Like its companion, Everyday Scenes from Parallel Worlds, Beautiful Scenes from a Fantasy World is a heavily illustrated book that is light on text because it is centered on the mise en scène.
Stats
Title: Beautiful Scenes from a Fantasy World: Background Illustrations and Scenes from Anime and Manga Works
Published & Edited By: PIE International
Paperback: 160 pages
ISBN-10: 4756249663
ISBN-13: 978-4756249661
Available on Amazon in paperback. You can find it at other online and offline booksellers, as well.
Summary of Beautiful Scenes from a Fantasy World
This is the second title in the Everyday Scenes from Parallel Worlds series. It showcases background artworks featuring fantasy worlds, including celestial castles, pirate ships sailing through the clouds, retro-futuristic inventions, deserted architectural spaces, towns that have sunk under the ocean, an enchanted forest and a space locomotive that runs in neo-futuristic world. Attention is focused primarily on the beauty of the illustrated backgrounds, rather than characters in the foreground.
What Worked for Me
I won’t repeat what I said in my review of Everyday Scenes from Parallel Worlds, although those comments are just as applicable to this next book in the series. This volume focuses more on fantastical worlds, so it includes a lot of lush scenery and whimsical lands. The illustrations tend to be very colorful, as well.
What Didn’t Work for Me
Many of the illustrations are very detailed, it would have been nice to see them a bit larger so that I could examine those details more closely. That said, making the book any larger would have made it unwieldy, so I guess that isn’t something the publisher could fix.
What I’d Love to See in the Second Edition
Like its companion, I think this book would be well served by a hardcover edition. And, again, I would appreciate larger text. If any of these pieces of art are available for sales as prints, I would love to know where to find them! I would love to hang Journey 2 on page 21 on my wall.
Conclusion
I think this volume has a bit wider audience appeal than the first. The fantasy art is bright, lush, emotive and beautiful.
Score for Beautiful Scenes from a Fantasy World: 4 Palm Trees out of 5 Possible
Grab your copy on Amazon today.
NOTE: Although I received this book free to review, that did not affect my opinion of the book. Read past reviews of books I’ve received for free and you’ll know I don’t hold my punches.
