nfinite Worlds is a combination of a coffee table SF art book, a history of the SF art field, and a who's who guide to SF artists. Its 320 pages contain more than 700 pictures and illustrations, primarily taken from book and magazine covers, which span the entire history of the genre. In all, the book contains five sections: a foreward by Ray Bradbury; an introduction by author Vincent Di Fate; a short history of SF art; a two-page look at the influence of Stanley Meltzoff's painting for Robert A. Heinlein's book The Puppet Masters; and short biographies of more than 100 artists, including examples of their work.
The history of SF takes up about a third of the book and provides a brief overview of the field, starting with cave drawings and progressing through Leonardo Da Vinci and all the way to H.R. Giger. It predominately focuses on the early magazine market and the later boom in book covers, while also touching on relevant events such as the advent of the New Wave in both SF literature and art.
The largest single portion of the book, more than 200 pages, is devoted to the individual artists themselves. Each artist receives a one- to three-page spread, which generally consists of a few paragraphs recounting their individual careers and contributions to the field, plus a few select samples from their portfolios. (This volume covers only SF artists, although Di Fate has made it clear that he would be willing to do another book devoted entirely to fantasy.)
Look at that! And that! And that!
The result is a moderately ambitious book that succeeds exceedingly well primarily by not trying to do too much. It provides an excellent overview of the history of SF art without trying to be the definitive guide. And at the same time it serves as a great guide to SF artists, but it doesn't attempt to list every one.
This set-up allows the book to provide a thoroughly enjoyable journey through the history of the SF art field, making forays to visit this artist or that magazine, but never straying from its ever-forward moving timeline.
The writing is kept short and to-the-point, which is perfect for the casual peruser. The artist bios are also kept to a minimum, letting readers soak up the images from their portfolios without becoming too distracted in long personal histories.
The upside to this approach is that it creates a coffee table book that's more than just a volume of pretty pictures, while still including the pretty pictures that make it such a joy to look through. The downside is that even though Infinite Worlds is reasonably comprehensive, it falls just short of being the kind of reference book the SF art field deserves. Di Fate himself tells readers, "Certainly there are omissions, things I'll perhaps kick myself for later..."
But no reader will fail to be captivated by at least some of the images included in the book, and most will find fond memories or exciting new experiences waiting on each page. This book lives up to its promise of providing "fantastic visions of science fiction art."
