Book Review: The Immortals, James E. Gunn (1962)

April 27, 2013August 21, 2020 / Joachim Boaz / 18 Comments

(Mitchell Hooks’ cover for the 1962 edition)

4.25/5 (collated rating: Good)

James E. Gunn’s The Immortals (1962) is less about the lives and mental state of the eponymous humans “blessed” with immortality (a fascinating topic in itself) and more about the ramifications of their existence on the rest of society not “blessed” with such genetic structures. Their presence exacerbates the problems of an already dystopically tinged world where medical care is increasingly the domain of the ultra wealthy. With the knowledge that a random genetic mutation has created a bloodline whose members are immortal, society is all too eager to root them out and (literally) bleed them dry. Living longer — achieved by whatever means — becomes the single-minded desire of all. Most of humanity is oblivious to the festering (and carcinogenic) Continue reading →

Updates: Recent Science Fiction Acquisitions No. LXII (Amis + Cummings + Van Vogt)

April 23, 2013April 23, 2013 / Joachim Boaz / 16 Comments

A strange conglomeration of novels….

If there’s any era I’m lacking knowledge in it’s late 20s-early 40s (well, I’ve read some Van Vogt + Edgar Rice Burroughs) pulp science fiction — so I decided to brush up on some of the greats. With that in mind I acquired five Ray Cummings novels (the rest will be in a later acquisition post) and Van Vogt’s Slan (1940)….. I don’t have high hopes. But now I own my first Alex Schomburg cover!

I generally do not accept review copies due to the fact that most offers are for self-published works rather than republished novels from the period I’m most familiar with (and prefer to read) — 1950-1985. So, when New York Review of Books offered me a copy of Kingsley Amis’ well-known alt-history/sci-fi (depending on whose definition you’re reading) novel The Alteration (1976) I happily agreed….

1. The Exile of Time, Ray Cummings (magazine publication 1931)

(Alex Schomburg’s cover for the 1964 edition) Continue reading →

Adventures in Science Fiction Cover Art: The Space Station, Part II

April 22, 2013April 22, 2013 / Joachim Boaz / 10 Comments

(Arthur Hawkins’ cover for the 1959 edition of Skyport (1959), Curt Siodmak)

Part II of my series on cover art depicting space stations (Part I). Here are vast assortment of primarily Alex Schomburg and Vincent Di Fate’s artwork — they did love their space stations. But, I think my favorite is by far Arthur Hawkins’ cover for the 1959 edition of Curt Siodmak’s Skyport (1959) — the author is of course famous for the novel Donovan’s Brain (1942). The delightful color scheme, the 50s aesthetic, the vague indication of continents below, the cluster of Continue reading →

Adventures in Science Fiction Cover Art: On the Cross and Other Prophetic Imagery

April 8, 2013April 8, 2013 / Joachim Boaz / 20 Comments

(Michael Whelan’s cover for the 1977 edition of The Gameplayers of Zan (1977), M. A. Foster)

On the cross, a future prophet (or false one)? A martyr for a lost cause? Or, some future priestly emissary of the Catholic church dispensing law on those gathered…. Perhaps some transformation of man to a godly state all hallowed and arrayed with religious accouterments of faith? I’ve gathered a fun collection of science fiction prophets mostly decked out / depicted in distinctly Christian style.

My favorite is Robert Foster’s cover for the 1970 edition of Behold the Man (1969) by Michael Moorcock…. And Gray Morrow’s cover for the 1970 edition of This Immortal (variant title: And Call Me Conrad) (1965) contains a fascinating color scheme — although there isn’t any mold on the figure’s face as Zelazny Continue reading →

Adventures in Science Fiction Cover Art: The Rotating Wheel Space Station/Habitat, Part I

March 31, 2013April 1, 2013 / Joachim Boaz / 12 Comments

(Dean Ellis’ cover for the 1973 edition of Operation Umanaq (1973), John Rankine)

Here are only a small portion of the cover images I’ve collected of space stations and space habitats of the rotating wheel variety — i.e. the ring (or a torus) spins creating pseudo-gravity. As in the double-wheeled space station in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)… I have always been enamored with space stations/habitats which was part of reason I adored Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as a kid (although today I prefer it over the over Star Treks due to the complicated arc Continue reading →

Book Review: The God Makers (variant title: The Godmakers), Frank Herbert (1972)

March 30, 2013September 15, 2024 / Joachim Boaz / 19 Comments

(Vincent Di Fate’s cover for the 1972 edition)

3.25/5 (Average)

As of late I’ve been returning to the extensive catalogue of Frank Herbert’s non-Dune novels on my shelf — The Eyes of Heisenberg (1966) was an engaging read with adept world building which created an intriguing/harrowing dystopic future. The God Makers (1972) lacks not only Herbert’s trademark dense prose (for example, constantly shifting perspective over the course of a conversation) but also features one of his more poorly conceived future worlds. This might be due to the fact that the novel was cobbled together from four short stories Continue reading →

Book Review: The Mile-Long Spaceship (variant title: Andover and the Android), Kate Wilhelm (1963)

March 25, 2013March 25, 2013 / Joachim Boaz / 11 Comments

(Richard Powers’ cover for the 1963 edition)

3/5 (collated rating: Average)

Kate Wilhelm, famous for her Hugo-winning masterwork Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang (1976), started her writing career with more modest works. The Mile-Long Spaceship (1963) collects some of her earliest short stories from the late 50s and a few written for the collection in the early 60s — Clone, her first novel, co-written with Theodore L. Thomas would come out in 1965. However, her best sci-fi was published in the late 60s to the mid-70s. Before then her work tended to be straight-forward with an occasional interesting idea or poignant scene but generally unremarkable….

Three stories are worth reading in this collection: an early work of feminist science Continue reading →

Adventures in Science Fiction Cover Art: The City on the Horizon

March 23, 2013March 25, 2013 / Joachim Boaz / 18 Comments

(Karel Thole’s cover for the 1962 edition of Starman’s Quest (1958), Robert Silverberg)

Some of my favorite cover art posts over the last two years were on the theme of cities — Elevated Cities (Part I, Part II), Domed Cities (Part I, Part II, Part III), Doomed Cities (Part I, Part II, Part III), and Ice-Covered Cities. I’m starting a new series on science fiction cities — The City on the Horizon — I already have two additional posts lined up on the theme.

The City on the Horizon — a glimmer of hope for beleaguered travelers, an beacon of habitation of an unknown civilization on an alien world, an organic mass rising from the desert sands, or a refuge of the ultra wealthy rising majestic from a slum… The possibilities are Continue reading →

Updates: Recent Science Fiction Acquisitions No. LVIV (Laumer + del Rey + Stableford + Dickson)

March 18, 2013March 18, 2013 / Joachim Boaz / 19 Comments

An overpopulation themed novel (at least for part) by Gordon R. Dickson….

A supposedly underrated/dark novel by Brian M. Stableford (according to some, one of his best)…

An early novel in Keith Laumer’s famous Retief sequence…

And a fun juvenile by Lester del Rey….

1. The Outposter, Gordon R. Dickson (1971)

(Bruce Pennington’s cover for the 1976 edition)

From the back cover: “Destination: Oblivion. The Lottery played no favorites — if a person’s number came up, he joined the rest of the losers marked for exile from the overcrowded Continue reading →