Your thoughts on illustrated books

[Greybeard]

How do you feel about illustrated fantasy novels? I've seen copies of The Lord of the Rings with lovely illustrations by Alan Lee. But his interpretations of Moria or Minas Tirith aren't what I had imagined.

Do illustrated books enhance or detract from your reading experience?

 

[Joe the Gnarled]

Illustrated books are just like any other form of entertainment. Some enjoy them, and others do not. If someone was not buying them they would not exist. Personally I have never gotten into any, save one. I read 300 cover to cover one day while I was trying to kill time in a small library. I do not know if this counts as an illustrated novel, or a comic, but it was enjoyable and made me appreciate how well the movie followed the novel/comic.

 

[Kelise]

I'd buy one if I loved the novel already. I wouldn't be able to read the illustrated as a novel after that, personally. I'd still read the novel separately and look to the book separately. It would depend a lot on the artist - I personally can't enjoy artwork unless I like the way they've done the art - whether they're talented or not, there's a difference to me. Which is a bit of a shame, really.

But I'm probably just weird like that

 

[Donny Bruso]

Personally I don't care for them for the same reason Greybeard stated. What I envision in my head is never the same as what the illustrator comes up with. And sometimes it seems the illustrator didn't bother to read the text & just started drawing.

 

[Ice Queen]

It kind of depends for me. Has anyone ever read: Beyond the Deepwoods? or anything by Paul Stewert&Chris Riddel?
These were like my favourite books as a child; the drawings were actually what made me love them so much. It was brilliant to see all the fantastic creatures and plants come to life :>

Saying that, I dunno about adult Fantasy... It sometimes dissapoints me when I see a movie of a book and the character is completely different to how I pictured them in my head (i.e. Harry Potter: Lupin). However it's quite satisfying when the character looks almost exactly as I pictured them (i.e. Game of Thrones: Littlefinger). Okay so the examples aren't illustrations but movies and tvshows. It's a similar concept.

 

[Ophiucha]

I like illustrations if the author drew them, or was there when they were being drawn - advising the whole thing. A seriously, oh god seriously, fantastic amazing super awesome example of this would be "Leviathan" by Scott Westerfeld. Even the map is interesting, and I hate maps in fantasy books. It was just beautiful. I also like the drawings at the beginning of each chapter in the Harry Potter books. They were very nice, simple and effective. Oh, and let us not forget the amazing pairing of Lewis Carroll and John Tenniel. As for illustrations added to old books later on, it would depend, I suppose, on what it is they are drawing and why. I mostly don't see the point in adding to it posthumously (presumably they wouldn't add drawings while they were alive without their consent), unless the author themselves had drawings they made. I never really have a strong image of characters in my head while reading. Even if you tell me, opening scene, "John was a dark-skinned man with black hair and striking, light blue eyes." If you ask me what he looks like at the end of the novel, I'll probably be like "... umm, well, he's an adult male." I just don't hold a great amount of attachment to their appearances, and I'm more than willing to use the author's or someone the author commissioned's vision for them; hell, I'm fine just accepting that Harry Potter is Dan Radcliffe, or any equivalent. I'm fine with being told that a character is a redhead after seven books, because honestly, I probably wouldn't have presumed anything. And I'll forget they're a redhead unless it is drilled into my head, anyway.

 

[Map the Dragon]

I am so glad this topic is here - it gives me a great chance to tell you all about a MUST-FREAKING-READ. Do it!

Have you all ever heard of Brom? He's a fantasy artist...even illustrated some of our favorite covers in the genre.

Well, he's better than most authors that I've read too. His book Child Thief is stupendous. Inside, you'll find his mastered artwork throughout - and it does nothing but to reinforce the dark quality of the prose.

After reading that whopper of a novel, I picked up a copy of Plucker. Best fully illustrated book ever. Think a demented and twisted version of Toy Story with adult themes. Great stuff. Every other page is illustrated and to perfect effect - it harkens readers back to the emotional attachment we had to children's book, but with subject matter and theme that are perfect for us now.

READ THESE!

 

[myrddin173]

I also agree that the illustrations in the Leviathan Trilogy are perfect. Another great example is the Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica (which I highly recommend) by James A. Owen who is also one of the illustrators. I agree that with illustrations the author has to be closely involved, and it is awesome when they are.

 

[Forsta-Phoenix]

I agree with Ophiucha, if the author drew or commisioned the pictures I'm all for it but if the images are added later I tend to avoid as they can sometimes ruin my own imaginations view of them. I read LotR when I was 10/11 and loved it, but when the description of an oliphant came up me being incredibly dense didn't put 2 and 2 together and imagined a great beast more similar to a rhino crossed with an ox with a shed load of horns around the face than the giant elephants that were shown in the movie, I did like the portrayal of the wargs though!

And as a kid the Beyond the Deepwoods trilogy would be a series I could read from start to finish over and over, I loved the beastiary that the two created and all the other bits and peices, in fact I think that was one of my first forays into fantasy. I haven't read the Leviathan series, but I have seen the map the author commissioned, is it any good?

 

[Jenna St. Hilaire]

Whether I like illustration in a book depends a lot on whether the pictures match what's in my mind--and what's written. There's nothing more frustrating than discovering the main characters don't actually look like they're pictured on the cover...

Little bits of related, but not scene-illustrative, art is something I always enjoy if it's well done. Inkheart, for instance, and there are a few things in Wheel of Time.

I like a good map, but rarely use it. Still nice to have, though.

 

[CicadaGrrl]

I love integrated arts, so when art plays off of text and enriches it, I love it. Mostly, I like it in kids books or Graphic Novels. Plain old fantasy doesn't, in general, seem to get it. I think part of the problem is how much control the author has over what the illustrations look like.

That said, yeah. I agree it can be a distracting experience since I like to picture things myself so illustrations can make me lazy or turned off feeling.