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Joachim Boaz

@joachimboaz.bsky.social

Julia Verlanger (1929-1985) was born on this day. Bibliography: www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.c...

L, Florence Magnin, 1989; R, Joe Petagno, 1978
#scifi #sciencefiction #books #France

Cover for La Mort en Billes. Large skull covered with a veil hovers above a bucolic landscape of trees and a creek.

Cover for Travelling Towards Epsilon. An astronaut deconstructs. You can see stars through his legs and chest.

December 7, 2025 at 2:03 PM

Joachim Boaz

@joachimboaz.bsky.social

Leigh Brackett (1915-1978) was born on this day. Bibliography: www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.c...

L, uncredited, 1976; R, Ed Emshwiller, 1962
#scifi #sciencefiction #books

Cover for The Coming of the Terrans. Woman with fur is surrounded by undulating hills, various twisting vines, and a flower.

Cover for The Long Tomorrow. A mennonite car is pulled by a horse in the background. There's a nuclear mushroom cloud and various wreckage.

December 7, 2025 at 1:55 PM

Joachim Boaz

@joachimboaz.bsky.social

Ralph McQuarrie's cover art detail for Mike Shupp's With Fate Conspire (1985)
#scifi #sciencefiction #books #art

man runs on a road between grass. Behind him is a sphere and a large city.

December 7, 2025 at 12:27 AM

Reposted by Joachim Boaz

An Unofficial Hugo Book Club Blog

@hugobookclub.bsky.social

Nantes (in France) would be an absolutely amazing location for the 2032 World Science Fiction Convention.

Nantes (en France) serait un lieu absolument incroyable pour la Convention mondiale de science-fiction en 2032.

French text from the Worldcon bid website. English translation: Worldcon 2032 in Nantes? After Seattle, Montreal, and Los Angeles, the city of Jules Verne, the Machines of the Isle, and the Utopiales festival is ready to host the annual global convention for science fiction fans! A creative, festive, and visionary Worldcon, for the first time in France: we're waiting for you to join the adventure!

December 6, 2025 at 5:37 PM

Joachim Boaz

@joachimboaz.bsky.social

Roger Dee (1914-2004) was born on this day. Bibliographic: www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.c...

L, Ed Emshwiller, 1954; R, Allen Anderson, 1953
#scifi #sciencefiction

Cover for the February 1954 issue of Galaxy. Spacemen walk in a hydroponics bay.

Cover for the January 1953 issue of Planet Stories. Spaceman stands on a surface of a planet outside of a spaceship. Various large women from the cosmos grab at him from the air.

December 6, 2025 at 2:00 PM

Joachim Boaz

@joachimboaz.bsky.social

Editor Ejler Jakobsson (1911-1984) was born on this day. Bibliography: www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.c...

L, Jack Gaughan, 1970; R, Jack Gaughan, 1969
#scifi #sciencefiction

Cover for the April 1970 issue of UK Galaxy. Same cover was used for the March US edition. Man in the cosmos grabs at planets that are the size of balls.

Cover for the November 1969 issue of Galaxy. Man inside of a sun comprised of various grabbing arms of other figures.

December 6, 2025 at 1:55 PM

Reposted by Joachim Boaz

sean guynes

@guynes.bsky.social

My new essay looks at Thomas Burnett Swann's GREEN PHOENIX (1972) partial retelling of Virgil's Aeneid (actually, most of the story takes place between two lines of the epic, and the rest after its end). It's a really messy novel that deals heavily with gendered violence, and not always well.

Reading “Green Phoenix” by Thomas Burnett Swann

Thomas Burnett Swann’s Green Phoenix (1972) is the author’s sixth novel, a partial retelling of the story of Aeneas that deals heavily with gender relations and sexual violence.

seanguynes.com

December 5, 2025 at 2:35 PM

Joachim Boaz

@joachimboaz.bsky.social

One of my favorite Bruce Pennington covers.

Detail from the 1968 edition of John Blackburn's A Scent of New-Mown Hay (1958)
#scifi #sciencefiction #art #artist

A composite shape with arms and legs and hands made up of mushrooms and fungus. It ambles across a desolate landscape with small homes and what looks like a watch tower. Birds land on its soporific masses.

December 2, 2025 at 4:17 PM

Joachim Boaz

@joachimboaz.bsky.social

Hannes Bok's interior art for Frederik Pohl's "It's a Young World" [as by James MacCreigh] in Astonishing Stories, ed. Frederik Pohl (April 1941)
#scifi #sciencefiction #art #artist

Two men seem to be fighting a large dragon that coils and writhes.

December 2, 2025 at 1:22 PM

Joachim Boaz

@joachimboaz.bsky.social

I love old magazine banners. This one from Astonishing Stories, ed. Frederik Pohl (April 1941)
#scifi #sciencefiction

Viewpoints. Person looks through telescope that becomes the "o" in Viewpoints. There are various letters streaming across the stars.

December 2, 2025 at 1:18 PM

Joachim Boaz

@joachimboaz.bsky.social

G. Thorp's interior art for Isaac Asimov's "Heredity" in Astonishing Stories, ed. Frederik Pohl (April 1941)
#scifi #sciencefiction #art #artist

Two men look at a rectangle filled with the devastation of cities.

December 2, 2025 at 1:08 PM

Joachim Boaz

@joachimboaz.bsky.social

Charles G. Finney (1905-1984) was born on this day. Bibliography: www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.c...

L, Jack Gaughan, 1968; R, Boris Artzybasheff, 1961
#scifi #sciencefiction #books #fantasy

Cover for The Unholy City. Man and woman walk away from a dead reptile towards a city in a desert expanse.

Cover for The Circus of Dr. Lao. A disturbing clown head or mask with a woman and skeleton dancing below it.

December 1, 2025 at 11:31 AM

Joachim Boaz

@joachimboaz.bsky.social

John Crowley (1942-) was born on this day. Bibliography: www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.c...

L, John Cayea, 1976; R, Yvonne Gilbert, 1983
#scifi #sciencefiction #fantasy #books

Cover for Beasts. A lion man looks out from behind broken bars.

Cover for Little, Big. Man and woman reside in a garden filled with poppies, birds, topiary, and levitating bubbles.

December 1, 2025 at 11:27 AM

Joachim Boaz

@joachimboaz.bsky.social

I can't fathom how some could read a story like this and conclude that empathy and love for all is a bad thing. Be caring. Be an ally. Welcome and support all. It's that simple.
www.chron.com/culture/arti...

"For other queer Texans, spending the holidays with others in the community or a new found family can open their eyes to new experiences or even subvert their experiences. Claire, a trans woman who lives in Austin but chooses not to go home for the holidays, instead t spends Thanksgiving and Christmas with the family of a friend. Claire, who similarly asked that her last name be withheld to not inflame family tensions, said that initially she worried her friend's Mexican, devout Catholic family wouldn't accept her. Now, she finds their holiday traditions deeply comforting. Their bond was cemented by a gift her friend's father, a woodworker, gave her last year.

"For Christmas last year, [he] gave me the same pattern, handmade hand mirror that he has made for all of the other women in the family. I opened it and immediately ran and hid in the bathroom sobbing because it was so touching," Claire recalled. "Now I’m spending my holidays with a chosen family that I would have thought wouldn’t accept me, but who in fact fully accept me.""

November 30, 2025 at 11:08 PM

Joachim Boaz

@joachimboaz.bsky.social

Made some delectable Danish Rugbrød. Will devour with smoked salmon and pickled herring. #baking #bread

November 30, 2025 at 8:41 PM

Reposted by Joachim Boaz

Andrew Nette

@pulpcurry.bsky.social

I make a small monthly donation to Wikipedia. If you can afford it, l would encourage you to do the same.

Kurt Andersen @kurtandersen.bsky.social · 7d

I take Wikipedia for granted. Reading this Jimmy Wales interview reminded me in our Fantasyland age what a remarkable and important creation it is. True pillar of civilization. Runs on only $200 million a year. Requires our support. So I’m finally donating. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/18/m...

The Culture Wars Came for Wikipedia. Jimmy Wales Is Staying the Course.

www.nytimes.com

November 30, 2025 at 6:21 PM

Joachim Boaz

@joachimboaz.bsky.social

Bob Haberfield's cover art detail for Blast Off: S.F. for Boys, ed. Harry Harrison (1969)
#scifi #sciencefiction #art

Cover illustrates, in surreal strokes, the blast off of a rocket. The smoke is rendered as tight clumps of circles. There is also an arching fire rendered as concentric circles behind and below the blast off radius.

November 30, 2025 at 2:56 PM

Joachim Boaz

@joachimboaz.bsky.social

Artist Gino D'Achille (1935-2017) was born on this day. Bibliography: www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.c...

L, 1973; R, 1976
#scifi #sciencefiction #art #artist

Cover for Burroughs' Thuvia, Maid of Mars. The titular Thuvia stands in front of an alien creature that looks like a large fuzzy reptile with dog ears.

Cover for Vance's Blue World. A tentacled monster that looks vaguely mechanical reaches towards a man and a woman. The woman lays on a rock while the man wields an ax.

November 30, 2025 at 1:46 PM

Joachim Boaz

@joachimboaz.bsky.social

Milton A. Rothman (1919-2001) was born on this day. Bibliography: www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.c...

L, Hubert Rogers, 1939; R, Jack Binder, 1940
#scifi #sciencefiction

Cover for Oct. 1939 issue of Astounding. Man in silver stands imperiously in front of a hatch. He has various instruments at his waste and a flying helmet.

Cover for the February 1940 issue of Astonishing Stories. Spaceman shoots in the general direction of a woman held somehow near a mushroom. There are various tentacles in the oppressive depths of the alien planetary surface.

November 30, 2025 at 1:42 PM

Joachim Boaz

@joachimboaz.bsky.social

E. Everett Evans (1893-1958) was born on this day. Bibliography: www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.c...

L, Paul Blaisdell, 1955; R, Frank Kelly Freas, 1959
#scifi #sciencefiction #books

Cover: Spaceway Science Fiction. Cover shows Mae West and Criswell on the moon. Mae holds a flashlight and Criswell waves.

Cover for Man of Many Minds. Man reaches outward surrounded by many fantastic shapes (wolves, aliens, birds, spaceships, etc.). The cosmos reaches beyond.

November 30, 2025 at 1:37 PM

Joachim Boaz

@joachimboaz.bsky.social

One last repost just in case you missed it! Great conversations happening over on the site in the comments about upcoming pre-1985 SF reads, Populism in the American South, conventions, favorite Fanac uploads... come join!

Joachim Boaz @joachimboaz.bsky.social · 8d

What pre-1985 science fiction are you reading? + Mini-rumination on the allure of historical SF conventions

Join the discussion: sciencefictionruminations.com/2025/11/29/w...

#scifi #sciencefiction #books

Photo from left to right: Langdon Jones’ wonderful collection The Eye of the Lens (1972) (cover is comprised of a bunch of gears and numbers)
Algis Budrys’ Rogue Moon (1960) (cover is a man near a mysterious sphere)
Joanna Russ’ We Who Are About To…. (1976) (cover is a man on a personal space craft)
John Christopher’s A Wrinkle in the Skin (variant title: The Ragged Edge) (1965) (cover is a ruined city)

November 30, 2025 at 1:56 AM

Reposted by Joachim Boaz

sean guynes

@guynes.bsky.social

With this new essay in my Ballantine Adult Fantasy reading series, I wrap up both the preface novels and Eddison's Zimiamvia trilogy. I really wrestle with the philosophical critiques the series offers, which are pretty fashy. Probably my least favorite reading experience this year, but worthwhile.

Ballantine Adult Fantasy: Reading “The Mezentian Gate” by E.R. Eddison (Zimiamvia 3)

The eleventh essay in my Ballantine Adult Fantasy reading series, which looks at E.R. Eddison’s final novel in the Zimiamvia trilogy, The Mezentian Gate (1958).

seanguynes.com

November 28, 2025 at 7:25 AM

Reposted by Joachim Boaz

sean guynes

@guynes.bsky.social

Links to research on early discussions in fandom about queerness in sff + some great thoughts on how interesting it is to read old fan discourse in fanzines! I wholeheartedly agree—I spend time going through Fanac every now and then for reviews of fantasy in the 60s-70s and it's really illuminating!

Joachim Boaz @joachimboaz.bsky.social · 8d

What pre-1985 science fiction are you reading? + Mini-rumination on the allure of historical SF conventions

Join the discussion: sciencefictionruminations.com/2025/11/29/w...

#scifi #sciencefiction #books

November 29, 2025 at 10:19 PM

Joachim Boaz

@joachimboaz.bsky.social

What pre-1985 science fiction are you reading? + Mini-rumination on the allure of historical SF conventions

Join the discussion: sciencefictionruminations.com/2025/11/29/w...

#scifi #sciencefiction #books

November 29, 2025 at 4:57 PM

Joachim Boaz

@joachimboaz.bsky.social

Thank you!

Oxfords not Brogues @tancred1098.bsky.social · 8d

You probably hear this often, but I hella appreciate you names the cover artists. I learn a ton.

November 29, 2025 at 4:48 PM

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