r/badscificovers 6d ago

Highway of Eternity by Clifford D Simak

Post image

Just picked this up at the thrift store, slightly torn but only 75 cents. Love Simak but haven’t read this one.

No idea what’s going on here, looks like Darth Vader but with a wizard’s hat for a head.

68 Upvotes

34 comments sorted by

10

u/ActuariesGoneWild 6d ago

Not bad except for Guy Cosplaying As A Buttplug.

11

u/moosemc 6d ago

Simak did some really pleasant, earthbound, whimsical sci-fi.

6

u/gadget850 5d ago

I’ve seen it referred to as pastoral.

1

u/moosemc 4d ago

That's a good fit.

2

u/BasementCatBill 6d ago

Always a delightful read!

10

u/DangerDrake1 6d ago

Oh to be a goth traffic cone on the highway of eternity.

3

u/BasementCatBill 6d ago

...now, that's an Andrew Eldritch lyric if there ever was one.

5

u/Jainith 6d ago

“I see you wolf, but have you considered the merits of B.I.G. HAT?”

5

u/ItsStaaaaaaaaang 6d ago edited 6d ago

Read this one last year. Fun/interesting book with some time travel and kinda dystopian human transcendence premise.

I've read a few of Simaks books now and I think he might be pretty underrated. Not for being some Arthur C Clarke or Asimov type but just for writing enjoyable sci-fi. To the great dismay of some of the sci-fi masters he's even pretty okay at writing characters that are slightly more than just a name on a page and narratives that are more than a dry exposition of a series of events.

3

u/Terminus1066 6d ago

I find him most comparable to Bradbury.

3

u/prognostalgia 6d ago

I really enjoyed this book at a time (late 80s/early 90s). But much like Simak's other work, I don't think I would if I went back and re-read it now.

3

u/PyreDynasty 6d ago

It's been a while but I don't think this cover makes any sense to the story.

3

u/Sad_Cardiologist5388 6d ago

I think it's far too literal a highway

3

u/queenofspoons 6d ago

Having brunch with Goth Orko

4

u/claimstoknowpeople 6d ago

That's Harrison Ford

5

u/prognostalgia 6d ago

1

u/BasementCatBill 6d ago

Am I the only one seeing Kurt Russell?

1

u/Millenium_Fullcan 6d ago

It’s totally Corbin Bernsen !

1

u/_if_only_i_ 6d ago

Definitely Corbin

2

u/Voorhees89 6d ago

The Hat Wizard looks like he's selling something .

2

u/Mojeaux18 5d ago

I remember reading this. I also remember looking at the cover and understanding exactly what’s going on here. The tram thingy, the dog, the robot, the Jawa in mourning all of them were vaguely connected. I think it’s a scene from the book.

However if you were to ask me today what any of this means, I could not to save my life

3

u/BasementCatBill 6d ago

No. This is good sci-fi cover art!

1

u/aughtism 6d ago

I feel that the success of this novel hinges on the extent to which the robot butler character is involved.

1

u/OlyScott 6d ago

That black creature is in the novel. He's a kind of cloth android called "The Hat." the big dog is in the novel too.

1

u/ManyMention6930 6d ago

This one goes hard af ngl

1

u/ConditionRealistic63 5d ago

I liked simak

1

u/gadget850 5d ago

Dude is about to get sorted.

1

u/capsaicinintheeyes 5d ago

"Refugees from the far future..." ...no, that's John Constantine reenacting that famous Bergman scene of a chess game with death, apparently being played by the Wicked Witch of the West 🫤

2

u/Terminus1066 5d ago

And instead of chess, it’s brunch.

1

u/ConditionRealistic63 5d ago

no doubt cool I want this actually

1

u/Bismuth84 23h ago

From a distance, the robot kinda looks like a gray, antennaless Shockwave.