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Cooper, Edmund
SEA HORSE IN THE SKY
book-date: 1969
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SFBC
1970

Hardcover
Paul Lehr

Book= VG+ to near-Fine
Dustjacket= near-Fine

Science Fiction Book Club: Summer 1970 hardcover (copyright 1969 in Britain.) Cover by Paul Lehr, 191 pages. Condition is VG+ to near-Fine in a near-Fine dustjacket: tight with mild tilt (1/8" or less); age tanning is negligable. Unclipped DJ has no tears; trace of rubbing on front cover (see scan.) Blank back cover shows light wear/dirt. No stamps, marks or writing - a very clean copy. [This one is really hard to find without rubbing.]

One by one, the 16 people - 8 men and 8 women - began to awake inside their green plastic coffins. They were in the middle of a road that led to nowhere. Two buildings were on opposite sides of the road, one labeled "Hotel" and the other "Supermarket." Two inoperative autos sat before the buildings. Was it some sort of nightmare or mass hallucination? Hadn't they just been aboard a jet bound for London? Each tried to make some sense out of the situation, but there were no logical explanations - the nightmare was real. As they assembled in the hotel, even greater shocks attacked their bewildered minds. Although they represented 5 nationalities, the language barrier had disappeared - they could understand each other perfectly. And something was wrong with the gravity - it just wasn't strong enough. The evidence was undeniable - they were no longer on Earth! Fortunately the supermarket was well stocked and the hotel quite comfortable (but staffless.) But the reason for all of this wasn't clear or even guessable... and the medieval knight in armor, the fairlylike creatures in the sky, and the Stone Age tribesmen didn't help explain things any better. As the castaways cope with their environment, the need to know why dominates them, bringing about epic adventures, strange alliances, and a stunning denouement as they discover their destined role.

Cooper was a British "midlist" author who produced over 2 dozen SF novels or collections, mostly in the Sixties and Seventies. I acquired a taste for him (although I would steer you away from his short fiction - his novels are much better.) This title is one of a handful I think are his best - that would make a good starting point to see if you like him.






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