Tales from the Loop

By Simon Stålenhag

'Remarkable... beautiful' - National Public Radio 

These are the tales of an extraordinary journey: from the small towns of Sweden to the deserts of Nevada to the bitter chill of Siberia. A journey where children make friends with abandoned robots... in a world where dinosaurs roam freely.

These are the Tales from the Loop.

Stories told in both words and haunting illustrations, TALES FROM THE LOOP captures a not-too-distant reality that is both haunting and imminent: addressing the many ways developing technology and nature can create havoc and wonder in our world... and the hope we might still find in that future. 

Perfect for fans of everything from STRANGER THINGS to JURASSIC PARK to JUMANJI, Tales from the Loop is an incredible, unmissable work of genius.

PRAISE for SIMON STALENHAG
'Tales has the magic. It's got the robots, the weirdness, the dinosaurs. But most of all, it has the wonder. No one who picks this book up will be the same person when they put it down again' NPR on Tales from the Loop
'No words to describe this novel in pictures. Stahlenhag defined a whole new aesthetic for scifi in the 21st century' Damien Walter on The Electric State

'A chilling, unforgettable visual and narrative experience' Locus on The Electric State

Stalenhag's 'stories crawl into my brain and mess with my memory of history, time and place' NPR on The Electric State
 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
• Release date: Apr 9, 2020
• ISBN: 9781471194429

Simon Stålenhag

Simon Stålenhag (b. 1984) is the internationally acclaimed author, concept designer and artist behind Tales from the Loop and Things from the Flood. His highly imaginative images and stories depicting illusive sci-fi phenomena in mundane, hyper-realistic Scandinavian and American landscapes have made Stålenhag one of the most sought-after visual storytellers in the world. Tales from the Loop was ranked one of the “10 Best Dystopias” by The Guardian, along with such works as Franz Kafka’s The Trial and Andrew Niccol’s Gattaca.

Reviews for Tales from the Loop

[capewood · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

2023 book #36. 2014. The memories of a boy growing up near a fictional giant particle accelerator in Sweden in the '80s and the weird technological artifacts in the area. Mostly haunting drawings. The basis for a series on Amazon in 2020 which I started watching but didn't finish

[andy5185 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

LOVE this.

[tobinelliott · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I can't get enough of these books. Stålenhag manages to capture what the world was like in my head. I know all of this takes place completely outside Canada, but honestly, the landscape, the snow, the lighting, the entire 70s vibe mixed with all the robots and dinosaurs and weird, reality-bending machines calls up what I wanted every trip away from the family home to be.

In my mind, this was my world.

The storyline that Stålenhag creates perfectly captures what's going on in the images, and adds to it. And I have to say, the Amazon TV series managed to completely capture the same feel.

Excellent stuff.

[thomaspluck · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A haunting and beautiful reimagining of a '70s and '80s childhood through a science fiction lens.

[eldang-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I got this on the strength of Stålenhag's paintings, which I'd seen online and made up a completely different backstory for (standard dystopian scifi). What he actually does is much more interesting: it's very much a young boy's fantasy but told well enough to be an engaging read as an adult. And of course the paintings are gorgeous: a very familiar 80s European suburbia made strange and unsettling.

[aadyer · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A quite brilliant art book sublimely giving an opening onto a bizarre world on Eastern Sweden in a 1980’s that never was. This is an interesting and intriguing premise with beautiful art and a great deal of immersive ness that I found amazing. I’d recommend it to those that hadn’t heard of it.

[zoes_human · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Tales from the Loop is an extraordinary art journey through the history of a world that never was. Told as a collection of memories from a child who grew up in the shadow of the marvels of The Loop, it paints a mysterious and foreboding image of the rise and fall of a technologically advanced civilization from our past. This unsettling illustrated novella leaves one nostalgic for a time and place that has never been.