THE OUTPOSTER

Sphere paperback, 1980. Cover artwork by Peter Elson.

Rear cover/synopsis.

THE TRITONIAN RING

Sphere books paperback, 1978. Cover artwork by Melvyn Grant.

Rear cover/synopsis.

SPACE VIKING

Sphere books paperback, 1978. Cover artwork by Melvyn Grant.

Rear cover/synopsis.

A PRIVATE COSMOS

Sphere paperback, 1973. Cover artwork by Peter Goodfellow.

Rear cover and synopsis.

THE GATES OF CREATION

Sphere paperback, 1973. Cover artwork by Peter Goodfellow.

Rear cover and synopsis.

MAKER OF UNIVERSES

Sphere paperback, 1973. Cover artwork by Peter Goodfellow.

Rear cover and synopsis.

CONAN THE SWORDSMAN

Sphere paperback, 1978. Cover painting by Melvyn Grant.

Synopsis: 

"From the wild and wintry borders of Asgard to exotic Iranistan, from the perilous Pictish Marches to the awesomely-guarded stronghold of the miser-wizard Siptah, Conan the incomparable cuts his savage swathe through a matchless world of swordplay and sorcery in his most thrilling adventures yet!" 

FRANK HERBERT: THE EYES OF HEISENBERG

Sphere SF paperback, 1968. Cover photograph by David Davies.

Rear-cover synopsis: 

"In the age of the Optiman genetic surgeons tamper with the gametes of unborn children in the hospital vats. From time to time they achieve the miracle known as the Optiman - a human being whose tissues never wear out, an immortal. 

There is one drawback: The Optimen are not viable - they cannot breed. The ability to reproduce is confined to a small minority of ordinary mortals. The hospitals are supervised by an all powerful security force to stop this minority from growing beyond the limits decreed by the Optimen. 

Then Dr. Potter presides at the 'cutting' of a very special embryo; to ensure its destruction, the Optimen are prepared to destroy a whole city."

C.M. KORNBLUTH: THE SYNDIC

Sphere SF paperback, 1968. Cover photograph by David Davies.

Rear-cover synopsis: 

"The Government of North America has been pushed into the sea and survives only on the West coast of Ireland as a strict military dictatorship. The East of the U.S. is ruled by The Syndic - permissive, happy, possibly doomed - and to the west is Mob territory. Charles Orsino and Lee Falcaro from the Syndic are planted as spies in Government territory. They discover the truth about the outside world and the extent of the dangerous scheme which is being plotted to smash the Syndic for ever."

TRIPLE DÉTENTE

Sphere SF paperback, 1975. Cover painting by Jim Burns (I think).

Rear cover synopsis: 

"Victory! 

Our invincible space fleet has occupied the monsters' worlds. 

Victory! 

Our mighty space force has seized the aliens' home planet. 

Victory! 

Our triumphant space warriors have captured the enemy system. 

But then why are we suffering so beneath the tread of those heartless conquerors from the stars?"

THE HALF-ANGELS

Sphere SF paperback, 1975. Cover painting by Patrick Woodroffe.

Back cover fluff. 

"The book was like no other he had ever seen. The language was alien to the Earth, and the shifting, changing patterns of the illustrations seemed to spell a deadly, dreadful story. The book was a gateway: a transtemporal link point between two worlds. And soon he found himself in that strange other world. It was a weird, alien place of soul-destroying danger, a place in which he had a quest. To survive, he must hunt down the lost daughter of the witch-king, a girl who might be an angel. Or a demon."

THE DUNE STORYBOOK

Sphere paperback, 1984.

Its surface is barren.

Its true strength hidden.

Its foreboding desert conceals the power to fold space, to slow time, to send the mind where the body cannot go.

It is the source of the ultimate power.

It is the deadly battleground where a young leader will emerge to command an army of six million warriors against the tyrannical force that threatens to enslave the universe.

It is the clash for the greatest prize of all...

The planet called Dune.

The third-stage Guild Navigator.

Who had this book as a child? I did. I don't recall ever reading it but essentially the text is adapted from David Lynch's screenplay - it's nothing special, really, and is obviously targeted at children (which I always found odd as here in the UK the film had a 15 certificate) but it does have some nice production photographs and stills to illustrate the story. Strangely, Joan D. Vinge is credited as writing it, so I can only surmise that she was strapped for cash in the 1980s.

The Baron Vladimir Harkonnen.

The Beast Rabban.

Alia Atreides.

THE AMTRAK WARS BOOK 3: IRON MASTER

Sphere paperback, 1987. Cover illustration by Tony Roberts.

"The year: 2990 AD. The centuries-old conflict between the hi-tech underground world of the Trackers and the primitive, surface-dwelling Mutes continues with unabated ferocity. Steve Brickman, a Tracker wingman whose heart and mind is torn between the two cultures, embarks upon his most dangerous mission yet: the rescue of Cadillac and Clearwater, two gifted Plainfolk Mutes held captive by the mysterious Iron Masters. It is a nightmare journey into the unknown but, once again, a shadowy presence guides Steve's footsteps and endows him with superhuman speed and strength in moments of mortal danger..."

THE AMTRAK WARS BOOK 2: FIRST FAMILY

Sphere paperback, 1987. Cover artwork by Tony Roberts
(thanks: David).

"After countless years of fighting - of pitting sophisticated technology against the primitive surface-dwelling people who seemed to possess supernatural powers - the Federation was still no nearer to ending the battle with the Mutes. But then a lone flier was hauled into one of its underground bunkers - a man whose very existence was a challenge to the all-pervading wisdom of the First Family. A man whose destiny would determine the future for both the Federation and the Mutes..."

THE AMTRAK WARS BOOK 1: CLOUD WARRIOR

Sphere paperback, 1983. Cover painting by Jim Burns.

"Ten centuries ago the Old Time ended when Earth's cities melted in the war of a Thousand Suns. Now the lethal high technology of the Amtrak Federation's underground stronghold is unleashed on Earth's other survivors - the surface-dwelling Mutes. But the primitive Mutes possess ancient powers greater than any machine..."

NULL-A THREE

Sphere SF paperback, 1985 reprint. Cover painting by
Bruce Pennington.

"WORLDS IN CRISIS 

Whoever it was that the Dzan had discovered in a space capsule floating perilously close to their battle fleet, it was certainly no ordinary mortal. 

It wasn't just that this Gosseyn - as he called himself - had apparently come from another galaxy. Nor that he'd been awoken from an ages-long state of suspended animation by their sudden intervention. 

What troubled the Dzan most was that Gosseyn was - by his own admission - the reincarnation of another human being, one who not only seemed to share the same brain as Gosseyn, but was clearly still very much alive. Once they'd accepted the existence of Gosseyn and his alter ego, they realised that here somehow might be the weapon they needed in their struggle with the alien Troogs - or the cause of their own imminent destruction..."

A STAINLESS STEEL RAT IS BORN

Sphere SF paperback, 1988. Cover painting by Peter Elson.

"A RAT BY ANY OTHER NAME... 

Young Jim diGriz has but one ambition in life - to become a master criminal, perhaps the greatest that little Bit O'Heaven has ever seen. So that he can learn the ropes, he has to mix with the right people - or rather the wrong people. And for this kind of on-the-job training the best place to meet the worst villains is in prison. But even for a customer as slippery as Jim, getting behind bars isn't easy.  

So Jim does a bank job, very badly, with the avowed intention of getting himself nicked..."

THE STAINLESS STEEL RAT FOR PRESIDENT

Sphere SF paperback, 1982. Cover artwork by Peter Elson.

"RAT IN PARADISE! 

You can't keep a good rat down, not one as slippery as Jim di Griz alias the Stainless Steel Ray. And you can't keep his nose out of trouble either. 

Jim and the lethal, luscious Angelina owe themselves a honeymoon and Paraiso-Aqui looks like the place. Settled long ago by voyagers from the southern continent of Earth (or Dirt as it was also known) Paraiso is warm and easy. But all is not well in paradise. The serpentine tyrant General Julio Zapilote is about to sail back into office in another rigged election, and the chance to scupper him is just too good for Jim to miss. Corruption, bribery, graft and chicanery - for the Ray it's just like coming home."

THE STAINLESS STEEL WANTS YOU

Sphere SF paperback, 1979. Cover artwork by Peter Elson.

"SAVE THE GALAXY FROM DESTRUCTION! 

Slippery Jim di Griz - the Stainless Steel Rat - is still recovering from his efforts to save his beloved Angelina from the notorious Interstellar Internal and External Revenue when he is called upon to perform the impossible. Saving the galaxy. But can he pull it off? The galaxy is being attacked by every kind of alien race - untold billions of tentacled, slimy, green, clawed mutations - and time is running out. Aided and abetted by his wife Angelina and his teenage sons, James and Bolivar, Jim infiltrates the nerve centre of the enemy council chambers. But he hasn't reckoned on the grey men and their commitment to a 'holy crusade' to destroy mankind - permanently!"

PLANET OF NO RETURN

Sphere SF paperback, 1983. Cover painting by Peter Elson.

"MACHINES THAT MURDER! 

Landing on a new planet is a danger every time, and Selm-II is no exception. 

The specialist didn't like it. There were no cities visible from space, no broadcasts or transmissions on the blank airwaves - yet the wrecked war machines of an advance technology littered the rich pastures of the deserted planet. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of crumpled and gigantic weapons of war, a graveyard of destruction stretching almost to the lifeless horizon. But the war wasn't over...and they weren't all wrecks! 

It's an emergency. It's a job for Brian Brand, the mightiest weightlifter in the galaxy. With he brilliant, sensuous Dr Lea Morees at his side he plunges into the war zone, into the steel jaws of the PLANET OF NO RETURN!"