Friday Face-Off: Winter Vibes
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 road goes ever on and on”
~ a cover featuring WINTER VIBES
Mogsy’s Pick:
Cold Welcome by Elizabeth Moon
I’ve wanted to feature this book for Friday Face-Off forever, and now I finally have a chance! I thought Cold Welcome was perfect for the theme of Winter Vibes, as the book takes place on the iciest, most inhospitable part of the planet Slotter Key, where our protagonist Admiral Kylara Vatta and her crew have crashed landed after someone sabotaged their shuttle. There are only two covers that I could find, but they’re both very effective at conveying certain emotions.
Del Rey (2017) vs. Orbit (2017)
Winner:
These two covers could not be any more different. The Del Rey edition is an extreme close-up, with the character as the main focus. The Orbit edit, on the other hand, is zoomed out, with the character being secondary to the icy landscape surrounding her in all its glory. I am struck by how the artist has perfectly captured Ky Vatta’s personality in her expression on first cover, showing her determination in the face of hardship and struggle for survival. But I am also in awe of the majestic view of the mountains in the second cover, and the symbolism of Ky standing small but defiant on the burnt out remains of her crashed shuttle.
Yep, there’s no doubt it’s a tough choice this week. But in the end, I think I will have to go with the Orbit cover, if for no other reason because it tells a prospective reader much more about the story. The Del Rey version says very little in comparison, though if you’ve read Moon’s other books, especially in the Vatta series, I can see how the character-focused approach might make it more appealing.
But what do you think? Which one is your favorite?
The BiblioSanctum 
I definitely prefer the landscape for this one – the other cover is very well done but you make a really good point, if I saw that on a shelf it would give me little idea what the book was about.
Lynn 😀
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I agree with you too
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Ohhhhh come on, you can’t start talking about cold times already!
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You’re right, the second cover is more impressive and reflects perfectly the desolation of the landscape where the survivors found themselves. 🙂
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Oh I’m with you on this one – what a stunning cover!! It makes me want to immediately pick it up and read it. Must check out your review now…
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Oh it’s a no-brainer for me! It has to be the Orbit cover. Apart from anything else, that’s the cover adorning my edition and I have SUCH happy memories of this fabulous book:)).
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I’ve yet to read this book so I can’t judge based on that, but I prefer the Orbit cover. I think it does a great job conveying a cold and desolate setting, and perhaps isolation in that setting. I would like to try her work one of these days. I’ve had a copy of The Deed of Paksenarrion sitting around for years waiting for me.
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Great choice! I love both of these, but I agree, the Orbit cover is the best 😁
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The landscape cover is best for me. I’ve made a note of this book. For some reason I love books set in very cold places, the more snow and ice the better!
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Not many to choose from 😉 So Orbit 😀
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Nice pick! I definitely like the one you went with in the end, that’s the best.
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