Science Fiction Illustration: The Near Future and Fantasy Worlds Creators' Showcase Artbook Review

-Written by: H

One would think that with such a straightforward title like this you already know what the book is about, or at least that’s what I thought, but to my surprise, I found so much more than just science fiction illustration.

Right after the first drawing, there’s a sequence of images that recreate the process of creation letting you know that this is not only a visual anthology but is also a window to the ideas and creative process of the authors.

The core of the book contains a collection from 32 artists that explore multiple genres within science fiction: post-apocalyptic, cyberpunk, dystopian, mecha, gadget, retro-futurism, steampunk, space opera, and sutoshi fushigi (somewhat strange) each using their own style to build complex worldviews on what the future or alternate universes could look like.

You can look at this book from various perspectives, the most obvious is a gorgeous artwork collection but it can also be a journey in which you can let your imagination travel through the stories behind each image and spend time thinking about how a space trailer home came to be.

Fortunately, the majority of the content is dedicated to the works that occupy almost all the space on every page with little text in Japanese and English to mention the author, title, and page number within a minimalistic design that complements the graphic.

At the end, there’s a profile for each artist that in addition to the basic information (name, page number, social media, and contact information) has a brief interview about their process and ideas when composing an image.

This is an amazing source of inspiration for designers, storytellers, or people like myself that enjoy getting lost in my imagination and are definitely worth having since the illustrations are so rich that every time you go back to them you can find something new.