Feb 04
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Hakan’s Art Direction: OK, we’re printing the translation of The Pebble in the Sky by Prof. Asimov. I’m open to suggestions for the cover… Come on people! The story happens in a planet, so let’s have the Earth in the background, did you see the last episode of the Galactica? Let’s put that in the title! And some women! NAKED women! And some squid! NO! MAKE THAT A SPACE SQUID! GOLDEN! So, the title we’re using is now “Sinister Planet Galactica,” it suits better, the book has no pebbles in it but has a planet so there you go. Now I want the whole lot on my desk by tomorrow or bad things will happen to you, Sir!
Published 1983
(Average: 7.96 out of 10)
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(9.27 out of 10)
February 4th, 2014 at 8:48 am
More From Hakan:
The book is titled “Ugursuz Gezegen Galactica”, translating to “Sinister Planet Galactica”…Well, obviously it was published just after the Galactica TV series were aired in early 80s (I was a little lad at that time and damn those now-cheesy stuff really affected me, turning me into an avid SF reader).
The actual book is “The Pebble in the Sky” by good Professor Asimov… Luckily I had read an other translation of it and the original in English, and later this one, I had to scratch my head for a couple of minutes before I could figure out which book it was!. Baskan was/is very famous with their very cheesy covers and extremely bad translations, a lot of their stuff were translated from French to start with so we had to endure a double-translation. Never understood why since a lot of the books they published were very famous SF books & writers where obtaining an English print shouldn’t have been a big problem. I believe some were unofficial translations where they didn’t actually pay the writers and original publishers a dime.
Some more covers from Baskan publishing house can be found here: http://www.kayiprihtim.org/portal/seri/baskan-kurgu-bilim-dizisi/
February 4th, 2014 at 9:20 am
Oh the humanity!
Lots of raincoats in the bookstore the day they sold that one, eh?
February 4th, 2014 at 9:40 am
RT @GoodShowSir: New Book Cover: The Pebble in the Sky http://t.co/RFt9nOGmRR
February 4th, 2014 at 11:21 am
Welcome to Squids and Nudes Week at Good Show Sir!
February 4th, 2014 at 11:38 am
Oh, hey, I know that guy.
Maybe it should’ve been ‘Sinister Moon Galactica’.
February 4th, 2014 at 11:43 am
Now if this was the Japanese cover, I would be less surprised.
February 4th, 2014 at 11:45 am
This was no boating accident! Wait, wrong Benchley book…
February 4th, 2014 at 12:59 pm
It’s hard to imagine that SF publishers could get away with this stuff in a Communist country during the Cold War… I’d like to know whether the Secret Police questioned Baskan about this cover.
“Comrade, is this an attempt at subversion?”
“No, no, comrade officer, this is merely scientific speculation about life on other planets!”
“Really.”
“Really.”
“All right, I’ll have a copy… for STUDY purposes!”
February 4th, 2014 at 1:16 pm
Exactly how well would a pile of naked women cope with the vacuum of space?
Shouldn’t they be hideously sunburned and somewhat dead?
February 4th, 2014 at 1:38 pm
@rev. Well, I wouldn’t say they’re looking particularly lively, now you mention it.
By the way, my theory is that the art direction was much more concise, more like, “Hey, just slap on that rejected artwork for ‘Medusa’s Children’. All done!”
February 4th, 2014 at 3:39 pm
But…but….but….
February 4th, 2014 at 3:46 pm
“You’ve tangled with the wrong octopus!”
February 4th, 2014 at 4:17 pm
If remake Gaius Baltar worshipped Cthulhu this cover actually makes sense for Galactica, not so much for Asimov.
February 4th, 2014 at 7:46 pm
So in the future there’s absolutely no shame?
February 4th, 2014 at 9:07 pm
At last, space sheep as they should be seen: in a flock.
February 5th, 2014 at 1:06 am
Good lord.
“Pebble in the Sky” was one of the first science fiction novels I can remember deliberately reading, around the age of nine or ten.
It’s about a middle-aged-to-elderly Jewish man who is accidentally transported millions (or thereabouts) of years into the future where there is a galactic civilization and everyone has forgotten that the radioactive backwater Earth is where humanity started.
I recall the book had a department store, and neuronic whips.
But it was *Asimov.* There were no bare bums that I can recall.
February 5th, 2014 at 1:17 am
This is what I hate about foreign publishers who don’t commission their own covers. This is Tim White’s painting which was commissioned for Christopher Priest’s novel “The Space Machine” in 1981, and hence has absolutely nothing to do with a Galactica novel. My friend owns the original painting.
February 5th, 2014 at 5:21 pm
@Pete — Commissioned but not used on the book?
http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/titlecovers.cgi?4688
February 5th, 2014 at 11:12 pm
Must say I’m not really surprised a Turkish publisher reuses artwork. Indeed, many non-US/UK publishers do. Often, the choice is simply: given the budget, do we pay a translator and skimp on the artwork, or do we commission an artist and have a bad translation? Especially when the chance such a recycled cover is seen by the domestic audience is quite small.
Still easier, of course, not to pay for either. Economic reality for much SF outside of the Anglosphere, I’m afraid.
February 9th, 2014 at 12:26 am
Maybe they thought the art was going on a Japanese edition….
July 24th, 2016 at 10:03 pm
More like Isaac ASSimov.
Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeyyyy
July 24th, 2016 at 10:23 pm
@Tom: here. Coat. G’bye. 🙂