Science Fiction Cover Art

[Stingray]

Although I do not know who the artist is, flipping through my old TTA books suggests the station's style to be Tony Roberts or Bob Layzell. Potentially Colin Hay.

Thanks, I'll do some searching! :3

 

[Stingray]

...

 

[southwestforests]

I am fairly certain that someone somewhere on the web, in their blog?, on YouTube?, both? has scratchbuilt a model of that one;

...

And I do remember seeing it in this 2024 blog post. Blooger is also on Tumblr which my be where I first saw this ship.
https://70s-sci-fi-art.ghost.io/1980s-maplin-catalogues/

Rod Brown, 1978
Wait, here's a wraparound version I cobbled together from a 300-page scan of the publication. The spine was not included, sadly.

It came with a little write-up explaining the cover, too. I'd be surprise if the Terran Trade Authority wasn't an influence here.

The cover is one of my favorites, with a clean ship design and fun "MAP25" on the side. A lot of the future covers would add more razzle-dazzle, but I like the simplicity here.

 

[Graham1973]

A selection of Tony Roberts artwork, much of which ended up in the TTA books, but sadly not into a single compilation by Paper Tiger.

 

[martinbayer]

Ya know, a model or even a game miniature of that could be built using things such as the following, for example,
(and of course there is CAD and 3D printing for the folks who have and enjoy those)

View attachment 808810

Go for it!!!

 

[Graham1973]

The cover artwork by John Harris for the 1980 novel 'Jem: The Making of a Utopia' by Frederik Pohl.

The same cover art was re-used in 1985 for the novel 'Q Colony' by Robert Thurston, an author more well known for his contributions to the FASA 'Battletech' novel series, than his independent novels.

 

[southwestforests]

The same cover art was re-used

That concept connects with an email I read just before the one about notice of posts here.
It referred to this blog post,

https://70s-sci-fi-art.ghost.io/spot-the-difference/?ref=70s-sci-fi-art-newsletter

Spot the Difference
Adam Rowe 13 Apr 2026 • 5 min read
Today, we're seeing double, with a big, wide-ranging list of various times that artists did very similar artworks for one reason or another.

 

[Brett Davidson]

Not an artistic matter, but a science fictional matter.

Alas, Ian Watson has died. Many of his works have been illustrated by artists covered here. I have several of his books and enjoyed them immensely. In recent social media he announced that he had a 'malady' and was 'rebooting.' He always had good spirits, a strong sense of humour, and a fertile imagination.

SFE: Watson, Ian

Welcome to the fourth edition of The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction.

sf-encyclopedia.com

 

[Brett Davidson]

In good news, David Hardy has celebrated his 90th birthday.

 

[Graham1973]

This 'Star Wars' inspired image by Angus McKie graced the cover of one of the 'Perry Rhodan' novels prior to being recycled in one of the TTA artbooks.

 

[Graham1973]

The poster for the European release of David Lynch's ill fated 1984 version of 'Dune' featuring artwork by John Berkey.

 

[Graham1973]

One of John Schoenherr's illustrations to the first publication (In Analog Magazine) of Anne McCaffrey's Pern stories. The author later wrote to the artist commenting on this illustration thusly...

Oh, that sleeping dragon...the look on the face...I guess, it’s F’lar striding by...that is marvelous...because they are like that, you know. Yeah, you know.

 

[Graham1973]

John Schoenherr's cover to the December 1967 issue of Analog Magazine depicting a scene from 'Dragonrider' by Anne McCaffery, the second published story in the Pern setting.

To quote the author from her letter to the artist following publication.

“You did me and my dragons real proud...”

 

[Graham1973]

The cover art and one of the interior illustrations by John Schoenherr from 'Weyr Search' by Anne McCaffrey the first Pern story ever published in the October 1967 issue of Analog Magazine.

Again a quote from the letter the author wrote to the artist.

But man, those are mighty appealing dragons. Particularly, especially, and triumphantly, the one in which Lessa is enclosed in Mnementh’s talons. Oh, that, I die a little over. How HOW did you manage to convey that foolish bronze’s tender regard and lack of menace in black and white, no less. Superb. Honest, I nearly cried in front of John and Miss Tarrant...

 

[Graham1973]

What I believe to be John Berkey's take on the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701).

 

[southwestforests]

What I believe to be John Berkey's take on the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701).

Brings to mind that with there being the JJprise, I wonder what an Enterprise in the style a lot of Berkey's starships were might look like. Yes, I would like to see a 'Berkeyprise'. But Berkey is no longer available to create one.

 

[Graham1973]

Here is Rob McCall's take on the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701).

 

[publiusr]

The poster isn't great---but the ships....my god...the ships

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ax0LOWV3SPM

 

[Brett Davidson]

Here is Rob McCall's take on the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701).

He was called on (pun unintentional) to provide some designs for Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Some work for V'Ger, which had a complicated history.

Designing the Living Machine — Forgotten Trek

Richard Taylor's philosophy was to make V'Ger a living machine. His plans proved too ambitious.

forgottentrek.com

 

[Brett Davidson]

Syd Mead's work for V'Ger.

 

[Graham1973]

John Berkey being a bad Syd Mead....

 

[Michel Van]

The poster isn't great---but the ships....my god...the ships

East Germany communist had twisted relationship with Sci-Fi
on one side condemn west Sci-Fi, pusch East Sci-Fi by Soviet authors or Stanislav Lem
but order there own authors not write Sci-fi
however there were handful Authors wrote popular Sci-fi Novels
And DEFA made Handful of excellent Sci-fi Movies.

Der Schweigende Stern 1960

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fGY-1gl5xc

East german/Polish production base on short story by Stanislaw Lem.
A Crew of Communist land on Venus to figure out what happen 1908 there

Signale - Ein Weltraumabenteuer, 1970

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4UoygIERRU

1968 Stanley Kubrik Movie "2001: A Space Odyssey" send cultural Shockwave
USSR went and Filmed "Solaris" while DEFA got order to make counter film: Signale
it about Daily routine in space and Rescue mission

Eolomea, 1972
a Play about the Question do the humans have the Right to conquer the Cosmos ?

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCo5c5cO0PQ&pp=ygUNRW9sb21lYSwgMTk3Mg%3D%3D


Im Staub der Sterne, 1976

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sim60S_Hkrs&pp=ygUZSW0gU3RhdWIgZGVyIFN0ZXJuZSwgMTk3Ng%3D%3D

A crew from Communist civilisation investigate emergency signal from Planet TEM 4
The capitalist government of TEM 4 declare there is none...
...until the Crew find the real inhabitants of TEM 4, enslaved by Capitalist invaders

After that the Communist regime discourage further experiments in Sci-fi...

 

[Graham1973]

The cover art by Vincent Di Fate for the 2005 novel 'Anywhere But Here' by Jerry Oliton.

 

[southwestforests]

The cover art by Vincent Di Fate

I have favorite artists in the TTA themed books & favorite artists outside of the artists for those books.
Berkey and Di Fate are top of my favorite artists in non-TTA genres.

 

[Brett Davidson]

Planet of the Vampires. In many ways a bad film, and made with little more than a couple of rubber bands and a paperclip, but it was one of Dan O'Bannon's inspirations for Alien ('I stole from everybody!' he once wrote). And it looks gorgeous.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJvcqfC8u3Y

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeXOUAX1PMI

 

[Graham1973]

"Lift you scruffy bag of bolts. Lift!"

 

[The K2]

A probably post 1968 space station image by Rob McCall

Pretty close!

Facebook

www.facebook.com

 

[Graham1973]

Japanese artist Noriyoshi Ohrai's striking poster for 'Return of the Jedi' (1983)

 

[The K2]

Brings to mind that with there being the JJprise, I wonder what an Enterprise in the style a lot of Berkey's starships were might look like. Yes, I would like to see a 'Berkeyprise'. But Berkey is no longer available to create one.

That version of the Enterprise was for the cancelled new Star Trek TV series (known as Phase 2) which became the ST: TMP. Here is a model of that version by a fan:

 

[Graham1973]

Peter Elson's cover art for Lois McMaster Bujold's 1988 novel 'Falling Free' one of the more effective pieces of 'message' fiction I've read. What starts as a simple assignment to teach welding to a newly created human sub-race genetically engineered to perform optimally in Zero-G becomes much much more when an advance in another area renders the project moot and the company behind the project looks to 'liquidate' the program and everything produced for it.

 

[Graham1973]

The cover and one of the interior illustrations from the original magazine publication of Frank Herbert's 'Dune'. Herbert allegedly referred to artist John Schoenherr as "...the only man who has ever visited Dune.” (This quote has been traced as far back as the 1988 book 'The New Encyclopedia of Science Fiction' by James E. Gunn. Gunn's source for the quote is still being looked for.)

 

[Graham1973]

The cover of the April 1964 issue of Analog Magazine by Harvey Woolhiser. The cover is for the novelette 'Sunjammer' by Poul Anderson (Pen name: Winston P. Sanders.). This is the only cover art listed by this artist in the ISFDB.

 

[martinbayer]

"Lift you scruffy bag of bolts. Lift!"

Yamato, is that you?

 

[martinbayer]

I truly love the myriad of visuals of futuristic scenarios produced over decades - it's a significant part of what motivated/inspired me to become an aerospace engineer.

 

[Brett Davidson]

The cover and one of the interior illustrations from the original magazine publication of Frank Herbert's 'Dune'. Herbert allegedly referred to artist John Schoenherr as "...the only man who has ever visited Dune.” (This quote has been traced as far back as the 1988 book 'The New Encyclopedia of Science Fiction' by James E. Gunn. Gunn's source for the quote is still being looked for.)

OMNI July 1980 has an essay by Frank Herbert, 'Dune Genesis,' accompanying a selection of Schoenherr's paintings for The Illustrated Dune.

You can imagine my surprise to learn that John Schoenherr, one of the world's foremost wildlife artists and illustrators, had been living in my head with the same images. People find it difficult to believe that John and I had no consultations prior to his painting of the Dune illustrations, which follow this essay. I assure you that the paintings were a wonderful surprise to me.

The Sardaukar appear like the weathered stones of Dune. The Baron's paunch could absorb a world. The ornithopters are insects preying on the land. The sandworms are Earth shipworms grown monstrous. Stilgar glares out at us with the menace of a warlock.

What especially pleases me is to see the interwoven themes, the fuguelike relationship of images that exactly replay the way Dune took shape.

 

[martinbayer]

2001 is speculative science fiction. Dune is fantasy (and that's putting it *extremely* charitably - I could have used the term "utter vile boring nonsense garbage" instead, but I deliberately, heroically refrained from doing so). But could we keep these two genres strictly separate, please?

 

[Brett Davidson]

Ummm, well the sociology is pretty accurate.

Anyway, someone scanned the complete run of OMNI and made (low quality) pdfs. I downloaded the lot from a now defunct site. Fear not though, the Wayback Machine has it.

Internet Archive: Digital Library of Free & Borrowable Texts, Movies, Music & Wayback Machine

archive.org

Annnd, the essay I quoted:

 

[Graham1973]

Yamato, is that you?

Yes

 

[Graham1973]

Chris Moore's cover art for the 1977 Magnum Books edition of 'Time Is The Simplest Thing' (1961) by Clifford D. Simak. Magnum and successor Methuen would reprint the novel twice more in 1980 and 1986. Each time the artist was Chris Moore, but different art was used for each reissue.

When Gollancz republished the story in the 2000s in an omnibus edition containing 'Time Is The Simplest Thing', 'Way Station' and 'A Choice of Gods' it was the 1977 artwork shown here that was selected for that cover.

 

[Brett Davidson]

Chris Moore's cover art for the 1977 Magnum Books edition of 'Time Is The Simplest Thing' (1961) by Clifford D. Simak. Magnum would reprint the novel twice more in 1980 and 1986. Each time the artist was Chris Moore, but different art was used for each reissue.

When Gollancz republished the story in the 2000s in an omnibus edition containing 'Time Is The Simplest Thing', 'Way Station' and 'A Choice of Gods' it was the 1977 artwork shown here that was selected for that cover.

I've always had a soft spot for Simak. He was often dismissed as a 'pastoralist' as Wyndham's stories were dismissed as 'cosy catastrophes' (by Brian Aldiss, who I greatly admire). In reality, like Wyndham, he was a lot more challenging if you read him carefully.

Below: by Chris Moore, for Magnum. Most don't have anything to do with the content - artists were usually told, 'Give us a picture yesterday' with no chance to read the manuscript, or the publisher just took something via their agent. Only the covers for The Visitors, the one with two bug-like vehicles approaching each other for Cemetery World and the flying saucer by the cabin for Catface (also known as Mastodonia) have much to do with the actual stories.