Tag: Star Science Fiction Stories

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. 

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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

I first posted these cover images in June of 2017.  After “re-visiting” this post, I wanted to display more of the detail in Powers’ art.  So, the two close-ups, below… 

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A space explorer.  Though Powers incorporates a measure of attention to the astronaut’s suit (note the very fine detail in the antenna, and the orange gripping claw extending from the figure’s left hand), he places more emphasis on shapes, curves, and contrasting colors.  The greenish yellow-hue of the suit is particularly effective against the reddish-purple sky. 

Contents

Country Doctor, by William Morrison

Dominoes, by Cyril M. Kornbluth

Idealist, by Lester del Rey

The Night He Cried, by Fritz Leiber

Contraption, by Clifford D. Simak

The Chronoclasm, by John Wyndham

The Deserter, by William Tenn

The Man With English, by Horace L. Gold

So Proudly We Hail, by Judith Merril

A Scent of Sarsaparilla, by Ray Bradbury

“Nobody Here But”, by Isaac Asimov

The Last Weapon, by Robert Sheckley

A Wild Surmise, by Henry Kuttner and Catherine L. Moore

The Journey, by Murray Leinster

The Nine Billion Names of God, by Arthur C. Clarke

A closer look at the back cover.  A spider-like spacecraft (again, Powers’ emphasis on curved, semi-organic shapes) rests on a crater-pocked surface in shades of red, carmine, and brown, while a group of explorers climb a nearby hillside.  Perhaps they’re joining their friend, on the front cover?

Notice that the sky is finished in tones of purple, through, pink, through orange, unlike the image appearing above.  That’s because this image is actually from the 1953 (first edition) of Volume 1 of Star Science Fiction, while on the rear cover of the 1961 reprint (both of the cover images in this post) the sky is white.

Though Powers’ cover primarily appears in muted shades of gray and brown, a close-up – below – reveals a level of complexity and mystery not readily apparent upon a cursory glance: Two enigmatic figures signal one another across a barren landscape, while a bird-like tower stands in the distance, and a ragged sphere – a planet? – a moon? – rises above the horizon, on the left. 

Above all, the scene imparts an absence of visual and thematic certainty, typical of Powers’ work.

Contents

A Cross of Centuries, by Henry Kuttner

The Advent on Channel Twelve, by Cyril M. Kornbluth

Space-Time for Springers, by Fritz Leiber

Man Working, by Richard Wilson

Helping Hand, by Lester del Rey

The Long Echo, by Miriam Allen deFord

Tomorrow’s Gift, by Edmund Cooper

Idiot Stick, by Damon Knight

The Immortals, by James Gunn

It’s Such A Beautiful Day, by Isaac Asimov

The Strawberry Window, by Ray Bradbury

The Deep Range, by Arthur C. Clarke

Alien, by Lester del Rey

Foster, You’re Dead, by Philip K. Dick

Whatever Happened to Corporal; Cuckoo?, by Gerald Kersh

Dance of the Dead, by Richard Matheson

Any More At Home Like You?, by Chad Oliver

The Devil on Salvation Bluff, by Jack Vance

Guinevere for Everybody, by Jack Williamson