Ace Science Fiction Specials are three series of science fiction and fantasy books published by Ace Books between 1968 and 1990. Terry Carr edited the first and third series, taking the "TV special" concept and adapting it to paperback marketing. The first series was one of the most influential in the history of science fiction publishing; four of the six novels nominated for 1970 Nebula Awards were from the series.
The date given is the year of publication by Ace; some are first editions and some are reprints. Also given is the Ace serial number. The serial number given is that of the first printing in the Ace Special series (except for the reissue of Rite of Passage). Books with a previous first edition are noted as "reissue" below. The order listed for series one is the original order of publication; the price is given. Ace reissued many of these books outside of the Ace Special line with different covers and prices, and sometimes different paginations. Award winners are noted; several were nominated for awards.
Carr had purchased eight more books for the line, which Ace later published after the series was terminated. The Aldiss volume had been delayed due to issues over Canadian publishing rights, and eventually appeared with the Carr-commissioned Dillon cover. [1]
This series was not edited by Terry Carr.
Terry Carr returned on a freelance basis to edit this series, all of them first novels.
John Kilian Houston Brunner was a British author of science fiction novels and stories. His 1968 novel Stand on Zanzibar, about an overpopulated world, won the 1969 Hugo Award for best science fiction novel and the BSFA award the same year. The Jagged Orbit won the BSFA award in 1970.
Robert Shaw was a science fiction writer and fan from Northern Ireland, noted for his originality and wit. He won the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer in 1979 and 1980. His short story "Light of Other Days" was a Hugo Award nominee in 1967, as was his novel The Ragged Astronauts in 1987.
Alexei Panshin was an American writer and science fiction critic. He wrote several critical works and several novels, including the 1968 Nebula Award–winning novel Rite of Passage and, with his wife Cory Panshin, the 1990 Hugo Award–winning study of science fiction The World Beyond the Hill.
Terry Gene Carr was an American science fiction fan, author, editor, and writing instructor.
Orbit was a series of anthologies of new science fiction edited by Damon Knight, often featuring work by such writers as Gene Wolfe, Joanna Russ, R. A. Lafferty, and Kate Wilhelm. The anthologies tended toward the avant-garde edge of science fiction, but by no means exclusively; occasionally the volumes featured nonfiction critical writing or humorous anecdotes by Knight. Inspired by Frederik Pohl's Star Science Fiction series, and in its turn an influence on other original speculative fiction anthologies, it ran for over a decade and twenty-one volumes, not including a 1975 "Best of" collection selected from the first ten volumes.
Charles Leonard Harness was an American science fiction writer.
Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels, An English-Language Selection, 1949–1984 is a nonfiction book by David Pringle, published by Xanadu in 1985 with a foreword by Michael Moorcock. Primarily, the book comprises 100 short essays on the selected works, covered in order of publication, without any ranking. It is considered an important critical summary of the science fiction field.
World's Best Science Fiction: 1971 is an anthology of science fiction short stories edited by Donald A. Wollheim and Terry Carr, the seventh volume in a series of seven. It was first published in paperback by Ace Books in 1971, followed by a hardcover edition issued in September of the same year by the same publisher as a selection of the Science Fiction Book Club. It was followed in 1972 by The 1972 Annual World's Best SF, edited by Wollheim, and The Best Science Fiction of the Year, edited by Carr, the first volumes of two separate successor series,
World's Best Science Fiction: 1966 is an anthology of science fiction short stories edited by Donald A. Wollheim and Terry Carr, the second volume in a series of seven. It was first published in paperback by Ace Books in 1966. It was reprinted by the same publisher in 1970 under the alternate title World's Best Science Fiction: Second Series. An Italian edition appeared in December 1966 under the title Il vento del sole.
World's Best Science Fiction: 1967 is an anthology of science fiction short stories edited by Donald A. Wollheim and Terry Carr, the third volume in a series of seven. It was first published in paperback by Ace Books in 1967. It was reprinted by the same publisher in 1970 under the alternate title World's Best Science Fiction: Third Series.
World's Best Science Fiction: 1968 is an anthology of science fiction short stories edited by Donald A. Wollheim and Terry Carr, the fourth volume in a series of seven. It was first published in paperback by Ace Books in 1968. It was reprinted by the same publisher in 1970 under the alternate title World's Best Science Fiction: Fourth Series. The first hardcover edition was published by Gollancz in 1969.
World's Best Science Fiction: 1969 is an anthology of science fiction short stories edited by Donald A. Wollheim and Terry Carr, the fifth volume in a series of seven. It was first published in paperback by Ace Books in 1969, followed by a hardcover edition issued in September of the same year by the same publisher as a selection of the Science Fiction Book Club.
The Best Science Fiction of the Year 1 is an anthology of science fiction short stories edited by Terry Carr, the initial volume in a series of sixteen. It was one of two follow-up volumes to the previous year's World's Best Science Fiction: 1971 edited by Carr in collaboration with Donald A. Wollheim for Ace Books, the other being Wollheim's The 1972 Annual World's Best SF, edited by Wollheim and Arthur W. Saha. The Carr title was first published in paperback as The Best Science Fiction of the Year by Ballantine Books in July 1972. It was reissued by Ballantine in April 1976 as The Best Science Fiction of the Year #1, in keeping with the numerical designations of subsequent volumes in the series.
The Best Science Fiction of the Year #2 is an anthology of science fiction short stories edited by American writer Terry Carr, the second volume in a series of sixteen. It was first published in paperback by Ballantine Books in July 1973, and reissued in May 1976.
Nebula Award Showcase is a series of annual science fiction and fantasy anthologies collecting stories that have won or been nominated for the Nebula Award, awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), a nonprofit association of professional science fiction and fantasy writers founded in 1965 by Damon Knight as the Science Fiction Writers of America.
Nebula Award Stories 6 is an anthology of award-winning science fiction short works edited by Clifford D. Simak. It was first published in the United Kingdom in hardcover by Gollancz in November 1971. The first American edition was published by Doubleday in December of the same year. Paperback editions followed from Pocket Books in the U.S. in 1972, and Panther in the U.K. in December 1973. The American editions bore the variant title Nebula Award Stories Six. The book has also been published in German.
Nebula Award Stories 4 is an anthology of award-winning science fiction short works edited by Poul Anderson. It was first published in the United Kingdom in hardcover by Gollancz in November 1969. The first American edition was published by Doubleday in December of the same year. Paperback editions followed from Pocket Books in the U.S. in January 1971, and Panther in the U.K. in December 1971. The American editions bore the variant title Nebula Award Stories Four.
Nebula Award Stories Two is an anthology of science fiction short stories edited by Brian W. Aldiss and Harry Harrison. It was first published in hardcover by Doubleday in September 1967, with a Science Fiction Book Club edition following in November 1969. The first British edition was published by Gollancz in 1967, under the variant title Nebula Award Stories 1967. Paperback editions followed from Pocket Books in the U.S. in September 1968, and Panther in the U.K. in 1970. The Panther edition bore the variant title Nebula Award Stories 2. The book was more recently reissued by Stealth Press in hardcover in September 2001. It has also been published in German.
The year 1968 was marked, in science fiction, by the following events.