cover (dust-jacket) art by tom chibbaro
cover (d-j) price $3.50
192pp. including titles, indica etc, end pp.
stated first edition in indicia
bound with end-papers between boards
issued in restricted palette-printed paper dust-jacket
n.b. the near-identical slightly later merkin book club lacks this price on the d-j bottom cornet front flap, as it was not published for distribution and sale to the public, only to book c!ub members.
transworld publishers corgi books imprint first printing, first uk p/b edition
cover art uncredited (treated photograph of oddly-lit diorama/assemblage?)
cover price 3s. 6d., 6s 60c australia, 4s 6d new zealand
so should be re-flagged "international" according to respected moderator's rule
- or not so re-flagged, according to equally well-respected moderator's heartfelt plea
128pp. including titles, indicia etc, end pp. advertising (this comment is from another edition of this book)
Rated 8/10once peter lavery, now hamlyn paperbacks' editorial director, had decided (whilst back at methuen) that yr hmbl srppnt. was both knowledgeable and competent as regards sf & fantasy, he ceased doing much more regarding evaluation of sf/fantasy books offered by agents, merkin publishers, uk hardcover publishers for the methuen paperbacks/magnum books sf list, and then for the hamlyn paperbacks sf list - though i was never a full-time employee of either, and played no part in the financial, nor hardly any part regarding the production sides.
- but, somewhat unfortunately, peter didn't actually tell me that the recommendations i was making regarding the publishability (sfnal/fantastic excellence, etc.) of the books being offered hamlyn paperbacks were now being taken by him as definitive judgement upon their suitability for these lists - that i was effectively taking most of the editorial decisions for the two sf/fantasy lists in turn - excluding size of advances offered, royalty rates offered, cover art to be used and other production matters - and publication dates.
this had some mildly strange, occasionally definitely unintended effects, as the criteria by which one sets out to build an sf&f list are somewhat different from those by which one judges individual books
- and hamlyn paperbacks' publishing damon knight's "beyond the barrier" is an example.
it's a wonderful load of science-fictional adventure tripe, damon knight "doing" a. e. van vogt in that sf luminary's classic wide-screen baroque, flash! - bang! - non-stop action mode: and there are progressive denouements or discoveries that what the characters (or most of them) - and therefore you, the reader - knew, or thought you knew, was not in fact what was happening at all,
- but, unlike van vogt's classic cosmic jerry-building, the plot of the pyrotechnic adventure, and the sub-plots, and the plots laid by the competing sets(!) of bad guys, do actually hang together - the end of the headlong career through action, illusion and revelation does actually make sense, and it all comes to a satisfying conclusion.
- so; great wide-screen adventure sf, great fun to read, and a good book for hamlyn paperbacks to publish, yes - ?
- well, not really that last: vastly entertaining though the book is, and was, the advice that it was - and is - a minor gem of its kind was originally given in the context of advising methuen/magnum books' fiction editor, knowing we'd already published three excellent collections of damon knight's wonderfully well-thought out and told novellas & novelettes (with some very fine short stories, too) - a recommendation peter carried with him when he moved to set up hamlyn paperbacks for reed/ipc: so, on the embryo hamlyn paperbacks sf/f list, this was a firework display without its backdrop - and yr hmbl srppnt. didn't know that naught more'd be done to chase after further damon knight sf titles, because neither he, nor anyone else'd told me i should tell them they ought to.
- but it's still a wonderful, zap-bangy, veils of illusion-spinning and penetrating, evil plot-weaving, uncovering, discovering, and countering, and eventually confusion-busting, barrel of fun. (this review is from another edition of this book)
cover art by peter jones (credited on back cover, and art signed "paj" and dated)
cover price 80p, 88p republic of ireland
so should be re-flagged "international" according to respected moderator's rule
- or not so re-flagged, according to equally well-respected moderator's heartfelt plea
160pp? including titles, indicia etc, end pp. advertising (this comment is from another edition of this book)
macfadden books imprint mmpb near-identical first printings first p/b edition sharing merkin-printed covers and cat#,
cover art by richard powers (unattributed, unsigned, given in "the art of richard powers" by jane franks & richard powers (2001), q.v.)
cover price 50¢
144pp. including titles, indica etc.
refer to indica to see if carcass of copy held was canadadian- or merkin- printed.
no priority established nor liable to be. both accounted the first printing by macfadden books (this comment is from another edition of this book)
macfadden books, a subsidiary of bartell media corporation
205 east 42nd street, new york, new york 10017 (usa)
a macfadden book
first printing february, 1965
second printing february, 1970:
macfadden books imprint near-identical second printings sharing merkin-printed covers and hence also cat#, number-string 520-00444 on spine (nor sbn, nor isbn; may be the book's abn)
author's dedication: "to sidney coleman, for mathematical and other favors"
cover art by jack faragasso (signed, uncredited)
cover price 60¢
144pp. including 6pp. titles, indicia etc, 2 blank end pp.
refer to indicia to see if carcass of copy held was merkin- or canadadian- printed.
no priority established nor liable to be. (this comment is from another edition of this book)