Apparently these books have been sitting on the shelves for a few years and I somehow overlooked them… they are positively fetishistic; I find myself wanting to lick them.
Samuel R. Delany is one of those science fiction writers that Serious Literature has no choice but to recognize and then rationalize out of the genre. It’s pleasing to see such an accomplished writer get first-class treatment; it’s frustrating that younger, less-established talents are resigned to the predictable dreck that is the rest of the sci-fi shelf.
Our hats off to Gaffney for doing such a nice job in such a limited genre.
—
, 2008-07-07 07:19:00 -0400
Wow… they´re great! I want them all and want to hold them. Now:)
And I couldn´t agree more about the trouble with the sci-fi genre, it´s really a shame people are not more “open-minded” towards it.
Yeah I think the series really work, they look like serious literature but still somehow have kept the otherworldliness we associate with science fiction. I like that genre fiction is getting a makeover, so often we’d happily watch movies based on books we’d never pick up. I’d pick these up.
—
, 2008-07-06 18:23:00 -0400
love love love
—
, 2008-07-07 02:31:00 -0400
i love them all but i think “babel-17” works the best b/c of the ragged-edge text at the bottom. the titles of the others feel too high on the page. the bottom portions become dead space.
—
, 2008-07-07 03:04:00 -0400
Awesome! Evan Gaffney rocks. Great choice with the sans serif type, especially in that grid structure.
—
, 2008-07-07 04:25:00 -0400
I just put my finger on something that I like about these but couldn’t pin down. There’s a subtle microcosm/macrocosm shifting going on, between the close-ups of the water and the eyeball, the city shots, and then the “nova.” The jumping around in scale is a visual theme unto itself.
Also, I forgot to mention that the spine and the back side of these are “pixel smeared,” which creates a really great effect when lined up on the shelf.
very nice design. For me they feel more like posters than book covers. Esp babel 17. Would love to see these on all sides.
—
, 2008-07-07 19:11:00 -0400
Aye, and Gomorrah is my favourite. Dhalgren’s cover is also impressive, the covers really fit the insides. The typesetting is gorgeous, smooth paper, I love these editions. When you hold them in your hand they’re light but solid, and they bend well but don’t damage easily.
—
, 2008-07-08 01:13:00 -0400
Sci-fi-ish writer Thomas Disch died over the weekend. Check out the stunning covers EG did for his novels Camp Concentration and 334. Taking sci-fi seriously.
Nova
Apparently these books have been sitting on the shelves for a few years and I somehow overlooked them… they are positively fetishistic; I find myself wanting to lick them.
Samuel R. Delany is one of those science fiction writers that Serious Literature has no choice but to recognize and then rationalize out of the genre. It’s pleasing to see such an accomplished writer get first-class treatment; it’s frustrating that younger, less-established talents are resigned to the predictable dreck that is the rest of the sci-fi shelf.
Our hats off to Gaffney for doing such a nice job in such a limited genre.
— , 2008-07-07 07:19:00 -0400
Wow… they´re great! I want them all and want to hold them. Now:)
And I couldn´t agree more about the trouble with the sci-fi genre, it´s really a shame people are not more “open-minded” towards it.
Cheers!
— Ana , 2008-07-06 17:18:00 -0400
Yeah I think the series really work, they look like serious literature but still somehow have kept the otherworldliness we associate with science fiction. I like that genre fiction is getting a makeover, so often we’d happily watch movies based on books we’d never pick up. I’d pick these up.
— , 2008-07-06 18:23:00 -0400
love love love
— , 2008-07-07 02:31:00 -0400
i love them all but i think “babel-17” works the best b/c of the ragged-edge text at the bottom. the titles of the others feel too high on the page. the bottom portions become dead space.
— , 2008-07-07 03:04:00 -0400
Awesome! Evan Gaffney rocks. Great choice with the sans serif type, especially in that grid structure.
— , 2008-07-07 04:25:00 -0400
I just put my finger on something that I like about these but couldn’t pin down. There’s a subtle microcosm/macrocosm shifting going on, between the close-ups of the water and the eyeball, the city shots, and then the “nova.” The jumping around in scale is a visual theme unto itself.
Also, I forgot to mention that the spine and the back side of these are “pixel smeared,” which creates a really great effect when lined up on the shelf.
— , 2008-07-07 04:40:00 -0400
nice. can we see a clip of the spines?
— Ian Shimkoviak , 2008-07-07 05:02:00 -0400
very nice design. For me they feel more like posters than book covers. Esp babel 17. Would love to see these on all sides.
— , 2008-07-07 19:11:00 -0400
Aye, and Gomorrah is my favourite. Dhalgren’s cover is also impressive, the covers really fit the insides. The typesetting is gorgeous, smooth paper, I love these editions. When you hold them in your hand they’re light but solid, and they bend well but don’t damage easily.
— , 2008-07-08 01:13:00 -0400
Sci-fi-ish writer Thomas Disch died over the weekend. Check out the stunning covers EG did for his novels Camp Concentration and 334. Taking sci-fi seriously.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0375705457/ref=sib_dp_pt#reader-link
http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0375705449/ref=sib_dp_pt#reader-link
— , 2008-07-08 02:08:00 -0400
They’re nice… they have their post-post-modern fun-with-Helvetica-and-text-formatting charm, don’t they? But then, so many do…
— C-Dog , 2008-07-12 08:24:00 -0400
Very beautiful, colorful, and engaging indeed.
— Ryan Scheife , 2008-07-15 09:03:00 -0400
fyi I just bought a copy of Nova because I love the cover so much, and it’s just wonderful
— , 2008-07-21 09:57:00 -0400
Amazingly designed covers. A prime example of the grid system hard at work!
— Roby Fitzhenry , 2008-07-26 11:46:00 -0400
isnt it over the top just exactly müller brockmann? its even set in akzidenz grotesk lower case.
isnt it almost criminal, or maybe we should just love it?
— Henning T , 2008-08-11 04:34:00 -0400
It looks very attractive.
The book cover is itself the index of the books.
======
pradeepa
widecircles
— , 2008-09-07 15:57:00 -0400
Delany totally deserves awesome covers for his books. If you want to see a nice series of his covers from the 70s, see here:
http://blogs.walkerart.org/design/2008/11/11/samuel-r-delany-is-speaking-at-the-walker/
— Anonymous Coward , 2009-02-18 06:10:11 -0500