THE SONGS OF DISTANT EARTH

Cover illustration for Arthur C. Clarke

Nov 07, 2024

On an alien world, a group of young people stare out past the mound of a radio telescope to a flaring star in the sky. Glowing radiant yellow with highlights of orange and white, two moons align vertically with the starburst. The larger moon intersects the horizon in a half circle that reflects wavy over the water. A halo of light radiates wide around each heavenly body—the moons and distant star—overlapping each other, which is partially captured in the placid green water. — THE SONGS OF DISTANT EARTH (1986), Acrylic - 20" x 31"

After running through several preliminary concepts, I arrived at an approach to this book cover that felt perfect to me. The scene I imagined would be some time before the events described in the book; somehow the bright demise of Earth witnessed from afar by the young heirs of human civilization seemed to capture the strange, sad feeling of the whole novel to me.

Preliminary concept for SONGS OF A DISTANT EARTH featuring two young children sitting in the grass. One faces the audience while the other looks out over the mound of a radio telescope. The moons are not in conjunction like the final painting. A comet streaks across the sky. — Preliminary concept for THE SONGS OF DISTANT EARTH

An important component of the intended painting was the radio telescope, bridging the gap between nova in the sky and the figures of the new children in the foreground as it receives the last signals from the dying Earth.

LEFT: Arecibo Observatory is set in forested mountains with the concrete bowl contrasting verdant green. Wires are run between three tall supports strung like a suspension bridge with an array of equipment dangling between the three on lines. RIGHT: The Arecibo Telescope during demolition process, December 2021. Credit: Tedder at Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Arecibo_Telescope,_December_2021.jpg) — Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico before (NAIC Arecibo Observatory / NSF Photo) and after its collapse (Tedder / Wikimedia Commons)

Don Munson and Judy-Lynn del Rey liked the idea and gave me the “go ahead” for the full-scale painting. Upon rereading the manuscript, though, I discovered to my dismay that I had the radio telescope all wrong! Instead of being raised high above the ground on a platform, it was described as being set into the ground! This, of course, ruined my concept because the angle of view couldn't accommodate the change.

I wrestled briefly with whether I should stick to Clarke's text on this or go with my original concept, which I still felt captured the feeling of the book. In the midst of my decision making, Judy-Lynn informed me that she thought I should stay away from featuring young children on the cover, since the cover for 2010 displayed one so prominently.

A silhouette of a baby rendered in hazy blues is laid over the planet Jupiter with only a sliver of stormy surface showing against starry space. An obelisk filled with stars is positioned over both—transparent where it overlays the baby's eyes and nose. A long slender spaceship with spherical nose section dominates the foreground. Pointed away from the planet and positioned within reach of Starchild's clasped hands, the ship resembles a baby rattle.

She suggested a painting of King Tut's mask against a field of stars, but I didn't like that idea because I was afraid it would lead the viewers to think it was some sort of time-travel story. I persuaded her to let me try to adapt my original idea to the new requirements, and that is how the present illustration came about.

Share The Art of Michael Whelan

Additional images from THE SONGS OF DISTANT EARTH

LEFT: Detail of four young people staring out past the mound of a radio telescope at two moons and a distant star in conjunction. Central among them is a girl with flowers in her hair who stands head and shoulders above the rest. CENTER: Close detail of SONGS OF A DISTANT EARTH featuring a closer look at the group of young people. One of the young men turns his head back to face the audience. The young woman next to him has flowers in her hair, a primitive element of style that contrasts the high tech accessory she wears on her wrist. RIGHT: Close detail of a moon sitting on the horizon another lined above it and a distant starburst. All are surrounded by rings of light that intersect each other. — Details for THE SONGS OF DISTANT EARTH

Book cover for THE SONGS OF A DISTANT EARTH by Arthur C. Clarke, published by Del Rey Books — *The Songs of Distant Earth* by Arthur C. Clarke (Del Rey)

Share your thoughts…

We’d love to hear your feedback. Please let us know your thoughts, questions, etc!

Like what you see? Subscribe!

We’re posting art every day on Substack. Don’t want to miss anything? Subscribe to get a weekly email including a recap of daily art posts.

To receive every art post by email, you can opt-in by visiting your account and then clicking the toggle for Daily Art.

Ulrich Blode

Nov 10Liked by Michael Whelan

I like the painting for 2061 Odyssey Three too.

Expand full comment

Debra Sanders

Debra’s Substack

Wonderful to see and learn about this. (And they won't be rebuilding Arecibo. You know about the Arecibo message and its crop circle "response"? https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Arecibo_answer.)

But the children in your preliminary concept are marvelous. Hope you found/find another way to use them, Michael.

1 more comment...

THE SONGS OF DISTANT EARTH

Cover illustration for Arthur C. Clarke

Additional images from THE SONGS OF DISTANT EARTH

Share your thoughts…

Like what you see? Subscribe!

Discussion about this post