A friend questioned why I would want to do a post on the cover art of Boris Vallejo. "Isn't his stuff all over the net as it is? And besides, you usually highlight lesser known illustrators, so who would benefit?"
Yes, indeed, his stuff is all over the net, and in numerous art books and featured calendars, some of which I actually own. And yes, I do try to highlight lesser known 20th century illustrators, or strive to at least, but the truth is I love Boris's art and doing a post on him would give me time to browse my own collection of his covers, and showcase some of his 'not so well known covers' (assuming that that is even possible in this day and age). But assembling the kind of lengthy posts I do is time consuming, plus I've become a terribly slow writer and researcher of late, so until I can get over my current slump and get 'er done, here's some Boris to quickly whet our appetites, with ingredients derived from neglected British writer Jane Gaskell.
Jane Gaskell was born in 1941 in Lancaster, England. She wrote her first novel, Strange Evil, at the age of fourteen. It was published two years later in 1957, and has been described by Scottish SFF editor John Grant as "a major work of the fantastic imagination." I'm in the midst of reading it now for the first time, and I would thus far argue against it being a "major" of anything besides its being the publication acceptance of a ridiculously young author. However, it did mark Gaskell as a phenom, which she was clearly was. To date she has written fourteen novels (which coincidentally matches the age she was when she wrote her first), seven of which are fantasy or horror related, in addition to numerous articles and columns she penned as a journalist for the Daily Mail, a British tabloid.
I read Gaskell's Atlan fantasy saga series in 1970. It is comprised of four novels, five if you include the much later issued The Dragon, the second half of volume one's The Serpent, issued as such by Pocket Books in 1979 in order to stretch the series and split the first volume. They are as follows: The Serpent (1963), Atlan (1965), The City (1966), and Some Summer Lands (1977). I was a teen then and on the rebound after reading The Lord of the Rings, eager to find more epic fantasy in the same vein. The Atlan's certainly seemed to fit the bill, but upon completion they were in no way like LOTR, nor was anything else being written at that time until The Sword of Shannara appeared in 1977, an obvious if not blatant homage to Tolkien's great trilogy. But I remember really liking the Atlan's, just not necessarily loving them. However, their being vastly different than LOTR also made them that much more fascinating to read.
Those three Atlan volumes I read initially were all published by Paperback Library in 1970, with covers produced by British artist Michael Leonard. They were sufficiently different looking than their earlier first editions (1967-68), whose covers were emboldened by both Frank Frazetta and Jeff Jones. Those covers spoke of sword & sorcery--Leonard's covers spoke of epic high fantasy.
Boris Vallejo created his Gaskell cover art for Pocket Books in 1978 and 1979. By degrees they are the most attractive Gaskell's to date, a lush mixture of sword & sorcery, high fantasy, and sensuality, but there are those that might argue otherwise. In addition to Vallejo, Leonard, Frazetta and Jones, seven other artists have produced cover art for the Gaskell fantasy novels that were published in English, and any one of them could be preferred over Boris. They are as follows: Denvil (full name unknown), Bill Botten, Bob Fowke, Dave Pether, Laurel Marx, Mick van Houten, and James Gurney.
For my money though it was Boris who set the bar the highest.
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Atlan 1, The Serpent was published in paperback by Pocket in November, 1978. 'For seventeen years she has lived in the Tower, imprisoned by her family under an ancient curse. Now, at last, Princess Cija is free-- only to marry as her mother, the Dictatress, decrees. She must marry the vile half-serpent Zerd, head of the conquering hordes. She must travel with his army as its hostage, camp follower, scullion, slave-- or empress-- or supreme warrior. At her mother's command, she mjust entice and destroy the repulsive Zerd. But she is only seventeen, naive in the sensuous ways of a seductress... '
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Atlan 2, The Dragon was published in paperback by Pocket in January, 1979. 'In her quest to save the fabled Atlan, young Cija and her handsome lover, Smahil, flee the clutches of Zerd, the evil half-serpent who has conquered half the world. But, too late, they find there is no escape from their enemy-- Zerd's army covers the land from hill to valley; all beings are swept along or destroyed; all cities are laid open to the plunder of his warriors. Now Cija must do the impossible. She must thwart Zerd's ravenous scheme of conquest-- and it is the gods' decree that she must do it alone!'
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Atlan 2, Atlan was published in paperback by Pocket in March, 1979. 'In the bloody war over the continent of Atlan, Princess Cija has been forced to wed the invader, the evil man-serpent, Zerd. When Zerd's enemies attack, Cija flees his imprisoning castle, only to be discovered by her archrival, Sedili, Zerd's former wife. Forced into captive isolation, Cija must now await her fate at the hands of this jealous, vindictive woman who will regain everything she had lost to Cija-- only by the Princess' death!'
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Atlan 4, The City was published in paperback by Pocket in May, 1979. 'Rescued by a bold sailor, held in the confines of a lascivious brothel, Cija faces yet another life-and-death ordeal. She escapes but her respite is short-lived. Treachery and betrayal sweep her into the temple of her hated father, beyond a terrifying, sensual interlude in the Arena of Apes. With the seed of her ape-man lover growing within her she is carried to her ultimate destiny inside the monstrous walls of Atlan...'
Atlan 5, Some Summer Lands was published in paperback by Pocket in June, 1979. 'Cija, daughter of peril, plaything of destiny... is once again off on an adventure of endless wonder... carried off to a distant land where Zerd, the dragon general, girds himself for battle with the King of the North... thrust into a journey of mystery and magic with her daughter, Seka... struggling to escape the dangerous people of Soursere, finally to set out upon the floating Isles for the enchanted shores of Atlan...'
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King's Daughter was published in paperback by Pocket in August, 1979. 'Long ago, when the world had no moon... Atlantis and Mu ruled the earth, and a brilliant light shone in the heart of Bulinga, Princess of Grood. Beautiful and wild, Bulinga yearned to be free from her warlord father. One night, with the help of a group of traders, she escaped disguised as a boy. But her freedom was cut short. Soon she was betrayed by fellow travelers and entrusted to the cunning fanatic, Carpen. Captured and bound, she was brought to Nipsiric as a slave, and bestowed as a gift upon the Temple of Reverence and the Holy One himself. A terrifying fate for a... king's daughter.'
Strange Evil was published in paperback by Pocket in July, 1979. 'On
the banks of the Magical Mountain... was a land of flying Satyrs and
humanlike fairies-- a battleground, where the two tribes of the Mountain
fought for power. Brought here by her cousin, the Earthling Judith lived
in the tranquility of the fantasy world. But, as an Other-worldly
being caught between warring peoples, Judith was destined to die...
until she discovered the Evil driving her cousin's enemies to fight to
regain their power, now and forever!'
[© February, 2025, Jeffersen]
