Tales from the Loop Hardcover – Download: Adobe Reader, December 1, 2015

I loved the Amazon prime series based on artist’s paintings. Had to have the inspiration for the series. Was not disappointed. The book came alive with emotions evoked by the Tales From the Loop.

Beautiful art and interesting story. Well worth the money.

Love the book. The Prime show is kinda garbage though. Really hit or miss.

It's great. Cool and interesting art pieces in a well made book.

The book itself is great. I use it as a reference for the tabletop game. It really annoys me that the "sticker" on the cover is printed into the artwork. Who's decision was this? I already know it's a mediocre show on Amazon prime. That's not why I bought the book. I bought the book because Simon Stalenhag created a fantastic universe but regardless of my opinions of the show the book itself is great and very much Simon Stalenhag's work.

Combined, the story and art of this book form very powerful storytelling and fuel intense expanses of imagination.... I am a big fan of Stalenhag. This book had me in tears at the end, pondering the various implications and real meaning of what it was actually about... may not be what it seems on the "surface "...if you think about it. It is about us all... whoever we are, who have "grown up". Maybe.

I'm immersed in the beautiful artwork which is almost plaine aire in it's finish, I'm swept away to these landscapes and am impressed by the conversion of this graphic book into a wonderful show titled as such.

We're a story-driven society, and are inherently drawn to connect things together. This work is quite intriguing - the glimpse of an alternate history, coupled with the target audience's sense of nostalgia. Though, to be fair, this work is most suitable for anyone over the age of 30. Teenagers may glean something from it, but considering the protagonist is looking back upon his own journey (from childhood to the cusp of adulthood) some of the material won't resonate as well.The initial story captures the imagination, but unfortunately it seems as if the author got bored with it, and decided to bring in Dinosaurs. Which, by themselves is rather odd, at the same time it undermines the credibility - the suspension of belief - that I held up until that point. Sure, there are hints at tragedies - which is all well in storytelling - but he overuses this simple device. A good story can have a few of these, but when page after page after page repeats the same cliche'd formula, it gets tiring... actually, it gets boring and annoying.There is a story here, and even a spattering of pages about divorce, but no character build-up. It seems as if playing Sonic the Hedgehog was as important as his father looking for his lost wedding ring - a ring he threw into the field.... which lead us to a divorce (of course) shortly thereafter.If he had ditched the dinos, or introduced them carefully, rather than 'Hey, let's draw some dinos!' I would have gone along for the ride... though maybe not. Such an introduction would require a lot more than a simple, "and did I mention the portal to dino-land?"My rating should be 3.5 stars, but Amazon's limitations prevent that.This is an interesting work. It shows promise, but it can't hide its infancy.

The books of Simon Stalenhag are their own mini-genre. You will never have experienced something quite like this unless you have already seen his other books. There are only three of them. Until this reprint was published in April 2020, copies of the original were trading at five times the cover price. Maybe we have to be grateful to Amazon for making a TV show out of this concept. I reckon those who own the first edition [without the Amazon logo on the cover] will forever treasure their investment. There is a hint at the back of the book that ‘Tales from the Loop’ (TFTL) was a product of a Kickstarter campaign. Not a bad cult following in under four years is it? From crowd-funded book to TV show in the blink of an eye.So, what do you get in TFTL? Unlike ‘The Electric State’ (which came out only a year later) TFTL is a collection of childhood anecdotes with Simon the star of his own science-fiction-tinged universe. You wonder if the ideas in the TFTL text were dreamt up before, during or after the art was composed? It matters not. ‘The Electric State’ is different in that it follows one single story from beginning to end and the art looks mainly like it was designed around the plot. Yet it is truly hard to tell as there is only a slightly hazy relationship between art and narrative. So loose is the connection that pages of unexplained visual images fly by that add to the mood-music of the book. So, is it a science fiction story or an art book? Yes, no, maybe. Who cares? You just don’t experience Simon’s work in the same way you experience normal sci fi. His work is designed to evoke emotion. It conjures up a pre-pubescent childhood in the freezing depths of Sweden in the 1980s. You just need to immerse yourself in the book and let it flow over you. The text is your guide and holds the disparate pieces together into a whole. It isn’t quite dystopian yet a chill of fictional super-science haunts every page. These kids have adventures that are equally mundane and out-of-this-world. You may yearn to be in their place yet recoil in horror in equal measure. It isn’t quite dystopian yet a chill of fictional super-science haunts every page. The mysterious buried ‘Loop’, and its complex of research establishments, have littered the landscape with engineering waste product that serves as a vast playground for the local youth. The Loop haunts every aspect of local life. The local population’s interaction with this mysterious & sparse man-made landscape forms the concept behind the childhood memories. Everything is imbued with a sense of tragedy, waste and human frailty. The denouement has no sci fi element. It is just kids growing up and families falling apart. You will be moved. I was.

I was really pleased to find that this book had been reprinted as the first English language print was no longer available. A great book but unfortunately this edition by Skybound books is spoilt by the orange ‘Amazon Original Series’ sticker on the front cover as it’s not a sticker but is in fact an imprint on the cover and so cannot be removed.I suppose this may not bother some people but it does me.

Simon Stålenhag is an amazing artist and writer, his world building is second to none and this book is a must have for any retro sci-fi fan.That artwork of the book is amazing and has such a unique style. The stories and text are equally as amazing with such an imaginative plot.The book itself is beautifully bound in hardback with the front image printed on a matte cover with the orange spine in a cloth material. The pages are printed on a nice and thick paper stock which make each page turn an experience in itself.

Been following Simon on Twitter for a while, and loved every image he's uploaded there. He's highest on my list of names from whom I'd like to purchase an original canvas. Absolutely stunning, evocative imagery. Unfortunately, I was clearly late to appreciate his work and had no idea there were actual published books with stories to attach to the images, and not only that, but this has apparently already been adapted into a series that completely passed me by.Whilst I'm absolutely certain the TV show will never be able to evoke the same raw appreciation of the imagery as the original illustrations do, I'm sure I'll look it over at some point, but plan on poring over this for a while beforehand.Maybe one day I'll be able to afford an original canvas.

Love Simon Stålenhag's art.I decided to support the artist by buying this book, and the others in the series.For me, his art style has flavours of high end shin-hanga Ukiyo-e.Nothing remotely similar in production, of course, however his work triggers a lot of the same internal toggles of admiration of the technical skill and the aesthetic appreciation of the beauty of art to me.05 September 2020