Search Results for: brunner

Science Fiction With Real Humans: The Best of James Blish

Comments 12 comments

The Best of James Blish (Del Rey, 1979). Cover by H. R. Van Dongen The Best of James Blish (1979) was the twenty-first (and penultimate!) installment in Lester Del Rey’s Classic Science Fiction Series. (Only one more to go!) Science fiction author Robert A. W. Lowndes (1916–1998) provided the introduction — his only one in the series. Sci-fi artist H. R. Van Dongen (1920–2010) provides the ninth cover in the series, the most used artist of the series. James Blish…

Read More Read More

Would You Spend $44 on a Collection of 30 Vintage DAW Paperbacks?

Comments 44 comments

Would you spend $44 on these 30 vintage DAW paperbacks? I buy a lot of paperbacks on eBay.  I mean, a lot. But believe it or not, I don’t spend a lot of money. I’ve gotten in the habit of buying small collections; because shipping costs work out better and I spend much less per item. I haven’t done the math recently, but I budget anywhere from $0.25 to $0.50 per book when I go hunting, and usually stick to…

Read More Read More

A Mutant Godling on a Ruined Earth: The Eyes Trilogy by Stuart Gordon

Comments 18 comments

The Eyes Trilogy by Stuart Gordon (DAW, 1973-75). Covers by Tim Kirk, Peter Manesis, and Michael Whelan DAW Books is one of the most prestigious and successful science fiction imprints in the industry, regularly publishing top-selling authors and titles. Fifty years ago…. well, it wasn’t any of those things. Donald A. Wollheim built his scrappy publishing powerhouse the old fashioned way: by buying the best books he could find on a shoestring budget, slapping whatever cover art he could find…

Read More Read More

Where Preposterous Dreams Meet the Raw Edges of Reality: Islam, Science Fiction, and Extraterrestrial Life by Jörg Matthias Determann

Comments 4 comments

Islam, Science Fiction, and Extraterrestrial Life: The Culture of Astrobiology in the Muslim Worldby Jörg Matthias DetermannI.B.Tauris, Bloomsbury Publishing (269 pages, $115.00 in hardcover/$103.50 digital, September 17, 2020) Science fiction and ETs in the Muslim world? Why, yes. Ask Professor Jörg Matthias Determann, a faculty member in the Liberal Arts & Sciences program at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar (the world’s richest country), and Associate Editor, Arabian Peninsula, of the Review of Middle East Studies….

Read More Read More

Rogue Blades Presents: Recalling a Fantasy Hero — Hanse Shadowspawn

Comments 9 comments

As I’ve written before, my introduction to Sword and Sorcery literature came not through the more traditional routes of Robert E. Howard, Fritz Leiber, Michael Moorcock, etc. I first delved into Sword and Sorcery almost by accident about 1979 when at the age of nine I picked up a collection of fantasy short stories titled Thieves’ World, the first in what eventually would become a long series of anthologies and novels and even gaming-related material. At that point in my…

Read More Read More

Alien Languages and Scientific Mysteries: The Best of Hal Clement

Comments 6 comments

The Best of Hal Clement (Del Rey, 1979). Cover by H. R. Van Dongen The Best of Hal Clement (1979) was, according to my research, the nineteenth installment in Lester Del Rey’s Classic Science Fiction Series. (Only two more to go!) Lester Del Rey (1915–1993) provided the introduction (his fifth and final in the series). Hal Clement, whose real name was Henry Clement Stubbs (1922–2003), was still living at the time and thus available to do the Afterward. Sci-fi artist…

Read More Read More

Are Some “Classics” Best Neglected?: Eric Frank Russell’s Sinister Barrier

Comments 8 comments

Sinister Barrier by Eric Frank Russell; Magazine version: Unknown, March 1939. Cover art H. W. Scott. (Click to enlarge) Sinister Barrier by Eric Frank Russell UK: World’s Work (135 pages, 5/-, hardcover, 1943) US: Fantasy Press (253, $3.00, hardcover, 1948) Here’s an early “classic” of science fiction that I came across in a used bookstore in Oakland early last year. I say “classic” with quotes because I had heard of the title for years, but hadn’t recalled ever seeing a…

Read More Read More

Unbearable Utopias and Harrowing Adventures on Alien Planets: The Best of Jack Williamson

Comments 3 comments

The Best of Jack Williamson (Del Rey, 1978). Cover by Ralph McQuarrie The Best of Jack Williamson (1978) was, according to my research, the fifteenth installment in Lester Del Rey’s Classic Science Fiction Series. Frederik Pohl (1919–2013) provided the introduction (his second in the series, he also did the intro for The Best of C. M. Kornbluth). Jack Williamson (1908–2006), who was still living at the time, does the Afterword. The famous sci-fi artist Ralph McQuarrie (1929–2012) provides his first (and only)…

Read More Read More

Vintage Treasures: Dark Stars edited by Robert Silverberg

Comments 5 comments

Dark Stars (Ballantine Books, 1969). Cover by Ronald Walotsky I’ve lamented before (more than a few times, as some regular readers have wearily noted) about the death of the mass market SF anthology.  They were a fixture on bookstore shelves a generation ago, and were a great way to discover new writers. In fact, I discovered virtually all of my favorite writers — Roger Zelazny, Clifford D. Simak, Isaac Asimov, James Tiptree, Jr. — in paperback anthologies in the 70s and 80s….

Read More Read More

The Importance of Good Fantasy Art

Comments 9 comments

Art by Frank Frazetta, Michael Whelan, and Jeffrey Catherine Jones An adventure tale isn’t good just because it features a bare-chested hero and a sword, and neither is a painting. Stories and art are successful because they are created by talented people who have devoted long hours (usually 10,000 or more) to educate themselves about their field and develop the proper skills and style to express that talent. And the presentation of that talent is absolutely vital to the success of the…

Read More Read More