Brian Robb

Simultaneously a literary movement, ultra-hip subculture and burgeoning cottage industry, Steampunk is the most influential and arresting new genre to emerge from the late twentieth century. Spinning tales populated with clockwork Leviathans, cannon-shots to the moon and coal-fired robots, it charts alternative histories in which the British Empire never fell or where the atom remained unsplit. A term first coined in 1987 by science fiction author K.W.Jeter, Steampunk was born of myriad influences: the classic scientific romances of Jules Verne, H.G. Wells and Mary Shelley, a growing nostalgia for Victoriana and an ironic reaction to the dystopian futurescapes of Cyberpunk. Today it has grown to become a global aesthetic, making its mark on art, architecture, fashion and even music. This wide-ranging, beautifully-illustrated and much needed history explores the genre’s many intricate expressions, tracing its development in fiction, cinema, television, comics, videogames and beyond. From the futuristic visions of Fritz Lang and the otherworldly imaginings of Alan Moore and Hayao Miyazaki, to Doctor Who’s adventures in time and space and the dark fantasies of China Miéville, Brian J. Robb sets the key works of Steampunk squarely under the lens of his brass monocle, examining their ideas and themes in forensic detail.

The painstakingly crafted world that J.R.R. Tolkien created for The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion is so vivid that it's easy to briefly imagine Middle-earth as a real place-even Tolkien himself had said it existed somewhere on Earth. From the languages spoken and the creatures that peopled it to the wars and cosmology, the richly imagined Middle-earth has left many artists and fans worldwide imagining what it would look and feel like to inhabit such a wildly inspired world. Tolkien left out no details in his picture so it is no surprise that Middle-earth has inspired such inventiveness in turn. Middle-earth Envisioned is the first book to explore the artistic legacy left by Tolkien's world. Paintings, drawings, theatrical performances, radio serials, and films inspired by The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are all discussed in a manner that further illuminates the brilliance of Tolkien's creation. Readers will discover details surrounding an attempted Beatles live-action version (with Paul McCartney as Frodo Baggins), a nearly four-hour Canadian musical, the West End stage production of Lord of the Rings, and of course, the Peter Jackson films-including the Hobbit trilogy-and much more. In this beautifully illustrated gift book, discover the richness of Middle-earth anew, through the works of the artists inspired by it. From Paul Simpson, former editor of Star Trek magazine and NYT bestselling author Brian J. Robb.