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Saturday, 25 August 2012

Guest Post; Future Illustrations from Classic Science Fiction Books

Guest post by Heather Smith.

I have always had a love for reading and a love for old things. It was inevitable that those two loves would come together then to form an appreciation for classic books. Unfortunately, my reading tastes ran towards the rather fanciful science fiction department. I thought that, surely, science fiction was a new phenomenon. I mean, I know about the classics like Jules Verne, but to really read science fiction you had to go modern, right? Well, I was wrong as I soon discovered a dust-covered treasure that was falling apart on the back shelf of an antique store.


My first foray into pre-moon landing science fiction was Tom Corbett: Space Cadet! I loved the strange story line set quiet close to my current time, and best of all there were pictures! The cover alone took my imagination for a ride to worlds I knew and yet had never seen in the light of a pre-NASA world.


From Tom Corbett I also discovered Tom Swift, and though I was never as fond of that Tom, he was a lot more prolific. The thing I loved best, however, was the illustrations and the full-color covers that came with the books. They were so fanciful and different from modern thoughts on space flight and science fiction. Here are a few examples of my favorite book covers from those Toms. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. If you get the chance, I recommend reading Tom Corbett "On the Trail of the Space Pirates". It was my first book find, and one I still love to this day.




Author Heather Smith is an ex-nanny. Passionate about thought leadership and writing, Heather regularly contributes to various career, social media, public relations, branding, and parenting blogs/websites.  She can be contacted at H.smith7295 [at] gmail.com



 Thanks Heather. I missed out on these exciting looking books - has anyone else read them? 
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14 comments:

  1. The Desert Rocks25 August 2012 at 18:09

    I think I may have read that second one. As a pre-teen I remember loving Sci-Fi and deep sea diving adventures. Weird huh?

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  2. Sharon Souter25 August 2012 at 21:32

    I think these were more 'books for boys' than 'books for girls' when I was growing up and we were remarkably gender specific in those days! I haven't read any of these but I love the early Sci-Fi books and stories. They had such a wonderful exuberance about them and a real sense of adventure.

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  3. DM Yates25 August 2012 at 23:28

    How fun are these! You know, I forgot about these books. I don't think I ever read one, but again I love the illustrations. You have a knack for finding the best books.

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  4. Gregory Slomba26 August 2012 at 12:38

    What a fun blog! It's very interesting to see some vintage chuildren's books. Thank you for following my blog, I'm now following yours.
    Best,
    Greg

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  5. barbaraannefisher26 August 2012 at 13:22

    Adventurous not weird! My pre-teen reading consisted of stories by Enid Blyton and anything about ballerinas!

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  6. michelle26 August 2012 at 14:10

    Now I'm hooked! I can't recall ever seeing these books, maybe I have but being more a boys book and science fiction type I would have passed them over at book sales - not anymore.

    Thank you Heather for opening my eyes to these books and also to Barbara.

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  7. barbaraannefisher26 August 2012 at 15:16

    Hi Sharon, I think you’re right these are probably the kind of things my brother read, although I don’t remember him having any of these. The nearest I got to Sci-Fi were my brother's Eagle annuals and later my son’s Doctor Who books! I don’t think I’m going to live long enough to catch up on everything I’ve missed!

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  8. barbaraannefisher26 August 2012 at 15:18

    Thanks Donna but I can’t take the credit for finding these. Heather found and shared them. I will be looking for copies now though!

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  9. barbaraannefisher26 August 2012 at 15:20

    Hi Greg, thanks for calling in, commenting and following I appreciate it. Glad you found the books interesting.

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  10. barbaraannefisher26 August 2012 at 15:21

    Hi Michelle, you will be scouring Australia, and I will be scouring the UK – I wonder how many we can come up with between us?
    It was nice to have someone else post on my blog, especially with such an interesting topic.

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  11. Stephanie @ Fairday's Blog29 August 2012 at 01:07

    I have heard of Tom Swift, but not Tom Corbett. What interesting covers! So fun to see sci-fi books from before the moon landing. I would love to read one of these.

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  12. barbaraannefisher29 August 2012 at 07:07

    Hi Stephanie, I’m going to a book fair on Sunday, so I will be on the look out for these. Like you, I would like to read one.

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  13. Claudine G31 August 2012 at 04:53

    I missed out on these, too, but they look awesome. Actually, I can imagine Ray Bradbury gushing over these ...

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  14. barbaraannefisher31 August 2012 at 15:16

    Do you know? I think you could be right!

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I really appreciate your comment. Thank you!
Barbara xx