Dangerous Frontiers: The Fight for Survival on Distant Worlds

Type: Fiction with Various Artists

Author: Steven Caldwell

Publisher: Intercontinental Book Publications

Format: Hardback 200mm x 170mm)

Cover Price £2

Publication Date: 1980

Page count: 64

This is a solid hardback book with a glossy dust jacket. The book is printed on slightly thicker paper than usual and is about ¾ colour with the rest being a fictitious historical account of space exploration. There are occasions where the colour reproduction seems a bit flat and on my copy the glue has perished causing some of the leaves to have come loose. This is #5 in a series of six books in this sequence (other reviews to follow although I lack Star Quest and Space Patrol). The text is fun and adequately written but serves largely as an excuse for great art by Jim Burns, Peter Ellison, Bob Fowkes, Colin Hay, Bob Layzell, Melvyn, Chris Moore, Angus McKie, Terry Oakes, Cesare Reggiani, Tony Roberts and Roy Virgo.

The above picture by Peter Elson demonstrates the typical full-page layout that shows off the art to good effect. The format is a little too small for detailed pieces like the one above but the full-bleed pages show it off as well as possible in the format. It's a bit of fun but has some great pieces by some of my favorite artists so I'm happy to have it in the collection.