Art
of Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward – The Art of Ishgard -Stone and Steel
Art of Final Fantasy
XIV: Heavensward – The Art of Ishgard -The Scars of War
Release Date: Mid Jun
Something very special for Final
Fantasy fans this month, with two volumes of companion art for Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward.
These high quality, large format art books feature concept drawings, character
sketches and even the background aesthetic ideas as well as some interviews
with the art and design team on the process of creating the world of Final Fantasy XIV.
This is obviously going to be loads of fun for Final Fantasy fans.
Science
of Middle Earth by Arnaud Rafaelian
Release Date: Early May
JRR Tolkien
didn’t just create Middle Earth to be a setting, a stage, for his elves and
dwarves and wielders of rings, it was something he invested as much time and
energy into as any other aspect of The
Lord of the Rings. As a result, going through his copious
notes, it is possible to use them as a guideline to construct a science of
Middle Earth, which is what author Arnaud
Rafaelian has done. In here you will find references to Tolkien that give
some indication as to why things are the way they are in Middle Earth, even
down to why the Hobbits have such big feet and how Elven immortality actually
works. A fascinating meta-analysis of the Tolkien world and bound to be plenty of
fun for fans of Tolkien.
Star
Trek Shipyards: The Borg and Delta Quadrant
Release Date: Early Aug
This is the latest in the Start
Trek Shipyards series, and the first of two books featuring the
ships of the Delta Quadrant. This one handles A to K, which of course includes
everybody’s favourite, the Borg. These are tremendously good fun, with
wonderful schematic and artistic representations of the ships from the
series. I’m also looking forward to the second one which will give us
pictures of the Lokirrim and Vidiian warships as well as the Species
8472 Bioships. That one is due in October.
World
of Warcraft: Flavours of Azeroth by Chelsea
Monroe-Cassel
Release Date: Early May
Blizzard’s World of
Warcraft setting is a massive world with many expansions and
side worlds to visit. As a result, it seems that Blizzard have decided that it
needs two cookbooks to cover it sufficiently. In this new one, we are guided by
Pandarian chef Nomi, who you may recognise if you did a lot of cooking quests
in the Mist of Pandaria expansion. Nomi shares a variety of new recipes,
featuring dishes from his home land of Pandaria, the Broken Isles and even the
newly discovered mysterious Shadowlands. Games are fun, but you can’t play all
the time and you’ve got to eat. No-one said you couldn’t make your food nerdy
too though.
Apex
Legends: Pathfinder’s Quest
Release Date: Early May
This is a large, full-colour hardcover tie in book for Respawn Entertainment’s
game, Apex Legends.
Our guide through the lore, zones, characters and history of the Outlands, is
Pathfinder the robot. This one is a great companion for fans for the game,
which apparently is free-to-play and has millions of players. I’ve no idea if
the game is any good, but I’ve seen a copy of this book and the art and lore
look pretty cool to me.
Strange
Planet: The Sneaking, Hiding, Vibrating Creature by Nathan
W Pyle
Release Date: Mid June
It’s been a while since we have had a visit with the hilariously literal-minded
aliens of Nathan Pyle’s
books, and their observations of the ordinary world, but this month we get to
return to them as they deal with something even more perplexing than usual. The
vibrating creature, or the cat as we would refer to it, presents all sorts of
puzzles to their understanding and to be honest, I don’t think the aliens will
fare any better than humanity when dealing with cats. Nevertheless, the journey
is hilarious and quite insightful. This is also the first Nathan Pyle book to
be one long piece rather than short vignettes and is presented like a
children’s story book, making it ideal for all ages. As much fun as his
previous books, but shareable with the kids too.