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Post by Calenture on Nov 2, 2007 15:29:36 GMT
Sphere never credit their covers, but thanks to Justin Marriott's Paperback Fanatic I know that this cover is by Terry Oakes. The Great White SpaceFirst published 1974; Sphere edition 1980. Beyond the hideous Plain of darkness, past the terrifying secret city, deep within earth's dank uncharted caverns, a monstrous hybrid race stood guard at the entrance to the great white space.
So it was that the Great Northern Expedition ventured into the horrors of a stupendously vast underground terrain, in search of the legendary opening to another universe, peopled by an unimaginable spawn of darkness...'The best writer in the genre since H.P. Lovecraft' LOS ANGELES HERALD EXAMINER 'Outstanding in the genre' AUGUST DERLETH 'In the same class as M.R. James and Algernon Blackwood' MICHAEL AND MOLLIE HARDWICK I was a bit mean about Necropolis as I wanted some supernatural content. The Great White Space looks a lot more appealing and seems to be Copper's answer to At The Mountains of Madness (which I think was probably one of Lovecraft's best). Only my disappointment with Necropolis accounts for this one having rested unopened on my shelf since I bought it in 1978. P.S. Quick search found these: The Janissaries of Emilion can also be found in 8th Pan Horror and Alfred Hitchock's A Month of Mystery (volume 2 in paperback); The Spider in Pan 5, and Camera Obscura in Pan 6. Grey Wyler: Thanks for the welcome Demonik.
I too found Necropolis a bit of a struggle, and to be honest Into the Silence is very disappointing. The first Copper I read was The Great White Space. I re-read it usually about every year, all faults aside, I just love it. I suppose I wanted all his novels to be just the same.
I have a copy of The Black Death which I hope to start soon. Looking forward to it.Charles Black:
Isn't Into The Silence, a sequel of sorts to his The Great White Space? Greg Wyler:
It has the same theme; epic journey into the unknown, but is not a sequel. Good novel, although no where near as classy as The Great White Space |
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Post by allthingshorror on Jul 11, 2009 15:04:14 GMT
Robert Hale (1974) Robert Hale were never really known for their decent covers, and poor old Basil seemed to get more than his fair share of the bad ones!
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Nov 22, 2012 0:35:45 GMT
A real "guilty pleasure" of a book and well overdue a reprint. Clark Ashton Scarsdale and his team find themselves in the heart of an underground, Lovecraftian nightmare. Affectionately done and one of Basil's finest. I'm two-thirds of the way through The Great White Space and am enjoying it despite (or perhaps partly because of) its frequent silliness. So far it's been all build-up, but I'm guessing that Copper is about to unleash the cosmic horrors. I think that two sentences from the first chapter capture the spirit of the book. The first is from p.2: And to be brought face to face with the thing that was once Scarsdale, is a fear too frightful to be contemplated; an eternity in such company and the terror of other beings which are such blasphemies that even I dare not hint at, makes me cling to such poor life as I have. And, four pages later: He waited until we had finished the last of the pastries--I am particularly fond of those which have liberal quantities of clotted cream in their make-up--and then gave me a tight smile, which showed strong, even yellow teeth beneath the light beard. It's reassuring that the contemplation of nameless terrors didn't kill the narrator's taste for fattening pastries. |
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Post by andydecker on Nov 22, 2012 9:14:13 GMT
Here is the german edition of Great White Space. It is actually a nice little hardcover., done by a small press publisher. |
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Post by jamesdoig on Nov 22, 2012 10:43:36 GMT
Die Eisholle. With my crappy German accent that could come out sounding quite offensive.
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Post by doug on Nov 22, 2012 13:39:36 GMT
A real "guilty pleasure" of a book and well overdue a reprint. Clark Ashton Scarsdale and his team find themselves in the heart of an underground, Lovecraftian nightmare. Affectionately done and one of Basil's finest. I'm two-thirds of the way through The Great White Space and am enjoying it despite (or perhaps partly because of) its frequent silliness. So far it's been all build-up, but I'm guessing that Copper is about to unleash the cosmic horrors. I think that two sentences from the first chapter capture the spirit of the book. The first is from p.2: And to be brought face to face with the thing that was once Scarsdale, is a fear too frightful to be contemplated; an eternity in such company and the terror of other beings which are such blasphemies that even I dare not hint at, makes me cling to such poor life as I have. And, four pages later: He waited until we had finished the last of the pastries--I am particularly fond of those which have liberal quantities of clotted cream in their make-up--and then gave me a tight smile, which showed strong, even yellow teeth beneath the light beard. It's reassuring that the contemplation of nameless terrors didn't kill the narrator's taste for fattening pastries. It's been damn near 30 years since I read this and even though I'm a big fan of Mr. Copper, all I seem to remember is that's it's 90% build up and then 10% letdown. I hardly ever critiicize books, but I remember being terribly disappointed back then. take care. Doug |
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Post by David A. Riley on Nov 22, 2012 14:08:44 GMT
It's been damn near 30 years since I read this and even though I'm a big fan of Mr. Copper, all I seem to remember is that's it's 90% build up and then 10% letdown. I hardly ever critiicize books, but I remember being terribly disappointed back then. take care. Doug I'm afraid that was pretty much my reaction at the time. I too got it when it first came out. |
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Nov 22, 2012 14:36:20 GMT
It's been damn near 30 years since I read this and even though I'm a big fan of Mr. Copper, all I seem to remember is that's it's 90% build up and then 10% letdown. I hardly ever critiicize books, but I remember being terribly disappointed back then. take care. Doug I'm afraid that was pretty much my reaction at the time. I too got it when it first came out. Having finished it, I can only wonder whether Copper was trying to make the book as ridiculous as possible. The concluding shout-out to "The Whisperer in Darkness" doesn't make even a bit of sense. Perhaps it is fitting, however, in that I was already thinking that the expedition members had not only reached but surpassed Wilmarthian levels of stupidity. I think my favorite part was where the two remaining heroes sit down for quick lunch before trying to rescue their companion, who has been captured by horrific human-drinking slug creatures from beyond. |
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Post by doomovertheworld on Mar 1, 2013 9:18:53 GMT
It has been a while since i have read this, but i remember having quite a soft spot for this book. obviously it is very heavily influenced by Lovecraft, but that is not always a bad thing. I do quite like at the end how the author puts the final twist in italics to heighten the shock value. plus i rather like sphere cover for the book on the opening post
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Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2013 10:16:06 GMT
Here's the original proof to the Sphere cover - the original painting went 'walkies' back in the day... |
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Post by maciste on May 3, 2015 22:33:01 GMT
Much to my chagrin, this is a book I couldn't finish.
The build-up was deliciously pulpy, with those machines treading on the flowers of Clark Ashton Scarsdale (a obvious homage/reference/in-joke if I ever saw one), but I got bored to death with the endless trip through the mountains, just going forward, talking, going forward again, a malfunction or slight delay here and there, talking, going forward, the standard evil-looking native, blah, blah, blah....
I left the book berore they reached the entrance of the cave, never to be opened again.
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