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The Faces of Fantasy
In 1984 Patti Perret produced The Faces of Science Fiction, a book of photographs of science fiction writers that became an instant classic, garnering praise from authors and critics alike.
Patti Perret returns with The Faces of Fantasy, a unique collection of the visual and literary arts, a rare treasure that will be kept in an honored place on your bookshelf for years to come.
In the process of creating her art, Patti Perret has herself been changed. "The relationships I've had with these writers have been brief, and yet also intense. One needs to go beyond the surface, beyond the setting, to a place of trust - achieving a level of intimacy, a kind of nonverbal communication that allows the magic to happen and to be captured by the camera. This, I've discovered - as I've traveled and talked to so many writers of fantasy - is the similarity between our two fields. We're all trying to capture magic."
Patti Perret returns with The Faces of Fantasy, a unique collection of the visual and literary arts, a rare treasure that will be kept in an honored place on your bookshelf for years to come.
In the process of creating her art, Patti Perret has herself been changed. "The relationships I've had with these writers have been brief, and yet also intense. One needs to go beyond the surface, beyond the setting, to a place of trust - achieving a level of intimacy, a kind of nonverbal communication that allows the magic to happen and to be captured by the camera. This, I've discovered - as I've traveled and talked to so many writers of fantasy - is the similarity between our two fields. We're all trying to capture magic."
235 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1996
75 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
May 1, 2012
This gorgeous book could have been also called "The Faces and Minds/Souls of Fantasy". Patti Perret's poignant photographs of the leading pens of the literary fantasy genre in the mid-90s range from the mysterious, to the down-to-earth, according (or sometimes in contrast with) to the personality or the personae of each author. Of course, b&w photography has that "classical" feel to it, but one can also feel the myrida colours hiding behind. And yet this book is not only something pretty to look upon, because each picturs is accompanied/balanced by a text written by the author in question, and they all, in various ways, provides us entrance into their minds, their dreams, their realities, their working process, their views on literature and life. Some are concise, and some wax on, but every text is insightful. The book is wonderfully complemented by an introduction by Terri Windling, who makes an excellent working summarizing the origins and development of modern fantasy literature.
March 24, 2015
This is an interesting book; it's a collection of photographs of famous fantasy writers with accompanying brief statements from the subjects. The photographs are twenty years old now, and it's interesting to note which of the subjects are still on top of the field and which are now nearly forgotten. At the time of publication, before the internet took over the world, it was a novelty to see what the people who wrote the books looked like. Neil Gaiman, surely the coolest guy ever to set pen to paper, is featured on the cover, and his accompanying essay is quite pithy and poignant, too. Katherine Kurtz is gorgeous, Peter David has the most unique pose, Dennis McKiernan is striking, and Tim Powers, who I saw in person not long ago, has mysteriously not changed at all. It's a fun book for fantasy fans.
October 29, 2021
I stumbled across a copy of this book, and had to buy it - there are photos of and essays by my Very Favorite Authors - Terry Pratchett (GNU) and Charles de Lint - along with a number of other greats.
Each author is given two pages - space for a short essay on the left, and their photograph on the right.
The photos are all varied - only a few are of the more expected “book jacket” variety. Many are set in nature, tho a few appear to be inside the author’s home.
The essays are varied as well, and add an interesting facet.
I don't know how they decided on the order of the authors, or which authors to include, for that matter, so thankfully they included an alphabetical index to find your favorite author.
The book was published in 1996. It's interesting to know how different things are now in regards to technology, as opposed to when the photos were taken, but all of the authors' words remain applicable.
Terri Windling’s introduction is wonderful and lists a bunch of books that I now want to read (tho I do wonder who she might include if she were to write the essay today).
One reason I didn't give this five stars is that it would have been really cool to know about the location of each author's photo, why it was chosen, etc.
For instance, I posted these photos in a group for people who like fantasy, and author Esther Friesner herself wrote: "I'm in that book and got to fulfill my dream of posing in the fountain in front of the Plaza Hotel in NYC." It's a cool photo of her, but that added bit of information makes it all the more special.
And in the intro, Windling tells us that Michael Scott Rohan’s photo was taken in a “nice, cool medieval crypt” because he had arrived to his photo shoot “hot and weary in Oxford after hours on a broken-down train”.
A short graph by the photographer would have made the book even more intriguing.
Recommended for fantasy fans.
Each author is given two pages - space for a short essay on the left, and their photograph on the right.
The photos are all varied - only a few are of the more expected “book jacket” variety. Many are set in nature, tho a few appear to be inside the author’s home.
The essays are varied as well, and add an interesting facet.
I don't know how they decided on the order of the authors, or which authors to include, for that matter, so thankfully they included an alphabetical index to find your favorite author.
The book was published in 1996. It's interesting to know how different things are now in regards to technology, as opposed to when the photos were taken, but all of the authors' words remain applicable.
Terri Windling’s introduction is wonderful and lists a bunch of books that I now want to read (tho I do wonder who she might include if she were to write the essay today).
One reason I didn't give this five stars is that it would have been really cool to know about the location of each author's photo, why it was chosen, etc.
For instance, I posted these photos in a group for people who like fantasy, and author Esther Friesner herself wrote: "I'm in that book and got to fulfill my dream of posing in the fountain in front of the Plaza Hotel in NYC." It's a cool photo of her, but that added bit of information makes it all the more special.
And in the intro, Windling tells us that Michael Scott Rohan’s photo was taken in a “nice, cool medieval crypt” because he had arrived to his photo shoot “hot and weary in Oxford after hours on a broken-down train”.
A short graph by the photographer would have made the book even more intriguing.
Recommended for fantasy fans.
October 15, 2013
An inspiring portrait for any fantasy writer. However, it is quickly evident how few writers of color represented the field of fantasy fiction or, should I say, were viewed to represent the field. A similar book printed today should hardly garner praise without first including diverse writers: PoC, women, and known gay writers of fantasy. One thing this book does represent well are the women who've shaped the fantasy genre into what it is today. Little of Terry Brooks, Robert Jordan, George R.R. Martin (though all three have photographs in this book) permeate this book. Mostly, this work contains photographs and accompanying essays of women writers. That is why this book touched me.
October 29, 2013
What an interesting period piece this was! The portraits of the top fantasy authors circa 1996 included some names I'd never encountered, some who were just entering the field and have gone on to enormous fame, some stalwarts still with us, many who have left this world. Everyone who wore glasses had on horrible ones. The essay by Neil Gaiman was worth the price of admission, but I can't recommend the book as a whole any more- it's too dated.
August 2, 2023
Roughly a decade after Faces Of Science Fiction, this time with UK and Irish writers added to Americans, a great deal more women authors but even more light skinned. I think fantasy was at its peak of going into European history more rigorously, the peak of the renaissance fair-hey nonny nonny-celtic-horsegirl- aesthetics. Terri Windling writes a fairly comprehensive introduction to the genre and I think she was a very influential editor at this time.
Both Nancy Springer and Judith Tarr are pictured with their horses. Storm Constantine and Patricia Kennealy-Morrison look like rock stars (both of them did work in the music business). The general settings are more grassy and leafy, more of the writers look like they're trying to dress and live in places like their characters.
There's way more surprises in this book, more writers I had never seen before and many I'm just hearing about for the first time. Poppy Z Brite seems to be the only author best known for horror and I wonder why such a gritty and punky writer was chosen? J. P. Donleavy, Steve Stern and Joyce Carol Oates are here. There's a lot of famous children's authors who I imagine never hung out at fantasy conventions much. Evangeline Walton and Edward Whittemore appearing shortly before they passed away (Whittemore never got to submit a statement).
I'm not sure if this was as good a read as the previous book, maybe it eventually just got repetitive for me but I think a lot of the surprise appearances kind of make up for that and the photos are overall nicer. I'm a little sad Tanith Lee didn't make an appearance but I imagine they tried to get her.
I kept thinking it would be nice to have a new book like this but the geographic expansion would make this really difficult and social media has made this kind of book arguably redundant. Now you can see as much of your favourite authors' pets as you like.
Both Nancy Springer and Judith Tarr are pictured with their horses. Storm Constantine and Patricia Kennealy-Morrison look like rock stars (both of them did work in the music business). The general settings are more grassy and leafy, more of the writers look like they're trying to dress and live in places like their characters.
There's way more surprises in this book, more writers I had never seen before and many I'm just hearing about for the first time. Poppy Z Brite seems to be the only author best known for horror and I wonder why such a gritty and punky writer was chosen? J. P. Donleavy, Steve Stern and Joyce Carol Oates are here. There's a lot of famous children's authors who I imagine never hung out at fantasy conventions much. Evangeline Walton and Edward Whittemore appearing shortly before they passed away (Whittemore never got to submit a statement).
I'm not sure if this was as good a read as the previous book, maybe it eventually just got repetitive for me but I think a lot of the surprise appearances kind of make up for that and the photos are overall nicer. I'm a little sad Tanith Lee didn't make an appearance but I imagine they tried to get her.
I kept thinking it would be nice to have a new book like this but the geographic expansion would make this really difficult and social media has made this kind of book arguably redundant. Now you can see as much of your favourite authors' pets as you like.
June 30, 2019
This book has been sitting on my "to read" pile for longer than I would like to admit, and I distinctly remember debating even buying it until I had to use up some credit at a local used bookstore before moving across the country. After finally reading it I have mixed feelings - the photographs and short essays by the authors that I love are wonderful, but the rest are largely unfathomable. I've read (or at least attempted to read) most of the authors in this collection (fantasy being my favourite genre), and even though I liked most of their essays and photos herein it still won't make me like some of their books. But having a glimpse behind the veil (whether it's constructed or not, as Neil Gaiman suggests) was still charming. Now I wish that they would do a follow up with the new (and still) faces of fantasy - seeing some of these same authors 20+ years later would be great, as well as having a taste of who's new and hot in the genre!
December 11, 2019
Always loved the Moorcock essay about "Don't read fantasy," can't find it again now.
April 21, 2009
This is a wonderful book... Well, at least for a fantasy fan like me! I have to say that this book was a bargain: we bought it in a Gandhi (a book store) clearance sale for only US$ 3.90! I really enjoyed the photographs and the bios. A very good book.
November 30, 2010
I read and enjoyed this book ages ago. Would like to read it again.
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February 21, 2012The faces of fantasy by Patti Perret (1996), 1st ed
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews