Illustrated Books, recommendations/examples

[jc1138]

This is a topic I've been wanting to start for awhile. I love illustrations in books and don't believe they are only for kids or YA. It's an old argument that illustrations take imagination out of reading, but I like them. I may have an artist's represtation of a character or setting in mind when I read, but it doesn't completely "push-out" my own thoughts on the subject, or "do the work for me."

Many authors incorporate illustrations to some degree, such as how the Harry Potter books have a thumbnail at the start of each chapter, and even the chapter icons of the Wheel of Time help serve a narrative function, however slight. I think one of the ways to fight the digitalization of print is to offer things like illustrations, which (debatably) translate better to print. I particularly love lavishly illustrated works, such as the joint Gaiman/Vess venture Stardust, with pictures on almost every page. These are different that comics/graphic novels, which have their own feel and are a catagory apart. Also, other books like Faeries by Alan Lee and Brian Froud, and Gnomes by Huygen and Poortvliet, while beautiful, are not really what I'm looking for beause they're more classifying works to be placed in the non-fiction section of a library (if the subject happen to exist). What I'm looking for are stories augmented with images.

Easy, you say. Childrens books have a ton of art, much of it splendid. But I'm looking for meatier fare. Not "mature," but for an adult audience. Beware a google search "illustrated adult novel." (BTW, I have nothing against YA--see examples--sometimes YA can be better than stuff on mainstream shelves. Categories can of course be arbitrary.)

Some recommendations and examples of what I'm looking for:

-Merlin Dreams, Alan Lee and Peter Dickensen

-Leviathan (and series), Scott Westerfield (this is sort of YA)

-Sandman: Dream Hunters, Gaiman and Amano (this Sandman story is not comic format)

-Deva Zan, Amano (brand new, I don't have this yet but it's being shipped. I've seen images from the book and it looks great, but I'm an Amano fan, tastes on him vary)

-Robota, Doug Chiang (I actually much prefer his b/w work, myself)

-Dinotopia, James Gurney (you will find this in children's libraries, if that turns you off)

Any recommendations like these would be appreciated.

Sometimes a book will have an illustration inserted here or there with only 4 or 5 in the whole book. My old Shannara paperbacks were like this. A nice bonus. Then you have your illustrated edtions of famous works (such as Alan Lee's Lord of the Rings, which I like, though I especially love his pencil work such as is in The Children of Hurin). I wasn't crazy about the images in Way of Kings, myself. I'm really looking for suggestions were there is more emphasis on the images, ideally 50/50, but if you happen to know about lesser known illustrated editions, or ones close to your heart, by all means mention them.

Also, on the topic, writingexcuses podcast made the point that the text should be strong enough to stand on it's own, without images.

[Francis Buck]

Brom (yeah, just Brom). I've never actually read anything by him, but I've flipped through his stuff in the bookstore. He wrote some kind of crazy grimdark Peter Pan sequel/re-telling, The Child Thief, which I believe was relatively well-received. His art is pretty cool though, mostly dark fantasy-type stuff as far as I'm aware.

[jc1138]

Good call. I got that one a little while ago but haven't read it yet so thanks for the reminder. Brom has another one, just released, called Krampus: The Yule Lord, that I also haven't gotten around to. Looks like it has some pretty sweet images.

[jc1138]

Found an article on the subject:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/dec/13/illustrations-fiction-novels

[SkynJay]

There were a couple in Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, but not a large amount.

A Pratchett book called The Last Hero is fairly easy to find, the illustrated version of Eric a bit harder.

And I really did enjoy the Westerfield series mentioned by the OP.

Oh, and while I didn't read it, I did learn from a Cracked article the the Lemony Snicket books included chapter illustrations that always included a hint for the next chapter.

[Seli]

The Abarat books by Clive Barker, come illustrated with paintings by the author himself.

There are great Gormenghast Illustrations by the author, but I don't know if there is an edition that includes them.

Sherlock Holmes collections can have them as well, reproducing the illustrations by Paget accompanying the original magazine publications.

[Gertrude]

I don't have any copies to hand, but I remember enjoying the Griffin and Sabine series (published in 1991). The artwork is the main focus, and the story plays out with postcards and letters you can actually remove from the envelopes attached to the book and read. He had more books in this vein - I've only read one, the Venitian's Wife. The artwork is beautiful and a little surreal, and the stories are little mysteries that eventually play out.

I don't remember the writing itself to be anything special, but it was decent enough and didn't detract - in fact the combination of writing and interactive art was pretty compelling. The books are pretty short, but I remembering them being fun reads. This may not be what you are looking for, but thought it worth a mention.

[jc1138]

Griffon and Sabine is something I'm completely unfamiliar with, but looks interesting.

Abarat sounds like exactly what I'm talking about. It's caught my eye before but I was burned by a bad Barker experience. I liked the illustrations in Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell well enough, but there were few as far as I remember (as you mention). However, they were included when it was first published, so one could make the argument that they are part of the author's original intent. Also consider Payline Baynes's illustrations for the Narnia books. Gene Wolfe's: The Wizard Knight duology had beautiful pencil illustrations at the start of every chapter, although many were repeated (only to be found in the hardbacks, to my knowledge). I have two versions of Gormenghast, one from the Folio Society with many illustrations but not by Peake (it would fall in second category, below). Also in this group that I didn't mention (more YA associations) are Hugo, and Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick.

Images included after the fact, while they can nicely adorn a work are a sort of different category. For example, I have a princely edition of Don Quixote from the Easton Press illiustrated by Dore. I prefer books with pictures to just text, even if the author isn't involved. It sounds like that Sherlock Holmes would go here, and I know there are some great examples on people's shelves I don't know about. Some other great examples I can readily think of from this second category would be

-Dracula, illustrated by Edward Gorey. He's perfect to illustrate this, if you think about it. I like it, although the images are fairly spare.

-Silmarillion, illustrated by Ted Naismith. I'm not a huge fan of his figures, but landscapes and archtechture are great.

-The Hobbit, illustrated by Alan Lee. I like this even better than Lee's edition of LotR because it includes a lot of pencil work.

-A Clash of King's (Meisha Merlin edition) illustrated by John Howe. I had this and recently sold, sadly, but it was splendid. There was also a MM Jeffery Jones version of Game of Thrones.

(The rest of Martin's Song of Ice and Fire has been/is being published by Subterranean in deluxe illustrated versions, and they are very nice but in high demand and expensive).

-Joe Abercrombie (numerous volumes and illustrators, Subterranean Press). They have great construction and even though I'm not a huge digital art fan and there's not much of it, I'm buying them as they come out.

-The Dark Tower series (various illustrators, including Michael Whelan for 1st and 7th)--These are oop from Donald Grant

-Mabinogion, illustrated by Alan Lee. Oop but nice

[Calibandar]

Very interesting topic, I am a fan of these as well.

Problem with making any recommendations is that:

a) I myself am a big fan of artbooks, which is not what you're looking for. Froud, Poortlvliet, John Howe, WIlliam O'Connor, Charles Vess andsoforth.

b ) You seem to know many of them already.

So Brom's two books have been mentioned. I guess then I would point towards Mike Mignola's two illustrated novels, Baltimore.

You could look at Alan Lee's "Black ships before Troy", which I am considering buying.

Or John Howe's illustrated Beowulf book, which is nice.

Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by Baum, illustrated by Michael Hague, fits the category that you are looking for.

Is the Merlin Dreams book worth getting secondhand you think? I've been considering that one.

[Angalin]

I don't have any copies to hand, but I remember enjoying the Griffin and Sabine series (published in 1991). The artwork is the main focus, and the story plays out with postcards and letters you can actually remove from the envelopes attached to the book and read. He had more books in this vein - I've only read one, the Venitian's Wife. The artwork is beautiful and a little surreal, and the stories are little mysteries that eventually play out.

I don't remember the writing itself to be anything special, but it was decent enough and didn't detract - in fact the combination of writing and interactive art was pretty compelling. The books are pretty short, but I remembering them being fun reads. This may not be what you are looking for, but thought it worth a mention.

Griffin and Sabine was a very neat book. There were a couple of sequels, as I recall. You could do something like that with links in an e-book, but it had the qualities of being tactile, beautiful and surprising.

[jc1138]

So Brom's two books have been mentioned. I guess then I would point towards Mike Mignola's two illustrated novels, Baltimore.

You could look at Alan Lee's "Black ships before Troy", which I am considering buying.

Or John Howe's illustrated Beowulf book, which is nice.

Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by Baum, illustrated by Michael Hague, fits the category that you are looking for.

Is the Merlin Dreams book worth getting secondhand you think? I've been considering that one.

The trouble with such a topic is that the line between childrens/YA and "serious" speculative fiction is so slippery, especially when you introduce illustration. I didn't mention Howe's Beowulf or Black Ships... but have both. I like both the Greek Myths (prefer Norse, however) and Alan Lee, so the Black Ships of Troy is nice, although I'm happier when they put his pencil drawings in also (Black Ships is only paintings). His version of the Mabinogion is stunning, with a slight toned sepia-toned feel. I'd defiinitely recommend Merlin Dreams even though it's out of print. This one does have paintings and drawings, and has quite a bit of work. It isn't an expensive oop book and is worth what you pay. Michael Hague is an artist I'm familiar with; he has a nice watercolor style. I'll have to give that one a look.

[jc1138]

Few more:

-The Ship that Sailed to Mars. A large format title from the Golden Age of Illustration that was just reprinted. Rides the YA line but makes up for it with the glorious images.

-The Search for Wondla, by Tony DiTerlizzi. Also YA. I liked the art but never got too far into the story and keep meaning to pick it up back up...

-Perhaps one of the most famous illustrated editions is the Kelmscott Chaucer. Check it out sometime.

[Calibandar]

The Ship that Sailed to Mars. A large format title from the Golden Age of Illustration that was just reprinted. Rides the YA line but makes up for it with the glorious images.

Is that the one with the John Howe illustrations?

[jc1138]

Actually by William Timlin, but the forward/introduction whatever is by John Howe so the Amazon entry is a bit misleading.

[jc1138]

Also, on the illustrated editions side, William Russell Flint's edition of Morte d'Arthur is quite nice, and published by Easton Press. Aubrey Beardsley also did a take on it, but I'm not as keen on it (a beardless Merlin...no thanks) but I do like Beardsley's work in other contexts.

Some lesser known works from the category of books written with images incorporated from the beginning are "The Silver Arm" and "Book of Conquests" by Jim Fitzpatrick that are about 30 or so years old and oop, but still available for a pretty low price. He has nice line work, and has elaborate, Book of Kells/Lindisfarne Gospels inspired borders. It's not YA (there are some nudes, but few and nothing explicit). His colors, however, are quite bright, almost too bright at times. The stories are re-tellings of old Irish legends and I didn't find the writing lacking. I would describe his art style as similar to the older work of Michael Kaluta.

[lady narcissa]

Many authors incorporate illustrations to some degree, such as how the Harry Potter books have a thumbnail at the start of each chapter,

There were also special illustrated editions of the Harry Potter books that came out at the time of original publication for the later books in the series. They have more than just thumbnail pictures.

Peter Sis is one writer/illustrator who comes to mind. You will find his books in the children's section of a bookstore because they are illustrated and he does write children's books. However, a few of his titles really would appeal more to adults because they are just a little too complex for children. (Not that children can't enjoy aspects of them. I just think only a adult is going to fully appreciate them.)

http://www.amazon.com/The-Tree-Life-Illustrated-Childrens/dp/0374456283/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1360702651&sr=8-3&keywords=peter+sis

http://www.amazon.com/Tibet-Through-Caldecott-Honor-Book/dp/0374375526/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1360702651&sr=8-7&keywords=peter+sis

http://www.amazon.com/The-Three-Golden-Keys-Peter/dp/B0002DG2G6/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1360702651&sr=8-9&keywords=peter+sis

There are also Arthur Rackman's illustrations for stories such as The Legend of Sleep Hollow and Rip Van Winkle.

http://www.amazon.com/Legend-Sleepy-Illustrated-Stories-Children/dp/0517203030/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1360703508&sr=1-3&keywords=arthur+rackham+and+washington+irving

http://www.amazon.com/Washington-Irvings-Winkle-Dover-History/dp/048644242X/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1360703560&sr=1-4&keywords=arthur+rackham+and+washington+irving

Rockwell Kent did a fantastic illustrated edition of Moby Dick.

http://www.fedpo.com/BookDetail.php?bk=232

And then there are N.C. Wyeth's illustrations for various classics like Last of the Mohicans, Treasure Island, and Kidnapped.

http://www.amazon.com/Last-Mohicans-Scribners-Illustrated-Classics/dp/0684187116/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1360703784&sr=1-2&keywords=nc+wyeth+illustrated+books

http://www.amazon.com/Treasure-Island-Robert-Louis-Stevenson/dp/0684171600/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1360703784&sr=1-3&keywords=nc+wyeth+illustrated+books

http://www.amazon.com/Kidnapped-Scribner-Storybook-Classic-Stevenson/dp/0689865422/ref=sr_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1360703784&sr=1-8&keywords=nc+wyeth+illustrated+books

[Calibandar]

Some lesser known works from the category of books written with images incorporated from the beginning are "The Silver Arm" and "Book of Conquests" by Jim Fitzpatrick that are about 30 or so years old and oop, but still available for a pretty low price. He has nice line work, and has elaborate, Book of Kells/Lindisfarne Gospels inspired borders. It's not YA (there are some nudes, but few and nothing explicit). His colors, however, are quite bright, almost too bright at times. The stories are re-tellings of old Irish legends and I didn't find the writing lacking. I would describe his art style as similar to the older work of Michael Kaluta.

I actually have both of these, and they are gorgeous. I had them categorized under my graphic novels sectin, but they are indeed illustrated novels.

I think his work here is fantastic really, and very few people seem to know them.

And then there are N.C. Wyeth's illustrations for various classics like Last of the Mohicans, Treasure Island, and Kidnapped.

http://www.amazon.co...lustrated books

http://www.amazon.co...lustrated books

http://www.amazon.co...lustrated books

NC Wyeth has truly great illustrations. I bought his illustrated edition of Last of the Mohicans because of it last year.

[Calibandar]

BTW, since you seem to be a fan of Lee's pencilwork, check out his Lord of the Rings sketchbook, id you haven't already.

http://www.amazon.com/Lord-Rings-Sketchbook-Alan-Lee/dp/0618640142/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1360937239&sr=1-1&keywords=lord+of+the+rings+sketchbook

The Ted Nasmith illustrated Silmarillion is indeed very nice.