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#SwordAndPlanet reveals Jeff Doten's cover for my next book. The fifth book in the series follows two young characters introduced in book 4, opens with an airship battle, and a low-tech rescue only our heroes could perform. Expect a release later this month or in early March.

#SciFiDaily returns to his childhood and the first sci-fi series he remembers watching. Gerry Anderson's show featured fantastic models, detailed miniature sets, and Supermarionation. It predates my earliest favorite books and must sit atop my list of sci-fi influences.

#SwordAndPlanet found this Fastner & Larson image a few minutes ago and couldn't resist it. It tells part of a story but leaves enticing questions. Who is the woman? What is she running from, and why? And now I've got ANOTHER story I have to write.

#SciFiDaily enjoys sharing science fiction based comics when I find them. This one isn't as funny as Aria 51 from last week, but it combines two major science fiction movie franchizes for a chuckle. And if we can't laugh at the things we love, we're taking life too seriously.

#SwordAndPlanet gives this graphic novel my highest recommendation. If you think they just don't make 'em like they used to, give Starlight a look. It's a fantastic, respectful modern take on the traditional S&P trope that never mocks or parodies the genre. Fans of Barsoom and Flash Gordon will find a lot to love in this one.

#SciFiDaily can't resist this cover by the master, Michael Whelan, created for H. Beam Piper's "The Cosmic Computer." After his untimely death in 1964, Piper's legacy was forgotten (or ignored), but he was a masterful writer and a leading light in sci-fi during the '50s.

#SciFiDaily got this edition as one of his initial sign-up bonus from the Science Fiction Book Club. I'd never heard of Dune, but liked its write-up, took a chance, and the risk paid off. Little known fact: when creating the Southern Knights, I patterned Kristin's invulnerability on the semi-permeable shields from this book.

#SwordAndPlanet this this Larry Elmore piece is as S&P as you can get with cat people. You've got a blade-wielding warrior, another with a modern weapon, and a naked female. I suspect these are Kzinti warriors from Niven's Known Universe, not a setting known for S&P, but the artwork definitely fits the genre.

#SwordAndPlanet agrees this looks more space opera than S&P, but it hits all the S&P notes, too. It's an alternate post for 1978's Star Wars rip-off, Starcrash. Starring Caroline Munroe, Christopher Plummer, and David Hasselhoff, this is considered one of the worst sci-fi movies ever made. Pity, because the poster is fantastic.

#SciFiDaily finishes off my earliest sci-fi memories with this 1965 classic. Key is better known for Escape to Witch Mountain, but this tale of a mind-reading boy who fell through a door, lost his memory, and ended up on Earth is my favorite Key novel. This one holds up well because its human themes will never go out of date.

#SwordAndPlanet journeys to Venus, home to a series I read right after completing the Mars books. ERB stuck to the pulp idea that Venus was a jungle planet, with people living in towering trees, far above the dangerous surface hell. Less compelling than Mars, ERB's Venus is still a great setting for S&P adventure.

#SciFiDaily presents the first post-apocalyptic book I read. The under ground citizens lived generations without contact with the upper world until a boy founds a way to the surface. The story deals with the impact of the discovery on the boy and the city and engendered a love of post-apocalytic books.

#SwordAndPlanet returns to O.A. Kline for today's cover. With the title for context, I'd have taken this for a lost world story, with the gun-wielding man as the Earth man hero and the scantily-clad babe as the primitive native of that world. But the simple addition of "Mars" puts this firmly in S&P.

#SciFiDaily will return to influential books from my childhood on Monday. I found this in a Facebook group, laughed, and couldn't resist posting it here. I'm also stealing the original poster's label:

Space opera

#SwordAndPlanet is a big fan of Vance, but managed to miss this tale of a planet populated by splintered societies, a would-be tyrant, and an Earth man who crash lands far from safety, forcing him to trek and fight his way across the planet. I'm confident Vance spun this prototypical S&P plot into something fantastic.

#SciFiDaily loves this cover from 1978 and is amazed at this line-up of authors. When Varley is the least known author, you've got a dynamite issue! I can't see any major sci-fi magazine using such a pulpish cover today, not even ironically. And I think that's a shame.

#SwordAndPlanet suggests Norton's post-apocalytic novel mostly fits in S&P. The hero explores the ruins of an advanced civilization searching for lost knowledge and advanced tech. His tribe wars with inhuman, sentient beings for scarce resources. He's not an outsider from another world, but I think most fans of S&P will enjoy this book.

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