Worlds Beyond Time: Sci-Fi Art of the 1970s

Worlds Beyond Time is the definitive visual history of the spaceships, alien landscapes, cryptozoology, and imagined industrial machinery of 1970s paperback sci-fi art and the artists who created these extraordinary images.

In the 1970s, mass-produced, cheaply printed science-fiction novels were thriving. The paper was rough, the titles outrageous, and the cover art astounding. Over the course of the decade, a stable of talented painters, comic-book artists, and designers produced thousands of the most eye-catching book covers to ever grace bookstore shelves (or spinner racks). Curiously, the pieces commissioned for these covers often had very little to do with the contents of the books they were selling, but by leaning heavily on psychedelic imagery, far-out landscapes, and trippy surrealism, the art was able to satisfy the same space race-fueled appetite for the big ideas and brave new worlds that sci-fi writers were boldly pushing forward.

In Worlds Beyond Time: Sci-Fi Art of the 1970s, Adam Rowe--who has been curating, championing, and resurrecting the best and most obscure art that 1970s sci-fi has to offer on his blog 70s Sci-Fi Art--introduces readers to the biggest names in the genre, including Chris Foss, Peter Elson, Tim White, Jack Gaughan, and Virgil Finlay, as well as their influences. With deep dives into the subject matter that commonly appeared on these covers--spaceships, alien landscapes, fantasy realms, cryptozoology, and heavy machinery--this book is a loving tribute to a unique and robust art form whose legacy lives on both in nostalgic appreciation as well as the retro-chic design of mainstream sci-fi films such as Guardians of the Galaxy, Alien: Covenant, and Thor: Ragnarok.

Includes Color Illustrations

Author: Adam Rowe
Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
Published: 07/25/2023
Pages: 224
Weight: 2.7lbs
Size: 11.00h x 9.30w x 0.80d
ISBN: 9781419748691


Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 06/26/2023
BookPage 12/01/2023

About the Author
Adam Rowe is a senior writer at Tech.co and a former Forbes contributor on publishing and the business of storytelling. He has also written for iO9, Popular Mechanics, Tor.com, and the Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog. In 2018 he was a Digital Book World Award nominee for Publishing Commentator of the Year. Rowe curates the popular, multi-platform 70s Sci-Fi Art feed, bringing the best in retro sci-fi art to more than 100,000 Instagram followers. He lives in Seattle.