Oct 08
The Silver Metal Lover by Tanith Lee DAW, 1981 The Silver Metal Lover is perhaps Tanith Lee’s best known novel after her three Flat Earth books. It may be the most beloved. Though an abiding Lee fan I was immune to its charms for many years until finally deciding to read it last summer. The …
Aug 19
Isn’t this the prototypical damsel-in-distress image? Seriously, it strokes my sweet spot: the leering, Lon Chaney Jr.-as-Phantom of the Opera-like face of the villain and his floridly brandished pocket watch, and the wide-eyed look of the blonde, which is not so much terror as a mesmerized disgust. (The man tied up behind her seems to …
Jul 31
The gruff private eye who investigated crimes with a world-weary cynicism had his start with author Dashiell Hammett amidst the throes of Prohibition when organized crime ran amok. Paperbook books began to be widely available in the decade after, and the two combined for masterpieces of vintage kitsch like the above (actual) novel by Fredric …
Apr 29
A selection of covers for Vonda McIntyre’s dystopic SF novel Dreamsnake. RIP Vonda.
Apr 22
Todd Alcott re-creates old SF pulp covers into homages to David Bowie songs. You can buy his work on etsy.com.
Sep 13
Anne McCaffrey’s Pern series put dragons on the map in the science fiction and fantasy world as both plausible alien creatures and the brand-spanking-new fantasy trope of the all-knowing, intelligent animal companion. The first two stories, “Weyr Search” and “Dragonrider” were published in Analog magazine in 1967; they later were incorporated into the first Pern …
Jun 27
There’s no doubt the Harry Potter series of books is one of the world’s most popular fantasy epics, transcending age, nationality, and socioeconomic status. Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl, which I reviewed here, features a similar series called Simon Snow as a plot element, Simon Snow being a boy wizard at an English boarding school for magic. …
Mar 26
A Bengali edition of The Fellowship of the Ring, published in the Indian subcontinent. (Hindi and English are the official languages government-wise, but there are many, many others including Tamil, Urdu, and Punjabi.) The artwork looks to be a crib from the 2001 movie, done in the style of Bollywood cinema posters. Look closely at …
