out, I usually end up buying the book. 🙈
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Alas the problem with covers is that while the cover maybe awesome, what’s inside may not. Any Hobb book is quality even if it didn’t have a cover. But take Justin Bieber for example, you could just peruse the covers, see one with skulls, Dragon’s, Gore and general awesomeness yet when you looked inside/listened it’d still be the same annoying twerp! 😂 Yuk, Twilight, Yuk! 🙌
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So many choices! I’ve always prefers the covers art styles of A and C for Hobb’s series – but A is too “caveman” drawing like for my taste. C is the clear winner for me too.
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Yep, C for me too – it’s the one that would be most likely to get me to pick up the book and at least read the blurb. I don’t really like any of the other five.
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All I can think with Cover Bis how it is the same exact cover from Tad Williams Dragonbone Chair! 🙂 (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/91981.The_Dragonbone_Chair?ac=1&from_search=true) I would probably go with C from these 🙂
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It is spookily the same! 😂
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Its identical, definitely the same piece, just someone played with the color a bit for this one. Guess there are some strange things that allowed the German (?) publisher to use the art for it. Or they just didn’t care and grabbed it? Who knows! The cover makes absolutely no sense for Fool’s Errand though, its really rather strange.
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I like F. C is ok, but I like the guy on cover F.
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It really doesn’t look like any type of Hobb cover and the two people don’t look anything like Fitz or Fool! Though as it’s a stolen cover from a book released years (I think) before that’s no surprise. 😊
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I’d have to agree – none of the others are really appealing.
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Tough topic this week. My first thought was also Hobb’s Fool trilogy when I saw the theme, not too many covers featuring fools or jesters out there, let alone many good ones.
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Great pick! That one really seems to fit the series in general and I concur! Robin Hobb needs no cover at all!
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I agree that number C is the winner! I like the colour tones of it
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Robin Hobbs is brilliant. Her books were the first that sprung to mind for me this week too but then I remembered Moores and decided to go with that one. Cover C for me this week.
Lynn 😀
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Reblogged this on Anita Dawes & Jaye Marie.
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