This is my first week participating in Friday Face-Off, a meme hosted by Books by Proxy. Friday Face-Off pits cover against cover. There can be only one! This week’s theme is:
“When she was a child, the witch locked her away in a tower that had neither doors nor stairs” – a cover featuring a tower
Ok, this one is easy. I got a couple towers on the brain given my upcoming summer school series on Tolkien. Heck just look at his towering tower of Tolkien!
Obviously, my pick is The Two Towers, book 2 in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. Surely those covers (of which there are a few) will feature some towers, no? Heck, I’ve read that book, and there are a lot more than two towers in it: Isengard, Helms Deep, Minas Tirith, Cirith Ungol, Minas Morgul, Barad-Dûr…
Alright, let’s see what we have here…
(Michael Herring)
This was the cover I grew up with! It sparked an all-consuming love of reading! But, yeah, it is awful and has nothing to recommend it. Except! There is in fact a tower behind Legolas. Even better, the tower is presumably Helms Deep, giving credence to my apparently somewhat esoteric view that Helms Deep may be one of the towers.
Ok, on to the next…
(Jack Gaughan)
I love these covers, but (1) they are unauthorized (boo! hiss!), and (2) there is nary a tower to be seen. Still, better than the jerkin-ripper Legolas and Gimli cover.
Ok, one more try…
(Artist not credited)
Gorgeous artwork. But there isn’t a tower. Or is there? The eye there is, of course, the eye of Sauron (at least it better be, or this cover has some real problems). Where does the eye of Sauron hang out? On top of Barad-Dûr. So we have a representation of one tower. The golden circle above surely represents the One Ring. But could it not also represent another, lesser tower? Isengard perhaps? Better, but a tad allegorical for Tolkien’s tastes.
Seriously guys, this is it…
GTFO.
Don’t make me pull this blog over…
Ok, better inspiration as movie inspirations go, but still a movie inspiration. And that sword is not a tower, no matter the angle (that’s what she said).
I have had it; I’m turning the car around…
There are clearly two towers on there. I’m declaring this UK edition the winner, by default if nothing else.
What do you think? Which one of these covers do you like the best? Or is there another cover for The Two Towers you prefer?
Want a second opinion? Bookwraiths and Perfectly Tolerable also picked The Two Towers for this week.
Every Day Should Be Tuesday 
I love the lack of towers on the book called The Two Towers, lol! I love the UK edition as well😊
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That is an awesome towering tower of Tolkien! I picked the Two Towers today too 🙂 Of the covers you featured I agree with your choice, tho I like the Eye cover too! I think my favorite cover overall is one that Book Wraith’s found. Its the far right one of his favorite 3. (I am not going to even attempt to describe it haha)
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I felt compelled to judge based on towerness. I do really love the covers on the unauthorized Ace editions (surprisingly affordable). And I really like the Eye cover. I would downgrade it for being lidded, but I’m not sure the lidless eye is actually canonical.
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I didn’t think the giant physical eye was canonical at all, I had always thought it was just symbolic in the books, but its been so long since I read them that I didn’t trust that thought at all. I googled it and found this article http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Eye_of_Sauron that references a passage describing the giant eye, so I guess I was wrong. But it doesn’t mention if the eye is lidded or not.
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Dang, when I first saw you had started in on this weekly thing, I figured you were just another victim of the mindless bloggosphere and had been sucked into the dark side.
Glad to see that I wasn’t all wrong. Loved your comments for each cover!
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This made me laugh. I like the UK edition – out of the covers you’ve chosen. And, that sword is definitely not a tower. Nope.
Lynn 😀
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I prefer the Japanese cover. It seems majestic, and has threatening darkness in the sky.
I’d love to get a digital copy and run it through a translation engine back to English — I’m sure it would be a different experience.
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Oh my – I think I almost cried laughing when I saw Legolas and Gimli… that 80’s blow dried hair!!
I completely agree with your choice – I love these UK covers. Very simplistic but effective! I love the silhouetted illustrations 😀
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