tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post7216963841542985921..comments2024-03-28T19:52:07.635-04:00Comments on Sweet Freedom: FFB: HARD LANDING by Algis Budrys...and SFBC's Gary Viskupic coversTodd Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01815516018079824802noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post-14926830444208930892017-08-31T19:43:55.863-04:002017-08-31T19:43:55.863-04:00Barry Malzberg corrects my slip in a comment above...Barry Malzberg corrects my slip in a comment above...Budrys was nominated for but didn't win the best short fiction Edgar Award for "The Master of the Hounds"...Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01815516018079824802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post-59378396953763950032015-12-12T18:02:26.066-05:002015-12-12T18:02:26.066-05:00And really brings home the oogly...And really brings home the oogly...Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01815516018079824802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post-37249143241193246622015-12-12T16:28:06.859-05:002015-12-12T16:28:06.859-05:00Oh, yes. Definitely puts the "y" in yoog...Oh, yes. Definitely puts the "y" in yoogly. Mathew Pausthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06157135006791553019noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post-29072512614860188622011-12-06T09:12:40.177-05:002011-12-06T09:12:40.177-05:00Oh, I'd say it was clear they did so. I suspec...Oh, I'd say it was clear they did so. I suspect Viskupic provided about as much value for the money provided as Doubleday deserved...but the books deserved much better.Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01815516018079824802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post-24363789977840427452011-12-05T18:22:09.351-05:002011-12-05T18:22:09.351-05:00I'm not particularly proud to say I have most ...I'm not particularly proud to say I have most of those SFBC volumes, ugly covers and all, though they have been in and out of boxes so many times many are torn or have just been discarded - no great loss. Yes they were ugly, or perhaps it would be kinder to say "under designed and executed", but then Doubleday paid squat for the artwork on those books.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post-64610937639048879212011-12-02T23:07:57.215-05:002011-12-02T23:07:57.215-05:00The worst of the rest look like Mike Hinge (or Vis...The worst of the rest look like Mike Hinge (or Viskupic) on a very bad day indeed.Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01815516018079824802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post-3020016552095272462011-12-02T23:07:00.577-05:002011-12-02T23:07:00.577-05:00Yes...you have to read my comments! I mention that...Yes...you have to read my comments! I mention that one of the better Viskupic covers nonetheless looks a bit like a Viskupic version of what the Dillons do.Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01815516018079824802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post-13160137004216336182011-12-02T21:59:05.733-05:002011-12-02T21:59:05.733-05:00I am curious about the two Leo and Diane Dillon co...I am curious about the two Leo and Diane Dillon covers for The Deathbird that you have included in the gallery there. IS this a test?Scott Cupphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13082054067551991645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post-46469823327461404012011-12-02T20:27:17.481-05:002011-12-02T20:27:17.481-05:00One of the best, if also one of those who hated ha...One of the best, if also one of those who hated having to make a living from sf, rather than being able to wait and write the best sf he thought he was capable of (or other sorts of literature...he did pick up the Edgar for "The Master of the Hounds"). Also, of course, the first editor to buy a short story from me, and in the '60s and '70s probably the most acute critic of "popular" literature I was aware of. One thing I should be sure of, but am not at the moment, is whether the Questar text of HL is longer than the F&SF text...I think it isn't, but that ain't worth depending on.Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01815516018079824802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post-64486383036220445342011-12-02T19:16:29.474-05:002011-12-02T19:16:29.474-05:00Budrys was one of the better SF writers. I just re...Budrys was one of the better SF writers. I just recently reread The Executioner and The End of Summer from ASTOUNDING and ROGUE MOON for the third time. I think I missed HARD LANDING and will now read it in my back issue of F&SF.Walker Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16089880902426182100noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post-20566579298129442302011-12-02T17:54:02.944-05:002011-12-02T17:54:02.944-05:00I think you're right about Budrys, Scott. And ...I think you're right about Budrys, Scott. And of course you're right about the covers...as are you, Yvette, and I think your comparison to the little Renee Zellweger lookalikes might be too kind, George. The SFBC was particularly...nonchalant, shall we write, in its treatment of the often brilliant work it, like Doubleday as a whole, hoped to shovel out to the suckers on the hook to buy at least four books in one year, preferably ones sent automatically to them because they didn't return the refusal card in time. Anti-talent, for the settings of the paintings as well as in general execution, is on display here.Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01815516018079824802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post-6878366791221479212011-12-02T16:12:21.111-05:002011-12-02T16:12:21.111-05:00I think those covers were published in the era whe...I think those covers were published in the era when the Troll dolls were considered "cute."Georgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04546161337366365635noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post-30030735128636950572011-12-02T14:24:00.717-05:002011-12-02T14:24:00.717-05:00Really ugly covers, Todd. Maybe the artist was hav...Really ugly covers, Todd. Maybe the artist was having a bad day...or days. <br /><br />One of the problems I find with most e-books or self published works, by the way, are their awful 'covers'. It takes real talent for design to come up with an exceptional cover. Not to mention, the judgement to pick the right illustrator or photographer or what have you. It's an art.Yvettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08919246184376538331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post-55392392708116659712011-12-02T13:45:35.603-05:002011-12-02T13:45:35.603-05:00I think most of Budrys is criminally neglected. A...I think most of Budrys is criminally neglected. And those covers are amazingly ugly!Scott Cupphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13082054067551991645noreply@blogger.com