(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
P.S. – Here’s my original copy
Feb. 6, 2023 – 94