Two more signed Ellison firsts to replace unsigned copies.
Posts Tagged ‘Science Fiction’
Library Additions: Two Signed Harlan Ellison Edgeworks Firsts
Tuesday, May 18th, 2021Library Addition: Signed Copy of The Ray Bradbury Companion
Thursday, May 13th, 2021Another book in my quest to get a signed copy of every Ray Bradbury-related book:
(Bradbury, Ray) Nolan, William F. The Ray Bradbury Companion. Gale Research, 1975. First edition hardback (no statement of printing as per Currey), a Fine copy in a sound, Very Good slipcase from which numerous small (tackhead sized and smaller) pieces of the affixed wrap-around paper label have chipped away, plus a few other touches of dust and wear, sans dust jacket, as issued, signed by Bradbury on page 37. Critical companion on Bradbury’s work. Currey, page 59. Tymn, Schlobin, Currey, 221. Bought off eBay for $59.
Library Addition: Signed First of Poul Anderson’s Flandry of Terra
Tuesday, May 11th, 2021Here’s one of those books I heard good things about in my youth but never actually read:
Anderson, Poul. Flandry of Terra. Chilton, 1965. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with bumping at head and bumping and slight rubbing at heel, in a Fine- dust jacket with slight wrinkling at head and heel and a touch of rubbing, signed by Anderson. Currey, page 10. Anatomy of Wonder 4, 3-7. Bought off eBay for $22.50.
Library Addition: Signed First of Theodore Sturgeon’s Without Sorcery
Wednesday, April 28th, 2021Picked up another signed Sturgeon first:
Sturgeon, Theodore. Without Sorcery. Prime Press, 1948. First edition hardback, a Near Fine copy with slight bumping at head, heel and points and a tickmark and circled “A+” next to “Maturity” on the title page, in a Very Good+ dust jacket with edgewear and crinkling at head, heel and points, rubbing along edges one thin streak of discoloration to spine (not affecting any text), slight haze rubbing to front cover, and age darkening and dust staining to white rear cover, signed by Sturgeon. Sturgeon’s first short story collection (and first “real” book). Diskin, Theodore Sturgeon: A Primary and Secondary Bibliography, A54. Currey, page 473 (state B, trade issue). Chalker/Owings, page 352. Kemp, The Anthem Series, page 129. Bleiler, Checklist (1978), page 189 (not in the 1948 edition). Locke, Anatomy of Wonder, page 208. Barron, Anatomy of Wonder 4, 3-173. Bought for $50 off eBay.
Honest Trailer: Godzilla vs. Kong
Tuesday, April 27th, 2021And here’s the conclusion of our (sorta) Godzilla Week on Futuramen, The Honest Trailer for Godzilla vs. Kong:
Hopefully more book geeking starting tomorrow.
Art Addition: Original Bob Eggleton Godzilla Painting
Monday, April 26th, 2021So back at the beginning of 2020, I found out that there was a Godzilla in Hell comic book miniseries, for which a different professional artist painted every page of an issue, and that Bob Eggleton did the paintings for issue #2. I like Godzilla, I liked the idea, and I like Bob’s work, so I contacted him to see if any of the paintings were available. Some were.
So I bought one for what I think is an extremely modest sum for an artist of Bob’s stature.
Then it took me another year to buy, assemble, and frame the work. (Framing art is freaking expensive.) But I think the end result is quite nice:
I don’t have a lot of original art because I spend so much on books. But it’s nice to be able to afford the occasional piece…
Unpublished Lafferty Novels Redux
Thursday, April 22nd, 2021Some nine years ago, I published this post on Andrew Ferguson’s NYRSF piece on unpublished R. A. Lafferty works. These included:
I also knew about the unpublished “In a Green Tree” novels:
(A project fifth volume, In the Akrokeraunian Mountains 1978-1990, was evidently started but never completed.)
I was also aware of the third and fourth volumes in the Coscuin Chronicles series:
However, this wiki (evidently created by Ferguson) includes still more novels I haven’t heard about before:
Not listed there, and only listed on a couple of dubious webpages, so I have my doubts as to whether it actually exists, is The Giant Ratchet of Sumatra (with Sharon Scott). There is a reference to a first chapter manuscript in the University of Tulsa archives, but I see no sign that it had ever been completed.
Excluding the dubious and unfinished, by my count that’s fourteen unpublished Lafferty novels…
Movie Review: Kong: Skull Island
Friday, April 2nd, 2021Kong: Skull Island
Directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts
Written By Dan Gilroy, Max Borenstein, Derek Connolly and John Gatins
Starring Samuel L. Jackson, John Goodman, Tom Hiddleston, John C. Riley, Brie Larson
With Godzilla vs. Kong upon us, I finally watched Kong: Skull Island. Even though I’m a Godzilla partisan, overall I think it’s the best executed of the Monsterverse films. (I’m seeing Godzilla vs. Kong this weekend.)
In 1973, with the Vietnam War winding down, LANDSAT has discovered Skull Island in the South Pacific, previously hidden because it’s perpetually ringed by storms. An Air Cav force, lead by Samuel L. Jackson in the Samuel L. Jackson role, escort a group of ostensible scientists to the island, including John Goodman (head of barely-funded Monarch, secretly looking for monsters), Tom Hiddleston (an ex-SAS pathfinder/tracker mercenary) and Brie Larson (a photographer). Soon they run into Kong, who crashes their helicopters a lot quicker than the Viet Cong. Jackson immediately goes full Ahab while another group runs for their life and right into John C. Riley, playing the American version of Sir Basil St. Exposition as a stranded WWII American flyer, along with the silent but friendly native tribe. Riley quickly explains to them that not only is Kong king, but he’s the good king, saving people from the monstrous subterranean “Skullcrawlers,” which look like giant tatzelwurms with vaguely possum-ish snouts.
The plot unfolds more or less the way you would expect.
This seems the best of the monsterverse movies because it has the best cast, and director Jordan Vogt-Roberts (who’s primarily worked in TV) seems to have come closest to realizing his vision for it. It quickly and efficiently gets the ensemble to the island with a minimum of character exposition accompanied by a great classic rock soundtrack that runs the gamut of CCR, Jefferson Airplane and Black Sabbath. Jackson, Goodman and Riley all turn in their usual solid work in roles that might seem trite with less stellar performers (see: everyone who’s not Brian Cranston in the previous Monsterverse films). Larson is less annoying than her Marvel role. The support cast of mostly redshirts also do good work. Only Hiddleston comes across as Johnny Onenote And His Pet Stoic Gaze, but the script doesn’t give him much to do.
The special effects work on Kong is extremely solid (which you would expect from Industrial Light & Magic), even if not as expressive as the Andy Serkis version from Peter Jackson’s remake. The Skullcrawlers are appropriately menacing. But it’s the Huey flight sequences where the effects really shine. It’s obvious from the shot composition that Vogt-Roberts watched Apocalypse Now a whole bunch of times…
By jettisoning the “Kong takes Manhattan” plot from the previous versions, and dialing the Beauty and the Beast bits down to a bare whisper, Legendary Films has created a swift-moving kaiju film that even casual fans of the genre should enjoy.
Library Additions: Three Subterranean Press Firsts
Tuesday, March 30th, 2021The Carriger is the last book from the Subterranean PC sale, while the Hand and Smith are normal Lame Excuse Books stock purchases:
Library Additions: Limited and Lettered Editions of Neal Stephenson’s Atmosphæra Incognita
Thursday, March 18th, 2021Still more books from the Subterranean Press PC sale:
Lettered edition on left, numbered edition on right
All editions are long sold out.