2007-02-21 Bringing a Song of Ice and Fire to life.

I've never bought an "Art of" book before, but as "A Song of Ice and Fire" is my favourite fantasy series I thought I'd take the plunge. What do you get? Well - a 11" x 9"" book consisting of almost 200 pages with about 300 pictures by 30 odd different artists. There is a wide range of image sizes (from 1/8 page to double page spreads) and, because so many different artists worked on the pictures, a wide range of styles. Anything from pencil drawings to oil colours, some detailed, some "cartoony". All printed on good quality paper.

The pictures are organised by areas within Westeros. So a particular location or character is easy to find, although an index would have been better. All the major (and most of the minor) characters, and all the major landmarks are represented. Although Cersie and Tyrion Lannister have a mere single picture apiece. Strange - as they are two of the most important characters plotwise.

The quality of the pictures varies, although the majority are very good. Most of the characters were pretty much as I had imagined them (with the startling exception of Cersie Lannister). But where this book really comes into it's own is it's depiction of the various castles and forts. I kept dipping into this book while reading A Storm of Swords: Blood and Gold, and it really heightened what was an already enjoyable experience.


Hope this review helps.