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Cover artists add a lot to a book and this is especially true in the field of science fiction. A.E. van Vogt's books had more varied, high-quality artwork adorning their covers than most of those of his fellow writers, and I'm glad to be able to share with you here a selection of over 200 scans of American and British books and magazines from my own collection.
The covers are sorted by type — Fiction, Magazines, Anthologies, Non-Fiction, and Miscellany. Items in each category are sorted alphabetically. Each hyperlink goes to the JPG by itself so you can simply click on a title to view the cover. All scans are shown at slightly larger than the actual covers to better show detail, with no loss in picture quality.
(For those who are curious about the file-naming system I've used, the explanation is on a separate page. It's a bit involved, so if you have no genuine interest in understanding this, you can safely ignore it.)
Nineteen of these covers I consider my favorites and have written special commentaries on what makes them so great. However, only thirteen commentaries are up at the moment — I will add the rest as time permits. If you click on any link below, it will take you to just the picture. To read the commentaries, it would be simplest to go straight to the Favorite Covers page.
On another part of my site, you will find the Storysource. This file is a brand-new bibliography that replaces the Compendium and Database by merging their contents, and adding new information in a vastly improved interface. As such it lists detailed information on every known edition and printing of his books in the English language. It goes along very nicely with the coverscans below.
For a more thorough catalogue of van Vogt book covers from many countries and many decades, you can go to the excellent Cover Gallery section of Magnus Axelsson's site The Weird Worlds of A.E. van Vogt. He has a very nice international variety, while I tend to specialize (rather predictably) in American paperbacks. Another good collection of coverscans can be found on Yutaka Morita's new site. It features Japanese, American, and British editions of various books and magazines. Alexander Martin Pfleger recently drew my attention to a very interesting page on Olaf R. Spittel's website that contains book covers from dozens of German editions of van Vogt's books.
One final note: often book covers are printed a little tilted in relation to the edges — I've compensated for this by making the text evenly horizontal when I scan the cover. This may result in a slightly uneven appearance for some pictures, especially with regards to the vertical sides. But believe me, this looks much better than having the text tilted. I learned this the hard way after making — and having to redo — several scans after belatedly noticing crooked titles.
FICTION
Ace
1977, April
Cover art © by Bart Forbes
Avon
1953
Cover artist unknown
Although it's not uncommon to see a bit of blurb on a book's spine nowadays mainly because books are so thick and competition so fierce in 1953 such a thing was quite rare. This and the Avon edition of The Mind Cage are notable in this respect, so I've included a scan of the spine as part of the back cover JPG.
Berkley
1959, August
Cover art © by Richard Powers
Berkley Medallion
1963, August
Cover art © by Richard Powers
Jove / HBJ
1977, November
Cover artist unknown
Ace
1971, June
Cover art © by John Schoenherr
New English Library (UK)
1980, April
Cover art © by Gerald Grace
DAW Books
1982, August (Canadian printing)
Cover art © by Wayne D. Barlowe
This is one of my favorite covers, though I have yet to write any commentary on it.
Macfadden
1964, May
Cover art © by Richard Powers
Science Fiction Book Club
1963, May
Cover art © by Howard Burns
Manor
1972, September
Cover artist unknown
Manor
1975, April
Cover artist unknown
Manor
c. 1978
Cover artist unknown
DAW Books
1984, February (Canadian printing)
Cover art © by Frank Kelly Freas
Carroll & Graf
1992, November
Cover art © by Jim Burns
This art also appeared on the 1997 Panther books edition of Robert A. Heinlein's novel Farnham's Freehold. However, this van Vogt book seems to reproduce only the right half of the whole picture, all of which can be seen on page 35 of the book Lightship: Jim Burns, Master of SF Illustration by Chris Evans (published by Paper Tiger in 2000).
Sphere (UK)
1974, May
Cover art © by Tony Roberts
1976, July
Cover art © by Harry Bennett
Sphere (UK)
1979, March
Cover art © by Peter Elson
Sphere (UK)
1979, March
Cover art © by Peter Elson
Zebra
1976, August
Cover art © by D.A. Daily
Funnily enough, this short story collection is described as a "novel" on the back cover. Still, in all fairness, if I had 88 blurbs to write before the weekend I'd probably slip up a bit every now and then too.
Zebra
1978, December
Cover art © by Douglas Beekman
Paperback Library
1969, May
Cover art © by Jeff Jones
DAW Books
1984, May
Cover art © by Ken W. Kelly
Carroll & Graf
1992, January
Cover art by Paul Lehr (?)
DAW Books
1972, April
Cover art © by Karel Thole
Macfadden-Bartell
1967, February
Cover art © by Jack Faragasso
Macfadden-Bartell
1969, August
Cover art © by Jack Faragasso
Manor
1974, February
Cover artist unknown
I apologize for the poor quality of the cover — then again, a cover like this doesn't deserve to be treated well. The previous owner obviously thought along similar lines.
Manor
1976
Cover art © by Bruce Pennington
Curiously, this is the same painting that adorned the cover of the 1970 NEL edition of The Weapon Makers.
Ace
1970
Cover art © by John Schoenherr
Ace
1975, February
Cover art © by John Schoenherr
New English Library (UK)
1980, April
Cover art © by Bruce Pennington
DAW Books
1983, November (Canadian printing)
Cover art © by Michael Mariano
This is the Canadian printing, but its cover is identical to that of the first edition printed in the U.S. in the same month. It was retitled Computer Eye in 1985 at the request of the well-known magazine Computerworld who were unhappy with the coinciding name.
New English Library (UK)
1986, February
Cover artist unknown
Interestingly, this British edition was printed from the plates of the original DAW edition so the pagination of the text is identical in both countries. It should also be noted that this copy states the first NEL printing as February 1986, which contradicts some of my other sources. The cover price is £2.25, though this cannot be seen on this scan since one of those irritating stickers is covering it up. A nice trick in this situation is to open the back cover and hold it up to the light the printing underneath then becomes visible.
DAW Books
1985, July
Cover art © by Michael Mariano
This edition — a retitled reprint of his 1983 novel Computerworld — is extremely rare, and this is the only copy I have ever seen for sale and it just so happened to be in mint condition. Since it is so scarce, I've decided to show you both the front and back covers. (But what's that I hear you say? "It's not so rare — for crying out loud, I've got 35 copies of it in a box in my garage!" Well, no wonder it's so hard to find!)
Carroll & Graf
1990, November
Cover art © by Tony Roberts
This art originally appeared on a Sphere edition of Gordon R. Dickson's Dorsai novel Tactics of Mistake.
Ace
1972, January
Cover art © by John Schoenherr
New English Library (UK)
1980, July
Cover art © by Tim White
DAW Books
1982, April
Cover art © by Wayne D. Barlowe
This is one of my favorite covers.
You can read my comments on it here.
Signet
1953, March
Cover art © by Stanley Meltzoff
A photo of van Vogt from the back cover can be seen here.
Signet
1958, September
Cover art © by Stanley Meltzoff
Berkley Medallion
1964, March
Cover art © by Richard Powers
Panther (UK)
1972, April
Cover art by Tony Roberts (?)
Berkley Medallion
1975
Cover art © by Richard Powers
Jove / HBJ
1977, September
Cover art © by Steve Hickman
This is one of my favorite covers.
You can read my comments on it here.
DAW Books
1976, August
Cover art © by Deane Cate
DAW Books
1978, October
Cover art © by Greg Theakston
published with Lost in Space by George O. Smith
Ace Double
1960, April
Cover art © by Ed Emshwiller
This is one of my favorite covers.
You can read my comments on it here.
Science Fiction Book Club
1957
Cover art © by H.W. McCauley
A photo of van Vogt from the back cover can be seen here.
published with Space Station #1 by Frank Belknap Long
Ace Double
1957, September
Cover art © by Ed Valigursky
Macfadden-Bartell
1966, December
Cover artist unknown
Macfadden-Bartell
1970, December
Cover art © by Jack Faragasso
Manor
1976
Cover art © by Bruce Pennington
This art originally appeared on the NEL edition of Christopher Priest's novel Indoctrinaire.
New English Library (UK)
1978, December
Cover art © by Joe Petagno
Timescape / Pocket
1983, July
Cover art © by Wayne D. Barlowe
This is one of my favorite covers.
You can read my comments on it here.
Orb / Tor
2000, July
Cover art © by Vincent Di Fate
Ace
1968
Cover art © by Jeff Jones
Ace
1973, October
Cover art © by Bart Forbes
Zebra
1976, May
Cover art © by D.A. Daily
Zebra
1978, March
Cover art © by Colin Hay
This is one of my favorite covers.
You can read my comments on it here.
New English Library (UK)
1980, April
Cover art © by Paul Monteagle
Paperback Library
1965, November
Cover art © by Jack Gaughan
Paperback Library
1968, November
Cover artist unknown
Paperback Library
1971, May
Cover art © by Richard Powers
Pocket Books
1980, October (Canadian printing)
Cover art © by Gerry Daly
This is the Canadian printing of the novel, as signaled by the maple leaf in the upper left-hand corner.
This is one of my favorite covers.
You can read my comments on it here.
More of Daly's excellent paintings can be see on the covers of Mission to the Stars, The Voyage of the Space Beagle, and The Weapon Shops of Isher. And be sure to read this fascinating interview with Daly.
Carroll & Graf
1993, January
Cover art by Tony Roberts (?)
This is one of my favorite covers.
You can read my comments on it here.
DAW Books
1979, September
Cover art © by Jim Souder
Paperback Library
1971, April
Cover art © by Geissmann (first name unknown)
DAW Books
1975, October
Cover art © by Vincent Di Fate
DAW Books
1979, November
Cover art © by J. Penalva
New English Library (UK)
1980, July
Cover art © by Tim White
Macfadden-Bartell
1967, February
Cover artist unknown
Macfadden-Bartell
1969, June
Cover art © by Jack Faragasso
Manor
1974, February
Cover artist unknown
I apologize for the poor condition of this book — it was purchased at a used book store, and it just goes to show that some people do more than just read their books. Whoever owned it before apparently used it as a coaster for their beverage. My only consolation is that even in mint condition, the cover still would've looked like garbage. Red and lime-puke green indeed!
I've found books in far worse condition, though — I have a copy of D.F. Jones' Colossus and the Crab that, when I found it in a used book store in Texas, had a strip of bacon stuck between pages 78 & 79. Somebody used their breakfast as a bookmark!
Manor
1975
Cover art © by Bruce Pennington
The "cover design" is credited to Tony Destefano, but the painting is Pennington's. I discovered this by means of what my friend Michael McKinney termed callipygian taxonomy.
This cover art was originally put on the NEL edition of Frank Herbert's novel Whipping Star hence, presumably, the profusion of stars and whips in the painting.
Beacon Books
1960, September
Cover art © by Gerald McConnel
This spiced-up revision of The House That Stood Still has a sleazy cover and a salacious blurb to match.
Avon
1958
Cover art by Richard Powers (?)
Although it's not uncommon to see a bit of blurb on a book's spine nowadays mainly because books are so thick and competition so fierce in 1953 such a thing was quite rare. This and the Avon edition of Away and Beyond are notable in this respect, so I've included a scan of the spine as part of the back cover JPG.
Tower
1967
Cover artist unknown
The blurb on this edition has some of the most outrageous hyperbole that I've ever come across, with the back cover reaching an almost hysterical pitch of desperation. It's painfully amusing to read, especially since the book isn't all that great.
Belmont
1970, March
Cover artist unknown
1978, March
Cover art © by Vincent Di Fate
Timescape / Pocket
1981, March
Cover art © by Vincent Di Fate
Carroll & Graf
1993, May
Cover art by "REV"
Signet
1952, January
Cover art © by Stanley Meltzoff
Berkley Medallion
1955, December
Cover art © by Richard Powers
Berkley Medallion
1971, March
Cover art © by Mike Hinge
1977, October
Cover art © by Ed Soyka
This is one of my favorite covers.
You can read my comments on it here.
1980, November
Cover art © by Gerry Daly
This is one of my favorite covers.
You can read my comments on it here.
And be sure to read this fascinating interview with Daly.
Paperback Library
1965, February
Cover artist unknown
Dell
1971, May
Cover art by Jerome Podwil (?)
New English Library
1980, April
Cover art © by Gerald Grace
Tor
2008, May
Cover art © by Bruce Jensen
The early promotional cover JPG that appeared on the internet months before the novel's release is interesting in that it shows more of Jensen's painting, has brighter colors, and features larger print. The Sci-Fi logo is also on the right side, rather than on the left. I'm reproducing it here because the image quality is much sharper than my scan of the actual cover, since presumably it's 100% digital, a mock-up taken directly from the artist's original. Also, the color scheme was extremely difficult to capture even approximately in my scan — so many unusual shades of yellow and green, none of which wanted to cooperate. So with this promotional version, you can see the colors for what they should really look like.
The dedication is also worth noting, not only because I'm listed there (ahem) but mainly because of the touching poem to van Vogt, in which Wright laments having never written him a fan letter. I hope this inspires those of you out there to write to your favorite living authors right now, before it's too late. I personally will always regret having never gotten around to writing a fan letter to Jack L. Chalker...
Two reviews of this novel are available on the Reviews mainpage.
Sphere (UK)
1985, February
Cover art © by Bruce Pennington
This, the first English-language edition of the book, was published in Great Britain and remains difficult to locate.
DAW Books
1985, July
Cover art © by Tim Jacobus
published with The Other Side of Here by Murray Leinster
Ace Double
1955, February
Cover art © by Ed Valigursky
Perhaps Leinster's novel should've been entitled The Other Side of an Ace Double?
Powell
1969
Cover art © by Albert Nuetzell
Ace
1956
Cover art © by Ed Emshwiller
Sphere (UK)
1985
Cover art © by Bruce Pennington
This is one of my favorite covers, though I have yet to write any commentary on it.
DAW Books
1978, December
Cover art © by J. Penalva
New English Library (UK)
1982, July
Cover art © by Peter Elson
J'ai Lu
1987, February
Cover art © by James Gurney
This novel, which was never published in English, has been summarized by Alexander Martin Pfleger.
Here is my loose translation of the preface. My knowledge of French may be very basic, but this is guaranteed to be more intelligible than a machine translation!
In 1981 I gave permission to Renato Pestriniero, a resident of Lido near Venice and a writer well-known in his country, to adapt my short story "Enchanted Village" into a novel. It was quickly completed. It was written in Italian, naturally, and it was published there under the title Il Villagio incantato.
In 1983 Renato, who speaks English fluently, began the job of translating the novel into English, and sent me the finished result. I did some minor rewriting and touch-ups at the rate of two pages a day, whenever I had a spare moment (which was seldom). My work was finished in May 1986.
It was Renato who suggested The People of the Wide Sands for the American title, which seemed a good title at the time (and still does today).
And I think it's a marvellous story.
Ullstein Taschenbuch Verlag
1987, November
Cover art © by B. Barnard
This novel, which was never published in English, has been summarized by Alexander Martin Pfleger.
Frederick Fell
1954
Cover artist unknown
This first edition was released under E. Mayne Hull's name alone. Subsequent editions included van Vog'ts name as co-author in order to increase sales. The dusk jacket interior contains some biographical details about Hull, including some items of interesting information that I've never come across anywhere else.
Book Company of America
1965
Cover art © by Albert Nuetzell
Starting with this edition A.E. van Vogt's name was added as co-author, at the publisher's insistence, in order to increase sales. The original hardback edition was credited solely to his wife E. Mayne Hull.
Albert Nuetzell, brother to the writer and editor Charles Nuetzell, also did the cover for the 1969 edition of Out of the Unknown.
Tempo
1970, November
Cover art © by Paul Lehr
Berkley Medallion
1966, March
Cover art © by Jerome Podwil
Berkley Medallion
1974, April
Cover art © by Paul Lehr
Berkley
1982, August
Cover art © by Vincent Di Fate
Incidentally, this is the copy that was autographed and given to me by van Vogt when I met him in 1994. You can read my account of this meeting elsewhere on my site, along with a photo of him and his wife Lydia.
Di Fate's cover painting was later used as the frontispiece of the Easton Press leatherbound edition of The World of Null-A.
Paperback Library
1971, January
Cover art © by Jack Gaughan
This book has some excellent blurb descriptions for the stories on the back cover. In particular, the blurb for "Rebirth: Earth" is as good an encapsulation of that surreal story as I've ever come across.
Zebra
1976, March
Cover art © by D.A. Daily
Ace
1970, July
Cover art © by John Schoenherr
Please excuse the rather unsightly stains on this cover, and on the 1972 printing. Both seem to be candle wax, oddly enough — I guess the previous owners didn't have electricity.
Science Fiction Book Club
1970, December
Cover art © by Gary Viskupic
Ace
1972, December
Cover art © by John Schoenherr
1979, May
Cover art © by Jerome Podwil
New English Library (UK)
1980, October
Cover art © by Gerald Grace
This is one of my favorite covers.
You can read my comments on it here.
DAW Books
1980, May
Cover art © by Greg Theakston
Reward / Prentice-Hall
1974, March
Cover art © by Ann Layman Chancellor
I swear to you people, this scan has not been altered — it really is that hideous. It goes along quite well with the book's equally bad content. Manor Books also put bichromatic disasters on the covers of their 1974 run of van Vogt novels: The Changeling (pink & purple), Empire of the Atom (red & light blue), Masters of Time(orange & lime green!), The Voyage of the Space Beagle (green & pink), and The Wizard of Linn (dark blue).
1974 — as can be seen all too clearly — was truly an awful year for book covers, at least as far as van Vogt was concerned.
Paperback Library
1967, September
Cover art © by Jerome Podwil
published with The World-Swappers by John Brunner
Ace Double
1959, October
Cover art © by Ed Valigursky
Ace
1969
Cover art © by Jack Gaughan
Ace
1973, December
Cover art © by Bart Forbes
DAW Books
1982, January (Canadian printing)
Cover art © by Wayne D. Barlowe
This is one of my favorite covers, though I have yet to write any commentary on it.
Simon & Schuster
1951
Cover design © by Edward R. Collins
This was the first readily available edition of Slan ever published, being preceded in 1946 by the rare volume published by Arkham Press. This Simon & Schuster edition contained a number of revisions from previous versions of the novel. This copy that I recently acquired had a nice surprise inside: the original feedback card that came with it, which readers would use to tell the publisher how satisfied they were with the novel.
Dell
1953
Cover artist unknown
Ballantine
1961, May
Cover art © by Richard Powers
This edition has an interesting illustration on the title page, presumably also by Powers.
Berkley Medallion
1968, April
Cover artist unknown
Berkley Medallion
1975, July
Cover art © by Paul Lehr
This is one of my favorite covers, though I have yet to write any commentary on it.
Science Fiction Book Club
1978
Cover art © by Gary Viskupic
This is a very striking painting, and the full-scale scan came out so well with the texture being unusually rich that I decided to create a wallpaper out of it. The dimensions are wrong for a desktop background so you can trim to fit your screen, or just enjoy it as is. It makes a nice companion piece to Jensen's Slan Hunter cover below.
Berkley
1983
Cover art © by Vincent Di Fate
art without titles
© by Bruce Jensen
This is not a scan rather, it is a file sent to me by the artist himself, Bruce Jensen, of the wonderful painting he did for Kevin J. Anderson's Slan Hunter which was published by Tor in July 2007. I'd like to thank Bruce very much for sharing his art in this "textless" form, which is always a real treat to see.
SFBC
2007, June
Cover art © by Vincent Di Fate
This is the combined edition of Slan and its new sequel, as put out in hardcover by the Science Fiction Book Club, featuring a very nice painting by Di Fate. It also includes Anderson's new introduction to Slan as well as Lydia's touching forward to Slan Hunter. And contrary to what the copyright page may say, this reprints the 1951 text of Slan, not the 1968 version.
Even though it's the same image as the front cover I've included the back as well, mainly because of that very nice moon in the background that was blotted out by the title on the front. (Although on the back we see one of those darn pesky barcodes blocking a different portion!)
Since I'm not a member of the SFBC, I came by this book indirectly it was a gift to me from that very generous superslan, Mark McSherry.
DAW Books
1977, January
Cover art © by Vincent Di Fate
DAW Books
1978, February
Cover art © by Attila Hejja
Sidgwick & Jackson (UK)
1973, June
Cover design by Mike Cook
J'ai Lu
1985, April
Cover art © by Barclay Shaw
Although originally contracted for DAW Books in the mid-70s, this novel has never been published in any language other than French.
Baen
2006, October
Cover art © by Bob Eggleton
This oversized trade paperback is the most recent van Vogt collection to appear in print. It contains the original magazine versions of the tales in the Clane, Ezwal, and Mixed Men series. Like many Baen books, it can also be purchased for $5 as a nifty digital download in a variety of formats.
published with One of Our Asteroids is Missing
by Calvin M. Knox [Robert Silverberg]
Ace Double
1964, January
Cover art © by Jack Gaughan
Paperback Library
1964, July
Cover art © by Jack Gaughan
Paperback Library
1971, October
Cover artist unknown
published with The World of Null-A
Ace Double
1953, October
Cover art © by Paul Orban
Ace
1967
Cover art © by Jack Gaughan
Ace
1974, March
Cover art © by Bart Forbes
Timescape / Pocket
1982, November
Cover art © by Jerome Podwil
Sphere (UK) (published with his short story "The Proxy Intelligence")
1985
Cover art © by Peter Elson
Carroll & Graf
1992, April
Cover artist unknown
Incidentally, this is the copy that was signed by van Vogt when I met him in 1994. You can read my account of this meeting elsewhere on my site, along with a photo of him and his wife Lydia.
Avon
1964, January
Cover art © by Robert Jones
Avon
1967, January
Cover art © by James Bama
Avon
1970, February
Cover art © by James Bama
This copy is in bad condition — it looks like somebody gave it a rub-down with a sheet of sandpaper — but it can be clearly seen that it merely reproduces a cut-out portion of Bama's painting for the 1967 edition.
By the way, I'm none too sure if I believe that bit about "350,000 COPIES IN PRINT." I'll believe it when I see 350,000 copies sitting in front of me, and no sooner.
1978, April
Cover art © by Vincent Di Fate
Macfadden
1963
Cover art © by Richard Powers
Manor
1976
Cover art © by Bruce Pennington
This is one of my favorite covers, though I have yet to write any commentary on it.
This art originally appeared on the NEL edition of Brian Aldiss' book Equator, as well as at least one other book put out by Manor in the 1970s, the anthology 4 Futures (which it didn't suit at all).
Manor
c. 1977
Cover art © by Bruce Pennington
Timescape / Pocket
1981, July
Cover art © by Gerry Daly
This is one of my favorite covers.
You can read my comments on it here.
And be sure to read this fascinating interview with Daly.
Science Fiction Book Club
1982, May
Cover art © by Clyde Caldwell
Perma / Pocket
1962, December
Cover art by Richard Powers (?)
Ace
1972, November
Cover art © by John Schoenherr
Ace
1977, August
Cover art © by Don Ivan Punchantz
This is one of my favorite covers.
You can read my comments on it here.
Timescape / Pocket
1982, September
Cover art © by Vincent Di Fate
Incidentally, this is the copy that was signed by van Vogt when I met him in 1994. You can read my account of this meeting elsewhere on my site, along with a photo of him and his wife Lydia.
Ace
1966
Cover art © by Jack Gaughan
New English Library (UK)
1970, June
Cover art © by Bruce Pennington
Curiously, this is the same painting that adorned the cover of the 1976 Manor edition of The Changeling.
Tempo
1970, November
Cover art © by Paul Lehr
1979, February
Cover art © by Jerome Podwil
Ace
1961, January
Cover artist unknown
Ace
1969, December
Cover art © by John Schoenherr
This is one of my favorite covers, though I have yet to write any commentary on it.
New English Library (UK)
1970, July
Cover art © by Bruce Pennington
Ace
1973, November
Cover art © by Bart Forbes
Ace
1974
Cover art © by Bart Forbes
1977, August
Cover art © by Adams (first name unknown)
c. 1980
Cover art © by Gerry Daly
This is one of my favorite covers.
You can read my comments on it here.
And be sure to read this fascinating interview with Daly.
Berkley Medallion
1967, May
Cover art © by "Hoot"
(full name: Hubertus Octavio von Zitzewitz)
Berkley Medallion
1970, November
Photo/Cover art © by Ira Cohen
DAW Books
1980, March
Cover art © by Douglas Beekman
It's worth noting that when this edition was released again in 1985, the quality of printing on the cover was dramatically improved. All copies of this 1980 edition that I've seen have darker, murkier colors.
DAW Books
1985, July
Cover art © by Douglas Beekman
Ace
1962
Cover art © by Ed Valigursky
Macfadden-Bartell
1968, December
Cover art by Jack Faragasso (?)
Manor
1974, February
Cover artist unknown
New English Library (UK)
1979, February
Cover art © by Joe Petagno
Timescape / Pocket
1983, August
Cover art © by Wayne D. Barlowe
Simon & Schuster
1948
Cover art © by Leo Manso
Grosset & Dunlap
1950
Cover artist unknown
This hardback reprint of the 1948 Simon & Schuster text of the novel contains a two-page introduction by the influential anthologist Groff Conklin.
published with The Universe Maker
Ace Double
1953, October
Cover art © by Robert Schulz
Ace
1964
Cover art © by Ed Emshwiller
Berkley
1970, November
Cover art © by Richard Powers
This 1970 edition was the first to contain the slightly revised version of the 1948 text, and included a new introduction by van Vogt.
This copy is the November reprint of the original Berkley edition released in February, but is identical in every important respect.
Berkley Medallion
1974, March
Cover art © by Paul Lehr
Berkley Medallion
1977, January
Cover art © by Paul Lehr
Berkley
1982, March
Cover art © by Vincent Di Fate
Easton Press
1995?
Book design and artwork © by Vincent Di Fate
This is the ultra-deluxe leather-bound gold-edged edition published intermittently by Easton Press since 1988. It's an exquisitely beautiful volume and these scans don't do it justice for the full effect, you really do need to hold a copy in your hands, run your fingers over the rivulets in the cover, whiff the leather, open it up and flip the smooth, gilded pages while relishing the amazing craftsmanship that went into every aspect of its production. It even has its own built-in satin bookmark! You know it's a really fancy book when it has one of those...
The stunning frontispiece is a reproduction of Di Fate's painting for the '82 Berkley edition of The Players of Null-A.
Orb / Tor
2002, October
Cover art © by Hubert Rogers
This painting (erroneously attributed to "Mark Rogers" on the back of this book) originally adorned the cover of the November 1948 issue of Astounding Science Fiction, which contained Part 2 of The Players of A.
Ace
1974, January
Cover art © by Bart Forbes
The Arkham Sampler
1949, Winter
Contains "Dear Pen Pal"
(not illustrated)
Astounding Science Fiction
1939, July
Table of contents
Cover art © by Graves Gladney
for van Vogt's story
Contains "Black Destroyer"
illustrated by F. Kramer
Astounding Science Fiction
1939, December
Editorial
Cover art © by H. Gilmore
for van Vogt's story
Contains "Discord in Scarlet"
illustrated by Paul Orban
Astounding Science Fiction
1940, April
Cover art © by Hubert Rogers
for L. Ron Hubbard's Final Blackout
Contains "Repetition"
illustrated by F. Kramer
Astounding Science Fiction
1940, September
Cover art © by Hubert Rogers
inspired by R.S. Richardson's article "Universes for Lenses"
Contains Slan, Part One
illustrated by Charles Schneeman
Astounding Science Fiction
1940, October
Cover art © by Hubert Rogers
Contains Slan, Part Two
illustrated by Charles Schneeman
Astounding Science Fiction
1940, November
Cover art © by Hubert Rogers
for Vic Phillips' "Salvage"
Contains Slan, Part Three
illustrated by Charles Schneeman
Astounding Science Fiction
1940, December
Cover art © by Hubert Rogers
for P. Schuyler Miller's "Old Man Mulligan"
Contains Slan, Part Four
illustrated by Charles Schneeman
Astounding Science Fiction
1942, April
Cover art © by Hubert Rogers, for Part 1 of
Robert A. Heinlein's Beyond This Horizon
Contains "Co-operate or Else!"
illustrated by Charles Schneeman
Astounding Science Fiction
1942, October
Cover art © by A. von Munchausen (yes, as in "Baron"),
for Lester del Rey's "Lunar Landing"
Contains "The Second Solution"
illustrated by Kolliker
Astounding Science Fiction
1943, August
Cover art © by William Timmins
for C. L. Moore's Judgment Night
Contains "M33 in Andromeda"
illustrated by A. Williams
Astounding Science Fiction
1944, September
Cover art © by William Timmins
for Clifford D. Simak's "Census"
Contains "A Can of Paint"
illustrated by Paul Orban
Astounding Science Fiction
1945, May
Cover art © by William Timmins
for Murray Leinster's "First Contact"
Contains "The Purpose"
illustrated by Paul Orban
Astounding Science Fiction
1945, August
Cover art © by William Timmins
Contains World of A, Part One
illustrated by Paul Orban
Astounding Science Fiction
1945, September
Cover art © by William Timmins
Contains World of A, Part Two
illustrated by Paul Orban
Astounding Science Fiction
1945, October
Cover art © by William Timmins,
for A. Bertram Chandler's "Giant Killer"
Contains World of A, Part Three
illustrated by Paul Orban
Astounding Science Fiction
1946, November
Cover art © by William Timmins,
for Theodore Sturgeon's "Mewhu's Jet"
Contains The Chronicler
Astounding Science Fiction
1948, May
Cover art © by "Alejandro" (working name of Alejandro Canedo)
Contains "The Rull"
illustrated by Paul Orban
Alejandro's covers for Astounding could be depended on to convey the same theme over and over again. Here we see variation #228 of "Unclothed Man As Atomic God."
Astounding Science Fiction
1948, October
Cover art © by Hubert Rogers
Contains The Players of A, Part One
illustrated by Hubert Rogers
Funnily enough, this painting was recently used on the cover of Tor's 1999 reprint of The War Against the Rull.
Astounding Science Fiction
1948, November
Cover art © by Hubert Rogers
Contains The Players of A, Part Two
illustrated by Hubert Rogers.
Rather like it's counterpart for the October 1948 issue, this painting was later used by Tor to adorn a book that is also not the second Null-A novel. This time it decorated their 2002 reprint of the first in the series, The World of Null-A, in the process erroneously crediting it to "Mark Rogers." They presumably didn't use a cover from the serial of World because Rogers' artwork is far more interesting than Timmins'. ;-)
Astounding Science Fiction
1948, December
Cover art © by Paul Orban,
for Poul Anderson's "Genius"
Contains The Players of A, Part Three
illustrated by Hubert Rogers
Astounding Science Fiction
1949, January
Cover art © by Hubert Rogers,
for Lewis Padgett's "Private Eye"
Contains The Players of A, Part Four
illustrated by Hubert Rogers
Astounding Science Fiction
1949, June
Cover art © by Chesley Bonestell,
for Philip Latham's article "The Aphrodite Project"
Contains "The Green Forest"
illustrated by Brush
Astounding Science Fiction
1950, February
Cover art © by Hubert Rogers,
for L. Ron Hubbard's novel To the Stars
Contains "The Sound"
illustrated by Brush
Authentic Science Fiction Monthly
1953, April
Cover art © by "Davis" (pseudonym of John Richards)
Contains "Haunted Atoms" (Reprint)
illustrated by Fischer
Avon Fantasy Reader #4
1947, September
Cover artist unknown
Contains "Defense"
(not illustrated)
Fantastic Stories of Imagination
1961, September
Cover art © by Alex Schomburg, for van Vogt's story
Contains "Ship of Darkness" (Reprint)
illustrated by Dan Adkins
Sam Moscowitz's informative introduction to this unusual tale can be read here and here.
Fantastic Story
1952, Summer
Cover art © by Alex Schomburg
Contains Slan
(Abridged 1940 text)
illustrated by Virgil Finlay
Fantasy Book #1
1947, July
Front cover
Back cover (full)
Back cover close-up (top)
Back cover close-up (bottom)
Table of contents
Cover art © by Milo
Contains "The Cataaaaa"
illustrated by Charles McNutt
This, the first issue of the rare Fantasy Book magazine, is so tall and wide that scanning it in proved quite challenging. After several unsatisfactory attempts I finally had to resort to doing the front and back covers in a piecemeal fashion and then stitching the images together. Owing to this difficulty, I've included the interesting back cover in two forms as a smaller stitched-together image, and as the two original high-resolution images where the text is easier to read. After reading those tantalizing descriptions of books for sale, I found myself adding a few titles to my shopping list!
This issue is especially famous for containing Andre Norton's first published science fiction story, "People of the Crater," under the name Andrew North.
Incidentally, according to the seller I purchased this from, this copy of Fantasy Book #1 was once part of Forrest J. Ackerman's collection. Of course, this was probably just one of a few dozen copies he had in his attic, but still I think that's pretty neat.
Fantasy Book #2
1948, March
Pulp paper edition
Cover art © by Roy Hunt
Book paper edition
Cover art © by Lora Crozetti
Contains "Ship of Darkness"
illustrated by Charles McNutt
William Crawford was the editor and publisher of Fantasy Book along with his wife Margaret, but for some reason they worked here under the pseudonym of Garret Ford. Due to financial and technical problems, it was rare for any two issues of FB to be the exact same size issue #1 is somewhat larger than the bedsheet format, while issue #2 is somewhat smaller than the bedsheet format, while issues #3 on up were more or less digest size. And to further confuse things, some individual issues were released in two formats, with different covers and different prices. Such is the case here with issue #2. The larger edition, with blue-and-black cover art by Roy Hunt, was printed on extremely low-quality pulp paper, while the slightly smaller edition, with black-and-yellow cover art by Lora Crozetti, was printed on much higher quality book paper. The contents of the magazine, however, are identical, so Crozetti is (rather confusingly) given cover art credit on the contents page in both editions. Fortunately, Hunt has put a clearly legible signature to his artwork:
Nonetheless, for all its faults and eccentricities FB vividly conveyed Crawford's endless enthusiasm for SF and fantasy. He helmed numerous short-lived publishing ventures over the years — including Marvel Tales in the '30s, Fantasy Book in the late '40s, Spaceway in the early '50s (and again in the late '60s!), and Witchcraft & Sorcery in the early '70s — each of which exhibited the same endearing shoddiness. I find his to be a inspiring example of plunging ahead to do something you love, with exuberant spontaneity and a refreshing lack of cringing apologetics.
Fantasy Book #3
1948, July
Front cover
Back cover
Cover art © by Lora Crozetti
for "The Gifts of Asti" by Andrew North [Andre Norton]
Contains "The Great Judge"
(not illustrated)
The back cover of this issue has some interesting adverts for books being released that month from the Fantasy Publishing Company, which was also the publisher of Fantasy Book.
Fantasy Book
1981, December
Front cover
Table of contents
Cover art © by Charles Vess
Contains "Death Talk" (Reprint)
illustrated by Walter Lee
This rare story has only ever appeared twice in English (and once in French), with the first being in the British anthology Pulsar 1 edited by George Hay.
This semiprozine ran for 23 quarterly issues from October 1981 to March 1987. Although it bears the title of Fantasy Book, it was unrelated to William Crawford's magazine of the same name (which ran from 1947 to 1951). In his first editorial, Dennis Mallonee acknolwedged his indebtedness to Crawford for partial inspiration, but this later Fantasy Book in truth has more in common with Campbell's Unknown Worlds, featuring stories from the fantasy, horror, and science fiction genres, as well as humorous and unclassifiable tales.
Unlike its namesake, Mallonee's is a very professional and breathtakingly beautiful magazine, meticulously layed out and printed on marvellous quality paper. Along with its fine selection of fiction, it also showcased the work of numerous talented artists.
Fantasy Crossroads #14
1978, September
Front cover
Back cover
Table of Contents
Front cover art © by Stephen E. Fabian & Hannes Bok
Back cover art © by Stephen Riley
Contains "The Gods Defied"
(Not illustrated. Although Stephen Riley is credited on the contents page with illustrating this story, all that actually appeared is a fancy title block.)
Galaxy
1969, September
Front cover
Back cover
Cover art © by Donald H. Menzel
Contains "Humans, Go Home!"
illustrated by Jack Gaughan
Gaughan's illustrations include a very interesting two-page spread that features some important background details this very helpful information was not included in subsequent appearances of "Humans, Go Home!" and does a great deal to explain some of the more cryptic aspects of the story, particularly humanity's use of special "Symbols."
Donald Menzel's wraparound cover for this issue of Galaxy (entitled "Menzel's Martians") was done in honor of Mariner VI & VII and is accompanied by his delightful little article "Martians and Venusians" which describes these fanciful creatures. This three-page section is available as two JPG scans: Pages 1 & 2 and Page 3.
Galaxy
1971, February
Cover art © by Jack Gaughan
inspired by Stephen Tall's "This is My Country"
Contains "The Reflected Men"
illustrated by Jack Gaughan
Galaxy
1979, June/July
Cover art © by Kenneth Smith
for Jesse Peel's Star Warriors
Contains "Femworld: Before the Revolution"
(an excerpt of Chapters 1-5 from Renaissance)
illustrator unknown
Though it has nothing to do with van Vogt's story, this is a rather interesting cover. I especially like that weird blue-crab jelly-headed monster in the background.
If
1965, February
Cover art © by Richard McKenna
for E. Clayton McCarty's "Small One"
Contains "The Replicators"
illustrated by Gray Morrow
If
1986, September
Front cover
Table of contents (1)
Table of contents (2)
Editorial (1)
Editorial (2)
Cover art © by Bob Eggleton
Contains "Prologue to Freedom"
illustrated by Vincent Di Fate
Like the mid-80s issues of Weird Tales, this was a later revival of a well-loved magazine. This one was even more short-lived, lasting for just this single issue, edited by Clifford R. Hong.
"Prologue to Freedom" was van Vogt's last published short story. It's an incredibly dull tale about the splitting of California into a northern Communist sector and a southern Capitalist zone, and the efforts of various people to move their wealth from one to the other. The illustration by Di Fate, however, is a genuinely creepy new rendition of the American flag.
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
1950, December
Cover art © by Chesley Bonestell
Contains "Process"
(not illustrated)
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
1971, January
Cover art © by Vaughn Bode, for van Vogt's story
Contains "The Human Operators" (with Harlan Ellison)
(not illustrated)
Marvel Science Fiction
1951, August
Cover art © by Hannes Bok
Contains "This Joe" (aka "The First Martian")
illustrated by Harry Harrison
Other Worlds
1950, May
Cover art © by Malcolm Smith
for Eric Frank Russell's "Dear Devil"
Contains "War of Nerves"
illustrated by Bill Terry
Other Worlds
1950, July
Cover art © by Malcolm Smith
for The Justice of Martin Brand by G.H. Irwin
[Raymond A. Palmer]
Contains "Enchanted Village"
illustrated by Jon Arfstrom
Other Worlds
1950, September
Cover art © by Malcolm Smith
for S.J. Byrne's Colossus III
Contains "Automaton"
illustrated by Malcolm Smith
Out of This World Adventures
1950, July
Front cover
Table of contents
32-Page Comics Section
Cover artist unknown
Contains "Letter From the Stars" [aka "Dear Pen Pal"]
illustrated by "Marm" (?)
One of Donald A. Wollheim's experimental publishing ventures, this magazine lasted only two issues (this is the first). Both featured a lengthy comics section, which is unusual for a magazine of this period. Information and scans from this first issue's comics are available here.
Planet Stories
1951, March
Cover art © by Allen Anderson
for Leigh Brackett's Black Amazon of Mars
Contains "The Star Saint"
illustrated by Paul Orban
The Science Fiction Collector #8
1979, October/December
Front cover
Table of Contents
Editorial
Contains The 1979 Thiessen Interview
Science Fiction Digest
#1 1954, February
Cover art © by Chester Martin
Contains "Haunted Atoms" (reprint)
illustrator unknown
Spaceway
1954, June
Cover art © by Paul Blaisdell
Contains "Hypnotism Man" (Article)
(not illustrated)
Spaceway
1955, February
Cover art © by Paul Blaisdell
for "Criswell Predicts on Outer Space"
Contains "Van Vogt on Dianetics" (Interview)
(not illustrated)
Van Vogt's piece, which is an interview about Dianetics, has a brief introduction by the editor which can be read here.
Spaceway
1969, January
Cover art © by Morris Scott Dollens
Contains "Him"
(not illustrated)
Startling Stories
1950, January
Cover art © by Earle K. Bergey
for Edmond Hamilton's The Return of Captain Future
Contains The Shadow Men
(original, short version of The Universe Maker)
illustrated by Stephen Lawrence
Super Science Stories
1949, April
Cover art © by Stephen Lawrence
Contains "The Earth Killers"
illustrated by Virgil Finlay (?)
I must say that if that bright-red crabdog monster is Stephen Lawrence's idea of a menacing alien creature, one can easily see why he usually stuck to drawing his gorgeous space maidens...
Weird Tales
1984, Fall
Front cover
Table of contents
Editorial
Cover art © by Hyang Ro Kim, for van Vogt's story
Contains "The Pandora Principle" (with Brinke Stevens)
illustrated by Dave Stevens
This incredibly rare issue was one of only two revival issues of this venerable magazine edited by Gordon M.D. Garb, both of which contained stories by van Vogt. This first issue contained "The Pandora Principle, Part 1." The rest of the serial was either never written or never published, which is a shame since Part 1 is a fun and engaging story.
Unusually for van Vogt, the collaborator on this story was not another science fiction author, but Brinke Stevens, a "scream queen" famous for her many starring roles in
low-grade horror movies. How they came to write this story together is a mystery, though it is possible that they met through their mutual friend, Forrest J. Ackerman, who was an enthusiastic supporter of (and often a participant in) such films. (Sadly, Ackerman passed away in early December 2008.) Incidentally, Brinke was married to Dave Stevens, the comic book artist who provided the single illustration for this story, for a short time in the early '80s. Brinke was also the "Production Executive" for this revival of Weird Tales.
Weird Tales
1985, Winter
Front cover
Table of contents
Editorial & Spot Featuring Comedian Eric Idle
Artist & model profile
Full-page ad for Null-A Three
Locus article by Jim van Hise about Weird Tales (page 1)
Locus article by Jim van Hise about Weird Tales (page 2)
Cover art © by Hyang Ro Kim
for Robert Bloch's "Unspeakable Betrothal"
Contains "The Brain"
illustrator unknown
This second issue of the mid-80s revival of Weird Tales is even rarer than the first. After countless years of searching for this issue I was finally able to obtain a copy on eBay from Jim van Hise who, incidentally, also wrote a short article about this revival of Weird Tales for the September 1986 issue of Locus magazine (issue #308). This article is reproduced above by kind permission of Mr. van Hise, who also supplied the scanned article.
Aside from van Vogt's story "The Brain," which is one of his finest from his later period, this issue contains many items of interest, including a full-page ad for the limited hardcover edition of Null-A Three, a short item about the cover artist and model, as well as a surprising and delightful piece about a visit made to Weird Tales' offices by the famous British comedian Eric Idle.
Witchcraft & Sorcery
1971, January/February
Front cover
Table of contents
Editorial
Coming Next Issue...
Cover art © by Burge
for Carleton Grindle's "The Momentary Ghost"
Contains "The Rat and the Snake"
illustrated by Robert E. Jennings
This short-lived magazine was originally entitled Coven 13, under the editorship of Arthur H. Landis. When sales declined, however, it was bought by William Crawford (editor and publisher Fantasy Book and Spaceway) who turned it into Witchcraft & Sorcery: The Modern Magazine of Weird Tales until it too ceased after a few issues. (You can read more about the changeover in the editorial.)
Despite the magazine's lurid name which might have better described as "The Modern Magazine of Horrible Hyperbole" the majority of the tales in this magazine are fairly tame and predictable, and as is often the case with Crawford's magazines, they reflect more enthusiasm than skill. Surprisingly, the interior artwork is of a higher quality than the stories, effectively conveying the eldritch dread which the insipid fiction fails to deliver.
Ghor, Kin-Slayer: The Saga of Genseric's Fifth-Born Son
by Robert E. Howard, et al.
Necronomicon Press
1997, August
Cover art © by Robert H. Knox
Contains van Vogt's contribution, "Chapter X: The Gods Defied"
A summary of this unusual multi-author novel can be read elsewhere on my site.
Pulsar 1
edited by George Hay
Penguin (UK)
1978, December
Cover art © by Adrian Chesterman
Contains "Death Talk"
This is one of my favorite covers.
You can read my comments on it here.
Quark/#1
edited by Samuel R. Delany & Marilyn Hacker
Paperback Library
1970, November
Cover "art" © by Russell FitzGerald
Contains Carthing" (aka "Chevrolet, I Love You")
This is a very unpleasant cover, which seems to reflect the New Wave's preferred method of exploring new frontiers through drugs rather than space travel!
Stopwatch
edited by George Hay
Front cover
Cover Panorama
Dust Jacket Flap 1
Dust Jacket Flap 2
George Hay's Autograph
Title Page
Copyright Page & Table of Contents
Board: Front & Spine
New English Library
1974
Cover artist unknown
Contains "All We Have on This Planet"
George Hay's autograph is not only borderline illegible (apart from an exuberant "Hay" at the end), but on the front flyleaf rather than the title page. Well, the seller said it was his autograph, but as far as I can tell it could just be a random scribble that bears a surface similarity to some of the letters in his name. Actually, it looks more like a doctor's signature. Hmmm... did Hay go to medical school, I wonder?
The Survival of Freedom
edited by Jerry Pournelle and John F. Carr
Fawcett Crest
1981, August
Cover artist unknown
Contains "Identity"
Tales from the Vulgar Unicorn
A shared-world anthology edited by Robert Lynn Asprin
Ace
1980, November
Cover art © by Walter Velez
Contains van Vogt's contribution,
"The Dream of the Sorceress"
Die Venusnarbe ("The Venus Scar")
A German anthology of SF stories from South America
Front cover
Back cover & spine
Wilhelm Heyne Verlag
1982
Cover art © by Jim Burns
Van Vogt wrote the Preface for this anthology
A.E. van Vogt: Master of Null-A
"A Working Bibliography" by Phil Stephensen-Payne and Ian Covell
Galactic Central Publications
1997
An exhaustive bibliography. Includes a great deal of information which I am not qualified to even touch, such as foreign-language editions and book reviews. It is recommended that all serious van Vogt readers obtain a copy of this work, as it is a gold mine of information.
A.E. van Vogt: Science Fantasy's Icon
by H.L. Drake
Booklocker
2002, January
Cover art © by Cathi Stevenson
My review of this slim but highly informative book can be found elsewhere on my site.
The John W. Campbell Letters
with Isaac Asimov & A.E. van Vogt, Volume II
edited by Perry A. Chapdelaine, Sr.
AC Projects
1993
Cover art © by Frank Kelly Freas
This extremely rare volume contains copious correspondence between Campbell and Asimov and a very small (though still quite interesting) selection of correspondence between Campbell and van Vogt.
The Null-A Worlds of A.E. van Vogt
by H. L. Drake
Chris Drumm, Books — Booklet #32
1989, January
This short booklet — copies of which can still be purchased from the publisher, Chris Drumm — consists of interviews Drake conducted with van Vogt from 1974 to 1985.
Reflections of A.E. van Vogt
by A.E. van Vogt
Fictioneer
1975, February
Cover design by Cary Bradley
This is van Vogt's brief but fascinating autobiography. (Apparently, everything good written about van Vogt has to be short! "Slim but highly informative," "thin but indispensable," "small though interesting," "brief but fascinating"...)
Unlock Your Money Personality
by A.E. van Vogt
Morrison, Raven-Hill
1983
Cover photo by Dan Golden
This is a book van Vogt wrote that advises how to manage your finances wisely in all areas of life, and includes quite a few interesting and humorous anecdotes.
There is a very nice photo of van Vogt and Lydia on the back cover, which can be seen here.
A Can of Paint
A short film directed by Robi Michael
Based on the short story by A.E. van Vogt
(Astounding Science Fiction, September 1944)
Englomerate Productions / Make Believe Media USA
2004
Cover art © by Thomas Marinello
This isn't the cover of a book, but of a DVD case. I still wanted to share a high quality scan of it with you all since it's a fascinating work of art. My review of this short film, and a link to the official website where the DVD is available for purchase, can be found by clicking here.
Lords of the Sevagram
Front, spine, and back
Excerpt
A tribute by Tais Teng
Cover mock-up
Cover art and text © by Tais Teng
This unusual item, the exterior and an excerpt from a fictitious van Vogt novel, is the creation of Dutch SF writer and graphic artist Tais Teng. To quote from his email:
LORDS OF THE SEVAGRAM, cover and page 40 - 41 of A. E. van Vogt's third Weapon Shops novel (which, sadly, is only available in the universe next door).Being the incorrigible van Vogt fan that I am, I've often had a dream where I'm in some out-of-the-way bookstore and find an entire row of hitherto unknown van Vogt paperback novels. On occasion, I've even awakened and hurriedly scribbled down some of the nonsensical titles in my bedside notebook, my befuddled half-awake brain hoping to find them for sale on AbeBooks.com in the morning. So Lords of the Sevagram is precisely the sort of thing I'd love to stumble upon during one of my book-buying sprees.
This is my homage to van Vogt and the marvelous covers that graced the vintage sf books. I tried to recreate the beautiful muddy browns and eerily glowing green of the old Ace doubles, the DAWs and Digits. Those covers were my doors in the hedge, portals to worlds of wonder. Writing the text on the back and the two pages was also great fun.
On the cover you often found a kind of teaser, a question that made you long to find the answer in the book. "Could a single starship threaten the mighty empire of Isher?" is in the same tradition.
The strange thing was, that having finished the cover, I had a strong feeling that I had really read Lords of the Sevagram, not once, but several times.
Teng has done an excellent imitation of a DAW paperback here, the spine especially. Even though I'm not a big fan of the color yellow, there's something both exciting and reassuring about seeing a row of yellow DAW paperback spines in a bookshop...
The two page excerpt is a real treat to read. He's crammed the expected number of vanvogtian ideas into an unbelievably small space, creating a tantalizing glimpse into the story as a whole.
Just for kicks, by looking at the ISBN on the spine and the cover price, I estimate this book was published some time in 1981. I haven't been able to track down exactly which alternate reality it was printed in, but I'm working on it.