The Friday Face-Off: Historic

The Friday Face-Off was created by Books by Proxy, where each week bloggers can showcase books with covers centered around a weekly theme. You can visit Lynn’s Books for a list of upcoming themes. Join in the fun each Friday by finding a book whose cover is based on the theme!

This week’s theme: “The question of whether or not we are alone in the universe…has been answered.” – A cover featuring something/someone historic.

This was an easy week! I’m sure there will be lots of cool historic examples, so it should be fun to visit everyone’s posts. I immediately thought of The Hunger by Alma Katsu, a dark retelling of the events that took place in 1846 with the infamous Donner Party, settlers who were crossing the Sierra Nevadas but got stranded during a deadly winter snowstorm. I was happy to see so many great covers already for this book, even though it was just published last year. My historical element is a covered wagon, which you can see on a couple of these covers. Take a look:

U.S. Hardcover edition 2018 | German edition 2018

Bulgarian edition 2018 | U.S. large print edition 2018

Italian edition 2018 | Hungarian edition 2018

Spanish edition 2019 | U.S. paperback 2019

It’s tough to choose a favorite! I’m partial to the original U.S. hardcover, because it feels so menacing, but I also love the Hungarian and Spanish covers. I honestly don’t understand the U.S. paperback at all, though! I feel like maybe that was a scene in the book and I’m just forgetting it, but that cover has such a literary feel to it, which is misleading. In the end, I can’t stop looking at the German edition. It feels like a painting but also gives you a sense of the scope of the mountains. Also, there is that weird lurking figure in the lower corner:

Which cover do you like best? Have you read The Hunger?

Posted July 5, 2019 by Tammy in The Friday Face-Off / 18 Comments

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18 responses to “The Friday Face-Off: Historic

  1. I think they all did a pretty amazing job! Apart from the original cover and the last US one, they all sort of captured the winter part of the story so well.
    I must say i love the hungarian one a lot. When i still lived in hungary, i used to buy a lot of books from that publisher (Agave) because the quality of the books & the art was so just so above the others that were around that time.

  2. You knew I’d have a comment or two right. Actually there are some pretty good covers. I like the Bulgarian and Spanish editions although a lot of them are pretty cool. Great choice even if the book isn’t a fave or mine!

  3. Visually I really liked the first US hardcover, but if it’s with a snow storm I agree with you that the other fits better! Really liked these covers in general, they show the seriousness

  4. I haven’t read the book but based on your description I like the Bulgarian version the best with the Spanish version a close second. But they’re all very evocative.

  5. Great idea for this week’s topic! I actually really like a lot of these! The one you chose is great, it really does seem like a painting. I’ve been confused by the U.S. paperback as well! The U.S. hardcover, Spanish, and Bulgarian are also ones I really love.

  6. I like the German edition the best- it’s menacing plus it has a sense of vista. Looking out over the river like that. I like the Bulgarian and US large print versions as well though.
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  7. I’ve been wanting to read this one since I met the author at WFC (she was super cool btw). Love a lot of these covers, but I love the one you went with, feels super dramatic.

  8. Sarah

    I’m sort of partial to the Spanish and Bulgarian editions myself. I thought the same thing about the paperback cover being misleading (although I haven’t read this book). I was thinking it looked more like a cover for The Ring or some kind of thriller.

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