Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #philip-jose-farmer, aggregated by home.social.
#vendrediLecture 📚️ 📖 n°56
Probablement le génie méconnu des lettres américaines.
Kilgore TROUT, Le Privé du Cosmos.
- Pour ceux qui savent -
#Mastolivre #bookstodon #livres #Books #roman #SciFi #SF #ScienceFIction
#VenusontheHalfShell #Vonnegut #KilgoreTrout #PhilipJoséFarmer
Jetzt, wo #HarlanEllison|s klassische #NewWave #ScienceFiction-Anthologie »Gefährliche Visionen« (1967; erstmals vollständig Deutsch #CarcosaVerlag, 2026) raus ist, gönne ich mir z.B. YT-Besprechungen der von mir übersetzten #PhilipJoséFarmer Story »Reiter der Purpurprämie«. Ist ja eine heikle Geschichte, mit massig Kalauern und bewusst provokanten Szenen, gemischt mit Satire auf Gott und die Welt, insbesondere experimentelle Literatur. Emily & Greg hatten ›dennoch‹ Spaß.
https://youtu.be/0HwwHPJe00w
Heut sind meine Belegexemplare der #HarlanEllison-Anthologie »Gefährliche Visionen« (1967; zum ersten mal komplett Deutsch #CarcosaVerlag 2026) angekommen. Ich durfte mir an »Reiter der Puprpurprämie« von #PhilipJoséFarmer die Zähne ausbeißen.
Würde ja irre gern ein Exemplar der Frankfurter Stadtbücherei schenken, aber nachdem die mein Belegegeschenk von #AlanMoores »Jerusalem« auf dem Flohmarkt-Tisch verscherbelt haben, statt es in Bestand einzupflegen, hab ich irgendwie keine Lust.
Born this Day:
Philip José Farmer (January 26, 1918 – February 25, 2009) was an American author known for his science fiction and fantasy novels. His novel To Your Scattered Bodies Go won him a third Hugo in 1972, for Best Novel.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Jos%C3%A9_Farmer
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#books
#bookstodon
#coverart
#PhilipJoseFarmer
Groups:
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Cover Art by Ira Cohen
‘The Fabulous Riverboat’ Explores Dangerous Obsession
The Fabulous Riverboat (1971) by Philip José Farmer is not just a sequel in a series. It layers action, intrigue, and philosophy into a story that defies normal expectations. Farmer has a talent for telling stories that take unexpected directions. The Fabulous Riverboat is an excellent example of such a story.
It has been twenty years since Resurection Day on Riverworld and Samuel Clemens continues his search. A search for is wife Livy and more importantly for a source of iron to fulfill his dream. A dream of building a riverboat to sail to the source of the River.
When a meteor strikes Riverworld Sam thinks his dream is about to come true. However, the meteor is only the beginning. Sam is not the one person in search of iron. It is one thing to find the iron. It’s another matter to keep it.
Sam will do anything to keep the iron and build his riverboat. In order to have his boat Sam will make deals with kings, rulers, and scoundrels. For him nothing matters is the riverboat. That and the burning need to get to the source of the River and answer the questions of who ressurrected humanity? Why was it ressurrected and for what purpose?
Riverworld is probably Philip José Farmer’s most famous creation. The idea of billions of people resurrected along the banks of a ten million mile long river is truly unique. The Fabulous Riverboat explores a small portion of that world through the eyes of a man’s obsession. An obsession that raises troubling questions about morality.
The worldbuilding of The Fabulous Riverboat is minimal. Farmer doesn’t waste time in expanding what is already known about this planet. Instead he focuses on deepening the mystery behind Riverworld and its purpose. It is this mystery that drives the overall arc of the plot.
Farmer continues to use real historical figures for his characters. The central protagonist of The Fabulous Riverboat is Samuel Clemens a.k.a. Mark Twain. However, despite their historical realities, Farmer is very liberal with their established characters.
Foster weaves historical ‘fact’ with fiction. A person’s history is only a starting point. The effect of the ressurrection has varying degrees of effect on people and Foster uses that to explain behaviours and actions. In some cases their previous characteristics are amplified. In others they are altered drastically.
The plot revolves around the mining and keeping of the fallen meteor in order to build Sam’s riverboat. In essence a country arises to protect the meteor and the industries it creates. In a world where all one’s needs are perfectly met the human need to build and explore creates conflict.
As work on the riverboat proceeds Sam continually makes deals and compromises that are often questionable. However, Sam rationalises them because of his blind need to know the truth about Riverworld. He convinces himself that it’s for the greater good regardless of the measureable misery he causes. Sam often claims how progressive he was in his first life and how much further he has come. However, this is just a way for Sam to asuage his increasing guilt. Farmer develops this line of reasoning slowly and by degrees. It is so subtle that some readers may never see the truth of Sam.
Philip José Farmer (1918-2009)The Fabulous Riverboat doesn’t rely solely on philosophical expositions. There are many political and physical dangers to overcome. In a world where death is temporary Farmer still makes events dangerous and compelling. The death of a character is nothing to be taken lightly. And results of large scale conflicts are visibly grim.
Farmer is fearless with both his plot and his characters. This is evident at the climax of the story. Most authors would take the safe and easy approach. Not so with Farmer. At the end of The Fabulous Riverboat there are events that will undoubtedly surprise many readers. It’s this surprise that reveals much about Sam and how obsessive he truly is.
The Fabulous Riverboat is a complex story about what drives us as humans and how we justify those drives. Farmer doesn’t make any apologies for his characters making the story more thoughtful and meaningful. There is plenty of action and no little amount of humour in The Fabulous Riverboat but this just serves to highlight its depth.
#BookReview #PhilipJoséFarmer #scienceFiction #SF #TheFabulousRiverboat
Pour bien finir l'année, les lutins de Sense of Wonder ont relu Le monde du fleuve Philip José Farmer. Avec une question : a-t-il bien passé le cap des années ?
A quotation from Philip Jose Farmer
The old ladies sitting on the side porch waved and called out to him, and he waved back at them. They sat like a bunch of ancient crows on a branch. Time was shooting them down, one by one.
Philip José Farmer (1918-2009) American author
“Stations of the Nightmare — Part One,” Continuum I [ed. Roger Elwood] (1974)
More info about this quote: wist.info/farmer-philip-jose/8…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #philipjosefarmer #death #mortality #oldage #passageoftime
Jetzt, wo ich feddich mit Übersetzung von »Riders of the Purple Wage« bin, trau ich mich Erklärbärsachen dazu gucken. ›Liminal Spaces‹ ist m.E: einer von den guten. Bin gespannt, was er so referieren wird.
Letzte Übersetzungsphase Laut-Lese-Prüfung. Für heute heiser. Morgen der Rest.
»Doch weiß ich, dass all dies nicht
Einen Gott verdammten Sinn ergibt,
Denn nichts bedeutet irgendwas,
Denn ist ist ist und ist-nicht ist nicht ist-nicht,
Wie eine Rose ist eine Rose wie
Denn wir sind und nicht sein werden
Und mehr zu wissen, ist nicht. Aus!«
https://carcosa-verlag.de/unsere-buecher/gefaehrliche-visionen/
Ich sag’s wie’s ist mit den dunklen Aspekten der Übersetzerei: es ist bezüglich emotioneller Arbeit NO FUN Slapstick-Chaos mit sexualisierter Gewalt und ’ner guten Portion Misogynie zu polieren.
Recent Science Fiction Purchases No. CCCXLIII (Philip K. Dick, Roger Zelazny, Chuck Rothman, Philip José Farmer, and an anthology on Future Love)
Which books/covers/authors intrigue you? Which have you read? Disliked? Enjoyed?
1. Deus Irae, Philip K. Dick and Roger Zelazny (1976)
From the back cover: “One their own, they have written landmarks works that have added whole new dimensions of wonder to the field of science fiction. Now, in Deus Irae, they have created what ALA Booklist calls “the most successful collaboration in years!”–set in in bizarre world where you will encounter…
A bunch of backwoods farmers who happen to be lizards…
A tribe of foul-mouthed giant bugs who worship a dead VW sedan…
An automated factory that can’t decide whether to serve its customers–or kill them.
Across this nightmare landscape–pursued by an avenging angel on a bicycle–one man makes a painful pilgrimage in search of the one who changed the world so drastically–the legendary, by very, God of Wrath…”
Initial Thoughts: I’ve heard that this co-written book by Dick and Zelazny is far from their respective best. I’m still curious!
2. Staroamer’s Fate, Chuck Rothman (1986)
From the back cover: “QUARNIAN DOW. Space salvager, planet tamer, dreamstone thief, revolutionary–Quarnian was a woman with a destiny, a gold star syron gifted with the ability to “know” the future and to see into the hearts and minds of others. But the very talent that let her bend others to her will was the curse that made her a lone adventurer, called by some inner voice to world after world, challenge after challenge.
Now the destiny was again calling Quarnian… this time to a rendezvous with a long-lost legend–and a journey of discovery that could change the fate of all who roamed the skies…”
Initial Thoughts: I acquired this one as it contains a generation ship. I am an aficionado of the generation ship. Here’s a list I’ve compiled on the topic with links to those I’ve reviewed. I assume the novel will be poor despite the theme.
3. Flesh, Philip José Farmer (1960)
From the back cover: “HE WAS THE SUNHERO. STUD-GOD TO A MILLION ADORING FEMALES.
After 800 years of exploring the stars Space Commander Stagg had expected a hero’s welcome–but this was awesome. First, they grafted real antlers on his head. Then they invested him with the pure sex power of 50 bulls and turned him loose on a screaming frenzy of fire-up virgins. Now he was on an ecstatic public fertility tour that took in every available female–and could soon take his life…”
Initial Thoughts: In January, I acquired the 1st edition of Farmer’s Flesh. He revised the novel for all the post-1968 printings. If rewrites occur within my date ranges, I’m always interested in the nature of revision especially as the early 1960s vs. late 1960s were radically different in the allowed content. Perhaps the revisions reflect this. We shall see!
4. Future Love: A Science Fiction Triad, ed. Roger Elwood (1977)
Contents: Anne McCaffrey’s “The Greatest Love” (1977), Joan Hunter Holly’s “Psi Clone” (1977), and Jeffrey A. Carver’s “Love Rogo” (1977).
From the back cover: “Anne McCaffrey, who is probably well known to most readers of this book, examines in her story a mother love that goes beyond the physical, in a new and different sense of that phrase; a sense, in fact, not possible until present-day medical technology gave us the means of realizing it. That particular gift of Anne McCaffrey is that she can infuse such an intense human light and warmth into a hitherto-unknown, laboratory-cold subject that it takes on the familiar, common quality of everyday readerly lives.
Joan Holly, who has also been writing SF successfully for years, deals with a different kind of parent-child pattern. Again there is a love situation emerging out of a relationship which would have been impossible before present-day science gave it to us as something that could happen. But here again, through Joan Holly’s creativity, we have an intense, swift-running story, like a landslide channeled between canyon walls so deep they almost shut out the light.
Jeffrey Carver goes one step beyond the interaction of ordinary human love. He plunges the reader into a small whirlpool of individual lives, carried along with the rushing current of power, plunging ever more swiftly toward the bring of a waterfall. Here, the love is not between human and human, but between human and something else–a love that in the end betrays.”
Initial Thoughts: I have not read any work by Holly or Carver. As for McCaffrey, she was an adored author of my childhood—I read and reread and reread her Pern novels (and the endless prequels and side-series and volumes written with her son). I suspect she’s an author that would lose a bit of the luster if I returned to my nostalgic favorites.
For book reviews consult the INDEX
For cover art posts consult the INDEX
For TV and film reviews consult the INDEX
#1960s #1970s #AnneMcCaffrey #avantGarde #ChuckRothman #JeffreyACarver #paperbacks #PhilipJoséFarmer #philipKDick #RogerElwood #RogerZelazny #sciFi #scienceFiction #spaceships
Chapitre 9 des PORTES de la création de Philip José Farmer.
https://youtu.be/Raxgn9s0IRM?si=5CcXG2BP9zXiEb6P
#cosmaudio #PhilipJoséFarmer #Thoan #sciencefiction #lesportesdelacréation #livre #livreaudio #sf #lire
La lecture du chapitre 8 des Portes de la Création de PJ Farmer est en ligne :
https://youtu.be/DyrkK-wY720?si=03hvFXMqOmx2mfv6
#cosmaudio #PhilipJoséFarmer #Thoan #sciencefiction #lesportesdelacréation #livre #livreaudio #sf #lire
What pre-1985 science fiction are you reading? + Update No. XX
What pre-1985 science fiction are you reading or planning to read this month? Here’s the January installment of this column (sorry I missed a month).
Before John W. Campbell, Jr. attempted to raise the “standards and thinking in magazine SF,” David Lasser (1902-1996) attempted his own brief (1929-1933) program to improve science fiction as managing editor of Hugo Gernsback’s Science Wonder Stories, Wonder Stories, and Wonder Stories Quarterly. According to Mike Ashley’s The Time Machine: The Story of the Science-Fiction Pulp Magazine from the Beginning to 1950 (2000), Lasser is a “much neglected revolutionary in science fiction” and through his efforts the genre “started to mature” (66).
Ashley highlights Lasser’s letter of instruction mailed to his regular contributors on the 11th of May, 1931, in which he “exhorted them to bring some realism to their fiction” (72). He also outlawed common tropes like the giant insect story and space opera (73). He emphasized the need to focus on characters that “should really be human” — not everything needs to be a “world-sweeping epic” (73). Stories in this vein, according to Ashley, include Clifford D. Simak’s religiously themed “The Voice in the Void” (1932), P. Schuyler Miller and Walter Dennis’ “The Red Spot on Jupiter” (1931) and “The Duel on the Asteroid” (1974), which featured a grim realism and character development (74).
Lasser also seems like a fascinating individual. He wrote the The Conquest of Space (1931), the first “non-fiction English-language book to deal with spaceflight,” was a member Socialist Party, and was elected head of the Workers Alliance of America (a merger of the Socialist Unemployed Leagues and the Communist Unemployment Councils). He also was banned from federal employment by name in legislation passed by the U.S. Congress due to his political connections. President Jimmy Carter sent him a personal letter of apology when he was finally officially cleared as a subversive in 1980!
The Photograph (with links to reviews and brief thoughts)
What am I writing about?
Since my last installment, I’ve posted reviews of Star Science Fiction Stories No. 3, ed. Frederik Pohl (1955) which contained three standout stories: Philip K. Dick’s “Foster, You’re Dead” (1955), Richard Matheson’s “Dance of the Dead” (1955), and Jack Williamson’s “Guinevere for Everybody” (1955). I did not know Williamson was capable of such things. I posted short reviews of two middling (but interesting) novels: Margot Bennett’s The Long Way Back (1954) and Mack Reynolds’ The Earth War (1964).
I compiled a rare Adventures in Science Fiction art post in order to commemorate Rodger B. MacGowan’s passing. Few know his early science-fictional work in Vertex magazine.
Continuing my general interest in science fiction on themes of sexuality and identity, I surveyed an account of the first gay and lesbian-themed SF panel at a Worldcon.
What am I reading?
Makes secret noises. I’m fighting exhaustion on all fronts. I’m struggling to complete projects or stay focused. The only way I get through these spells is to refuse to make plans. This is all for fun! That said, my history reading continues to focus on the working-class experience. See Tobias Higbie’s fascinating book in the previous photo.
A Curated List of SF Birthdays from the Last Two Weeks
March 3rd: Artist Ric Binkley (1921-1968)
March 5th: Author Mike Resnick (1942-2020).
March 5th: Artist Attila Hejja (1955-2007). The master of the blues!
March 6th: Author William F. Nolan (1928-2021). Best known for Logan’s Run (1967).
March 7th: Author Leonard Daventry (1915-1987). Wrote A Man of Double Deed (1965)–which I described as a “dark and grungy tale of polyamory, telepathy, and apocalyptical violence.”
March 7th: Kobo Abe (1924-1993). Secret Rendezvous (1977, trans. 1979) is one of my favorite SF novels of the 70s. And it received a thematically and visually perfect cover by Tadanoi Yokoo (above).
March 7th: Author Elizabeth Moon (1945-).
March 7th: Author and editor Stanley Schmidt (1944-).
March 9th: Author William F. Temple (1914-1989). Another prolific magazine author whom I’ve not read…
March 9th: Author Manly Banister (1914-1986).
March 9th: Author Pat Murphy (1955-). She left a lovely comment on my review of The Shadow Hunter (1982) recently. I need to fast track my post on her first three published short stories.
March 10th: Artist Carlos Ochagavia (1913-2006). I’ve featured his work here.
March 11th: Author F. M. Busby (1921-2005). Despite missteps like Cage a Man (1973), Busby was capable of some effective introspection — notable “If This is Winnetka, You Must Be Judy” (1974).
March 11th: Author Douglas Adams (1952-2001).
March 12th: Author Harry Harrison (1925-2012). 2025 if finally the year I get to Make Room! Make Room! (1966). Say it with me!
March 13th: Artist Diane Dillon (1933-). One half of the illustrious art partnership of the 60s/70s/80s! Diane created fantastic cover art with her husband Leo. I’m particularly partial to their cover for Suzette Haden Elgin’s Furthest (1971) (above).
March 13th: Author William F. Wu (1951-). With his short stories of the late 70s, Wu is one of the earlier Asian-American SF authors. I need to read his work.
March 14th: Author Mildred Clingerman (1918-1997). Another hole in my SF knowledge… I own her collection A Cupful of Space (1961).
March 16th: Artist Chris Foss (1946-). As I say every year as the fans circle… He’s iconic. He spawned a lot of clones. People love him. He’s not for me.
March 16th: Author P. C. Hodgell (1951-). God Stalk (1982) is supposed to be bizarre.
March 16th: Artist James Warhola (1955-). Best known for his cover for the 1st edition of Gibson’s Neuromancer (1984).
March 17th: James Morrow (1947-).
March 17th: William Gibson (1948-). Very much an author of my youth — I devoured Neuromancer (1984), Virtual Light (1993), Idoru (1996), All Tomorrow’s Parties (1999), Count Zero (1986), the stories in Burning Chrome (1986), and Mona Lisa Overdrive (1988). I haven’t returned to his work in almost two decades.
For book reviews consult the INDEX
For cover art posts consult the INDEX
For TV and film reviews consult the INDEX
#1950s #1960s #1970s #avantGarde #bookReviews #books #dorisPiserchia #fantasy #fiction #paperbacks #PhilipJoséFarmer #poulAnderson #RobertSilverberg #sciFi #scienceFiction #technology
La lecture du chapitre 7 des Portes de la Création de PJ Farmer sera publiée le vendredi 14 mars 2025 prochain à 21h00 sur Cosmaudio on Youtube.
#livreaudio #sciencefiction #philipjosefarmer #cosmaudio #thoan #sagadeshommesdieux #portesdelacreation
:ivory_boost:
What pre-1985 science fiction are you reading? + Update No. XVIII
What pre-1985 science fiction are you reading or planning to read this month? Here’s the December installment of this column.
Lost texts, and the act of reconstruction the fragments, fascinates. The questions pile up. Would the contents reveal a pattern in an author’s work? Intriguing personal details? A startling modus operandi? At the 11th World Science Fiction Convention (Philcon 2), Philadelphia (September 1953), Philip José Farmer gave a speech titled “SF and the Kinsey Report.” Considering Farmer’s recent publication of “The Lovers” (1952), this is not surprising. Alfred Kinsey, the famous sexologist and founder of the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction on Indiana University’s campus, published his controversial Sexual Behavior in the Human Male in 1948. Sexual Behavior in the Human Female appeared in 1953. Like many of Farmer’s earliest speeches, he did not keep copies.
Deeply intrigued by what the speech might have contained, Sanstone and I (on Bluesky) managed to piece together a few general responses that people had Farmer and suggestions on what it contained.
1) In the December 1953 issue of the fanzine Nite Cry, Earl Kemp wrote: “Then it came. Sex reared it’s [sic] wonderfully compatible head. SF AND THE KINSEY REPORT, a very interesting report on the works of the good Dr.’s Kinsey, Pomeroy, etc. delivered by Phillip Farmer [sic]. Very well handled tark, regardless of the absence of SF, by a very sincere individual. He was somewhat embarrassed, at the conclusion of his talk, as were most of the delegates, when some fan, after securing the floor mike, praised the speech a little too highly for comfort.”
2) In the November 1953 issue of the UK magazine Authentic Science Fiction, the editor H. J. Campbell briefly states: “among other first-rate and informative speakers was Philip Jose Farmer on ‘SF and the Kinsey Report,’ a serious and thoughtful study which was well appreciated by the audience.”
3) Robert A. Madle’s report in the March 1954 issue of Future Science Fiction wrote: “[Farmer’s] talk, ]SF and the Kinsey Report,] was quite unusual — to say the least! Farmer, in addition to indicating that he was one of Kinsey’s’ statistics, delved into a subject which isn’t the ordinary Sunday morning, pre-breakfast fare.” I’d love to know what Farmer meant by “he was one of Kinsey’s statistics.”
4) Milt Rothman’s Philcon II Reminiscence recalls: “Among scheduled talks were “The Future of Love,” by Irvin Heyne, and “SF and the Kinsey Report,” by Philip José Farmer, author of “The Lovers.” At that time heterosexuality was just coming out of the closet.” No other details are provided.
5) Dave Kyle’s article in Mimosa on Sex in Fandom describes the speech, along with many other tangents, as follows: “Maybe sf fans invented the 1960s in the 1950s. (Although I must say that, whatever the excesses, the only drug prevalent to a minor extent was alcohol.) By 1953, women were now a fixture in the sf firmament. Bea, Katherine MacLean, and the two Evelyns had a panel at Philcon II and there were talks on “The Future of Love” by Irvin Heyne and “SF and the Kinsey Report” by Philip José Farmer. Phil Farmer really broke the sex barrier in sf, and Kate MacLean was an unabashed advocate of “free love” and took explicit photos with Charlie Dye.”
If you know of more references, let me know if the comments.
And let me know what pre-1985 science fiction you’ve been reading!
The Photograph (with links to reviews and brief thoughts)
What am I writing about?
On January 1st, I posted a review of Future Power, ed. Jack Dann and Darner Dozois (1976) — it contained many of my best 20 short stories read in 2024. If you missed it, definitely check out my Best Reads of 2024 post. I also posted reviews of Philip K. Dick’s “Explorers We” (1959) and James Tiptree, Jr.’s “Painwise” (1972) recently for my series on subversive takes on “space agencies, astronauts, and the culture which produced them.”
As for future projects, I find I’m more likely to complete them if I keep the specifics under wraps. As always, I have grand plans and limited time due to my exhausting profession.
What am I reading?
As Barry N. Malzberg recently passed away, I thought I read a few of his novels that I’ve missed. I reviewed Malzberg last in 2021. Hopefully, more novel reviewed will be posted in 2025 than previous, often sparse, novel-reading years.
I also plan on reading De Witt Douglas Kilgore’s monograph above.
A Curated List of SF Birthdays from the Last Two Weeks
January 11th: Jerome Bixby (1923-1998)
January 11th: Terry Goodkind (1948-2020). As a teenager, I was obsessed with bloated fantasy sequences (Robert Jordan, Tad Williams, Stephen Donaldson, etc.). I thought Goodkind would be the perfect addition to my addiction. I tried at least three times to tackle Wizard’s First Rule (1994), the first book in the Sword of Truth Universe, but never got more than a 100 pages in.
January 12th: Jack London (1876-1916). I must confess, I’m utterly ignorant of his SF works like The Iron Heel (1907). My father read The Call of the Wild (1903) to me as a kid.
January 13th: Jody Scott (1923-2007). I should feature her in my first three published stories by female SF authors I should know about. Her noel Passing for Human (1977) judges me from the shelf.
January 13th: Ron Goulart (1933-2022). I have not been impressed with his brand of satire. See my review of After Things Fell Apart (1970).
January 14th: Kenneth Bulmer (1921-2005).
January 14th: Joseph Green (1931-). He must rank amongst the oldest SF authors still alive… I have not read any of his work.
January 15th: Robert Silverberg (1935-). An absolute favorite of mine! I’ve reviewed 46 of his short stories and twelve of his novels. I’ve also read but never reviewed A Time of Changes (1971), the stories in Capricorn Games (1976), and Tower of Glass (1970). The Man in the Maze (1969) and The Second Trip (serialized: 1971) might be his most underrated novels.
January 16th: Christine Brooke-Rose (1923-2012) is an author of experimental SF-adjacent works (and a YA SF volume or two). I acquired one of the latter Xorandor (1986), a few months ago. I’d love a copy of her early novel Out (1964)–SF Encyclopedia’s description: a SF novel “set after World War Three in a Post-Holocaust Afro-Eurasia where the colour barrier has been reversed, ostensibly for medical reasons, as only the ‘Colourless’ seem to be fatally afflicted by a form of radiation poisoning.”
January 17th: Paul O. Williams (1935-2009).
January 18th: Arno Schmidt (1914-1979). I tried to read The Egghead Republic: A Short Novel from the Horse Latitudes (1957, trans. 1979) at one point.
January 18th: Artist Eddie Jones (1935-1999). A British artist who contributed an immense number of covers for German SF presses.
January 18th: Clare Winger Harris (1891-1968). I acquired her collection (published after she had stopped writing), Away from Here and Now (1947), a while back. To the best of my knowledge it’s the first collection by a female SF author who appeared in genre magazines ever published.
January 19th: Margot Bennett (1912-1980). I finished Bennett’s The Long Way Back (1954) recently. Stay tuned for my thoughts.
January 19th: George MacBeth (1932-1992).
January 19th: Artist Victor Kalin (1919-1991).
January 20th: Author Nancy Kress (1948-). Another one of my favorites! “Talp Hunt” (1982) is a killer of a short story. I also reviewed her first three published short stories–“The Earth Dwellers” (1976), “A Delicate Shape of Kipney” (1978), and “And Whether Pigs Have Wings” (1979).
January 21st: Peter Phillips (1920-2012). I’ve promised myself I’d get to his fiction for years. I’m looking at you “Dreams Are Sacred” (1948)!
January 21st: Judith Merril (1923-1997). My most recent Merril review: Survival Ship and Other Stories (1974).
January 21st: Gina Berriault (1926-1999). Author of one intriguing SF novel of fallout shelters and paranoia–The Descent (1960).
January 21st: Charles Eric Maine (1921-1981).
January 22nd: Robert E. Howard (1906-1936).
January 22nd: Katherine MacLean (1925-2019). As mentioned above, her Nebula-nominated novel Missing Missing Man (1975) is one of the great unknown SF noels.
January 22nd: Artist Ray Feibush (1948-1998).
January 23rd: Helen M. Urban (1915-2003). Another author I should feature in my series on the first three published short stories by female authors I want to learn more about.
January 23rd: Walter M. Miller, Jr. (1923-1996). A favorite of mine! If you’re new to his non-A Canticle for Leibowitz stories, check out “Death of a Spaceman” (variant title: “Memento Homo”) (1954).
January 23rd: Artists Tim Hildebrandt (1939-2006) and Greg Hildebrandt (1939-2024).
January 24th: C. L. Moore (1911-1987). I recently enjoyed her collection of co-written stories (with her husband Henry Kuttner) Clash by Night and Other Stories (1980).
January 24th: Gary K. Wolf (1941-). Killerbowl (1979) is almost a 70s SF classic.
January 24th: David Gerrold (1944-). I thoroughly enjoyed Moonstar Odyssey (1977).
January 24th: Artist Douglas Chaffee (1936-2011).
January 24th: René Barjavel (1911-1985).
January 25th: Pauline Ashwell (1926-2015). Best known for her early short story Hugo-nominated “Unwillingly to School” (1958). I’ve reviewed Nebula-nominated “The Wings of a Bat” (1966).
For book reviews consult the INDEX
For cover art posts consult the INDEX
For TV and film reviews consult the INDEX
#1950s #1960s #1970s #39 #bookReview #bookReviews #books #fiction #JamesWhite #JohnShirley #KatherineMacLean #paperbacks #PhilipJoséFarmer #philipKDick #RobertSilverberg #RogerZelazny #sciFi #scienceFiction
Updates: Recent Science Fiction Purchases No. CCCXL (Philip José Farmer, L. Sprague de Camp, George Alec Effinger, and an Anthology of SF by Women)
A selection of SF volumes acquired over winter break!
Which books/covers/authors intrigue you? Which have you read? Disliked? Enjoyed?
1. Flesh, Philip José Farmer (1960)
From the back cover: “Spaceman by DAY… MONSTER by night!
Peter Stagg was caught in the vilest trap ever devised–his own lust-driven body! For FLESH is the pulse-stirring story of a space explorer’s return from the strangest voyage man had ever made–to the strangest world the universe had ever seen–his own Earth!
This was an Earth that worshipped the lusts of FLESH–where a maiden’s most pious hope was to be chosen for a perverse mass orgy–where the temples were houses of carnal rites–where science was devoted to generating uncontrollable sexual passions. Into this FLESH-adoring world Peter Stagg was plunged, to find himself changed by this queer new science into something part man, part beast, part god. His FLESH was stronger than ten men’s, his desires were driven by alien hormones in his blood, and each morning his tortured mind recoiled from the memory of what his body had done the night before!
Initial Thoughts: I need to read more of Farmer’s early fiction (his glory period in my view). My reviews of Strange Relations (1960) and “The Lovers” (1952). And the cover on this volume… how could I not acquire a first edition?
2. Rogue Queen, L. Sprague de Camp (1951)
From the back cover: “‘When the Rogue Queen wears a crown of light / The Golden Couch shall be over thrown; When the gods descend from heaven’s height / Shall the seed be sown.’
Worker Iroedh was confused. Though she was a lover of antiquity, she really could put no faith in the Oracle’s prophecy. It was true that strange human beings, Terrans, had come from beyond the heavens. But these ‘men’ were no gods. Had not she seen them making fools of themselves over a silly think called ‘love’? Was this the action of the gods?
Certainly no god of the Avtini would carry on like this. Avtini gods would ‘love’ only a Community, with self-respecting groups of workers and drones and its highly productive Queen.
And as for Queens, why no Avtini Queen would go rogue. Only a few mad drones had ever been known to desert the Community. And their lives were the price of this antisocial action.
No, Iroedh could not understand the prophecy and so it must be false.
But Iroedh was soon to learn that prophecy has a way of coming true, and that even the most unassuming, antiquarian Worker might be born to rule.”
Initial Thoughts: L. Sprague de Camp is a complete hole in my SFF knowledge. I’ve seen Rogue Queen (1951) described as exploring similar issues to Farmer’s “The Lovers” (1952). Although, I suspect in a less revolutionary way.
3. Idle Pleasures, George Alec Effinger (1983)
From the back cover: “THE ALIENS’ FIRST WORDS WERE ‘LET’S PLAY BAL!’
Ice hockey with an entire planet for a rink.
A chess competition where the rules change with every move.
No-holds-barred basketball with the blue Cobae.
And other stories from the Wide Universe of Sports by one of today’s most astonishing Masters of Imaginative fiction.”
Contents: “Naked to the Invisible Eye” (1973), “From Downtown at the Buzzer” (1977), “The Exempt” (1977), “25 Crunch Split Right on Two” (1975), “The Pinch Hitters’ (1979), “Breakaway” (1981), “The Horse with One Leg” (1974), “Heartstop” (1974).
Initial Thoughts: As I’ve mentioned in various reviews in the past, “I am (generally) not a fan of sports [other than soccer]. I am a fan of science fiction about sports. More specifically, I’m a proponent of sports as a SF vehicle for social commentary on commercialism, trauma, alienation, and violence.” Effinger’s “25 Crunch Split Right on Two” (1975) is a great example of what these stories can do. I look forward to exploring his other stories on the intersection of sports and SF ruminations on heady issues.
4. Cassandra Rising, ed. Alice Laurance (1978)
From the inside flap: “The world of science fiction–long dominated by male writers who created male heroes always ready to rescue a damsel in distress–is feeling the influence of top-notch women writers. This anthology contains nineteen original stories by some of the most exciting talents in science fiction today–who happen to be women.
Here are unusual and stimulating visions of politics, time travel, motherhood, nature, war and peace, courage, survival of the fittest–and a few choice examples of the heroine in action.”
Contents: Ursula K. Le Guin’s “SQ” (1978), Kay Rogers’ “Flirtation Walk” (1978), Joan Bernott’s “Troll Road” (1978), Zenna Henderson’s “There Was a Garden” (1978), Katherine MacLean’s “Night-Rise” (1978), Kathleen Sky’s “Motherbeast” (1978), Rachel Cosgrove Payes’ “Escape to the Suburbs” (1978), Josephine Saxton’s “Alien Sensation” (1978), Grania Davis’ “Last One in Is a Rotten Egg” (1978), Raylyn Moore’s “The Way Back” (1978), Alice Laurance’s “Schlossie” (1978), Anne McCaffrey’s “Lady in Waiting” (1978), Steve Barnes’ “Impact” (1978), Barbara Paul’s “The Slow and Gentle Progress of trainee Bell-Ringers” (1978), Sydney J. Van Scyoc’s “Nightfire” (1978), Beverly Goldberg’s “Selena” (1978), Juanita Coulson and Miriam Allen deFord’s “Uraguayen and I” (1978), Jacqueline Lichtenberg’s “The Vanillamind Tapestry” (1978), Chelsea Quinn Yarbro’s “Space/Time Arabesque” (1978).
Initial Thoughts: This anthology contains multiple authors that are unknowns to me–Joan Bernott, Steve Barnes, Alice Laurance, Beverly Goldberg, etc. I look forward to this one. And I still have not read a story by Zenna Henderson.
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#1950s #1960s #1970s #AnneMcCaffrey #books #fiction #GeorgeAlecEffinger #horror #KatherineMacLean #LSpragueDeCamp #movies #paperbacks #PhilipJoséFarmer #sciFi #scienceFiction #SydneyJVanScyoc #UrsulaKLeGuin #ZennaHenderson
@mitchw Kilgore Trout was #PhilipJoseFarmer, right? Based on a #Vonnegut character?
Übrigens: Ende März erschien die neue Ausgabe der klassischen von #HarlanEllison herausgegebenen #ScienceFiction-Anthologie in neuer Auflage, und erste vollständige deutsche Ausgabe von »Dangerous Visions« (1967) wird derzeit bei #CarcosaVerlag vorbereitet (ich darf den #PhilipJoséFarmer machen).
Im Juni und Oktober folgen dann die beiden englischsprachigen Fortsetzungen von 1972 und 2024. Bin gespannt, ob die dann auch bei uns kommen werden.
Und: ich finde die Gestaltung sehr schick.
As the 14th of February approaches, it seems a good time for Virgil Finlay’s illustrations for ‘The Lovers’ by Philip José Farmer, a novella published in the 8/1952 issue of 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑺𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 after rejections from 𝑨𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 and 𝑮𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒙𝒚. Later expanded, it received an honorable mention at the 1962 Hugo Awards for Best Novel. #FinlayFriday
#VirgilFinlay #PhilipJoséFarmer #Illustration #WeirdTales #ScienceFiction #SF #SFF @sciencefiction @scifi
First edition hardcover of Gods of Riverworld. Resale shop find. $1!
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#Riverworld
#PhilipJoseFarmer
For this special #Fediversary edition of #FinlayFriday , here is Virgil’s illustration for ‘Strange Compulsion’ aka ‘The Captain’s Daughter’ by Philip José Farmer. Fom Science-Fiction Plus, October 1953, edited by Hugo Gernsback. The first image was how it was printed and meant to be seen, although I love how he signed his name in a way that can be read both ways.
#VirgilFinlay #PhilipJoséFarmer #Pulps #ScienceFiction @sciencefiction @scifi
Wow. 1970s era UK editions of Riverworld (books 1-4). Not bad resale find for less than $5 for the lot!
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#RiverWorld
#PhilipJoseFarmer
Resale shop find. All five books in the Riverworld series. A real hodge podge of covers and formats. Very proud of the TYSBG early hardcover edition I found at Sally Ann! $9 to put together for the full set. The books are very hard to find resale and The Gods of Riverworld is extra hard. I just loved this series.
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#RiverWorld
#PhilipJoseFarmer
Resale shop find. To Your Scattered Bodies Go. Hardcover. Looks like first edition book club. Amazing condition. $1.67.
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#PhilipJoseFarmer
#RiverWorld
Resale shop find. Was missing The Fabulous Riverboat for years. Found it for $2.
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#RiverWorld
#PhilipJoseFarmer
Resale shop find. Philip Jose Farmer's Dayworld trilogy. It's not quite Riverworld but it's classic, clever PFJ.
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#PhilipJoséFarmer
Essay by PulpLibrarian:
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1620134963562819584.html
Covers (38/42):
https://parisolympiapress.com/2015/10/26/books-for-trade-essex-house-north-hollywood-california-1968-1969-updated-post-oct-2015/
#dystopian #scifi #erotic #1960s #sciencefiction #PulpLibrarian #EssexHouse #PhilipJoseFarmer
Who are 5-7 of your favourite authors? Add them as hashtags so we can find each other, boost this, share your own, etc. #Bookstodon
Some of mine:
#JulesVerne
#RogerZelazny
RobertAnsonHeinlein #Heinlein
#IsaacAsimov
#PhilipJoséFarmer
#MichaelMoorcock
#AgathaChristie
Resale shop find. Venus on the Half Shell by Kilgore Trout (actually Philip José Farmer). It's the edition that still pretends to be from Kilgore Trout. Later editions credit it prominently to PJF. It's beaten to crap but I've never seen a copy that wasn't. (Well, based on a sample of two).
And National Lampoon's LotR parody Bored of the Rings. Obviously this edition came out shortly before the movies.
#VenusontheHalfShell
#KilgoreTrout
#BoredoftheRings
#NationalLampoon
#PhilipJoséFarmer
Short Story Review: Philip José Farmer’s “The Lovers” (1952)
3.5/5 (Good)
Preliminary note: This is a review of the original 1952 novella. You can read it online here. Philip José Farmer published a novelization in 1961. While the novel was frequently republished, the original novella was not anthologized until 2003 (bibliography). I am in half a mind to read the 1961 version and analyze the changes!
This is a review that I wish I didn’t have to provide a rating as my lukewarm response to the story might obfuscate my fascination with its thematic contents and larger historical context. Philip José Farmer’s novella “The Lovers” (1952) is, without doubt, historically important for the development of the SF genre as it introduced a transgressive mix of sex (mostly implied), unusual xenobiology, and colonial critique. It shocked and fascinated readers at the time. In a letter published in the September issue of Startling Stories, Farmer himself predicted the “Reverberations from THE LOVERS should be really bouncing” later in the year (136). And he was right!
To give a snapshot of the reaction I’ve focused on the mentions in the November 1952 issue of Startling Stories. Note: the fan letters are a curated by the magazine’s editor. Rory M. Faulkner describes “The Lovers” as “the top science-fiction story of the year.” The same letter takes a snipe at the editors (Gold and Boucher) who claim to “use only adult s-f” but didn’t publish Farmer’s vision. Another fan writes that “THE LOVERS was a truly startling story to discover in your pages, and augurs well” for the magazine’s future (Forrest J. Ackerman). Another dubs him the “Hemingway of science fiction” who tackled a “controversial subject of intercourse and reproduction between two totally different species of beings” and created a “technically superb story” (Sid Sullivan). Robert E. Briney calls it the “one of the three greatest science fiction novels published in magazines in the last ten years” in part due to its “mature treatment” of sex. Barbara Harris writes that the tale smashed the literary barrier of “miscegenation.” While the vast majority praised the story as a masterpiece, a handful suggested it was more middling fare (Joseph Dunlap Willcox, et al.). And there was the predictable backlash due to its sexual content–in the December 1952 issue, Ancel G. Taflinger described “The Lovers” as “pure sensationalism having no place in either Science-Fiction or Fantasy.”
Regardless, the novella garnered Philip José Farmer a 1953 Hugo Award for Most Promising New Author. All the more surprising since “The Lovers” did not have an easy route to publication–it was rejected by both John W Campbell Jr. of Astounding Science-Fiction and H. L. Gold of Galaxy–before Samuel Mines accepted it for the August 1952 issue of Startling Stories (SF Encyclopedia).
The Nature of Exploration
“The Lovers” positions future exploration of the cosmos as a competition between Earth’s remaining empires–replete with destructive religious ideologies–little different than the Age of Columbus. The exploiters from the Haijac Union of Earth label the vaguely insectoid aliens the encounter on Ozagen as “wogglebugs” (13) and, despite their seemingly 20th century technology and friendly nature, remain convinced of their violent intent. Of course the humans actually have genocidal plans and “before they began their decimation project to make room for the hordes that would follow, they must learn the wogs’ potentialities” (14). And planet’s mysterious ruins, apparently made by a “dead humanoid race” on the planet, form an ideological justification for their actions.
The Haijac Union, a puritanical theocracy called The Sturch (church-state), governs society with an iron fist. Books are censored. Makeup forbidden. And overseers called Guardian Angel Pro Tempore (gapts) observe and interrogate the most intimate family details and interactions. Worship in The Sturch revolves around the figure of the Forerunner Sigmen, who according to the Ozagenian Fobo, was a “a sexually frigid and woman-hating man with a messiah complex and paranoid and schizophrenic tendencies which burst through his icy shell from time to time in religious scientifical frenzies and fantasies” (48).
Hal Yarrow chaffs against the control of his gapt and attempts to get back at his supervisor by tabulating the number of cigarettes he smokes and driving a bit too fast. On their way to investigate the ruins, Hal crashes an Ozagenian car and in the aftermath sees something watching him from the forest: “It was that antelope looking at me. It got away after all. It ran around the bush and looked back. Antelope eyes (16). Late that day, the same figure approaches his campsite in the ruins. Sneaking through the security devices of his gapt, Hal sees what he believes is the perfect woman. But little does he know that her hyper responsiveness and adaptive personality suggests a far more alien biology.
Final Thoughts
Unlike Farmer’s later fiction, “My Sister’s Brother” (variant title: “Open to Me, My Sister”) (1960) is the best example, it takes a bit of effort to imagine the contents of “The Lovers” as shocking. But it was! The sex is implied rather than described. The tone is glib and pulp yet the subject matter–genocidal weapons, love between aliens, obsession, biological infiltration verging on body horror—is sinister in its implications. And while there is a far deeper and profoundly alien nature to Jeanette, she is, on the surface, a manifestation of heterosexual male fantasy (she reminded me a bit of aliens in Star Trek with minor anatomical difference).
I found Hal Yarrow an intriguing figure. He is a product of his culture and its hard to tell how much of his change of heart isn’t due to the slow psychological manipulation conducted by the Ozagenians. He abandons his sterile wife and runs after the first entity that reciprocates his desire for affection. Farmer’s presentation of Jeanette’s character as a science fictional pulp object of desire–she responds to his every desire, has ever perky breasts, etc.–takes on a subversive quality when that desire becomes her alienness. “The Lovers” is a must read for those interested in Farmer’s fascination with manipulating the trappings of pulp for satirical effect. And for those interested in how science fiction tackled issues of sex and colonization.
If you are new to his fiction, I recommend the stories in Strange Relations (1960) or The Alley God (1962) first which include many of the same transgressive themes but mixed to greater effect. I’ve found Farmer’s subversive brand of 50s and early 60s science fiction presaged elements that gained increasing prominence in the New Wave movement in the late 60s.
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Book Review: Strange Relations, Philip José Farmer (1960)
(Blanchard’s cover for the 1960 edition)
4/5 (collated rating: Good)
Blanchard’s abstract vaginal cover for the 1960 first edition of Philip José Farmer’s Strange Relations (1960) hints, just obliquely enough to avoid being explicit, at the collection’s radical and groundbreaking contents. Nothing else existed like this from the 50s! Having exploded onto the scene with the “transgressive” (SF encyclopedia) novella “The Lovers” (1952) (later expanded to novel length), Strange Relations (1960) collects a further five short works from the mid-50s and later on similar themes — theology, sex, xenobiology, Freud, and social satire.
Each work revolves around a particular Freudian scenario, a Freudian fantasy. One can imagine that authors such as Barry N. Malzberg were profoundly influenced by Farmer’s meditations on humanity’s “strange peccadilloes.”
Long time readers of my blog might know of my dislike of Farmer’s Hugo-winning To Your Scattered Bodies Go (1971) and the subsequent sequels which manage to add layers and layers of boredom. I’ve also reviewed the painfully tedious Traitor to the Living (1973)… So, it was with some trepidation that picked up Strange Relations. My dislike has diminished and metafictional pastiches such as Lord Tyger (1970) are on my to acquire radar. The Green Odyssey (1957) and Behind the Walls of Terra (1970), long relegated to a back corner of the to read pile are suddenly more appealing…
Highly recommended for the novelette “Mother” (1953) and its sequel short story “Daughter” (1954). The hard-shelled, hilltop living, female-only womb aliens who fertilize themselves via roving mobile “male” objects whom they capture and thrust into their womb-spaces, described in the these two stories are downright fantastic. The only one of the five that does not live up to its premise is “Son” (1954)–maternal /”female” ocean going robots who adopt and manipulate shipwrecked men should result in a more intriguing story!
Brief Plot Summary/Analysis
“Mother” (1953) (novelette) 4/5 (Good): The second best story of the collection follows the emotional opera singer Eddie Fetts who has a mother complex and an unhealthy attachment to the nipple-shaped rubber top of his liquor thermos. His mother, an accomplished pathologist, is a constant factor in his life, especially after Eddie’s wife left because they “couldn’t get together” (9). Eddie and his mother crash land on an unusual planet where Farmer’s skill at describing unusual aliens manifests itself. Eddie and his mother are captured, after being lured by a mating scent, and placed inside different immobile hilltop dwelling aliens.
He soon discovers that these aliens are all female, they impregnate themselves by capturing roving animal life like himself, and they feed their children inside the womb by producing a stew generated by captured animals and water syphoned via long tubes from the ground. Eddie literally returns to the womb and discovers that he strangely likes it there and takes an active part nurturing the young. Of course, the alien mother, Polyphema, gains great prestige having a talking male mobile.
“Daughter” (1954) (short story) 5/5 (Very Good): The best of the collection and one of my favorites of the 50s. The sequel to “Mother”, “Daughter” is narrated by one of the female children of Polyphema, the alien that captured Eddie. This child, Little Hardhead, was Eddie’s favorite and the one who learned all Eddie knew about the outside world. When she is evicted from Polyphema’s womb, she puts Eddie’s teaching to the test and constructs a multi-layered womb-shell from all different materials when she finds a suitable hill to implant herself (and gains the ridicule of the other children more quickly establish themselves and produce young).
And then the big bad wolf creature, another fantastically bizarre alien conjured by Farmer, who eats all the crops planted by the womb-aliens, and slowly synthesizes chemicals to pry through the layers of the hard womb-shell approaches the last of Polyphema and Eddie’s children. Will Eddie’s teaching payoff when the mobile attacks! Little Hardhead is ready.
“Father” (1955) (novella) 4/5 (Good): “Father” is one of numerous stories in sequence that follow Father (not the father of the title) Carmody, a Catholic priest of the future, in a series of adventures on planets that challenge Catholic theology. In this case, Carmody and the crew of the Gull crash land on the planet of Abatos, where so many vessels have never been seen before. Abatos is an unusual jungle-like world (queue Farmer’s obsessions with Tarzan) filled with only female plants and animals. The reason for this is revealed — a god-like being is offended by even the slightest of sins, animal and planet sex included. So, in his omnipotence he generates a Garden of Eden environment according to his fervent strictures regarding every possible sin. A debate emerges amongst the crew, do they bring the God-like creature back to Earth an utilize it as an instrument of the Church, or, is the God-like creature so utterly delusional and self-obsessed that it should be left to its own devices? One of the more intriguing theological ruminations of the 50s, up there with James Blish’s A Case of Conscience (1958).
“Son” (1954) (short story) 3.5/5 (Good): The fantastic premise devolves into a rather descriptive story that lacks the vibrancy of the others in the collection. Jones, after his luxury liner blows up by the enemy, is miraculously rescued by a sentient robot submersible. The robot takes Jones into the amniotic depths of the ocean where he is drugged, hypnotized, and manipulated into assisting “her” repairs. Soon Jones realizes that Keet is more than simply programming—a maternal instinct exists. But Jones, turns “out to be an American with the good old American name of Jones” (137) sees through her deception and forces himself from her womb-like interior. A second birth, another attempt to make things right…. A forced, violent, birth.
“My Sister’s Brother” (variant title: “Open to Me, My Sister”) (1960) (novella) 4/5 (Good): Nominated for the Short Fiction Hugo category in 1961. Perhaps the most unusual story of the collection…. Lane, a member of the first explorers of Mars, is tasked with discovering where the rest of companions have disappeared. He sets off across the Martian landscape and discovers unusual aliens who farm planets along long hollow tubes that stretch across the landscape. Soon he gains entry to one of the tubes after he encounters a nubile female humanoid looking alien named Martia….
Unlike other SF stories of the era, Lane is unable to overcome his revulsion of the alien’s characteristics, and more specifically bizarre mating patterns. He resorts to an act of brutal violence because, due to the hatred of her differences, “could not accept her love and still remain a man” (190). This is a rather radical story for our manly man, who lusts after aliens but really wants them to be more human than alien (especially when they have sex), despite encountering a peaceful race can only react with violence when his sexual mores are challenged.
(Uncredited cover for the 1966 edition)
(Uncredited cover for the 1973 edition)
(V. Calabrase’s cover for the 1974 edition)
(David Palladini’s cover for the 1978 edition)
(George Underwood’s cover for the 1982 edition)
(Mark Salwowski’s cover for the 1985 edition)
(Clyde Caldwell’s grotesque cover (BAEN books, who else?) for the 2006 edition)
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#1950s #1960s #avantGarde #bookReviews2 #paperbacks #philipJoseFarmer #pulp #sciFi #scienceFiction #shortStories #spaceOpera #spaceships #technology
