Monday, April 11, 2016

Paperback 932: The War Against the Rull / A.E. Van Vogt (Permabook M4263)

Paperback 932: Perma Books M-4263 (1st ptg, 1962)

Title: The War Against the Rull
Author: A. E. Van Vogt
Cover artist: Some Richard Powers knock-off artist (or possibly Richard Powers, who knows?)

Estimated value: a few bucks, ish

[part of the newly established Laura R. Braunstein Collection]

PermaM4263
Best things about this cover:
  • This is pretty lazy as scif fi covers go. Feels like it was made on some kind of assembly line where they just slap down hackeneyed visuals without much thought. "Floating orb of some kind ... dude in space suit ... maybe a few other smaller dudes ... wacky '60s font ... paint splatter to suggest some kind of, I don't know, flare? ... And, done!"
  • The Rull had eyes in their knees and wore elaborately decorated space woolens, so war was kind of inevitable. 
  • I am tempted to read this book, as I have been tempted to read several of these prolific but largely forgotten popular fiction writers (I'm in the middle of a Mary Roberts Rinehart book right now! It's super-fun!). Thanks to Pop Sensation reader and librarian extraordinaire Laura Braunstein for sending me a buncha beat up paperbacks that only a mother or vintage paperback enthusiast could love! More to come.
PermaM4263bc
Best things about this back cover:
  • "... or are you just happy to see me?"
  • So ... they're Cylons. Or Pod People. Or latent zombies. Got it.
  • That is the most nauseating question mark ever produced.

Page 123~ 

With Diddy in tow, the two Rulls came to Cross 2. The Way itself was Cross 1.

Thus setting up an epic '90s space-rap battle. My money's on The Way.

~RP

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Tumblr]
at

3 comments:

  1. JenniferApril 11, 2016 at 10:25 AM

    I didn't realize there were any other Mary Roberts Rinehart readers out there!

    ReplyDelete
  2. DemetriosXApril 12, 2016 at 4:54 AM

    I've never been a huge van Vogt fan, but the meat of this was before he fell under L. Ron Hubbard's spell, so it could be OK. OTOH, the linking material for the fix-up could be pretty Scientology-ish, I don't know. Read at your own risk, I guess.

    But the cover is god-awful.

    ReplyDelete
  3. vintagehoarderApril 12, 2016 at 9:32 PM

    The artists working on SF covers seemed to fall into the trap of doing vaguely abstract covers more often than the artists illustrating other genres. Maybe it was because it's easier to depict dames and detectives than "some sort of dark, large worm with a variety of appendages". It would certainly be easier to find models for the former!

    ReplyDelete