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