Arnie Fenner

The artwork contained in this book was absolutely stunning, but I wish that it had been a bit more organized and consistent. They organized things by loose genres, some of which absolutely made sense, but some of which I thought were kind of the same thing. And then within these categories there was no internal organization that I could decipher based on logical grouping (themes, subjects, artists, locales, colours even) which made the book seem rather disjointed. That being said, I was show more pleased to see pieces by most of my favourite fantasy artists, plenty of recognizable sources/commissioning groups, and a whole host of unexpected newcomers. show less

I have several of these volumes; they are wonderful, and they seem to keep getting bigger and bigger. I am continually impressed not only by the works themselves, but by the breadth of selection, from fine arts, to comics, to commercial art, to sculpture. There is apparently a near-infinite amount of 2-D and 3-D fantastic art being produced at any given time and much of it would largely go unseen if it were not for these annual collections.

Even in this rough work, Frazetta's genius comes through. The energy and motion and dynamics that every piece conveys ... the beautiful women begging to be ravished ... the warriors to fight by your side ... the demons to destroy ... it's amazing.

A wonderful series for those that love art with focus on science fiction, fantasy, and horror. High quality paper and intense color make these art pieces pop off the page.

There is very little reading, mostly about the history of Spectrum and how the judging takes place (mostly with beans and paperclips).

NOTE: Not for everyone...some of the entries are the stuff that nightmares are made of.

This edition was produced in 2005 so some of the contact information in the back may not be correct.