Book Review: The Wall Around the World, Theodore R. Cogswell (1962)

November 18, 2012November 20, 2012 / Joachim Boaz / 8 Comments

(John Schoenherr’s cover for the 1962 edition)

collated rating: 2.25/5 (Bad)

In my quest to bring to light the esoteric, the worthwhile yet forgotten, and to re-examine unjustly maligned works of science fiction I’m unfortunately more likely find incredibly average works than if I were to stick to the more well-trod path. Theodore Cogswell’s short stories attempt unsuccessfully to wed clichéd fantasy + horror elements — à la vampires, werewolves, broomsticks and all that drek — with science fiction staples, including alien invasions and alien visitations. I suspect there was, and still is, a market for such hybridity. I don’t have to mention the conveyor belt chunking out vampire/zombie excreta all over our modern bookstore shelves… (I apologize to anyone who’s offended or implicated by that statement). Almost all of Cogswell’s stories are lighthearted (besides ‘The Burning’), replete with heavy doses of whimsy, and in the few readable stories, some vibrancy.

Not my type of science fiction or fantasy.

Continue reading →

Adventures in Science Fiction Cover Art: Domed Cities of the Future, Part III

November 13, 2012January 9, 2021 / Joachim Boaz / 23 Comments

(Kelly Freas’ cover for the 1955 edition of City of Glass (1942 magazine), Noel Loomis)

Part I, Part II of my series on domed cities of the future.

Bob Watkin’s cover for the 1955 issue of If Magazine depicts an old man regaling stories of futuristic domed cities. His fantastic visions are reduced to their key elements in sketch form — a translucent dome, buildings. I’ve selected a variety of images from pulp 50s works until the late 70s depicting more fantastic/futuristic domed cities than the old man’s imagination conjures. Ed Emshwiller’s cover for the 1953 edition of City at World’s End (1950) depicts two futuristic metropoli — a trend in future city development? The first is a planned circular city spreading horizontally across the plain. The other, an incredibly stylized “futuristic complex” Continue reading →

Updates: Recent Science Fiction Acquisitions N. XLIII (Silverberg + Laumer + Leiber + Elgin)

November 9, 2012September 23, 2013 / Joachim Boaz / 17 Comments

One from my father, one from 2theD at Potpourri of Science Fiction Literature, and a few from a recent used bookstore trip to Indianapolis…

My father promises that Keith Laumer’s collection of Retief stories, Galactic Diplomat (1965), is worth the read — I’m rather more suspicious. Fritz Leiber’s A Pail of Air (1964) will be my first exposure to his short works… Unfortunately, Suzette Haden Elgin’s At the Seventh Level (1972) somewhat too polemical for my taste — any comments about her work would be appreciated.

Two more Powers covers for my collection….

1. Galactic Diplomat, Keith Laumer (1965)

(Richard Powers’ cover Continue reading →

Adventures in Science Fiction Cover Art: Nuclear Explosions + Mushroom Clouds, Part II

November 7, 2012November 7, 2012 / Joachim Boaz / 13 Comments

(Pattee’s cover for the November 1950 issue of Astounding Science Fiction)

Book Review: The Hieros Gamos of Sam and An Smith, Josephine Saxton (1969)

November 4, 2012November 4, 2012 / Joachim Boaz / 29 Comments

(Jack Faragasso’s cover for the 1970 edition)

4.5/5 (Very Good)

The Hieros Gamos of Sam and An Smith (1969) is an experimental (but approachable) science fiction fable set in a world which, at least on the surface, is very much like our own. The buildings remain, food dispensers still dispense food, and undisturbed store shelves are fully stocked. However, the majority of the animals have disappeared and people are almost all gone. Cannibalism is hinted at. A few other individuals flit on the outskirts of the narrative, phantom-like, unsubstantial in their physicality. Are they hallucinations, or external viewers of the spectacle who intrude when needed before vanishing with no evidence of their arrival?

Josephine Saxton deftly utilizes the coming of age narrative, Continue reading →

Updates: Recent Science Fiction Acquisitions N. XLII (Malzberg + Roshwald + Clement + Moorcock)

October 31, 2012April 14, 2013 / Joachim Boaz / 23 Comments

A nice selection of books from my fellow book reviewer at Potpourri of Science Fiction Literature and a few from a recent trip to Indianapolis — the fried chicken and waffles at Maxine’s were far superior to their used book stores….

My trilogy of dark/brilliant/disturbed Malzberg novels dealing with the space program, The Falling Astronauts (1971), Revelations (1972), and Beyond Apollo (1972) is now complete! When I get around to reading The Falling Astronauts I will put together a special post with a series of intriguing space program documents given to me by my fiancé — including a hilarious 1965 publication, The Astronauts & Their Families, where real life astronauts pose with their happy families, play with puppies, teach their children to shoot rifles, pose with their cars, pretend to play at the piano, etc — i.e. the oposite of Malzberg’s vision of the “manliest” of American heroes…

The Moorcock novel, The Ice Schooner (1969) was a rather impulsive buy — I’ve yet to read any of his works, but voyagers to cities wreathed in ice is always a fun trope.

Level 7 (1959) is generally considered a Cold War masterpiece…

Clement’s Through the Eye of the Needle (1978) is the sequel to Needle (magazine 1949) — I’ll probably want to find a copy of the first in the series before I give the sequel a shot….

1. The Falling Astronauts, Barry N. Malzberg (1971) (MY REVIEW)

(Davis Meltzer’s cover Continue reading →

Book Review: The Eleventh Commandment, Lester del Rey (1962, revised: 1970)

October 27, 2012March 8, 2020 / Joachim Boaz / 4 Comments

(Dean Ellis’ cover for the 1970 edition)

3.5/5 (Good)

Lester del Rey’s The Eleventh Commandment, originally published in 1962, was revised by the author in 1970. I’ve reviewed the 1970 edition — I do not know to what extent the original was changed.

My first exposure to Lester del Rey’s sci-fi bucks the impression of general averageness conveyed by my fellow reviewers. This work strikes me as a product of the more mature side of del Rey, a move away from his normal space opera YA fare. In The Eleventh Commandment del Rey explores the religious ramification of overpopulation (see list) concerns of the 50s/60s. Due to the fact that overpopulation fears gained a lot of currency after the publication of the 1968 bestselling non-fiction work The Population Bomb, I suspect it provided the impulse for del Rey to rewrite the novel. Despite the involving premise, the plot is often a Continue reading →

Adventures in Science Fiction Cover Art: Visualizing Time

October 26, 2012October 26, 2012 / Joachim Boaz / 12 Comments

(Hubert Rogers’ cover for the January 1951 issue of Astounding Science Fiction)

In Hubert Rogers’ fascinating cover (titled ‘Achievement’) for the January 1951 issue of Astounding Science Fiction, mankind appears pulled upward, as if against their will, towards an undefined future goal. Rogers’ cover encapsulates David Hume’s notion of historical time relentlessly moving towards improvement — improvement as something measurable and observable by the historian, and anyone who studies history. Obviously, this historiographical framework has long been debunked (although it crops up in virtually all of my undergraduate students’ work in intro level courses) — it favors Western conceptions of progress, dismisses the achievements of non-European Continue reading →

Updates: Recent Science Fiction Acquisitions N. XLI (Sheckley + Sohl + Cooper + Silverberg)

October 21, 2012April 20, 2013 / Joachim Boaz / 8 Comments

A selection of gems sent to me by one of my friends 2theD at Potpourri of Science Fiction Literature… Don’t worry at least eight books are being sent his way…. And a few left over Marx book purchases… I have two of Sheckley’s short story collection — now I have one of his short satirical novels! Sohl’s Costigan’s Needle (1953) has spectacular early Powers cover art AND Sohl isn’t supposed to be half bad either.

Enjoy.

1. The Status Civilization, Robert Scheckley (1960) (MY REVIEW)