Thomas Burnett Swann

Updates: Recent Science Fiction Purchases No. CCCLII (Joe Haldeman, Jack C. Haldeman II, Zenna Henderson, Thomas Burnett Swann, and Edwin Corley)

/ Joachim Boaz / 10 Comments

Which books/covers/authors intrigue you? Which have you read? Disliked? Enjoyed?

1. Joe Haldeman and Jack C. Haldeman II’s There is No Darkness (1983)

  • Jim Burns’ cover for the 1st edition

From the back cover: “The universe is not interested in fair play. The universe is interested in survival. That is lesson number one aboard the giant advance-training ship called ‘Starschool.’ Those who fail to learn lesson one very rarely have cause to worry about what comes next…”

Initial Thoughts: Even at his worst, I find Joe Haldeman a polished author. I’ve only read a few of his brother’s short stories. I’ve hear this volume is a bit on the juvenile SF side of things. We shall see.

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Updates: Recent Science Fiction Purchases No. CCCXLII (Robert Silverberg, C. L. Moore, Henry Kuttner, Peter Tate, and Thomas Burnett Swann)

/ Joachim Boaz / 16 Comments

Which books/covers/authors intrigue you? Which have you read? Disliked? Enjoyed?

1. Tom O’Bedlam, Robert Silverberg (1985)

  • Jim Burns’ cover for the 1986 edition

From the back cover: “MESSIAH OR MADMAN? It is 2103 and Tom O’Bedlam, madman, prophet, and visionary, wanders through California, dwelling place of the last humans on a continent decimated by radioactive dust. Tom, caught up in a living vision of distant worlds ruled by godlike beings, is the herald of a new age, a herald no one wants to hear until others too begin to dream of salvation beyond the stars. Yet while many dream, only tom has the power to make the wondrous visions real, to give people the ultimate escape they desire. Across the universe they must go… if Tom is humanity’s last hope–and not its final destroyer.”

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Updates: Recent Science Fiction Purchases No. CCLXXXVI (Vonda N. McIntyre, Thomas Burnett Swann, William Melvin Kelley, and a World’s Best Science Fiction Anthology)

/ Joachim Boaz / 17 Comments

Which books/covers/authors intrigue you? Which have you read? Disliked? Enjoyed?

1. Where is the Bird of Fire?, Thomas Burnett Swann (1970)

  • John Schoenherr’s cover for the 1st edition

From the back cover: “Were the mythical monsters our ancestors spoke of so often more than fantasy? Is it not probable that these semi-human races existed–and that only human vanity has blurred their memory?

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