Hardware: The Definitive SF Works of Chris Foss

My first encounters with the work of Chris Foss were filled with mixed emotions. Thrilled by the superb artwork upon the cover of various books I would buy titles only to find that the stories themselves were often horribly outdated & released with amazing artwork that hid the dull contents within.Older & wiser I may avoid many of those titles of dubious content but I remain thrilled by Foss's work.The true greats in sci-fi & fantasy art have always managed to balance a peek into the future with a timeless quality that means their work remains fresh forever.There can surely be few people who haven't seen the imperious spacecraft that are the trademark of this superbly talented artist. For me what keeps me glued to the images is the sense that these are vehicles fit for gods to arrive in. The intricate detail, eye catching colours & ground breaking design all play second fiddle to the sheer size and fearsome power he imbues into them.The publishers, Titan, have a well deserved reputation for quality at very reasonable prices for their publications & this title keeps that reputation in tact. The glossy hardcovers are eye catching & help keep costs down by making the need for a dust jacket redundant. The paper is heavy & the colours bright & deep. The font is called 'range' & is suitably sci-fi but easily read. The 2 page intro by Rian Hughes is well worth a read but the real pleasures are the interview by Imogene Foss which gives a fine insight & mini biography. For the artists then surely the Jean Giraud intro. is the high point with an artists view. The Alejandro Jodorowsky page, (Foss did some prelim. artwork for a failed 'Dune' movie project), is brief but a welcome addition.Then it's on to the artwork in earnest. 220 pages of eye blistering, mind expanding & imagination pumping brilliance. The commentary is limited to a bold type title/project with brief content description & date printed on the pages outer edge & not interfering with the work. The only small downside of the whole book is that it can be a bit baffling matching the description with the right work on a busy page.. It really is all about the art & the variety & quality on show here is staggering. Full page illustrations abound & there are a fair few double page spreads too. The multi-image pages are well chosen & I really feel that there is just about as little quality v quantity compromise as you could possible hope for.The robots, the seascapes, aliens & most of all spacecraft of Chris Foss are ageless & objects of terrible beauty. A quick flick of this book nearly always seems to be turned into yet another hour gone by in the company of a true genius.I find myself swept back to those days of my early teens when I first really fell in love with all things sci-fi & yet, unlike so much else I once felt cutting edge, this huge collection retains a sharp & edgy quality that refuses to age.This is not just for those into sci-fi but rather anyone with a love of art will be thrilled by this stunning work.A collection of timeless classics from a true master of the genre.

If your a fan of classic sci-fi novels, you'll definitely have seen cover artwork by Chris Foss. This book is basically an art gallery of his work, absolutely gorgeous.Despite having been impressed by his work for years, I didn't even know this book existed until I read a magazine article. That was it, I then nagged my wife into buying it for my birthday, best present I've ever chosen for myself.

Inspiration at its most highest.

As a boy I had the "21st Century Foss" book. I don't recall how or where I got it, but I do recall the book quite vividly.It was one of my favourite books - the sense of scale, the detail, the wonderful designs. Or, in some cases, non-designs - things built from scavenged parts, cobbled together yet somehow working.That book, sadly, was not treated as well as it could have been. Filled with larger versions of book covers we thrilled to, I shared it with friends - it went to and from school in various bags, and it didn't really survive that well.I've always wanted to replace that book. But luckily, this book is here now. And it's bigger, it's better printed, and well bound.The book is well organised and fairly comprehensive, with all the famous works that you expect. It also has sketches from Foss' work on films, and plenty of text up front with details of his career and artistic development.So it's a good book.But if, like everyone else commenting here, you first saw Chris Foss' works on the cover of a novel and were electrified by them - immediately attracted and intrigued by them - then this is a great book.This is the book you want.And that is all you need to know.

A great catalogue of Chris' work over the years. A heavy book, not good for bed-time viewing!Many smaller, earlier images and only a few of the later panoramic ones shown in greater detail.Format really should be larger (may be landscape) and more dramatic and paper weight heavier to give real impact.

The item is just as described, it arrived on time, was well worth the price and communication with the seller was great. Top marks from me.

This is the definitive work on Chris Foss and his tantalising skills, about which superlatives seem inadequate. I bought it for my nephew's Christmas present, but in truth, I am wondering about getting another! It's larger and thicker than the previous work "Dragon's Dream" and surpasses it on every level: the colour `plates' reminiscent of the original `Eagle' annual have a majestic, deep, rich and vivid quality that gives life to the artwork of arguably the best SF artist. It contains more Foss artwork than one's mind can compass and some breathtaking double pages of some of his finest work including my all time favourite SF image on page 130/131.Given our somewhat overcrowded world that is supporting, I wonder, just about as many humans as it can: I suspect that mankind's continued existence will depend on spaceships with faster than light drive. Though I cannot see this breakthrough occurring in my lifetime I wonder if when men do journey beyond Saturn's rings to distant colonies in far flung planets, orbiting unimagined stars, whether any of those men will know of Chris Foss whose inventive mind has seen and given life to some of those things they will view and the technology they'll have used to get there! Wonderful.

An interesting read with lots of Chris' pictures.

Incredibly high quality book containing a large amount of Foss' best work. A must-have for sci-fi art fans.

Très beau livre, excellente qualité pour un prix qui parait ridicule quand on l'a dans les mains. Les photos sont renversantes et rendent justice a cet artiste pas assez connu. Souvenir d'enfance quand tout gosse dans les années 80 j'étais tombé en extase sur un magazine publiant quelques unes de ses oeuvres, depuis je reconnaissais du Chris Foss automatiquement quand une de ses peintures illustrait la couverture d'un roman de science fiction. Pourquoi pas avoir un bouquin complet avec ses réalisations ? et bien je suis très satisfait.

Il libro è stupendo, ci sono veramente tante opere all'interno, alcune più piccole di altre me comunque tutte godibili. Copertina rigida e design davvero belli, il formato è abbastanza grande e la stampa è perfetta. TOP!

Nur wenige Künstler haben mit ihren Bildern ein ganzes Genre derart beeinflusst, wie es Chris Foss für die Science Fiction getan hat. Die Werke von Foss gehören seit Jahrzehnten zum festen Kanon der SF-Kunst, und obwohl sie enorm weit verbreitet sind und viele andere Künstler massgeblich inspiriert haben zeichnen sie sich auch heute noch durch eine absolute Einzigartigkeit aus.Der Stil von Foss ist dabei heute so faszinierend wie eh und je: gerade seine Raumschiffe sehen schlichtweg unfassbar beeindruckend aus - gewaltige Leviathane, bedeckt mit exotischen Farbmustern und einer völlig einzigartigen Symbiose aus technischem Realismus und dem berühmten "Sense of wonder", welcher bei dieser Kunst ganz einfach dazu gehört. Foss schafft es wie kein anderer, vollkommen irrwitzige, titanische Konstrukte mit einer Aura der Glaubwürdigkeit zu malen. Kein Wunder, das Foss und seine Werke weit über die SF hinaus populär sind.Das hier rezensierte HARDWARE ist eine sehr wertiger, grandios aufgemachter Überblick über das Schaffen von Foss. Auf rund 250 Seiten finden sich die wichtigsten Bilder von Foss, zusammen mit eher unbekannten Werken und Skizzen. Sprich: HARDWARE ist meines Erachtens nach DER Foss-Bildband, welcher für Fans essentiell sein dürfte.Ferner sei ausdrücklich der faire Preis erwähnt - für 30 € wird hier definitiv Maximales geboten!Alles in allem: Fans von Foss und Fans von SF-Kunst allgemein kommen eigentlich um HARDWARE nicht herum.

Chris Foss merecía una edición como esta. Un lujo de libro.