Jan 25
Richard’s Art Direction:
“The hardback didn’t sell well, so we shortened the title, make it more time-travel-y. Can you give us something that evokes “time-loop” for the cover?”
“Hmm, what about a glaiket looking bloke and a sheep?”
“Bam!”
Published 1979
Wow.. many thanks to Richard!
January 25th, 2011 at 10:16 am
It kinda looks like.. that human face space ship hybrid is pushing a sheep out it’s anus…
Sorry I did go there and I apologise!
January 25th, 2011 at 11:13 am
There’s an unnecessary U on that cover – and an unnecessary ewe! Bah-dum-tish!
January 25th, 2011 at 11:23 am
According to Wikipedia, the original title was Hot Wireless Sets, Aspirin Tablets, the Sandpaper Slides of Used Matchboxes, and Something that Might have been Castor Oil. Odd that they couldn’t have any of that on the cover…
January 25th, 2011 at 11:40 am
Excellent blog, made me laugh. If you ever fancy doing a guest blog on bad covers for the Feckless Goblin, let me know!!!
January 25th, 2011 at 12:06 pm
Inspired by THE MARTIAN CHRONICULES, I suppose.
That is one bad title, and one baa-aaa-aad cover.
Actually, I thought it was quite good until I saw the sheep. That’s when the coffee went up my nose and all over my computer screen.
January 25th, 2011 at 12:47 pm
From the Amazon listing of the book (and from just about every hit when searching google for this book):
Science Fiction. A mysterious explosion, a haunting indefinable smell. Sitting quietly by a Cornish creek, reading his favorite comic book, Roses Varco hears the bang, catches a trace of the odor – and understands nothing. Which is hardly surprising, since Roses has just witnessed the death of a time-traveler lost in a limbo between worlds. Had he known the truth, it would have terrified him – for that traveler was himself. 206 Pages.
January 25th, 2011 at 12:49 pm
I tell you what my first thought was. My first thought was that there was a breast under there, and you’d stuck a sticker of a sheep over it to spare our delicate sensibilities. But then I looked again and saw that the sheep is indeed integral to the design. Then I rubbed my eyes and looked again.
And the publisher is Arrow! Shouldn’t it be Baa-aa-aen?
January 25th, 2011 at 12:51 pm
@Dave
Haha… yes, that’s what it says on the back cover, too. It’s not supposed to be that bad, though: http://iansales.com/2008/10/16/shiny-happy-science-fiction/
January 25th, 2011 at 1:38 pm
Yes, it’s actually a very good novel. It just had a silly title originally. Incidentally, it’s Chronicules in the UK edition, but Chronocules in the US edition. Which doesn’t rank up there withretitling Aldiss’s Non-Stop as Starship, but makes just as much sense…
January 25th, 2011 at 1:39 pm
One hell of a bluetooth ear piece.
January 25th, 2011 at 2:19 pm
@adam My thought exactly – sheep sticker to defend our delicate sensibilities (but would the breast or the penis under the sticker have made any more sense?)
It’s a maaaaaaaad maaaaaaaad world…
January 25th, 2011 at 2:46 pm
At first glance this cover looks kind of cool. Then…what the crap, is that a cyborg sheep?
Really does sound like a fun story, I’ll have to look for this one.
January 25th, 2011 at 2:54 pm
“So what do you want on the cover?”
“Marketing says anything with animals on the cover sells real good.”
“What animals?”
“Cats, dogs, cows, birds, sheep…”
“You want cats, dogs, cows, birds and sheep?”
“No no, not all of them. Just pick one. I trust you to make that simple decision.”
“Be right back!”
January 25th, 2011 at 4:12 pm
Ok ok.. I just can’t get it out of my head now..
“Straight outta Compton crazy motherfu*ker named Sheep Cube…”
Oh NWA… I probably could have been killed for a comment like that back in the early 90’s!
January 25th, 2011 at 7:34 pm
Extreme acupuncture and body amputation is a well-known cure for the chronicules. The sheep is necessary to keep his neck warm.
January 25th, 2011 at 9:27 pm
And for those who don’t know what glaikit means, here’s what urbandictionary.com has to say:
Scottish word meaning: stupid, foolish, not very bright, thoughtless, vacant
January 26th, 2011 at 12:00 am
Why is the guy looking up? Is the horned sheep spaceship nothing compared to the coffee stained space?
January 26th, 2011 at 4:35 am
I would like to request that the extraneous sheep head be the new censored image.
January 28th, 2011 at 7:13 pm
It’s Jason and the Argonauts in space with a timelord Hercules in search of the Cosmic Fleece.
February 2nd, 2011 at 10:22 pm
This is so a recycled cover for Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?.
February 3rd, 2011 at 8:37 pm
No, it’s John Brunner’s sequel to THE SHEEP LOOK UP. Original title: THE SHEEP LOOKS DOWN, AND SLIGHTLY TO THE RIGHT.
July 4th, 2012 at 1:28 am
It really makes me wonder, though, is a sheep germane to the plot, or is this just a case of “What was the artist on?”
July 4th, 2012 at 8:28 pm
The cover artist is just trying to pull the wool over your eyes.
July 3rd, 2015 at 1:18 pm
Clicked to see what on earth could be hiding under the space sheep.
Was disappointed.
December 9th, 2015 at 1:13 am
Would’ve been a better cover for The Sheep Look Down While John Brunner Looks Up.
January 14th, 2016 at 12:04 am
Chronicules: just add hot water and stir for a delicious sauce. Goes especially well with lamb.
January 14th, 2017 at 2:23 am
Is this where our beloved Space Sheep first appeared? Gosh! I clicked, wondering how there could be anything under there, and there isn’t.
Unknown Artist, we salute you and Space Sheep.
October 31st, 2017 at 3:16 pm
I’m such a GSS fan that the first thing I did was click to see what was under the sheep.
December 6th, 2017 at 7:58 pm
POV of the cover’s photographer, with appropriate background music.
September 4th, 2018 at 6:10 am
YOU GUYS!
I looked this up on ISFDB and they say the cover artist is one David Bergen.
So now we know who to credit for our pal Space Sheep.
Mr. Bergen also did the cover for a book called “Manroot” near the end of his SF illustrating career. Hasn’t updated his blog in 5 years, though.
August 15th, 2022 at 5:51 pm
Pitch to the publisher – “Think Dune, only with space wool instead of spice.”
August 15th, 2022 at 6:52 pm
Time is not, in fact, money. It’s actually sheep.