Worlds Beyond Time: Sci-Fi Art of the 1970s

Journalist Rowe’s captivating debut spotlights bizarre and breathtaking science fiction cover art from the 1970s and ’80s—a “golden age” for the form fueled by increased numbers of titles and a shift from 1960s abstraction to representational art. Each bite-size chapter focuses on a creator or a motif (space elevators, skull planets, giant worms) and combines crisp reproductions of several works with critique. Among other artists, Rowe features Paul Lehr’s lush, color-saturated dreamscapes; Jeffrey Catherine Jones’s painterly illustrations; and John Berkey’s “impressionistic works reminiscent of Claude Monet, but with his lily pond swapped out for attack ships off the shoulder of Orion.” Rowe’s sharp wit makes for zippy, fun reading, as when he quips that Dungeons and Dragons artist Clyde Caldwell specialized in “warrior women with more fortitude than clothes.” The collection sometimes suffers from a lack of coherent organization—the chapters are broken into sections, though within them the order sometimes feels unclear; for example, proceeding from “Space Cats” to “Wayne Barlowe: Unnatural History Artist” to “Giant Worms.” Still, Rowe’s obvious love for the form animates the volume, and makes a powerful case for how this period continues to influence the genre’s aesthetic. Sci-fi fans of all stripes will be delighted. (July)