Bookmans Recommends: Vintage Science Fiction
Everyone should experience an out of this world read at least once in their lifetime. Bookmans looks to a past that looked toward the future for the brain bending fun of it. Classic and vintage science fiction offers an entertaining look into the way the future looked from the past. As a bonus these books have amazing cover art. If judging a book by its cover is wrong, in this case we don’t wanna be right. Some of the best cover artwork ever done was for the 1960s and ’70s science fiction genre. The stories are pretty good too. If you are tired of looking for that next fantastical read, search no more. Bookmans has an eclectic mix of vintage science fiction.
Trumps of Doom by Roger Zelazny with cover art by Andrew Rhodes
As part of the classic Amber series, it took Roger Zelazny 5 years to publish Trumps of Doom. Fans awaited its arrival with anticipation. The story stars Merlin, son of Corwin who was a main character in the first five novels. Amber is the real world and all other worlds are merely shadows. Merlin, or Merle, the unknowing heir to Amber, lives is San Francisco as a computer programmer. All sounds fine except every year, right on schedule, there is an attempt on his life. Will Merlin claim this heritage and what will happen to Amber? Trumps of Doom is good enough to read as a stand alone.
Sargasso by Edwin Corley with cover art by Paul Alexander
Edwin Corley’s Sargasso begins with an Apollo 19 astronaut submerged at the bottom of the ocean. In this political, military, science fiction thriller, three American astronauts team with Russian counterparts to complete a successful mission only to disappear inside their capsule. The President of the U.S. panics and orders a news blackout leaving American television blank. What is the Devil’s Triangle and what happened to our best and brightest?
The Saga of Cuckoo by Frederik Pohl and Jack Williamson with cover art by Kevin Johnson
The title and cover art sells The Saga of Cuckoo and the words between the covers are gravy. Who can resist a loin-clothed man riding a giant copper lizard in a world with winged android women and giant butterflies? The pink cotton candy clouds serve as a small reminder of home. Humans thought they made it, having been accepted into the commonwealth of intelligent races in the Galaxy. They now live on Sun One, the headquarters for the federation. Little do they realize that Cuckoo is on its way. Originally called Object Lambda, it appears on the edges of the galaxy, 20,000 light years away and is no big deal. Except it moves really fast, traveling at the the astounding velocity of one-sixth the speed of light, heading straight at them. Will the giant butterflies, an ancient highly intelligent race known as the T’ Worlie, save them? What is Cuckoo?
Other vintage titles include A World Out of Time by Larry Niven, We the Venusians by John Rackham or Imram by William Barnwell. These novels share an extraordinary viewpoint and fantastic worlds, tremendous action and unusual characters doing truly weird things. Take a vacation from reality and read a vintage science fiction novel. They are out of this world.
If you or someone you love is a vintage science fiction lover who also keeps a journal, scrapbooks or otherwise could use a blank journal, take a look at our upcycled blank journals. We do everything we can to honor these cool old books, but they were meant for pulp and sometimes we can’t save them. We can and do save the covers to give a second life to the amazing artists of the genre.
* Bookmans is your store to explore. If you are looking for a particular vintage science fiction title, please give us a call and we will check our shelves for you. Otherwise, we hope you will come and browse.
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