Christmas presents!
Intriguing literary sci-fi by Craig Strete and John Crowley…
Works of unknown quality, Bruce McAllister’s Humanity Prime (1971) and Nelson Bond’s collection No Time Like the Future (1954)…
And one of my favorite Powers’ covers.
1. Humanity Prime, Bruce McAllister (1971)
(David Meltzer’s cover for the 1971 edition) Continue reading
It’s been a while since I returned to one of the more well-known authors of the 50s — Isaac Asimov. I’ve read many of his novels and short story collections (Foundation Trilogy, The Caves of Steel, The Naked Sun, The Robots of Dawn, Robots and Empire, The Currents of Space, The Gods Themselves, Nemesis, etc) and have never been too impressed. However, with a run of recent bad 50s sci-fi works under my belt (review for David Duncan’s egregious Dark Dominion is upcoming) I feel the need to reappraise a few of the 50s greats. So, when I was perusing some gorgeous old paperbacks with well-preserved covers I purchased two Asimov novels for the first time since I was a young teenager.
And another Brunner to add to the 20+ works of his I already own…. Unfortunately the one edition I find was the one edition where the editor edited + modified Brunner’s words without his permission.
And some Aldiss short stories from the 50s….
A gorgeous collection of covers!
1. Pebble in the Sky, Isaac Asimov (1950) (MY REVIEW)
(Uncredited cover for the 1957 Continue reading
Three short story collections and one novel from my Texan hunting grounds. I enjoyed Merril’s short story collection Daughters of Earth (1968) so I quickly snatched up another… I’ve been disappointed with Brian M. Stableford before but multiple fellow readers have claimed that The Halcyon Drift (1972) is worth reading. We shall see… And one can never have too many Sheckley and Anderson short stories…
1. Out of Bounds, Judith Merril (1960)
(John Schoenherr’s cover for the 1963 edition) Continue reading
(Jack Faragasso’s cover for the 1971 edition of The Pyramids from Space (1970), Jack Bertin and Peter B. Germano)
This post is in a series on the interaction between television/film and science fiction cover art (The Statue of Liberty on Pre-1968 Magazine and Novel Covers and Cosmic Fetuses + Other Uterine Spaces). In the former, the scene at the end of Planet of the Apes (1968) drew directly on pre-existing pulp science fiction art tropes. In the later, Kubrick’s baby in a balloon scene in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) inspired many artists to reproduce the image of the cosmic fetus. There isn’t a direct line of influence in this post between these covers and Stargate (1994) and its sequels. I simply seek to illustrate that there has always been an obsession, verging into the sci-fi genre, with re-interpreting Continue reading
(Stanislaw Hernandez’s cover for the 1973 edition)
5/5 (Masterpiece) (*caveats below*)
Nominated for the 1973 Nebula Award (lost to Asimov’s disappointing The Gods Themselves)
“She was Our Mother, so she cried. She used to sit out there, under that micha tree, all day as we worked cursing in her fields. She sat there during the freezing nights, and we pretended that we could see her through the windows in the house, by the light of the moons and the hard, fast stars. She sat there before most of us were born; she sat there until she died. And all the time she shed her tears. She was Our Mother, so she cried” (11)
What Entropy Means to Me (1972) is one of the more satisfying products of the New Wave science fiction movement of the 60s and 70s that I’ve read. I place it in the pantheon of Malzberg’s Revelations (1972), Samuel Delany’s Nova (1968), and Brunner’s Stand on Zanzibar (1968). Effinger revels, and I mean gloriously revels, in metafictional Continue reading
Finally getting near the end of the pile of science fiction novels procured during my latest journey to Texas (a few were in clearance dollar bins) + gifts from 2theD. I know very little about any of the authors (any info would be read with relish) — and I even bought a book from the early 1980s! I know, shocker, but it has to do with drowned cities…. one of my favorite themes…. although it’ll never equal the uterine joys of Ballard’s magisterial The Drowned World (1962).
1. Under the City of Angels, Jerry Earl Brown (1981)
(Lou Feck’s cover for the 1981 edition) Continue reading
(Paul Lehr’s cover for the 1970 edition of The Eyes of Heisenberg (1966), Frank Herbert)
Stanley Kubrick’s iconic baby in a balloon image at the end of his film 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) spawned a handful of intriguing cosmic fetus science fiction covers. Even the famous artist Paul Lehr crafted perhaps the most artistically interesting version for Frank Herbert’s novel, The Eyes of Heisenberg. Other artists, for example the uncredited creator of The Adam Experiment‘s cover, render incredibly hokey + spooky rip-offs. Because I’ve found only a few on this particular theme I’ve included a variety of other baby related covers — hovering baby heads in space, mini-holograms of babies, adult men Continue reading
(Ray Kalfus’ cover for the May 1963 issue of Amazing Stories)
The Easter Island heads have long been explained away by conspiracy theorists as the work of aliens! Apparently there are a few short stories and novels that derive not only their cover art but entire stories from such hilariously awful material…. Regardless, the covers are giggle inducing, and in the case of the uncredited cover for William Tenn’s Of All Possible Worlds (1955) rather striking. I’ve included one cover from the 40s, an Arkham house novel that might be more “horror” than “sci-fi.” Regardless, the idea that the Easter Island heads evoke dread, is well, laughable.
If you know of any others please let me know — I could only round up these five Continue reading
My San Antonio, TX haul….
I’ve read multiple of Shaw’s books in the past — they are often intriguing on the conceptual level but fall apart during delivery (Ground Zero Man, One Million Tomorrows)…. But, the back cover of Shadow of Heaven (1969) was intriguing enough to grab a copy.
The multiple Farmer novels I’ve read (most of the Riverworld series and Traitor to the Living) were trash. But, I’m willing to give him another go — against my better judgement.
Heinlein is overrated but readable and Stephen Lanier’s Hiero’s Journey (1973) is supposed to be an intriguing post-apocalyptical tale….
1. Shadow of the Heaven, Bob Shaw (1969)
(George Underwood’s cover Continue reading
Science Fiction and Other Suspect Ruminations 