My favourite bit of this cover: the wallpaper in the background. If I could buy a few rolls of that, I’d do my bedroom in it. Course, my wife wouldn’t be happy.
Looks to me like the HUGE 70s hair kitty, along the Hans Solo and Princess Lea wanna-be’s, is terrified by “his big one”…whatever that means… Apparently he just whipped it out and the three on the cover are crouching is disbelief and terror.
Why didn’t I think to submit this? Everything is wrong. The artwork is appalling and manages to look photoshopped even though it was printed in the late seventies. Even the blurb is wrong: far from being a ‘long-awaited masterpiece’ it’s a never-reprinted forgettable lump, notable mostly for an interesting FTL drive (Tipler cylinders) and for Anderson letting his inner skald out to play a bit.
Artist on this one is Greg Theakston, for the tags.
And the guy with the suspicious bulge is Steve Holland, who modeled for an insane number of paperback covers for a couple of decades (most notably the Bantam DOC SAVAGE reprints in the ’60s & ’70s.)
Man in macho crouch pose with gun: “Run sweetcheeks! I got you covered!”
Woman already in running away pose: “I’m just a woman in heels so I’ll just assume there’s nothing behind us and start running!”
Is the main character by any chance a space handyman? I don’t know if he should be pulling a space pistol out of that belt or a measuring tape. What space-aged hero wears Lee jeans? :\
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April 28th, 2010 at 8:50 am
“I’ll take that kitten in the window, the one with six arms, muscle bound chest and the seventies hair do!”
April 28th, 2010 at 9:03 am
“So, how are you thinking of marketing my new novel?’
‘Our plan is to go up to people and scream “IT’S HIS BIG ONE!!” at them. Cast-iron plan, that.’
April 28th, 2010 at 9:11 am
My favourite bit of this cover: the wallpaper in the background. If I could buy a few rolls of that, I’d do my bedroom in it. Course, my wife wouldn’t be happy.
April 28th, 2010 at 9:30 am
Looks to me like the HUGE 70s hair kitty, along the Hans Solo and Princess Lea wanna-be’s, is terrified by “his big one”…whatever that means… Apparently he just whipped it out and the three on the cover are crouching is disbelief and terror.
April 28th, 2010 at 10:04 am
Why didn’t I think to submit this? Everything is wrong. The artwork is appalling and manages to look photoshopped even though it was printed in the late seventies. Even the blurb is wrong: far from being a ‘long-awaited masterpiece’ it’s a never-reprinted forgettable lump, notable mostly for an interesting FTL drive (Tipler cylinders) and for Anderson letting his inner skald out to play a bit.
April 28th, 2010 at 10:23 am
Bit cruel, calling it a “long-awaited masterpiece”.
Poul Anderson: “What about all my previous other books?”
Publisher: “Oh, they weren’t masterpieces. We’ve been hanging on for twenty years for you to produce something worth calling that.”
Poul Anderson: *sobs*
April 28th, 2010 at 12:28 pm
lol that cover is awesome. Look at the bulge down the trouser leg of the dude
April 28th, 2010 at 12:50 pm
CSA> Wow… His big one!
April 28th, 2010 at 2:10 pm
i’d say its his long a’ weighted
April 29th, 2010 at 3:41 am
Artist on this one is Greg Theakston, for the tags.
And the guy with the suspicious bulge is Steve Holland, who modeled for an insane number of paperback covers for a couple of decades (most notably the Bantam DOC SAVAGE reprints in the ’60s & ’70s.)
April 29th, 2010 at 9:56 am
What more can I say..I love this site
The bad covers makes me laugh and cringe
April 29th, 2010 at 10:21 am
Thanks for the info Don! We’ve changed that now
Welcome aboard blodeuedd!
April 29th, 2010 at 3:34 pm
Man in macho crouch pose with gun: “Run sweetcheeks! I got you covered!”
Woman already in running away pose: “I’m just a woman in heels so I’ll just assume there’s nothing behind us and start running!”
April 30th, 2010 at 1:54 am
iirc, those are actually the major characters in the book. So it’s not a TOTAL fail.
Admittedly, posing them like the opening credits from “Charlie’s Angels” is an interesting design decision.
May 6th, 2010 at 3:30 pm
Is that Roy Scheider with the flashlight on his belt? I always liked Roy Scheider.
The author’s name is really “Poul”? Ouch.
May 19th, 2010 at 11:44 pm
Is the main character by any chance a space handyman? I don’t know if he should be pulling a space pistol out of that belt or a measuring tape. What space-aged hero wears Lee jeans? :\
May 21st, 2010 at 1:54 am
Or a Space Janitor. Who appears to be firing Space Thing’s penis in a bid to protect Space Drama Teacher.