By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)
Gareth Hinds is a prolific illustrator who worked in the video game industry for over ten years and still found the time to self-publish. Technically, that’s before Candlewick Press discovered him, and when they called him up to offer a deal, it was one he could not pass up!
Some fans know him for the cult hit, System Shock 2, and others may recall his earlier works, namely his adaptation of Beowulf. His artistic interpretations of literary classics are simply spellbinding. He has published ten books in all, including The Odyssey. As the recipient of Boston Public Library’s “Literary Lights for Children” award, his works can be found in use in classrooms across the country. Reading some of these classical works is not always easy, and to have the right kind of art to have young minds interested in the original material makes the process of learning how to read easier. Perhaps, one day, he may attempt Milton’s Paradise Lost.
Personally, I’m quite drawn to his works which looks at classical antiquity. In Poe: Stories and Poems, my taste for the macabre gets satisfied. His latest work is Homer’s The Iliad which took more than two years to produce! When this book clocks in at 270 pages and 95% of it are illustrations, the wait is certainly worthwhile. It is now available through bookstores like Amazon
Continue reading “The Epic Book Tour: Gareth Hinds with Homer’s The Illiad”