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Jan 06

The Thing, before the thing?Click for full image

Kevin Comments: The title was changed at the last minute to match the involuntary noise the editor made after seeing the cover art.
Published 1977

Actually, that cover IS a classical work of art!I would touch it without protective gloves.I've seen worse. Far, far, worse.Interesting, but I would still read it in public.Middlng: Neither awful nor awfully goodWould not like to be seen reading that!Awful... just awful...That belongs in a gold-lame picture frame!Gah... my eyes are burning! Feels so good!Good Show Sir! (Average: 8.04 out of 10)
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29 Responses to “Rork!”

  1. Phil Says:

    Well, the title tells the reader nothing. The cover tells the reader, arguably, even less. Better stick the subtitle “A Science Fiction Novel” on it, and then people will say “Ohhhh” rather than “Whaaaaaa….?”

    PS Happy New Year, Sir!

  2. THX 1138 Says:

    Are you ready to Rork?! Are you ready to admit that polo neck jumper you got for Christmas is five sizes too small?

  3. David Says:

    Norman Spinrad’s ‘Agent of Chaos’ shares this cover under NEL (bit.ly/19Zw9KM). Pretty sure it has bugger all to do with the contents (Beats another generic Foss spaceship at least).

  4. fearofmusic Says:

    a novel. oh. by the cover art alone i was thinking this was an autobiography of the actor mickey rourke. figured they took out a few letters to make it edgy and to have room for that exclamation mark.

  5. Dead Stuff With Big Teeth Says:

    Did I ever tell you about the time I put my plastic soldiers on the barbecue?

  6. Jane Says:

    Rork! A US Supreme Court nominee.

  7. Bibliomancer Says:

    Rork! It’s the other dead meat.

  8. Dead Stuff With Big Teeth Says:

    I’ve seen rork…rork that you’ve seen. But you have no right to call me a novel. You have a right to kill me. You have a right to do that…but you have no right to read me. It’s impossible for words to describe what is necessary to those who do not know what rork means. Rork…rork has a face…and you must make a friend of rork.

  9. Tom Noir Says:

    “Hi five, bro!”

    “NEVER!”

  10. Tom Noir Says:

    Is this the novelization of the Chinese sitcom based on an American 80’s hit, Rork and Rindy?

  11. Bibliomancer Says:

    @David — Good catch on NEL reusing this same cover art for a different title. I’ve noticed that a lot of other publishers have been doing this lately:

    http://tinyurl.com/kqckrjo

  12. fred Says:

    I hope Brando got paid a boat load of cash for that role.

  13. SI Says:

    Now this is a musical I would pay to see! Coming to London this summer, “RORK!”

  14. Tat Wood Says:

    Most authors would curse about the publisher who did this to a novel of theirs. Davidson may actually have put a curse on Manor Books.

    @David: nothing, absolutely nothing, beats a generic Foss spaceship.

  15. Jaouad Says:

    I don’t know, I kind of like the artwork. It’s just that I would have put in more giant floating hands and melting watches.

  16. fearofmusic Says:

    as far as titles with exclamation points go this is not nearly as catchy as’tarra khash:hrossak!

  17. B. Chiclitz Says:

    1. @ Bibliomancer—GSS and a happy new year to ye, maestro! Emily Brontë, indeed. Not Möbius-Dick?

    2. Look at the big head and the big hand: “Wow, I could have had a V8!”

  18. Bibliomancer Says:

    @B. Chiclitz — Happy New Year to you.
    Yo, I got your Möbius-Dick … right here! http://tinyurl.com/mumwd3q

  19. B. Chiclitz Says:

    @Biblio—Capt. to mermaid: “To the last, I grapple with thee; from hell’s heart, I stab at thee; for hate’s sake, I spit my last breath at thee, oh, and by the way, nice tail.”

  20. SF Strangelove Says:

    I was counting heads (as you do) and came up with seven, the smallest being the gazing-heavenward-polyp-head in the foreground, others are angry-leaning-forward-head, shouty-armpit-head, elongated-melting-turtleneck-head, frontal-lobe-head, falling-backward-showing-canines-head, and at the back is waving-for-attention-head. If the artist intends a progression, perhaps the other polyps in the foreground represent heads as well. Is the progression from heads to polyps, or polyps to heads?

  21. A.R.Yngve Says:

    Wait! Wait! I take back my first impulse to make a tired, trite LSD joke.

    The cover is not about drugs, or bald mutants. It’s metaphorical. The bald figures are obviously grasping for the truth, visualized as the fungoid plants in the foreground. And they stretch for…

    Crap, who am I kidding. Of course it’s a dope cover.

  22. A.R.Yngve Says:

    This reminds me of the first and only time I tried to read an Ayn Rand novel out loud and failed to keep my lunch down.
    “His name was Howard RORRKK!”

  23. A.R.Yngve Says:

    “What DO you want to DO with your LIFE?”

    “I wanna RORK!”
    [cue blaring guitars]

  24. SFRuminations Says:

    RT @GoodShowSir: New Book Cover: Rork! http://t.co/6Dvg3770mn

  25. Anti-Sceptic Says:

    So is Rork a noun or a verb?

  26. Tat Wood Says:

    @Anti-Sceptic: It’s a noun, a sort of runcible fork that isn’t a runcible spoon with prongs.
    Or, along the lines of spiced ham becoming Spam, it’s reclaimed pork.

  27. Anna T. Says:

    There seriously ought to be a tag for “Artist On LSD”. There are likely dozens upon dozens of covers on this site that would qualify for it.

  28. A.R.Yngve Says:

    K-Tel Presents
    CLASSIC RORK

  29. Tracy Says:

    Misstah Rork, de plane, de plane!!

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