#illustrated endpapers!!! love them they're so cool

[someonelookingpraediti]

Special Editions

The Raven Cycle FairyLoot Edition

These special editions of The Raven Cycle were originally scheduled for May. Due to a publication issue, they were delayed until "August-September". They finally arrived in the last weekend of September... and my copy of 'The Raven Boys' was bound upside-down.

FairyLoot were really good about it, they agreed to send another one out. But it took ages to get a response, so it was a couple of weeks before they sent it out, and then the courier delivered it to a completely different address! Literally, one nowhere near my house. Again, I contacted FairyLoot, and they followed up with the courier. This took even longer, but after another two weeks, they concluded that the package had been lost, and they sent out yet another replacement.

So, not only was the first package four months later than originally expected, but the replacement book took nearly two more months to arrive!!

The dust jackets on these special editions are very closely modelled on the standard covers. The thing I didn't like about the original covers is that they were all different colours, so didn't look that good lined up together. These ones fix that, by all being blue! It's just a shame that the spines look so... basic. Almost amateur, in fact.

The back covers are different from the standard ones, though, and they each feature a quote from the books. This is the great thing about special editions - they're designed to look good from every angle.

The hardcases are also really cool - each has a super elaborate tarot-style design on the front, representing: Blue, Ronan, Adam, and Gansey. No designs for Noah or Henry, unfortunately, but I guess they aren't really "main" characters in the same way the others are. The foiling is only on the front cover, I'd have loved the back to be foiled as well, even if it was just with the same design.

The interior artwork on the dustjackets is impressive. They work as reversible jackets, so you can choose the design you want to display. Each features artwork of the character that matches the hardcase design, and the quote on the back is the same as on the outer dustjacket. I really love the artwork on these, but they do look way less professional than the blue/white covers, so I'll have the other ones on display instead.

Other than the outrageous lateness of these editions, I have two major disappointments.

The first is kind of my fault, I didn't manage my expectations well enough. I made the assumption that these would be the same size as the standard hardcover editions, which I own (see above), but have taken the multi-coloured dustjackets off. I was hoping I could put the lovely new blue jackets on these, so that they would match the rest of my Stiefvater books, which are all blue. Then I could display the new books with their gorgeous foiled hardcase spines on display (also see above). It was not to be. The FairyLoot editions are much taller than the standard books, so I can't swap the jackets over! It also means they don't fit on the shelf with the rest of the books. Fortunately, I think the OwlCrate editions will match the rest of the books.

The second disappointment is not my fault. There's slight, superficial damage to the books. It's not bad enough that FairyLoot would replace them, but it's enough to be annoying with how much they cost. The third book, especially, was quite crushed around the bottom edge. I've tried my best to straighten it out, but it's still very noticeable once you're close up.

The endpapers are my favourite part of these editions! I love that each one is different - four books means eight gorgeous pieces of artwork! I love the scenes chosen for each book, and the illustrations are so beautiful!

The artist who designed these endpapers also designed the Raven Boys book sleeve I got in my first ever book subscription box - and it's still one of my favourite items I've ever received!

These editions also have silver gilded edges, printed foil signatures, a bound-in author letter, and ribbon bookmarks.

There's so much going on with these books, I should be absolutely delighted with them, but the ridiculously long delay in receiving them has kind of just soured my mood towards them a bit.

[louceph]

What do you think of those maps in the endpapers of fantasy novels?

Oh god I love them so much. I have a big collection of maps and the ones in fantasy novels are so cool, I think they're at least partially what got me into making tabletop games.

I really like the big illustrated maps of Ankh-Morpork you can get from the disc world novels, I've been trying to find a copy for a while but they're out of stock everywhere.

Even though I love meticulously mapped out fantastical worlds I still really like when some areas are left intentionally blank and vague, its really wonderful and the world feels just a little more exciting knowing we still have unexplored corners out there to find :)