Friday Face-Off: Windswept
Welcome to The Friday Face-Off, a weekly meme created by Books by Proxy! Each Friday, we will pit cover against cover while also taking the opportunity to showcase gorgeous artwork and feature some of our favorite book covers. If you want to join the fun, simply choose a book each Friday that fits that week’s predetermined theme, post and compare two or more different covers available for that book, then name your favorite. A list of future weeks’ themes are available at Lynn’s Book Blog.
This week’s theme is:
“The north wind doth blow, and we shall have snow.”
~ a cover that is WINDSWEPT
Mogsy’s Pick:
Windwitch by Susan Dennard
Windwitch is the sequel to Truthwitch, following “threadsisters” Safi and Iseult as they each struggle to survive their own journeys after being separated after the events from the previous novel. Their friend Prince Merik is dead, or so the world is led to believe after his ship was destroyed in a fiery explosion. But in truth, the prince has survived, returning to the capital a scarred, broken, and bitter man who believes his sister betrayed him. Hungry for revenge, he begins to rally the tired and starving refugees of the city under the guise of the Fury, a legendary freedom fighter and hero of the oppressed.
Meanwhile, Iseult is busy dodging bounty hunters and winds up teaming up with the bloodwitch Aeduan, convincing him to help her track down her best friend. Safi finds herself stranded in the pirate-infested wilderness after her shipwreck, with none other than the Empress of Marstok in tow. Alone with no defenses, the two young women will need to rely on their wits and each other to survive dangers like bloodthirsty outlaws and roaming mercenaries–and that’s only if they don’t die of thirst and starvation first.
This book didn’t exactly blow me away (pun intended, and yes, I’m lame) but the covers are pretty nice at least:
From left to right:
Tor Teen (2017) – Tor UK (2017) – Tor Paperback (2018)
Romanian Edition(2017) – German Edition (2018) – Serbian Edition (2018)
Winner:
I’m seeing a common theme in a lot of these covers–a hooded figure, cloak billowing in the wind, standing in a swirl of blowing leaves. I think the prettiest one of these is the Tor Teen cover though, with the added effects of the city in the background, rain, and lightning, so I’m going with that as my winner.
But what do you think? Which one is your favorite?
The BiblioSanctum 
Ooh nice covers. I’ll go with the TOR UK version as my fave- I like the woods and the autumnal feel, with the leaves- but the TOR Teen is nice too.
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It’s interesting how the US and UK versions use the same image of the figure, but the different background really changes the whole tone of the cover!
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I have a hard time choosing between Tor UK and Romanian. I obvi like the woods
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Of the “woodsy” covers, I think I like the Tor UK – the Romanian one looks a bit TOO windy 😉
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I agree with you on this one-I really like that cover!
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Yay! I love the lightning too. Dramatic 🙂
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Yep, I think you picked a winner there. It also matches the previous cover in tone. THAT cover was almost enough to get me to read the book even though I knew it was everything I didn’t care for nowadays. Thankfully, common sense prevailed 🙂
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Agreed, I like sequel covers that match their predecessors. The UK cover of the first book matches its sequel in art style, but I agree the tone is off. And glad you did not succumb to the cover temptation – I’m going to continue reading this series, but can’t say I’m loving it!
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I like both the Tor Teen and the Tor UK. Both use basically the same artwork but I like how they feel different from each other.
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Exactly! It’s amazing how a change in background can alter the entire look and feel of a cover!
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As others have remarked the Tor Teen and the Tor UK covers are very similar and they both convey the right feeling, but I agree with your choice because there is a better sense of the movement impressed by a storm wind 🙂
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Yes, I agree it’s more dynamic with the winds and the lightning!
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I like Tor UK (2017) the best! I love the little detail of the sun filtering thorough the trees and highlighting some of the leaves and the sword.
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I do love how the background of the the UK cover changes the tone of the scene entirely! In that pic, things even feel a bit serene with the light you described through the trees 🙂
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I actually think I’m one of the oddballs and I like the Tor paperback version. Maybe because it’s so different.
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Yes, it’s very different – even though it doesn’t feature a person on the cover, I think the colors used are exquisite.
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What a magnificent choice this week, Mogsy! For what it’s worth, I think these are all lovely covers and I do love the effect of magic playing around the figure on your favourite.
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Yeah, all of them are quite good! It came down to atmosphere for me, and I liked the power and energy of that Tor Teen cover 😀
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Yes – it certainly has that:)
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Oh, I kind of like all of these covers. Although I think I may prefer the two without people on the cover just a tad over the others.
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They are very nice too! I tend to prefer “people” covers, but the Tor paperback and German editions feature some lovely colors.
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I like the Romanian and Tor paperback ones, but they kinda look a bit cheap 😂 so yeah, I think you chose the winner! I like the subtlety and details on it. 😉
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I like your cover choice – although I don’t love the font, it feels a bit jarring. But, I love the shadowing and the sense of movement.
Lynn 😀
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