Michael Whelan

OTHERLAND: RIVER OF BLUE FIRE (1997)
Acrylic on Watercolor Board - 24" x 18"

In his Otherland series, Tad Williams has transported readers to a perilous "virtual world" of the imagination where anyone's fantasy can be made real. 1/6

#sciencefiction #illustration #otherland #dawbooks #tadwilliams

Apr 3 at 1:38pmWeb
Show threadMichael Whelan21h ago
Created by the Grail Brotherhood—a secretive cartel of the world’s richest and most ruthless individuals—the network proves to be more than just a playground for the wealthy. The simulation is fundamental to their quest for immortality. 2/6
Show threadMichael Whelan21h ago
Suffering from total memory loss, Paul Jonas escapes the trenches of the Western Front of WWI to travel to the canals of Mars and beyond seeking a mysterious angelic woman who appears in his dreams. 3/6
Show threadMichael Whelan21h ago
Pursued by the Grail Brotherhood, he follows the river, which in different forms flows through all of the worlds of Otherland. 4/6
Show threadMichael Whelan21h ago
When the series by Tad Williams was pitched to me—originally as a trilogy—I seized on the idea of having each of book dominated by a key color of the basic art spectrum. The blue of the river served as an excellent complement to the yellow of City of Golden Shadows. 5/6
Show threadMichael Whelan21h ago

Cover illustration for OTHERLAND: RIVER OF BLUE FIRE by Tad Williams (DAW) 6/6

https://www.michaelwhelan.com/galleries/otherland-river-of-blue-fire/

Show threadUlrike Heiß21h ago
@MichaelWhelan Oh, I do remember this cover.
Show threadBunny Jane's Humansona21h ago
@MichaelWhelan I loved these books! I loved them so much. They're simultaneously some of the most fun cyberpunk novels and some of the best fantasy novels.
Show threadMarco21h ago
@MichaelWhelan Did you ever create a drawing for Magic the Gathering? I feel like your artstyle would fit perfectly and some of your works remind me of some older MtG designs
Show threadMichael Whelan21h ago

@marco Yes, my only card art for MTG was for the Nalathni Dragon which was a controversial card given away at DragonCon later distributed with Duelist magazine. I was also commissioned for a cover for InQuest magazine. You can read more about my brush with MTG here:

https://theartofmichaelwhelan.substack.com/p/magic-from-the-past

Magic from the Past

The story of my only Magic: The Gathering card and cover

The Art of Michael Whelan
Show threadMarco18h ago
@MichaelWhelan That's so interesting, thanks for your response!