Golden Age SF and Beyond

Cox, Cardinal, 2014, From Space, Starburker Publications, c/o 58 Pennington, Orton Goldhay, Peterborough PE2 5RB United Kingdom, unpaginated saddle stitched chapbook. Available from the publisher for a C5 self-addressed envelope, or email cardinalcox1@yahoo.co.uk. This collection states that it was inspired by the exhibition "Space Fact and Fiction" held at Peterborough Museum June to October 2013, and by the National Space Centre in Lericester.


This chapbook has the same format as the numerous Cthulhu Mythos themed booklets that Cardinal Cox has written recently. In contrast to those books, most of the poems here owe their genesis to golden age science-fiction books and movies, with some real life space science and politics thrown in. The usual bottom-of-the-page notes explain where some poems came from, and dedicate others to notable SF fans. The poems vary from rhymed and metered to other forms and even free verse. This works, I think, as the chapbook's space theme ties them together.

I particularly like the (to me) new insight of “Orbital Observatory”

And as we look into the past
Because the Universe has grown
Those distant vistas are smaller
Than the space we inhabit

If we could look far enough, would we see a tiny post-Bang blaze? Another science poem, “Space Suit,” also appeals to me. An excerpt:

We can't imagine what drove
The fish first onto land
Had a pool dried?
Did it chase an arthropod?

These by no means represent the range of this pamphlet, but do, I hope, indicate its quality. Get it before it's too late!