Joachim Boaz (@joachimboaz.bsky.social)

@joachimboaz.bsky.social Aug 9, 2026, 7:12 PM Pinned

Short Book Reviews: George Alec Effinger’s The Wolves of Memory (1981) and J. J. Connington’s Nordenholt’s Million (1923) sciencefictionruminations.com/2026/08/09/s...

#scifi #sciencefiction #books

Cover for The Wolves of Memory. Man holds woman aloft. There's a small house in the distance. And low-lying clouds... his eyes are closed and mournful.

Cover for the Dec. 1948 issue that reprinted Connington's Nordenholt's Million. Man holds a hand towards the skull of death. The skull looms over a crushed and burning city. The skeleton's other hand holds a bunch of bodies.

@joachimboaz.bsky.social Oct 12, 2026, 12:00 PM

Sorry everyone -- I'm just not feeling social media at the moment. I've been possessed by growing existential dread and creeping anxiety. I'm only going to post on Bluesky notifications of new reviews and articles on my site until after the November 3rd elections.

@joachimboaz.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 1:28 AM

One of my favorite places ever!

@70sscifiart.bsky.social Oct 10, 2026, 4:44 PMReposted by @joachimboaz.bsky.social

A few very cool 1980s Roy Virgo covers

A colorful, slightly pig-like alien is inside a bulky blue spacesuit, with a spaceship in the background.

Two eerie glowing flying saucers fly over a ship during a foggy night.

A sharp spaceship flies toward a more bulbous one.

@joachimboaz.bsky.social Oct 9, 2026, 6:44 PM

outside of my coverage range (i.e. pre-1985)

@file770.bsky.social Oct 8, 2026, 11:45 PMReposted by @joachimboaz.bsky.social

Picacio, Giancola Publicly Reject Must Read Magazine Contract Terms
file770.com/picacio-gian...

@joachimboaz.bsky.social Oct 9, 2026, 4:31 PM

I have a recurrent post on my site about what SF people are reading -- feel free to join! I might actually remember what people recommend or are engaging with....

sciencefictionruminations.com/2026/09/27/w...

@joachimboaz.bsky.social Oct 9, 2026, 4:27 PM

not yet

@joachimboaz.bsky.social Oct 9, 2026, 2:57 PM

Frank Kelly Freas' interior art for Paul W. Fairman's "The Treasure is Mine!" in Imaginative Tales (March 1956)
#scifi #sciencefiction

A man with gun confronts two a man and a woman. A dynamic angle of a the wall seems to suggest an arrow towards the action.

@joachimboaz.bsky.social Oct 9, 2026, 2:37 PM

The choices! Howard Browne, Harlan Ellison, Paul W. Fairman, Randall Garrett, Robert Silverberg, and Henry Slesar. I imagine we can strike out Silverberg and Ellison as they probably wanted to establish copyright.

@joachimboaz.bsky.social Oct 9, 2026, 2:32 PM

Uncredited interior art for Ivar Jorgensen's "Like a Silver Arrow" in Imaginative Tales (March 1956). Jorgensen is a shared pseudonym. In this instance, the author remains unknown.
#scifi #sciencefiction

Woman looks through a screen at the launch of a rocket ship.

@joachimboaz.bsky.social Oct 9, 2026, 1:43 PM

And Luis Royo's cover for the 1989 paperback edition definitely has Arnold Schwarzenegger on the cover! hah.

Man holds one of four metal tubes that seem to be part of a skyscraper that he and a woman are perched on. Below is the urban expanse.

@joachimboaz.bsky.social Oct 9, 2026, 1:41 PM

@scifiscavenger.bsky.social I don't remember if The Hormone Jungle was on your list but it's a very interesting cyberpunk vision from the 1st generation. I hadn't thought about it in a while until Reed's birthday came up today.

@joachimboaz.bsky.social Oct 9, 2026, 1:39 PM

Robert Reed (1956-) was born on this day. Bibliography: www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.c...

L, Loretta Trezzo, 1987; R. Loretta Trezzo, 1988
#scifi #sciencefiction

Cover for The Leeshore. A large crab with a human face chases a man. There are two skulls.

Cover for The Hormone Jungle. A skull emerges from a flower dripping with a liquid.

@joachimboaz.bsky.social Oct 9, 2026, 1:28 PM

I don't know. I haven't read it. These are all digitized online -- you're welcome to go give it a read.

@joachimboaz.bsky.social Oct 9, 2026, 1:26 PM

“...and by now these daring adventurers must be well into space, on their way to exciting discoveries in our vast solar system...”

Bill Reid's cartoon in Imaginative Tales (March 1956)
#scifi #sciencefiction

Three adventurers repair their crashed spaceship. There are cacti and a desert expanse behind them.

@joachimboaz.bsky.social Oct 9, 2026, 1:22 PM

Uncredited interior art for Dwight V. Swain's "Enemy of the Qua" in Imaginative Tales (March 1956)
#scifi #sciencefiction #art

Humanoid with fangs, fins, and winged-ears threatens a man with a sword.

First scene continues onto this page. A woman sits on her throne with a musician nearby.

@joachimboaz.bsky.social Oct 8, 2026, 6:40 PM

And, of course, all my book reviews are organized by author (and rating) here: sciencefictionruminations.com/science-fict...

@joachimboaz.bsky.social Oct 8, 2026, 6:39 PM

I've only read Beloved Son (1978). Did not care for it at all. Did not manage to review it.

However, if you're interested in what I actually recommend, check out the website! For example, my 2025 in review: sciencefictionruminations.com/2026/01/02/m...

@joachimboaz.bsky.social Oct 8, 2026, 2:24 PM

Most cities have silent reading groups. See if you can find one. They meet at a location and silent read for an hour and then some stay for conversation. not for me.

@joachimboaz.bsky.social Oct 8, 2026, 2:22 PM

Rather do that at home on my comfy chair or a coffee house