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Category: Vintage Treasures

Would You Spend $44 on a Collection of 30 Vintage DAW Paperbacks?

Would You Spend $44 on a Collection of 30 Vintage DAW Paperbacks?

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Would you spend $44 on these 30 vintage DAW paperbacks?

I buy a lot of paperbacks on eBay.  I mean, a lot. But believe it or not, I don’t spend a lot of money. I’ve gotten in the habit of buying small collections; because shipping costs work out better and I spend much less per item. I haven’t done the math recently, but I budget anywhere from $0.25 to $0.50 per book when I go hunting, and usually stick to it.

Of course, there are plenty of expensive paperbacks on eBay. Crazy-priced paperbacks, if you want to go looking for them. But eBay is also a clearing house for hundreds of individuals dumping collections en masse, often with very little description, and if you’re willing to dig a bit and take a chance, you can find bargains every day of the week. (And every hour of the day). In fact, eBay has become my go-to site for bargain-basement vintage paperback collections. Someday collectors will stop dying off, and their put-upon spouses will stop dumping their collections on auction sites at rock-bottom prices as they clean out the attic, but today is not that day.

I can’t remember the last time I spent more than $25 for a lot of paperbacks. But last month I scrambled all over myself to hit the buy button on the lot above: 30 vintage DAW paperbacks priced at $44.

Sure, I love DAW. And I’m happy to welcome all these books into my collection, But if you look carefully, you’ll see exactly why I wrecked my monthly collecting budget to acquire these books — and would’ve been happy to spend a lot more. I didn’t buy this lot because it’s a fine assortment of books (though it is). I spent the money because of one author, and one author only. Do you know which one?

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A Modest Little Magazine: Whispers edited by Stuart David Schiff

A Modest Little Magazine: Whispers edited by Stuart David Schiff

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Assorted issues of Whispers, 1973-87. Issues #1, 2, 4, 9, 13-14, 15-17, 17-18, 19-20, and the final issue, 23-24.
Covers by Tim Kirk (1,3), Stephen Fabian (2,9,13-24,23-24), John Stewart (13-15,16-17), and Kevin Eugene Johnson (19-20)

When I started Black Gate magazine, I drew inspiration from small press magazines of the 70s, 80s and 90s that I deeply admired. It was a a fairly short list, but it included W. Paul Ganley’s Weirdbook, the Terminus Weird Tales edited by George H. Scithers, John Gregory Betancourt and Darrell Schweitzer, and Stuart David Schiff’s Whispers.

Whispers was near-legendary by the late 90s, when I was getting serious about starting my own magazine. The last issue had been published in 1987, but in its 15-year run it published original fiction and poems by Stephen King, Robert E. Howard, Fritz Leiber, Robert Bloch, Karl Edward Wagner, Roger Zelazny, Michael Shea, Manly Wade Wellman, Ramsey Campbell, William F. Nolan, David Drake, Ellen Kushner, Steve Rasnic Tem, Carl Jacobi, Hugh B. Cave, Phyllis Eisenstein, Joseph Payne Brennan, Dennis Etchison, Robert Aickman, Glen Cook, Charles L. Grant, Gerald W. Page, Lisa Tuttle, Richard A. Lupoff, Janet Morris, and many, many others.

It also published original artwork by many of the greatest horror and fantasy artists of the 20th Century, including Michael Whelan, Stephen Fabian, Lee Brown Coye, Allen Koszowski, Vincent Di Fate, Charles Vess, Hannes Bok, and numerous others.

One of the many inspirational things about Whispers — apart from its phenomenal success — was that it was virtually a one-man operation. Stuart Schiff grew his tiny magazine from humble beginnings as essentially a slender black-and-white fanzine in 1973 into one of the most influential horror mags of the century, with a spinoff line of paperback anthologies, limited edition hardcovers, magazines supplements, and of course a Best of collection.

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Notes and Quotes: Arthur C. Clarke’s The Deep Range (1957)

Notes and Quotes: Arthur C. Clarke’s The Deep Range (1957)

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The Deep Range (Signet, 1974). Cover art uncredited

Here’s a relatively quick take on a 1950s novel I reread this past week — not as long or as polished as my other Black Gate reviews have been. (I’ll be resuming those in February.)

The Deep Range was the 8th of 11 novels of Clarke’s early period, which I’ll define as everything before 2001 in 1968. (The 11 counts both Against the Fall of Night and the revised version The City and the Stars, and includes his non-SF novel Glide Path.)

This is Clarke’s major novel of the ocean, set in a future that herds whales and farms plankton for consumption by humans. I think the theme of harvesting whales for their meat would make the novel awkward to reprint today, but I see there have been editions from Warner Aspect in 2001 and from Gollancz as recently as 2011. There are countries that still harvest whales, of course, but they do so to the condemnation of many other nations.

Clarke was of course an avid diver and had moved to Sri Lanka in 1956 (according to Science Fiction Encyclopedia), a year before this novel was published. So the descriptions here of diving, of exploring the coral reefs, are likely drawn from first-hand experience.

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Vintage Treasures: The 1989 Annual World’s Best SF edited by Donald A. Wollheim with Arthur W. Saha

Vintage Treasures: The 1989 Annual World’s Best SF edited by Donald A. Wollheim with Arthur W. Saha

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The 1989 Annual World’s Best SF (DAW, 1989). Cover by Jim Burns

Most SF readers are familiar with Gardner Dozois’ legendary Year’s Best Science Fiction series, which ran for three and a half decades from 1984 to 2018, and helped shape modern perceptions of short SF. But it was by no means the first Year’s Best in science fiction, and in the early days, wasn’t even my favorite. No, back in the 80s I preferred the annual anthologies by Terry Carr and, more frequently, Donald A. Wollheim’s Annual World’s Best SF, which ran from 1965 until the late 80s.

I recently bought a copy of The 1989 Annual World’s Best SF, and was surprised to find it had a guest introduction by Isaac Asimov. Flipping it open, I found a sober explanation in his first paragraph.

This is the first time that the introduction to his annual volume has not been written by Don Wollheim. Alas, we are not immune to the ravages of time (not even science fiction personalities are) and Don is hospitalized just as the deadline for the volume approaches, so he has asked me to do the introduction for him.

For all my fabled immodesty, I am forced to admit I am a poor substitute. Don has been a sextuple-threat person in science fiction. Let me list his threats…

The rest of Asimov’s 4-page intro is a detailed and affectionate tribute to Wollheim, and the enormous impact he had on the field. Knowing that Wollheim passed away at the end of the decade, I was strongly suspicious he never emerged from that hospital stay. Asimov wrapped up with the hopeful lines:

Don… is a sweet and gentle fellow who has spent his whole life giving more than he has taken. I hope and trust that next year he will be writing his own introduction again.

Donald Wollheim died on November 2, 1990, at the age of 76. He did in fact emerge from the hospital, produce one more volume, The 1990 Annual World’s Best SF (with his co-editor Art Saha), and he did write the introduction.

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Vintage Treasures: Alien Earth by Megan Lindholm

Vintage Treasures: Alien Earth by Megan Lindholm

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Alien Earth (Bantam Spectra, 1992). Cover by Oscar Chichoni

Megan Lindholm is a bestselling fantasy writer under her pseudonym Robin Hobb. But before she began producing epic fantasy trilogies under that name in the late 90s, she had a successful career as Lindholm, writing highly respected novels such as Wizard of the Pigeons, Cloven Hooves, and the 4-volume Windsingers series. She also dabbled in science fiction, most notably with her 1992 novel Alien Earth, the tale of small team of humans who return to Earth thousands of years after the dying planet was evacuated.

Alien Earth‘s ecological themes resonate well with modern readers, and the book enjoys a 4.1 average rating at Goodreads today. However my favorite review is by Rob Weber at Fantasy Literature, who calls it “A magnificent science fiction tale.” Here’s an excerpt:

Alien Earth is set in a far future. Humanity has managed to poison Earth to such an extent that the alien Arthroplana step in and offer, what is in their view, the only possible solution to the catastrophe unfolding on our home planet: complete evacuation…

Centuries after the evacuation, Captain John Gen-93-Beta of the Beastship Evangeline is approached with an unthinkable mission. A faction dissatisfied with Arthroplana rule asks him to return to the dead planet Earth to find out if the Arthroplana are right in saying the planet is beyond recovery. The Arthroplana will not approve of what John’s employers are trying to achieve, so the whole mission is complicated by blackmail, manipulation and the need for secrecy… Setting out with a small crew, John heads for Earth without any of them knowing the details of John’s assignment. Each of the five travelers — the Beast Evangeline, her Arthroplana keeper Tug, Captain John, his crew mate Connie, and stowaway Raef —have their own agenda…

Lindholm expertly weaves the stories of these five very different characters into a magnificent science fiction tale. If you happen to come across a copy, I highly recommend you seize the opportunity.

A number of writers have explored Megan Lindholm/Robin Hobb’s career at Black Gate. Here’s some of our most popular coverage over the years.

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James Davis Nicoll on Five Thrilling SF Stories About Patrolling Space

James Davis Nicoll on Five Thrilling SF Stories About Patrolling Space

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Crashing Suns (Ace, 1965), A Matter of Oaths (Questar, 1990), and The Prefect (Ace Books, 2009).
Covers by Ed Valigursky, Martin Andrews, and Chris Moore

What’s better than thrilling stories of patrolling space?? (No need to email an answer; it’s a rhetorical question. And the answer is “nuthin'”).

Mind you, I’d be hard pressed to cite actual examples. Star Trek books maybe? EC Comics Weird Science, naturally. After that, I got nothing.

Fortunately James Nicoll reads a lot more than I do. Over at Tor.com he’s posted a fun little article titled Five Thrilling SF Stories About Patrolling Space, which includes classics like Edmond Hamilton’s Crashing Suns, but also more modern titles I was totally ignorant of. Here’s his take on Helen S. Wright’s sole SF novel A Matter of Oaths:

There are but three powers of note — the Old Empire and the New Empire, both ruled by their respective immortal emperors, as well as the Guild of Webbers that supplies both sides with starship crews — but the simmering conflict between empires, not to mention basic human cussedness, means an endless need for the services of patrolships like Bhattya to deal with raiders and the like. Being short-staffed, Bhattya’s Commander Rallya grudgingly hires Rafe. Rafe’s service record and qualifications are exemplary… enough so that Rallya is forced to overlook the alarming fact that Rafe was previously mind-wiped for reasons unrecorded. It is only once Rafe is a member of the crew that Rallya belatedly becomes aware of a fact that would have been nice to know before Rafe came on board: someone appears to want Rafe dead and to achieve this goal, they are quite willing to sacrifice everyone in Rafe’s vicinity. Including the crew of the Bhattya.

That definitely sounds like something I shouldn’t have overlooked three decades ago. Here’s the back covers for all three books above.

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A Mutant Godling on a Ruined Earth: The Eyes Trilogy by Stuart Gordon

A Mutant Godling on a Ruined Earth: The Eyes Trilogy by Stuart Gordon

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The Eyes Trilogy by Stuart Gordon (DAW, 1973-75). Covers by Tim Kirk, Peter Manesis, and Michael Whelan

DAW Books is one of the most prestigious and successful science fiction imprints in the industry, regularly publishing top-selling authors and titles. Fifty years ago…. well, it wasn’t any of those things. Donald A. Wollheim built his scrappy publishing powerhouse the old fashioned way: by buying the best books he could find on a shoestring budget, slapping whatever cover art he could find on the cover, and moving on rapidly to the next book.

Wollheim gave a lot of brand new authors (and forgotten authors, and washed up authors) a chance — and in many cases, multiple chances. Many, like C.J, Cherryh, John Brunner, Tanith Lee, Mercedes Lackey, and Melanie Rawn, grew with the imprint and gradually became big names. And a great many…. didn’t.

Stuart Gordon is in the latter category. He published a trilogy of science fiction paperbacks in the early 70s, then promptly abandoned SF, moving on to biker books like The Bike from Hell and The Devil’s Rider (both written as Alex R. Stuart). But I used to see One Eye, Two Eyes, and Three Eyes on the shelves when I was a wee lad exploring the science fiction racks for the first time, and they always fascinated me.

Part of it was the subject matter: a strangely powerful mutant roaming a blasted post-apocalyptic landscape and…. I dunno? Carrying unconscious women around? I was never clear on the concept, actually. But hey, mutants and blasted mountain peaks! That’s all it took to fascinate me in those days. My needs were simple.

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The Secret World of Greg Ketter

The Secret World of Greg Ketter

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Hit or Myth by Robert Asprin (Starblaze, 1983). Cover by Phil Foglio

Greg Ketter, owner of Dreamhaven Books in Minneapolis, is one of the best booksellers in the business, and he’s sold me many fine volumes over the years. Greg doesn’t talk about it much, but he’s also friends with many of the most famous writers and artists in the field. This being a creative industry, Greg’s friendships reveal themselves in entertaining ways. In fact, Greg has been Tuckerized more than anyone else I know, and in some surprising ways.

I’ve been enjoying Greg’s tales of Tuckerization on Facebook. What is “Tuckerization?” Here, I’ll let Greg explain it.

Wilson “Bob” Tucker was an early SF fan who also went pro, writing mystery and science fiction stories alike. His first book, mystery novel The Chinese Doll, contained the names of many of his friends as characters. Thus you had been “Tuckerized.” The practice continues today sometimes with people paying great sums of money (usually for charities) to be included as characters in books. The most popular seems to be getting killed off in whatever silly/gruesome/disgusting/crazy way the author can dream up.

Greg’s namesake has appeared in George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones, Nick Pollata’s Satellite Night Fever, Joe Domenici’s Bringing Back the Dead, and many more. But my favorite story is the time he appeared on the cover of Hit or Myth, the fourth book in Robert Asprin’s popular and long running Myth Adventures series:

I was staying with Phil Foglio for a while when he said he needed a model for the new Robert Asprin Myth book. Sure, why not. So, I became a demon for Hit or Myth. Notice those ripped abs (actually, back then I was a bit closer to that than I am now. Everything has dropped down a ways since then). I helped with some of the atrocious puns scattered about the cover and Phil named the place “K’tier Abu’s Djin Mill” as a nod to his old buddy.

I leave it as an exercise to the reader to spot all those visual puns Greg mentions. Just about every one of my friends in Ottawa back in the day read Asprin’s Myth Adventures series, and the books were scattered around our house when I was in University. It’s quite the kick to discover that’s I’ve secretly known the cover model for the demon Aahz all these years. Small world.

Bran Mak Morn: Social Justice Warrior

Bran Mak Morn: Social Justice Warrior

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Worms of the Earth by Robert E. Howard (Ace Books, 1979). Cover by Sanjulian

“Worms of the Earth” was published in Weird Tales in November of 1932, and was thus described in the table of contents as “a grim shuddery tale of the days when Roman legions ruled in Britain–a powerful story of a gruesome horror from the bowels of the earth.” It features Bran Mak Morn, the King of the Picts, one of Howard’s barbarian characters. A quasi-Faustian tale, the story dramatizes Bran Mak Morn’s greatest transgression, a dark pact the king makes with diabolic force to avenge his dying and brutalized race: the Picts.

Many consider “Worms of the Earth” one of Howard’s masterpieces, truly haunting and enigmatic, its impact lingering long after a reading, like a stagnant tobacco smell or a leathery flapping of shadowy wings. The story is also notable for its inclusion of allusions to H.P. Lovecraft’s mythos, specifically the ancient Mesopotamian god “Dagon” and the sunken city of “R’lyeh,” home to dreaming Cthulhu. Undoubtedly, the story’s themes of racial degeneracy and the violent power of geologic time are steeped in Howard’s legendary 1930s correspondence with Lovecraft.

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