Rayguns and Rocketships: Revised Edition

Rayguns and Rocketships: Revised Edition offers a thrilling dive into the universe of rayguns and rockets, where spacesuited heroes confront the tentacles of evil insectoid aliens. Who could resist such wonders? Science fiction paperbacks burst onto the 1940s and '50s literary scene with the explosive power of an alien gamma bomb.

Titles such as Rodent Mutation, The Human Bat vs The Robot Gangster, Dawn of the Mutants, and Mushroom Men from Mars emerged from fly-by-night publishers seizing the moment following the end of post-war paper rationing. Brash and seductive, these books offered the promise of the future for just about a shilling. Often, the stories were crafted around a pre-commissioned cover and a title suggested by the publisher. Many writers were paid per word, and sometimes not paid at all. Books were churned out at a rapid pace, sometimes over a single weekend, by authors now forgotten by literary history. A handful of professionals, spotting an opportunity, also contributed under pseudonyms like Ray Cosmic, Steve Future, Vector Magroon, or Vargo Statten.

Despite tight deadlines and meagre compensation, the books' cover artists managed to create works of dazzling, multi-coloured brilliance. This edition provides an overview of their output during a time unmatched for its bold optimism and experimentation in publishing.