Farewell Fantastic Venus is a science fiction anthology edited by Brian Aldiss and Harry Harrison. It was first published in 1968 as a direct response to the information returned from the first space probes sent to Venus, especially the first atmospheric probe to return data, Venera 4. The first data was not returned from the surface until Venera 7 successfully landed in 1970.
The book contains stories and novel excerpts from the time before Venus' true nature became apparent, when the clouded planet could still be imagined as another Earth, albeit a hotter one. From that point on, no stories would be written which did not recognize Venus as a dry lifeless world with acid clouds and a temperature high enough to melt lead. Writers such as Larry Niven (Becalmed in Hell) did write about the "new" Venus, but there were to be no more transplanted jungle adventures, no imagined world of oceans with monsters, no Venusians. Venus had been the best hope for extraterrestrial life, and now that hope was lost.
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Paperback, good condition. Slight wear on cover edges.
Published by Panther Books, 1971.