Jim Burns
Encyclopedia
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
artist born in Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
.
In 1966 he joined the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
, but soon thereafter he left and signed up at the Newport School of Art for a year's foundation course.
After that, he went on to complete a 3-year Diploma in Art and Design at St. Martin's School of Art in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. When he left St. Martin's in 1972 he had already joined the recently established illustration agency Young Artists. He has been with this agency, later renamed Arena, ever since.
He is today a contemporary British science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
illustrator. His work mostly deals with science fiction with erotic overtones. His paintings are generally intricate photo-realistic works of beautiful women set against advanced machines and spaceship
Spacecraft
A spacecraft or spaceship is a craft or machine designed for spaceflight. Spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, earth observation, meteorology, navigation, planetary exploration and transportation of humans and cargo....
s. While his preparatory sketches are more erotically focused, his final works and published book covers have a more academic tone portraying far off and imaginary worlds.
Apart from book and game covers, Burns briefly worked with Ridley Scott
Ridley Scott
Sir Ridley Scott is an English film director and producer. His most famous films include The Duellists , Alien , Blade Runner , Legend , Thelma & Louise , G. I...
on Blade Runner
Blade Runner
Blade Runner is a 1982 American science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, and Sean Young. The screenplay, written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples, is loosely based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K...
, and his illustrations and paintings comprise much of the book Mechanismo by Harry Harrison
Harry Harrison
Harry Harrison is an American science fiction author best known for his character the Stainless Steel Rat and the novel Make Room! Make Room! , the basis for the film Soylent Green...
. He has also had books of his own works published, including Lightship, Planet Story (written by Harry Harrison
Harry Harrison
Harry Harrison is an American science fiction author best known for his character the Stainless Steel Rat and the novel Make Room! Make Room! , the basis for the film Soylent Green...
), Transluminal, and Imago.
Burns won the Hugo award for best professional artist
Hugo Award for Best Professional Artist
The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...
three times and has also been awarded 12 BSFA award
BSFA award
The BSFA Awards are literary awards presented annually since 1970 by the British Science Fiction Association to honor works in the genre of science fiction. Nominees and winners are chosen based on a vote of BSFA members...
s. Well regarded in fandom
Science fiction fandom
Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is a community or "fandom" of people actively interested in science fiction and fantasy and in contact with one another based upon that interest...
, he was artist guest of honour at the 1987 Worldcon
Worldcon
Worldcon, or more formally The World Science Fiction Convention, is a science fiction convention held each year since 1939 . It is the annual convention of the World Science Fiction Society...
.
Portfolio
Work by the artist includes cover art for:- The Fury of Dracula (1987) a boardgame by Stephen Hand
- Two books by Daniel Keys MoranDaniel Keys MoranDaniel Keys Moran , also known by his initials DKM, is an American computer programmer and a science fiction writer.-Biography:Moran was born to Richard Joseph Moran and Marilynn Joyce Moran...
- Armageddon Blues (1988)
- The Long Run (1989)
- Over thirty books by Robert SilverbergRobert SilverbergRobert Silverberg is an American author, best known for writing science fiction. He is a multiple nominee of the Hugo Award and a winner of the Nebula Award.-Early years:...
including The Face of the WatersThe Face of the WatersThe Face of the Waters is a science fiction novel by Robert Silverberg, first published in 1991.- Plot introduction :The Face of the Waters takes place in the far future, on a penal colony, inhabited by convicts and their progeny...
(1991) - AristoiAristoi (novel)Aristoi is a 1992 science fiction novel by Walter Jon Williams. It was one of the preliminary candidates for the 1993 Hugo Award for Best Novel in a particularly competitive year...
(1992) by Walter Jon Williams - Upland OutlawsUpland Outlaws-Plot introduction:The sorcerer Zinixo has taken control of Hub, but life goes on as normal. As Zinixo and his Covin track down Rap and friends, Rap must get the word out to the other sorcerers about the plans to join together and destroy Zinixo....
(1993) by Dave Duncan - Infinity's ShoreInfinity's ShoreInfinity's Shore is the second novel in the Uplift Storm series by David Brin. The plot follows the adventures of the Jijoan exiles, although the crew of Streaker are minor characters.- Translations :...
(1996) by David Brin - The Stone Dance of the Chameleon series by Ricardo Pinto
- The ChosenThe Chosen (Ricardo Pinto)The Chosen is a fantasy novel by Ricardo Pinto, and also his first novel. It is the first part of the series, The Stone Dance of the Chameleon. A 2000 Locus poll ranked it 14th in the Best First Novel category....
(1999) - The Standing DeadThe Standing DeadThe Standing Dead is a fantasy novel by Ricardo Pinto. It is the second part of the The Stone Dance of the Chameleon series. Published first in May 2002 by Bantam Press....
(2002) - The Third GodThe Third GodThe Third God is a fantasy novel by Ricardo Pinto. It is the third part of the The Stone Dance of the Chameleon series. Published first in 2009 by Bantam Press...
(2009)
- The Chosen
- The Greg MandelGreg MandelGreg Mandel is a fictional private detective who featured in three novels and a novella by the English science fiction writer Peter F. Hamilton....
Trilogy by Peter F. HamiltonPeter F. HamiltonPeter F. Hamilton is a British author. He is best known for writing space opera. As of the publication of his tenth novel in 2004, his works had sold over two million copies worldwide.- Biography :...
- Mindstar RisingMindstar RisingMindstar Rising is a science fiction novel by British writer Peter F. Hamilton, published in 1993. It is the first book in the Greg Mandel trilogy. The novel introduces the major characters in the series, most notably Greg and Julia Evans...
(1993) - A Quantum MurderA Quantum MurderA Quantum Murder is a novel by Peter F. Hamilton. It is the second book in the Greg Mandel trilogy, between Mindstar Rising and The Nano Flower.-Release details:...
(1994) - The Nano FlowerThe Nano FlowerThe Nano Flower is a novel by Peter F. Hamilton, published on 10 March 1995. It is the final book in the Greg Mandel trilogy.-Release details:*1995, UK, Pan Books , paperback...
(1995)
- Mindstar Rising
- The Night's Dawn Trilogy by Peter F. Hamilton
- The Reality DysfunctionThe Reality DysfunctionThe Reality Dysfunction is a science fiction novel by Peter F. Hamilton and is the first book in The Night's Dawn Trilogy. It is followed by The Neutronium Alchemist and The Naked God. It was first published in the United Kingdom by Macmillan Publishers on 26 January 1996...
(1996) - The Neutronium AlchemistThe Neutronium AlchemistThe Neutronium Alchemist is a science fiction novel by Peter F. Hamilton and is the second book in The Night's Dawn Trilogy. It follows on from The Reality Dysfunction and precedes The Naked God. It was published in the United Kingdom by Macmillan Publishers on 20 October 1997...
(1997) - The Naked GodThe Naked GodThe Naked God is a science fiction novel by Peter F. Hamilton and is the third book in The Night's Dawn Trilogy, following on from The Reality Dysfunction and The Neutronium Alchemist. It was published in the United Kingdom by Macmillan Publishers on 8 October 1999. This was the first novel by...
(1999)
- The Reality Dysfunction
- A Second Chance at EdenA Second Chance at EdenA Second Chance at Eden is a collection of short stories by Peter F. Hamilton set in the Night's Dawn universe.The stories in this collection form a series of snapshot glimpses into the history of the Confederation leading up to the time of Joshua Calvert and Quinn Dexter, two of the main...
(1998) by Peter F. Hamilton - The Confederation Handbook (2000) by Peter F. Hamilton
- Fallen DragonFallen DragonFallen Dragon is a science fiction novel by Peter F. Hamilton. It was first published in 2001 by Macmillan. It follows the adventures of the mercenary Lawrence Newton as he attempts to capture what he believes is a fabulous treasure, only to find something of much greater...
(2001) by Peter F. Hamilton - The Commonwealth SagaCommonwealth SagaThe Commonwealth Saga is a series of science fiction novels by British science fiction writer Peter F. Hamilton. This saga consists of the novels Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained , as well as Misspent Youth . The events of Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained take place 340 years after his...
by Peter F. Hamilton- Pandora's Star (2004)
- Judas Unchained (2005)
- The Void trilogy by Peter F. Hamilton
- The Dreaming VoidThe Dreaming VoidThe Dreaming Void is a science fiction novel by British writer Peter F. Hamilton, the first in his Void Trilogy.-Plot summary:At the centre of the Milky Way galaxy an object called the Void resembles a massive black hole. The Void is not a natural system. Inside there is a strange universe where...
(2007) - The Temporal VoidThe Temporal VoidThe Temporal Void is a science fiction novel by British writer Peter F. Hamilton, the second in his The Void Trilogy, which was released on 3 October 2008. The events in the book follow on from those in The Dreaming Void. It is followed by The Evolutionary Void.-External links:* * at * from...
(2008)
- The Dreaming Void