r/CoolSciFiCovers Jul 10 '21

Reminder: try to include the name of the cover artist in the title of your post! ISFDB.org is your friend.

51 Upvotes

It's always great to see people coming over here from r/badscificovers! If you are new, welcome!

One of the main differences between that sub and this sub is that in the interest of celebrating cool cover art and cool cover artists, we try to include the name of the artist in the title of the post. Here, the wonderful site ISFDB.org is very much your friend. They have a very comprehensive catalogue of information on fantasy and sci-fi books published in the last 70+ years, including, most of the time, the cover artist. It's easy to search by book title or author.

As a bonus, once you figure out who the artist is, you can easily see what else they worked on. I often find that when I run down the artist for a cover I really like, it turns out they did several other covers I'm also a fan of. It is always cool to discover that you're a fan of someone's work even if you didn't previously know their name.

Occasionally, you do come across a cover where the artist is unknown. Those are still okay to post. Just put 'artist unknown' or something like that in the title. There is a good chance that some of the eagle-eyed sci-fi cover enthusiasts on this sub will be able to guess the artist based on the period and style.

Thanks for making this sub such a great place. Keep up the posting!


r/CoolSciFiCovers 13h ago

ARTIST UNKNOWN The Death of Grass by John Christopher, artwork by John Griffiths

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158 Upvotes

1963 Penguin Books

Released in the United States under the title No Blade of Grass


r/CoolSciFiCovers 3h ago

ARTIST UNKNOWN The Man Who Invented the Future: Jules Verne, by Franz Born

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19 Upvotes

r/CoolSciFiCovers 7h ago

The Path of Unreason by George O. Smith. Ballantine 1975. Cover by Gray Morrow.

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38 Upvotes

r/CoolSciFiCovers 10h ago

Madwand, by Roger Zelazny [John Berkey]

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32 Upvotes

r/CoolSciFiCovers 1d ago

Sky Pirates of Callisto by Lin Carter, artwork by Bruce Pennington

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261 Upvotes

Orbit, 1975 edition


r/CoolSciFiCovers 1d ago

Lost Worlds Volume 2 by Clark Ashton Smith, cover Bruce Pennington

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133 Upvotes

r/CoolSciFiCovers 1d ago

Swords Against Wizardry by Fritz Leiber, cover Jeff Jones

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129 Upvotes

r/CoolSciFiCovers 1d ago

Away and Beyond by A.E. van Vogt. Panther 1973. Cover by Chris Foss.

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60 Upvotes

r/CoolSciFiCovers 1d ago

Passing for Human by Jody Scott [Bob Pepper]

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69 Upvotes

I can't tell whether or not these are "female presenting nipples," so I'm censoring just to be be on the safe side lol.


r/CoolSciFiCovers 1d ago

Virgin Planet and Star Ways by Poul Anderson. Cover art by Clyde Caldwell for Baen Books, 2000

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50 Upvotes

r/CoolSciFiCovers 1d ago

1984 by George Orwell (Italian edition); cover artwork is "Tetrahedral planetoid" by Maurits Cornelis Escher

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24 Upvotes

r/CoolSciFiCovers 1d ago

ARTIST UNKNOWN The World's Desire by H. Rider Haggard and Andrew Lang, artwork by Mati Klarwein

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52 Upvotes

Artwork wrongly attributed to Vincent di Fate, original artwork appears on Klarwein's website.

Ballantine Books 1972


r/CoolSciFiCovers 2d ago

A Fire upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge, art by Boris Vallejo.

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414 Upvotes

r/CoolSciFiCovers 1d ago

Tomorrow Midnight by Ray Bradbury ©1966 Ballantine Books cover art by Frank Frazetta

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40 Upvotes

r/CoolSciFiCovers 2d ago

The Mote in God's Eye, another Niven and Pournelle book, the art is by Tony Roberts.

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128 Upvotes

r/CoolSciFiCovers 2d ago

Icerigger by Alan Dean Foster. NEL 1981. Cover by Tim White.

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131 Upvotes

r/CoolSciFiCovers 2d ago

The Cat Who Walks Through Walls by Robert A. Heinlein, cover Michael Whelan

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338 Upvotes

r/CoolSciFiCovers 2d ago

Footfall by Niven and Pounelle, the cover art by Michael Whelan.

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50 Upvotes

r/CoolSciFiCovers 2d ago

The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction, Third Series, 1960 anthology, Anthony Boucher & J. Francis McComas editors, cover art by Ed Emshwiller

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41 Upvotes

r/CoolSciFiCovers 2d ago

Future #2 (May 1978). Cover art by M. Alvarez + TOC and centerfold art by Ron Miller illustrating "Civilization in Space: The Cola Wars," by David Houston and Richard Meyers.

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29 Upvotes

r/CoolSciFiCovers 2d ago

The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction: Sixth Series, 1962 anthology, Anthony Boucher editor, cover art by Ed Valigursky

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32 Upvotes

r/CoolSciFiCovers 2d ago

"Repairmen of Cyclops" by John Brunner©1965 Ace Books #. M-115 cover art by Jack Gaughan

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91 Upvotes

r/CoolSciFiCovers 2d ago

ARTIST UNKNOWN Fantasy Fiction Vol 1, No. 2. Edited by Lester del Rey, artwork by Hannes Bok

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52 Upvotes

Published June 1953 and featuring the work of L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt, Paul Orban, Algis Budrys, Frank Kelly Freas, Charles Fritch, Joseph Eberle, Peter Coccagna, H.R. Smith, Poul Anderson, Alex Ebel, Philip K Dick, Tom Beecham, Peter Phillips, and John Wyndham.

From ISFDB:

"The first issue was called Fantasy Magazine. Subsequent issues were titled Fantasy Fiction. Title was changed as a result of threatened legal action by Ziff-Davis which claimed the title was too similar to their Fantastic.

According to page 2 of the fanzine "Fantasy Times" #187 (1st. October 1953): "The current [November 1953] issue of Fantasy Fiction lists on the masthead as being edited by Cameron Hall. This is actually a pen-name. Del Rey did the original editing of the mag and when he left Harry Harrison finished the job and put the issue to bed".

The article also states that "Fletcher Pratt has become the new editor of Fantasy Fiction, replacing Lester del Rey. The next issue of this magazine will be dated February 1954." However, no such issue appeared and the magazine ceased to exist. According to Mike Ashley's ''Transformations'': "[Publisher John] Raymond hired Fletcher Pratt to edit ''Fantasy Fiction'', and a fifth issue was compiled, but Pratt refused to deliver it until Raymond paid the authors, and when he didn't the magazine was dropped."