More than 10,000 books and stories rated and reviewed! - About this site

Writers: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z
reviews of books and stories by author names and pen names

SF&F Timeline! 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000-Now
retrospective look at sf&f year-by-year
Best SF&F Lists! Recommended Reading
by genre, topic and length category
The Ultimate Guide to New SF&F Writers (from 1990 till now)


->

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

Y

Z

Year

Best!
















































->

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

Y

Z

Year

Best!

Travel Distant Worlds!




"Soon there will be no one who remembers when spaceflight was still a dream, the reverie of reclusive boys and the vision of a handful of men"
-- Wyn Wachhorst, 1995.

Visit Your Friendly Space Travel Agency

Your appointment will be yesterday... Now wait for last year... Tomorrow as it used to be... It wasn't that long ago that we had a future... All these quotes and a rocket-powered imagination will propel us on a tour of Solar planets and beyond, all as advertised in Space Travel brochures and scenic holograms.


("Atomic Avenue #1", art by Glen Orbik)

Retro-inspired Travel Posters: Visit Other Planets in Style!

You've seen these wonderful vintage posters from the 1920s and 1930s, with the distinct Art Nouveau, or Art Deco look, extolling the pleasures of luxury European destinations:


(images via, see a lot more there)

Well, it turns out that you can enjoy similar travel posters for the popular luxury interplanetary destinations - courtesy of Steven Thomas:





We asked him how he came up with the idea for these space travel posters:

"A few years ago I acquired a table in an art show at a role-playing gaming convention. I needed to come up with something that would catch the eye, was sci-fi/fantasy related and something I would want hanging on my wall at home. The following year, "Venus by Air" and "Explore the Crimson Canyons of Mars" were very well received and a fellow artist suggested I create posters for the entire solar system. So, the next year (2007) "Europa Air" and "Midnight Zephyr" were added to the collection. Since then I’ve been hard at work completing the series".

Continuing on a futuristic tour of outer planets:





"...I really admire the art and design of advertising posters of the early 20th century. Combine that with my appreciation for retro science fiction magazine cover art and you get an ad for a futuristic destination. If you are fan of vintage travel ads you may notice that some of the posters are loosely based on existing travel or transportation posters. Whether that be color, layout or some other design element. I felt it would give them a sense of familiarity. Prints of various sizes are available at www.zazzle.com/stevethomas"

Rack up your Space Miles!

Take advantage of travel deals and blast off from the Earth-bound worries into the... space-related ones:


Illustrations by W.A. Kocher and Richard Loew, 1956

Karl Gilzin's book (from 1958) contained some pretty neat illustrations:


(image via)

But the illustrations got even better once this book was translated into Russian, and some nameless artist from DetGiz Publishing House in 1960 drew these inspiring scenes:








(art: DetGiz, Russia, 1960)

Get to the spaceport and meet your pretty flight attendants (note "shark fins" on the car, as well as on the rocket) -


(image credit: Plan 59)

Get to boarding, and perhaps even meet the pilot:


(Illustration by John Polgreen, image via)

(Illustration by James Heugh, image via)
There are some groovy hotels and busy spaceports out there:


(image credit: Michael Peters)

Art by Das, "Ruimtevaart" (image via)

I don't think you'd need to bring your furniture with you, but in case you want to settle down:


Sofa by Edward Wormley for Dunbar, 1958 - via)

Start your tour from the orbit:

L5 Society made up of huge rotating cities, placed in orbit (at Lagrangian points), was a popular futurist idea in the 1960s and 1970s. Toroidal and cylindrical colonies were supposed to be mankind's new pilgrimage and frontier for habitation; economical studies showed that the concept had merit, but political agendas and sheer cost of transport to space effectively killed this idea in the 1980s. Nothing prevents it from being revived some time in the future, so have a look at the concepts and - who knows - maybe your children will see something like this:

(art by Rick Guidice)

Interior views, featuring colossal windows, whole bays and inlets and even a suspension bridge:




(art by Don Davis)

See a lot more of 1970s "Space Colony" art on this NASA page.

Short Stopover on the Moon

NASA proposed vision of the Moon colony (drawn in 2001, compare to Arthur Clarke - Stanley Kubrick's 2001 vision):



You can even have Lunar Rover unloaded from a cargo spacecraft, and hit the back country in good comfort:


(images: NASA, via)

Edd Cartier's vision of concerned female pilot (from "Other Worlds" magazine, July 1952)


art by Edd Cartier, "Other Worlds" 1952

More postcards from other worlds... Some unnamed planet is getting explored by a spider-like vehicle:


(art from old Soviet "Znanie Sila" magazine)


(left - art from TM, Russia; right - image via)


art by McKenna, IF magazine, March 1967

You don't need much... This ad from the 1960s proclaims:
"Have Slide Rule, Will Travel!"



TO THE STARS! - rake up Light Years, not Air Miles!

And then, send postcards home from distant worlds at other stars, propelled there by mighty ships, devouring space and time:




M. Vasiljev "Travel to Space", Russia 1958

READ THE FIRST PART HERE

Labels:


Click to go to "Dark Roasted Blend" site

COMMENTS:

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Fantastic. I love Retrofuturism. Visions of Futures that will never happen.

11:36 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

...or maybe they will.

9:23 AM  

Post a Comment

<< Home

LATEST POSTS:

Collecting Pulp Magazines

Ephemera Interview with Avi Abrams

Enchanting Victorian Fairy Tale Art

"Then world behind and home ahead..."

Exceptional British Scifi Artwork from the 1950s

Space Pulp Art by Ron Turner and other British artists

Pulp Pleasures: Eando Binder

Great space adventure fiction from the 1930s
"Where Eternity Ends" and other rare gems

Also read recent posts:
Author's Pen Names - Most Complete List Ever
The Wonder Timeline: SF&F Restrospective
Space Adventure Article


SEE OUR MAIN PAGE FOR MORE!


EXPLANATION OF THE RATING SYSTEM:

"SF&F Reading Experience" is part of "Dark Roasted Blend / Thrilling Wonder" family of sites. We try to highlight the most entertaining and rewarding science fiction and fantasy, with emphasis on memorable reader experience, not necessarily general acceptance by the critics. Have fun, and delve into our extensive ratings and reviews!

Most reviews are written by Avi Abrams, unless otherwise noted. Reviews also appear on our unique historical retrospective page Wonder Timeline of Science Fiction. Feel free to submit your own review, if a particular story is not listed here.


All major OFFICIAL AWARDS are highlighted in BLUE
("winner" has a letter "W" by it, otherwise it is a runner-up only)

Our PERSONAL AWARDS (ratings) are highlighted in RED and PURPLE:
--/ first place :
--/ second place :
--/ third place :

--/ fourth place :

--/ cool : (equal to fifth place)
ALL "BEST OF" LISTS ARE LOCATED HERE

These awards are given in the following categories:
- novel :
- series :
- novella :
- story :
- collection :

Also, there are our personal STYLE / GENRE SPECIFIC AWARDS. These reflect the story's content and the lasting impression on the reader:

--/ wonder award
sense-of-wonder, "visual intensity" and inventiveness

--/ idea award
originality of idea / concept

--/ adventure award
exhilarating plot, excitement / action

--/ style award
outstanding literary qualities, inimitable style

--/ romance award
intense and beautiful love / relationships

--/ humour award
funny and cool

--/ emotion award
touching, lasting impression, sensitivity

--/ shock value
altogether wild

--/ awesome scale
mind-boggling; further enhances sense-of-wonder

--/ rare find
very hard to locate, mostly from old pulps, never reprinted, etc.

Again, please feel free to leave your own review or comment under every writer's entry; also recommend us other stories you liked.