Welcome to The Friday Face-Off, a new weekly meme here at Books by Proxy. Join me every Friday as I pit cover against cover, and publisher against publisher, to find the best artwork in our literary universe.
The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell
Welcome to the first post of The Friday Face-Off as a weekly meme! This week is a freebie so I’ve gone for a book which has been sitting on my shelf for far too long and has two gorgeous covers to its name (and who knows – possibly more!).
Published by Sceptre in the UK and by Random House in the US, The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell features two covers from completely different ends of the design spectrum. Take a look and see which one is your favourite!
Sceptre – UK Cover
Artwork by Neal Murren
Random House – US Cover
Artwork by Oliver Munday and Peter Mendelsund
| The Friday Face-Off: Winner |
These two covers really couldn’t get much more different. The US cover is clean and modern and, dare I say it, almost transcendent. It’s one of those covers which makes you think without revealing too much of itself, and I love those pale blues and the simple, elegant typeface. The US cover really is the calm before the storm of the UK!
Sceptre’s offering is chaotic and eye-catching, with golds and bright pinks splashed across a dark, starry sky. Even though it’s hard to know where to look first, the more you look, the more detail is revealed. Its sheer energy and and riot of colour, imagery and detail just clinch it as this week’s winner.
Which cover wins your vote this week? Have a cover of your own? – Post the link below!
Amazon | The Book Depository | Goodreads
Next Friday’s theme is: Here be Dragons
Remember to check The Friday Face-Off feature page for upcoming themes
Books by Proxy 
My link this week:
http://lynns-books.com/2016/03/11/better-a-witty-fool-than-a-foolish-wit/
I love the UK cover for this book, it’s so dramatic and they really couldn’t been more different could they!
Lynn 😀
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Completely different! I think I bought it mostly because of the cover… not that I should be admitting to that!
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I’ve got the UK copy with the beautiful cover and it also has a very soft, velvet feel to it. I agree with you – it is a fabulous cover – I’m just a bit surprised to see how stark the US cover is, by comparison.
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That’s the word – stark! I do quite like it and it does tend to make me think but it doesn’t attract my attention like the UK cover. I think I like it a little more than when I first saw it because I’ve been staring at it for so long!!!
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You’re right. It’s a beautiful cover, in its way – but it doesn’t have anything like the bubbly excitement of the UK cover – and given all that goes on in the book, it is appropriate. I’ve also had the good luck to meet David Mitchell and he is the nicest man:)
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Lucky you! He certainly struck lucky with that cover too. Definitely agree with the definition “bubbly excitement” – suits it perfectly!
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I agree with your choice! The UK covers for his books are usually better than the US versions, in my opinion.
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The US cover is quite stylish I’m just not sure it’s right. And you’re right, they certainly seem to be!!
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At first it’s hard to decide because they’re so wildly different it’s hard to compare them. But the more I look at them, the more generic the US cover seems, where the UK cover doesn’t loose it’s interest. Heck, I’m not sure I’d even notice the US cover but I’d definitely notice the UK one.
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I keep thinking perhaps the US cover should be on the front of like a theological or self help book!
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Ha! Yes, exactly.
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I agree with you, the UK cover is amazing. I love the explosion of colour and I think it has a bit of an ‘Alice in Wonderland’ feel to it 🙂
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That’s exactly what I thought! In fact, I was going to write it would be the perfect sort of cover for Alice in Wonderland! Great minds eh :p
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😀
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Yup! The UK cover without a doubt. My eyes zipped to it and refused to budge. lol
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Definitely an eye-catcher!
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