Customer Reviews

Firebrands: The Heroines of Science Fiction and Fantasy

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

 

 

While some of the other reviewers have trashed the art in this book, I simply found it uneven. It's certainly nowhere near as bad as some people have suggested. Some of the paintings are, I think, excellent--many are the best portrayals of the characters that I have ever seen. The artist has obviously made some considerable effort to make the characters seem more like real people than the idealized caricatures seen on most SF covers. Outstanding are the portraits of Jirel of Joiry, the Little Mermaid, Rima, Sharane and Susan Calvin, among others. It's true that some of the paintings were obviously rushed, but these are in the minority and the book is well worth getting for the art that is successful. It may be that Miller's efforts to make his women seem like real people may have backfired on him, since most readers will be expecting the kind of glitzy, over-the-top depictions found in books by Chris Achilleos or Boris, which these are not.

I received this book as an anniversary present and as I looked through it I asked my spouse "is this a gift for you or me?" as I pointed to the overwhelming number of naked and semi-naked images of heroines. The biggest question I had with this book was: What is the definition of heroine that both Miller and Sargent are using? Next I wanted to know why the book was so short. I've read several books about women writers, women characters, and feminism even in science fiction and fantasy. While the number of characters and authors they address is usually fewer they are more detailed. I can't say after reading this book that I understand why some of the characters are listed as heroines at all. Instead, the book seems more focused on starting to look at the changes in female characters over decades -- a topic that deserved at least twice this number of pages even if the pictures had to be a much smaller part of the concept.

I was extremely disappointed with the illustrations in this book. The artwork is amaturish at best. If you are interested in reading about heroines in sci-fi/fantasy then pick it up, but if you are looking for a good fantasy ART book then don't bother with this one.

This book is an interesting read on the changing roles of women in Sci Fi and fantasy, but the artwork really lets it down. It looks as though Ron Miller was in one hell of a hurry to produce enough pictures for the book and the quality really isn`t up to much. OK so I`m being critical and I freely admit I could`t do better, but that isn`t the point, there are those that can. Save your money get "Transluminal" or "Chiaroscuro" Jim Burns & Tim White show how it should have been done.

Having read so many positive reviews I gave the book another chance, was I wrong ? Sorry but no, it isn't that I was expecting Boris type archetypes of perfection. I just prefer paintings where perspective and proportion have not been sacrificed in order to achieve quantity. I stand by my original rating one star only.

Sexy without being demeaning--that's the unusual balance that Sargent and Miller have managed to accomplish in Firebrands. Some of the illustrations are more than nude enough to be pinups, but without any of a pinup's emphasis on sex. These characters are far too self-assured and self-contained--they are what they are because that's who they want to be and what they are showing off is not so much their sexuality but their strength. I'd be afraid to go up to any of these women and say "Why don't you go put a shirt on"!

This is the best book about women in SF and fantasy I've ever seen! The illustrations are perfect counterfoils to the "typical" depiction of women on a paperback cover--and they look like real people instead, too, instead of idealized Barbi dolls. There's some nudity, which at first glance might seem sexist, but once you realize that this is not used in a sexist way it doesn't seem objectionable at all. There are no women in submissive or subservient attitudes. The text is great and reveals the surprising fact that there have been heroic women in SF long before Ripley in "Alien" and Laura Croft.

The book could have been even bigger! Some of the best pictures were too small and even at a 100+ there didn't seem to be enough of them. I wish they could have all been full-page, but I suppose the book would have been too big and expensive then. Really liked the text by Pam Sargent, too--I'll never think of science fiction as being sexist again. Why this book isn't nominated for a Hugo is beyond me. Maybe there'll be a sequel!

Ron Miller has always been one of my favorite illustrators and this is one of his best works--with about 100 excellent paintings. This belongs on the shelf of anyone who even pretends to have any interest in feminism or SF art.

I am both an artist and a science fiction and fantasy lover. When I read online that this book had pictures of two of my favorite science fiction characters: Frostflower and Thorn, I gladly picked it up. I admit I was somewhat surprised to find about 40% of the "liberated and feminist" icons sans their tunics. I am not a prude, but the nudity seemed gratuitously fanboy to me. Instead of showing the characters in respectful scenes displaying their everyday life the artist portays these women going into battle topless! If naked women is your thing, this might be the book for you... For me I was meh abou it. No, I don't begrudge the occasional chainmail bikini or cheescake picture, but pages and pages aren't my bag. If its yours this might be the book for you. As far as the artwork goes... Hmmph.

Technically many of the faces appeared awkward and ill-suited to the character. Frostflower and Thorn had hair that looked like a nun's habit. Mavra Chang looks like she suffers from a spinal disorder. I'd give the art 3/6. Average. Not something to get worked up about. I was disappointed.