Hardware: The Definitive SF Works of Chris Foss [Hardcover]

Chris Foss (Author), Rian Hughes (Designer)

Book Description

Release date: September 6, 2011

Foss’s groundbreaking and distinctive science fiction art revolutionized paperback covers in the 1970s and 80s.  Dramatically raising the bar for realism and invention, his trademark battle-weary spacecraft, dramatic alien landscapes and crumbling brutalist architecture irrevocably changed the aesthetic of science fiction art and cinema.

Featuring work for books by Isaac Asimov, E. E. ‘Doc’ Smith, Arthur C. Clarke, A. E. Van Vogt and Philip K. Dick, and film design for Ridley Scott and Stanley Kubrick, this volume brings together many rare and classic images that have never been seen or reprinted before. The first comprehensive retrospective of Chris Foss’s SF career.

“Chris Foss’ name has become pre-eminent among sf artists... He is in love with the monstrous, with angular momentum, with inertia-free projectiles and irresistable objects.” — Brian Aldiss

“[Foss’] creations are real machines, not just an artist’s dreams. They combine the two elements so essential to science fiction: realism and a sense of wonder... A medieval goldsmith of future eons.” — Alejandro Jodorowsky 

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An incredible selection of Foss' work." - io9

"An indispensable collection of out-there space art." - SciFi Bulletin

"There's a real sense of wonder all over this book and personally, I still find it all very inspiring. [Hardware] truly is a terrific book and certainly highly, highly recommended." - The Trades

"A great art book, and one you should definitely own... this belongs on your coffee table next to the work of other great artists like Ansel Adams and Roy Lichtenstein." - Never Not a Nerd

"I was constantly blown away by Foss’s ability to turn fiction into reality. [Foss’s art is] full of things we’ll likely never see but it looks so authentic, like a history book of the future. It’s grounded in such a reality that you can’t help but believe it might be real." - Very Aware

"... this book will turn you into a fan..." - We Love Cult

"I absolutely love this thing." - Topless Robot

About the Author

Chris Foss's evocative science fiction book covers pioneered a much-imitated style featuring vast, colourful spaceships, machines and cities. He also illustrated the original black and white edition of The Joy of Sex. He produced the UK pb covers for Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy, worked with H.R. Geiger on concepts for the unrealised Jodorowsky Dune movie and on Alien, as well as on Superman.

Rian Hughes is an award-winning graphic designer, illustrator, font designer and comics artist, noted for his work on 2000AD, and Dan Dare. His illustration work is highly distinctive, wearing its design influences on its sleeve. Clients include Virgin Airways, Penguin Books, DC Comics (for whom he has designed numerous logos), Eurostar, the BBC and a range of magazines and newspapers. He is the editor and designer of several books including Lifestyle Illustration of the 60s and the recently released Cult-ure.

"One of the most successful and prolific designer/illustrators of the past 20 years." — Roger Sabin, Eye magazine

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Titan Books (September 6, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1848566980
• ISBN-13: 978-1848566989
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 1.1 x 12.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #151,012 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Chris Foss. Sci-fi Art Master September 6, 2011

By Parka TOP 50 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover

Length: 1:27 Mins

I managed to get this book from Amazon UK as it was released earlier there.

This book is an amazing value for money. It's a rather large art book and it's filled with all these wonderful art from Chris Foss, mainly from the 70s and 80s. Each page typically has around 1 to 4 illustrations and there are a total of 240 pages. That's a lot of work!

Chris Foss is an incredible sci-fi artist. There's a sense of realism that comes not just from how his works are painted, but also from the designs. For the ones that are printed full page, you can really check out the details that are put in. All are fully coloured and there are some line sketches as well.

There are lots of variety of spacecrafts featured, space stations, alien landscapes and cities, a few robots, some ships and planes. Chris Foss certainly made space more colourful with his colourful spacecrafts. Many of these work have appeared on sci-fi novels, and have also inspired sci-fi film designs.

It will take a while to go through this wonderful collection.

Highly recommended if you're into sci-fi art.

You can also check out more work at Chris Foss' website.

(There are more pictures of the book on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.)

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Everything I wanted in a Chris Foss artbook September 6, 2011

By Christoper Knight

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

If you're a Chris Foss fan, don't hesitate to get this book. It's very comprehensive, and many pages show off the artwork with full-spread images. I've collected a few Foss books over the years, and there's obviously quite a bit of repetition of that material in this volume, but the quality of the prints are fantastic, and all the information I could ever want is here. This book is an excellent value, and I'm incredibly satisfied with the work that went into this.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent collection, beautifully produced and a great value September 6, 2011

By Christopher J. Weeks

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

If you're a fan of sf art, or even glanced at the sf section of a bookstore during the 1970s or 1980s then you know Chris Foss. This collection includes virtually all (if not all) of his published sf works. Many of these have been published in previous Foss collections (21st Century Foss and Diary of a Spaceperson), but I think this includes all of those and then some. This book is virtually all artwork, very well reproduced in color, mostly one to four paintings per page, which for the most part is large enough. There doesn't seem to be much organization or structure in presenting the paintings for the most part, other than the groupings of Dune concept work, military/thriller book covers mostly in one place, but if there is an order to the sf paintings it eludes me. There's basic information on each painting (title/book/publisher/date of the book cover it appeared on), an introduction by Rian Hughes, bio profile by daughter Imogene Foss, and brief appreciations/recollections by Moebius and Alejandro Jodorowsky who worked with Foss on an abortive 1970s film version of Dune. There are well over 120 sketches from Dune concept work and other sf efforts, as well as a few samples of Foss's earlier and non-sf works. I would have liked to see a few more sketches from his Diary of a Spaceperson work, or unpublished personal or other conceptual works. Overall, however, this book lives up to its title as the definitive collection of Foss's work -- it has essentially all of his major commercial works, and good samplings of his other art. Finally, this book is a bargain at this price. Well worth purchasing by anyone who enjoys science fiction and space art, or commercial illustration.