Diary of a Spaceperson by Chris Foss

Diary of a Spaceperson Reviews

• 
  Andrew

  And so on to my second Paper Tiger book (although this one was through the Science fiction bookclub - now since bust - and its parent company Guild Publishing) this time from hard science fiction artist Chris Foss.
  
  Now a little side note which will explain a few later comments - along with creating some of the most amazing and iconic hard science fiction craft and scenes from the 70s and 80s he is also the artist and principle photographer from the 70s book Joy of Sex.
  
  So back to the book in hand - this is diary of young student who through various adventures (and misadventures) gets to see the cosmos and beyond. Presented as a series of diary entries you get to experience the various events that "J" goes through. Along the way you have various pieces of artwork which have been re-purposed for this book, many of which were used for famous science fiction books of the time. However interspersed with these are black and white drawings of semi or full nude women. Now I am no prude but I struggle to see the aim of this book.
  
  So let me explain - you have a famous artist who's work is instantly recognisable and which have been used for some of the most famous SF books of the time (From Asimov to Watson). Then throw in some young woman in various poses (reminiscent of the Pirelli Calendars) and this is where I take real issue - questionable text over dairy entries, as if who ever was writing them was struggling to fins an explanation of what was going on in the various images.
  
  Now normally I would score this book lower but the quality of the colour prints is amazing and going from a piece of art the size of a paperback and blowing it up to a full (and double page) spread means you get to properly experience the time and effort that Foss puts in to his work. So I can only praise Foss as an artist and skilfully ignore the text someone has accidentally printed along side them
  
  Now to be honest all of the artwork was reproduced in the amazing "The definitive SF works of Chris Foss" but at the time I picked this book up no such publication was available. So here we have another slice of Paper Tiger history.
• 
  James Morpurgo

  Anyone who has browsed science fiction in used book stores will have no doubt seen the cover artwork of Chris Foss, often featuring spacecraft with his signature style of colourful striped or checked patterns.
  
  By chance I spotted a cheap hardcover edition and took it home without knowing much about the contents other than expecting to see the aforementioned artwork of spaceships.
  
  So it turns out that Foss was also the illustrator for 'The Joy of Sex' and there are equal parts topless erotica as there are spaceships and alien worlds. I think this possibly part author / artist indulgence and part product of the era - or homage to earlier science fiction, but for me it seemed to fit the hedonistic future that was being portrayed and females seemed to be the most empowered and dominant gender in this book.
  
  What actually stood out for me was the written word which came in the format of diary entries. This would have worked and stood up in a non-illustrated version and would have made a solid novella in its own right.
• 
  Peter

  Now this is a mixed bag. Although it contains some incredible colour artwork and some bad to average black and white the book is let down by a VERY bad story laid out as diary entries.
  
  This book as so much potential, his spaceships are fantastic as always but he needs a lot more work on the nudes, he ain't no Vellajo.
• 
  Grantcorp

  Imagine you have this archive of fantastic science fiction art depicting highly original and organic spacecraft with vibrating colours, painted by a legendary artist. And you also have this even larger pile of pencil sketches of topless women. Wanting to show these to the world your natural reaction might be to compile a work about spaceships and another with drawings. Not so here.
  
  I don't know who came up with the idea that these two belong together, but they didn't stop there. In what seems to be a wanting to justify this difficult mixture of themes someone made the effort to try to tie it all together with the help of a light hearted narrative. Thus the entire work shifts between a full two page painting, followed by two pages with sketches and text entries in the form of diary notes. It is suggested the text was written by the artist himself, but out of respect for his fantastic works I will refuse to believe it. Whoever typed it up did not take this task seriously, and the illustrations rarely fit the descriptions given in the text.
  
  For example, one painting shows a junkyard worker floating in space involved in cutting up an old hulk, the distant sun illuminating him from the back. The accompanying text describes this as a crewman desperately clinging to debris from his blown up craft. Another painting depicts a huge spacecraft moving a great block of ice over the Mediterranean Sea. Our female protagonist blabbers on about having to take a job in the Berg Park so that she can raise the funds needed to make it all the way back to Earth, which is supposed to be a five year journey. The entries regarding the topless sketches are even more bewildering and embarrassing. For example: "Some teeny mugged me for my chain and contact bracelet. Very dim memories of her having some of my clothes - or something!!! Anyway, was definitely topless in the plaza."
  
  Granted it is not easy trying to piece together a story out of artwork taken from wildly different contexts. That is why they should not have bothered in the first place. By all means, buy this book if you enjoy one or both of the two artistic styles contained herein, Foss is a master of them both. But for your own peace of mind, do not bother reading the stupid gibberish in between.
• 
  Mark A

  Diary Of A SpacePerson by Chris Foss...
  This illustrated story of a young ladies experience travelling from world to world & job to job through the endless reaches of the inkie black Cosmos & over coming adversities with a lot of luck & being in the right place at the right time, a lesser person would have folded !!!
  I've read this book of Chris Foss's that many times it's falling apart & i need a new copy, i found it innovative & original, it gripped me like no other story,,,
  Except perhaps several books by Piers Anthony & one in particular leaps to mind & it's called... OGRE, OGRE !!!
  But this story by Chris Foss is really well written & the very fine details of his artwork illustrations in my opinion are perfectly in line with the story giving the reader a real feel for the worlds & places she found herself...
  And that's why I give it 10 out of 10 !!!
  Time to purchase a new copy of,,,
  Diary Of A SpacePerson...
  I will read this next copy over & over again until it also falls apart.
  Mark Anthony Sewell.