Welcome to The Friday Face-Off, a 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 Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch
Welcome to the Friday Face-Off! This week we’re comparing covers which feature hats!
And never mind ugly hats – this week I’ve trawled through an assortment of weird – but always wonderful – hattish creations which seem to proliferate across fantasy fiction to come up with the goods. And two of the most stunning I found in Scott Lynch’s Republic of Thieves, both designed by the outstanding Benjamin Carré. With the UK and US edition published by Gollancz and Del Rey respectively, and the French edition published by Bragelonne, take a look at this week’s offerings to see which is your favourite.
Gollancz – Cover #1
Cover Art by Benjamin Carré
Bragelonne (French) – Cover #2
Cover Art by Benjamin Carré
| The Friday Face-Off: Winner |
With the former emphasising the splendour and pageantry of costume and the latter making the backdrop of a city its theme, these two beautiful covers are incredibly difficult to choose between. The UK/US edition is dark and dangerous – the grey watercolour backdrop, the knife dripping in blood and the expressionless menace of the masque – all point to the darker aspects of this novel. The French edition however removes this menace and replaces it with one of the most prominent characters of The Gentleman Bastard Sequence – The City. The touch of golden light on the rooftops, the subtly reflected figures and the detailed backdrop pay homage to the eloquence of Lynch’s darkly humorous novels which makes the Bragelonne cover equally worthy of winning.
So doff your caps ladies and gentlemen, this week I officially declare it a draw!
Which cover wins your vote this week? Have a cover of your own? – Post the link below!
Amazon | The Book Depository | Goodreads
LyNext week’s theme is:
All that is gold does not glitLter
A cover which features gold
Remember to check The Friday Face-Off Feature Page for upcoming themes
| Links |
Books by Proxy 
What a wonderful choice of books – two stunning covers featuring ridiculous hats:)). And I also agree with your judgement – they are both awesome and I couldn’t choose between them either. I’m afraid I PUSHED the rules somewhat this week – whether I’ve actually broken the rules – you’ll have to decide! https://sjhigbee.wordpress.com/2017/06/30/friday-faceoff-i-collect-hats-thats-what-you-do-when-youre-bald-james-taylor/
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Well you can’t rely break the rules when there are barely any there!! I look forward to seeing what you’ve come up with 😀
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Ooh great picks! I like the French cover a bit more because of the wider scope- the city backdrop, the coppery green domes, etc. very nice. Makes you want to go there lol . Still, that Gollancz cover is pretty awesome too.
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Thanks! I love that rooftop backdrop too – it’s stunning. Though the figures on the Gollancz cover are rather striking! Very hard to choose between them this week 😀
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I agree, I love both covers. And now if we ever do a topic with masks, I’ll also have a possible book to use 😀
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Oooh good idea for a topic! 😀
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I agree these are both great covers, however I think I slightly prefer the larger, more striking figures on the UK cover 🙂 Also I really must carry on reading this series!
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They are a rather impressive pair aren’t they? I really hope you enjoy the rest of the series 😀
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Great book choice and I can see why you struggled to choose one – although I’ve never seen that French cover before and it really is stunning.
Lynn 😀
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I hadn’t before I made this post – there really are some international gems! 😀
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Same here. It’s a draw for me. I love the emphasis on the costumes in the first cover and like poses and the backdrop on the second cover.
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I find that in both cases they really capture the novel well too! I always love that in a cover 😀
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Same here.
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