A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ

Corgi paperback, 1979 reissue. Cover painting by Peter Jones.

"After the Fallout, when the Atomic Rain had stopped, the plagues and madness began. And after that came the simplification when the people - those who were left - turned against the rulers, the teachers, the scientists who had turned the world into a barren desert. All knowledge was destroyed, all the learned were killed - only Leibowitz managed to save some of the books... 

And the monks of the order of Leibowitz inherited the sacred relics - spent their lives copying, engraving, interpreting the holy fragments, slowly fashioning a new Renaissance in a barbarous and fallen world..."

A SPECTRE IS HAUNTING TEXAS

Mayflower paperback, 1971. Cover artist uncredited.

"EL ESQUELETO! 

Christopher Crockett La Cruz (or "Scully") is an actor, an extrovert and a ladies' man. To most of the inhabitants of post-World War III he looks outlandish, even sinister. To their women he looks attractive. Earth looks equally odd to Scully. Hormone treatment has turned Texans into giants and their Mex slaves into unhappy dwarfs. 

To the Mexes, Scully is a sign, a Talisman, a Leader. To Scully the Mexes are a cause. The time is ripe for revolution..."

Dan O'Bannon R.I.P.

Dan O'Bannon and H. R. Giger during the production of Alien, 1979.

Creative genius Dan O'Bannon died yesterday at the age of 63. Dan is probably best known for co-writing the original script for the 1979 film Alien with Ronald Shusett, though he also worked on special effects for Star Wars, Dark Star, Alejandro Jodorowski's abandoned Dune project, wrote the best segment for Heavy Metal (B-17), and served as co-writer for the screenplay of two Philip K. Dick adaptations; Total Recall (again with Shusett) and Screamers (with Miguel Tejada-Flores).

RIP, Dan.

Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett.

Dan O'Bannon's original sketch for the Alien creature.

THE MARTIAN INCA

Panther SF paperback, 1978. Cover illustration by Peter Gudynas.

"BRAIN-BLAST ON MARS 

When a Russian spacecraft carrying soil samples from Mars crashes on a remote Bolivian village, the Indians who salvage it fall into a mysterious comatose condition. Only two recover, and on re-awakening, they are conscious of a strange new awareness of themselves and the world outside. Julio, indeed, believes himself to be the Inca - the divine imperial ruler - reborn. 

Meanwhile, up in space a manned American vessel is on its way to Mars. After the 240 million mile voyage, tension on the ship is high and when at last Mars is reached, the deadly soil adds an extra dimension to an already explosive situation... 

What constituent of the Martian soil is causing its literally mind-blowing effects? The answer may be the missing clue to a vital discovery about Man's evolutionary potential..."