The four illustrations by Virgil Finlay (1914 - 1971) for the novelette version of Hawksbill Station, published in the August 1967 issue of Galaxy.

Eight covers for late-1970s editions of Robert Silverberg novels (including Hawksbill Station) by artist Paul Alexander (1937 - 2021).

Playing Soul Reaver recently encouraged me to return to Darksiders Warmastered Edition (2016), which happily now has a photo mode following a recent update.

This week I polished off the 2024 remaster of Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver (1999). Definitely an interesting and atmospheric game, albeit one which is highly obtuse at times. I can't imagine getting through it without a guide.

This vandalism is a form of "destructive scanning". In more recent SF, Alastair Reynolds imagined that the future plutocrats of the planet Yellowstone would do this to their own bodies, as a means of mind uploading. It doesn't go well for them.

If Turkey is trying to give NATO leaders some Castor Troy swag they've got to step up their game.

Four covers for The Inheritors by the illustrious and mostly mysterious artists William Gross (1955), unknown (? after 1993), uncredited (2011), and uncredited (2015).

Just after I said I had no plans to seek out Adrian Tchaikovsky's chunky novels, what do I find?

One lunchtime acquisition today: the most recent omnibus of Michael Moorcock's Dancers at the End of Time trilogy (1972 - 1976), to replace my rather disheveled 1980s copy.

"The novel’s relatively dry prose recalls Arthur C. Clarke and the later work of Liu Cixin." Snippet of episode 193 of the pod, focusing on Stanislaw Lem's Fiasco (1986), his gloomy final novel of first contact.

New acquistions today: three vintage Penguin SF books (50p for the lot) and one of Banks' few non-Culture SF novels.

Four very diverse late-1980s covers for Fiasco, by artists John Alfred Dorn III (1987), Giuseppe Mangoni (1988), Tim White (1988), and "Mynott" (1989).

Three covers for Alien Embassy (1977): one by Dean Ellis from 1978 and two uncredited ones for 1979 and 1993 UK editions.

Episode 192 of the podcast is now very likely live in your podcast vendor of choice - here's your snippet, on the strange future envisioned by the late Ian Watson in Alien Embassy (1977).

Four covers for Fury: Ley Kenyon (1954), Richard Powers (1958), Larry Kresek (1972), and uncredited (1981).

Speaking of SF cover art, I missed artist Jim Burns' birthday yesterday. Here's probably my favourite of his, thrilling scale and imagination for Greg Bear's novel Eon (1985).

Link cards for my site are currently broken, so here's a pig-ugly post promoting this week's essay on Fury (1947) by Henry Kuttner and (an uncredited) C. L. Moore. www.andyjohnson.xyz/home/under-t...

Four exciting SF purchases from Bath over the weekend, originally published between 1947 and 2025. Two are often not seen or presented as SF.

I have a few copies of my book Manic Street Preachers: Song by Song remaining. If you'd like to purchase a signed copy directly from me for the Manics-curious in your life, please let me know.

Quite like the procession I stumbled into in Palermo in 2023; we followed the Madonna della Mercede out to the sea where (to our surprise) there was quite a fireworks display. Amazing, unexpected evening.

Four covers for The Shockwave Rider with artwork by Murray Tinkelman (1976), Eddie Jones (1979), John Higgins (1988), and Barclay Shaw (1989).

Picked up slightly battered but readable copies of Greg Bear's Eon (1985) and its sequel Eternity (1988) - £1 for the pair.

Some conspicuously non-SF purchases in Oxford today.

Thoroughly enjoyed launching MANIC STREET PREACHERS: SONG BY SONG at Curio in Oxford last night, very grateful to everyone who came along!

One SF purchase today - the 1985 edition of Brian Aldiss' first collection Space, Time and Nathaniel (1957), with quite lovely cover art by Vincent di Fate.

Pleased and grateful to see my book launch for Manic Street Preachers: Song by Song featured in the indispensable @oxfordclarion.bsky.social!

No essay or podcast ep this week, as I'm away in north Wales. One SF purchase today - next in line for my run through the Culture series, it's Surface Detail (2010) by Iain M. Banks.

Here's your clip of the episode they (Spotify) wanted to ban (!), on the background to Karin Boye's dystopian novel Kallocain (1940).

"Their community is steeped in Latin scripture, but has its own saints, rites, and rituals. In the surprisingly funny 'Fiat Homo', Miller exploits this for some dark humour, in one instance articulating the logic of nuclear deterrence in the language of the Bible."

Some top-tier SF purchases in Oxford yesterday, especially Al Reynolds' latest in hardcover for £3 and the beautiful first art book by Philippe "Manchu" Bouchet for a fiver.