Tour of the Universe: The Journey of a Lifetime : The Recorded Diaries of Leio Scott and Caroline Luranski

by Malcolm Edwards

Two winners of a trip with the first package tour to the Aurora-Magellan Federation spend six months visiting alien planets

Genres: Science Fiction

150 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1980

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has been about for a while being published in 1980. I remember seeing it in my art class room (where I learned the depressing fact that I am terrible at art) while at school and the title stuck with me (and my wonderfully random memory) all these years till I happen to stumble across a copy of it years later. The premise is that a couple win a holiday of a lifetime - travelling the stars and seeing sights totally alien and unimaginable. The book acts as a mix of holiday dairy and tour guide. In actual fact it carried on the trend of the time of taking well known fantasy and science fiction artists and then subtly manipulating them to follow the storyline. In several images you can see where they have been edited in to the exiting artwork. The idea is fun with a mixed level of success. By current standards it will see rather painful and basic but for me it is nostalgic and fun, I guess we all have book we view that - well this is mine.

[Jlawrence · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is part of that late-70's phenomena of "let's collect a bunch of science-fiction paintings together in the book and make a narrative/concept connecting them". Here, the conceit is a couple who've won a Galactic lottery to take a tour of exciting locals throughout space. Each location gets highlighted by their diary entries and several paintings. The quality of the paintings is unusually high, and a nice touch is details like colorful passports, brochures, forms, etc for various portions of the trip. Some of the paintings were custom-made for this book as well, featuring the couple in the visited local. The concepts behind the visited worlds are mostly decent with a few truly stupid ones, and a few excellent ones (like the complicated caste-system of the spider-like aliens).

Overall, a fondly remembered book of my childhood that survives surprisingly well as a sci-fi curio.

[Shane Vaughan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic book, very imaginative with excellent production values that were well ahead of its time (published 1980). I first read this book in school in 1990 and recently tracked down a copy. I enjoyed it just as much as I did back then. The art is very good and I liked the additional ‘secret agent’ plot line that makes the story more engaging. A clever look at alien civilisations and time travel. Highly recommended

[Robert Brockway · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like other reviewers I owned this as a kid and loved it. I still have my copy. The work had very high production values for the time.

The setting of the novel "Where Time Winds Blow" is obliquely mentioned in the text, placing both works in the same universe. Both are by the same author.

[Neil Macdonald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this in the 1980's - god I loved it. Escapism at it's best for a boy stuck in rural Australia.

[Sunniva Cecilie]

Fantastic artwork!!!

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of a couple who win a tour across the galaxy, and the complications that pile up on their trip. The story is told through journal entries, painted scenes, and various futuristic documents. The paintings appear to have been commissioned specifically for this story (unlike the similar Terran Trade Authority books, which re-used existing sci-fi artwork). The descriptions of the various exotic worlds are quite creative, although the story relies on various 70's science fiction cliches. The casino/pleasure planet is particularly egregious in that respect. The art varies in quality, from spectacular to mediocre.

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fond memories of this book when I was a kid. The artwork drew me to it after voraciously going through all the Terran Trade Federations books held at my local library. It's very similar to the books in that series although this one has a slightly higher "cheese factor" in that some parts of the story tying the pictures together are a little weak and some are downright laughable. My 10 or 11 year old mind didn't notice the poor story telling and I loved this book. I'm definitely going to search for a used copy to replace the one I lost years ago.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great ideas, fantastic attention to detail and beautiful artwork throughout. Loved reading this when I was younger and didn't regret getting a copy of my own when I was older.

[Rockdawg · Rating 5 out of 5]

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