Arthur Byron Cover
Encyclopedia
Arthur Byron Cover is a science fiction
author.
Cover attended the Clarion Writer's SF Workshop
in New Orleans in 1971, and made his first professional short-story sale to Harlan Ellison
's The Last Dangerous Visions
. His roommate at Clarion, and later in Los Angeles, was Gustav Hasford
, who went on to write The Short-Timers
, the basis for Stanley Kubrick
's Full Metal Jacket
.
Cover's short stories have appeared in Infinity Five, Alternities, The Alien Condition, Weird Heroes
#6, The Year's Best Horror #4 and #5, Wild Cards
#5: Down & Dirty, and Pulphouse
. He's also written several comic book
s — most notably two issues of Daredevil
(one of them with Ellison), and Space Clusters, a graphic novel from DC Comics
illustrated by Alex Niño
— plus several animation scripts, and reviews and articles for such august publications as The New York Review of Science Fiction
.
Cover's first novel, Autumn Angels, was the second of Harlan Ellison
's Discovery Series of new authors for Pyramid Books, and was nominated for a Nebula Award
. The novel has been described as "a stylistic cross-breed of Ellison and Vonnegut
, and as such both predates and bests Douglas Adams
in creating a comic, literary fantasy."
Cover currently manages the "Dangerous Visions" science fiction book sales website. The website takes its name from the notable Dangerous Visions
anthology edited in 1967 by Harlan Ellison. Cover was also a judge for the 2005 Philip K. Dick Award.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
author.
Cover attended the Clarion Writer's SF Workshop
Clarion Workshop
Clarion is a six-week workshop for new and aspiring science fiction and fantasy writers. Originally an outgrowth of Knight and Wilhelm's Milford Writers' Conference, held at their home in Milford, Pennsylvania, USA, it was founded in 1968 by Robin Scott Wilson at Clarion State College in...
in New Orleans in 1971, and made his first professional short-story sale to Harlan Ellison
Harlan Ellison
Harlan Jay Ellison is an American writer. His principal genre is speculative fiction.His published works include over 1,700 short stories, novellas, screenplays, teleplays, essays, a wide range of criticism covering literature, film, television, and print media...
's The Last Dangerous Visions
The Last Dangerous Visions
The Last Dangerous Visions was a planned sequel to the science fiction short story anthologies Dangerous Visions and Again, Dangerous Visions, originally published in 1967 and 1972 respectively. It is edited by Harlan Ellison....
. His roommate at Clarion, and later in Los Angeles, was Gustav Hasford
Gustav Hasford
Gustav Hasford was an American writer. His semi-autobiographical novel The Short-Timers was the basis of the film Full Metal Jacket.-Biography:...
, who went on to write The Short-Timers
The Short-Timers
The Short-Timers is a 1979 semi-autobiographical novel by American former Marine Gustav Hasford,about his experience in the Vietnam War. It was later adapted into the 1987 film Full Metal Jacket by Hasford, Michael Herr, and Stanley Kubrick....
, the basis for Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
's Full Metal Jacket
Full Metal Jacket
Full Metal Jacket is a 1987 war film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick. It is an adaptation of the 1979 novel The Short-Timers by Gustav Hasford and stars Matthew Modine, Vincent D'Onofrio, R. Lee Ermey, Arliss Howard and Adam Baldwin. The film follows a platoon of U.S...
.
Cover's short stories have appeared in Infinity Five, Alternities, The Alien Condition, Weird Heroes
Weird Heroes
Weird Heroes, "New American Pulp", was a series of novels and anthologies produced by Byron Preiss in the 1970s that dealt with new heroic characters inspired by the classic pulp magazine characters...
#6, The Year's Best Horror #4 and #5, Wild Cards
Wild Cards
Wild Cards is a science fiction and superhero anthology series set in a shared universe. The series was created by a group of New Mexico science fiction authors, but it is mostly pulled together and edited by best-selling author George R. R. Martin with assistance by Melinda Snodgrass, also a...
#5: Down & Dirty, and Pulphouse
Pulphouse Publishing
Pulphouse Publishing was an American small press publisher based in Eugene, Oregon and specializing in science fiction and fantasy. It was founded by Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch in 1988. The press was active until 1996...
. He's also written several comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
s — most notably two issues of Daredevil
Daredevil (Marvel Comics)
Daredevil is a fictional character, a superhero in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Bill Everett, with an unspecified amount of input from Jack Kirby, and first appeared in Daredevil #1 .Living in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood...
(one of them with Ellison), and Space Clusters, a graphic novel from DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
illustrated by Alex Niño
Alex Niño
Alex Niño is a Filipino comic book artist best known for his work for the American publishers DC Comics, Marvel Comics, and Warren Publishing, and in Heavy Metal magazine.-Early life and career:...
— plus several animation scripts, and reviews and articles for such august publications as The New York Review of Science Fiction
The New York Review of Science Fiction
The New York Review of Science Fiction is a monthly literary journal of science fiction that was established in 1988. It includes works of science fiction criticism, essays, and in-depth critical reviews of new works of fiction and scholarship. It is published by Dragon Press and the managing...
.
Cover's first novel, Autumn Angels, was the second of Harlan Ellison
Harlan Ellison
Harlan Jay Ellison is an American writer. His principal genre is speculative fiction.His published works include over 1,700 short stories, novellas, screenplays, teleplays, essays, a wide range of criticism covering literature, film, television, and print media...
's Discovery Series of new authors for Pyramid Books, and was nominated for a Nebula Award
Nebula Award
The Nebula Award is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America , for the best science fiction/fantasy fiction published in the United States during the previous year...
. The novel has been described as "a stylistic cross-breed of Ellison and Vonnegut
Kurt Vonnegut
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. was a 20th century American writer. His works such as Cat's Cradle , Slaughterhouse-Five and Breakfast of Champions blend satire, gallows humor and science fiction. He was known for his humanist beliefs and was honorary president of the American Humanist Association.-Early...
, and as such both predates and bests Douglas Adams
Douglas Adams
Douglas Noel Adams was an English writer and dramatist. He is best known as the author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which started life in 1978 as a BBC radio comedy before developing into a "trilogy" of five books that sold over 15 million copies in his lifetime, a television...
in creating a comic, literary fantasy."
Cover currently manages the "Dangerous Visions" science fiction book sales website. The website takes its name from the notable Dangerous Visions
Dangerous Visions
Dangerous Visions is a science fiction short story anthology edited by Harlan Ellison, published in 1967.A path-breaking collection, Dangerous Visions helped define the New Wave science fiction movement, particularly in its depiction of sex in science fiction...
anthology edited in 1967 by Harlan Ellison. Cover was also a judge for the 2005 Philip K. Dick Award.
Other works
- Autumn Angels (1975)
- The Platypus of Doom and Other Nihilists (1976) — a collection of 4 novelettes:
- "The Platypus of Doom"
- "The Armadillo of Destruction"
- "The Aardvark of Despair"
- "The Clam of Catastrophe"
- The Sound of WinterThe Sound of Winter"The Sound of Winter" is a song by British post-grunge band Bush. The song is the second single released from the band's fifth studio album The Sea of Memories.-Music video:...
(1976) - An East Wind Coming (1979) — from the cover: ""An immortal Sherlock Holmes: a deathless Jack the Ripper! in a fantasty duel through the corridors of time."
- Flash GordonFlash GordonFlash Gordon is the hero of a science fiction adventure comic strip originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by and created to compete with the already established Buck Rogers adventure strip. Also inspired by these series were comics such as Dash...
(1980) — novelization of the movie script by Lorenzo Semple Jr.Lorenzo Semple Jr.Lorenzo Semple Jr. is an American screenwriter and sometime playwright, best known for his work on the campy television series Batman and the political/paranoia movie thrillers The Parallax View and Three Days of the Condor .-Early work:Semple's writing career started in 1951, as a short story... - Time MachineTime Machine (book series)Time Machine was a series of children's novels published by Bantam Books from 1984 to 1989, similar to their more successful Choose Your Own Adventure line of "interactive" novels. Each book was written in the second person, with the reader choosing how the story should progress...
- The Rings of Saturn (No. 6)
- American Revolutionary (No. 10)
- Blade of the Guillotine (No. 14)
- Planetfall (1988)
- Isaac Asimov's Robot City: ProdigyIsaac Asimov's Robot City: ProdigyIsaac Asimov's Robot City: Prodigy is a book written in 1988 by Arthur Byron Cover. It is part of the series Isaac Asimov's Robot City, who are inspired on Isaac Asimov's robot series.- Plot summary :...
(1988) - Stationfall (1989)
- The Rising Stars TrilogyRising StarsRising Stars is a 24-issue comic book limited series by J. Michael Straczynski about 113 people born with special abilities following the appearance of a mysterious light in the sky above Pederson, Illinois. The series explores how society may react to the advent of superpowers, and how those who...
(2002-2005) - Based on the comic book series by J. Michael StraczynskiJ. Michael StraczynskiJoseph Michael Straczynski , known professionally as J. Michael Straczynski and informally as Joe Straczynski or JMS, is an American writer and television producer. He works in films, television series, novels, short stories, comic books, and radio dramas. He is a playwright, a former journalist,...
- "Rising Stars Book 1: Born In Fire" (2002)
- "Rising Stars Book 2: Ten Years After" (2002)
- "Rising Stars Book 3: Change the World" (2005)
- The Red StarThe Red StarThe Red Star is a comic book series by Christian Gossett set in a sci-fi/fantasy world described by Gossett as "Mythic [Soviet] Russia". The "Lands of The Red Star" were inspired by both Russian folklore and military history...
(2003)