The Fairy Universe offers readers keys to a 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. It is currently scheduled for release on May 10 2022. 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 Fae and Elves.
The Fairy Universe is a stunning book. The artwork is simply wonderful, capturing the character and feeling described in the text. The artwork is a valid reason to buy this book, even without the text. The descriptions of various elves fae include names that will be familiar to fans of the subject matter, and plenty of very specific beings that were new to me. I think this book is very well done, in artwork and text, and that readers and art lovers that enjoy the mystical and fae beings will greatly enjoy this read. The only complaint that I have is that the fae and elven creatures here are very much of a very narrow sliver of European traditions. I would have loved seeing a variety of cultures included in some manner. There is a vast and intriguing variety of such creatures around the world, even relatively close to home, and I would have enjoyed seeing at least a little more of an expansive view on the subject.
