Tag: Richard Powers

The Year’s Greatest Science-Fiction and Fantasy, Edited by Judith Merril – July, 1958 [Richard M. Powers] (Dell # B119)

Judith Merril’s SF series:  The cover we see is that of volume number three. 

This Powers’ illustrationis simple in its elements, but still readily recognizable as a Powers cover: A background that horizontally transitions, as if rising through a planet’s murky atmosphere, from darker shades to light.  A weirdly asymmetric spacecraft, techy-looking, flies through space.  The crescent of a blue planet floats in the distance.  The scene is not busy, but it is bold. 

The story that left the strongest impression upon me is Brian Aldiss’ “Let’s Be Frank”, which – though I’m not the most ardent fan of Aldiss’ work – I must admit was clever and humorous.  Otherwise, note that the last six of the of entries listed below (in order, as they’re found in the book) from “How Near Is the Moon?” to “Science Fiction Still Leads Science Fact” are non-fiction.  

A kind of lopsided looking spaceship, is it not?

Contentz?

Introduction (“SF:’58: The Year’s Greatest Science Fiction and Fantasy”), Essay by Judith Merril

“Let’s Be Frank”, by Brain W. Aldiss,
from Science Fantasy, June, 1957

“The Fly” (translation of “La mouche”), by George Langelaan,
from Playboy, June, 1957

“Let’s Get Together”, by Isaac Asimov,
from Infinity Science Fiction, February, 1957

“The Wonder Horse”, by George Bryam,
from The Atlantic Monthly, August, 1957

“You Know Willie”, by Theodore R. Cogswell,
from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, May, 1957

“Near Miss”, by Henry Kuttner (Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore),
specifically for this volume

“Game Preserve”, by Rog Phillips,
from If, October, 1957

“Now Let Us Sleep”, by Avram Davidson,
from Venture Science Fiction, September, 1957

“Wilderness” (The People series), by Zenna Henderson,
from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, January, 1957

“Flying High”, by Eugene Ionesco,
from Mademoiselle, October, 1957

“The Edge of the Sea”, by Algis Budrys,
from Venture Science Fiction, March, 1958

“How Near Is the Moon?”, Essay by Judith Merril,
specifically for this volume

“Transition-from Fantasy to Science”, by Arthur C. Clarke, Essay by Arthur C. Clarke,
specifically for this volume

“Sputnik: One Reason Why We Lost”, Essay by G. Harry Stine,
from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, January, 1958

“Going Up!”, Essay by Dennis Driscoll,
specifically for this volume

“Where Do We Go from Here?”, Essay by Willy Ley,
specifically for this volume

“Science Fiction Still Leads Science Fact”, Essay by Anthony Boucher,
specifically for this volume

The Year’s S-F, Summation and Honorable Mentions
(“SF: The Year’s Greatest Science-Fiction and Fantasy: Third Annual Volume”), Essay by Judith Merril

Look back!

And otherwise?

Internet Speculative Fiction Database

This Book’s Contents

Published Variants of This Book (There are three, as we see!)

Science Fiction Omnibus, edited by Groff Conklin – August, 1956 (1952) [Richard M. Powers]

Like A Treasury of Science Fiction, The Other Side of the Moon, and Worlds of Tomorrow, Berkley Book’s 1956 Science Fiction Omnibus is a diminutive paperback  derived from an earlier hardback of the same – in this case, similar – name.

And, it similarly features distinctive cover art by Richard Powers. 

In this case, make that v e r y distinctive, because of these four books, the cover of the Omnibus – while not as boldly colorful as that of the Treasury – distinctly presents objects (for lack of a better word!) that make the covert art immediately recognizable as a Powers composition.  Like the scene shown below: It shows an asymmetrical, weirdly bulging platform or space station, with flames sprouting from three odd rockets at the bottom.  It’s got a metallic sort of color.  And, like the floating thingy at the top of the page, it’s got a trapeze of wires attached to it. 

Other, similar, weirdly elongated, uneven, indefinable things with a metallic sheen are present elsewhere in the painting.  But, there’s no explanation as to what they are.  They just float through space, asking for your own explanation.

And, there’s a final emblematic touch: The only things that are clearly recognizable from “our” world are as diminutive as they are innocuous.  First, a tiny rocket stands on the floating platform.  Second, two human figures are nearby, but they’re so tiny as to be near-invisible.  Here, like in some of his other 50s paintings, Powers makes man negligible in the face of the unknown.

Take a look:

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Otherwise, like the other Berkley anthologies, the Omnibus contains a limited number – eleven of forty-three – of the stories in the (originally titled) Omnibus of Science Fiction.    

For the sake of completeness, here’s the rear cover.  Notice that the endorsements are from newspapers, rather than science-fiction or fantasy magazines?  I guess the idea is that praise from mainstream publications would have more cachet for a general audience than from pulp magazines.  

Of the stories in this volume, I’ve only read (or at least, I remember having read!) “A Subway Named Mobius” and “Kaleidescope”, while I’ve listened to two or three radio dramatizations of “The Color Out of Space”.  The first of the three is a well-written, entertaining, and light-but-not-necessarily-too-impactful tale typical of Astounding’s early 1950s content.  The second inspired the closing scene of Dan O’Bannon’s 1974 Dark Star, specifically here:

As for “The Color Out of Space”, well, what can one say?  Like much (all?) of Lovecraft’s work, crafting personalities and engaging in character development is largely irrelevant to Lovecraft’s purpose in creating mood and atmosphere; dread and wonder, in which the story, like “At The Mountains of Madness” (and so many other Lovecraft tales) is entirely successful.  

What’s in the book?

“A Subway Named Mobius“, by A.J. Deutsch (from Astounding Science Fiction, December, 1950)

“The Color Out of Space”, by H.P. Lovecraft (from Best Supernatural Stories of H. P. Lovecraft, April, 1945; originally published in Amazing Stories, September, 1927)

“The Star Dummy”, by Anthony Boucher (from Fantastic, Fall, 1952)

“Homo Sol”, by Isaac Asimov (from Astounding Science Fiction, September, 1940

“Kaleidoscope“, by Rat Bradbury (from Thrilling Wonder Stories, October, 1949)

“Plague”, by Murray Leinster (from Astounding Science Fiction, February, 1944)

“Test Piece”, by Eric Frank Russell (from Other Worlds Science Stories, March, 1951)

“Spectator Sport”, by John D. MacDonald (from Thrilling Wonder Stories, February, 1950)

“The Weapon”, by Frederic Brown (from Astounding Science Fiction, April, 1951)

“History Lesson”, by Arthur C. Clarke (from Startling Stories, May, 1949)

“Instinct”, by Lester del Rey (from Astounding Science Fiction, January, 1952)

A reference or two…

Science Fiction Omnibus (August, 1956), at…

… Internet Speculative Fiction Database

Omnibus of Science Fiction (1952), at…

… Internet Speculative Fiction Database

Groff Conklin, at…

… Internet Speculative Fiction Database

… Wikipedia

A Treasury of Science Fiction, edited by Groff Conklin – July, 1957 (1948) [Richard M. Powers]

This example of Richard Powers’ cover art bears the distinctive elements of his mid-1950s science-fiction illustrations. 

A diminutive human figure – in the form of an astronaut (you can only tell he’s so because of his space helmet), stands atop a craggy alien pinnacle, facing the unknown.  Situated in the lower right corner of the painting, he observes but is not the center of the scene before him.

A strange and spiked bio-mechanical (or is it mechanic-biological?) thingy – floats nearby.  What’s its purpose?  Where’s it going?  What’s it doing?  

A angular horizon – stands in the distance.  Is it the silhouette of an alien city?  The profile of a distant mountain range? 

A curved, streamlined, boomerang-like shape – floats indifferently nearby.  It seems to be a spacecraft, given the jet of yellow flame emanating – to the right – from the gray blister mounted on the lower part of the object, and the way in which the brownish-red craft is oriented – to the left.  But, it’s far more sculpture than spacecraft; more form than function, given its lack of symmetry and the oddly shaped connections between its top and bottom.

A colorful sky – tan, to dark brown, to bright yellow, layered with different thicknesses of green strata.  A limited rainbow with compliments all other elements in the composition.  

But, what about the book’s contents? 

Similar to Berkley’s 1959 The Other Side of the Moon, all eight stories listed below, as well as the other twenty-two tales in the original 1948 Crown Publishers hardback edition, are from the Golden Age of Science Fiction.  Particularly memorable for me are “Juggernaut”, “Mimsy Were the Borogoves”, and above all, Jack Williamson’s superb “With Folded Hands”, which has particular relevance for the world of 2023. 

And, it seems, beyond.  

What’s Inside?

“Rescue Party”, by Arthur C. Clarke (from Astounding Science Fiction, May, 1946)

“Juggernaut”, by A.E. van Vogt (from Astounding Science Fiction, August, 1944)

“With Folded Hands“, by Jack Williamson (from Astounding Science Fiction, July, 1947)

“The Great Fog”, by H.F. Heard (from The Great Fog and Other Weird Tales, 1944)

“Mimsy Were the Borogoves”, by Lewis Padgett (Henry Kuttner and Catherine L. Moore) (from Astounding Science Fiction, February, 1943)

“The Ethical Equations”, by Murray Leinster (William Fitzgerald Jenkins) (from Astounding Science Fiction, June, 1945)

“It’s Great to Be Back”, by Robert A. Heinlein (from The Saturday Evening Post, July 26, 1947)

“Loophole”, by Arthur C. (from Astounding Science Fiction, April, 1946)

A closer look.

A reference or two…

A Treasury of Science Fiction, at…

… March, 1948 Hardback, at Internet Speculative Fiction Database

… Berkley 1957 Paperback, at Internet Speculative Fiction Database

Groff Conklin, at…

… Internet Speculative Fiction Database

… Wikipedia

The Other Side of The Moon, Edited by August Derleth – June, 1959 (1949) [Richard M. Powers]

Richard Powers’ 1950s science fiction cover art has qualities that it as distinctive as it is striking.

Its brilliant colors. 

Its reduction of the human form to miniscule proportions relative to other features or objects in any given scene. 

Its depiction of machines in forms that seem organic, and – in the same painting – biological forms that have been rendered metallic and artificial. 

Its air of mystery and ambiguity.  

Its uncertain symbolism.

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 Edition), adapted from the 1949 Pellegrini & Cudahy anthology by the same name.  Here, Powers’ cover art is inspired by the book’s very title. 

Appropriately and simply, Powers shows us…  Uh…  Well…  The other side, of a moon.  Earth’s moon, to be specific. 

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:  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 it works, helped along by the contrast of the sky’s purple against the red background to the book’s title. 

Oh, yes… 

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!) 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 that tale, as I enjoyed most (all?) of Van Vogt’s early and Golden Age writings.  

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 Other Side of the Moon, at…

… March, 1949 Hardback, at Internet Speculative Fiction Database

… Berkley 1956 Paperback, at Internet Speculative Fiction Database

August Derleth (August William Derleth), at…

… Internet Speculative Fiction Database

… Wikipedia

Star Science Fiction Stories No. 6, Edited by Frederik Pohl – 1959 [Richard M. Powers]

Star Science Fiction No. 6, the final volume of Ballantine Books’ “Star Science Fiction” anthologies published from 1953 to 1959, presents a notable example of the evolution of Richard Powers’ art.  His earlier cover illustrations for the series are straightforwardly representational, albeit stylistically distinctive in terms of the use of color, and, the depiction of human figures and technology.  (See particularly Volumes 1 and 2.)  This cover, however, akin to some of Powers’ other illustrations from the late 50s and early 60s, marks a strong turn toward the abstract.  Three human-like forms are present, with the two largest figures painted in a style bearing a odd resemblance to wandjina figures of Australian Aboriginal mythology:  These have a vaguely humanoid shape, being formed of concentric patterns of contrasting colors.

Against these, the only genuinely human form appears as a small female figure in the lower center of the image.  But, this figure too, is symbolic:  There are no facial features, and “she” wears only the vaguest representation of a space helmet.  And, unlike Powers’ earlier science fiction covers which present alien skies and strange extraterrestrial landscapes in a variety of colors and patterns, the background here is simple:  Red, red, and more red, with just a hint of brown land at the very bottom. 

As for the stories within?  Oh, yeahhh…  (!)  Well – * ahem * – the book is in my literary “queue”.  (At least, somewhere.)  Though – Cordwainer Smith being one of my favorite science fiction authors – I did at least read “Angerhelm” some years ago!

 Contents

Danger! Child at Large, by C.L. Cottrell (Charles Cottrell)

Twin’s Wail, by Elizabeth Mann Borgese

The Holy Grail, by Tom Purdom

Angerhelm, by Cordwainer Smith

The Dreamsman, by Gordon R. Dickson

To Catch an Alien, by John J. McGuire

Press Conference, by Miriam Allen deFord

Invasion from Inner Space, by Howard Koch

 

A Mile Beyond the Moon, by Cyril M. Kornbluth – 1958 [Abraham Remy Charlip]; January, 1962 (1958) [Richard M. Powers]

Doubleday’s 1958 A Mile Beyond The Moon was the last of three collections of Cyril M. Kornbluth stories to have been published before his death on May 21, 1958.  The anthology comprises fifteen stories, of which all but two (“Kazam Collects” and “The Word of Guru”) date from the 1950s.

Though all the stories are emblematic of Kornbluth’s tight, direct, focused writing style, the most memorable are “The Little Black Bag”, “The Words of Guru”, and “Shark Ship”.

Of all the stories within the volume, my favorite is easily “The Little Black Bag”, which – accompanied by Edd Cartier’s great illustrations – first appeared in the July, 1950, issue of Astounding Science Fiction, albeit I first read the story in Volume I of the Science Fiction Hall Of Fame.  The story succeeds due to Kornbluth’s clear and uncomplicated plot, adept use of science fiction tropes (time travel and advanced technology), steady and skilled pacing, and crisp – albeit not too deep – character development and individuation, which in combination lead to a conclusion with a jarring and fitting “punch”.  Over all, the story reflects the inexorable nature and reach of justice – cosmic justice – regardless of the fact that theology plays no direct role in the tale.  This parallels some of Kornbluth’s other works, such as the superb Two Dooms (his much under-appreciated variation on the theme of The Man In The High Castle), and the much shorter Friend To Man.

Fittingly, the story has been adapted for television. 

Triply fittingly, it’s been adapted thrice.

Written for broadcast by Kornbluth and Mann Rubin, starring Joseph Anthony as Doctor Arthur Fulbright and Vicki Cummings as “Angie”, it was broadcast on Tales of Tomorrow on May 30, 1952.  You can view the program here, at Bobby Jamieson’s YouTube Channel.

Next adapted for the BBC’s science-fiction series Out Of The Unknown (1965-1971), it was broadcast in February of 1969.  Though you can read a review of the episode at Archive Television Musings, I don’t believe that it’s available on the Internet.  However, perusing the few available stills of the episode suggests that it’s likely the most version most faithful to Kornbluth’s original story.

Later, Rod Serling adapted the story for Night Gallery.  Starring the superbly talented Burgess Meredith as Doctor Fulbright, the story was the second of three segments comprising the season’s second episode, broadcast on December 23, 1970.

You can view Night Gallery version (with Spanish subtitles) in three segments (first, second, and third) via Metatube.

Though I’ve not fully viewed the Tales and Tomorrow and Night Gallery versions of the story, it seems clear that – along with character changes – the story in those two productions was substantially softened from the disconcerting (shall we say…?!) “events” in the original tale in Astounding.

Well, he never flinched with words.

And so, the book’s cover…

(Hardback – “Hard Landing!”)

Abraham R. Charlip’s cover fits the title perfectly:  A symbolic moonscape with a strangely greenish hue, filled with meteor craters, is viewed from directly above – from a mile above? – albeit the height of the crater walls is greatly exaggerated!  Unusually for science fiction art of this era, neither astronauts nor spacecraft nor aliens are part of the picture.

Here’s the blurb from the anthology’s rear cover, which – along with the rocket, and emblem in the lower right corner – was a regular feature on the covers of hardbound science fiction published by Doubleday during the 1950s.  (You can view a similar example on the cover of A.E. Van Vogt’s Triad.)  Thus, the blurb: 

TODAY’S FICTION –
TOMORROW’S FACTS

LIFE Magazine says there are more than TWO MILLION science fiction fans in this country.  From all corners of the nation comes the resounding proof that science fiction has established itself as an exciting and imaginative NEW FORM OF LITERATURE that is attracting literally tens of thousands of new readers every year!

     Why?  Because no other form of fiction can provide you with such thrilling and unprecedented adventures!  No other form of fiction can take you on an eerie trip to Mars … amaze you with a journey into the year 3000 A.D. … or sweep you into the fabulous realms of unexplored Space!  Yes, it’s no wonder that this exciting new form of imaginative literature has captivated the largest group of fascinated new readers in the United States today!

Note the lack of reference to the book’s content, let alone other works of science fiction published by Doubleday.  Instead, the cover blurb does something very different:  It validates the cultural and literary legitimacy of science fiction as a form of literature, and indirectly (hint-hint, wink-wink, nod-nod!) praises – albeit tangentially – those readers who have an interest in the genre.  Though you’d never see such verbiage today – some sixty years later – in the 1950s this would actually have made sense, in terms of culturally validating a form of literature long steeped in negative stereotypes.  

And so, the anthology’s includes are listed below.  I’ve included illustrations for the June, 1941 issue of Stirring Science Stories, and the May, 1953, issue of Space Science Fiction, which has a stunning and imaginative cover by Alex Ebel, and interior art by Frank Kelly Freas. 

Contents

Make Mine Mars, from Science Fiction Adventures, November, 1952

The Meddlers, from Science Fiction Adventures, September, 1953

The Events Leading Down to the Tragedy, from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, January, 1958

The Little Black Bag, from Astounding Science Fiction, July, 1950

Everybody Knows Joe, from Fantastic Universe, October-November, 1953

Time Bum, from Fantastic, January-February, 1953

Passion Pills, from A Mile Beyond the Moon (this volume)

Virginia, from Venture Science Fiction, March, 1958

The Slave, from Science Fiction Adventures, September, 1957

Kazam Collects, from Stirring Science Stories, June, 1941 (as S.D. Gottesman) (Cover by Hannes Bok)

The Last Man Left in the Bar, from Infinity Science Fiction, October, 1957

The Adventurer, from Space Science Fiction, May, 1953 (Cover by Alex Ebel)

Interior illustration (p. 45) by Frank Kelly Freas

The Words of Guru, from Stirring Science Stories, June, 1941 (as Kenneth Falconer)

Shark Ship, from A Mile Beyond the Moon (this volume; variant of “Reap the Dark Tide”, from Vanguard Science Fiction, June, 1958 (First issue, last issue, only issue! – alas!)

Two Dooms, from Venture Science Fiction, July, 1958

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Also in Stirring Science Stories, June, 1941 but not included in this anthology:

Forgotten Tongue (as Walter C. Davies)

Mr. Packer Goes to Hell (as Cecil Corwin), related to “Thirteen O’Clock”, in Stirring Science Stories, February, 1941

______________________________

(Paperback – “Soft Landing!”)

The anthology was republished in 1962 by Macfadden Books, the paperback imprint of the Macfadden-Bartell Corporation, itself a subsidiary of the Bartell Media Corporation. 

Cover painting?  Though not specifically listed, the ISFDB indicates that the work was by Richard Powers.  If so (okay, it has some elements of Powers’ style!) – alas – this was one of Powers’ weaker (dare I say weakest?) efforts within his otherwise magnificent oeuvre.  Well, neither sculptor nor painter nor writer can bat three hundred every time!

Here’s the anthology’s cover blurb, which unlike the Doubleday edition is both entirely relevant to the book’s contents and at the same time perceptive of Kornbluth’s work.  One senses that Macfadden’s compiler or editor actually read Kornbluth’s work, to begin with!

DEFT AND FUNNY, WICKED AND WISE…

     Here is science fiction at its peak.

     C.M. Kornbluth was one of the great masters of the form: gathered here are his best short stories.

     This posthumous collection takes you on wild excursions past unexplored boundaries of time and space, society, morals, customs and science.  Here are the dilemmas – comic or tragic, ironic or fantastic – that confront the individual when technology advances relentlessly past humanity’s capacity to absorb it.

     These stories are never horse-operas with Martian settings.  They are sensitive, superbly written, humanity-conscious tales of people struggling in a world they might have made – but never mastered.

I wonder how Kornbluth would have treated smartphones (oxymoron…), Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and all the chaotic melange that comprises “social media”…

______________________________

For your further enjoyment, enlightenment, and distraction…

Internet Speculative Fiction Database, for A Mile Beyond the Moon

Abraham Remy Charlip, at Wikipedia

Cyril M. Kornbluth, at Internet Speculative Fiction Database

Night Gallery – The Little Black Bag, with Spanish Subtitles (part 1), at Metatube

Night Gallery – The Little Black Bag, with Spanish Subtitles (part 2), at Metatube

Night Gallery – The Little Black Bag, with Spanish Subtitles (part 3), at Metatube

Night Gallery, at Wikipedia

Night Gallery – List of Episodes, at Wikipedia

Tales of Tomorrow, at Internet Movie Database

Tales of Tomorrow – Little Black Bag, at Bobby Jamieson’s YouTube Channel

Star Science Fiction Stories No. 2, Edited by Frederik Pohl – 1953 (1962) [Richard M. Powers] [Revised post]

In terms of color, detail, and symbolism, this is the best (well, seems so to me!) of Richard Powers’ Star Science Fiction covers.

The space explorer and landscape are similar to those appearing on the cover of Star Science Fiction Stories Number 1, but here, Powers has exaggerated aspects of that edition’s cover to great effect. 

Like most of Powers’ representations of astronauts, his depiction of a space explorer is more symbolic than technical, the astronaut’s spacesuit having taken on the appearance of a jointed carapace, or, a bulbous suit of medieval armor, while the terrain is even more forbidding and jagged than in Star Science Fiction Stories Number 1.  Note the use of shades of green and red in the spacesuit, horizon, and, alien horizon. 

____________________

Here’s more detail from the back cover.  Again, note the emphasis on shapes and colors, rather than detailed presentation of technology 

Taken as a whole, the presence of a solitary astronaut and departing spaceship suggest a story in and of itself.

Contents

Disappearing Act, by Alfred Bester

The Clinic, by Theodore Sturgeon

The Congruent People, by A.J. Budrys

Clinical Factor, by Hal Clement

It’s A Good Life, by Jerome Bixby

A Pound of Cure, by Lester del Rey

The Purple Fields, by Robert Crane

F Y I, by James Blish

Conquest, by Anthony Boucher

Hormones, by Fletcher Pratt

The Odor of Thought, by Robert Sheckley

The Happiest Creature, by Jack Williamson

The Remorseful, by Cyril M. Kornbluth

Friend of the Family, by Richard Wilson

102 6/22/17 10/1/18

Six Great Short Science Fiction Novels, edited by Groff Conklin – November, 1960 [Richard M. Powers]

This colorful cover to a Groff Conklin 1960 anthology (one of his many anthologies) is a nice representation of Richard Powers’ work.  The layout of his cover design was probably designed to allow for open space for the names of Simak, MacLean, Merril, Asimov, Knight, and Budrys.  

On the cover?  The figure of an astronaut, set against an alien sky in hues of blue, green, and violet, with a few busy red stars in the background, occupies the center of the page.  Like many of the human figures featured in Powers’ science-fiction covers, on close inspection, the astronaut – carrying a long-something-or-other, actually resembles a medieval knight far more than a space explorer. 

The remainder of the cover is simpler:  There are three swirls of red, orange, and yellow (they look like they were done in water-color), while one of Powers’ trademark organic-looking metalloids floats in the upper left corner, perhaps examining the “DELL First Edition” logo.      

Notably, Katherine MacLean’s “Incommunicado” in the June, 1950, Astounding Science Fiction, was the subject of spectacular cover art by Ron Miller.

Contents

Introduction, by Groff Conklin

“Galley Slave”, by Isaac Asimov, from Galaxy Science Fiction, December, 1957

“Project Nursemaid”, by Judith Merril, from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, October, 1955

“Final Gentleman”, by Clifford D. Simak, from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, January, 1960

“Chain Reaction”, by Algis Budrys, from Astounding Science Fiction, April, 1957

“Rule Golden”, by Damon Knight, from Science Fiction, Adventures, May, 1954

“Incommunicado”, by Katherine MacLean, from Astounding Science Fiction, June, 1950

Reference

Six Great Short Science Fiction Novels, at Internet Speculative Fiction Database

A Decade of Fantasy and Science Fiction, edited by Robert P. Mills – 1962 [Richard M. Powers]

Here’s a nice Richard Powers cover from 1962, with elements typical of his art: Multicolored, curved, geometric, mobile-like shapes; a weird, irregularly-shaped, dented, floating, metallic king of thingy; a figure garbed in a space-suit.  (Well, it looks like a space-suit!) 

Like many of the images of “people” in Powers’ art, the space explorer’s outfit looks detailed and ornate, but on closer inspection, this arises from a series of rings or ridges covering the garment, giving it the suggestion rather than the reality of detail. 

But, it still looks cool.

The “lower” of the two images, appearing on the book’s back cover, is simply a reproduction of the art on the front cover, sans text.

As for the stories within the book?  Though I have read them all (some years ago!), none particularly currently stand out in memory.  Yet, in a larger sense, I was always impressed by the works of Zenna Henderson (“The People” series), Ward Moore (author of one of the best time travel stories I’ve ever read; fully worthy of a mini-series on Netflix or Amazon Prime (hint, hint, Mr. Bezos!): “Bring the Jubilee”), and, Manly Wade Wellman. 

Contents

Walk Like A Mountain, by Manly Wade Wellman, June, 1955

Men of Iron, by Guy Endore, Fall, 1949

Rabbits to The Moon, by Raymond E. Banks, July, 1959

The Certificate, by Avram Davidson, March, 1959

The Sealman, by John Mansfield, July, 1955

The Sky People, by Poul Anderson, March, 1959

The Causes, by Idris Seabright, June, 1952

The Hypnoglyph, by John Anthony, July, 1953

A Tale of The Thirteenth Floor, by Ogden Nash, July, 1955

Spud and Cochise, by Oliver La Forge, December, 1957

Unto The Fourth Generation, by Isaac Asimov, April, 1959

Jordan, by Zenna Henderson, March, 1959

Will You Wait?, by Alfred Bester, March, 1959

Proof Positive, by Graham Greene, August, 1952

Shock Treatment, by J. Francis McComas, April, 1956 (From 9 Tales of Space and Time, May, 1954)

Gandolphus, by Anthony Boucher, June, 1952

The Last Shall Be First, by Robert P. Mills, August, 1958

A Trick Or Two, by John Novotny, July, 1957

Lot’s Daughter, by Ward Moore, October, 1954

Saturnian Celia, by Horace Walpole, April, 1957 (May, 1774.  First known to have been published in The Letters of Horace Walpole, 1903)

Fear Is A Business, by Theodore Sturgeon, April, 1956

Meeting of Relations, by John Collier, January, 1959 (From The Yale Review, December, 1941)

First Lesson, by Mildred Clingerman, December, 1956

To Fell A Tree, by Robert F. Young, July, 1959

Reference

A Decade of Fantasy and Science Fiction, at Internet Speculative Fiction Database

Star Shine, by Fredric Brown – 1954 [Richard M. Powers]

While a number of my prior posts illustrate the work of Richard Powers,* his cover art for the 1954 Bantam Books edition of Fredric Brown’s Star Shine uniquely exemplifies his skill and versatility, to an extent not necessarily evident in his other compositions.

Specifically, Powers’ painting is composed of four elements.

First, the skyline of a futuristic city, composed of asymmetrical buildings, all finished in  orange and pink, appears in the lower background.  A World War One era biplane (well, it looks like a biplane!) incongruously  floats above.

Second, a violet band covered with frivolous, indefinable curves – probably not representing anything at all! – of yellow, black, blue, and orange, occupies the center of the cover.  Patterns like this are present in many of Powers’ compositions.

Third, a stylized lady – an upside-down-lady, at that!, holding a rose in her mouth – occupies the upper cover.  (You can see her in greater detail by scrolling down a little.)

Fourth – and in the context of Powers’ work, most interestingly – the central element of the cover is the face of a very contemplative man.  Neither stylized nor abstract (albeit greenish-blue!), this figure shows Powers’ skill in natural representation, which is not apparent in most of his science fiction illustrations.

Contents

Pattern, from Angels and Spaceships (1954 anthology)

Placet Is a Crazy Place, from Astounding Science Fiction, May, 1946

Answer, from Angels and Spaceships

Etaion Shrdlu, from Unknown Worlds, February, 1942

Preposterous, from Angels and Spaceships

Armageddon, from Unknown Fantasy Fiction, August, 1941

Politeness, from Angels and Spaceships

The Waveries, from Astounding Science Fiction, January, 1945

Reconciliation, from Angels and Spaceships

The Hat Trick, from Unknown Worlds, February, 1943

Search, from Angels and Spaceships

Letter To a Phoenix, from Astounding Science Fiction, August, 1949

Daisies, from Angels and Spaceships

The Angelic Angleworm, from Unknown Worlds, February, 1943

Sentence, from Angels and Spaceships

The Yehudi Principle, from Astounding Science Fiction, May, 1944

Solipsist, from Angels and Spaceships

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The Mural

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The Upside-Down-Lady

* With more to follow in future posts…