Worlds of Tomorrow: The Amazing Universe of Science Fiction Art (Hardcover)

by Forrest J. Ackerman (Author), Brad Linaweaver (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Loving laid out, crisply reproduced, seldom-seen imagery of the fantastic struts its gorgeous, garish stuff in a coffee-table tome…" -- Washington Post

"…is a gorgeous book featuring more than 175 covers from pulp magazines and books of the '30s, '40s and '50s." -- Seattle Times

Fans of tentacled, bug-eyed, scaly, menacing, mushroom-shaped, winged, fearsome and froglike extraterrestrials...should enjoy this... -- Chicago Tribune, December 12, 2004

Product Description
From deep in the heart of imagination, where galaxies grow, robots rule, and Martians cause mayhem, comes WORLDS OF TOMORROW: THE AMAZING UNIVERSE OF SCIENCE FICTION ART. Teeming with gigantic insects, spaceships, and scantily clad heroines, the science fiction pulp and paperback covers of the 1920s to 1960s represented a generation’s vision of the future. Wartime technology and increased information about space travel fueled the minds of artists and writers. Predictions of planetary doom stood side by side with visions of Utopia on bookshelves and magazine racks worldwide. In WORLDS OF TOMORROW, more than 300 beautifully displayed science fiction covers come back to life in text and chapters grouped by theme. Explore the creative geniuses that molded our vision of the great unknown into what it is today.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Collectors Press (August 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 188805493X
• ISBN-13: 978-1888054934
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 9.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #707,391 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Credit Where It Is Due, August 22, 2004

By	John C. Hocking (Ann Arbor, MI United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

First let me say that this is a beautiful volume, full of lush reproductions of rare old book and magazine covers. Any fan of science fiction art or the pulps will find this an excellent addition to their library.
But there is a problem, and it is fully as irritating as it is strange. And it's pretty damn strange.
In compiling a historical retrospective of science fiction art, the editors have failed to credit the very artists they celebrate. Every single one of the hundreds of cover images reproduced here is accompanied by the name of the magazine, the month and year it appeared, and the name of the publisher. Book covers also add the name of the book's author, which is generally prominently displayed on the cover itself.
The artist is NEVER listed.
Not when the artist's name is credited in the magazine or book displayed.
Not when the artist is well known.
Not when the artist's style is unmistakable.
Not when the artist's signature is plainly visible in the image.
The editors, Forrest J. Ackerman and Brad Linaweaver, each provide several essays throughout the book. Every one of these has a byline so that we never confuse Linaweaver's prose with Ackerman's. I wish they had been half as meticulous about giving credit where it is due when dealing with the artists who supposedly inspired them.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Worlds of Disapointment, September 23, 2004

By	James Harvey Lewis "La Fellow Strangiato" (Montgomery, ALABAMA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Caveat emptor! Over ninety percent of the cover art images reproduced in this book are the size of bubble gum trading cards. I was under the impression that the images were all full page but no such luck. Once again quality is sacrificed for cheapness.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Pictures, Abysmal Text, September 16, 2005

By	Roland L. Berns - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a book that is wonderful to look at and painful to read. As for the pictures, they are well chosen and beautifully reproduced. They might have been shown in bigger sizes, but this would have been at the expense of the volume's design, which is artful. The present arrangement is a good compromise. The division of the book into four visual categories (rockets, creatures, etc.) is useful.

If, however, one turns one's eyes to the text, there is nothing but disappointment. First of all, the editors did not bother to connect the text to the accompanying illustrations. Their remarks refer to pictures elsewhere in the book, but they don't say where, so one is left to look ahead and back without a clue. As to the quality of the remarks, there simply isn't any. Vague blather about how the (unidentified) artists managed to foresee the future is about all there is, except for Linaweaver's gushing praise of his adored "Forry." Ackerman himself appears to have phoned this one in, saying almost nothing specific about the illustrations (which would have required some work), but only vaporing vaguely about how the future is coming. Visually, this is a well-wrought book, but its text is lazy, empty, and dull.