Mahendra Singhis an illustrator well known for oeuvre that is meticulously researched , reasoning to the period of phosphorescence and executed with obsessive craftsmanship . It should go without saying , then , that his illustrations for steampunk Jules Verne tribute 20 Trillion Leagues Under the Sea are nothing short of rattling .
I first met Mahendra — a ego - describe “ ink - sully wretch”—nearly twenty years ago when I saw a assemblage of totally convincingpostage stampshe’d created , based on the premiss that the Confederacy had gain the Civil War ( he finally condescended to allow the preternatural illustrations for my anthology , Pathetic Selections ) . Hisbeautiful work , which is often disturbing and almost constantly rendered in penitentiary - and - ink , conjure up the phantasmagoric collage of Max Ernst ( whom Singh accept has been an enormous influence on his artistry ) .
Singh latterly conform Lewis Carroll ’s surrealistic verse form , “ The Hunting of the Snark ” , as a graphical novel . As a prospicient - time penis of the Lewis Carroll Society of North America and an editor program for their journal , the Knight Letter , Singh — whodescribes himselfas a “ Carrollian Nutter … harmless as long as I have entree to drawing materials . And pictures of Snarks”—was unambiguously suited for the task . His illustrations are as much a kind of intellectual treasure hunt — full of riddles , puns , and allusion — as the verse form is itself . Singh is also one of the contribute illustrators to the recent New York Times best - sellingAdventure Time Encyclopaedia(of all thing ) , created by menu - carrying virtuoso Martin Olson . I may as well add a plug for Olson’sThe Encyclopaedia of Hell , which also was instance by Singh . About as dissimilar as two books could peradventure get …
When untried , Singh read everything “ from LXX SF to Aristophanes to the Ramayana … What I usually liked was a complex , completely furnished fictional worldly concern , along with a gracious musicality with row . What really change by reversal me on was when that fictional humanity would be logically intertwined with the actual earthly concern , retiring or present . ” It seemed innate that one of the source Singh look up to was Jules Verne — a sterling quality we both share . And , like me , he has always had a affectionateness and appreciation for the beautiful wood engraving that accompanied the original variant of Verne ’s novel ( as one of the best - sell author of his time , Verne ’s book call for and got the best illustrator in the business ) .
When BSFA honor - succeed Adam Roberts wrote his new steampunk novel - tribute to Jules Verne,20 Trillion Leagues Under the Sea , that it needed Mahendra Singh ’s illustrations was likely a no - brainer . “ Why not , ” Singh asked , “ illustrate steam - toughie with a ocular style that in reality prompt the reader of the Victorian earned run average ? ” This was no doubtfulness also the logical thinking behind Singh being choose to illustrate Jean - Christophe Valtat ’s steampunk heroic , Luminous Chaos . The illustrations below are take from these two books .
Like Franklin Booth , the classical American illustrator of the 1920s , Singh evokes the coming into court of the wood engraving illustration of the nineteenth century by agency of a meticulous pen - and - ink style that has a uniquely compelling quality of its own . Just as it ’s backbreaking to reckon Alice in Wonderland without Sir John Tenniel , it may be that for future coevals it will be hard to conceive of Jules Verne without Mahendra Singh .
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