Home stretch! Two more chapters to revise/clean up before I compile the next Grand Human Empire book for beta readers!

#writerslife #writer #scifibooks #scifi @bookstodon

John Varley (1947-2025) was born on this day. Bibliography: https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?59

L, Jim Burns, 1978; R, Tim White, 1981
#scifi #sciencefiction #books

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Cover for Varley's famous collection The Persistence of Vision. Man and woman cavort in a sparky water with spheres around their hands.

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Cover for Wizard. Humanoid figure approaches a bridge seemingly made of wood that goes towards a conglomerate of spheres and tubes in the distance. Alien trees populate the surface of the nearside.

Frank M. Robinson (1926-2014) was born on this day. Bibliography: https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?1266

L, Paul Lehr, 1981; R, uncredited, 1977
#scifi #sciencefiction #books

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Cover for Robinson's collection A Life In the Day of... A Paul Lehr-style head with goggles. There's a futuristic city in the background.

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Cover for The power. Man with flowing eyes. City in background.

William Greenleaf (1948-) was born on this day. Bibliography: https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?5798

L, James Gurney, 1984; R, James Gurney, 1987
#scifi #sciencefiction #books

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Cover for The Pandora Stone. Man approaches a metal cone with a flowing crystal-type thing on top. A ray emerges from his hand and goes towards the stone.

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Cover for Starjacked! Various spaceships fly around the pat of a large cylindrical space contraption. There are planets in the distance.

Artist Mike Hinge (1931-2003) was born on this day. Bibliography: https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?2221

L, 1976; R, 1973
#scifi #sciencefiction #art

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Cover for the April 1976 issue of Analog. Woman recumbent and covered with wires and on a reclining chair of some sort manipulates a sphere above her.

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Cover for the March 1973 issue of Amazing. Woman in zooming craft on a desert surface.

Daniel Keyes (1927-2014) was born on this day. Bibliography: https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?1576

L, Tibor Csernus, 1976; R, Ed Emshwiller, 1959
#scifi #sciencefiction #books

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Cover for the French edition of Flowers for Algernon. Mouse stands on its hind legs. There's a maze behind it.

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F&SF cover (April 1959) illustrating Keyes' short story version of Flowers for Algernon. There's a boy's head in the upper left, a mouse in the bottom left a book with cheese in the middle, and a syringe in the bottom right.

I have finished Leviathan Falls and thus, #TheExpanse saga comes to an end...

Yes it's midnight and yes I read for almost 5 hours today

AIDUWJDJDJWHHWHDUWBDJCIEBHDHDHEJDHSGWFYDOFOEHEHFUJENDHD

#SciFi #Books2026 #ScienceFiction

Italian SFF in translation!
#scifi #sciencefiction #books #weirdfiction

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Photo of Giorgio De Maria's The Transgressionists and Other Disquieting Works and The Twenty Days of Turin. Cover on Left shows a woman in a dress with sash and various rays and signs emanating around her head.

I just stumbled across a book from 1935 that had a surprisingly accurate description of a nuclear blast (a burst of light so strong it caused an earthquake and tidal wave, etc., etc.), which really got me wondering...

Where can I find a list of nuclear weapons in fiction pre- Trinity test? (Such a list MUST exist, no? I found a nice article on lithub.com, but I want a raw list.)

#SciFi #Nuclear

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The thing which happened less than twenty minutes later is common knowledge. Ships two to three hundred miles out at sea (as the Berengaria, the Bremen, the Ile de France) experienced broad daylight for periods varying from three to five minutes, followed by mountainous seas. Seismic instru- ments all over the world registered an earthquake in the West. Towering buildings in New York rocked upon their foundations, although in the city itself casualties were comparatively few, these being due in the most part to falling masonry. On the riverfront, however, the loss of life was tragically heavy. That unnatural dawn, which through five states, in

David R. Bunch (1925-2000) was born on this day. Bibliography: https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?1199

L, Norman Adams, 1971; R, Diane and Leo Dillon, 1967
#scifi #sciencefiction

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Cover for Moderan. A group of mechanical people with skin strips stand in a mechanical garden. There are bubbles with faintly house shaped shapes inside.

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Cover for Dangerous Visions. A woman face, twisty tail, with bird legs.

Milton Lesser (1928-2008) was born on this day. Bibliography: https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?1258

L, Ed Emshwiller, 1961; R, Ed Emshwiller, 1957
#scifi #sciencefiction #books

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Cover for Spacemen, Go Home. Men at space station observation deck at controls watch a rocket launch from the surface below.

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Cover for Science Fiction Quarterly, ed. Robert W. Lowndes (November 1957). Woman is clutched by a robot with tentacles. There's another robot trying to grab a man and a woman in the background.

Leone's interior art for Part I of Randall Garrett's "Anything You Can Do!" in Analog Science Fiction (May 1962)
#scifi #sciencefiction #art

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Half the page is an illustration of a damaged city partially in flames. A futuristic touches on the buildings.

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The second half of the image. Large chunks of the destroyed city fall and blow with the winds.

Hannes Bok's interior art for C. M. Kornbluth's "Dimension of Darkness" in Cosmic Stories (May 1941)
#scifi #sciencefiction #art

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Men ride a giant space insect with a segmented body and many many many legs and long antennae.

Piers Anthony (1934-) was born on this day. Bibliography: https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?4

L, uncredited, 1972; R, Fred Gambino, 1979
#scifi #sciencefiction #books

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Cover for Chthon. Man breaks through walls that are vaguely in his shape. His hands are upraised, his legs in a power pose, etc. His body, however, is bisected multiple times as if in slices.

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Cover for Vicinity Cluster. Man in loin cloth with spear looks at a huge spaceship fly overhead.

I dunno why but this miraculous VFX shot from Forbidden Planet (1956) popped into my head earlier.

Obviously this adorable tiger just wanted a snack and didn't deserve to be disintegrated. But that effect in a movie that's 70 years old -- damn.

#vfx #scifi #classicfilm #cinema

Élisabeth Vonarburg (1947-) was born on this day. Bibliography: https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?337

French language SFF in translation.

L, Ken Campbell, 1988; R, Stéphane Dumont, 1978
#scifi #sciencefiction #books

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Cover for The Silent City. Woman stands with her wrists crossed in front of a series of monoliths. There's a large face behind the entire scene looking outward.

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Cover for Vingt Maisons du Zodiaque. In a fish bowl there's an octopus Jesus holding up his own halo with a tentacle.

Régis Messac (1893-1945) was born on this day. Bibliography: https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?120637

L, Lamy, 1972; R, uncredited, 1935
#scifi #sciencefiction #France

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Cover for La cité des asphyxiés (1937). Cover shows a group of tear-shaped stones that are hollowed out. It's all straddling the border of human-made and nature.

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Cover for Quinzinzinzili. From the Collection Les Hypermondes. Behind the title is a map.

Artist George Wilson (1921-1998) was born on this day. Bibliography: https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?34983

L, 1976; R, 1977
#scifi #sciencefiction #art

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Cover for Brand's caller from Eternity. A Perry Rhodan work. A composite cover with many components. Two figures run from an exploding city. There are spaceships shooting at the city. Above is a shirtless man waving a gun.

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Cover for Darlton's The Stolen Spacefleet and Mahr's Sgt. Robot. Both in the Perry Rhodan universe. Woman with tiara and flashing white teeth looks upward. Man runs with cape and no shirt with fun. Various spaceships and a raging sun.

Robert Holdstock (1948-2009) was born on this day. Bibliography: https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?1024

L, Peter Goodfellow, 1986; R, Carl Lundgren, 1982
#scifi #sciencefiction #fantasy

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Cover for Mythago Wood. Man in medieval garb (horn, helmet, sword, leggings) stands near a brook. There's a kingfisher bird on a branch and verdant trees about.

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Cover for Where Time Winds Blow. A sphere that looks pocketed with buildings looms over a scraggly tree.

Gail Kimberly (1927-2011) was born on this day. Bibliography: https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?1753

L, Rick Sternbach, 1976; R, Vincent Di Fate, 1975
#scifi #sciencefiction

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Cover for the September 1976 issue of Galaxy. Man in consul-like set of chairs looks at a series of planets lining up.

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Two humans in a desert expanse look at a large conglomerate building with screens illustrating spaceships, space stations, an astronaut, a child, etc.

R. R. Winterbotham (1904-1971) was born on this day. Bibliography: https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?1197

L, uncredited, 1965; R, Leo Morey, 1940
#scifi #sciencefiction

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Cover for The Men From Arcturus. A reddish looming humanoid creature stands in front of a layered scene that's a bit hard to parse -- maybe there's a crowd? Rocketship in the distance?

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Cover for the November 1940 issue of Super Science Stories. Two space soldiers, one with shied, appear surrounded by fire or fiery winds. In the distance two other humanoid shapes pear out from behind columns.

Joseph Greene (1914-1990) was born on this day. Bibliography: https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?60171

L, Walter Dey, 1961; R, Walter Dey, 1961
#scifi #sciencefiction

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Cover for Journey to Jupiter. A scene inside of a spaceship with astronaut on the way to Jupiter. The planet looms large in the background.

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Cover for Trappers of Venus. Three boys in uniform walk across what looks like a jungle. There's a mammal like a lemur in a tree nearby.

Author and editor Raymond A. Palmer (1910-1977) was born on this day. Bibliography: https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?1839

L, Leo Morey, 1939; R, Howard V. Brown, 1938
#scifi #sciencefiction

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Cover for the July 1939 issue of Fantastic Adventures. Two humanoid aliens with eyestalks shoot a spaceman. You can see his skeleton in the area hit by the weapon. There's a spaceship in the distance.

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Cover for the April 1938 issue of Astounding. Hands reach out of the ground at a man clothed in a huge red beard. There are columns and other bearded men in the distance.

Virgil Finlay's interior art for Bryce Walton's "Earth Needs a Killer" in Future Combined with Science Fiction Stories (July-August 1950)
#scifi #sciencefiction #art

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Man looks over his shoulder. There's a window near his head. Another man shape appears to be twisting in agony with spheres around it.

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The man is looking at this woman also looking over her shoulder at him. They appear to be inside a spaceship or pod inside of a spaceship.

French artist René Caillé (1921-2013) was born on this day. Bibliography: https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?183386

L, 1954; R, 1954
#scifi #sciencefiction #art

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Cover for Georges H. Gallet's Escales dans l'infini. Woman without distinct eyeballs (rather spheres that are a bit luminous) lounges in front of a flying saucer in a red strapless dress.

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Cover for Rayer's Le lendemain de la machine. Man sits in front of a huge computer operating bank. There is an atomic symbol on one screen.

Arsen Darnay (1936-) was born on this day. Bibliography: https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?1222

L, Boris Vallejo, 1976; R, Boris Vallejo, 1978
#scifi #sciencefiction #books

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Cover for A Hostage for Hinterland. Horsemen approach a domed city.

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Cover for The Siege of Faltara. Man with spear or joist in somewhat Orientalist renderings (turban, cape, etc) riding a multi-legged camel.

I used to have a children's anthology of #SciFi #ShortStories with one about how everyone was getting on the last ship to New Earth

and the girl was running to her grandfather's house to convince him to come

but he's planting flowers

anyway, they miss the last ship and she's crying

and he says, "This is New Earth. They took the old one with them. "

I've been thinking about this story for like 40 years. Wish I knew who wrote it.

Edit: Juanita Webber.
https://archive.org/details/adventuresinspac00wate/

#Archive

Artist John Harris (1948-) was born on this day. Bibliography: https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?21349

L, 1984; R, 1986
#scifi #sciencefiction #art

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Cover for Brunner's Stand on Zanzibar. Painting of an urban arcology looming above a more traditional city.

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Cover for Hughes' Closed System. Two hulking spaceships shoot at a third.

Gray Morrow's interior art for Cordwainer Smith's "The boy Who Bought Old Earth" in Galaxy Magazine, ed. Frederik Pohl (April 1964)
#scifi #sciencefiction #art

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Older man with glasses gestures at an operating room (or at least it looks like it with a dentist light and a table). Younger boy with a cloth draped around him by a young woman appears to be about to be operated on. A little humanoid figures looks on as well.

Jayge Carr (1940-2006) was born on this day. Bibliography: https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?244

L, Jan Esteves, 1983; R, Vincent Di Fate, 1979
#scifi #sciencefiction

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Cover for Carr's Navigator' Sindrome. A woman's face within a cube-like shape. There's the cosmos (planets, moons, etc.) within the cube. Tape-like strands interweave with the exterior and the interior of the cube.

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Cover for the October 1979 issue of Analog. Man is abducted by a large black rectangle. There's a town and bucolic scene below.

Artist Colin Hay (1947-) was born on this day. Bibliography: https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?27682

L, 1973; R, 1976
#scifi #sciencefiction #art

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Cover for The Left Hand of Darkness. Text: Winner of the Hugo and Nebula for the year's best S.F. novel. On an icy planet a city rises on almost a platform. It looks a bit like a cathedral with buttresses and arches.

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Cover for Pangborn's Davy. A large icy expanse crushes the remnants of the past world (a cathedral, a skyscraper, etc.). Little human figures walk around on the ice.

Gray Morrow's interior art for Cordwainer Smith's "The boy Who Bought Old Earth" in Galaxy Magazine, ed. Frederik Pohl (April 1964)
#scifi #sciencefiction #art

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Older boy looks at row of grizzled men at a tribunal-like table. Around them are trees. A guard stands at a door.

Sydney J. Van Scyoc (1939-2023) was born on this day. Bibliography: https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?1457

L, Richard Powers, 1977; R, Ed Emshwiller, 1964
#scifi #sciencefiction

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Cover for CloudCry. A woman's face surrounded by the surreal touches of Powers -- swirls and angular gems, etc.

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Cover for the November 1964 issue of F&SF. A man is encased in his rocketship. The ship is translucent so you can see him surrounded by controls -- entombed almost. there's an older man's face below and various rays of light that connect points in the sky.

Artist Mel Hunter (1927-2004) was born on this day. Bibliography: https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?1816

L, 1956; R, 1954
#scifi #sciencefiction #art

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Cover for Heinlein's Doule Star. Two men stand on platforms near a rocket. Two stars shine most brightly in the background.

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Cover for the October 1954 issue of Galaxy. Two aliens near their saucer look into a valley with a rocket ship in accompanying buildings.

Paul Callé's interior art for Ray Bradbury's "Impossible" (variant title: "The Martian") in Super Science Stories (November 1949)
#scifi #sciencefiction #art

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Man grasps his head. Many eyes surround him. In addition mask-like faces stair at him. There's a large atomic symbol behind his head.

I, of course, really enjoy M. John Harrison's work. Here's what I've covered on the site: https://sciencefictionruminations.com/science-fiction-book-reviews-by-author/
#scifi #sciencefiction

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Harrison, M. John A Storm of Wings (1980) “Baa Baa Blocksheep” (1968) The Centauri Device (1974) The Committed Men (1971) “The Macbeth Expiation” (1968) The Machine in Shaft Ten (1975) “The Lamia and Lord Cromis” (1971) “The Bait Principle” (1970) “Running Down” (1975) “The Orgasm Band” (1975) “Visions of Monad” (1968) “Events Witnessed from a City” (1975) “London Melancholy” (1969) “Ring of Pain” (1971) “The Causeway” (1971) “The Bringer with the Window (variant title: “Lamia Mutable”) (1972) “Coming from Behind” (1973) The Pastel City (1971)

M. John Harrison (1945-) was born on this day. Bibliography: https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?1277

L, Michael Whelan, 1982; R, Peter Jones, 1975
#scifi #sciencefiction #books

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Cover for A Storm of Wings. Knight in armor has a cricket-like shape on his chestplate. His armor has spines. A glowing beam of light emerges from a hand. A wisp of smoke or fog in the background.

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Cover for The Centauri DEvice. Two spaceships appear to be in a battle. One is exploding. One is zipping past.

Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) was born on this day. Bibliography: https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?1672

L, E. McKnight Kauffer, 1946; R, uncredited (Mitchell Hooks?), 1964
#scifi #sciencefiction #books

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Cover for Brave New World. Three central vaguely triangular sections, each a different color. Central black section has a sphere and a yellow bird-like shape.

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Cover for Ape and Essence. Two people stand in front of a huge looming mask with yellow eyes.

Hannes Bok's interior art for Margaret St. Clair's "Child of Void" in Super Science Stories (November 1949)
#scifi #sciencefiction #art

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A mother and child see a car apparently running up a wall or flying through the air. There are a series of futuristic technologies in front of them whose purpose is unknown.