Author: Joachim Boaz

Adventures in Science Fiction Cover Art: Crashed Spaceships

/ Joachim Boaz / 10 Comments

(Gaylord Welker’s cover for the December 1952 issue of Astounding Science Fiction)

Gaylord Welker’s cover for the December 1952 issue of Astounding Science Fiction appeared in my best sci-fi cover post a while back.  Although I rarely recycle images, whenever I see his masterful cover I’m impressed with the sheer desolation and desperation of the scene.  Inspired by the image I set off to find more covers depicting crashed spaceships (alien or human on Earth, the moon, distant planets….).

Hannes Bok’s cover for Campbell’s The Moon is Hell (1951), Hubert Roger’s cover for the February 1939 issue of Astounding, Earle Bergey’s cover for the November 1952 issue of Fantastic Story, and Walker Brook’s cover for the 1953 edition of Simak’s First He Died (variant title: Time and Again) are thematically similar but less successful.  The others include one of my personal favorites (not one of the best by a long shot) — Earle Bergey’s cover the June 1952 issue of Startling Stories — where a man and a woman rescue two green tentacled Continue reading →

Book Review: Wyst: Alastor 1716, Jack Vance (1978)

/ Joachim Boaz / 10 Comments

(Eric Ladd’s cover for the 1978 edition)

4.25/5 (Good)

Wyst: Alastor 1716 (1978), the second book of the Alastor Trilogy I’ve read, is more involving, satirical, and thought-provoking than Marune: Alastor 933 (1975).  Each book takes place in the same star cluster so there’s no need to read them in order.  As with every Vance book I’ve had the pleasure to read, the world is vibrant, detailed, and believable.  And also with every Vance book I’ve had the pleasure to read, an unoriginal political intrigue-driven plot is grafted with varying degrees of success onto the world.

A Description of Wyst

The Alastor trilogy takes place in the Alastor cluster, a dense collection of stars ruled by the Connatic (who makes a brief appearance in this novel) from his palace on Numenes. Wyst, Alastor 1716, is comprised of the urban center Uncibal in Arrabus where the egalist utopian society resides, large rural regions with small Continue reading →

Adventures in Science Fiction Cover Art: Imprisoned in Glass Vials (of the metaphoric + medical + experimental variety)

/ Joachim Boaz / 32 Comments

(Uncredited cover for the 1969 edition of The Fortec Conspiracy (1968), Richard M. Garvin and Edmond G. Addeo)

Humans and aliens in glass vials of all shapes and sizes waiting to be measured, matured, tested, analyzed, exposed to a variety of chemicals and emulsions.  The artists often combine the iconic laboratory scene filled with the tools of the trade with sci-fi speculation on human experimentation (queue babies grown in containers in Brave New World).  The result, humans in tubes.  The effect is downright terrifying and one suspects, evokes a certain moribund fascination.  As with the famous introductory sequence in Brave New World, the reader is horrified by birth entirety regulated by machines.  Or, we are simultaneously titillated Continue reading →

Book Review: Space Skimmer, David Gerrold (1972)

/ Joachim Boaz / 9 Comments

(Dean Ellis’ cover for the 1972 edition)

3/5 (Average)

I’ve found that the science fiction trope reconstructing a fallen empire/meandering in the wreckage of an empire one of the most seductive of the genre.  The idea of a disconnected landscape filled with the ruins of empire — giant edifice ever more consumed by vegetation, technology unable to be used, spaceships empty in space — is so transfixing that I pick up every example published before 1980 that I find.  Unfortunately, works like David Gerrold’s Space Skimmer (1972) and John Brunner’s collection Interstellar Empire  (1976) are evidence that seductive trope or not, the delivery is often less than delectable.

I must confess that I picked up the novel because of the cover blurb: “The ultimate spaceship in the hands of a barbarian…”  And the intriguing Dean Ellis cover…  Little did I know the blurb should read “the ultimate spaceship in the hands of a barbarian who spouts endless streams of bad poetry, an annoying little prince, Continue reading →

Book Review: Time of the Great Freeze, Robert Silverberg (1964)

/ Joachim Boaz / 13 Comments

(Harry Schaare’s cover for the 1966 edition)

3/5 (Average)

Silverberg’s young adult (juvenile) science fiction novel Time of the Great Freeze (1964) is a by the numbers with few extra frills pulp adventure with a time-worn but still seductive premise: underground cities!  Unlike Heinlein’s best juvenile sci-fi works (Starman Jones, Citizen of the Galaxy, etc), Silverberg’s work fails to conjure the same wonder.  Silverberg’s portrayal of his youthful hero is dull even by 50s/60s juvenile standards — he fails to exude the biggest character trait of the genre, vibrant youthful vigor.  Yes he’s smart, does some judo moves, gets over friends’ deaths in a heartbeat, and is mentally tough but unfortunately is completely interchangeable with the other characters. Continue reading →

Book Review: Ossian’s Ride, Fred Hoyle (1959)

/ Joachim Boaz / 8 Comments

SSNSRDSLDK1959.jpg

(Hoffman’s cover for the 1959 edition)

2.5/5 (Bad)

Fred Hoyle’s Ossian’s Ride (1959) is a disappointing sci-fi thriller which fails to live up to its intriguing premise: why is unusual technology flowing from unknown sources from far Western Ireland (a handy map is provided) beyond the Erin Curtain?  Get it, Ireland’s IRON CURTAIN…  This wobbly little thriller conjures but little thrill, the grand mystery is all too obvious/abrupt/giggle-inducing, and, most damaging, intended or not the political message is an endorsement of a police state as long as it encourages technological advancement.

The first edition cover proclaims Ossian’s Ride Continue reading →

Updates: Recent Science Fiction Acquisitions XXXIII (Delany + Wyndham + Sturgeon + Knight + Ellison)

/ Joachim Boaz / 13 Comments

My last batch of the summer from Austin, TX — as always a nice haul.  Unfortunately, I’m back home in a rather lackluster state for acquiring sci-fi.  Henceforth, amazon/abebooks it shall be!

Still haven’t tackled a Sturgeon collection yet — now I have three unread ones sitting in my to read stack.  I also added Delany’s first published novel, The Jewels of Aptor (1962), to my collection.  And some Ellison stories…  And three short novels (in one collection) by Damon Knight of whom I have a rather dubious opinion (see Beyond the Barrier).

Most importantly, another Wyndham novel (still haven’t read The Day of the Triffids which I’ve had for years and years and years).

1.  A Way Home, Theodore Sturgeon (1956) (MY REVIEW)

(Mel Hunter’s cover for the 1956 edition)

Continue reading →

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

/ Joachim Boaz / 13 Comments

(Ed Valigursky’s cover for the 1957 edition of Doomsday Eve (1957). Robert Moore Williams)

The nuclear scare produced some of the best dystopic visions ever put to paper — the devastation would be utter, complete, and the radiation, oh what fun science fiction authors and filmakers had with the effects of radiation.  A red spectrum! Mutations! Hybrid bug people!  Godzilla!  Women with two heads!  An endless assortments of monsters…  I’ve selected a wide range of covers depicting the actual nuclear explosion — not the after effects.  Families gaze from caves in dispair, watching the bomb incinerate their world.  People run helter-skelter away from the explosion.  Or, artists take a more stylized approach to the explosion — figures are cast upward amongst the wreckage of buildings. Continue reading →

Book Review: Bright New Universe, Jack Williamson (1967)

/ Joachim Boaz / 4 Comments

(John Schoenherr’s cover for the 1967 edition)

3.25/5 (Average)

Jack Williamson’s Bright New Universe (1967) is one part juvenile (young man trekking into space against the wishes of his family), one part 1960s social commentary on race, and one part 30s/40s pulp (look at that beehive alien!  Look at that sexy Asian girl alien!).  The hybridity is jarring and unsuccessful but shows Williamson’s valiant attempt to modify his earlier writing styles to the increasingly prevalent social science fiction of the 60s.

Brief Plot Summary (limited spoilers)

In the middle of a gathering with his family and the family of his wealthy fiancée Kayren, Adam Cave (early 20s) calls off his wedding and declares that he will follow his father’s footsteps and Continue reading →