I didn't see "Avatar," the movie, but I enjoyed looking through this book and reading a bit about the creation of the movie. It didn't make me want to go see the movie, but still, it was a nice book to look through. ( )

This book reminded me of the pleasures of reading "The Art of..." film books all the way back to Ralph McQuarrie's "The Art of Star Wars" back in the mid-1970s. This volume is filled with beautiful painted "concept illustrations" that helped the digital artists design the computerized world of Pandora in James Cameron's film Avatar. In addition to color paintings, there are numerous b&w sketches and photos from the films to show what the finished effects work looked like. Although there is minimal text, what is there helps to explain the artists' intents as they created the various landscapes and creatures of the Avatar universe. Particularly appealing are two extended foldout pages that show various incremental versions of both the Nav'i and Pandora. An excellent resource for movie fans, particularly of SF and Fantasy films. My only complaint, and it is a minor one, is that this book is fairly thin, in comparison to other "The Art of..." movie books, so I'm glad I checked it out from the library instead of buying a copy!

Originally reviewed for my local library's website: http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/depts/bookguide/srec/staffrec10-03.htm ( )