 Cover of first edition | |
| Editor | Donald A. Wollheim |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Jack Gaughan |
| Cover artist | Frank Frazetta |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Science fantasy |
| Publisher | Ace Books |
Publication date | 1964 |
| Media type | Print (paperback) |
| Pages | 192 |
| OCLC | 4270024 |
Swordsmen in the Sky is an anthology of science fantasy short stories, edited by Donald A. Wollheim. It was first published in paperback by Ace Books in 1964. The book has been translated into German. [1]
The book collects five classic science fantasy short stories and novelettes, originally published from 1933 to 1951. [1]
Charles Saunders, writing on blackgate.com, called the book "something of a harbinger of the sword-and-sorcery boom that was only a few years away from beginning." Of the contents, he praised the Anderson and Brackett pieces as "classics in the sense that they continue to fascinate with each re-reading, even though they were first published in 1951 and 1948, respectively," the Norton, a lost race tale, as "a slight cut below the Brackett and Anderson entries, but a large cut above most tales of its type,"and the Hamilton as "a rip-roaring interstellar thriller ... with forerunners to the Star Trek matter transporter and the Star Wars light-saber," while noting "the plot relies too much on howling coincidences." He finds only the Kline piece deficient; "[i]n comparison with the other stories in Swordsmen, this one is a squib — almost a “Cliff’s Notes” condensation of the genre." [2]
John ONeill, also on blackgate.com, characterized it as "hugely influential," a book that "looms large for SF and fantasy fans of the 60s and 70 [as] the first true science fantasy anthology in the sp[i]rit of Edgar Rice Burroughs." [3]
Leigh Douglass Brackett was an American science fiction writer known as "the Queen of Space Opera." She was also a screenwriter, known for The Big Sleep (1946), Rio Bravo (1959), and The Long Goodbye (1973). She worked on an early draft of The Empire Strikes Back (1980), elements of which remained in the film; she died before it went into production. In 1956, her book The Long Tomorrow made her the first woman ever shortlisted for the Hugo Award for Best Novel, and, along with C. L. Moore, one of the first two women ever nominated for a Hugo Award. In 2020, she posthumously won a Retro Hugo for her novel The Nemesis From Terra, originally published as Shadow Over Mars.
Edmond Moore Hamilton was an American writer of science fiction during the mid-twentieth century.
Sword and sorcery (S&S) or heroic fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy characterized by sword-wielding heroes engaged in exciting and violent adventures. Elements of romance, magic, and the supernatural are also often present. Unlike works of high fantasy, the tales, though dramatic, focus on personal battles rather than world-endangering matters. Sword and sorcery commonly overlaps with heroic fantasy. The genre originated from the early-1930s works of Robert E. Howard. The term "sword and sorcery" was coined by Fritz Leiber in the May 1961 issue of the fantasy fanzine Amra, to describe Howard and the stories that were influenced by his works. In parallel with "sword and sorcery", the term "heroic fantasy" is used, although it is a more loosely defined genre.
Linwood Vrooman Carter was an American author of science fiction and fantasy, as well as an editor, poet and critic. He usually wrote as Lin Carter; known pseudonyms include H. P. Lowcraft and Grail Undwin. He is best known for his work in the 1970s as editor of the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series, which introduced readers to many overlooked classics of the fantasy genre.
Flashing Swords! is a series of fantasy anthologies published by Dell Books from 1973 to 1981 under the editorship of Lin Carter, and revived under the editorship of Robert M. Price in 2020. It originally showcased the heroic fantasy work of the members of the Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America (SAGA), a somewhat informal literary group active from the 1960s to the 1980s, of which Carter was the guiding force. Most of the important sword and sorcery writers at the time of the group’s founding were members; later, membership was extended to other fantasy authors.
Gnome Press was an American small-press publishing company primarily known for publishing many science fiction classics. Gnome was one of the most eminent of the fan publishers of SF, producing 86 titles in its lifespan — many considered classic works of SF and Fantasy today. Gnome was important in the transitional period between Genre SF as a magazine phenomenon and its arrival in mass-market book publishing, but proved too underfunded to make the leap from fan-based publishing to the professional level. The company existed for just over a decade, ultimately failing due to inability to compete with major publishers who also started to publish science fiction. In its heyday, Gnome published many of the major SF authors, and in some cases, as with Robert E. Howard's Conan series and Isaac Asimov's Foundation series, was responsible for the manner in which their stories were collected into book form.
The Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America or SAGA was an informal group of American fantasy authors active from the 1960s through the 1980s, noted for their contributions to the "Sword and Sorcery" kind of heroic fantasy, itself a subgenre of fantasy. When it developed a serious purpose that was to promote the popularity and respectability of Sword and Sorcery fiction.
Charles Robert Saunders was an African-American author and journalist, a pioneer of the "sword and soul" literary genre with his Imaro novels. During his long career, he wrote novels, non-fiction, screenplays and radio plays.
Flashing Swords! #1 is an anthology of fantasy stories, edited by the American writer Lin Carter. It was first published in hardcover by Nelson Doubleday in April 1973 as a selection in its Science Fiction Book Club, and in paperback by Dell Books in July the same year. The first British edition was issued by Mayflower in 1974.
Flashing Swords! #2 is an anthology of fantasy stories, edited by American writer Lin Carter. It was first published in hardcover by Nelson Doubleday in 1973 as a selection in its Science Fiction Book Club and in paperback by Dell Books in February 1974. The first British edition was issued by Mayflower in February 1975.
William Levi Crawford was an American publisher and editor.
Swords Against Tomorrow is an anthology of fantasy stories, edited by Robert Hoskins. It was first published in paperback by Signet Books in August 1970.
Giants Unleashed is an anthology of science fiction short stories edited by Groff Conklin. It was first published in hardcover by Grosset & Dunlap in 1965. A paperback edition followed from the publisher's Tempo Books imprint in April 1966. It was reprinted, minus the introduction and under the alternate title Minds Unleashed, in October 1970.
The following is a list of works by science fiction and fantasy author Poul Anderson.
Nebula Winners Fourteen is an anthology of award winning science fiction short works edited by Frederik Pohl. It was first published in hardcover by Harper & Row in August 1980. The first British edition was published in hardcover by W. H. Allen in April 1981. Paperback editions followed from Star in the U.K. in March 1982 and Bantam Books in the U.S. in July 1982.
Nebula Awards Showcase 2019 is an anthology of science fiction and fantasy short works edited by Mexican-Canadian writer Silvia Moreno-Garcia, first published in trade paperback and ebook by Parvus Press in October 2019.
Nebula Awards Showcase 54 is an anthology of science fiction and fantasy short works edited by Bengali writer Nibedita Sen. It was first published in trade paperback by SFWA, Inc. in November 2020, followed by an ebook edition from the same publisher in December of the same year.
Savage Scrolls, Volume One: Thrilling Tales of Sword-and-Sorcery is an anthology of fantasy short stories in the sword and sorcery subgenre, edited by Jason Ray Carney. It was first published in trade paperback and ebook by Pulp Hero Press in November 2020, and takes its title from Savage Scrolls, Volume One: Scholarship from the Hyborian Age (2017), an earlier volume of literary criticism by Fred Blosser from the same publisher. Each was projected to be the first in a series; no further volumes of the Blosser title were forthcoming, but a second volume of the Carney title "is already in the works," with at least four projected in all.
The Best of Edmond Hamilton is a collection of science fiction short stories by American author Edmond Hamilton, edited by his wife and fellow science fiction writer Leigh Brackett. It was first published in hardback by Nelson Doubleday in April 1977 and in paperback by Ballantine Books in August of the same year as a volume in its Classic Library of Science Fiction. The book was reissued in trade paperback and ebook editions by Phoenix Pick in November 2010. It has also been translated into German.
The Best of Robert Bloch is a collection of speculative fiction short stories by American author Robert Bloch. It was first published in paperback by Del Rey/Ballantine in November 1977 as a volume in its Classic Library of Science Fiction. The book has been translated into German.