It could be argued that the late 70s/early 80s were the golden age of fantasy art. Some of the greats of the field: Larry Elmore, Keith Parkinson, and of course Frank Frazetta all created some of their most famous images in these days. With both Dungeons & Dragons and Lord of the Rings becoming a major cultural phenomenon, these artists suddenly found themselves with a brand new market to contribute their work outside of the niche market of paperbacks and movie posters.

But of all of these artists, probably the most popular in their heyday were the Brothers Hildebrandt. These two talented artists made their claim to fame through two works: the original Star Wars movie poster (the one with Leia's arm around Luke's leg) and their legendary trio of Tolkien/Lord of the Rings calendars published between 1976 and 1978. For years, these guys were the go-to source for high quality artist interpretations of Tolkien's work. Their work defined the look of Middle-earth (except for tolkien himself), at least until Alan Lee and Ted Nasmith became famous.

But after a while, The Hildebrandts were fed up with interpreting the works of others, and decided to cut out the middle man. They decided to create their OWN fantasy epic, with their OWN fantasy world, and their OWN characters.

They decided to make an animated film.

For years they developed the project. They drew several sketches and drawings, made lots of painting and concept art.....

....and the project fell through. Although they had caught the interest of several filmmakers, the project was deemed just too expensive.

So the brothers said "fuck it!" and decided to do what Terry Brooks (a writer whose bestseller they'd also illustrated) had done: write an epic fantasy paperback.

The brothers took their movie concept and teamed up with friend Jerry Nichols, gathered together all of their related images (and painted some new ones), and Urshurak was born.

For a Bantam paperback, this book's production values are through the roof. It is richly illustrated by the Hildebrandt's celebrated art, and the composition if masterfully done. The pen and ink illustrations that litter the pages are fantastic on their own, but the color plates are striking, as these samples show us....












As for the story....

......Well, considering that it was originally a film, it can seem rather generic. Of course, the 'cliches' of the genre were fairly recent at that time, so it can be somewhat forgiven. But often times you get the sense that you're reading a novel-length movie pitch that an actual novel. The fact that is was originally intended as a film also explains the seemingly random plot, wherein our hero just happens to find himself with a band of adventurers in a tavern. There is also some fairly obvious Tolkien inspirations (how you like that not-Mordor up their in the paintings?). That being said, it's still a ripping good read, and friends of mine have used it as source material for their D&D campaigns.

This book is now out of print, and has been for some time now. If you ever get ahold of it, grab it as fast as you can. It's a rare artifact from the first American fantasy boom. It's not deep or intelligent, but its a load of fun.

And if really would have made a bitchin' film.