Friday 8 April 2016

The Pollinators of Eden by John Boyd
The Pollinators of Eden 
by John Boyd
One of the many reasons Penguin has been so successful over the years involves its history of creating fantastic book covers. Penguin also boast a stellar track record in publishing meaningful titles, but let's be honest: the books look good.  Even the iconic bands of colour framing a white block that have come to define Penguin were a stroke of design genius, and are now quite widely fetishised on everything from notepads to luggage tags by booklovers worldwide.
When it comes to cover design, the science fiction genre is often accused, along with romance novels, of having the most godawful cover design going. With their typical brilliance in style, Penguin embraces all the good, the bad and the comically ugly in traditional sci-fi design with their science fiction series. From the campy cartoon-style creatures and ridiculous, buxom alien babes of space opera, to the darkly stylised futuristic cities in dystopian futures Penguin covered it all with story selection and cover illustration. 
We've compiled a selection of the Penguin science fiction series to show you. The covers chosen range from the early 1960s (when Penguin began deviating from their traditional colour-coded designs) all the way through to the 2000s. The majority of our favourites, however, feature the more psychedelic artwork from the late 1970s.
Take a trip through space with Penguin.

A Selection of Penguin Science Fiction

We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
We 
by Yevgeny Zamyatin
The Joyous Invasions by Theodore Sturgeon
The Joyous Invasions 
by Theodore Sturgeon
The Circus of Dr. Lao by Charles G. Finney
The Circus of Dr. Lao 
by Charles G. Finney
Night of Light by Philip José Farmer
Night of Light 
by Philip José Farmer
A Plague of Pythons by Frederik Pohl
A Plague of Pythons
by Frederik Pohl
Fifth Planet by Fred and Geoffrey Hoyle
Fifth Planet
by Fred and Geoffrey Hoyle
Final Stage by Edward Ferman
Final Stage 
by Edward Ferman
Into Deepest Space by Fred Hoyle
Into Deepest Space
by Fred Hoyle
Alternating Currents by Frederik Pohl
Alternating Currents
by Frederik Pohl
The Reefs of Space by Frederik Pohl and Jack Williamson
The Reefs of Space 
by Frederik Pohl and Jack Williamson
The Incandescent Ones by Fred & Geoffrey Hoyle
The Incandescent Ones 
by Fred & Geoffrey Hoyle
In Solitary by Garry Kilworth
In Solitary 
by Garry Kilworth
The Ultimate Threshold by Mirra Ginsburg
The Ultimate Threshold
by Mirra Ginsburg
The Kraken Wakes by John Wyndham
The Kraken Wakes
by John Wyndham
The Sleeper Awakes by H.G. Wells
The Sleeper Awakes
by H.G. Wells
The Iron Horse by Jack London
The Iron Horse
by Jack London
A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
A Princess of Mars 
by Edgar Rice Burroughs

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