Wednesday 31 May 2017

SOUL OF A ROBOT

"At the far end of the hall a tall door swung open. Through it strode Gogra: a giant of a robot, twelve foot tall and broad to match. Gogra was coal-black. In his right hand he carried a massive sledge-hammer that in a few blows could have crushed Jasperodus to junk, tough as he was. Pausing in the doorway, the terrifying robot surveyed the hall. As soon as he caught sight of Jasperodus he lunged forward, lifting the hammer with evident purpose. Jasperodus backed away. Gogra's appearance was frightening; his head was thrust forward on his neck, reminiscent of an ape-man; and the face was a mask of ugliness as to arouse both terror and pity: Gogra's designer had sought to give his massive frame sufficient agility by filling his interior with oil under pressure; the safety valve for that oil was his grotesque grilled mouth, from which green ichor dribbled copiously and continuously."

Orbit paperback, 1977. Cover by Bob Layzell.

Rear cover/synopsis.

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