All posts by Carl V. Anderson

Art/Photography

Spectrum Fantastic Art Live 3: The “A” List

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(Art by Gregory Manchess)

Spectrum Fantastic Art Live 3 is a little over 60 days away and the excitement is building. For $40 for a 3-day weekend or $20 for a single day pass you can see the work from over 200 artists who work in the realm of the fantastic. From Comic Book and Collectible Card Gaming to Book Cover Illustration and Fine Art, there will be a wide range of two-dimensional and three-dimensional art on display, as well as live painting and sculpture, educational opportunities, portfolio reviews and so much more.

As a way to tempt you to attend, and for me to show some love to those artists taking the time to come to Kansas City, Missouri this May, I will be showcasing the work of those artists who are currently signed up to attend. I will be doing so alphabetically, by first name, from the Exhibitor list on the SFAL website.

I offer the art without comment, as it can speak well enough for itself. Under each piece is the name of the artist and a link to their respective website.

Sit back, and enjoy!

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Book Reviews, Fantasy, Gothic/Horror, Science Fiction

Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer

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annihiliation

…when you see beauty in desolation it changes something inside you. Desolation tries to colonize you.

Area X was an area cut off from the rest of civilization, reached only by an enigmatic process of crossing a border. Reclamation of the land by nature was erasing any evidence of previous human habitation. Mysteries spark curiosity, and several expeditions had been sent into Area X armed with supplies and the ongoing mission of “investigation of into the mysterious Area X, slowly working [their] way out from base camp”.

The first expedition came back with descriptions of an Eden. Mass suicide was the result of the second expedition.  And the members of the eleventh expedition returned as mysteriously as they left and soon after died of cancer.  Now the twelfth expedition is set to depart.  The four women who make up this expedition–a surveyor, an anthropologist, a psychologist and a biologist–are tasked with mapping terrain and documenting all that they see and experience, while somehow managing to avoid the dangers of Area X.

Jeff Vandermeer’s first novel in the Southern Reach Trilogy weighs in at 195 pages, but in those pages he delivers a tight, menacing tale that begins shrouded in mystery and progresses with revelations that serve to deepen that mystery while wrapping the reader in an ever tightening grip of suspense.

I have learned to expect the unexpected with Jeff Vandermeer. Even then, I didn’t expect this.  9/10 stars.

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book news

Do You Want to Read a Book?

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shallan
(Michael Whelan’s rendering of Shallan, part of the interior artwork for Brandon Sanderson’s new novel, Words of Radiance. Artwork copyright Michael Whelan and Tor Books)

Tuesday, March 4th is a day that has been marked on calendars for some time now. It is the day we see the release of the second volume of The Stormlight Archive series: Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson.

The first book in the series, The Way of Kings, was something of an old-school approach to book publishing in that it contained colored interior art and was produced as its own work of art. Sanderson talks about that and about thick tomes of epic fantasy in this article. I cannot encourage you strongly enough to step away from this post briefly to read what Brandon Sanderson has to say. It expresses the kind of passion for genre and for books as objects that I hope all authors have about their work.

Now, to the question in the title: Do You Want to Read a Book?

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Art/Photography, book news

Cover Story, March 2014

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Hollow

Welcome to the March 2014 Edition of Cover Story, the monthly feature showcasing genre cover art for works scheduled for publication within said month. I do judge books (and magazines, and comics, and…) by their covers, at least on the first pass. It was the art on science fiction book covers that drew me in as a young reader, and I believe it is important to promote the artists and designers, and the book companies that employ them, for the efforts made to keep alive the grand tradition of eye-catching genre cover art.

(Monthly Disclaimer: I am not an art critic and have no formal artistic training. “Eye-catching” means exactly what it says, these images caught my eye and drew my attention to the works they grace, compelling me to search out more information about the book. Opinions contrary to mine, and suggestions for works that I missed that caught your eye, are always welcome.)

This month’s featured image is by artist Matt Dixon. To see what publication sports this great image, come along with me.

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Art/Photography

The Special Guests of Spectrum Fantastic Art Live 3

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Glass-Butterflies-Cloudscape-Exploded-View-Anthology

“Fantastic art should never be boring”

~Arnie Fenner

Spectrum Fantastic Art Live 3 is coming our way very soon and today on SF Signal I post about the five Special Guests who are featured in this year’s show. The overall artist list is large and continues to grow as we gear up for an even better celebration of genre art than was offered in these first two events.

I often feel the urge to stop and pinch myself, unable to believe that an event like this exists, let alone in my back yard. To top that off the price for the weekend is incredible, blowing most conventions out of the water, and there are works of art available to take home in every price range. Beyond that, the fact that you can immerse yourself in an enormous variety of art, engage in conversations with the artists and with other fans, and leave with a warm glow of inspiration is reason enough to find some way to get here this year.

Take a moment to head over to my SF Signal post to check out the bios, website links and an art sample from each of this year’s Special Guests (the accompanying artwork here is by one of those guests, Camilla d’Errico). And stay tuned both here and there for artist features and interviews showcasing just how incredible SFAL 3 will be.