Book Review: Assignment Nor’ Dyren, Sydney Van Scyoc (1973)

September 27, 2011April 13, 2012 / Joachim Boaz / 9 Comments

3.25/5 (Average)

Sydney Van Scyoc’s Assignment Nor’ Dyren (1973), inspired by Ursula Le Guin’s masterpiece The Left Hand of Darkness (1969), is a problematic yet generally enjoyable work. I found that Van Scyoc is unable to maintain the sense of wonder she conjures so vividly in the first third. Likewise, her prose tends to plod due to the descriptive restrictions she forces on herself (for example, describing each alien the main character encounters by their species). Perhaps it’s unfair to compare Assignment Nor’ Dyren to Ursula Le Guin’s masterpiece — considered among the best science fiction works ever written — but the overwhelming impression Continue reading →

Adventures in Science Fiction Cover Art: A Selection of Vincent Di Fate’s early 70s Covers

September 26, 2011September 29, 2011 / Joachim Boaz / 18 Comments

(Cover for the 1972 edition of Plunder (1972), Ron Goulart)

The covers of Vincent Di Fate (1945-) often evoke a Terry Gilliam-esque romp — for example, Ron Goulart’s Plunder — a lone facade and a house dot a purple and green plain, mountains emerge in the distance, planets pepper the sky, a head floats ominously, a bizarre reptilian creature in a boatie rides an antique bicycle. I desperately want to know if it’s a scene from the book. If so, I’m tracking down a copy!

Vincent Di Fate’s work graced a few of the great works of the genre Continue reading →

Updates: Recent Science Fiction Acquisitions N. XII

September 17, 2011March 27, 2012 / Joachim Boaz / 10 Comments

1. The Trial of Terra (1962), Jack Williamson (MY REVIEW)

I’ve only read one of Jack Williamson’s novels co-authored with Frederik Pohl The Reefs of Space (1964) so I thought I’d pick up a solo effort. I don’t have high hopes but the general plot from the back cover sounds a lot like Star Trek’s Prime directive: “The Men of Earth were on the verge of breaking into space. The first of their manned moon rockets was on its way to Luna. Now, after ten thousand years, the celestial Continue reading →

Book Review: The Light That Never Was, Lloyd Biggle, Jr. (1972)

September 4, 2011September 4, 2011 / Joachim Boaz / 7 Comments

3.25/5 (Average)

The Light That Never Was (1972) is an unusual take on space opera — there are no epic battles, voyages on spaceships, weird technology, or heroic figures. Instead, the swirling eddies of interstellar change descend on a tourist planet replete with legions of rather atrocious, silly, and easily maleable “artists.” The island of Zrilund on the plant of Donev is afflicted by a general artistic malaise — artists paint for the swarms of tourists which descend on the fountains and beaches of the island snatching Continue reading →

Adventures in Science Fiction Cover Art: The Art of Robert Foster, Part I

September 1, 2011March 7, 2013 / Joachim Boaz / 19 Comments

Robert Foster produced only a handful of science fiction covers. The most inventive graced a span of Frederik Pohl novels and short story collections released by Ballantine Books in the late 60s. Sadly, I can find no information about the artist himself online (if you do please let me know). Here’s a selection of the most interesting, haunting, and spectacular…

Part II (here)

Mechanical man — a bedraggled simulacra. Nude woman — embodiment of flesh. A lunar landscape greets them…

(ranks among my favorite covers of all time)

(Cover for the 1969 edition of Turn Left at Thursday (1961), Frederik Pohl) Continue reading →

Updates: Recent Science Fiction Acquisitions N. X

August 23, 2011March 15, 2014 / Joachim Boaz / 4 Comments

Gifts! Gifts! A varied haul — Spinrad, Herbert, Dickson, Niven, Norton…

1. The Solarians (1966), Norman Spinrad

Before Norman Spinrad’s metafictional if Hitler wrote a pulp extravaganza The Iron Dream (1972) and Bug Jack Barron (1969) there was The Solarians… Continue reading →

Updates: Recent Science Fiction Acquisitions N. IX

August 16, 2011October 8, 2011 / Joachim Boaz / 2 Comments

Success (i.e. infrequent purchases)! Only three new but unknown/fascinating/and potentially interesting) acquisitions to report….

1. The Alien Way (1965), Gordon R. Dickson (MY REVIEW HERE)

I’ve not read any of Gordon R. Dickson’s substantial corpus of novels. Yes, I need to pick up a copy of his classic work Dorsai! but, military sci-fi has never Continue reading →

Book Review: The Unsleeping Eye (variant title: The Continuous Katherine Mortenhoe), D. G. Compton (1974)

August 10, 2011August 10, 2011 / Joachim Boaz / 11 Comments

5/5 (Masterpiece)

I’d previously read four of D. G. Compton’s lesser known works before procuring a copy of his acknowledged masterpiece, The Unsleeping Eye (variant title: The Continuous Katherine Mortenhoe) (1973). The Unsleeping Eye far surpasses the remarkable The Steel Crocodile (1970) and Synthajoy (1968). Many of the themes and techniques Compton uses in the other works of his I’ve read are honed to perfection and greatly expanded on: strong intelligent female characters dominate the pages, Continue reading →

Adventures in Science Fiction Cover Art: Assorted 1970s Surrealistic Faces by Richard Powers

August 4, 2011September 5, 2011 / Joachim Boaz / 10 Comments

This is the second post in a potential series of posts showcasing the science fiction cover art by Richard Powers (1921-1996). My first post discussed a few surrealist cityscape covers from the 1950s. Here I’ve selected a variety of surrealistic, composite, conglomerated, and masked faces from his 1970s covers.

A delightful green human shape — mouthless — replete with translucent hollows? emerging occupants or surfacing memories?