May 10
Click for full imageHex Comments: The guy on the left is a sort of expert undercover first contact agent, whose job is to alter the course of developing cultures on newly-discovered worlds to suit the needs of Earth. How he manages to do it while being chafed by that jockstrap I will never understand. Sometimes I gaze at the Yeti in a jumper while I try to figure it out.
Incidentally, this book is spattered with grimly bad black and white illustrations that completely contradict the style of the cover. Nice work, Ace!
Excellent! Thanks Hex!
(Average: 7.24 out of 10)
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May 10th, 2010 at 9:09 am
Good to see Harry (of HARRY AND THE HENDERSONS) again!
And what is it with these cover artists and their medieval approach to perspective?
May 10th, 2010 at 9:10 am
It’s not the sort of cover you’d immediately associate with a book about a prostitute.
May 10th, 2010 at 9:29 am
“Old man, why can’t you be more that satellite over there? It’s been done with all of its reaping for days!”, says the overseeing man with the iron banana hammock.
“I’ll show you who’s slow”, growled the yeti, picking up his tool as he gets ready to attack.
May 10th, 2010 at 9:56 am
“And I’ll be telling you, SIR, I ain’t doing no digging without my hand moisturiser.”
What frightens me is that yeti seems to be wearing an 80’s low cut jumper and leg warmers. It’s not like it could be cold with all that hair… that means it either sweats a lot… or is wearing them for seduction… *Shutters*
May 10th, 2010 at 10:58 am
Pro? I’m anti.
Arf arf.
May 10th, 2010 at 11:33 am
I can’t think of a single thing about that spaceman’s outfit that isn’t wrong. It is just all wrong! All of it!!
May 10th, 2010 at 11:43 am
“Please! You have to get me back to my Forced Perspective Machine”! The fate of my costume depends on it!
May 10th, 2010 at 3:03 pm
It’s a Space Munchkin! Obviously the old fellow in the foreground was in that ship, which landed on the Wicked Witch of the Outer Spiral Arm, and the Munchkin is pointing out the Yellow Brick Road (which is made of uranium) just off-screen.
And the Yeti is actually Toto.
And now we know why Munchkins have squeaky voices: they carry their blasters pointing directly at their wedding tackle.
May 10th, 2010 at 4:51 pm
Is that a metal sombrero on the spaceman’s back? Or maybe it’s his trusty jetpack. Hope that blaster doesn’t go off accidentally. But maybe that’s why the jockstrap: for protection from blaster malfunctions.
May 10th, 2010 at 5:05 pm
@Adam, Prostitute was definately my first thought when i saw all those hoes.
May 10th, 2010 at 9:33 pm
This book does little to self-promote: the best thing the cover designers could find to say is that the author is one of the greatest living science fiction authors. (Strong words indeed in 1978 when just about all the greats were alive.)
May 11th, 2010 at 2:07 am
Question: was the follow-up novel entitled ‘Con’?
May 11th, 2010 at 3:39 am
The sequel should be “Phylactic.” Ah, yeti-in-jumper, God bless your awesomeness.
May 11th, 2010 at 9:01 am
thought the follow-up was called “-Lapse”?
@Lauren the thing on his back maybe a pointy based wok- stir-frying in zero G is always troublesome.
May 11th, 2010 at 12:46 pm
Obviously another dire cover but Dickson wrote a good yarn. His Dorsai series is quite good.
May 11th, 2010 at 2:36 pm
Looking at the old man being harangued by the space man, I can’t help but think the old man is about to shout “Help, help I’m being repressed!”
But I do like the look of utter resigned contempt in the old man’s eyes. I wonder if the artist was inspired by the look in Dickson’s eyes after the artist explained his concept for the cover art.
May 13th, 2010 at 2:55 pm
The old man is a minor character in the book. I really have no idea why the artist (“Benvenuti”) chose to make him take up a whole quarter of the cover.
Oh wait, maybe because he only really occurs in the first part of the book, thus neatly demonstrating how much of it Benvenuti bothered to read!
May 15th, 2010 at 6:35 am
Space Guy: “Look at my rocket, Grizzly Adams! LOOK AT IT!”
Yeti: “Really, it’s totally sweet, dude. You should so look at it.”
July 25th, 2010 at 8:11 pm
Space Inca: “I’ve traveled halfway across the universe in that NASA reject of a ship to put an end to your pot growing operation! “Cause I’m a PRO!”
Elderly Gay Man: “Well gosh sailor, lighten up will ya? I could just cry, you’re so down on my butt…”
Skunk Ape: “Me start to fling me own poop now!”
July 25th, 2010 at 8:15 pm
Also, the prequel was called “Rank Amateurs.”
September 14th, 2015 at 8:14 am
Chewbacca has let himself go.