Adventures in Science Fiction Cover Art: The Statue of Liberty on Pre-1968 Magazine and Novel Covers, Part II

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(Richard Weaver’s cover for the 1968 edition of The Monitors (1966), Keith Laumer)

Here’s an evocative collection of SF Statue of Liberty covers from before and after WWII…

Make sure to take a peek at Part I if you have not already. In Part I, I discussed the rationale for my dating restriction i.e. covers on the theme published pre-1968.  After Franklin J. Schaffner’s movie Planet of the Apes (1968) became a cultural phenomena, multiple covers paid homage to the famous scene in the film.  Hopefully, by examining the ten covers I’ve found depicting the Statue of Liberty from before the movie was released — often in scenes similar to the iconic one in Planet of the Apes (Part I contains a comparison) — the purposeful reference to earlier magazine art is clear…

The Statue of Liberty was not only deployed in some post-apocalyptical Continue reading →

Book Review: As on a Darkling Plain, Ben Bova (1972)

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(Chris Moore’s cover for the 1981 edition)

2.75/5 (Average)

Unfortunate title aside (“darkling” sound like a small evil creature in a work of fantasy), Ben Bova’s As on a Darkling Plain (1972) is a middling fix-up novel in every respect.  It is worth noting that Chapters 5 (‘The Jupiter Mission’) and 6 (‘The Sirius Mission’), which comprise a great majority of the novel, appeared earlier in If February 1970 and Galaxy January 1969 as “Pressure Vessel” and “Foeman, Where Do You Flee?” respectively.  I’m not sure how much was expanded or subtracted.  If anyone knows please leave a comment — I find that the act of revising earlier work interesting in itself.

Bova’s novel inspired my recent cover art post on Future Archeology and Mysterious Artifacts.  The premise is a standard one: A mysterious artifact Continue reading →

Updates: Recent Science Fiction Acquisitions No. LXVIII (Varley + Cherryh + Cummings + et. al)

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Some fun finds!  Perhaps surprisingly, I still haven’t read Clarke’s “The Sentinel” (1951) so I was happy to find it in a collection collated by Kingsley Amis and Robert Conquest — Spectrum 3 (1963).  Even more appealing are the famous Poul Anderson, J. G. Ballard, and Murray Leinster tales in the same volume…  The entire Spectrum collection (I-V) brings together some fantastic works.

John Varley is one of the important 70s writers that I still haven’t read. Thus, despite the egregious cover, I snatched his collection of 70s stories, The Persistence of Vision (1978)…  I look forward to diving into this one.

Also, C. J. Cherryh was one of my favorite authors as a teen so it’s always nice to come across one of her works I hadn’t devoured yet — in this case, her second novel Brothers of Earth (1976).

1. The Persistence of Vision, John Varley (1978)

(Jim Burns’ cover for Continue reading →

Book Review: Approaching Oblivion, Harlan Ellison (1974)

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(Leo and Diane Dillon’s cover for the 1974 edition)

4.25/5 (collated rating: Good)

Ellison’s stories punch where it hurts.  Approaching Oblivion (1974) is filled with transfixing tales about violent future racism (“Knox”), humanity’s last moments (“Kiss of Fire”), the desperate desire to change one’s own past (“One Life, Furnished in Early Poverty”), a last rebel against the militarizing system (“Silent in Gehanna”), and familial rivalry within a vast arcology (“Catman”), etc…

They are terrifying and vicious, immersive and gut-wrenching, and span from baroque far future speculations to near future warnings.  Above all, they are well-written and intelligent.  Many are infused with (pseudo) autobiographical content and lament the societal ills Continue reading →

Adventures in Science Fiction Cover Art: Future Archaeology and Mysterious Artifacts (Alien + Human)

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(Hannes Bok’s cover for the  Space Science Fiction [UK], Volume 1 No. 4 (1953), ed. unlisted)

A spaceship arrives on Mars…  After a cursory initial exploration, the human astronauts conclude that the planet has always been barren and uninhabited.  But in some chasm or scattered in desolate plain, a column is found, and rows of mysterious buildings, and a pulsating crystal…  An abandoned outpost of an alien society?  Or, Earth’s mysterious forebearers…  Summaries such as this one proliferate the dusty SF paperbacks on back shelves of used book stores and the closets of SF fans — the variations are countless.

Queue my cover art theme: The future discovery of mysterious ruins/artifacts Continue reading →

Book Review: Brain Wave, Poul Anderson (magazine publication 1953)

/ Joachim Boaz / 31 Comments

(Richard Powers’ cover for the 1954 edition)

3.25/5 (Vaguely Good)

I have long been a fan of Poul Anderson’s functionalist yet engaging SF adventures.  He is one of the masters at integrating social commentary (often on the impact of future technology) into the framework of the early Cold War influenced SF story without unduly weighing it down.  Brain Wave (1954) is  a good example of both his virtues and faults.

Brain Wave in a nutshell: a fascinating premise,  a somewhat frustrating ending, dubious social commentary, while the incredibly brief length (even for the 50s)  and uneven pacing suggest heavy cuts by editor…  That said, I suspect other famous works — such as the Daniel Keyes’ Flowers of Algernon (novelette: 1959, novel: 1966) and perhaps even Continue reading →

Book Review: Herovit’s World, Barry N. Malzberg (1973)

/ Joachim Boaz / 14 Comments

(Charles Moll’s cover for the 1974 edition)

3.5/5 (Good)

Note: Today is Barry N. Malzberg’s birthday!

Upon reading In the Enclosure (1973) I was immediately seduced by Barry N. Malzberg’s metafictional brand of science fiction — best illustrated by his masterpieces Beyond Apollo (1972) and Revelations (1972).  Although Herovit’s World (1973) contains many of the same metafictional trademarks of Malzberg’s best work, it should be noted that the novel is not science fiction and more a work about writing (pulp) science fiction.  In this case, the mental collapse of a pulp writer whose life may or may not contain “true” autobiographical kernels from Malzberg’s own experience Continue reading →

Adventures in Science Fiction Cover Art: Domed Cities (and Outposts) of the Future, Part IV

/ Joachim Boaz / 12 Comments

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(Ley Kenyon’s cover for the 1953 edition of Adventures in Tomorrow (1951), ed. Kendell F. Crossen)

Since the release of the TV series Under the Dome (2013-), based on Stephen King’s 2009 novel by the same name, there has been a resurgence of interest in domed cities.  And for good reason — the trope is one of the most popular of science fiction artists and authors since the 30s (and probably earlier).  Not only do the societal implications and visual allure of the trope of a domed outpost on a harsh planet or a domed city amidst the ruins of Earth arouse the creative authorial juices but also generate some fantastically Continue reading →

Book Review: Why Call Them Back From Heaven?, Clifford D. Simak (1967)

/ Joachim Boaz / 28 Comments

(Leo and Diane Dillon’s cover for the 1970 edition)

4.5/5 (Very Good)

I have found that the most successful science fiction novels on the theme of immortality are not about the immortals themselves or the state of “being immortal.”  Novels like Raymond Z. Gallun’s The Eden Cycle (1974) might attempt to convey, at moments effectively, the ennui of an endless existence with endless possibilities but, as with mind of the immortal in question, the reader too feels the effects of endless, repetitive inundation.  Rather, the most successful and evocative novels — for example James Gunn’s The Immortals (1962) — explore the social space that is created by the presence of immortals although they might be only peripheral characters.  Simak’s Why Call Them Back From Heaven? (1967) takes Gunn’s premise a step further: What would happen to our society if almost everyone bought into the idea that immortality would be a real possibility sometime in the future? Continue reading →