The limited NO REPLY PRESS Science Fiction Trilogy (Hardbound) - The Last Question - The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas - The Men Return

Portland Oregon: No Reply Press, 2023. Edition limited to 350. Hardcover. NEW/no dj's as issued. Rockwell Kent, Clive Knights, Karol Pomykała. The Science Fiction Trilogy | Hardbound
No Reply's Science Fiction Trilogy, three editions showcasing three of the genre's greatest short stories:

The Last Question by Isaac Asimov, with the woodcuts of Rockwell Kent

The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin, with collages by Clive Knights

The Men Return by Jack Vance, introduced by the author's son and with linocuts by Karol Pomykała
- see details below -

These three stories pushed the frontiers of the genre. They strikingly demonstrate that Science Fiction is not actually the realm of spaceships and aliens, so much as the realm of metaphysics and our place in the universe. No Reply is proud to present them together, alongside an extraordinary cast of contributors.

All three are printed letterpress on mouldmade German Zerkall-bütten paper, and bound with mirrorfoil-tooled cloth spines and handmade monoprint boards. Made entirely by hand. The hardbounds try to capture the excitement and vibrancy of Science Fiction, while retaining the refinement and attention to detail of great private presswork. Most importantly, each features a unique monoprint artwork spanning its cover.

Each hardbound state is limited to only 350 copies.
All three copies offered here have the matching number 260.
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"The Last Question" by Isaac Asimov
Printed letterpress on mouldmade German Zerkall-bütten papers.

Hand-bound in a German-style binding; mirror foil tooling over a Japanese cloth spine; monoprint papers (each unique) which cover the facing boards in a single continuous artwork. Please note: Due to the monoprinting process, covers may (and likely will!) vary significantly from the prototype photos shown.

42 pages, half of which feature sweeping Kent prints, at 6 ½ by 11 inches.

Numbered in the limited edition, 1 through 350.
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"The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas"
Printed letterpress on mouldmade German Zerkall-bütten papers.

Hand-bound in a German-style binding; mirror foil tooling over a Japanese cloth spine.

Monoprint papers (each unique) which cover the facing boards in a single continuous artwork. Please note: Due to the monoprinting process, covers may (and likely will!) vary significantly from the prototype photos shown.

38 pages, nearly half of which feature Clive Knights' original collages, printed giclée on plates and hand-tipped in.

Measuring 6 ½ by 11 inches.

Numbered in the limited edition, 1 through 350.
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"The Men Return" by Jack Vance
Hardbound

Printed letterpress on mouldmade German Zerkall-bütten papers.

24 pages, featuring five linocut artworks printed by Karol Pomykała. The artworks are overprinted in red, yellow, and blue inks. Dozens of print runs go into each copy.

Hand-bound in a German-style binding; mirror foil tooling over a Japanese cloth spine.

Monoprint papers (each unique) which cover the facing boards in a single continuous artwork. Please note: Due to the monoprinting process, covers may (and likely will!) vary significantly from the prototype photos shown.

Measuring 6 ½ by 11 inches.

Numbered in the limited edition, 1 through 350. The Last Question
by Isaac Asimov, with the woodcut prints of Rockwell Kent.

When asked for his favorite of his own stories, Isaac Asimov was unequivocal: The Last Question. There's no mistaking why; it boldly fulfills the promise of its title. In a universe which is expanding, cooling, and dissipating, this legendary Science Fiction writer looks into the future to earnestly grapple with the fate of, well, everything. The answer is surprising, fulfilling, even moving. As Asimov said, "The ending seems to stick with people."

To honor Science Fiction's vast sweep into the future, and the grounding of private presswork in our past, we have striven to achieve a design aesthetic which balances past and future. Without sacrificing the finesse of private presswork, we have striven to capture the electric power of the genre. Our experimental typography in this edition features four typefaces, interweaving and overlapping with the stunning woodcuts of Rockwell Kent. Few artists wrestled so poignantly with our place in the universe. We are thrilled to have been given the permission of his estate to print a suite of his masterpieces alongside this story.
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The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin,

The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas is science fiction at its finest, wielding imagination to strike at our deepest questions. It imagines a city, Omelas, in which the people are perfectly happy and prosperous and equal. In short, a utopia. But utopia is hardly believable. As the story proceeds the narrator (possibly Le Guin herself?) pleads with us to believe her description, to believe that it is not too fantastical or far-fetched. Finally, she reveals the city's dark secret: stored away somewhere in a basement is a maltreated child. The people of Omelas are forbidden from rescuing him, or even offering him comfort. Somehow (the reason is beyond their understanding), their happiness depends on the wretched suffering of just one. Do you believe in Omelas now?

This science fiction masterpiece is so powerful because it leaves so much to the imagination of its reader. One reader, celebrated artist Clive Knights, has picked up where Le Guin left off, filling the space around the story in his suite of collage artworks collectively entitled, After Omelas.

We have hoped to fuse these diverse elements into a harmonious whole in The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas.
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The Men Return
by Jack Vance, with linocut artwork by Karol Pomykała and a new introduction by John Vance, the author's son.

The Men Return is sui generis - nearly impossible to define. Science fiction of the absurd? Psychedelica? Metaphysical horror? Existentialist monograph... with monsters?

When Jack Vance wrote The Men Return in 1957, science fiction had not yet delved into the truly experimental. While it had toyed with time, space, spaceships and timetravel, the laws of reality remained firmly unbroken. Vance pushed the envelope - and far. The Men Return tells the story of a place where the connection between cause and effect has been severed. Imagine that! Vance did, and in his wild imaginations a novel form of fiction was born.

Karol Pomykała is a celebrated linocut artist, whose pieces, collectively entitled "Mirage," are an exhilarating match for Vance's up-is-down storytelling. Painstakingly cut by hand, Karol's artwork is intricately detailed. The depth of such detail can really only be captured with relief printing, so we are thrilled to present his work letterpress.

The edition features five such linocuts. On hardbound copies, the artwork is overprinted with striking splashes of color as shapes float through and among a disorienting terrain.

John Vance is the author's son, who has generously penned an introduction for the first private press edition of his father's work. He contextualizes the story in the history of science fiction, and provides a summary judgement on its importance.