Joachim Boaz
LightNews LightNews
banner
joachimboaz.bsky.social
Joachim Boaz
@joachimboaz.bsky.social
1.1K followers 160 following 2.3K posts
History PhD. Defender of Liberal Arts. History of Leftist Thought. Joachim Boaz (he/him) maps the topography of science fiction before 1985. Creator of the fanzine Science Fiction and Other Suspect Ruminations: https://sciencefictionruminations.com/
Posts Replies Media Videos
joachimboaz.bsky.social
John Baxter (1939-) was born on this day. Bibliography: www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.c...

L, Frank Kelly Freas, 1966; R, uncredited, 1971
#scifi #sciencefiction #books #Australia
Cover for The Off-Worlders. A personal craft flies between massive pillars surrounded by glass-like spheres. A spacer couple stands next to one of the pillars. Cover for The Second Pacific Book of Australian Science FIction. A skull inside of a spaceship view portal or glass circular window.
December 14, 2025 at 4:07 PM
joachimboaz.bsky.social
J. A. Lawrence (1934-) was born on this day. Bibliography: www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.c...

L, uncredited, 1977 (I assume Eddie Jones on style); R, Rick Sternbach, 1974
#scifi #sciencefiction #books
Cover for Star Trek 12. Enterprise flies around a planet. There is a spaceship in the distance. Cover for the December 1974 issue of If. An eye-like satellite or spaceship hovers in the cosmos above Stonehenge.
December 14, 2025 at 4:01 PM
joachimboaz.bsky.social
Shirley Jackson (1916-1965) was born on this day. Bibliography: www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.c...

L, Richard Powers, 1963; R, uncredited, 1960
#books #literature #scifi #sciencefiction
Cover for The Sundial. The surreal Powers cover shows a sundial and a collection of human forms arrayed in front of a large house. Cover for Jackson's The Lottery: Adventures of the Demon Lover. A man's face is paired with a surreal swirl with various feathered appendages. I assume the artist is also Powers.
December 14, 2025 at 3:57 PM
joachimboaz.bsky.social
Artist Peter Jones (1951-) was born on this day. Bibliography: www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.c...

L, 1975; R, 1975
#scifi #sciencefiction #art #artist #books
Cover for Pohl's collection The Gold at the Starbow's End. An excavator spaceship lifts a craft out of a hole on a planetary surface. Cover for Dick's Clans of the Alphane Moon. A pale figure huddles with another figure inside of some sort of craft (I think). A battle transpires in the distance.
December 14, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Reposted by Joachim Boaz
jasonsanford.bsky.social
This column on Vox is the biggest pile of steaming AI crap I've seen this year. Human's aren't running out of ideas. Instead, those with power and money don't want to listen to ideas that threaten their power and money.

Ideas are plentiful. Putting those ideas into action is the hard part.
We’re running out of good ideas. AI might be how we find new ones.
What if the best use of AI is restarting the world’s idea machine?
www.vox.com
December 13, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Reposted by Joachim Boaz
hugobookclub.bsky.social
One of my favourite SFF critics over the past couple of years — and one of the most incisive in examining the working class as depicted in genre fiction — is @joachimboaz.bsky.social.

This article is going to be 🔥.
joachimboaz.bsky.social Joachim Boaz @joachimboaz.bsky.social · 1d
A selection of non-fiction books I had to read for one science fiction-related article. Not pictured: books that have not yet arrived, three dissertations, and tons of articles.
#history #books #sciencefiction
From L to R: Radical reform, Blacks and the Populist Movement, American Populism, The Populist Vision, Henry George and the Crisis of Inequality, Setting Down the Sacred Past, Greenbacks, Knights of Labor, and Populists, Revolt of the Tar heels, Wilmington's Lie, Black Utopia.
December 13, 2025 at 4:51 PM
joachimboaz.bsky.social
A selection of non-fiction books I had to read for one science fiction-related article. Not pictured: books that have not yet arrived, three dissertations, and tons of articles.
#history #books #sciencefiction
From L to R: Radical reform, Blacks and the Populist Movement, American Populism, The Populist Vision, Henry George and the Crisis of Inequality, Setting Down the Sacred Past, Greenbacks, Knights of Labor, and Populists, Revolt of the Tar heels, Wilmington's Lie, Black Utopia.
December 13, 2025 at 4:45 PM
joachimboaz.bsky.social
R. A. MacAvoy (1949-) was born on this day. Bibliography: www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.c...

L, Jim Burns, 1984; R, Keith Parkinson, 1991
#fantasy #books
Cover for Damiano. A man and his dog walk across a field. There's an angelic figure behind him and someone on a menacing horse. There is a large mountain range behind them all. Cover for Lens of the World. There's a face inside of a sphere that's balanced on a scale. Below there is a wolf head. Behind there is another man's head an various coins/medallions dangling on chains.
December 13, 2025 at 2:48 PM
joachimboaz.bsky.social
Alan Barclay (1909-1991) was born on this day. Bibliography: www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.c...

L, Eddie Jones, 1974; R, Bradshaw, 1955
#scifi #sciencefiction
Cover for Die Raumsoldaten. Spaceships fly amongst some asteroids that seem to have small cities on them. Cover for the No. 40 New Worlds issue. A futuristic spaceship launching/construction yard. People watch a pilot next to his get. There are three rockets in various stages of completion and launching behind him
December 13, 2025 at 2:44 PM
joachimboaz.bsky.social
While a undergrad at the University of Texas (Austin), I saw a screening of Fritz Lang's Die Nibelungen: Siegfried (1924) with a live post-rock accompaniment by The Calm Blue Sea. It was transcendent.
davelevitan.bsky.social Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 2d
Raising the always fun question: What are your most memorable theater-going experiences?

Mine also include The Matrix, Blair Witch, and being way too stoned in Belgium when Fellowship of the Ring was sold out so we sat in the back row for Mulholland Drive instead.
davelevitan.bsky.social Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 2d
It was hands-down one of the most memorable theater-going experiences I can remember, a collective 30-minute butt-clench/armrest-grab for the final climb. And we knew he lived! Wild.
December 13, 2025 at 12:01 AM
joachimboaz.bsky.social
New history of science fiction purchase! #scifi #sciencefiction #books #history
Upamanyu Pablo Mukherjee’s Final Frontiers: Science Fiction and Techno- Science in Non-Aligned India (2020)
December 12, 2025 at 10:28 PM
Reposted by Joachim Boaz
andyjohnson.xyz
A good overview of the works of John Varley (1947 - 2025), likely best known for his award-winning short fiction and the "Eight Worlds" series, who has passed away.
reactorsff.bsky.social Reactor Magazine @reactorsff.bsky.social · 2d
We mourn the passing of SF great John Varley with a look back at his impressive body of work, from the Eight Worlds series to his brilliant short stories. What was the first Varley story you ever read? Which books are your favorites?
Looking Back at the Work of John Varley, 1947-2025 - Reactor
Where to start reading — or rereading — Varley's many series and stories.
reactormag.com
December 12, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Reposted by Joachim Boaz
joachimboaz.bsky.social
Rachel Cosgrove Payes (1922-1998) was born on this day. Bibliography: www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.c...

L, Ed Emshwiller, 1963; R, Stephen Fabian, 1975
#scifi #sciencefiction #books
Cover for Bridge to Yesterday. Written as E. L. Arch. A striking brunette woman stands near what looks like a futuristic technology in which a man is encased. Cover for Amazing Science Fiction May 1975. An angel-winged entity grabs a woman in a vaguely Eastern cityscape.
December 11, 2025 at 3:39 PM
joachimboaz.bsky.social
I mostly hate my current home state. However, not today... In the state senate 21 Republicans joined the 10 Democrats to vote against redistricting (total vote: 31-19). www.npr.org/2025/12/11/n...
In a setback for Trump, Indiana lawmakers defeat redistricting plan
Indiana Republicans resisted the call by President Trump for redistricting. He and the state's Republican governor threatened to back primary challenges against senators who wouldn't get on board.
www.npr.org
December 11, 2025 at 11:32 PM
joachimboaz.bsky.social
Richard Paul Russo (1954-) was born on this day. Bibliography: www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.c...

L, David Mattingly, 1988; R, uncredited, 1987
#scifi #sciencefiction #books
cover for Inner Clipse. Man with a glow in his eye looks straight at the viewer. Behind him are bubbles and what looks like the cosmic expanse. There is a rocket zooming across his face. Cover for In the Field of Fire. Scenes from Vietnam War on the bottom, man with dog tag, and protestors in front of the capitol.
December 11, 2025 at 4:15 PM
joachimboaz.bsky.social
David Rome (1938-) was born on this day. Bibliography: www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.c...

L, Lloyd Birmingham, 1963; R, Brian Lewis, 1962
#scifi #sciencefiction
Cover for the August 1964 issue of Amazing. The "telepuppets" (robots) wander across an alien surface investigating fauna and flora. Cover for the No. 24 issue of Science Fiction Adventures. Cover illustrates Ballard's The Drowned World. Large tower looms above water.
December 11, 2025 at 4:03 PM
joachimboaz.bsky.social
Rachel Cosgrove Payes (1922-1998) was born on this day. Bibliography: www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.c...

L, Ed Emshwiller, 1963; R, Stephen Fabian, 1975
#scifi #sciencefiction #books
Cover for Bridge to Yesterday. Written as E. L. Arch. A striking brunette woman stands near what looks like a futuristic technology in which a man is encased. Cover for Amazing Science Fiction May 1975. An angel-winged entity grabs a woman in a vaguely Eastern cityscape.
December 11, 2025 at 3:39 PM
joachimboaz.bsky.social
New history of science fiction purchase. #scifi #sciencefiction #books #history
Zamalin’s Black Utopia. Photo on a patterned cloth
December 11, 2025 at 12:27 AM
Reposted by Joachim Boaz
70sscifiart.bsky.social
Ralph McQuarrie's 1987 cover art for 'Golden Sunlands,' by Christopher Rowley
A few humans and an alien in a flying vehicle soar over a desert with a city in the distance. Directly in front of them is an impassive flying creature with bat-like wings and a weirdly humanoid face. Two similar creatures fly behind it.
December 8, 2025 at 10:39 PM
joachimboaz.bsky.social
Julia Verlanger (1929-1985) was born on this day. Bibliography: www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.c...

L, Florence Magnin, 1989; R, Joe Petagno, 1978
#scifi #sciencefiction #books #France
Cover for La Mort en Billes. Large skull covered with a veil hovers above a bucolic landscape of trees and a creek. Cover for Travelling Towards Epsilon. An astronaut deconstructs. You can see stars through his legs and chest.
December 7, 2025 at 2:03 PM
joachimboaz.bsky.social
Leigh Brackett (1915-1978) was born on this day. Bibliography: www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.c...

L, uncredited, 1976; R, Ed Emshwiller, 1962
#scifi #sciencefiction #books
Cover for The Coming of the Terrans. Woman with fur is surrounded by undulating hills, various twisting vines, and a flower. Cover for The Long Tomorrow. A mennonite car is pulled by a horse in the background. There's a nuclear mushroom cloud and various wreckage.
December 7, 2025 at 1:55 PM
joachimboaz.bsky.social
Ralph McQuarrie's cover art detail for Mike Shupp's With Fate Conspire (1985)
#scifi #sciencefiction #books #art
man runs on a road between grass. Behind him is a sphere and a large city.
December 7, 2025 at 12:27 AM
Reposted by Joachim Boaz
hugobookclub.bsky.social
Nantes (in France) would be an absolutely amazing location for the 2032 World Science Fiction Convention.

Nantes (en France) serait un lieu absolument incroyable pour la Convention mondiale de science-fiction en 2032.
French text from the Worldcon bid website. English translation: Worldcon 2032 in Nantes? After Seattle, Montreal, and Los Angeles, the city of Jules Verne, the Machines of the Isle, and the Utopiales festival is ready to host the annual global convention for science fiction fans! A creative, festive, and visionary Worldcon, for the first time in France: we're waiting for you to join the adventure!
December 6, 2025 at 5:37 PM
joachimboaz.bsky.social
Roger Dee (1914-2004) was born on this day. Bibliographic: www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.c...

L, Ed Emshwiller, 1954; R, Allen Anderson, 1953
#scifi #sciencefiction
Cover for the February 1954 issue of Galaxy. Spacemen walk in a hydroponics bay. Cover for the January 1953 issue of Planet Stories. Spaceman stands on a surface of a planet outside of a spaceship. Various large women from the cosmos grab at him from the air.
December 6, 2025 at 2:00 PM
joachimboaz.bsky.social
Editor Ejler Jakobsson (1911-1984) was born on this day. Bibliography: www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.c...

L, Jack Gaughan, 1970; R, Jack Gaughan, 1969
#scifi #sciencefiction
Cover for the April 1970 issue of UK Galaxy. Same cover was used for the March US edition. Man in the cosmos grabs at planets that are the size of balls. Cover for the November 1969 issue of Galaxy. Man inside of a sun comprised of various grabbing arms of other figures.
December 6, 2025 at 1:55 PM