Customer Reviews

The Art of Warhammer 40,000 (Warhammer 40,000 Novels)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Rarely has a game/fictional setting been known for its visuals as much as Warhammer 40,000. From the outstanding game and novel covers to the meticulously hand-painted miniatures, Warhammer has always been a treat for the eyes. "The Art of Warhammer 40,000" solidifies this fact in a stunning 256 page, hardcover book. Drawing its images from game boxes, video & PC games, collectible trading cards, book covers, and Warhammer Monthly, the book is a vast treasure trove of fantastic images from a stable full of talented artists.

The book is broken down into sections on Space Marines, Inquisitors, titans, Chaos Space Marines, Tyranids, Eldar, Orks, Demons, and more...Some of the artists whose work is featured include: Wayne Enlgand, Ralph Horsley, Dave Kendall, Will Rees, Neil Roberts, Sam Wood, John Blanche, and Franz Vohwinkel. Throughout the book there are comments from the artists, writers, and designers of the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Fans of the books and game will find some of their favorite characters and legions well represented. David Gallagher's "Space Wolf", and Karl Richardson's "Lone Wolf" are a couple of notable examples of the legendary legions of the fierce Space Wolves.

Neil Roberts contributes a two page spread from "Horus Rising" depicting an epic battle and Clint Langley contributes his great cover from "For the Emperor. Adrian Smith has several pieces in the book depicting Dan Abnett's popular "Gaunts Ghosts". I love Scott Johnson's Sisters of Battle Ephrael Stern taken from Warhammer Monthly, it conveys such power.

The Chaos Space Marines are some of the most intimidating characters in the Warhammer 40,000 universe and the paintings of them are some of the finest the book has to offer. "Chaos Child" by Clint Langley, "Nurgle Marine" and "Slaanesh Marine" by Adrian Smith, and "Kharn the Betrayer" by Kev Walker are just some of the superb pieces in the book.

Other notable pieces include "Abbadon the Despolier" by David Gallagher, "Blood Thirster" by Dan Wheaton, and "Demon Prince Dhar'leth" by Karl Kopinski. I've mentioned just a handful but this is a great collection from cover to cover. The book is an oversized hardcover and printed on thick, high quality stock. A treasure for Warhammer 40,000 fans everywhere!

Reviewed by Tim Janson

This isn't a bad book to have if you like the Warhammer 40K universe. I gave this book Three stars only because it's artwork was more towards the Space Marines and Imperial Guard. Don't get me wrong I like the Space Marines and The Guard but I think I would have enjoyed a bit more work about the other species.Plus some of the artwork I have seen often in my local GAMESWORKSHOP and other hobby shops and also the book maybe a few years old but still it's a good buy! I have just started collecting Warhammer 40K books and novels and this book is a nice start! I hope more books like this pop up soon! I'd love to see art books of every chapter and race in the Warhammer 40K universe!!!

This collection provides an eclectic sampling from artists working within the WH40K universe. Most of the art has been used on other WH40K products such as novels, graphic novels, comic books, rule books, codexes, model boxes, game boxes, etc. That said, this is no retread of that art by any means. The pictures are much larger and clearer, some pieces spanning a page or two, and the artists provide some insight into their particular styles and influences. I found it interesting how some artists approach their work for the WH40K universe. The bulk of the art is fantastic, with jaw-dropping details.

I have two tiny complaints, however. One, there are some pieces that could have used a better treatment, particularly those by John Blanche. I find his drawings okay, but often times it's very hard to see any significant detail in a particular piece because it's composed of scratches and scribbles. My only other complaint deals with the focus of the book. Maybe half of the book covers art used for Space Marines and Imperial Guard. Some races and subjects only get cursory treatment, and I would have liked to see more art about those races and subjects. The potential exists for extravagant pieces from the outer reaches of the WH40K universe.

All in all, it's worth the price. For WH40K players, it will provide inspiration. For others, it's a great collection of finely detailed art. Here's hoping for a volume two to be in the works or available soon.

This book has a lot of fantastic art that has been published in other sources by Games Workshop. It is nice to have all a majority of the highlights in one place. The only major let down of this book is that very few if any art work were made specificaly for this pulbication. There is very little information on how the art was created by any specific artist.

This book includes a LOT of pictures of space marines. It has minor sections devoted to just about every other aspect of Warhammer 40,000 as well.

Overall this book should be in every Warhammer 40,000 fan's library. I only wish it were bigger and had more to it.

I have been interested in the world of Warhammer 40,000 since the mid 90's. There is a band called Bolt Thrower which uses Warhammer in their songs and covers. From them I became interested in the world of WarHammer 40,000 I also use to buy White Dwarf magazine just for the artwork inside. I don't play the tabletop games but I have played the computer games. This book is amazing. It has rich artwork on every page. It covers all the major races in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. I gave it four stars because like some other people stated it does focus more on the Space Marines and Imperial Guard. I believe the Necrons only have a few pages of artwork. I would like to assume there is not that much artwork on Necrons, Tyranids, Tau, Orks and Eldar. they should cover these races as much as the Space Marines and Imperial Guard. They are just as diverse and amazing. I recommend this book to fans of Warhammer 40,000. It's a great book and it's a lot cheaper from Amazon. One more thing.... when reading this book you should play some Bolt Thrower music. It makes it more entertaining.

The first book, "Art of Warhammer" was certainly excellent, covering the more fantasy-based of the two miniatures games. In "The Art of Warhammer 40,000" (hereafter, 40,000) we find even more impressive and, indeed, frightening art that will render this book a classic for fantasy art fans for years to come.

While I am unfamiliar with the 40,000 universe, and the game and other products upon which it is based, simply by pagins through the book one gets an idea of the world of 40,000 - a time of war and upheval, of madness and chaos, in which humans, zombies, goblins and others wage war in a futuristic universe of space travel and laserguns, a world on the very edge of barbarism, decay, and revolution. These are anxious images, offering a frightening vision of a pre- (or is it post-?) apocalyptic civilization. This work puts the "Art of Warhammer" safely in its shadow in terms of quality and brilliance.

Additional treats are a two-page spread featuring the color schemes of the different factions and units in the 40,000 universe (I found this particularly interesting), as well as a section on the different chevrons used. One drawback to the book is the lack of flavor text for the illustrations - whereas the Warhammer book included accompanying text that explained the images on the Warhammer universe's own terms, this book's accompanying blurbs are mostly explanatory and, unfortunately, add little to the actual viewing experience. This is a small quibble, however, and does not ultimately wreck the book in any way.

Highly recommended for the fantasy art afficianado.

If you're a Warhammer 40k fan this book is a must. This book includes great 40k art in rich deep color with several two page layout pictures. This is the highest quality Black Library book I've seen and for $30 it's a steal. The art is mainly of Space Marines but there are sections for Orks, Imperium, Tyrinaids, Eldar ect. The art covers from the very first Rouge Trader publication to the recent Codex's and many great Black Library novel covers. They labeled each piece of art with the creators name and where it came from.

Owning a lot of the Black Library's art books already (pretty much everything except the horus heresy collection), I think that makes my opinion here somewhat valid. Being a writer too (don't expect too much proof reading here though), that makes me appreciate the work that has been done here.

This is without doubt the best collection that the Black Library has put out. The quality is astonishing. The paper quality, excellent. Exceptionaly well bound, and just an altogether great collection. This book makes the ownership of adrian smith's art book (though this is still worth grabbing - brilliantly done), the dave gallagher art book, the inquisitor sketchbook, and inquis exterminatus a waste. I say this because much of it is duplicated and in better quality in this book.

That said, there are plenty of new pieces in this. For the price, I don't think you will be able to do better. I own many art books, and this is the best put together by far. I imagine that the Warhammer book coming in June might trump this (as it should ahve more diversity with the array of fantasy species covered (skaven, skinks, etc.), but for 40k, this is excellent.

I should mention that I also own some anime art books (trigun, kingdom hearts, etc) as well as some games art-books (monster hunter mainly) and this blows them out of the water. I'm still looking for some art from confrontation, but this book really is impressive. Until I find something better for value and presentation, which I don't think will be soon, I think I will remain more than satisfied with this one.

For the price, this book is incredible. The book is bound very well, and is hard cover. Each page is glossy and the print is fantastic. From a design and quality standpoint, this book is as good as it can get. 40k art fanatics will not be disappointed. This is top quality, and I hope the Black Library never cuts any corners for future products like this.

From a content standpoint, I would have liked more detailed descriptions on some of the artwork presented. Most have short one line quotes from the artist, or the other artists critiquing each other. Which isn't bad, but for the most part they all say the exact same thing over and over "SoandSo's art is dark and gritty, he inspires us all!". Other than that, the selection of artwork is a good mixture of drawings, sketches, and paintings. They split the book into sections dealing with various armies and groups, which is pretty nice. And there is a LOT of content. A nice thick book.

And there is also a lot of missing artwork still out there, which probably means they could put together a second, and possibly third art book.

Needless to say, no matter what the cost, if the quality is as good as this one was, I'll be first in line to buy it.

The hardcover arrived in emaculate condition. Content wise, I really liked the coverage on space marines, especially Horus Heresy pics & posters. Overall, there's too little coverage on eldar and other races. Perhaps the publisher should have another "Chaos" edition, dedicated to Khorne, Slaneesh, Nurgle etc.