Title Elegant Spirits Series --- Author Yoshitaka Amano Illustrated By Yoshitaka Amano Publisher Dark Horse Books - 2021 First Printing Dark Horse Books - 2021 Category Art Warnings Some nudity Main Characters Various Main Elements Fairies

Yoshitaka Amano has visualized other worlds of wonder as the artist of the Final Fantasy game series. Now, with Elegant Spirits , our own world's ancient treasures of literature and legend are richly evoked through Amano's paintings and illustrations!

Elegant Spirits first contains Amano's adaptation of The Tale of Genji , a psychological exploration of courtly love written a thousand years ago by Lady Murasaki, and often considered to be the earliest novel ever written. The second half of Elegant Spirits is Amano's Fairies , his portrayals of the many magical beings of English and Celtic lore and drama--from brownies and the Seelie Court, to Merlin and Nimue, to Shakespeare's Puck and Titania. The images of Elegant Spirits are accompanied by excerpts of text, poetry, and the stories that accompany these unforgettable figures of the past.

I love Amano's work on the covers of the Vampire Hunter D novels so I was so excited when I found this at my library. I expected to be completely drawn into the land of fairy with his ethereal artwork.

However, I found myself mostly confused about the first part about the The Tale of Genji. I would have loved to have had some blurb that explained each piece in more detail since blurb from The Tale of Genji didn't seem to have much to do with most of the images they were associated with. It was just random abstract faces and clothing. Magical yes, but didn't really mean anything to me.

The second half however was easier to grasp, as each illustration was associated with a different type of fairy and the blurb would tell a short story in which that fairy featured. Amano's artwork already has a fae/elfin feel to it so it was perfect for an overview of different fairies.

But there's no denying it, Amano's work is distinctive and beautiful and maybe I'd even have enjoyed parts of it more if I weren't trying to figure out what exactly it represented, but just enjoyed the work for its own sake.