ISAAC ASIMOV'S SCIENCE FICTION MAGAZINE, SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 1978

Cover by Michael Whelan.

THE BEST OF OMNI SCIENCE FICTION NO.2

The Best Of Omni Science Fiction No. 2, 1981. Cover painting by Fred-Jurgen Rogner.

This is a re-post of an Omni mag I originally scanned in May 2011. I was skimming through a few issues a few days ago and noticed I'd apparently missed at least half a dozen pieces of artwork from this particular magazine. This issue also featured pictorials on Chris Foss' book 21st Century Foss and John Schoenherr's Dune illustrations (from The Illustrated Dune) but you can find the real thing(s) here and here, respectively.

"This very worthy successor to a much-acclaimed first volume is intended for science-fiction devotees and neophytes alike. It has an introduction by Robert Sheckley and 16 memorable stories by such masters of the genre as Theodore Sturgeon, George R. R. Martin, and Orson Scott Card. In a special sf appearance TV personality Hugh Downs describes a reincarnation deep in the future and Robert Silverberg contributes a never-before-published novella about a distant moon in a distant time. Arthur C. Clarke annotates an illustrated presentation of cosmic spaceships. Five other breathtakingly colourful pictorials include works of John Schoenherr, Christopher Foss, and David Jackson."

Painting by Bob Layzell, from the pictorial Spaceships.

Painting by Bob Layzell, from the pictorial Spaceships.

Painting by Peter Knifton, from the pictorial Spaceships.

Painting by Peter Knifton, from the pictorial Spaceships.

Painting by Alan Daniels, from the pictorial Spaceships.

Painting by Bob Layzell, from the pictorial Spaceships.

Painting by Colin Hay, from the pictorial Spaceships.

Painting by Alan Daniels, from the pictorial Spaceships.

Painting by Paul Lehr, from the pictorial Star Seekers.

Painting by John Schoenherr, from the pictorial Star Seekers.

Taken Hostage, painting by Michael Whelan, from the pictorial Star Seekers.

The One Who Stayed Behind, painting by Darrell Sweet, from the
pictorial Star Seekers.

Painting by Angus McKie, from the pictorial 7 Wonders Of The Universe.

"The doors of Launch stand four kilometers from the ground. The hangar itself measures 4,600 square kilometers and was built when subatomic fuel was still cheap and muon-guzzling space limousines were gigantic."

Painting by John Harris, from the pictorial Time Travellers.

QUESTION AND ANSWER

Ace paperback, 1978. Cover illustration by Michael Whelan.

Rear cover synopsis:

"For many years the starships of earth searched the heavens for places where men could live. Many planets were found, but always something was wrong: too hot; too cold; atmospheric contaminants; poisonous biochemistry; intelligent natives - something. At last a deep-space survey vessel has reported a planet that seems perfect, an uninhabited paradise where people can roam free. But the first Troas Expedition never returns. And now the crew of the De Gama must find out why, or mankind will lose the stars forever..."

CUCKOO'S EGG

Mandarin paperback, 1990. Cover illustration by Michael Whelan.

"They named him Thorn. They told him he was of their people but he knew he was different: he was ugly in their eyes, strange, sleek-skinned and clawless. Yet he was hatani, a member of the élite power class that were judge warriors fighters and defenders. 

Thorn knew that his difference was somehow very important - but not important enough to prevent murderous conspiracies against him, against his protector, against his caste, and, perhaps, against the peace of the world. When Thorn finally learned what his true role in life was to be - that on him hung the fate of two worlds - then he had to stand alone to justify his very existence."

THE ALIEN WORLD - THE COMPLETE ILLUSTRATED GUIDE

Jacket illustration by Mick Brownfield.

"Professor Steven Eisler uses his immeasurable wit and razor-sharp intellect to assemble the currently available information from both established and obscure sources into the first sensible teatise on the fictitious world of expanding and contradicting galaxies and their alien life. When approaching this difficult task professor Eisler's initial problem was to establish a classification of alien cultures that would be acceptable to academics and, more importantly, clearly understood by the knowledgeable layman with a desire to study alien phenomena in depth. These criteria have been achieved with quite remarkable success. His five principle sectors, or divisions, satisfy all the wishes of his most eminent contemporaries as well as the publishers of this major contribution. The space that creates the galaxies universes and their forms is divided into, and named after, five groups: the Oisir-Raxxla; the Human; the Hiraldron; the Narathnu and the Uan-Irec. Professor Eisler has produced a coherent commentary of the geo -physical mediums that support the alien, their socio-political status, their economies, their communications and their alternative levels of consciousness. Using superbly adapted illustrations from the foremost artists on our planet, who have generously assisted in developing reconstructions of a selected number of the more significant aliens, the author presents an accurate and imaginative account within the organized structure necessary for any serious study of aliens, without losing sight of the many curious ambiguities that surround this subject."

Painting by John Schoenherr.

"The five sectors of the universe known to man are but five of hundreds, and the vast variety of life he has encountered is just a fraction of the life that must exist. We are most comfortable with the humanoid species, such as the Narathanan Astero Trader."

Painting by Michael Whelan.

"A particularly nasty piece of Raxxlan robotics. This skeletal machine was designed to spread alarm and despondency among races that the Oisir-Raxxla wanted to subdue without going to all the bother of genocide. This robot, which would normally be a MOLE class model well up on the ISAC (Integrated Sabotage/Assassination Capacity) scale, was sent to selected races disguised as a representative of the most holy caste. When a sufficiently large group of worshippers had gathered, the robot would run berserk or occasionally explode."

Painting by Graham Wildridge.

"A part of the Talmor Lens, built on the world Capralax VII. This is an 'edge-stabiliser', designed to hold the underspace tensions of five pyramidal lenses in control."

Painting by F. Jurgen Rogner.

"The Eye Of The Beholder. A Raxxlan projection which appeared above the primitive world Winter D, populated by sentient, but unadvanced insectoids. The Eye became an overwhelming symbol of the evil that stared from the heavens, so disorienting the creatures that the Oisir-Raxxla were able to build their structure and depart without life being lost."

Painting by David Hardy.

"An image from the Book Of Chaak, shows Oriathan ships attacking a Ranan Colony world. A Ranan defence vessel, disguised as natural landscape, rises to meet the offenders. This sort of skirmish seems to have gone on for many hundreds of years, necessitating the constant maintenance of borders between the various subdivisions of the Tholmathon Empire. When the Empire finally came back together it seems that our own Galaxy was chosen as the central Star World for the formation of a Peace Corps."

Painting by Jim Burns.

"Half machine, half Humanoid, the Ragass are strange intelligences of the fire-covered world Renefa IV. They turned to the Gestalt for help in cooling the vocalnic activity of their world. The Ragass do not appear to have a very high intelligence, and certainly seem incapable of having built the machine technology which they are so closeley linked. The Gestalt believe that, at some period in the distant past, another culture experimented with bionic machines, and Renefa IV has been the dumping ground for their failures. The Human race is suspected."

Painting by Eddie Jones.

"The Ologog. Human contact with the Ologog of Gabragorn II has been nearly as extensive as that by Uan-Irec; the warrior castes have little interest in intelligences that cannot instruct them in new ways of war, but the Ologog are sad and troubled creatures, and mankind has attempted to alleviate their burden. Communication with the Ologog is made using large message capsules, which sink to the immense machine-creatures as they bask on the sea-bed."

Published in 1980 by Crescent books The Alien World contains 90 large colour illustrations by talents such as Jim Burns, Tony Roberts, Angus McKie, Colin Hay, John Schoenherr, Michael Whelan and John Blanche. Each alien race included is featured with in depth information - generally the book is structured in a similar manner to other books that featured Young Artists artwork in the 1980s such as Alien Landscapes and Tour Of The Universe, etc.

As this is a re-post, I wanted to include a lot more scans from this book but either I've already posted the artworks in the form of their original covers or images I would've liked to have shared are printed across the spine, meaning scanning them would be a lengthy, messy and tedious process.

THE BEST OF OMNI SCIENCE FICTION NO. 4

The Best Of Omni Science Fiction No. 4, 1982. Cover painting by Michael R. Whelan.

"Three never-before-published stories and two science fiction classics are included among the contents of this, the fourth in a very popular and widely-selling series. The volume is organized into five sections and is illustrated throughout with artwork that has earned for Omni magazine a reputation for superlative graphics. Two of the sections consist of outstanding stories and pictorials originally published in Omni and believed by the editors of this anthology to possess an extraordinary and still-unfolding talent. The section of sf originals is highlighted by Spider Robinson's story "Rubber Soul" - a new kind of science fiction in which the return of a martyred rock superstar puts right certain celebrated relationships. The science fiction classics section is comprised of a renowned story by Alfred Bester and one by Brian W. Aldiss. Each a giant of the genre."

Contains Our Lady Of The Sauropods by Robert Silverberg, Dreamtime, a pictorial of paintings by various artists, Marchianna by Kevin O'Donnel, Jr., Dark Sanctuary by Gregory Benford, Sigmund In Space by Barry N. Malzberg, Light Voyager, a pictorial of paintings by John Berkey, Valley Of The Kilns by James B. Hall, Fat Farm, Quietus, St. Amy's Tale and Deep-Breathing Exercises as part of an Orson Scott Card celebration, Noble Savage, a pictorial of paintings by Boris Vallejo, Rubber Soul by Spider Robinson, I Am Large, I Contain Multitudes by Melisa Michaels, Love Calls by Oxford Williams, Fondly Fahrenheit by Alfred Bester, My Lady Of The Psychiatric Sorrows by Brian W. Aldiss, Out Of Luck by Walter Trevis, Return From The Stars by Stanislaw Lem, Transformations, a pictorial of artwork by Bob Venosa and Marshall Arisman, The President's Image by Stephen Robinett, Future Books by Cynthia Darnell, Soul Search by Spider Robinson, Save The Toad! by Norman Spinrad, Giant On The Beach by John Keefauver, Strike! by Isaac Asimov, The Last Jerry Fagin Show by John Morressy and Eastern Exposures, a pictorial of paintings by various artists.

Painting by Don Dixon.

Painting by Morris Scott Dollens that accompanied Barry N. Malzberg's
Sigmund In Space.

Painting by John Berkey, from his pictorial Light Voyager.

Painting by John Berkey, from his pictorial Light Voyager.

Painting by John Berkey, from his pictorial Light Voyager.

Painting by John Berkey, from his pictorial Light Voyager.

Painting by Bob Venosa, accompanying Valley Of The Kilns by
James B. Hall.

Painting by Marshall Arisman, from Robert Sheckley's
Transformations pictorial.

"Transformation - its prediction, its control, its meaning - has always been the province of the priest, the shaman, and the artist. Magic itself, the precursor of science, is essentially the study and control of changes. Alchemy, the study of magical transformations, metamorphoses into chemistry, the study of transformations in substances. Scientists look to artists for insights into the nature of the world. Art delineates the processes of the imagination, creating syntheses of fantastic and factual elements too complex to be explained in words."

Painting by Marshall Arisman, from Robert Sheckley's Transformations
pictorial.

"We shuffle things and arrange them, not as they are, but as we want them to be."

INFINITE WORLDS

Virgin Books hardback, 1997. Cover painting by Paul Lehr.

Painting by Fred Freeman, from LIFE magazine, July 11th, 1960 illustrating the article
Man Remade To Live In Space.

Painting by John Schoenherr, for John Berryman's The Trouble With Telstar, from Analog magazine,
June 1963.

Trantorian Dream by Michael Whelan. 

Painting for Laurence Manning's The Man Who Awoke by Dean Ellis.

Painting by Paul Lehr for Berkley's The Astounding Science Fiction Reader.

Illustration by Bob Pepper for the New American Library edition of Starburst,
by Alfred Bester.

Painting for Keith Laumer's The Other Side Of Time by Jerome Podwil.

Painting by Richard M. Powers for H. G. Wells' The War Of The Worlds.

Painting by Darrell Sweet for Robert A. Heinlein's juvenile novel
Red Planet.

Painting by Ed Valigursky for C. H. Thames' The Iron Virgin, from Amazing Stories, Vol. 30, #3
March 1956.

THE ULTIMATE ENEMY

Ace SF paperback, first printing, September 1979. Cover art
by Michael Whelan.

"LIFE AGAINST DEATH 

For countless millennia the dreadful Berserker fleets have ranged across the galaxy in a relentless war against all things living. Great irony is it indeed in this war of life against mechanism that while the purposes of Death are carried out by ultimately sophisticated devices, the cause of life is represented by one of the least evolved of intelligent species. For all of the starfaring races, only Man has brought with him untamed the heritage and instinct of battle; only man can face 

THE ULTIMATE ENEMY."

THE COSMIC COMPUTER

Ace paperback, 1983. Cover art by Michael Whelan.

"Merlin - the magical name that conjured up visions of unlimited knowledge and power. Merlin - the god-like, infallible computer that could mean the salvation of a war-torn human race. But did such a fantastic cybernetic marvel really exist? 

Was Merlin just another legend of the spaceways, as most people believed? Or was it really hidden somewhere on the colony planet, Poictesme? 

And if it was to be found, would it save mankind...Or be its destruction?

THE SONGS OF DISTANT EARTH

Grafton paperback, 1987. Jacket art by Michael Whelan.

"THE VOYAGERS AWOKE IN PARADISE 

When Earth's sun went nova, the MAGELLAN barely escaped in time, with its precious cargo of one million sleepers and gene banks of plants and animals. 

Five hundred years into the voyage they stopped for repairs on the idyllic planet of Thalassa. 

But whilst the awakened Earth people envied them their stable, harmonious world, the hospitable Thalassasns were drawn by the long quest of the interstellar voyagers. 

And when Lieutenant Commander Loren Lorenson met beautiful thalassan mirissa, their alien destinies became inextricably - and tragically - entwined. 

THE SONGS OF DISTANT EARTH 

is the novel that Arthur C. Clarke has wanted to write for the past 20 years, a brilliant blend of sound scientific speculation with a moving story of life and love on an alien and beautiful world."