As always which books/covers intrigue you? Which have you read? Disliked? Enjoyed?
1. Fool’s Run, Patricia A. McKillip (1987)
Michael Whelan’s cover for the 1988 edition
From the back cover: “Terra Viridian is a young woman who obeyed a vision, took a laser assault rifle, and turned fifteen hundred innocents into light. She was captured, convicted, and sentences to the orbital prison called the Underworld. Forever.
Seven years later: a bar-band pianists Continue reading
Note: I’ve changed the post title “Acquisitions” to “Purchases” for the sake of clarity. Some readers (especially on twitter) assume I’ve read these books. I’ve just bought them! (or they are unread books from a pile I bought a while back but never processed). These posts provide my initial half-formed thoughts, links to related reviews, front cover scans of my personal copies (unless noted), and back-cover info. For full-formed thoughts on books check out my reviews. I’ve also changed the format. My “initial thoughts” can now be found after the back cover blurb. Let me know if the format changes are helpful.
As always which books/covers intrigue you. Which have you read? Disliked? Enjoyed?
1. The Wind From Nowhere, J. G. Ballard (serialized 1961) (MY REVIEW)
(Richard Powers’ cover for the 1962 1st edition) Continue reading
(David A. Hardy’s cover art detail from the September 1974 issue of Galaxy)
I am not a collector. “But Joachim Boaz you post recent purchases all the time!” Let me revise: I am a reader who procures a lot of science fiction novels, collections, and anthologies that I may never read. As a general rule, I only buy science fiction that I want to read. There’s a logic behind the handful of duplicate copies I own—for example, both the 1952 and the 1969 editions of Wilson Tucker’s fantastic The Long Loud Silence (1952) grace my shelf. Editors sliced and diced the 1st edition and Tucker Continue reading
1. New author to me. Unknown book. Fascinating Peter Gudynas city-scape cover. Let the act of exploration carry me through!
2. My The Women’s Press collection of SF/F novels grows. This is probably one of the least known volumes.
But so was Elizabeth Baines’ The Birth Machine (1983) and it was fantastic!
3. I love the concept of an epic near-future space thriller involving weather manipulation! But me and Ben Bova never see eye-to-eye….
4. An unknown Doubleday SF edition. I have yet to read any of Lee Hoffman’s SF — she wrote a handful.
Let me know what you think of the books and covers in the comments!
1. Capella’s Golden Eyes, Christopher Evans (1980)
(Peter Gudynas’ cover for the 1982 edition) Continue reading
My “to review” pile is growing and my memory of them is fading… hence short—far less analytical—reviews.
1. The Lights in the Sky Are Stars, Fredric Brown (1953)
(Mitchell Hooks’ cover for the 1955 edition)
3/5 (Average)
Frederic Brown’s The Lights in the Sky are Stars (1953) is a slick 1950s vision of the fanatical men and women who take America by the scruff of the neck and yank it, without letting the law get in the way, towards space and the deep beyond. As a rumination on radicalism, The Lights in the Sky are Stars succeeds—I’m not entirely sure if it was entirely intentional as Continue reading
Clifford D. Simak, Tanith Lee, and M. A. Foster reviews are incoming. The first few weeks of every semester hit with a vengeance—teaching is an exhausting profession.
In the meantime get inspired to read vintage SF by ogling these gems!
1. In my youth I was obsessed with Victorian/Belle Epoque survivalist novels–Jules Verne’s The Mysterious Island (1874), Perseverance Island Or the Robinson Crusoe Of The Nineteenth Century(1885), et al. I judged them on their “realistic” portrayals of how man (and yes, the characters were always men) moved up the technological tree—from fire to steam engines—in a hostile world. Although I’ve utterly disavowed SF that adheres to such naive technological triumphalism, occasionally nostalgia calls…. Here’s a SF Robinsonade along similar lines.
2. I adore Craig’s Strete unique brand of SF story. I reviewed, in abbreviated form, his spectacular collection If All Else Fails…. (1980). I’ll read this one soon! The Bleeding Man and Other Science Fiction Stories is also a well-designed volume as elements of the cover art are used at the beginning of each short story.
3. Another unknown commodity—seems to combine SF and fantasy tropes.
4. Back in November I acquired the second in the Terra SF series of anthologies edited by Richard D. Nolane of Western European SF in translation. I pointed out that the first volume online was prohibitively expensive. A follower on twitter discovered that a seller on Amazon incorrectly listed the collection under another title—at a radically reduced price. Now it’s a happy member of my collection.
Let me know what you think of the books and covers in the comments!
~
1. First on Mars (variant title: No Man Friday), Rex Gordon (1956)
(Kelly Freas’ cover for the 1976 edition) Continue reading
Preliminary note: This is the sixth post in a series of vintage generation ship short fiction reviews. All of the stories I’ll review are available online (see links below). You are welcome to read and discuss along with me as I explore humanity’s visions of generational voyage. And thanks go out to all who have joined already.
Previously: J. G. Ballard’s “Thirteen to Centaurus” (1962)
Next up: Chad Oliver’s “Stardust” (1952)
I’ve compiled a helpful list on the theme with links to all my reviews.
(Charles Schneeman’s cover for the June 1947 issue of Astounding Science Fiction, ed. John W. Campbell, Jr.)
4/5 (Good)
A. E. van Vogt’s “Centaurus II” (1947)* (story link) first appeared in the June 1947 issue of Astounding Science Fiction edited by John W. Campbell, Jr. Together with two later stories—“Rogue Ship” Continue reading
1. In my youth Anne McCaffrey’s Pern novels received a privileged place on my shelf. I have yet to explore her other SF in any great detail. The Ship Who Sang (1969) is a fix-up novel of six earlier short fictions from the 60s. I’ve put this one near the top of my to-read list!
2. Another epic series of tales of space exploration from Poul Anderson! I hope it’s better than Tau Zero (1970).
3. A post-apocalyptical novel from Philip Wylie—14 survivors in the bomb shelter of a millionaire. Thoughts on this one?
4. I’ve never cared for Lester del Rey, The only work of his I’ve somewhat enjoyed was The Eleventh Commandment (1962, rev. 1970) as I’m a sucker for overpopulation-themed SF.
Let me know what you think of the books and covers in the comments!
~
1. The Ship Who Sang, Anne McCaffrey (1969) (MY REVIEW)
(Greg and Tim Hildebrandt’s cover for the 1976 edition) Continue reading
(Ed Valigursky’s cover for the 1956 edition)
2.5/5 (Bad)
Almost the surprise of the year! E. C. Tubb’s The Space-Born (variant title: Star Ship) (1955) first appeared as a serial in New Worlds (April, May, and June 1955 issues). For American audiences, Tubb’s novel was paired with Philip K. Dick’s The Man Who Japed (1956) as an Ace Double. My only previous exposure to the prolific British author’s SF was “The Seekers” (1965), a paranoid vision of spacemen possessed by delusions of grandeur after their captain’s death. The Space-Born is a fascinating generation ship novel with a catastrophic Continue reading
Science Fiction and Other Suspect Ruminations 