Friday Faceoff – The lion will lay down with the lamb, but every morning they’ll have to provide a new lamb… #Brainfluffbookblog #FridayFaceofflioncovers

This meme was started by Books by Proxy, whose fabulous idea was to compare UK and US book covers and decide which is we prefer. This meme is being nurtured by Lynn’s Book Blog and this week we are featuring covers with LIONS. I’ve selected The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay.

 

This edition was produced by Voyager in March 2012 and is an excellent effort. I love the embossed, highly stylised lion in gold against the lush red background. My main reason in not making this my favourite is that I think the author font is rather overbearing and unbalances the cover. I get that Kay’s name is the selling point on the cover, but I do feel the size and heft of it, in comparison to the title and design is too much.

 

Published in June 2005 by Harper Voyager, this cover is another attractive offering, with a pleasing feel of historical adventure. I really like the warm tones of this cover and I think the artwork and design is appropriate and eyecatching – that pattern works well. While the author font clearly denotes this is the reader magnet, I think the balance between the title and author name is far better than the previous cover. I could have done without the title textbox taking up nearly a third of the cover, though.

 

This edition, published by HarperCollins in May 1996 is also a strong contender. I like the strong nod to the Middle Ages in the artwork, which is striking and attractive and I particularly love the title font. And for once, I don’t mind the textboxes… In trying to work out why they don’t irritate me with this book design, I’ve come to the conclusion that the artwork is exactly the right dimension for the design and subject, therefore I don’t resent the fact it isn’t larger.

 

This edition, produced by Viking Canada, is the least effective of all the covers, which is a shame, because that artwork is absolutely beautiful. I love the fact the characters are all looking at something we can’t see. But this one doesn’t work all that well in thumbprint, as it is rather dark. And despite loving some of the detail of the font used in both the title and author font, it is too faint against the strong colours of the artwork.

 

This French edition, published by J’ai Lu in 2005 is my favourite. I love the whole design with that fabulous lion profile against the marvellous medieval Spanish building in the background, looking very like the Alhambra Palace in Granada. While the title and author fonts are a mess – not remotely suitable for the genre, or the right size and design – I’ll overlook that sin for once. Which is your favourite?