Walttriznastories's Blog

(Dennis Anderson’s cover for the 1973 edition)

4/5 (Collated rating: Good)

For an anthology, bound to contain a filler story or two, this one is spectacular. Robert Silverberg’s New Dimensions 3 (1973) lives up to his claim to contain “stories that demonstrate vigorous and original ways [often experimental] of approaching the body of ideas, images, and concepts that is science fiction” yet do not sacrifice “emotional vitality, or clarity of insight.” Ursula K. Le Guin, with her rumination on utopias, and James T. Tipree, Jr.’s proto-cyberpunk tale of commercialism and performing gender, deliver some of their best work.

(Fiction 114, May 1963)

Whenever it is Philippe Curval’s birthday I am pulled back into the fascinating world of French SF cover art–in particular the magazine Fiction, which, during its early years, had an utterly different aesthetic than anything found on American magazines. As I desperately want to read his novels (the vast majority remain untranslated), I can only enjoy the magazine covers he created in the 50s (Part I and Part I of my series on his photocollages).

This is all to say, I have chosen another lesser known artist for Fiction to showcase, Michel Jakubowski. This post which continues a loose series I’ve cobbled together on Adventures in French Science Fiction Cover Art (list below). I cannot find any information on him online. Perhaps he’s related to the more famous French SF author and editor Maxim

the brown bag prophet
stood staring
at
the night sky
his breath
beneath
the
street lights
formed clouds
of
reflected doubt
for a second
he
held his breath
and
said
as he
viewed
the city’s
apartments
so many
empty prayers
offered
this night
words
said
without faith
just
an evening routine
an
offering
to the ears
of
children
or
parents
enforcing
some church mandate
or
for some
a loudly whispered
testimonial
of
their
undying belief
in
church protocol
offered
to
anyone
in earshot
said
as
convincingly
as
a two-year old’s denial
of
an act of mischief
but
the prophet
said
i
guess
it’s good
to
take out
an
insurance policy
every
now
and
then
especially when
uncertainty
rules
the heart
and
no actions
are
taken
to protect
the
innocent