1930s

Adventures in Science Fiction Cover Art: Scenes from the Control Room

/ Joachim Boaz / 10 Comments

(Malcolm Smith’s cover for the October 1953 issue of Imagination)

Inspired by some of the cover art I found for my earlier post Through the View Screen, Through the Window, I decided to focus on the image of gazing from within the control room of a spaceship (either at objects within or scenes outside the view screens).  The trope is extraordinarily effective at conveying the action of a story: the unfolding canvas of an epic battle, the tension of charting a course through the stars and nefarious nebulae, the destruction of cities, the last glance at a beautiful astronaut adrift, or even, Earth within grasp!

I’ve tried not to be redundant in the covers I use — with this Continue reading →

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 →

Updates: Recent Science Fiction Acquisitions No. XXV (Silverberg + Dickson + Bester + et al.)

/ Joachim Boaz / 4 Comments

I have a substantial backlog of purchases from my “productive” book hunting Spring Break in Texas….

I’ve read Alfred Bester’s The Demolished Man (1952), which I loved, and The Stars My Destination (1956), which I mostly enjoyed, however I’ve rarely seen his short story collections in used book stores.  I snatched up the gorgeous covered The Dark Side of the Earth (1956).  I suspect Bester is even better at short stories than his novel length works….

The Time of the Great Freeze (1964) is considered one of Robert Silverberg’s best pulp works.  On indirect advise of my friend Michael Dalke at Potpourri of Science Fiction Literature, I’ve procured more of Gordon R. Dickson’s short works…  Thankfully, he hasn’t reviewed the collection The Star Road (1973) yet (I think) — we have a “rivalry.”  Haha.

I’ve already reviewed the short story collection edited by Donald Wollheim, The End of the World (1956) (MY REVIEW), and highly recommend it. A few of the stories are duds but two are in my top 5 short work list.  Philip K. Dick’s ‘Impostor’ (1953) alone is reason enough to track down the volume.

1. The Dark Side of the Earth (1964), Alfred Bester (MY REVIEW)

(Uncredited cover for the 1964 edition) Continue reading →

Book Review: The End of the World (1956), ed. Donald Wollheim

/ Joachim Boaz / 12 Comments

(Ed Emshwiller’s? cover for the 1956 edition)

3.75/5 (Good)

 The End of the World (1956) is a highly readable collection of short works by some of the leading figures of the 50s:  Robert Heinlein, Edmond Hamilton, Philip K. Dick,  and Arthur C. Clarke are the most notable contributors.  All the works, including the short by the virtually unknown author Amelia Reynolds Long, have appeared in other volumes but it’s nice to have them grouped according to theme with a quality Ace edition 50s Emshwiller cover.

Wollheim gathers together a fascinating range of accounts of the end of the world — seen through the eyes of aliens, humans from the present viewing the future, the last men on earth surveying the ruins, a robotic bomb who thinks it’s human and “accidentally” triggers the end of the Continue reading →

Updates: New Book Review Index by Rating

/ Joachim Boaz / 8 Comments

I’ve added a new index ordered by rating for easy navigation to my book reviews (here).  This is in addition to by index by author (here).  This makes my best  (here) and worst science fiction book index (here) redundant and I might get rid of it at a later date.  I’ll also add more themed indexes in addition to my Sci-Fi Novels about Overpopulation Index, Sci-Fi Works by Female Authors over the course of the next few weeks.

All the indexes can be found on the bar on the righthand side.

Thanks for all the fascinating comments/observations and words of encouragement.  I’ve greatly enjoyed reading/reviewing and conversing!

Adventures in Science Fiction Cover Art: Through the View Screen, Through the Window

/ Joachim Boaz / 8 Comments

(Julian S. Krupa’s cover for the July 1947 issue of Amazing Stories)

Through the window, through the view screen cities are discovered, worlds end in searing flame,  vectors to unknown lands are plotted, the horrors of earth are left behind.  Alone in a space station an astronaut observes the fragile construction arrayed around him.  Through the window, through the view screen aliens observe our strife, loved ones watch in agony, and the culmination of our era’s scientific endeavors are arrayed in orderly rows.  

In short, the possibilities are endless.  The glass (or some scientifically advanced clear material) frames the story, we watch others watching or we see what they see while we stand among them… 

Definitely a delightful sci-fi cover art trope worth exploring.  Here are a broad selection of covers from juvenile science fiction novels, pulp magazines, edited Continue reading →

Updates: Visit + Submit to the BSFA Award Nominated Review Site SF Mistressworks

/ Joachim Boaz / Leave a comment

   

Hello all,  Ian Sales’ wonderful SF Mistressworks (link), a review collating blog, has recently been nominated for the BSFA award (British Science Fiction Association) in the non-fiction category (link for the list).  I’ve submitted nine of my reviews of sci-fi works written by women over the last few months.  It was created in direct response to the absence of sci-fi masterpieces by women on a list by The Guardian, a lack of general knowledge in the sci-fi community about early female pioneers in the genre, and general lack of readership for their many award-winning works.

If you’ve written reviews of science fiction works by women (the novels/short story collections need to be written before 2000) please submit them as well (500 words or so is preferred)!  So, gather up any Russ, Norton, Cherryh, C. L. Moore, Merril, Brackett, Piserchia, Le Guin, MacLean, Butler, etc etc etc reviews you might have on your blog or anywhere else.  It’s a great resource for finding seldom read works/authors which deserve a greater readership. Continue reading →

Adventures in Science Fiction Art: Doomed Cities Part II (migrating icebergs, firestorms, the horsemen of the apocalypse)

/ Joachim Boaz / 7 Comments

(Uncredited cover for the 1963 edition of Doomsday, 1999 (variant title: Midge), Paul MacTyre)

Behold Part II of my popular series on the doomed city in science fiction cover art (see Part I).  A doomsday that never happened, a tank and a skeletal reminder of a past battle — a ruined city, colliding stars, colliding planets…

Behold the august ruins of our people, our cities, our achievements.  If there’s anyone still left.

As always, are the books/authors worth reading? Continue reading →

Adventures in Science Fiction Cover Art: Doomed Cities (post-apocalyptical ruins, war-wrecked landscapes, burning winds)

/ Joachim Boaz / 14 Comments

(Richard Powers’ cover for the 1959 edition of The Rest Must Die (1959), Kendell Foster Crossen)

The electricity turns off in a futuristic city and people turn into animals and everyone slowly kills each other, mysterious winds sweep through cities killing everyone, large machine minds take over, nuclear bombs destroy everything, intelligent dogs take over, the sun expands drying all the oceans, the sun expands (but not as much) and water floods over all the cities, aliens come with large guns and blow everything up, aliens come with brain probes and make others blow everything up, aliens pretend to be humans and annoy the humans enough so they blow each other up with nuclear bombs, people from the past go back in time and see that humans have blown everything up and they try to prevent the aliens from making the humans blow everything up, a bacterial agent from an alien kills everyone, Continue reading →