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Oh sure anyone can wrote about the world 100 years in the future, but this 1958 novel 43,000 Years Later by Horace Coon attempts to explore the year 45,000 from the point of view of explorers visiting Earth after it was destroyed in the 20th Century.

Sadly I couldn't find a good bio of Horace Coon on the net, however I did come across a few other titles that he may have been the author of: Triumph of the Eggheads from 1955 which is a non-fiction title on intellectuals in American government (ah yes! the good old days) and American Tel and Tel: The Story of a Great Monopoly which was published in 1939. It's ironic how these mid-20th century themes of nuclear proliferation, the importance of smart government and the financial power of telecommunications are still very much topics that are still in style.

The abstract looking illustration is by Richard M. Powers who did quite a few pulp covers that were very heavily influenced by surrealistic and dadaistic artists like Max Ernst. What I like about his work is that it's a nice break from the realism that you see in so many pulp covers from the 30s through the 50s — Powers is daring to do a science fiction book cover in a modernist art style, which would become a bit more popular in the 60s (although is sadly out of style with unimaginative publishers today). By the way if you like the cover you can buy a copy of The Art of Richard Powers at amazon.com. A nice personal account of the life of Richard Powers can be found here.

Book cover discovered by digital archivist Jason who resides in Vancouver, Canada.

What's great about this cover us that the couple in the foreground seem to be oblivious to the giant spacecraft above — the proof of this is that they're running to the spaceship rather than from it:

There's something very innocent yet creepy about this 1913 cover illustration by John R. Neill for the book The Patchwork Girl of Oz by L. Frank Baum. If you look closer at the artwork what's interesting is that the little girl doesn't seem the least bit disturbed by this doll that has come to life and I also love the little touch of the multichromatic creature grabbing the typography of the book's title:

The funny thing is that although this Soviet city of the future seems utopian, it's very repressive under the surface: Every building in site looks exactly alike! It's as if in this vision of the future there is only one architect who designed just one building and then they figured out to leave well enough alone after that point. Also notice how all the vehicles carry multiple parties — clearly mass transit rules the day, but if you want to own a private car jet that's too bad! The illustration is scanned from a 1969 copy of Teknika Molodezhi (Techniques of Youth) magazine which was a Russian Popular Mechanics magazine of sorts.

Found via darkroastedblend.com.

The above illustration is from an illustrated Spanish book from 1965. The oversized space suits remind me of the Lost in Space robot:

Illustration found by one size fits all who lives in Barcelona, Spain.

There's a great article by Charles McGrath at the New York Times on Ian Fleming the author of the James Bond books (his 100th birthday will be on Wednesday). I love how the article goes into detail on the difference between the print and film versions of the series:

That License to Kill Is Unexpired

"Albert R. Broccoli, a producer of the first 17 Bond films, could be said to be a co-creator of this other, meta-Bond. It was he or his writers who made a trademark of the “Bond. James Bond” line, for example, and who insisted on the “shaken, not stirred” business. Fleming’s Bond is not nearly so fussy about what he drinks, as long as there is plenty of it. He’s as apt to slug down bourbon as a martini. This Bond is also much more fetishistic about smoking than he is about drinking and makes a point of ordering his cigarettes (with three gold bands on the filter) from Morlands of Grosvenor Street. (In a pinch, though, he’ll also smoke Chesterfield kings by the carton, and it’s little short of miraculous that he can climb a flight of stairs, let alone swim for miles, as he so often does.) He likes fast automobiles but hates gizmos, except for the odd concealed knife, and wouldn’t get caught dead with the laser watches, ejector seats, tricked-out cars and exploding key chains the movie Bond has been kitted out with, not to mention that embarrassing jet pack."

Jorge Lacera is an H.P. Lovecraft fan who works at 2K Boston (a game development shop). This illustration was part of a larger series called Cereal Killers which was sponsored by Kreepsville Industries.

While wandering around the art show at the Lunacon science fiction convention (back in March) I came across the above painting by Craig Maher and was blown away. Looking back at it I think it was the best work in the entire show — to be fair the above image doesn't do the actual painting justice. For starters the scale of the painting is much larger (21" by 31") and features some amazing detailed brush work, most noticeably on the feathers of the birds. Maher's use of lighting and color is also amazing too, the surface had an almost iridescent quality to it. And then there is the subject matter itself: In a room crammed full of everything from spaceships to dragons, Maher doesn't resort to the unknown or unexplored — yet the paining has a very surrealistic quality to it which makes it other worldly.

While visiting the Lunacon science fiction convention (back in March) I had a fun time wandering around the art show. It was there I came across the imaginative artwork of Stephen Youll who grew up and learned his craft in England and now resides Stateside. Youll works on a wide range of genres from fantasy to mystery, but my favorite paintings of his are his exotic landscapes that feature spacecraft. His painting sort of invite you in to a landscape that you'd want to hang around and maybe catch some adventure while you're at it.

Shown above is an illustration for A Forest of Stars from 2002. Below are illustrations for Scattered Suns from 2004, and The Dragon in the Sea from 2006. In all three illustrations you can see how Stephen Youll gives the viewer a wonderful sense of scale while giving you a good taste of the local atmosphere through his use of color, lighting, and textures.

Shown above is a 1963 painting of a space station by German illustrator and futurist Klaus Bürgle. Bürgle was born in 1926 in Stuttgart and started illustrating magazines in 1953. He focused on technical and scientific illustrations and did quite a bit of work for the publication Das Neue Universum.

Below is an illustration of a future subway system from 1967 and a 1959 painting showing traffic of the future:

I always associate solar energy and futurism with the 70s, however this magazine ad from 1958 (just think of it — that's fifty years ago!) shows off a rather stylish solar home of the future. I love the little touches of the indoor swimming pool and the orange jet car parked outside.

Illustration discovered via Jan from Seattle.

Today Arthur C. Clarke passed away: What I always admired about Clarke was that he started life as a fanboy reading science fiction pulp magazines, in fact he got his first few stories published in fanzines between 1937 and 1945 (he didn't turn pro until after WW II at the age of 29). Also for him science fiction wasn't some far off fantasy, but rather a reality waiting to happen — the proof of this was his love of science and astronomy, which gave his fiction a sense of credibility. Here is video of Clarke reflecting on his 90th birthday from last December:

Tomorrow marks the start of the Chinese New Year, so we're exploring fanboy themes relating the Year of the Rat. Our pulp fiction pick to celebrate the new year is the series of science fiction books on the Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison.

If you like anti-heroes you'll love the Stainless Steel Rat .The series features James Bolivar diGriz a futuristic con man who is an expert in the martial arts and a master of disguise. He many aliases including "Slippery Jim" and "The Stainless Steel Rat" and has an odd code of ethics, for example he'll be more than glad to steal but will never kill anyone. He justifies his crimes by arguing that he is providing society with entertainment.

The character of the Stainless Steel Rat first got his start in the 1957 issue of the science fiction pulp magazine Astounding. The first novel was then published in 1961 and today there are over ten books in series including spin-offs like choose your own adventure books and a board game. There was talk of a movie but it hasn't happened yet...

Shown above are the covers for Witches Tales from August 1971 and Strange Galaxy from February 1971. They're part of a wonderful collection on Flickr put together by Shawn Murphy:

Eerie Publications

"Welcome to the strange and gruesome world of EERIE PUBLICATIONS. These magazines were cheap knockoffs of the more popular CREEPY and EERIE magazines put out by Warren Publishing. These are some of the most insane, bloody and violent magazine covers you will ever see. Ever since I saw my first one I've been obsessively collecting them. This is a large sampling, but I still need many more. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!!!"

Which science fiction author are you? According to this fanboy friendly quiz by Paul Kienitz I'm none other than Isaac Asimov:

"One of the most prolific writers in history, on any imaginable subject. Cared little for art but created lasting and memorable tales."

This made me rather happy on a silly level as I grew up reading the Foundation series and chaired a small science fiction convention on Long Island in the 80s that had Asimov as a guest of honor. Although credit for getting him as a guest has to go to Elyse Rosenstein who was very involved in organizing the Star Trek conventions in the 70s and the Lunacon science fiction conventions in the 80s.

Quiz found via Web Metrics Guru.

Today is the 90th birthday of science fiction genius Arthur C. Clarke, check out his birthday blog:

Sir Arthur C Clarke’s 90th birthday wish blog

Shown at the top is Clarke on "2001: A Space Odyssey" set, mid-1960s (you can find more great Clarke photos here).

Found via BoingBoing.net.

I love the sense of scale in the illustration above cover for Tom Swift and His Outpost in Space from 1955 which I found thanks to the Flickr site of digital archivist Paula Wirth. The illustrator who did the cover is (it may be Graham Kaye who also did quite a bit of work for the Saturday Evening Post. I also come across this gem of a description of the book from the dust jacket:

"A space station 22,300 miles above the earth is Tom Swift Jr.'s latest project! Tom's plans for his gigantic hub-and-spoke outpost of the universe calls for twelve laboratories. Solar batteries will be produced in one laboratory, another will be a celestial observatory, and another a radio broadcasting and TV station relaying programs over one third of the earth. But the project is beset from the start by a fiendish enemy, and also that weird phantom of outer space, Zero Gravity."

Shown above is a vivid yet lush illustration of Shakespeare's The Tempest by Sam Weber who is based in New York City. His portfolio is well worth checking out as it has a wonderful mix of surrealism, horror and whimsy. Also as a graphic designer I also love how Weber incorporates typography and abstract design elements into his artwork.

Ward Jenkins is a very talented illustrator who hails from Portland, Oregon. Recently on his Flickr feed I discover an amazing set of scans he uploaded of the book Space Alphabet (1964) by Irene Zacks, which features some amazing artwork by Peter P. Plasencia. I did a quick bit of searching for a bio of Mr. Plasencia and found this:

"Peter P. Plasencia is a native New Yorker. He is married and has one daughter, Regina. He majored in industrial design at Pratt Institute, studied at the Meschini Institute in Rome, and at the Art Students League in New York. Mr. Plasencia is now head of his own design house. Among the children's books he has illustrated are In The Deep Blue Sea, Magic Mixtures: Alloys and Plastics, and The Chemistry of a Lemon, all published by Prentice-Hall."

On September 6, 2007 Madeleine L'Engle passed away. For many a young fanboy (and fangurl) Madeleine's novel A Wrinkle in Time served as a early introduction into the world of science fiction. She wrote the book between 1959 and 1960, but after at least 26 rejections from publishers the book came out in 1962 and went on to win many awards and serve as an inspiration to generations of kids. Thank you Mrs. Madeleine!

Shown above is the Chesley Awards winner of the best hardback cover illustration which is awarded at Worldcon each year by the Association of Science Fiction & Fantasy Artists. The artwork is for the cover of the book River of Gods, and the talent behind the painting is Stephan Martiniere. For me the real test of artwork with a fantastic theme is if I would want to step into the painting and explore the world being show, and in this case Martiniere has created a very inviting world with a wonderful sense of scale and architecture.

Today is the 100th birthday of science fiction master Robert A. Heinlein who was born in July 7th, 1907 and passed away in 1988. As a dyslexic youth I always prefered to watch science fiction on television rather than read it, but I have to say that reading Heinlein was always a great pleasure for me (my favorite is the Moon is a Harsh Mistress). What's also enjoyable about his work is that even while you may not always agree with his point of view, his writing always makes a great conversation starter with fellow fanboys and fangurls.

By the way shown above are various covers from from both books and pulp magazines featuring Robert Heinlein, if you'd like to see more go and check out the Heinlein Book Cover Museum.

Shown above is an editorial spread (click to see at full size) from 'The Science Fiction Book: An Illustrated History' by Franz Rottensteiner, published in 1975. The book went into great detail on almost every major theme that could be found in science fiction, including the more far out authors of the era like J. G. Ballard and Michael Moorcock.

Seen on the left is a photographic illustration to Gretchen Haapennen's 'The Pieces of the Game' in New Worlds #184. Shown on the right are illustrations by R. Glyn Jones (center) superimposed over an illustration for J. G. Ballard's 'The Killing Ground'.

Shown above is an editorial spread (click to see at full size) from 'The Science Fiction Book: An Illustrated History' by Franz Rottensteiner, published in 1975. The book went into great detail on almost every major theme that could be found in science fiction, including sex (or a lack there of). I love caption they have in the lower right hand corner:

"SF authors may generally avoid sex in their plots, but the details on these pages make it clear that science fiction illustrators do not feel the same reticence."

Shown above is the cover (click to see at full size) of 'The Science Fiction Book: An Illustrated History' by Franz Rottensteiner, featuring an illustrated layout by Thames and Hudson. In the mid-70s I was very much a Star Trek fanboy (and later a Space: 1999 fanboy), so my parents purchased this little treasure for me.

The book was published in 1975 and gives a detailed look at every theme to be found in science fiction from that era, however it doesn't have the Star Wars photos since the film hadn't come out yet.

Now that I live in the 21st Century the book cover looks rather charming and dated with it's disco typography. And the irony is that the book explores what it views as the charming retro look of 1950s pulp magazines and the like. I find it somewhat ironic that in the year 2007 I loving look back at my dog eared version of a book about the future I live in. Now that I live in the 21st Century my only regret that I have is the fact that manned space exploration hasn't advanced much since the 70s.

A side note on Franz Rottensteiner: I did a quick google and Mr. Rottensteiner is still very much alive and kicking in Austria. He did another book on Fantasy in 1978 and is the publisher of a liteary magazine.

I owned that paperback copy of "Sirens of Titan" above, what was great about Kurt Vonnegut was that he played a role in making science fiction respectable:

Kurt Vonnegut Is Dead at 84; Caught Imagination of His Age

"Kurt Vonnegut, whose dark comic talent and urgent moral vision in novels like “Slaughterhouse-Five,” “Cat’s Cradle” and “God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater” caught the temper of his times and the imagination of a generation, died last night in Manhattan. He was 84 and had homes in Manhattan and in Sagaponack on Long Island.

Mr. Vonnegut wrote plays, essays and short fiction. But it was his novels that became classics of the American counterculture, making him a literary idol, particularly to students in the 1960s and ’70s. Dog-eared paperback copies of his books could be found in the back pockets of blue jeans and in dorm rooms on campuses throughout the United States.

His novels — 14 in all — were alternate universes, filled with topsy-turvy images and populated by races of his own creation, like the Tralfamadorians and the Mercurian Harmoniums. He invented phenomena like chrono-synclastic infundibula (places in the universe where all truths fit neatly together) as well as religions, like the Church of God the Utterly Indifferent and Bokononism (based on the books of a black British Episcopalian from Tobago “filled with bittersweet lies,” a narrator says)."

The last, unfinished 'Lord of the Rings" book by J.R.R. Tolkien is being completed by his son, I wonder if a film deal can be far behind:

Tolkien Jr completes Lord of Rings

"he first new Tolkien novel for 30 years is to be published next month. In a move eagerly anticipated by millions of fans across the world, The Children of Húrin will be released worldwide on 17 April, 89 years after the author started the work and four years after the final cinematic instalment of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, one of biggest box office successes in history.

The book, whose contents are being jealously guarded by publisher HarperCollins - is described as "an epic story of adventure, tragedy, fellowship and heroism."

It is likely to be a publishing sensation, particularly as it is illustrated by veteran Middle Earth artist Alan Lee, who won an Oscar for art direction on Peter Jackson's third film The Return of The King. Lee provided 25 pencil sketches and eight paintings for the first edition of the book, one of which is reproduced here for the first time in a national newspaper.

Tolkien experts are already tipping The Children of Húrin - which features significant battle scenes and at least one major twist - for big budget Hollywood treatment. Takings from the Lord of the Rings trilogy box office takings to date total some £1.5bn.

Chris Crawshaw, chairman of the Tolkien Society, said: "It would probably make a very good movie, if anyone can secure the film rights.

"Tolkien saw his work as one long history of Middle Earth: from the beginning of creation to the end of the Third Age. The Children of Húrin is an early chapter in that bigger story."

The author's son Christopher, using his late father's voluminous notes, has painstakingly completed the book, left unfinished by the author when he died in 1971. The work has taken the best part of three decades, and will signify the first "new" Tolkien book since The Silmarillion was published posthumously in 1977."

Here's a gret collection of cover art by British pulp artist Ron Turner who illustrated science fiction magazine covers and comic books in the 1950s:

Ron Turner Cover Collection

Found via Drawn!.

We found a fun gallery of covers from Fate magazine which was focused on the occult and supernatural. The cover designs get sort of dull in the 60s, but the illustrations from the 50s have a quirky kitschy quality to them:

A complete collection of FATE Magazine covers

It turns out that I'm Octavia E. Butler! A voice truly unique in all of literature...

Check out this fanboy themed lit quiz:

Which Science Fiction Author Are You?

Found via boingboing.net.

It look's like Disney might produce a series of films based on John Carter of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs:

Disney options 'Mars' series

"Disney is optioning rights to the Edgar Rice Burroughs sci-fi series "John Carter of Mars" as a potential franchise for the studio. The pic begins with a Civil War veteran whose retreat into a cave to avoid capture by Apache Indians takes an otherworldly turn as he's transported via time portal to the planet of Barsoom and taken prisoner by 12-foot-tall green men. Burroughs wrote eleven volumes of Carter's adventures and Disney is hoping the film will launch a franchise."

Oz magzine was first published as a satirical humour magazine between 1963–69 in Sydney, Australia and, in a second and more famous incarnation it became a "psychedelic hippy" magazine from 1967 to 1973 in London. Strongly identified as part of the underground scene, it was the subject of two celebrated obscenity trials. On both occasions the magazine's editors were acquitted on appeal after initially being found guilty and sentenced to harsh jail terms.

Most of the issues have been scanned at high resolution and can be found at the Oz Library (just keep in mind that the issues may be 'not safe or work'):

The Oz Library

The University of Massachusetts Amherst Library is hosting an exhibit from December 3, 2006 through January 31, 2007 featuring the art of Hubert Rogers, who painted dozens of covers for Astounding SF from 1939 to 1942 and again from 1947 to 1952:

Hubert Rogers & Astounding Magazine

"Originally from Canada, Rogers found fame as an illustrator in New York. His paintings and drawings appeared in the magazine Astounding Science Fiction at the moment that a group of writers who would become famous and influential around the world began to publish their earliest and most important works. Rogers created both original color paintings which were published on the covers of the magazine and black and white illustrations for the interior pages.

The exhibition will include original oil paintings, sketches and finished pen and ink drawings as well as publisher’s proofs of the color covers for the magazines. Many rare issues of Astounding magazine and other publications will be displayed, as well as books and magazines featuring his inspirational wartime posters and his work as a portraitist."

It looks like several pulp fiction heroes from yesteryear like Doc Savage and the Shadow are headed to the silver screen:

Exclusive: Sam Raimi's Pulp Fiction

"Several pulp heroes of yesteryear will be brought to life on the big-screen courtesy of none other than Dark Man and Spider-Man filmmaker Sam Raimi. The project would unite a number of famous pulp heroes from Street and Smith Publications, which had once been among the top pulp publishers. Characters that we were informed would be included in the film are Doc Savage, The Shadow and The Avenger, and quite possibly other (or all) major Street and Smith characters."

Below: The December 1941 and the February 1942 issues of Doc Savage.

This is an amazing gallery of cover art from Astounding magazine, which later became known as Analog:

Astounding-Analog Science Fiction Covers

"Possibly one of the main reasons for Analog's continued survival and success is a consistent editorial policy over a long period of time. From 1938 to 1971, it was edited by John W Campbell jr., certainly the most famous and influential and, I think, the longest serving of all SF editors. His towering influence shaped not only Astounding (as it was until 1960) but the careers of many leading authors and, through them, the whole field of science fiction. What is less well known is that, since 1978, Analog has again had a single editor, Stanley Schmidt, who is probably therefore the second longest serving SF editor. It is impressive that a magazine that has survived for more than 75 years has, for 60 of them, been directed by just two men. (Gardner Dozois, by the way, has edited Asimov's for nearly two decades, so Dell certainly seem to believe in backing their editors)."

Below: Covers from 1931 and 1945.

...found via MetaFilter.

"Pan's Labyrinth" and "Hellboy" Director Guillermo del Toro says one of his future projects will be to bring horror master H.P. Lovecraft's classic tale of existential Antarctic dread, "At the Mountains of Madness", to the screen:

Del Toro to do Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness

It's the show that answers the question "What would it be like if Cthulu hosted a cable-access talk show?"

callsforcthulhu.blogspot.com

This is a great online application, it allows you to look through thumbnails of of thousands of old science fiction pulp magazine covers:

A Few Thousand Science Fiction Magazines

It looks like there's going to be a "Lord of the Rings" musical in London:

Hobbit hopefuls sing for Ring

"Hundreds of would-be hobbits have flocked to London's West End theatre district to audition for parts in the musical stage version of J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings". Candidates had to be less than five feet seven inches tall, and were each required to be able to sing two songs suitable for the stage production of the three-volume tale, which became a worldwide movie blockbuster."

This is a must visit website for Lord of the Rings fans! This interactive Elvish translator converts English into into Tengwar script, which is the script used to write Elvish languages such as Quenya and Sindarin:

roo.no-ip.org/elvish/

Translation: Fanboy Elvish Translator

If you like seeing good science fiction that features vampires you're in luck, Richard Matheson's 1954 novel "I Am Legend" is set to start filming:

Will Smith to Begin a Six-Month Production Shoot for I Am Legend

"An over half-year production schedule has been set for the Will Smith sci-fi film I Am Legend, according to Production Weekly. The film is the adaptation of the Richard Matheson's 1954 novel to be directed by Constantine director Francis Lawrence. Set in Los Angeles after a biological war, the film centers on the sole healthy survivor, a man who finds himself in a battle against nocturnal mutants. Robert Neville is the last living man on Earth... but he is not alone. Every other man, woman, and child has become a vampire, and they are all hungry for Neville's blood."

Below: Cover designs from various printings of the book:

Good news for fans of 007:

Secret writer for new Bond book

A new James Bond novel is being written – 40 years after the superspy’s last outing. The estate of the late 007 author Ian Fleming has commissioned a “well-known and highly respected” writer for the task. The writer’s identity is being kept a closely-guarded secret until publication.

There hasn’t ben a new Bond novel since 1966 when Octopussy and the Living Daylights and were published after Ian Fleming passed away.

I guess the main question is if the new book will be set in the swinging sixties? James Bond and the Cold War go together like Sherlock Holmes and the Victorian era, it would be sad to get away from that.