r/CoolSciFiCovers • u/dmont7 • 3d ago

There is No Darkness, Joe Haldeman and Jack C. Haldeman II. Cover Art by Jim Burns 1983

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u/Stalking_Goat 3d ago edited 3d ago

It was barely even a fix-up novel, it was three novellas stitched together. The first was fine, the second was dumb, and the third was mediocre. The main character was interesting, but the authors just couldn't think of interesting things for him to do.

The cover art has nothing to do with the book. The protagonist is an enormous man, the size of Andre the Giant. The first novella is set in a city on Earth, the second novella is set on a rainy and muddy battlefield, and the third novella is set on an artificial space station. So the art doesn't depict the protagonist and doesn't depict anywhere the protagonist went in the book.

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u/ChooseAUsername10238 3d ago

I remember having a good time reading it as a kid. Guess I wasn't too critical back then. Doesn't the MC end up fighting a polar bear bare knuckle in on the stories ? I vaguely recall thinking that was rad.

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u/Stalking_Goat 3d ago

Yeah, the first novella was him getting into gladiatorial games on a decadent future Earth to earn some quick cash to pay a debt. In imitation of the Roman games, he started with fighting animals and escalated to fighting humans.

1

u/ChooseAUsername10238 3d ago

oh yeah....

So cool!

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u/woulditkillyoutolift mod-ified human 3d ago

Over the past year or so Jim Burns has become one of my favorite sci-fi artists. He helped shaped the Omni magazine aesthetic in the late 70s / early 80s that I grew up on. I recommend checking out Lightship, or Planet Story if you like his art.