The Fairy Universe

by Olivier Ledroit and Laurent Souille

Olivier Ledroit (Artist), Laurent Souillé, and Laurent Souille

We are now certain: fairies exist! This universe is made up of mysterious and elusive spirits: the Elves and the Faes. Once we accept this evidence, we still have to recognize them, approach them, and sometimes be wary of them... It took our illustrator all his dexterity to be able to approach them, sketch them, and give us this guide to the most remarkable Faes and Elves.

The Fairy Universe offers us the keys to this magical and poetic universe through hundreds of drawings by Olivier Ledroit, the designer of the Chronicles of the Black Moon, spread over double-pages in watercolor and pencil, with illustrating texts by Olivier and Laurent Souillé.

• ISBN10: 1950912515
• ISBN13: 9781950912513
• Publish Date: 5 July 2022
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Ablaze, LLC
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 136
• Language: English

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

The Fairy Universe is a wonderfully diverse encyclopedia of the Fae tied together by short vignette text, but it's the fantasy art that is the main attraction. Due out 8th June 2022 and distributed in North America by Diamond Comics, it's 136 pages and is available in hardcover and ebook/comiXology formats.

This is a wide ranging collection from the works of Olivier Ledroit and represents different media types from pen and ink to watercolor. The pieces are diverse and many are compelling. The formatting reminds me quite a lot of "The art of...(Frazetta, Oliver Frey, Whelan, etc)" collections from the past.

This is a nice collection for fantasy art enthusiasts and a good resource for inspiration. The text was presumably originally published in French and is capably translated in this English language edition by Fabrice Sapolsky. Much of the art is haunting and atmospheric and not just a little bit creepy. It reminds me in some ways of the deliciously scary Grimm's Fairy Tales illustrated by Arthur Rackham which terrified me as a small child. There is some small amount of nudity included in the works in this edition.

Four stars. Quite beautifully done.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

[bookstagramofmine]

This is so pretty and creepy I love it! I loved all the illustrations and stories about the fairies! My only complaint is that it's too small; it should be at least 100 pages longer!

 

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read this!