Name of the Wind – Italian style.

So today is the day that the Italian version of The Name of the Wind hits the shelves. While we’ve sold the foreign translation rights in a lot of countries so far, this is only the second version to actually make it into print, so I’m still experiencing some of that giddy, newbie author joy over the whole things.

I don’t know if it’s significant that the book is coming out on leap day. Except I think it means this book will age more slowly than the other versions of my book, only getting one year older for every seven normal years.

Wait. Seven? No. Four. I was thinking of dog years….

Man. Now I’m wondering what would happen if a dog is born on leap day.

Okay. I can figure this out. I used to be good a story problems, and that was before I studied symbolic logic. Let’s see…

Given – one dog year is equal to seven human years.
Given – those born on leap day only age one year for every four calendar years.

If a dog was born on a leap day, after twenty-one calendar years, he would be:

A) 504 years old.
B) 36 years old
C) 42 years old.
D) Still bound by his duty.
E) Other

Anyway, back to the Italian translation. I haven’t actually seen the book yet. Not in a real-world sense. I got the editor to send me a nice picture of the cover, but it’s really not the same as holding a real book in your hands. It’s roughly the same difference as seeing baby pictures and holding a baby.

Anyway, here’s the cover. I think you’ll all agree that it’s a whole lot different than the US, UK, and Dutch covers that we’ve seen so far…

(As always, you can click the picture to embiggen it.)
I’m curious what y’all think of this cover, so feel free to drop a comment into the discussion below….

That’s all I’ve got for now. More news is on the horizon, so stay tuned.

pat

This entry was posted in book covers, foreign happeningsBy Pat67 Responses

67 Comments

  1. Steven Weyerts
    Posted March 1, 2008 at 3:23 AM | Permalink

    Is that Kvothe I see wearing eye-shadow? It’s a bit strange. I like the American covers better.At any rate, congratulations on getting NotW into Italian print. May profits abound!

  2. Anonymous
    Posted March 1, 2008 at 3:28 AM | Permalink

    Nope, not Kvothe with eyeshadow. Just Brom-Art. :)

  3. Pat
    Posted March 1, 2008 at 3:28 AM | Permalink

    I dunno, maybe he’s just tired. Right now my eyes feel kinda like his look….

  4. mmmmmpig
    Posted March 1, 2008 at 3:46 AM | Permalink

    looks Brom-ish to me as well.

  5. Althalus
    Posted March 1, 2008 at 3:48 AM | Permalink

    Could it maybe be one of the Chandrian? (Yeah, totally spelled that wrong)

  6. Pat
    Posted March 1, 2008 at 4:20 AM | Permalink

    Brom-art? *heads off to Google*

  7. logankstewart
    Posted March 1, 2008 at 4:26 AM | Permalink

    Looks kinda like Kvothe meets the Italian mafia meets a Chinese graphic novel. Very modern looking. Very, um, different. Mayhap that’s culturally a good thing, eh?

  8. Althalus
    Posted March 1, 2008 at 4:34 AM | Permalink

    He’s a crazy gothic art dude:http://www.bromart.comNot my ball of wax.

  9. stealingbabies
    Posted March 1, 2008 at 4:45 AM | Permalink

    Ehh, it looks like they pulled some random art out of a bin and said, “Hey, it looks like fantasy!” But maybe I’m just freaked out by that eye…it’s giving me flashes of Pan’s Labyrinth.

  10. Althalus
    Posted March 1, 2008 at 4:47 AM | Permalink

    Crap, now that you said Pan’s I can’t get it outta my head.

  11. Anonymous
    Posted March 1, 2008 at 4:54 AM | Permalink

    definitely a Brom pic, or a rip-off of a brom character. I don’t like brom enough to go searching through all his pics to check.It works nicely as a cover though, so long as they meant it to be a chandrian and not kvothe.

  12. Anonymous
    Posted March 1, 2008 at 4:55 AM | Permalink

    I don’t see how this connects to the book in any way. Maybe something was lost (gained) in translation?So why do they change the cover so often? Was the original “fabio” not good enough?

  13. Anonymous
    Posted March 1, 2008 at 5:17 AM | Permalink

    Ewwww…I hate to say it, I really do, but that cover just makes me cringe. There’s nothing appealing or enchanting about it. It’s creepy and rather gross. And is that supposed to be an EYE in his palm?? :X

  14. Michael
    Posted March 1, 2008 at 5:50 AM | Permalink

    I have no idea who the person on the cover is suppose to be but, no matter who it is, it’s bad.So I went to B&N today to pick up some of the Earthsea books, and while i was there i was gonna maybe pick up another copy of NOTW…. They didn’t have the cool cover of Earthsea, and they didn’t have any NOTW in stock! It was disheartening .Oh and I hope the book does awesome in Italy!

  15. Jessica
    Posted March 1, 2008 at 6:17 AM | Permalink

    Eww. And, does not go with the book. But still, yay Italian edition!

  16. bluharlequin
    Posted March 1, 2008 at 6:17 AM | Permalink

    Well, I’m not sure why they thought to attach that particular piece to your book… but it is most definitely by BROM, one of my favorites.So let’s recap:BROM = good.This particular Brom piece as a cover for NotW = WTF?

  17. Bets
    Posted March 1, 2008 at 6:47 AM | Permalink

    The cover is definitely eyecatching. *cough*Oh, and that dog would still be pouring the pirate sherry a lot faster than Frederic regardless of what career seafaring he was apprenticed to.

  18. roseneko
    Posted March 1, 2008 at 7:01 AM | Permalink

    First off: Italian edition! Hooray!The boyfriend’s and my simultaneous reaction to the cover: “Hunh.”It’s eyecatching, so that’s good. I’m kind of puzzled (just like everyone else) as to what it has to do with the story, which I’ve always imagined in lush, vibrant natural colors (greens and browns and, of course, bright red hair). But I could see the Chandrian idea working. On the whole, not bad, just…puzzling. So hey, let’s hope it sells lots of books.And lastly: Italian edition! Woohoo!

  19. Anonymous
    Posted March 1, 2008 at 7:51 AM | Permalink

    Brom is one of the Master artist. That being said I do not believe this painting does either artisan author’s or painter’s imagination justice. If Pat would get together with Brom to shine a flashlight in to the dark corners of each others minds they can create a piece of art that will be a paragon of creativity. It seems very cut and paste. Once you read the book you are left wondering if you missed a few chapters that cover who the person on the front cover is. Anyone remember the song “one of these things is not like the other one of these things doesn’t belong”…

  20. Ben Seeberger
    Posted March 1, 2008 at 7:56 AM | Permalink

    Yeah, that IS Brom. What the heck?! Can they even do that? I couldn’t find any web pages that listed that particular piece in terms of whether it was an original or commissioned, but it’s an older painting. I’ve even got a set of playing cards here in China with that picture printed on one of the cards.

  21. Chris J
    Posted March 1, 2008 at 9:28 AM | Permalink

    Pat, I am very curious as to who that person is on the cover of the italian version of your book. I’m pretty sure you would have a big say into what visually depicts your book to first time ( and in my case, long-time) readers. I don’t paticularly remember a eye shadowed man with a giant eyeball in the middle of his hand. Does anyone else?

  22. Dynishra Shin
    Posted March 1, 2008 at 11:11 AM | Permalink

    Man, that’s some fantastic artwork! Very kinda dark and gothic and yet definately got the whole fantasy feel for it. I really like it. Actually I wouldn’t mind that as a poster.I see other people calling it ‘Brom’, not that I have heard of him/her before. Though I have to say I like their style quite a bit. Now I have something to use google for!And thus we learn.~Dyn~

  23. ravenvoice
    Posted March 1, 2008 at 12:01 PM | Permalink

    I kinda like it… like the bulk of the other commenters, I will admit I’m rather confused as to its use.But it is nice it see the italian edition is also a novel (or romanzo as it says) :0)

  24. Anonymous
    Posted March 1, 2008 at 1:49 PM | Permalink

    Am I the first one to figure out the story problem? I think the answer is B – 36 years. Am I right Professor Pat?As for the cover, I think it’s a little weird. I like the troupe costume and the thing on his hand, but what’s with the all-over clown body paint? Also, is he flying? What the heck is he doing? I’m very curious about how effective this cover is in Italy. I know each market is different, I just hope they know what they’re doing. Okay, before I post this I’m going to read comments now (I was just skimming for the math answer before)…I’ve never heard of Brom either.I didn’t even notice the eyeball. Is that what it is, or just a shiny orb thing?? I didn’t consider the Chandrian either. All the way around, the cover doesn’t do the book justice.I’m willing to bet it still sells well though. The story is just too awesome.Congrats on the Italian version Pat!

  25. Maria Stahl
    Posted March 1, 2008 at 2:17 PM | Permalink

    Awwwwww, so cyuuuuuute!(I just love baby pictures.)

  26. jeffk
    Posted March 1, 2008 at 2:21 PM | Permalink

    The Brom painting is on the bottom right of this page:http://www.bromart.com/gallery/DarkPast/index.htmlSo it’s definitely a preexisting work that isn’t meant to represent a character in NOTW. Strange decision from the Italian publisher, but they do things differently over there.Anyway, congratulations on growing list of international editions, Pat – you’ve written a hell of a good book, so you deserve the international uber-megastardom that is surely forthcoming.

  27. tamsparks
    Posted March 1, 2008 at 3:27 PM | Permalink

    My first reaction: CREEPYThe guy on the cover looks like a whacked-out Chinese circus vampire.But seriously, what writer can complain about an Italian edition of his book being published? I think it’s great!

  28. Ashley
    Posted March 1, 2008 at 4:11 PM | Permalink

    Authors have little to no say on cover art, as I understand it.Weird artwork. I had a moment where I thought I must’ve forgotten an eyebally hand in the story. If that’s supposed to be a Chandrian, they’re even more freaky than I thought.B.)36‘Grats on the Italian edition, Pat.

  29. Kalligenia
    Posted March 1, 2008 at 4:15 PM | Permalink

    Well, at least I know what Brom-Art is now. I don’t know why they chose that for the cover. It doesn’t go with the story for me. I don’t like or dislike it, but it’s not NotW to me.

  30. gapyeargirl123
    Posted March 1, 2008 at 4:36 PM | Permalink

    That looks… odd.Very interesting, and I would probably pick up the book to see WTH it was about, but odd none the less.Yay for more translations!

  31. Anonymous
    Posted March 1, 2008 at 5:54 PM | Permalink

    Interesting… why did you get bromart to do a picture…?

  32. Anonymous
    Posted March 1, 2008 at 6:08 PM | Permalink

    They must have wanted to picture someone with good eye-hand coordination.

  33. Rachel
    Posted March 1, 2008 at 7:01 PM | Permalink

    Although I’m not quite sure if it conveys the nature of the book, I appear to be in something of the minority because I find the cover very cool and intriguing.

  34. Anonymous
    Posted March 1, 2008 at 7:04 PM | Permalink

    It’s C)4236 isn’t even divisible by 7, poeple!~Ryan

  35. Bibi
    Posted March 1, 2008 at 7:40 PM | Permalink

    Its 36!!!!you dont divide by 7, you multiply by 7 and then divide by 4! :]yay!ps. I love the italian cover, i’m guessing its the chandrian, idk what Brom-art is, but its pretty cool :D

  36. Bibi
    Posted March 1, 2008 at 7:41 PM | Permalink

    good eye-hand coordination!hahah…

  37. Steven Weyerts
    Posted March 1, 2008 at 8:04 PM | Permalink

    Now that I look closer, it appears he’s flying on a metal broomstick. What this means I do not know. However, it does seem like he’s using the eye on his hand to see rather than the eyes in his head.At any rate, I’ll be honest and say I probably wouldn’t have purchased this book had that been the cover. It just gives me a bad vibe and doesn’t seem to portray anything about the setting and tone.My personal favorite is the first jacket with the drowsy autumn leaves and dark stonework. The face reminds me of you and Kvothe the Innkeeper. I also like the latest, Quill-Award-Winning edition. Honestly, I like anything that doesn’t give me a face to identify the protagonist with. I like to picture that myself. It’s more personal that way.

  38. Stephen
    Posted March 1, 2008 at 8:15 PM | Permalink

    Kvothe is death from the Seventh Seal. Do the embiggening and you can’t miss it.

  39. Bibi
    Posted March 1, 2008 at 11:23 PM | Permalink

    Oh wow, my Brom google search is done and I have to say that this cover is one of the less creepy pitures on his website… Very interesting though, at first it seemed to not fit the book right but I’m actually starting to like it…

  40. Sienged
    Posted March 2, 2008 at 12:35 AM | Permalink

    They answer is of course D.(other)He would be a dog.He would be 21 years old of course.Although Even that is not 100 percent accurate.What if at year 2 he got ran over? He wouldn’t be 21 years old and he would have long been decomposed so he would no longer be a dog.Whats my tuition pat?How about a site competition of some kind? something to do with NOTWps Hand eye coordination, lol

  41. Mary J.
    Posted March 2, 2008 at 2:31 PM | Permalink

    I must have broke something yesterday because I thought I posted something along the lines of: Fabio-Kvothe is looking pretty appealing now. I would love to see a commissioned piece from this twisty Brom guys mind. I think he could definitely capture the Chandrian or scrael in a keep-you-up-all-night-silently-screaming way. “They must have wanted to picture someone with good eye-hand coordination.”~Giggle for my day.~

  42. Nick
    Posted March 2, 2008 at 3:55 PM | Permalink

    Ok, I could be wrong, but what is that word below the title? Does that say ‘romance??’ That seems sort of off topic for NOTW…Never mind, I just translated it. Hey everyone, this ones a novel too! Isn’t that comforting!

  43. Steve
    Posted March 2, 2008 at 7:07 PM | Permalink

    #1 How can you be into fantasy and have never seen Brom’s terribly overhyped, overrated and overall very dated looking ‘epic’ fantasy art? Brom is to fantasy art what IMAGE studios were to the early 90’s comic book market. Boobs, broadswords and barbarians but in the embarrassing way.#2 This cover sucks.

  44. Scott Marlowe
    Posted March 2, 2008 at 8:16 PM | Permalink

    hmm, a little strange. A touch of an effeminate quality, I think.

  45. Anonymous
    Posted March 2, 2008 at 10:16 PM | Permalink

    I might be missing something here, but the dog would be 35 in dog yearsafter 4 years the dog would be 7after 8 – 14after 12 – 21after 16 – 28after 20 – 35therefore the dog would still be 35 after 21 years because it’s day of birth hasn’t come around again yet.Obviously the argument against that is that more than 4/7ths of a year has gone by in the next year, but we don’t count time that way. According to whoever decides these things your age does not change until it is your day of birth. (ex. I will not be 18 even if it is that day before my birthday when I have been living for 17 and 364/365th days)And as to the scary cover on the Italian version, I would not want to buy the book because I judge a book by its cover, which is really creepy.

  46. Anthony Drake Mocony
    Posted March 2, 2008 at 10:18 PM | Permalink

    I’m not too crazy about this one, but it honestly feels Italian to me. I know that sounds weird, but it just does. Overall, I still like the Dutch cover the most.

  47. Anonymous
    Posted March 2, 2008 at 10:28 PM | Permalink

    “you dont divide by 7, you multiply by 7 and then divide by 4!”Not so, you would take the total years and divide it by 4 giving you the amount of leap years contained within and then multiply that by 7. A dogs age will always be divisible by 7 since they age 7 years at a time.So, without a stretch of logic the answer is 42. Trust me. I am an accountant.

  48. Anonymous
    Posted March 2, 2008 at 10:41 PM | Permalink

    I take that back. Your method is still flawed but my basic math was as well. My original post on Friday was done when I was deathly sick with bronchitis and I just went with what I said there. However it is 36 years. 36.75 to be exact. I think my fevered brain saw 28 years not 21.

  49. Anonymous
    Posted March 2, 2008 at 10:44 PM | Permalink

    Bah, 28 wouldn’t have worked either. I give. I guess this is why I stayed home most of last week.

  50. Anonymous
    Posted March 2, 2008 at 11:54 PM | Permalink

    E) Other. It’s 3521 / 4 = 5.25 partial years don’t count so you round down to 5 x 7 = 35 years.

  51. llyralei
    Posted March 3, 2008 at 2:11 AM | Permalink

    The eye gave me a horrible flashback to Pan’s Labyrinth, which I really liked, but that thing freaked me out like crazy. fgsfds.I guess if it’s supposed to be the Chandrian, though, it’s very effective. xD I hope the book does wonderfully in Italy.And I’m no good at math (aka lazy). So I’ll just say I’ll figure it out later and forget about it. :P

  52. Anonymous
    Posted March 3, 2008 at 7:35 AM | Permalink

    I must have turned my head while reading your book outside on a windy day. I just don’t remember the chapter were Kvothe goes to high school and joins the “goth crowd”.

  53. Anonymous
    Posted March 3, 2008 at 2:38 PM | Permalink

    “They must have wanted to picture someone with good eye-hand coordination.”Hehehe.Any who, the answer to the dog question is obviously:E)Other: all of the above.-Gam

  54. Kate
    Posted March 3, 2008 at 3:36 PM | Permalink

    Wait just a second. Isn’t it that one human year is seven dog years, not the other way around?Leaving aside questions of who that’s supposed to be, does it capture the tone of the book? I think it kinda does.

  55. elias
    Posted March 3, 2008 at 3:40 PM | Permalink

    Your premise is faulty: the generally used conversion is that one human year is seven dog years, not the other way around. (< HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aging_in_dogs" REL="nofollow">Wikipedia article<>)So, it would be… 36.75 (21/4 * 7) or 35 as others have said, but in terms of actual dog years because of time passing (if the date came up every year), the dog would be more like 147 (21 * 7), or dead, however you want to say it.Anyway it seems people have been trying to calculate it the right way around despite the mistake in the initial question.

  56. Anonymous
    Posted March 3, 2008 at 3:51 PM | Permalink

    Not my favorite. But I fell in love with the Dutch edition. I bought it here and noticed later the UK and US covers. But the Dutch is the best. Maybe it is well choosen for each country and the Italians will go crazy for this cover. Hopefully for you Pat…

  57. Jordan R
    Posted March 3, 2008 at 5:00 PM | Permalink

    Oh man Pat. As a graphic designer can I just say that that is a bad choice. There is no connection to the book that I can come up with at all. The thing on his hand is so prominent that people are going to wonder why its not in the book. It will be confusing. Then the really bad drop shadow, or black glow around the text is just bad design. The whole composition just was not meant to have text covering it. Pat can you please tell us how this picture came to be, what process went into choosing it, if you had any say in it, and who if anyone, that person is supposed to be. I’m really curious.

  58. Laura
    Posted March 3, 2008 at 6:30 PM | Permalink

    Step aside, guys, I’m a pro. That 7:1 thing is not terribly useful; dogs age at dramatically different rates at different life stages (almost, but not quite, like time dilation theory). Plus, the effect varies by breed type; toy breed puppies mature more slowly initially than medium sized type puppies, but then they age more slowly than giant breeds later on.Roughly, the first year of a dog’s life is equivalent to the first ten years of a human’s, and then the second year puts him in his human mid-twenties, and his third just at thirty, and then only mid-thirties…. I say, there are a lot of humans who might sign up for this program.Regardless, the answer is of course D. Any dog born on leap day should be named Frederic, or maybe Pirate.

  59. Anonymous
    Posted March 3, 2008 at 6:37 PM | Permalink

    Damn thats not a cover to show the kids. Unless you want them to cry. Congrats pat.

  60. Amanda
    Posted March 3, 2008 at 9:16 PM | Permalink

    That cover kinda creeps the living fuck out of me.

  61. Kip, The Magnificent
    Posted March 3, 2008 at 9:54 PM | Permalink

    It’s obviously a picture of Kvothe LARPing his favorite Vampire: The Requiem Character.

  62. Anonymous
    Posted March 3, 2008 at 11:13 PM | Permalink

    E) other – After 21 calendar years he would be 21 calendar years old… and probably very dead. Not many dogs live anywhere near 20 years.

  63. maarten
    Posted March 4, 2008 at 5:57 AM | Permalink

    Concerning the cover: Pan’s Labyrint Flashback! Kinda looks like a Magic card to (Y’all remember? Wizards of the coast?). Pat, I hope the Italian public likes the cover. As it is said before, I can not recall reading about the weirdo on the cover.Concerning the dog:WTF? Ctrl/Alt/Delete… Reboot? -Yes-Bye Bye!

  64. Tobaldo
    Posted April 7, 2008 at 12:41 PM | Permalink

    @ Nick: “romanzo” in Italian means “novel” ;)And… well… no, I don’t like the cover either :/But, as they say, “don’t judge a book by its cover”… and in fact I am recommending it for its content ;)

  65. Anonymous
    Posted August 27, 2008 at 3:21 AM | Permalink

    Congratulazioni, Patrick :)They did totally miss the point on the cover art though, didn’t they. The hair is all wrong!Are we going to have to wait much longer for your next book? The anticipations is killing me!

  66. Angela
    Posted January 12, 2009 at 9:30 PM | Permalink

    Darn… I thought I was going to get to whip out my disused “I got a five on the AP calculus exam” and stoichiometry skills… hehe, blogger doesn’t recognize stoichiometry as a word!Ah well, I’ll put my math on here anyway. givens and extrapolations:dog years (dy)= human years (hy)*74 hy=1 leap year (ly)Y=21FIND X dyequation (Yhy*7)/ly=Xdy1. 1ly=4hysubstitution property(Yhy*7)/4hy=Xdy2. (Yhy/4hy)*7=Xdy3. (21hy/4hy)*7=Xdy4. (5.25)*7=Xdy5. Solution E. Other 36.75=Xdyqualification: it was not stated to consider aging only on leap years. Thus, the precise age of the dog is 36.75 dog years.In conclusion, I’m a big geek! No one may ever see this, but it was nice to flex my math muscle…and put off far easier homework.I challenge your procrastination skills, Mr. Rothfuss. My useless application of stoichiometry as an evasion of much easier homework has far surpassed your hours of poking things with sticks! Huzzah!

  67. Eavilu
    Posted May 27, 2010 at 5:35 AM | Permalink

    It seems misleading since (spoiler) anything that awesome, as in magical mysterious and creepy, doesn’t show up often in the book.

    I suppose it could work because it keeps a feel of the mystery that IS in the book. Like the science-magic of Sympathy.

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