A WHIFF OF MADNESS IN THE BARNUM SYSTEM

A Whiff of Madness by Ron Goulart, DAW 1978. Artwork by Josh Kirby.

THE WICKED CYBORG

The Wicked Cyborg by Ron Goulart, DAW 1978. Artwork by Josh Kirby.

HAIL HIBBLER

Hail Hibbler by Ron Goulart, DAW 1980. Artwork by Josh Kirby.

THE DAY BEFORE TOMORROW

The Day Before Tomorrow by Gerard Klein, 1967. Original title
Le Temps n'a pas d'odeur. Cover artwork by Josh Kirby.

OLE DOC METHUSELAH

Cover by Josh Kirby.

JASON COSMO

Pan books paperback, 1990. Cover illustration by Josh Kirby.

Rear cover synopsis: 

Jason Cosmo was a humble woodcutter in the village of lower Hicksnittle on the northern fringes of Darnk, where a conversation about mottled pig pox in the Festering Wart Tavern was a major community event. 

But the arrival of a foppish stranger who promptly tried to kill him, made Jason realize that there was more afoot in the magical Elven Kingdoms of Arden than he'd previously suspected. 

In neighbouring Whiteswap, sipping carrot juice under the watchful eye of the Sanitary Police, Jason met the wizard Mercury Boltblaster - and learned some bad news. 

The evil Dark Magic Society had placed a ten million gold crown bounty on Jason's head - and bounty hunters BlackMoon and Red Huntsman were on his trail. Was it a case of mistaken identity? Was there another Jason Cosmo? Or did he have something strangely wrong with his aura?

BENEDICT'S PLANET

Elmfield Press hardcover, 1976. Cover painting by Josh Kirby.

"PROLOGUE 

In the early days, a form of chemical rocket took man out to Pluto, and more often than not got him back to Earth again. The early Moonbase had an atomic power plant. But these ventures are rightly considered to be part of the pre-history of the True Space Age, bearing the same relationship to our present capabilities as Leif Eriksson's voyage to America bore to that of te Mayflower. 

In 2092 Samuel Moebright's invention of his universally familiar converter laid the foundation for man's explosion into space. No longer did humanity huddle under the domes of Mars. The Moebright Converter eventually gave us the ability to split the oxidized rocks of the crus and give the planet a breathable atmosphere. Nevertheless, this task was the work of a generation. 

While static Moebright plants gave the existing worlds of man abundant power, smaller versions thrust his star ships out of the solar system. They were overtaken while still on their journey by ships not only powered by Moebright units but also fitted with the new Siemens-Elliott relativizer. The Moebright produces energy by the controlled degradation of matter. A small fusion reaction is necessary to prime the process, but operationally anything from U235 to old rags can be used as fuel. Up to forty per cent of the rest energy of matter can be released. 

'heoretical studies suggest that an isotope of the transuranic element bohridium will have a catalytic effect on the process. True catalysts cannot, of course, occur in a nuclear reaction, in this putative system bohridium would continually be destroyed and re-created in an energizing cycle. Using bohridium, it is thought that the efficiency of the Moebright process could be increased to nonety per cent."

From THE GALWAY LECTURES by courtesy of Prof. M. Wilson and SBC Telecommunications

BEYOND INFINITY

Corgi SF paperback, 1964. Cover painting by Josh Kirby.

"BEYOND CONSCIOUSNESS 

What happens when a man must control his nightmares - or die? 

BEYOND THE STARS 

What happens on a fearful journey across the bright side of the planet Mercury? 

BEYOND DIMENSION 

What happens when earth becomes the object of invasion from a fourth dimension? 

BEYOND GRAVITY 

What happens when earth is plagued by a race of repellent creatures who have learned to control gravity? 

BEYOND INFINITY 

What happens?????"

Contents:

Tiger by the Tail

Nightmare Brother

PRoblem

The Coffin Cure

Brightside Crossing

The Native Soil

Love Thy Vimp

Letter of the Law

Family Resemblance

At first I thought the cover was by Richard Powers, the book wasn't mentioned in the checklist in The Art Of Richard Powers (Paper Tiger, 2001) - I thought; it's Powers or someone doing a really good Powers impression. To add to the confusion, the Macfadden edition of this book (title: Tiger By The Tail) does actually have a cover by Powers. A little detective work uncovered that the illustrator here is (perhaps unsurprisingly) Josh Kirby. The original painting can be seen here at The Illustration Exchange.

JOHN CARTER OF MARS

Four Square paperback, June 1968. Cover artist is Josh Kirby
(thanks, Mark).

"Here is the eleventh, and final, book in Edgar Rice Burroughs' best-selling Martian Series. John Carter is pitted against the infamous Pew Mogel, who has kidnapped his beloved wife, Dejah Thoris. The famous Warlord of Barsoom is lured to a deserted city on the shores of the dread sea of Korvas. But instead of his wife, he finds a huge synthetic giant and hordes of great, white apes into each of which the brain of a man has been grafted. It takes all the skill of Carter's famous fighting arm and extraordinary agility to preserve his life - and meanwhile the sands of time are running out for Dejah Thoris!"

THE HOUR OF THE PHOENIX

World Distributors (Manchester) paperback, 1972.
Artwork by Josh Kirby.

"We grew up in the Evil Years, the years when Mankind ran amok and railed at fate. There were thousands who crowded the churches and implored an impassive sky for mercy. There were thousands who rioted and debauched everywhere they went. These would enjoy their last few moments, if enjoyment it could be called. I had seen some of the haunted eyes of those roisterers and i had been arrogantly thankful that i was one of the New People."

THE SHORES OF SPACE

Corgi SF paperback, 1965 reissue. Cover artist uncredited,
though I've been reliably informed that it's Josh Kirby (thanks: Mark).

"It was getting dark and he couldn't be sure of what he saw. He stood paralysed and numb, staring with blood-drained face at the thing that moved across the ground towards the man's body; the thing that had a shape, yet not shape, that crept like a current of shimmering jellies. 

A terrified gagging filled his throat. He tried to move, but couldn't. He didn't want to hear the hideous gurgling sound, the turbid bubbling that was like vats of boiling tallow. 

Then the man was gone from the earth. Les stared at the place where he had been, stared at the luminous mass that pulsated there. He stared at it until the man had been completely eaten... 

'Being', one of thirteen extraordinary stories of fantasy and science fiction in this collection by Richard Matheson" 

Contents:

Being

Pattern For Survival

Steel

The Test

Clothes Make The Man

Blood Son

Trespass

When Day Is Dun

The Curious Child

The Funeral

The Last Day

Little Girl Lost

The Doll That Does Everything

THE HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE FICTION MAGAZINE PART 2

NEL hardcover, 1975. Cover illustration by Josh Kirby.

"Part 1 of this history of the science fiction magazine traced the earliest development of pulp and science fiction magazines in the period 1926-35. 

Part II takes up the story after the depression during which period, perhaps surprisingly, these magazines continued to flourish. By 1936 America, the home of science fiction publications, was feeling secure again, and people tended to ignore the gathering clouds of war. The science fiction magazine market became big business, reaching the first of its peaks, only to be matched again in the fifties. The leading magazines were still Amazing, Thrilling Wonder and Astounding, but there were countless others, such as Astonishing Stories, Cosmic Stories, Fanciful Tales, Flash Gordon's Strange Adventures, Stardust, Stirring Science Stories and many more. Magazine publishing in the late thirties also saw the expansion of science fiction into new markets in Britain and other countries outside the United States. 

The main trend in the magazines' content was influenced by the adventure and other pulp creations, so that emphasis was towards action, and less 'thinking' sf. Series were particularly popular such as the brain stealers by John W. Campbell, written under the pen-name of Don Stuart. Many authors who were to become big names appeared regularly in print for the first time, among them A. E. Van Vogt and Robert Heinlein. The juvenilia sf magazines also burgeoned, especially the 'bug-eyed monster- variety. But this high time was interrupted by the second world war, and nearly all the magazines, apart from the old stalwarts such as Amazing, collapsed. 

Included in this volume are extensive appendices covering the frequency of publication of various magazines; magazine editors and cover artists. Also reprinted are ten stories most representative of the writing of the period. These include an early Eric Frank Russell collaboration, Seeker Of Tomorrow; a classic Stanley G. Weinbaum tale, The Circle Of Zero; and a grim piece by Robert Bloch, Almost Human, plus many other delights."

Contents:

The Circle Of Zero by Stanley G. Weinbaum

Seeker Of Tomorrow by Eric Frank Russell and Leslie J. Johnson

The Dead Spot by Jack Williamson

The 4-Sided Triangle By William F. Temple

Hermit Of Saturn's Rings by Neil R. Jones

The Abyss by Robert A. W. Lowndes

Up There by Donald A. Wollheim

Almost Human by Robert Bloch

Wanderer Of Time by John Russell Fearn

The Power by Murray Leinster

FAR OUT

Corgi paperback, 1963. Cover artwork by Josh Kirby.

"A WORLD BEYOND TIME AND SPACE 

In these brilliant stories, Damon Knight takes you on a dazzling tour of the outer galaxies of the imagination:

The occasion when an alien race send two representatives to the United Nations. 

The meeting of two lovers whose only problem is that they are the only people left on Earth. 

The moment when an unborn child begins to communicate with its parents. 

Improbable? Not when the stories are written with the astonishing wit, the incredible logic and the surprising twists you have come to expect from this master of adult science fiction."

Contents:

To Serve Man

Idiot Stick

Thing Of Beauty

The Enemy

Not With A Bang

Babel II, Anachron

Special Delivery

You're Another

Time Enough

Extempore

Cabin Boy

The Last Word

A CENTURY OF GREAT SHORT SCIENCE FICTION NOVELS

Mayflower paperback, 1970 reprint. Cover art by Josh Kirby.

"The themes which constantly reappear in novels and stories of fantasy and the future are explored in this unique volume with dazzling imagination. Among them are: the co-existence in man of good and evil; the shape and substance of a superman; the time machine; and the manufacture of god in a chemically pure form."

Contents:

The Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

The Absolute At Large by Karel Capek

Gulf by Robert A Heinlein

E For Effort by T L Sherred

Hunter, Come Home by Richard Mckenna

ACE DOUBLE: THE GATES OF TIME + DWELLERS OF THE DEEP

Ace Double paperback, 1970. Cover art by Josh Kirby.

"They slithered and twittered and jangled, for they were not men. There was only one man - Jarcal - and he was the last of his kind. 

The advancing vacuum of the voids had sucked Jarcal's worlds into nothingness. But the aliens around him denied its existence; they gibbered inanely when questioned. And then, when Jarcal was discovered to be possessed, they most happily cast him out. 

But if Jarcal was possessed, he was also chosen. For the red dancing slippers of the gods led him through a mission to Armageddon...."

Ace Double paperback, 1970. Cover art by Jack Gaughan.

"What! A science fiction novel about science fiction fans? And why not? 

Or - like it says in this novel: 

"Do you really think science fiction fans could save this planet? Could understand this situation and save it?" "I most certainly do," she says. "Who else?" 

Who else, indeed? Not since Frederic Brown's "What Mad Universe" has there been a novel like this."

ACE DOUBLE: NO TIME FOR HEROES + ALICE'S WORLD

Ace Double paperback, 1971. Cover painting by Josh Kirby.

"There's no time for heroes in the present," said General Superhawk, as he was relieved from his laundry duties to head the spaceship's invasion of the untouched-by-human-hands-or-feet planet, which had been dead for 200,000 years. 

"This is absolutely no time for heroes," said the planet's central brain computer which had, in its long, long loneliness, peopled its planet with fabled literary creatures created from its monstrous protoplasma vats. 

"I'm no hero!" screamed the small, fat man with the moustache as he was bullied onto the planet as the ship's Number One scout. But Fate and Old Ironjaw had thrust Bernhard Rordin into the role, and in his own bumbling way, he... 

But see for yourself...."

Ace Double paperback, 1971. Cover painting by Josh Kirby.

"Monteyiller stared at Alice. "This is supposed to be a rescue mission," he said. "There's a girl in danger somewhere on this mad world!" 

She looked covertly at him. "What is it that you want?" 

Monteyiller shrugged. "A city. A government center. Anything, as long as we get out of this." 

Alice was clearly bewildered. She looked from Monteyiller to Cat and back again, her gaze shifting back and forth as she struggled with an unfamiliar thought. Finally, she said, "Which city?" 

Monteyiller kept his face serious with an effort. "Any city," he said. "It's all up to you." 

"Anycity," she repeated. "Oh, I see." She looked out over the lush, rolling landscape, frowning thoughtfully. 

"And please make it a little bit more lively than this bloody place," Monteyiller said, grinning. 

The landscape shifted...."

MIDSUMMER CENTURY

Here's something a little different - Josh Kirby's original painting / cover artwork for the 1972 DAW paperback of James Blish's Midsummer Century. Many, many thanks to Egrove who owns the original piece for supplying a scan of it!

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SCIENCE FICTION

Octopus Books hardback. Jacket illustration by Tony Roberts.

 "This exceptional encyclopedia unfolds new exciting material on the major areas of science fiction. The collected thoughts and experiences of eleven outstanding contributors are blended into twelve superb, concise, critical but constructive sections each supplemented by magnificent and illuminating illustrations. 

It is a remarkable volume which delves into every conceivable crevice of the sf world. The work and ideas from authors such as Jules Verne, H. G. Wells, Aldous Huxley, Olaf Stapledon, Philip K. Dick, Brian Aldiss, Robert Silverberg and J. G. Ballard, are among the many looked at in this volume. The origins of sf are examined in detail and an in-depth study is made of aliens, hardware, locations, alternative worlds, biology, space technology, sociology, ecology and the many complementary and adjacent fields. 

A compact catalogue section which includes collectors items, cults, magazines, film titles and awards concludes this impressive addition to science fiction reference books."

Painting by Jim Burns for Harry Harrison's The Streets Of Ashkelon.

Painting by Colin Hay.

Painting by Josh Kirby for Brian Aldiss' The Interpreter.

Illustration by David Pelham, for the second Jerry Cornelius novel
A Cure For Cancer by Michael Moorcock.

MINDBRIDGE

Orbit paperback, 1977. Cover painting by Josh Kirby.

"A DAZZLING EPIC OF THE FAR FUTURE FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE FOREVER WAR 

MINDBRIDGE 

When sensors detect the presence of alien intelligence in the region of the star Achernar, a team of 'Tamers' is sent to investigate. They are never seen again. Another small team, the elite of the Tamer agency, is ordered out, primed with every defensive and offensive weapon the technology of earth can devise. What they find looks harmless enough at first, but develops into the most hideous confrontation mankind will ever have to endure."