Back in 1978, a new science fiction magazine debuted. It was called Galileo, and it did not last long. A feature of the early issues was a four-issueserialization of the first sequel to Larry Niven's now-classic "Ringworld". The sequel was called "Ringworld Engineers".
To the above left is a scene showing a couple of Kzin warriors (artist Cortney Skinner). The story featured the Kzinti (plural of Kzin), a race of ferocious carnivorous cat-like aliens. I've read somewhere that the Kzinti were an inspiration for the remaking of Star Trek's Klingons after the old series. Like the Klingons, the Kzinti are warriors first and foremost, and extremely bound by martial honor.
I've enjoyed the Ringworld series, and also the many volume related series called "Man-Kzin Wars", so I figured I'd dig out some of the artwork from the long since defunct "Galileo" magazine.
Below is the back cover of one of the issues. It is by Cortney Skinner, and figures a typical scene of the surface of Ringworld.
To the left is one of the illustrations, by Alex Stevens. It shows the main Kzin character, Chmeee, standing next to the human hero of the book, Louis Wu. To the right is a character portrait of Chmeee, as drawn by Larry Blamire.
9 comments:
In my opinion one of the best series I have read! I used to get Galileo too. Louis Wu is a great character and the Kzin are very well done.
Loved the art!
I only did ever read the first 'Ringworld' novel. Have you read them all?
Well, there's a trip down memory lane!...I remember the time very clearly when I was working on the art for "Ringworld Engineers." I was just starting out on my professional illustration career and Galileo was my main client. The cover was done in gouache (using both brush and airbrush) and the Kzin was painted in acrylic and was done in color, as were all of the illustrations I did for Galileo, even when they were slated to be reproduced in black & white. I remember being so very careful and thorough in my research to get the appearance of Niven's creatures as close to his descriptions as possible.
I even remember the music I was listening to in order to power me through the laborious process of doing the cover with its varying perspectives and minute detailing (only one half of the painting shows on your blog)...it was an LP of the Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes of Weber composed by Paul Hindemith. I'd listen to those powerful melodies as I painted and airbrushed my way through this large wraparound cover in my cramped one-room basement apartment in Cambridge....sigh...the old days.
Vincent McCaffery, the publisher, allowed each artist to interpret Niven's characters on his own, not insisting on a consistency throughout the serialized story, which was wonderful for us illustrators.
I remember that a Venezuelan SF magazine later plagiarized and printed my Kzin art, and somehow did a better job at reproduction than Galileo did!
Larry Blamire, the artist whose Kzin portrait you also posted, went on to Hollywood and to writing & directing independent films. He's the writer/director of the cult favorite film, "The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra," among others.
Thanks for the memories!
Cort Skinner
Wow. Thanks for that blast from the past. As a fan of Larry Niven AND cats, how could I not love the Kzin?
Thanks for the comment, Cort! And for the permission to use these, too!
Good information.
Chaung: I have read most of them. They get disappointing, as the cosmic scale greatly receeds. In the first one, the Ringworld is discovered. In the second one, it is found out who made it. Then it dwindles. I remember the plot of one of the later books being entirely involved with getting rid of some vampires in the "basement" of a building.
Ananda: Wow. I had no idea anyone else read Galileo.
Remember Louis' birthday party in the beginning of Ringworld? In the first edition, the Earth rotates backwards. Oops.
Cube: You would have seen more of them had they renewed "Star Trek: Enterprise" for another season. Supposedly, the Kzinti were going to be featured.
From Memory Alpha:
"It has been recently disclosed that if Star Trek: Enterprise had been renewed for a fifth season, Manny Coto wanted to do a Kzinti episode. Much of the concept for the episode "Kilkenny Cats" (which was based on a story by Neal and Jana Hallford) was to draw from the earlier concept Star Trek: Lions of the Night by Jimmy Diggs. D.C. Fontana and André Bormanis were also involved in the editing of the script.
To get the producers convinced a "rough rendering" of a Kzinti starship based on the movies era Dark Stalker was produced for possible use. The artist Josh Finney said that he was "...commissioned by writer Jimmy Diggs to design an Enterprise-era Kzinti cruiser as part of an overall pitch to Paramount." He further said "As for my ship design, truth be told, Paramount's people would've probably re-designed it a billion times before it hit the screen. But, still, I would've at least provided the starting point for the concept."
It is notable that the concept design of the Kzinti vessel draws considerably from the Kzinti fleet as presented in the Star Fleet Universe, which have a similar layout to the design shown, including the same triple warp nacelle layout and pod-mounted drone (missile) launchers. Jimmy Diggs did that on purpose, hence the three nacelles, but with more emphasis on creating a believable warship. The 2150s version combines aircraft and submarines of World War II (see here)."
The major problem I saw with this is that Zindi and Kzinti sound like pretty much the same word.
Maybe they should have just replaced the Zindi sloth race with a cat race. Then... the ferocious Zindi cats wipe out the other races. The pronunciation of empire's name changes to Kzindi, due to how the cat-race pronounces Zindi.
The Kzindi launch the new "Man-Kzin Wars" upon the new Federation, with any past peace with the Kzindi races as whole beong long forgotten.
Ah yes, it is too easy to speculate on "Star Trek" alternate storylines.
And don't forget to visit Cortney Skinner's web site, everyone.
And another comment on Cort's comment:
"Vincent McCaffery, the publisher, allowed each artist to interpret Niven's characters on his own, not insisting on a consistency throughout the serialized story, which was wonderful for us illustrators."
Going through the issues again recently, I appreciated the variety in styles, and therefore like that approach.
Breathtaking.....
I always thought they should've given Coto at least another year with Enterprise and I didn't even know about the Kzinti tie in. Darn it! It would've been good.
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