Science Fiction Cover Art

[sferrin]

I think some had black trim

 

[The K2]

The movie versions were cheesy, but I still enjoyed them.

 

[The K2]

John Berkey’s cover art for the novel 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1970)

 

[Michel Van]

The complete tryptich created by Tony Roberts for 'The Anome Trilogy' by Jack Vance

That artwork ist from Jim Burns

 

[Graham1973]

That artwork ist from Jim Burns

Thanks, I've fixed the posting.

 

[Graham1973]

The Chris Foss triptych created for the 1970s reprinting of Isaac Asimov's 'Foundation' Trilogy

 

[The K2]

Not the most spectacular…but I did buy a copy.

 

[The K2]

One of the few editions that used an illustration from the Disney movie on the cover. The copy I bought in the 70s had a wrap around illustration. Later, I found that an earlier edition had it all squeezed in on the front cover.

 

[Rhinocrates]

Not a cover but a private commission by Jim Burns. 'Downtime in Alcyone's glow,' 2020.

 

[Rhinocrates]

Mr Burns again. This started as a book cover for an HG Wells-themed anthology and then was the inspiration for a private commission, 'The Lair, Elysium Planitia' 2020-21. That's him standing by the painting.

 

[martinbayer]

A *sharp* line needs to be drawn between unicorn fairy gnome wizard fantasy "artwork" crap and *true* hardcore science fiction depictions.

 

[Rhinocrates]

A *sharp* line needs to be drawn between unicorn fairy gnome wizard fantasy "artwork" crap and *true* hardcore science fiction depictions.

Not necessarily in this thread, surely? I gather that it's for entertainment as much as the 'Furry Avatars of Doom' thread. Still, if I might try a bit for relevance to the 'proper' aerospace stuff, I'll point out that Elon Musk continually makes references to this kind of sf (Iain M Banks' Culture cycle, Spaceballs etc.). It didn't provide him with blueprints but it did inspire him. A lot of people got into space science by being inspired by stuff that was infinitely improbable.

Sorry, I know that your name isn't Shirley.*

* Damn, that doesn't work so well in text.

 

[Rhinocrates]

Anyway, turning towards the harder end of the scale... Manchu, or Philippe Bouchet. The starship Sagan from Arthur C Clarke's The Songs of Distant Earth and the Leonora Christine from Poul Anderson's Tau Zero. Remember those days when Bussard ramjets seemed so promising?

 

[martinbayer]

Not necessarily in this thread, surely?

If not in this very thread in this very forum of all places, where else??? Asking for a dear close friend of mine who is an aerospace engineer...

 

[Graham1973]

A Michael Whelan cover for Alan Dean Foster's short story collection 'With Friends Like These..." (1977)

 

[Justo Miranda]

Dr. Prilicla

 

[Graham1973]

Frank Kelly Freas's cover for the first appearance of one of H. Beam Piper's most interesting short stories.

 

[Graham1973]

An unknown artist's clearly 'Star Wars' inspired cover for 'Star Drifter' (1981)

 

[southwestforests]

An unknown artist's clearly 'Star Wars' inspired cover for 'Star Drifter' (1981)

Sure looks like a deliberate effort to get the book noticed by at least momentarily causing people to connect it to that movie.

 

[Graham1973]

Another seemingly 'Star Wars' inspired cover, however this time the artist is known, it's Attila Heja and it also graces the cover of a 1969 novel entitled 'Star Giant'.

I think a little research is in order to sort out just when these books were actually published relative to 1977.

 

[southwestforests]

Attila Heja and it also graces the cover of a 1969 novel entitled 'Star Giant'.

I think a little research is in order to sort out just when these books were actually published relative to 1977.

Correct, a little research is required ...

While the book was written before Star Wars hit the silver screen, see, this particular edition of the book came out in 1979,

Star Giant

Star Giant by Dorothy Skinkle Belmont Tower Books, 1969 Price I paid: 75¢ His name was Ben-oni… Ben-oni was a refugee, a political exile from the planet Liban sentenced to spend his life on E…

schlock-value.com

Title: Star Giant
Author Name: Skinkle, Dorothy
Edition: 2nd printing
ISBN Number: 050551267X
ISBN-13: 9780505512673
Location Published: Belmont/Tower: 1978

https://www.diasparbooks.com/product/1260/Star-Giant#details

 

[Michel Van]

I find lack of French Artist disturbing...

So here Phillip Caza cover for John Brunner "The Sheeps Look Up" volume 1 and 2

Cover for I, Robot by Asimov

 

[Graham1973]

Another example of the cultural impact of 'Star Wars' in the form of the 1979 artwork by John Rush which was used on both the 1979 and subsequent reprintings of 'Exiles of the Stars' (1971) by Andre Norton.

 

[Michel Van]

again Phillipe Caza
French cover for one of Frederik Pohl Heechee Saga books.

 

[southwestforests]

again Phillipe Caza
French cover for one of Frederik Pohl Heechee Saga books.

Brings to mind a popular phrase,
"If the seatbelt fits wear it."

 

[Rhinocrates]

Machu again, for William Gibson and Bruce Sterling's The Difference Engine.

 

[Rhinocrates]

A Martian base by Manchu. I'm not aware of the book it appeared on or in, if any.

 

[Rhinocrates]

Manchu again. Alexei Leonov on the moon, the starting point of For All Mankind.

 

[southwestforests]

Alexei Leonov on the moon, the starting point of For All Mankind

I don't watch TV and movies but I do know the For All Mankind show exists and is an alternate history.
And that's the extent of what I know about it.
Even so ...
That flag bugs me for being hung backwards, the hammer and sickle were on the hoist edge of the real world Soviet flag.
But ...
It does have the star correct as the real world historically outline instead of solid, https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/su.html

Or maybe there were some real world exceptions to hammer and sickle placement - I'm just home from laundromat and messy health has me in pain and exhausted for the effort.

 

[Justo Miranda]

Manchu again. Alexei Leonov on the moon, the starting point of For All Mankind.

Think of the consequences of the Soviet Union winning the space race. Humanity would associate the terms communism and high technology. The Vietnam War would not have been necessary to balance the loss of prestige. It would not have been necessary to create the environmental movement, to downplay the importance of Western technological superiority. The Israeli air force would continue to use Mirages.

 

[Graham1973]

A pair of covers with an interesting backstory, in 1980/81 Analog Magazine ran a four part serial entitled 'Shuttle Down' by G. Harry Stein (Pen name: Lee Correy) in which a Vandenberg launched shuttle is forced to make an emergency landing on Easter Island. The story was subsequently reprinted as a novel by Ballentyne/Del Rey shortly after last part of the serial was published featuring a cover by Bill Schmidt.

The novel did well enough to mandate a second edition in 1986, this used the striking (and much more effective) image Rick Sternbach created for the issue of Analog part one of the serial appeared in.

 

[southwestforests]

A pair of covers with an interesting backstory, in 1980/81 Analog Magazine ran a four part serial entitled 'Shuttle Down' by G. Harry Stein (Pen name: Lee Correy)

And speaking of backstory,

"
G. Harry Stine (1928--1997) was a renowned rocket expert and a pioneer in the development of the aerospace hobby of model rocketry. Stine graduated from the University of Colorado, and first worked as an civilian scientist at White Sands Proving Ground as chief of the Controls and Instruments Section of the Propulsion Branch. In 1955, Stine went to work for the US Naval Ordnance Missile Test Facility at White Sands as head of the Range Operations Division and Navy Flight Safety Engineer. Stine later worked as an engineer for Stanley Aviation Corporation and the Huyck Corporation. Stine was the founder of Model Missiles, Inc., which was the first company to produce and market model rockets. He has also served as a freelance consultant for different organizations, including the National Air and Space Museum. Stine was a prolific author of both articles and books on science, astronautics and model rocketry, and he also wrote science fiction under the pseudonym, Lee Correy. In 1957, Stine founded the National Association for Rocketry (NAR), and he was an active member. He was also a member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the British Interplanetary Society, and the Explorer's Club.
"

G. Harry Stine Collection

This collection consists of G. Harry Stine's collection of archival material relating mainly to his involvement in rocket associations, including the National Association for Rocketry (NAR), and his association with model rocket manufacturers.

airandspace.si.edu

 

[Michel Van]

Manchu again. Alexei Leonov on the moon, the starting point of For All Mankind.

This is cover for french Alternate History comic series called Jour-J
That is for issue 1# Les Russes sur la Lune ! publish 2010.
The 50 issue series is not bad, some stories are good to what to hell i reading here ?...

they have Story arcs covering several Issue
like OMEGA: a Facist France fight another war with Britain in 1940s

 

[Michel Van]

A Martian base by Manchu. I'm not aware of the book it appeared on or in, if any.

he makes cover for Books or Comics and Illustration for magazines
but also art work for TV and Movie productions

like Il était une fois… l'Espace (Once Upon a Time... Space) the animate tv series from 1983.

 

[martinbayer]

I have to admit, I prefer my futuristic spacecraft designs without shark-mouths or painted on animal faces...

 

[southwestforests]

like Il était une fois… l'Espace (Once Upon a Time... Space) the animate tv series from 1983

Cool. I'm guessing the 'W' looking thing is their national insignia, maybe a unit marking, but I'd wager a national insignia.

 

[Graham1973]

The cover by Duane O. Meyer's for 'Alien Rites' (1995) by Lynn S. Hightower, the last in a four book science fiction police procedural series that was I suspect partly inspired by the 1988 film 'Alien Nation'...

 

[publiusr]

he makes cover for Books or Comics and Illustration for magazines
but also art work for TV and Movie productions

like Il était une fois… l'Espace (Once Upon a Time... Space) the animate tv series from 1983.

An influence here?

Zentraedi Scout (Macross)

BACKGROUND (as per macross mecha manual) The picket is a patrol ship used by the Zentradi fleets for advance reconnaissance. Prior to any main fleet entering a potentially hostile or unexplored area of space, the picket ships are sent in to scout and report back to the command ship. When the...

worldofjaymz.fandom.com

Stupid me confuse Heechee with Seetee

Jack Williamson: The “Seetee” Novels

Jack Williamson, one of several writers to rejoice under the informal title of "Dean of Science Fiction", was born in 1908 in what was then Arizona Territory, and amazingly published works in the fantasy and science fiction genres over a span of nine decades, from the 1920s to the 2000s.

oikofuge.com

 

[Michel Van]

An influence here?

no
Il était une fois… l'Espace (Once Upon a Time... Space) and Macross were created in same time, without interaction.
In fact Macross was quite obscure in Europe, until 1985 known under Robotech franchise.

The design used in Il était une fois… l'Espace seems more influence by "Terran Trade Authority" books by Cowley.

 

[Graham1973]

The cover by David Schleinkofer, for 'Nightside City' (1989) a future-noir novel by Lawrence Watt-Evans, an author more well known for his fantasy fiction. In 2010 the author released a belated sequel entitled 'Realms of Light'.