This week sees the release of an all new art book collecting behind the scenes art and information from all eight seasons of the Game of Thrones series. Coming in at nearly $100, it’s not cheap, but it’s definitely worth it.
I’ve always been a sucker for art books related to my favorite movies/shows. Oftentimes they provide some cool insight into the production process and how they came to settle on the designs/layouts that we eventually come to see on screen. Sometimes, they also give us a look at what could have been, while filling in details on how things ultimately came together, offering more than a simple gallery of images to gawk at.
This is what the new Game of Thrones book from Insight Editions brings to the table and it’s pretty impressive. On first impressions, I was blown away by the sheer size of this book. It’s not your average size, coming in at 9.75 × 13 inches and well over 400 pages it feels more like a tome than a typical coffee table book.
It brings together hundreds of sketches and full color art pieces that spans the entirety of the show’s eight seasons. In the book we get to see early designs for the various iconic locations of the series, from King’s Landing to Winterfell, as well as a look at the costumes, characters, and creature designs that ultimately brought George R.R. Martin’s world to life.
The best part, however, is how involved the production team from the show in this art book. It’s authored by Deborah Riley, who served as the series’ Production Designer. Because of this, you truly feel as though you’re getting a peak “behind the curtain” at how the series came together, as you’re getting insights directly from one of the key people who helped make it happen on the screen.
Showrunners David Benioff and D. B. Weiss joined in by writing the foreword for the Art Book, while the show’s other Production Designer offers up insight for the book’s preface. It’s very clear that a lot of love and attention went into the creation of this book. More than simply providing a gallery of art (which plenty of Game of Thrones fans would have thrown money at), this book dives deeper into the production process. There are some neat insights into how certain designs ended up being the “final” look for certain characters/locations, while also going into how things changed from season to season.
With all the information spread throughout, you could open this up to just about any page and find something interesting, with artwork that catches your eye. In this way, it works excellently as a traditional coffee table book. It’s something visitors (or yourself, obviously) can pick up and browse leisurely, but is also incredibly rewarding when you want to dive deeper into it; going from cover to cover.
Due to its size, it’ll take you some time to work through. Hell, it even comes with it’s own built in, cloth, bookmark for you to use. That’s a big part of the value you’ll be getting out of this release, and it’s definitely something I could see myself coming back to frequently for reference and reminders.
Between the gorgeous art pieces and oodles of behind the scenes information for all eight seasons, there’s a lot to love about this Game of Thrones art book. If you have a GoT fan on your shopping list this year (or simply want something nice for yourself) this is an excellent choice and something many would love to see under the tree.
As the Holiday season approaches, we’re bringing back our Geek Pick of the Week. Each week leading up to Christmas, we’ll be highlighting a cool product we’ve found that we feel would be the perfect gift for geeks of all kinds. Use these to help fill in your own wish list or find the perfect gift for the nerds in your life. Click HERE to read more about previous Picks of the Week!
