The two illustrators Francesco BONGIORNI and Isabel SELIGER c/o SEPIA worked on the special edition of ‘The Swarm’ together with the author Frank Schätzing. The science-fiction thriller became a worldwide bestseller of which several million copies have been sold. At the beginning of February 2023, the special edition was published with an illustrated dust cover and five removable graphic prints (Kiepenheuer & Witsch).

Mutated worm colonies, poisoned water supplies, a mysterious luminescence in the depth of the ocean – humanity feels threatened. The kind of dystopian stuff that’s right up Isabel’s alley. Francesco consulted closely with Frank Schätzing on the book cover, who decided to turn the familiar motif into an underwater scene.

‘The Swarm’ is a masterpiece of thrilling literature, a classic of ecological fiction with an almost uncanny prophetic power, prompting the most important question of all: How do we plan on inhabiting this planet without destroying it and ourselves along...