Worlds Beyond Time: Sci-Fi Art of the 1970s by Adam Rowe

Worlds Beyond Time: Sci-Fi Art of the 1970s by Adam Rowe surveys the paperback cover art of a decade when mass-produced science-fiction novels filled bookstore shelves and spinner racks. Painters, comic-book artists, and designers created thousands of images of spaceships, alien landscapes, fantasy realms, cryptozoology, and imagined industrial machinery. Rough paper and outlandish titles were paired with striking covers, sometimes only loosely related to the stories inside.

The book examines how psychedelic imagery, far-out landscapes, and surrealism answered a space race–fueled interest in new worlds. Rowe, curator of the 70s Sci-Fi Art blog and feed, introduces artists including Chris Foss, Peter Elson, Tim White, Jack Gaughan, and Virgil Finlay, and explores their influences. With 400 color illustrations and subject-focused sections, the volume also traces the art’s later influence on films such as Guardians of the Galaxy, Alien: Covenant, and Thor: Ragnarok.

BY: Adam Rowe

FORMAT: 224 pages; 400 color illustrations

SIZE: 9 × 11 in.

ISBN: 9781419748691

IMPRINT: Abrams Books

RIGHTS: World/All

PRAISE: “[…] Rowe’s obvious love for the form animates the volume, and makes a powerful case for how this period continues to influence the genre’s aesthetic. Sci-fi fans of all stripes will be delighted.” —Publishers Weekly

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Adam Rowe is a senior writer at Tech.co and a Forbes contributor covering publishing and the business of storytelling. He has written for iO9, Popular Mechanics, Tor.com, and the Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog. A 2018 Digital Book World Award nominee for Publishing Commentator of the Year, he curates the multi-platform 70s Sci-Fi Art feed, which brings retro sci-fi art to more than 100,000 Instagram followers at @70sscifi. He lives in Seattle, Washington.