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: “A freebie. Simply choose a book you love and compare covers.”
Technically this week is “gravestones” but Lynn also listed the freebie theme above so I’ve decided to go with that. One of my recent favorite books, which is probably in my top ten list of all time, is Borne by Jeff VanderMeer. Set in a post-apocalyptic world, where a giant flying bear terrorizes those below, a girl named Rachel finds a sentient alien creature she names “Borne” and brings it home with her. This is their story, and also the story of the girl’s friend Wick and how they live and survive in this desolate and dangerous place. Of course, there’s a lot more to the story than what I just told you, so just go read it yourself! I’ve chosen it today because there are a bunch of covers to compare and I really love all of these:
MCD/Farrar, Straus & Giroux (US) 2017 | Fourth Estate (UK) 2017
Russian edition 2018 | Dutch edition (year?)
German edition 2017 | Hungarian edition 2018
Italian edition 2018 | Fourth Estate UK Paperback
There is honestly not a bad book cover in the bunch, I love each one for different reasons. Take a look at the detail in the Italian edition, which at first glance looks pretty bland (that’s Borne hiding in the fur of the Mord the bear). I also love the German edition, the colors really work well for me and I love the artistic representation of Mord! And of course, I love the US edition because that’s the copy I have. But my favorite has to be the Dutch edition:
The colors! They make me so happy, and I love the misty crumbling cityscape in the background. And look how adorable Borne is, hiding in Mord’s fur!
How did I miss the huge flying bear aspect of this? I need to reserve this one from my library NOW! (trying to figure out when I have time to make a library pit stop today or tomorrow). I actually like Fourth Estate UK Paperback of course, if I had seen the German edition, I would have been clued in about the bear!!!! BTW, I now have it on hold because I checked and yes, it was available!
Barb (boxermommyreads) recently posted…Weekly Reads (05/18/18)
Oh now I’m so curious to hear your thoughts!
That cover is great. I also really love the Dutch one. This book sounds so bizarre but I really want to read this!
Bonnie @ For the Love of Words recently posted…Audiobook Sync: Week 4 Titles | Saving Montgomery Sole & Being Jazz (May 17 – 23)
It is bizarre, but honestly he’s such a good storyteller that even when it’s really over the top, it boils down to the characters and their relationships.
I agree with your choice! Tho all the covers have great color and look really cool!
Brittany recently posted…Friday Face-Off: Gravestones
They are so colorful, right? I just want to buy each and every one and line them up on my shelves so I can stare at them all day:-)
I loved this book – but I had no idea that all the covers were so fabulous! He’s a lucky bloke to have such a fabulous range of covers. I love your choice, but I also have a real soft spot for the first one – it’s so delightfully mad… Thank you for a great choice, Tammy!
He’s definitely lucky! And I also love the first cover, it’s not how I imagined Borne, but it definitely feels right for the story.
Those are some very cool covers. I like the ones with the bright colors!
Me too Laurie! I love seeing these covers side by side:-)
I’ve always been attracted by the original cover (the first one in your presentation), but now that I’ve seen the Hungarian edition, I think that’s a powerful contender… 🙂
Maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…Short Story Review: Selection from BRAVE NEW WORLDS, Edited by John Joseph Adams
I really love all of these except the last one, which is quite different and very minimalist.
I think I’m in love with ALL of these (except for the Fourth Estate ones–sorry, UK). It would have to be a tossup between the German and the Dutch. I mean, the German one has a roaring bear! 😀
I know, I love the roaring bear! I’m kind of surprised more publishers didn’t use him on the cover.
Love this book and am always in awe at the different creative covers out there for it. That Russian one has such a mystical touch to Borne too hahahah
Lashaan Balasingam recently posted…The New World: Comics from Mauretania by Chris Reynolds
VanderMeer got very lucky with all his cover designs, they are so different and yet they all work:-)
Ooh these are nice. I like the Dutch version the best too I think, but the Italian one… yeah that’s nice. and I like the US and Hungarian ones as well. I just read Annihilation by this same author!
Greg recently posted…Sunday Post #246
I loved Annihilation! But Borne is always going to be my favorite VanderMeer, it’s going to be hard to beat.
This book would also have made a great choice for “Psychedelic” – I had no idea it already has so many editions, didn’t it just come out? Love your pick!
Mogsy @ BiblioSanctum recently posted…Mogsy’s Bookshelf Roundup: Stacking the Shelves & Recent Reads
Oh you’re right! I skipped the psychedelic week because I couldn’t think of anything. Duh! And yes, it’s only out since last year, so it’s pretty impressive how many countries have published it:-)
Wow, that is a diverse collection of covers for this book! You’re right though, the Dutch one certainly is striking!
Borne is a really hard character to visualize so I love how all of these covers portray him differently:-)
Wait, this book is a post-apoc about a giant flying bear and a girl with an alien friend??? I literally never would have guessed that from most of these covers lol. I love how colorful they all are though! I like the same one you like for the pretty art and colors. And now that you’ve explained it, it seems to fit the book. But I like that the German one actually shows the bear.
Yes, the German one is so cool!
I think I like the German and the UK editions best. Thanks for sharing!