MichaelWhelan , to random
@MichaelWhelan@mastodon.art avatar

ASSASSIN'S APPRENTICE (1995)
Acrylic on Watercolor Board - 28" X 20"

Painted almost 3 decades ago, the cover for the first book of the Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb remains a personal favorite. 1/3

Framed by an arched buttress and castle wall, a boy kneels next to a white bearded man who rests a hand upon his head. Saturated blue with the background, a castle keep rises with mountain peaks visible farther in the distance. The boy wraps his arms around a dog. The man wears white robes and holds a candlestick. The wax is melted nearly down to its base. A book lies fanned on the ground, and a ferret emerges from the tent of its pages. On the left, obscured from their view by the castle wall, a hand emerges with a finger raised (perhaps in caution or rebuke). The fabric on the exposed arm is a motley checkered pattern.
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    • ergative , to bookstodon group
    @ergative@wandering.shop avatar

    FYI, friendos, if you have a UK-based Netgalley account, this MASTERPIECE of title + cover design is now available:

    (I haven't read it yet, but I'M GOING TO!!)

    https://www.netgalley.co.uk/catalog/book/379156

    @bookstodon

    Cover image of 'Space cats: making enemies', by Craig A Price and Shayne Price. Image shows a tabby cat's head in a space suit. Oh god, I hope it's not AI generated. It just occurs to me it might be AI generated. That would be a pity if it were. I'm sorry--it's the cover of a book. Forgive me if I put AI art in your feed.
    ALT
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    • MichaelWhelan , to random
    @MichaelWhelan@mastodon.art avatar

    THE LONG WAY HOME (1978)
    Acrylic - 24" x 16"

    Brandishing a shiny blaster pistol, a tawny furred alien with green eyes steps aggressively through a hatch with its cat-like tail curling behind. The interior—presumably of a ship—is lit bright yellow with readouts of varying color on the bulkhead wall. Outside, a blue and purple field of stars can be seen. Down on the deck plates in the immediate foreground, white smoke wafts off the body of a man in red spacesuit. His pistol rests across his chest, apparently not drawn in time.
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    • ergative , to bookstodon group
    @ergative@wandering.shop avatar

    Hi, folks! I've got a set of nano-reviews up at Nerds of a Feather!

    Live Long and Evolve: A non-fiction book by an evolutionary biologist about what life on other planets might look like, charmingly interwoven with relevant Star Trek lore.

    The Extractionist: a very Cyber futurist heisty type book, which I found well constructed but somehow dull

    THe Frame-Up_Magical art thieves. Perfectly fine, but not special.

    http://www.nerds-feather.com/2024/04/nanoreviews-live-long-and-evolve.html

    @bookstodon

    SallyStrange , to bookstodon group
    @SallyStrange@eldritch.cafe avatar

    10 authors, of whose books I've read at least five:

    Ursula Le Guin
    Kim Stanley Robinson
    Octavia Butler
    N. K. Jemisin
    Becky Chambers
    Iain M. Banks
    Martha Wells
    M. R. Carey
    Lois McMaster Bujold
    Vonda McIntyre


    @bookstodon

    GTMLosAngeles ,
    @GTMLosAngeles@lgbtqia.space avatar

    @SallyStrange @bookstodon

    In something approaching my chronological order of my reading:

    L. Frank Baum
    Ray Bradbury
    Isaac Asimov
    Anne McCaffrey
    Frank Herbert
    Samuel Delany
    Roger Zelazny
    Patricia McKillip
    Connie Willis
    China Mieville

    I trimmed this down to fit the hashtag.

    fskornia ,
    @fskornia@glammr.us avatar

    @bookstodon

    There are a lot, because I like series, but here is a list off the top of my head (which means probably some of my favorites)

    Claire North
    NK Jemisin
    Robert Jordan
    Stephen King
    James SA Corey
    Guy Gavriel Kay
    Janny Wurts
    Peter F. Hamilton
    Robin Hobb
    Ann Leckie

    nnwest ,
    @nnwest@retro.pizza avatar

    @SallyStrange @bookstodon
    10 authors, of whose books I've read at least five:

    Martha Wells
    Ben Aaronovitch
    James S. A. Corey
    Nathan Lowell
    Naomi Novik
    Jonathan L. Howard
    Adrian Tchaikovsky
    Jim Butcher
    Charlaine Harris
    Ian Tregillis

    There are more, but this is ten!

    Eliot_L ,
    @Eliot_L@social.coop avatar

    10 authors, of whose books I've read at least five:

    Terry Pratchett
    Brandon Sanderson
    Neil Gaiman
    Piers Anthony
    Brian K. Vaughan
    Warren Ellis
    Garth Ennis
    Kieron Gillen
    Bryan Lee O'Malley
    Matt Fraction

    Gosh that was harder than I thought it would be. I felt like using might be cheating but I guess I don't read a ton of longer series otherwise.

    @SallyStrange @bookstodon

    elmyra ,
    @elmyra@wandering.shop avatar

    @SallyStrange @bookstodon

    10 authors marginalised on at least one axis of whose books I have read at least 5 and am broadly happy recommending:

    Neon Yang
    Martha Wells
    N. K. Jemisin
    Alix E. Harrow
    T. Kingfisher
    Charles Stross
    Alexis Hall
    Naomi Novik
    Ursula K. LeGuin
    Yoon Ha Lee

    toxy ,
    @toxy@mastodon.acc.sunet.se avatar

    @SallyStrange @bookstodon 10 authors, of whose books I've read at least five:

    Alastair Reynolds
    Iain M Banks
    Adrian Tchaikovsky
    Martha Wells
    Matt Smith
    George Orwell
    Jeff VanderMeer
    Kameron Hurley
    Neil Gaimen
    Terry Pratchett


    @bookstodon

    ThomDenholm ,
    @ThomDenholm@awscommunity.social avatar

    @SallyStrange @bookstodon

    10 authors that I've read at least five:

    C.S. Lewis
    John Christopher
    John Scalzi
    John Wyndham
    Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
    Lloyd Alexander
    Madeleine L'Engle
    Philip K. Dick
    Poul Anderson
    Ursula K. Le Guin

    (the full list is roughly 50 authors)


    MichaelWhelan , to random
    @MichaelWhelan@mastodon.art avatar

    CRYSTAL SINGER (1981)
    Acrylic - 20" x 30"

    Most of my sketches for this cover dealt with the interrelationship between the protagonist Killashandra and the black crystals she has a special affinity for. 1/4

    A raven haired woman in brown jumpsuit and knee-high boots holds out a crystal, black at its base but transparent at the faceted edges. It shows through magenta against a pale pink sky. Her knees are bent, her back arched, straining in an awkward pose. Her eyes are pressed closed overcome with ecstasy. A large moon frames her head and one shoulder. A high-tech gauntlet covers her right hand up to her wrist, projecting outward in a slender needle with a bubble forming at its tip. The rock upon which she stands is covered with green alien lichen. Cool jagged mountains fill the low background with crystalline peaks pointing in chaotic directions—up and at diagonals to frame a sun burning intense yellow surrounded by orange haze. A second smaller moon rises higher with a similar crescent glow.
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    • MichaelWhelan , to random
    @MichaelWhelan@mastodon.art avatar

    THE MAN WHO COUNTS (1977)
    Acrylic on Masonite - 30" x 20"

    At first glance, tackling the cover art for the reissue of an an old-fashioned SF novel would seem like a boring job for a new illustrator hot to conquer the field, but I looked at reissues as a challenge. I had to outdo whatever was on the original cover so that a new generation of readers would buy it. 1/3

    A dandy gentleman dressed in garish bourgeois fashion holds onto his hat as he's whisked over rough seas by a trio of winged creatures. The tilted horizon provides a dizzying perspective as a silver spaceship sinks into the waters below. The man sits in a loop of a rope knotted above him with individual leads running to his airborne rescuers. His red coat clashes with green breeches that end just below his knees. Yellow stockings cover his legs down to daintily booted feet. The tawny creatures are smooth skinned with muscles rippling between the flexed wings beating in flight. The dotted yellow eyes of the lead beast focus forward toward the audience. A low fin runs the edge of its skull. With a short muzzle and whiskers, it looks like a cross between gargoyle and cat. Its hands are remarkably human while its back feet are taloned.
    ALT
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    • + epidiah
    MichaelWhelan , to random
    @MichaelWhelan@mastodon.art avatar

    LEGENDS: THE GUNSLINGER (1998/2000)
    Acrylic on Watercolor Board - 36" x 24"

    Stephen King doesn't describe the tower in the early books of the Dark Tower series, but many of the main characters experience dream visions of the object of their quest. 1/3

    Viewed from behind, Roland Deschain in a cowboy hat and tattered leather duster steps through an open doorway that hovers impossibly a foot off the ground. A gun is holstered on his left hip. On close examination, the index and middle finger of his right hand are shortened to stubs. At his feet lies a thicket of vibrant red roses littered with human skulls. Straddling the doorway, the Gunslinger stands in awe of a massive, asymmetrical tower so tall that it blocks the sun. Traces of cloud sweep across the field of view and up the height of the tower, creating a hazy atmospheric effect that obscures the detail of the tower. Ravens circle the field just about the horizon.
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    • angusm , to random
    @angusm@mastodon.social avatar

    INTERIOR, CLARION UCSD WRITER’S WORKSHOP, 2013

    Karen Joy Fowler: Cory told me that you, and I quote, "knocked it out of the park" last week.

    Me: (flustered) Uh … I … well, I, uh, wrote a story I thought he might like. As I did with Bob … I mean, I don't TAILOR my stories to each instructor but–

    KJF: –but you thought @KellyLink and I would enjoy a story about eating children?

    Me: Uh …

    Anyway, the story that @pluralistic liked is in ParSec today:

    https://angus.pw/writing/ghost-shift/

    Chigaze , to random
    @Chigaze@mstdn.ca avatar

    Finished another Hugo nominee and, while I have two more to go, I have a hard time believing it will be topped. Emily Tesh's “Some Desperate Glory" does a lot of things very well. In particular it’s a skilled subversion of military SF, deals with a slew of difficult topics (as covered in an extensive content warning), has solid unexpected twists, and, as much great SF is, is more about now than any imagined future.

    seanbala , to bookstodon group
    @seanbala@mas.to avatar

    Was out today and had unexpected free time but no book!

    I opened my @omnivore app on my tablet and read the short story "The Mausoleum's Children" by @aliettedb in @UncannyMagazine. It was so good!! I'm so glad I discovered both the story and the magazine here. Moral of the story - do your best to always have something good to read!

    https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/the-mausoleums-children/

    @bookstodon

    ohalexsimmons , to random
    @ohalexsimmons@socialclub.nyc avatar

    MichaelWhelan , to random
    @MichaelWhelan@mastodon.art avatar

    WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE (1977)
    Acrylic on Illustration Board - 20" x 16"

    A classic cover for the anthology of the same name by Alan Dean Foster featuring a young Mr. And Mrs. Whelan as the farmer and his wife. The son is based on the boy in the story.

    https://www.michaelwhelan.com/galleries/with-friends-like-these/

    Book cover for WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE by Alan Dean Foster, published by Del Rey.

    At a kitchen table surrounded by aliens, a man in overalls and white shirt with sleeves rolled up holds up a sugar cone topped with chocolate ice cream. He stares knowingly at the camera with mouth cocked in a dimpled grin. Behind him, a woman in apron nervously offers an ice cream to a creature with purple fur and horns on its head. In the foreground right, a lobster-red insectile alien stares down in surprise at his dripping treat. The last alien, bulky and green with bulbous head and tiny red eyes, extends its bumpy pink tongue from pronounced mandible in a long slurp. In one of its four hands, it holds a tiny cookie from the plate set on the table between guests. Seated in the foreground left with back angled toward the audience, a human boy, distracted from his dessert by the oddball affair, seems enthralled by the visitors. The background is a haze of bright yellow with white highlights defining an arched window.
    ALT
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    • + Tim_Eagon
    MichaelWhelan , to random
    @MichaelWhelan@mastodon.art avatar

    STONE OF FAREWELL (1989)
    Acrylic on Canvas - 21" X 46"

    The main problem in doing what is called a wraparound cover-cover art that wraps around from the front to the back of the book-is in trying to avoid pieces that look like 2 different paintings stuck together. 1/4

    Standing in a wintry forest, a man grips the blade of a smooth black sword that stands hilt up as tall as he is. In a kaleidoscope of thousands of wings, butterflies burst through the woods behind him. Dour faced, Simon is wrapped plainly in heavy green cloak. A snowy lock set in red hair sweeps wide across his forehead. The channel of a scar meanders down from his temple following the curve of his cheek all the way to his jaw. He clutches a white arrow and silver hand mirror in the crook of his arm. Set opposite panel left, the forest opens to a serene view of a lake. Framed by birch trees, a tall cool stone rises from the water. Barely perceptible, a castle sits at the top. The shape of the stone implies an open hand in its gray outline. Evergreens line tiered ridges, arching low on the rock to suggest a bearded face.
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    • zkrisher , to bookstodon group
    @zkrisher@tweesecake.social avatar

    I've finished: The Memory Theater by Karin Tidbeck

    Something's rotten in paradise.

    Tidbeck weaves a complicated web stretching across multiple worlds, histories, folk tales and broken utopian dreams that ultimately deals with evil and the power of stories to fight it.

    It's interesting to read a sci-fi author from a different culture that also has her own way of interpreting the multiverse and the power of story and imagination.

    I hope more of her work will be translated.

    https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/5706ff39-8beb-4e7e-ad38-0c15bbf352dd

    @bookstodon

    zkrisher , to bookstodon group
    @zkrisher@tweesecake.social avatar

    I expected to like this book better.

    A post-apocalyptic scenario written by a woman, concentrating on the psychological and sociological aspects of survival. It must stand the test of time better than Niven's Lucifer's Hammer, (That was also published in 1977).

    But since the science didn't make much sense, (I didn't see a reason why cloning would have the effects described), I ended up looking at the attributes Kate Wilhelm decided to give clones as opposed to "Humans" and all I see is the American fears about communism.

    They lose their individuality, their creativity, the ability to innovate, and for some reason monogamy, (perhaps she was afraid of hippies?).

    In 2024, Where Late the Sweet Bird Sang felt more like a historical document that teaches you about the culture at the time of its writing than a Sci-Fi novel.

    PS.
    An enjoyable aspect: The audiobook narrator, Anna Fields, sound remarkably like Ellen DeGeneres.

    https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/5b2154cb-0e77-42df-9752-dc85fe6dee0f

    @bookstodon

    Locusmag , to random
    @Locusmag@mastodon.social avatar

    Feeling the love for speculative fiction? ❤️ Join in the Locus Awards and vote for the stories that capture your heart and imagination. Let's make our voices heard in this celebration of creativity! 🎉

    https://poll.voting.locusmag.com/

    NerdsofaFeather , to bookstodon group
    @NerdsofaFeather@wandering.shop avatar

    Today at the NOAF blog, our @Princejvstin asks Alma Alexander about her Six Books

    Six Books with Alma Alexander

    http://www.nerds-feather.com/2024/03/six-books-with-alma-alexander.html




    @bookstodon

    hairylarry ,

    @NerdsofaFeather @Princejvstin @bookstodon

    I did it. https://deltraboogie.net

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