January 2025 – Literary Art and Illustration

A Reimagined Cover: The Tar-Ayim Krang, by Alan Dean Foster – March, 1972 [Dean Ellis]

Paralleling my posts displaying reimagined cover art of The Sirens of Titan (by Richard M. Powers), Astounding Science Fiction (by William Timmins), The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (by Chesley Bonestell), and If (Kenneth Fagg), here’s a new example: Dean Ellis’ cover art for Alan Dean Foster’s The Tar-Ayim Krang.

Just like the aforementioned examples, this was a sort-of-experiment: Assuming Ellis’ original cover art no longer exists these fifty-two years after Ballantine’s adaptation of his painting for Foster’s book, I wanted to recreate the appearance of the painting as it p r o b a b l y & most l i k e l y – existed. The fact that the author’s name, one-sentence promotional blurb, book price, and Ballantine logo appear in the relatively empty area in the upper part of the page made this digital endeavor relatively straightforward. Albeit… I added some stars, gas clouds, and varied background shading to the area atop the orange-ringed planet, so the resulting image would conform to the rest of the painting.

As for the book?

I’ve not read it. (!)

I bought it for the attractive cover alone.

(Ellis did good work!)

And. Even. More

The Tar-Ayim Krang, at…

… Wikipedia

… GoodReads

Alan Dean Foster, at…

… Internet Speculative Fiction Database

Dean Ellis, at…

… askArt

… Science Fiction Book Art

… Artnet

The Modified Man? … World of IF Science Fiction, December, 1965, featuring “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress”, by Robert A. Heinlein [Gray Morrow]

While Robert Heinlein was absolutely central to the development and prominence of science fiction as a literary genre and cultural phenomenon – and certainly a more than a skilled writer, as such – he’s never been among my favorite authors in the field, specifically in terms of the themes and ideologies that were the foundation of his latter works. Regardless, the literature he produced was highly significant, the impact of some of his stories extending into realms political and philosophical. Such as, “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress”, which was featured in Worlds of If from late 1965 through early 1966. Gray morrow did both the cover art and interior illustrations.

I’m a general specialist.
Could relieve a cook and keep orders coming or field-repair your suit
and get you back to airlock still breathing.
Machines like me and I have something specialists don’t have:
my left arm.

You see, from elbow down I don’t have one.
So I have a dozen left arms,
each specialized,
plus one that feels and looks like flesh.
With proper left arm (number-three) and stereo loupe spectacles
I could make ultramicrominiature repairs
that would save unhooking something and sending it Earthside to factory
– for number-three has micromanipulators as fine as those used by neurosurgeons. (page 12)

Illustration by Gray Morrow

(…page 11…)

And otherwise?

A Harsh Mistress, The Moon is, at…

… Internet Speculative Fiction Database

… Wi Ki Pe Di A

The Second Sex, by Simone de Beauvoir – August, 1961 (1949) [Photo by Elliott Erwitt (Elio Romano Erwitz), Magnum Photos]

Ballantine’s 1961 imprint of Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex has a truly lovely cover.

Though at first glance I assumed this image was a painting, perhaps enhanced and accentuated with an airbrush – due to the visual “softness” (for lack of a better word) of the woman, the rock upon which she’s sitting, the plant over which she’s bending, and the “rays” in the background – this was not so. As revealed in the book, this image is actually a photograph by famed photographer Elliott Erwitt (Elio Romano Erwitz).

The soft and diffuse appearance of the cover, then, is probably attributable to the use of a filter that created a foggy, slightly out-of-focus effect, while I suppose the intense yellowish cast is from dyeing the finished photographic (paper) print, or, printing the black and white image on color photographic paper, with a yellow filter interposed between negative and print.

Regardless of the technology, the image powerfully connotes subtle and passive (almost unconscious) eroticism, detachment from the world in a moment of self-absorption and contemplation. And self-absorption. (I already said that?!) This is enhanced by Erwitt having posed the model such that her face is almost completely obscured. She’s anonymous, in he own world, and not ours…

(Back Cover)

…and with that, a caveat!…

Whether for “this” post in particular or really most any of my posts “in general”, the appearance of a book at WordsEnvisioned by no means implies my endorsement of it eitheras a literary work in terms of its plot, premise, and literary quality, or especially – for works of non-fiction – my acceptance of and agreement with its intellectual or philosophical basis.

In other words, the book’s cover is simply interesting in and of itself as an example of illustration.

That’s why it’s “here”:

Not only do I not judge a book by its cover, I never judge a cover by the book.

This is emphatically so for The Second Sex, for “Feminism” is by now in the year 2025 (and I think has always been, even in the days of Mary Shelley), a politicized form of gender-based Manicheanism that is entirely unrelated to the many-faceted and parallel worlds … it’s really the same world … of women and men as complimentary human beings, who must navigate the complexity of life and human relationships as they are actually lived.

In this regard, for an insightful take on Simone De Beauvoir, I highly recommend Janice Fiamengo’s YouTube video – at Studio B – Probing Western Culture – “The Monstrous Lies of Simone De Beauvoir”, from September, 2022. Here it is:

For another take on the irrevocably (?!) fraught topic of “Feminism”, I highly recommend Dr. Martin Van Creveld’s The Privileged Sex, published by DLVC Enterprises, Mevasseret Zion, Israel, in 2013. To quote: “This book argues that the idea women are the oppressed gender is largely a myth, and that women, and not men, are the privileged gender.” You can download the book at Archive.org. I believe its contents were reflected in the following series of posts some few years ago (they’re now unavailable) at Dr. Van Creveld’s blog, under the heading “The Gender Dialogues”. Namely:

Dialogue No. I: First Things First – October 15, 2020
Dialogue No. II: The Privileged Sex – October 22, 2020
Dialogue No. III: Similar but Different – October 29, 2020
Dialogue No. IV: Who Has It Better? – November 5, 2020
Dialogue No. V: Feminism… – November 12, 2020
Dialogue No. VI: … and Its Discontents – November 19, 2020
Dialogue No. VII: How about Sex? – November 26, 2020
Dialogue No. VIII: In Search of a Solution – December 3, 2020
Dialogue No. IX: Marching towards Segregation? – December 10, 2020
Dialogue No. X: Concerning Prostitution – December 17, 2020
Dialogue No. XI: The Future – December 24, 2020
Dialogue No. XII: The Feminist Planet – December 31, 2020
Dialogue No. XIII: Making It Personal – January 7, 2021
Dialogue No. XIV: Concluding Thoughts – January 14, 2021

Another relevant book by Dr. Van Creveld, Men Women & War, published by Cassell & Co., London, England, 2001, is also available at Archive.org, albeit for virtual “borrowing” rather than download. To say that the book’s conclusions stand at variance with the political and social ethos of the contemporary “West” is an understatement. Specifically, “Throughout history, women have been shielded from the heat of battle, their role limited to supporting the men who do the actual fighting. Now all that has changed, and for the first time females have taken their place on the front lines. But, do they actually belong there? A distinguished military historian answers the question with a vehement no, arguing women are less physically capable, more injury-prone, given more lenient conditions, and disastrous for morale and military preparedness.”

Some Other Things to Refer To…

Simone de Bouvier, at…

(oh, well) Wikipedia

Jean-Paul Sartre, at…

(once again), Wikipedia

Elliott Erwitt (Elio Romano Erwitz), at…

Wonder Stories, 1963 [Richard M. Powers]

(This is the second of two posts describing the digest-format science fiction anthology Wonder Stories, which was published with generally similar content in 1957 and 1963, featuring cover art of the same general theme by Richard M. Powers. As such, though the content of both magazines s similar, significant differences between the two editions are explained and made clear in each post. So, for those in a hurry (who’s not in a hurry in the world of 2025?!) you can jump to the post for the 1957 edition, “here“.)

The best way to impart a sense of literary wonder, is through awe, mystery, and a sense of the unknown. Such is so for this second – 1963 – edition of Standard Magazines’ (otherwise known as Thrilling Publication’) anthology Wonder Stories, which is comprised of stories from early 50s editions of Startling Stories and Thrilling Wonder Stories, as well as Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.’s tale “Thanasphere”, all these stores having appeared in the 1957 edition of the anthology.

You can learn the story of Wonder Stories, and “other reprints from the Thrilling group”, at Todd Mason’s Sweet Freedom blog.

A sense of wonder arises from the anthology’s cover, which is one of the very few pulp magazine cover paintings by Richard M. Powers, whose forte overwhelmingly comprised cover art for paperback books, especially those of Ballantine. His limited oeuvre of magazine covers appeared in early issues of Galaxy Science Fiction, and also included a magnificent painting for the first issue of Beyond Fantasy Fiction.

Typical of Powers’ cover art, the 1963 cover art of Wonder Stories – akin to its 1957 predecessor – sets up a mood; a feeling; an impression beyond words – that has absolutely no relationship to or basis in any of the stories in the anthology. (The same’s true for Powers’ book covers.) Typical of his art, the scene is absent of a recognizable human being, let alone any sign of a human presence. Building on his painting for the 1957 edition, his composition presents shapes emblematic of technology, power, and energy – active even now – situated upon a desert-like alien landscape. Something’s happening, and some sort of thing is happening. But, what?

In coincidental hindsight, the painting anticipates or depicts a scene reminiscent of the ruins of the Ring Builders’ constructions on the planet Ilus IV, from season four of “The Expanse”: Eon-old structures embedded deep (how deep?!) within and extending far above the desert earth, yet still functioning billions of years after their construction, their power undiminished; their potential unchecked. Check out these images of concept art for “The Expanse” at Lee Fitzgerald’s website, to see the resemblance. The Expanse (fandom) also displays an image of the ruins on Ilus.

So, here’s Wonder Stories’ 1963 cover, “as is”…

…and, here’s the art all “niced up”, lightly edited, and “framed” in white, for this post.

I just mentioned the painting’s near-total absence of a human presence. Ah, a minor error! The rear cover, below, presents a cropped view of the lower-right-corner of the cover painting. If you look closely (very and truly and really closely) at this enlarged snippet (just below this rear cover) you might just be able to make out the silhouette of a human form at, and within, the base of this indefinable object.

But, what of the anthology’s contents? Of the stories within, I’m only directly familiar with Ray Bradbury’s “A Sound of Thunder”, Arthur C. Clarke’s “All the Time in the World”, and especially and recently John D. MacDonald’s “Shadow On the Sand”, the latter of which appeared in and inspired the cover art for the October, 1950 issue of Thrilling Wonder Stories. I didn’t actually r e a d MacDonald’s story within my copy of Wonder Stories – the one you see featured in the images above – due to the fragility of my now-61-year-old copy. Instead, I created and printed a PDF of the story from a PDF comprising the entire issue, which I accessed through the Internet Archive.

Having previously encountered very little by and knowing virtually nothing about author John D. MacDonald, I was deeply impressed with “Shadow on On the Sand” on variety of levels, specifically the originality of the plot, and, characters (minor characters, at that) who are not too-two-dimensional stock figures, and who change and evolve with a story’s progression.

MacDonald’s novella is the account of an extraterrestrial totalitarian civilization’s clandestine conquest of Earth utilizing instantaneous superluminal teleportation, and, the impersonation and replacement of human beings via physically altered doppelgangers … albeit the aliens are already (this made writing the story easier, I suppose!) on a superficial level at least … physically and superficially identical to homo sapiens. This is set against and within a backdrop of competition, conflict, and political murder among the aliens’ ruthlessly competitive political parties, military, and clandestine services, with the story’s protagonist going over to the side of humanity by the story’s end. More, I shall not say. It’s a great read. And yet… Unusual for a story penned over seven decades ago, the novella is surprisingly violent, if not genuinely grotesque (“not for the squeamish!”) in parts … albeit violence and horror are neither the center of nor the “drivers” of the plot. The novella is strongly reminiscent of the works of Jack Vance in terms of political and social complexity.

(For a much deeper exploration of MacDonald’s story, read “Shadow On the Sand” at Steve Scott’s blog, “The Trap of Solid Gold – Celebrating the works of John D MacDonald“.)

Otherwise, my reading of “Shadow On the Sand” imparted a sense of curiosity about MacDonald’s body of work, which led to my reading the Fawcett Gold Medal 1978 anthology Other Times, Other Worlds, an anthology of sixteen of his science fiction stories spanning publication between 1948 and 1968. Upon diving into this collection (the paperback edition merited better cover art than a mere astronomical photograph!) I soon realized that I’d read one of his stories previously: this was “Spectator Sport” (originally published in the February, 1950 issue of Thrilling Wonder Stories) first in Fifty Short Science Fiction Tales, and subsequently in Isaac Asimov Presents The Great SF Stories 12. Oddly, this short story features an event that prefigures a plot element “Shadow On the Sand”. (Ironically, I didn’t like “Spectator Sport”!) Regardless, I was and remain deeply impressed by MacDonald’s literary skill in terms of character development, his ability to create an event, setting, scene, and “world” with a modicum of aptly chosen language, and especially, his ability to unflaggingly maintain the pace, mood, and atmosphere of a tale from beginning to end. Only upon reading this anthology and sources elsewhere did I learn that MacDonald more than successfully (extraordinarily so) transitioned from science fiction to mainstream fiction, eventully creating the “Travis McGee” series.

Here’s a nice image of the magazine’s cover. As revealed by the Internet Speculative Fiction Database, the cover and interior artist of this issue are unknown. Otherwise, MacDonald’s story is entirely absent of flying saucers (actually, spacecraft make no appearance in the story), and the characters don’t go around wearing tattered Tarzan-like togas.

This diminutive image appears in the magazine’s table of contents (page 4), adjacent to the story title. The monolith-like slab is a symbol of the teleportation device which is a central plot element and inspiration of the title. The device is essentially invisible to human observers. All that’s apparent is a vague, fleeting, rectangular shadow, which is the portal through which the aliens are transported to Earth.

The only single-page illustration accompanying the story appears on page 15. It shows the arrival of the alien who eventually “goes over” to the side of humanity. Of course, his major inducement is a romantic relationship he unexpectedly (unexpectedly to him!) develops with a woman. MacDonald doesn’t actually describe the appearance of the portal, let alone venture an explanation of its operation. It simply shows up when needed, and then disappears.

The unknown artist’s illustration of the alien civilization’s “shadow” – the teleportation portal – is absent from Wonder Stories, having been replaced by Virgil Finlay’s imaginative portrayal of the scene, which is characterized by his typical attention to detail. Due to the fragility of my copy of the anthology, this image – on pages 2 and 3 – was downloaded (right-clicked) from something known as the “Internet” (!) for display here, on, the, Internet. Oh, yeah, I’m already on, the, Internet. (Like, you!) In reality!… The image here is from the cover of The JDM Bibliophile, Number 17, from March, of 1972. (That’s “JDM”, as in John D. MacDonald. That’s FANAC as in “The Fanac Fan History Project.”)

The second story in Wonder Stories is Ray Bradbury’s “A Sound of Thunder“. Though the tale appeared in Planet Stories in 1954, accompanied by a great two-page illustration by Ed Emshwiller, in Wonder Stories, it’s replaced by a Virgil Finlay composition which appears on page 30. The example below is taken from Heritage Auctions, where it was uploaded in September of 2019: “Created in ink over graphite, this small wonder is already beautifully matted and framed with an inside matting area of 4.25″ x 4.25″. Wood silver painted frame, glass front, and outside measurements of 8.5″ x 8.5″. The frame has some small nicks and blemishes but the art is in Excellent condition.”

Wonder Stories was originally published in 1957, and contains six of the stories from this “second” edition. You can view the cover of the former edition, here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And, in a sort of conclusion, at this link – here, assuming you read this far! – you can download the PDF version of MacDonald’s story that I created for my own reading.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, inside “Wonder Stories” you’ll find what, exactly?

“Shadow on the Sand”, by John D. MacDonald, from Thrilling Wonder Stories, October, 1950 (Also in 1957 edition)
“All the Time in the World” by Arthur C. Clarke, from Startling Stories, July, 1952 (Also in 1957 edition)
“A Sound of Thunder”, by Ray Bradbury, Colliers, from June 28, 1952; also from Planet Stories, January, 1954 (Also in 1957 edition)
“Robert”, by Evan Hunter, from Thrilling Wonder Stories, April, 1953
“The Monitor”, by Margaret St. Clair, from Startling Stories, January, 1954 (Also in 1957 edition)
“The Hunters”, by Walt Sheldon, from Startling Stories, March, 1952
“Man of Distinction”, Fredric Brown, from Thrilling Wonder Stories, February, 1951 (Also in 1957 edition)
“Star Bride”, by Anthony Boucher, from Thrilling Wonder Stories, December, 1951 (Also in 1957 edition)
“Thanasphere”, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., from Wonder Stories, 1957

…and otherwise…

Wonder Stories, 1963, at…

… Internet Speculative Fiction Database

John D. MacDonald, at…

… Fiction DB

… John D. MacDonald.org

… GoodReads

… Travis McGee

… Wikipedia

Wonder Stories, 1957 [Richard M. Powers]

(This is the first of two posts describing the digest-format science fiction anthology Wonder Stories, published with generally similar content in 1957 and 1963, featured cover art of the same general theme by Richard M. Powers. As such, though the content of both posts is similar, major differences between the two editions are explained and made clear in each post. So, for those in a hurry (who’s not in a hurry anymore?!) you can jump to the post for the 1963 edition, “here“.)

The best way to impart a sense of literary wonder is through awe, mystery, and a sense of things unknown. Certainly that’s the case for the 1957 edition of Standard Magazines’ (otherwise known as Thrilling Publications’) anthology Wonder Stories, which is comprised of selections from early 50s editions of Startling Stories and Thrilling Wonder Stories, as well as Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.’s story “Thanasphere”, the latter was written specifically for this publication.

(You can learn more about the history of Wonder Stories, and “other reprints from the Thrilling group”, at Todd Mason’s Sweet Freedom blog.)

A sense of wonder really arises (at first!) from the anthology’s cover, which features one of the very few pulp magazine cover paintings created by Richard M. Powers, whose forte overwhelmingly resided in creating cover art for books: His few other cover illustrations appeared in early issues of Galaxy Science Fiction, and, Beyond Fantasy Fiction.

Typical of Powers’ cover art, this painting sets up a mood; a feeling; a vibe, having absolutely no relationship to or inspiration from any of the stories in the anthology. (The same thing often goes for his book covers, which are often similarly unrelated to the contents therein.) Also typical of Powers, the scene is absent of specific beings or even the merest sign of a human presence, let alone anything identifiably organic. Instead, it presents active and energetic symbols of technology and power set upon a desolate, barren alien landscape. Something’s happening, and, some thing is happening, too. But, what? (Hey, is that a city in the distance?)

In the hindsight 2025, the painting depicts a scene reminiscent of the ruins of the Ring Builders’ constructions on the planet Ilus IV, from season four of “The Expanse”: Incomprehensibly ancient structures embedded deep (how deep?) within yet extending far above the desert soil of that world, yet still functioning over two billion years after their construction, their power undiminished. Check out these images of concept art for “The Expanse” at Lee Fitzgerald’s website, to see the resemblance. The Expanse (fandom) also displays an image of the ruins on Ilus.

So, here’s Wonder Stories’ cover, “as is”…

… while here’s a close-up of the scene…

…and, here’s the cover art all “niced up”, lightly edited, and framed in white, for this post.

But, what of the anthology’s contents? Of the stories within, I’m only directly familiar with Ray Bradbury’s “A Sound of Thunder”, Arthur C. Clarke’s “All the Time in the World”, and especially and recently John D. MacDonald’s “Shadow On the Sand”, the latter of which appeared in and inspired the cover art for the October, 1950 issue of Thrilling Wonder Stories. I didn’t actually r e a d MacDonald’s story within my copy of Wonder Stories – the one you see featured in the images above – due to the fragility of my now-67-year-old copy. Instead, I created and printed the story from a PDF comprising the entire issue (accessed through the Internet Archive … you can also download it via the Luminist Archive); that, I read.

Having previously encountered very little by and knowing virtually nothing about author MacDonald, I can unreservedly say that I was deeply impressed with “Shadow on On the Sand” on a variety of levels, specifically the originality of the plot, and, characters (even minor characters) that – differentiated and not two-dimensional stock figures – changed and evolved as the story progressed. In sum, the novella is the account of an extraterrestrial totalitarian civilization’s clandestine conquest of Earth utilizing instantaneous superluminal teleportation, and, the impersonation and replacement of human beings with physically altered doppelgangers … the aliens already being (this made writing the story easier, I suppose!) on a superficial level at least … physically and superficially identical to homo sapiens. All this occurs against and within a backdrop of competition, conflict, and political murder among the aliens’ ruthlessly competitive political parties, military, and clandestine services, with the story’s protagonist going over to the side of humanity by the story’s end. More, I shall not say. As fast paced entertainment, it’s a great read. And yet… Unusually for a story penned over seven decades ago, the novella is surprisingly violent, if not genuinely grotesque, in parts (“not for the squeamish!”) … albeit violence and horror are neither the center of nor the “drivers” of the plot. The novella is quite reminiscent of the works of Jack Vance in terms of political and social complexity and ambiguity, as well as the air of intrigue that permeates the tale.

(For a much deeper exploration of MacDonald’s story, read “Shadow On the Sand” at Steve Scott’s blog, “The Trap of Solid Gold – Celebrating the works of John D MacDonald“.)

Otherwise, my reading of “Shadow On the Sand” imparted a sense of curiosity about MacDonald’s larger body of work, which led to my reading the Fawcett Gold Medal 1978 book Other Times, Other Worlds, an anthology of sixteen of his science fiction stories spanning publication between 1948 and 1968. Upon reading this collection (it deserved better cover art than a simple astronomical photograph!) I soon realized that I previously had read one of his stories: “Spectator Sport” (originally published in the February, 1950 issue of Thrilling Wonder Stories) first in Fifty Short Science Fiction Tales, and subsequently in Isaac Asimov Presents The Great SF Stories 12. Curiously, this short story features an event that prefigures a plot element in “Shadow On the Sand”. (Ironically, I didn’t like “Spectator Sport” at all!) Regardless, I was and remain deeply impressed by MacDonald’s literary skill in terms of character development and delineation, his ability to create an event, setting, scene, and “world” with a modicum of skillfully chosen language, and especially, his ability to unflaggingly maintain the pace, mood, and atmosphere of a tale from beginning to end. Only upon reading this anthology and sources elsewhere did I learn that MacDonald more than successfully (extraordinarily so) transitioned from science fiction to mainstream fiction, creating the “Travis McGee” series.

Here’s a nice image of the magazine’s cover. As revealed in the Internet Speculative Fiction Database, the cover and interior artist of this issue are unknown. Otherwise, MacDonald’s story is entirely absent of flying saucers (actually, spacecraft make no appearance whatsover) and the characters don’t go around wearing tattered, torn, Tarzan-like togas.

This diminutive image appears in the magazine’s table of contents (page 4), adjacent to the story title. The monolith-like slab is a symbol of the teleportation device which is a central plot element and inspiration of the title, albeit the device is essentially invisible to human observers. Rather, what is visible is a mere glimpse of a vague and fleeting rectangular shadow, which is the portal through which the aliens are transported to Earth.

The only single-page illustration accompanying the story appears on page 15. It shows the arrival of the alien who eventually “goes over” to the side of Earth. Of course, his major inducement is the romantic relationship he unexpectedly (unexpectedly to him!) develops with a woman. MacDonald doesn’t actually describe the appearance of the portal, let alone venture an explanation of its operation. It simply shows up when needed and then disappears.

The unknown artist’s illustration of the alien civilization’s “shadow” – the teleportation portal – is absent from Wonder Stories, having been replaced by Virgil Finlay’s intricate portrayal of the scene, which is characterized by his typical attention to detail. Due to the fragility of my copy of Wonder Stories, this image – on pages 2 and 3 – was downloaded (right-clicked) from something known as the “Internet” (!) for display here, on, the, Internet. Oh, yeah, I’m already on, the, Internet. (Like, you!) In reality!… The image here is from the cover of The JDM Bibliophile, Number 17, from March, of 1972. (That’s “JDM”, as in John D. MacDonald. That’s FANAC as in “The Fanac Fan History Project.”)

Wonder Stories was republished in 1963, with cover art based upon Powers’ composition for this 1957 edition, and containing six of the stories from this “first” edition. You can read about the latter edition here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And, in a sort of conclusion, at this link – here, given that you read this far! – you can download the PDF version of MacDonald’s story that I created for my own reading.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, inside “Wonder Stories” you’ll find what, exactly?

“Shadow on the Sand”, by John D. MacDonald, from Thrilling Wonder Stories, October, 1950 (Reprinted in 1963 edition)
“A Sound of Thunder”, by Ray Bradbury, from Colliers, June 28, 1952; then from Planet Stories, January, 1954 (Reprinted in 1963 edition)
“All the Time in the World”, by Arthur C. Clarke, from Startling Stories, July, 1952 (Reprinted in 1963 edition)
“Man of Distinction”, by Fredric Brown, from Thrilling Wonder Stories, February, 1951 (Reprinted in  1963 edition)
“Thanasphere”, by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., for this volume
“Spacemate”, by Walt Sheldon, from Thrilling Wonder Stories, August, 1950
“The Monitor”, by Margaret St. Clair, from Startling Stories, January, 1954 (Reprinted in  1963 edition)
“Star Bride”, by Anthony Boucher, from Thrilling Wonder Stories, December, 1951 (Reprinted in  1963 edition)

…and otherwise…

Wonder Stories, 1957, at…

… Internet Speculative Fiction Database

John D. MacDonald, at…

… Fiction DB

… John D. MacDonald.org

… GoodReads

… Travis McGee

… Wikipedia

World’s Best Science Fiction 1968 – Donald A. Wollheim and Terry Carr – 1968 [Jack Gaughan]

Update…!

Dating from August 19, 2018 – over six years ago – I’ve modified this post to present a newly-acquired copy of Wollheim and Carr’s World’s Best Science Fiction 1968, in vastly better condition than the book originally displayed as the first and central image in this post. I’ve also included the rear cover.

Though the Internet Speculative Fiction Database (an unparalleled resource, the amassed knowledge of which I’ve availed myself of many, many times in the creation of my posts) indicates that the cover art of this book (Ace A-15) was by Jack Gaughan, that “factoid” deserves some clarification. I think Gaughan’s appearance as the cover artist only applied to the Ace Books number 91356 of 1970, which you can view here. The specific edition shown h e r e, published in 1968, featured cover art of an altogether different sort, the nature and style of which is utterly unlike Gaughan’s other work.

This cover is, I believe, a color photograph of a hollow styrofoam sphere, into which have been embedded an assemblage of wires, a few pieces of mechanical flotsam and jetsam (washers, anyone?), and miniature bulbs, giving it a spindly and spaceshipy appearance, especially when superimposed against a blurred backdrop of a outer-spacey landscape. No other cover of World’s Best featured this sort of art. For the rear cover, I think they simply rotated the negative along its long (vertical) dimension to reverse the final image.

Like other editions of the World’s Best series (at least, those published in the 60s and 70s) the frontispiece features full-page art by Gaughan…

… while every story heading features a diminutive piece by the same artist which encapsulates or symbolizes the plot, setting, or theme of the story it’s associated with. While relevant, they’re not that spectacular. However, the art on the first page of the introduction – below – is nice.

So, here’s the back cover. The book received an endorsement from a mainstream publication which we all read daily (?!) … The New York Post.

What’s in the book?

“See Me Not”, by Roger Wilson, from SF Impulse, February 1967

“Driftglass”, by Samuel R. Delaney, from If, June, 1967

“Ambassador to Verdammt”, by Colin Kapp, from Analog Science Fiction -> Science Fact, April, 1967

“The Man Who Never Was”, by R.A. Lafferty, from Magazine of Horror, Summer 1967

“The Billiard Ball”, by Isaac Asimov, from If, March, 1967

“Hawksbill Station”, by Robert Silverberg, from Galaxy Magazine, August, 1967

“The Number You Have Reached”, by Thomas M. Disch, from SF Impulse, February 1967

“The Man Who Loved the Faioli“, by Roger Zelazny, from Galaxy Magazine, June, 1967

“Population Implosion”, by Andrew J. Offutt, from If, July, 1967

“I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream”, by Harlan Ellison, from If, March, 1967

“The Sword Swallower”, by Ron Goulart, from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, November, 1967

“Coranda”, by Keith Roberts, from New Worlds, January, 1967

“Thus We Frustrate Charlemagne”, by R.A. Lafferty, from Galaxy Magazine, February, 1967

“Handicap”, by Larry Niven, from Galaxy Magazine, December, 1967

“Full Sun”, by Brian W. Aldiss, from Orbit 2, June, 1967

“It’s Smart to Have an English Address”, by D.G. Compton, from SF Impulse, February, 1967

Post Scriptum

Here’s the cover of my “first” copy of ’68. It was obviously well and truly and deeply and ardently and enthusiastically and devotedly read long, long before I acquired it.

August 19, 2018 – 299

The Other Side of The Moon, Edited by August Derleth – June, 1959 (1949) [Richard M. Powers] [Ever-so-slightly-updated…!]

(Originally created on February 6, 2023, I’ve updated this post to display a better – and newly acquired – copy of Berkley’s 1959 edition of August Derleth’s “The Other Side of the Moon”, as well as a close-up of its cover art, and, the artless back cover. The image that originally appeared as the central feature of this post now appears after the list of references.)

Richard Powers’ 50s and 60s cover art has qualities that make it distinctive and striking.

Its brilliant colors.

Its air of mystery and ambiguity.

Its depiction of objects in forms that blend the curvature and smoothness of organic life with the angularity, luster, and metallic shine of new machines.

The deemphasis – in many of his works – of distinct and identifiable men and women, and instead, the diminution or transformation of the human form to a mere artifact that’s dwarfed by the grandeur, majesty, and power of a vastly larger canvas.

And, yet…

Some Powers’ covers are conventional and straightforward – if not near literal – in style. Like this one, for August Derleth’s 1959 The Other Side of the Moon (Berkley Books), which was adapted from the 1949 Pellegrini & Cudahy anthology by the same name. Here, Powers’ cover art is inspired by the book’s very title. We are, literally, beyond the moon’s far side.

Take a closer look: Two spheres are suspended within a violet and starless sky: A cloudless, silvery gray planet in the distance – the earth; in the foreground (taking up most of the cover!) a black globe tinged in olive, with a cratered rim: That’s the moon; the earth’s moon. The far side of the moon.

And, in front of the moon are two stylized spaceships, and, three astronauts floating in space.

By far, it’s not Powers’ strongest or most imaginative painting. But, helped by the contrast of the sky’s purple against the red background to the book’s title, it works.

As for the book’s content!…

Most of the stories in this paperback edition, as well as a few of the other ten in the original 1949 hardback, are from the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Of the titles listed below, I’ve only read (and that, back in 1983-land!) A.E. van Vogt’s, “The Monster”, from the August, 1948 issue of Astounding. This was specifically in Volume 10 (covering 1948) of Isaac Asimov and Martin H. Greenberg’s multi-year anthology, Isaac Asimov Presents the Great SF Stories. While not the most profound or impactful story, I enjoyed the tale, as I enjoyed most (all?) of Van Vogt’s early and Golden Age writings.

An astronaut, diminutive against the moon, floats in space.

Inside We Find

“Resurrection”, by A.E. van Vogt (variant of “The Monster”, from Astounding Science Fiction, August, 1948)

“Original Sin”, by S. Fowler Wright (from The Witchfinder, 1946)

“Spiro”, by Eric Frank Russell (variant of “I, Spy”, from Tales of Wonder, #12, October, 1940)

“Memorial”, by Theodore Sturgeon (from Astounding Science Fiction, April, 1946)

“The Thing on Outer Shoal”, by P. Schuyler Miller (from Astounding Science Fiction, September, 1947)

“The Devil of East Lupton, Vermont”, by Murray Leinster (William Fitzgerald Jenkins) (from Thrilling Wonder Stories, August, 1948)

“Conquerors’ Isle”, by Nelson S. Bond (from Mr. Mergenthwirker’s Lobblies and Other Fantastic Tales, 1946)

“Something from Above”, by Donald Wandrei (from Weird Tales, December, 1930)

“Symbiosis”, by Murray Leinster (William Fitzgerald Jenkins) (from Collier’s, June 14, 1947)

“The Cure”, by Lewis Padgett (Henry Kuttner and Catherine L. Moore) (from Astounding Science Fiction, May, 1946)

A reference or two…

The Moon’s Other Side, at…

… March, 1949 Hardback, at Internet Speculative Fiction Database

… Berkley 1956 Paperback, at Internet Speculative Fiction Database

Mr. August Derleth (August William Derleth), at…

… Internet Speculative Fiction Database

… Wikipedia

P.S. – Here’s my original copy

Feb. 6, 2023 – 94

Art on the Margins: Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, 1978-1981

Coming from the same territory as my two posts (here and here) about decorative art in The Magazine 0f Fantasy and Science Fiction, “this” (ta-da-dumm!!) post covers the same topic for an entirely different publication: Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine.

Unlike the posts about MF&SF – which involved examining all issues of the magazine published from 1949 through the mid-1960s, this exploration of decorative art in IASFM is of a more limited scope. Well, make that a very limited scope. On further thought, make that a very narrow (!) scope: A few random issues which I acquired from 1978 and 1981. (Which “dates” me!) While certainly not representative of the magazine’s interior art throughout its continuing existence, it does give a glimpse of the artistic thinking prevailing during that limited time-frame of almost five decades ago. As such, the illustration from February, 1981 is particularly evocative, what with a cathode ray tube computer, push-button corded slim-line phone, and computer utilizing magnetic tape in a reel-to-reel system.

Akin to MF&SF, none of the illustrations below, all perhaps one to two inches wide, have any relation to the stories that appeared in the relevant issues of IASFM. Rather, they’re purely thematic in nature, their purpose being to impart a sciency and spacey “air”, or “theme” to magazine. (Except for Jack Gaughan’s art for the February, 1981 issue. That’s connected to a story by Rand B. Lee.) The “same” illustration – whatever it might be – appeared multiple times in successive issues of the magazine. In general, four themes are evident, fewer than in MF&SF. These are planetscapes, space and space exploration, and technology. This directly reflects MF&SF having encompassed – as evident in its very title – fantasy as well as science fiction (though it was initially entitled The Magazine of Fantasy).

I’ve not been able to identify the artist who created these delightful, imaginative, striking and typically intricate and complex drawings. A clue: The logo “S.” is discretely tucked away on the periphery of the compositions.

As far as the magazine itself? I never developed interest in or enthusiasm for it, reflective of my greater (yet certainly not exclusive) interest in science fiction from the 40s through the early 60s, well before I was born. My strongest memory is John Varley’s “The Barbie Murders“, from the magazine’s issue of January / February 1978, which I found to be as underwhelming as it was simply strange. (Or was it as strange as it was underwhelming?) Not “strange” interesting, either. (Which is fine.) Just strange as in odd.

These images were found by scouring the issues in my possession to find the best example of these illustrations (the specific issue is listed in each caption, and, scanning them (typically) at 400 dpi. The detail’s crisper that way. I “cleaned” them to make them a little bolder and a lot less fuzzy.

Finally, as you’ll see from the “logos” below the images, this work was done way back in 2017-land: eight years ago. So, I do have a bit of a back-log with this blog. Albeit the time lag’s not superluminal.

Enjoy the images.

Planetscapes

January 1978, p 117

April 1979, p. 39

April 1979, p. 76

April 1979, p. 111

December 1979, p. 175

January 1980, p. 109

September 1980, p. 111

Space

April 1979, p. 9

December 1979, p. 55

December 1979, p. 107

January 1980, p. 89

February 1981, p. 58

Technology

January 1978, p. 60

April 1979, p. 179

December 1979, p. 80

July 1980, p. 100

February 1981, p. 135

The Unknown

February 1981, p. 110 – Jack Gaughan

“Full Fathom Five My Father Lies” by Rand B. Lee

Art on the Margins: The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction – Part I

When you think of pulp fiction, perhaps the first “images” that comes to mind are the often stunning and provocative illustrations – both cover paintings and interior work – that typify the era of their publication. While a central purpose of the cover art was to catch the eye, imagination, and ultimately the “pocketbook” (!) of prospective readers, both cover interior art acted in a less pragmatic yet even more compelling way: Taken together, they enlivened a story of most any genre – whether western, crime, aviation, sports, romance, outdoor adventure, fantasy, or science fiction – crystallizing, through an artist’s imagination, a story’s plot, characters, setting, and essence. Though our own mind’s eye is easily capable of constructing a story from words alone, even just a few well composed illustrations, draped upon the scaffolding of a text, can powerfully enhance a story’s impact and power, to serve as the impetus for future interest. And (of course!) magazine sales.

But, some few magazines in the era of pulp fiction eschewed the whole idea of interior illustration. In some cases, this was (probably?!) due to budgetary considerations. After all, illustrators had to be paid for their work; that’s how they made a living. In other cases, the decision to forego interior art was – I think – motivated by the desire to publish a magazine that would manifest a visual style and physical appearance of a more highbrow nature than typically attributed to pulps. One example of this artistic – or, should I say non-artistic? – approach was The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, which soon after its 1949 launch and well through the 50 s and 60s, could – along with Astounding Science Fiction (later Analog) and Galaxy – be deemed as one of the “big three” in the field of imaginative and speculative literature. Though the magazine featured great cover art of a sometimes superlative and even truly inspirational nature, its interior format was purely textual, unadorned by the interior art that graced its two aforementioned (and many lesser tier) competitors.

That is, almost. For, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, it turns out, was not entirely bereft of interior art. It was just of a far different sort than other pulpish, and not-so-pulpish, fiction magazines.

From the early 1950s through the mid-1960s, the magazine featured interior art that gave it a very highbrow appearance (not that it didn’t have a highbrow quality already, by virtue of the quality of its content!), somewhat akin to The New Yorker and other magazines of that calibre. This took the form of diminutive illustrations that appeared after a story’s end, occupying space that would otherwise be empty; blank; that – like “dead air” on a radio station – you emphatically don’t want to allow in a literary magazine! And here, the similarity to The New Yorker comes into play. Absolutely none of these illustrations, all typically only an inch or so in size (seriously! – they’re pretty small) have any relation to the stories after which they appear. Rather, they’re thematic in nature, their purpose instead being to impart an “air”, or “theme” to magazine. The total number of illustrations is limited; the “same” illustration – whatever it might be – could appear in several successive issues of the magazine, rather than entirely new illustrations appearing in successive issues, only to appear once and not be published again.

Upon thoroughly perusing my issues of MF&SF published during that interval, the illustrations connote the following themes. (My own categorization and judgement.) The adjacent numbers represent the total number of illustrations in each category.

Astronauts – 1
Robots – 3
Spacecraft – 5
Landscapes, Cityscapes, Otherscapes – 6
Color (rear) Cover Logos
Interior Advertising Logos – 2
Supernatural – 3
Symbols – 21
The Truly Unclassifiable – 12

But, who created these illustrations? Four people: Edmund Emshwiller, a stalwart of MF&SF illustration in particular and a master of science fiction and fantasy illustration in general. Henry Martin, a cartoonist about whom I knew absolutely nothing (!) until I began this small exploration. Somebody by the initials “S.F.” (seriously; I kid you not) who completed a solitary example of such art. And, someone totally and completely and utterly anonymous.

And so. I’ve created two posts that present examples of each of these tiny flights of imagination, “this” post presenting examples of the first four above-listed categories: Astronauts, Robots, Spacecraft, and, Landscapes, Cityscapes, Otherscapes. The “next” post will show you Color (rear) Cover Logos, Interior Advertising Logos, the Supernatural, Symbols, and, The Truly Unclassifiable.

The creation of these images entailed scouring the magazines to find the best example of these illustrations (the specific issue is listed in each caption, along with the artist’s name), and, scanning them (generally) at the ridiculously high resolution of 400 dpi. (Hey, the detail becomes crisp that way.) Finally, I cleaned them up to eliminate extraneous background and make them a little bolder.

This was all done in 2018, with a few “replacements” in 2024. (Seriously.) It’s 2025 now. It’s taken me a few years to get around to creating these posts, but hey, here they are.

Kudos to MF&SF’s art director.

Astwonauts!

August 1954 (page 113) – Edmund Emshwiller

Wobots!

February 1954 (page 114) – Edmund Emshwiller

March 1955 (page 127) – “SF”

August 1955 (page 70) – Henry Martin

Spacecwaft!

January 1954 (page 116) – Edmund Emshwiller

March 1954 (page 57) – Edmund Emshwiller

March 1954 (page 80) – Edmund Emshwiller

February 1955 (page 27) – Edmund Emshwiller

April 1955 (page 33) – Edmund Emshwiller

Landscapes, Cityscapes, Otherscapes

April 1953 (page 90) – Edmund Emshwiller

December 1954 (page 62) – Henry Martin

January 1955 (page 52) – Edmund Emshwiller

June 1956 (page 81) – Edmund Emshwiller

January 1957 (page 120) – Unknown

March 1961 (page 81) – Edmund Emshwiller

Art on the Margins: The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction – Part II

Continuing from my prior post, “Art on the Margins: The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction – Part I“, this post presents the “other” five categories of interior illustrations that were featured in MF&SF from the early 50s through the mid 60s. As mentioned previously, these illustrations were created by Edmund Emshwiller, Henry Martin, somebody by the initials “S.F.” (seriously!). And, someone totally anonymous.

The illustrations below represent five themes. The numbers represent the total number of illustrations in each category that appeared through the magazine’s history.

The creation of these images involved scouring the magazines to find the best examples of these illustrations (the specific issue is listed in each caption, along with the artist’s name), and, typically scanning them at the ridiculously high resolution of 400 dpi. (Gad. Well, the detail becomes crisp that way.) Finally, I cleaned them up to eliminate extraneous background fuzz and make them stand out a little bolder.

This work all done in 2018, with a few “fixes” in 2024. (Seriously.) And now, we’re in 2025. It’s taken me a couple of years to create these two posts, but, here they are.

Color (rear) Cover Logos
Interior Advertising Logos – 2
Supernatural – 3
Symbols – 21
The Truly Unclassifiable – 12

Cover (rear) Logos

Fall, 1949 (first issue!) – BLACK