Author: Joachim Boaz

Adventures in Science Fiction Cover Art: Underwater Expeditions (futuristic submarines, unusual sea life, underwater cities) Part I

/ Joachim Boaz / 19 Comments

(Paul Lehr’s cover for the 1968 edition of Conquerors from the Darkness (1965), Robert Silverberg)

A cornucopia of underwater sci-fi cover art images!  As always, Paul Lehr’s covers are among my favorite for he masterfully renders the green-blue depths and textures of water inundated worlds (especially above, Conquerers from the Darkness).  Watery worlds evoke unusual underwater life, a place fraught with danger where humans and aliens meet, unusual cityscapes (domes, water impervious shields, a plethora of transport craft) and of course, the vehicles for transportation (for example below, the futuristic submarine in Treasure of the Black Flacon and 21st Century Submarine, etc)  evoke the same giddy sense of adventure as when first reading Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870) or watching Richard Fleischer’s surprisingly good 1954 film adaptation of the novel.

There are countless films, sci-fi TV shows, novels, short stories Continue reading →

Book Review: Traitor to the Living, Philip José Farmer (1973)

/ Joachim Boaz / 9 Comments

(Hans Ulrich Osterwalder and Ute Osterwalder’s cover for the 1973 edition)

2.5/5 (Bad)

In disappointing fashion, Traitor to the Living (1973) follows a similar pattern to Philip José Farmer’s famous Hugo winning To Your Scattered Bodies Go (1971) — the fascinating premise is bogged down by blank characters and repetitive action.  Despite my fervent conviction that To Your Scattered Bodies Go is one of the worst Best Novel Hugo winners (and I’ve read a majority of them) and that the endlessly laborious sequels are a complete waste of ink, paper, and time, I gave Farmer a second chance — albeit with one of his lesser known works.  Because some of the pieces are in place in Traitor to the Living for a worthwhile novel, I hold out hope that he produced a readable work that I might be compelled to acquire (queue question: what is your favorite novel/short story/novella by Farmer?).

If you’re a Farmer completest, Traitor to the Living might be Continue reading →

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

/ Joachim Boaz / 164 Comments

(Dean Ellis’ cover for the 1970 edition of Eight Against Utopia (1967), Douglas R. Mason)

Part II of my sci-fi art series on domed cities of the future (perhaps doomed as well) — part I.

Glass-domed against pollution, the ravages of evil space creatures, the vacuum of space (below: April, 1954 edition of If), adverse climates/atmospheres (below: The Sands of Mars, Trouble on Titan)?  Or, nagging fears that something might come — whatever it might be.  And of course, to keep people in (above: Eight Against Utopia).   Some of these seemingly fragile domes contain devastating weapons (below: The Lunar Eye), or are part of a vast computer network (below: Matrix), or contain the last remnants of a previous metropolis (below: The Years of the City)

Some truly wonderful works of art….  Are any of the books Continue reading →

Book Review: Daughters of Earth, Judith Merril (1968)

/ Joachim Boaz / 14 Comments

daughters of earth

(Robert Foster’s cover for the 1970 edition)

4/5 (Good)

Judith Merril was not only an important early science fiction author of novels and short stories but a political activist and a member of the influential 1940s sci-fi group known as the Futurians (members included her husband Frederik Pohl, James Blish, Damon Knight, David A. Wollheim, C. M. Kornbluth, et al.).  Her fascinating collection, Daughters of Earth (1968), contains three novellas from the 1950s: ‘Project Nursemaid’ (1955), the highlight of the collection — ‘Daughters of Earth’ (1952), and the underwhelming ‘Homecalling’ (1956).  

All three contain a plethora of female characters Continue reading →

Updates: Recent Science Fiction Acquisitions No. XXVIII (Ace Doubles: Brunner, Dick, Delany, et al.)

/ Joachim Boaz / 15 Comments

I’m the proud new owner of four ace doubles in remarkable condition!  And considering the general quality of many of the Ace doubles, I consider it quite the haul.  The contents: two early pulp works (of rather dubious quality) by John Brunner (one under his pseudonym Keith Woodcott), one early Philip K. Dick novel, two early Samuel Delany novels, and an assortment of works by lesser known authors (Tom Purdom, Jack Sharkey, and Bruce W. Ronald).  I will devour the Philip K. Dick and John Brunner works — yes, Brunner’s early works are terrible but I’m a Brunner completest which requires a high pain threshold for his pre-Stand On Zanzibar (1968) works.

1. Captives of the Flame/The Psionic Menace (1963), Samuel R. Delany, John Brunner (as Keith Woodcott)

(Cover by Jack Gaughan Continue reading →

Updates: (New Resource) List of Generation Ship Novels and Short Stories

/ Joachim Boaz / 22 Comments

    

I recently checked out a copy of Simone Caroti’s scholarly The Generation Starship In Science Fiction: A Critical History, 1934-2001 (2011) (amazon link) from my library — its appendix contains a wonderful list of generation starship novels and short stories (and the very first non-fiction attestations of this fascinating sci-fi concept).

I highly recommend the book for all aficionados of this particular sci-fi subgenre.  Be warned, as a certain reviewer points out on amazon, it is a work of serious scholarship not a lighthearted romp projecting future developments.  It is not a complete list so I’ve gone ahead and added a few (for example, White’s The Watch Below) and starred them (*).  I’ve also included his chronological divisions.  I’ve supplied links for the few I’ve reviewed.  Also, I’ve included the list as a page in the right hand column of the main page.

If you know of any that I haven’t included or were skipped in Caroti’s study Continue reading →

Book Review: The Dark Side of the Earth, Alfred Bester (1964)

/ Joachim Boaz / 23 Comments

(Uncredited cover for the 1964 edition)

3/5 (Average)

Despite enjoying Alfred Bester’s famous novels The Demolished Man (1952) and The Stars My Destination (1956), I found his short stories in The Dark Side of the Earth (1964) on the whole nowhere near as masterful.  Yes, they are witty, comedic, playful, silly, pseudo-intellectual (references to film directors such as De Sica, etc), and on occasion refreshingly experimental in structure (‘The Pi Man’).  Of those adjectives, ‘silly’ is the most constant.

Bester is at his best when he blends his satirical/comedic side with a fascinating concept — for example, an inventive theory of time travel in ‘The Man Who Continue reading →

Book Review: The Silent Multitude, D. G. Compton (1966)

/ Joachim Boaz / 10 Comments

(Leo and Diane Dillon’s cover for the 1969 edition)

4.25/5 (Very Good)

“He was out now looking for signs.  He knew how to stay alive.  He was a strangely violent man, to him the fall of the city was some sort of unholy celebration (89).”

The decaying/empty city as allegory: its few post-evacuation occupants (a tramp and his cat, the cathedral’s dean, a young suburban woman, a troubled architect’s son — all well-drawn characters) wander the deserted streets of Gloucester consumed with their own obsessions.  The cement consuming fungus — a vague agent of destruction that severs us from our loci of civilization, our functionalist cityscapes, Continue reading →

Updates: Recent Science Fiction Acquisitions No. XXVII (Gerrold, Panshin, Shaw, et al.)

/ Joachim Boaz / 10 Comments

My second to last backlog acquisitions post from Spring Break — a fruitful sci-fi hunting adventure indeed!

With my PhD Qualifying exams complete (proposal defense in months and months and months), I will actually get around to posting sci-fi art related (and perhaps get back to my film reviews) and reading my massive to read pile.

Enjoy!

1. Space Skimmer (1972), David Gerrold.  Another author whom I know little about and haven’t read yet.  As a Star Trek fan I know that he submitted the script that became The Trouble With Tribbles…

(Dean Ellis’ cover for Continue reading →