Hardware: The Definitive SF Works of Chris Foss [Illustrated] [Hardcover]

I managed to get this book from Amazon UK as it was released earlier there.

This book is an amazing value for money. It's a rather large art book and it's filled with all these wonderful art from Chris Foss, mainly from the 70s and 80s. Each page typically has around 1 to 4 illustrations and there are a total of 240 pages. That's a lot of work!

Chris Foss is an incredible sci-fi artist. There's a sense of realism that comes not just from how his works are painted, but also from the designs. For the ones that are printed full page, you can really check out the details that are put in. All are fully coloured and there are some line sketches as well.

There are lots of variety of spacecrafts featured, space stations, alien landscapes and cities, a few robots, some ships and planes. Chris Foss certainly made space more colourful with his colourful spacecrafts. Many of these work have appeared on sci-fi novels, and have also inspired sci-fi film designs.

It will take a while to go through this wonderful collection.

Highly recommended if you're into sci-fi art.

You can also check out more work at Chris Foss' website.

(There are more pictures of the book on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.)

My first encounters with the work of Chris Foss were filled with mixed emotions. Thrilled by the superb artwork upon the cover of various books I would buy titles only to find that the stories themselves were often horribly outdated & released with amazing artwork that hid the dull contents within.
Older & wiser I may avoid many of those titles of dubious content but I remain thrilled by Foss's work.
The true greats in sci-fi & fantasy art have always managed to balance a peek into the future with a timeless quality that means their work remains fresh forever.
There can surely be few people who haven't seen the imperious spacecraft that are the trademark of this superbly talented artist. For me what keeps me glued to the images is the sense that these are vehicles fit for gods to arrive in. The intricate detail, eye catching colours & ground breaking design all play second fiddle to the sheer size and fearsome power he imbues into them.
The publishers, Titan, have a well deserved reputation for quality at very reasonable prices for their publications & this title keeps that reputation in tact. The glossy hardcovers are eye catching & help keep costs down by making the need for a dust jacket redundant. The paper is heavy & the colours bright & deep. The font is called 'range' & is suitably sci-fi but easily read. The 2 page intro by Rian Hughes is well worth a read but the real pleasures are the interview by Imogene Foss which gives a fine insight & mini biography. For the artists then surely the Jean Giraud intro. is the high point with an artists view. The Alejandro Jodorowsky page, (Foss did some prelim. artwork for a failed 'Dune' movie project), is brief but a welcome addition.
Then it's on to the artwork in earnest. 220 pages of eye blistering, mind expanding & imagination pumping brilliance. The commentary is limited to a bold type title/project with brief content description & date printed on the pages outer edge & not interfering with the work. The only small downside of the whole book is that it can be a bit baffling matching the description with the right work on a busy page.. It really is all about the art & the variety & quality on show here is staggering. Full page illustrations abound & there are a fair few double page spreads too. The multi-image pages are well chosen & I really feel that there is just about as little quality v quantity compromise as you could possible hope for.
The robots, the seascapes, aliens & most of all spacecraft of Chris Foss are ageless & objects of terrible beauty. A quick flick of this book nearly always seems to be turned into yet another hour gone by in the company of a true genius.
I find myself swept back to those days of my early teens when I first really fell in love with all things sci-fi & yet, unlike so much else I once felt cutting edge, this huge collection retains a sharp & edgy quality that refuses to age.
This is not just for those into sci-fi but rather anyone with a love of art will be thrilled by this stunning work.
A collection of timeless classics from a true master of the genre.

As a boy I had the "21st Century Foss" book. I don't recall how or where I got it, but I do recall the book quite vividly.

It was one of my favourite books - the sense of scale, the detail, the wonderful designs. Or, in some cases, non-designs - things built from scavenged parts, cobbled together yet somehow working.

That book, sadly, was not treated as well as it could have been. Filled with larger versions of book covers we thrilled to, I shared it with friends - it went to and from school in various bags, and it didn't really survive that well.

I've always wanted to replace that book. But luckily, this book is here now. And it's bigger, it's better printed, and well bound.

The book is well organised and fairly comprehensive, with all the famous works that you expect. It also has sketches from Foss' work on films, and plenty of text up front with details of his career and artistic development.

So it's a good book.

But if, like everyone else commenting here, you first saw Chris Foss' works on the cover of a novel and were electrified by them - immediately attracted and intrigued by them - then this is a great book.

This is the book you want.

And that is all you need to know.