Catherine Lucille Moore was an American science fiction and fantasy writer, who first came to prominence in the 1930s writing as C. L. Moore. She was among the first women to write in the science fiction and fantasy genres. Moore's work paved the way for many other female speculative fiction writers.
Lester del Rey was an American science fiction author and editor. He was the author of many books in the juvenile Winston Science Fiction series, and the editor at Del Rey Books, the fantasy and science fiction imprint of Ballantine Books, along with his fourth wife Judy-Lynn del Rey.
Unknown was an American pulp fantasy fiction magazine, published from 1939 to 1943 by Street & Smith, and edited by John W. Campbell. Unknown was a companion to Street & Smith's science fiction pulp, Astounding Science Fiction, which was also edited by Campbell at the time; many authors and illustrators contributed to both magazines. The leading fantasy magazine in the 1930s was Weird Tales, which focused on shock and horror. Campbell wanted to publish a fantasy magazine with more finesse and humor than Weird Tales, and put his plans into action when Eric Frank Russell sent him the manuscript of his novel Sinister Barrier, about aliens who own the human race. Unknown's first issue appeared in March 1939; in addition to Sinister Barrier, it included H. L. Gold's "Trouble With Water", a humorous fantasy about a New Yorker who meets a water gnome. Gold's story was the first of many in Unknown to combine commonplace reality with the fantastic.
"...and some were human." is the first story collection by science fiction writer Lester del Rey, originally published in hardcover by Prime Press in 1948 in an edition of 3,050 copies if which 50 were specially bound, slipcased and signed by the author. The stories first appeared in Astounding and Unknown. An abridged paperback edition, including only eight of the twelve stories, was issued by Ballantine Books in 1961. A Spanish translation, reportedly dropping only one story, appeared in 1957.
Souls in Metal: an Anthology of Robot Futures is an anthology of robot-themed science fiction short stories edited by Mike Ashley. It was first published in hardcover by Robert Hale in February 1977 in the United Kingdom, with an American hardcover edition following from St. Martin's Press in June of the same year, and a paperback edition from Jove/HBJ in June 1978.
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 Henry Kuttner is a collection of science fiction and fantasy short stories by American author Henry Kuttner. It was first published in hardback by Nelson Doubleday in February 1975 and in paperback by Ballantine Books in April of the same year as a volume in its Classic Library of Science Fiction. The book was reissued in trade paperback by Del Rey/Ballantine in March 2007 under the alternate title The Last Mimzy: Stories. and in ebook by Gateway/Orion in May 2014 and Diversion Books in August 2014. It was later gathered together with Fury and Mutant into the omnibus collection Fury / Mutant / The Best of Henry Kuttner, issued in trade paperback and ebook by Gollancz in December 2013. It has also been translated into Spanish.
Ballantine's Classic Library of Science Fiction is a series of speculative fiction collections originally published in the 1970s and 1980s purporting to gather together the career-best short works of a selection of authors then prominent in the field. The series was conceived and published in paperback by Ballantine Books, though most of the early volumes also had initial hardcover editions issued by Doubleday's Science Fiction Book Club preceding the Ballantine/Del Rey paperback editions.
The Best of Leigh Brackett is a collection of science fiction short stories by American author Leigh Brackett, edited by Edmond Hamilton. It was first published in hardcover by Nelson Doubleday in July 1977 and in paperback by Ballantine Books in September of the same year as a volume in its Classic Library of Science Fiction. A second hardcover edition was issued by Garland Publishing in March 1983, and Del Rey/Ballantine reprinted the paperback edition in June 1986. The book has been translated into German.
The Best of Hal Clement is a collection of science fiction short stories by American author Hal Clement, edited by Lester del Rey. It was first published in paperback by Del Rey/Ballantine in June 1979 as a volume in its Classic Library of Science Fiction. It was reissued in ebook by Gateway/Orion in May 2013, and in trade paperback and ebook by Phoenix Pick in December 2014.
The Best of Lester del Rey is a collection of science fiction short stories by American author Lester del Rey. It was first published in paperback by Del Rey/Ballantine in September 1978 as a volume in its Classic Library of Science Fiction, with a Science Fiction Book Club hardcover edition following in December of the same year. It was reprinted by Del Rey Books in March 1986, February 1995, and June 2000. The book has been translated into German.
The Best of Jack Williamson is a collection of science fiction short stories by American author Jack Williamson. It was first published in paperback by Del Rey/Ballantine in June 1978 as a volume in its Classic Library of Science Fiction. It was reprinted by Del Rey Books in January 1984. The book has been translated into Italian and German.
The Best of Frederik Pohl is a collection of science fiction short stories by American author Frederik Pohl, edited by Lester del Rey. It was first published in hardcover by Nelson Doubleday in March 1975 as a selection of its Science Fiction Book Club, and in paperback by Ballantine Books in June of the same year as a volume in its Classic Library of Science Fiction, and reprinted in April 1976. The book was reissued in hardcover by Taplinger in 1977. The first British edition was issued in Hardcover in January 1977 by Sidgwick & Jackson, which later gathered it together with The Best of Harry Harrison (1976) into the omnibus volume Science Fiction Special 29 (1978). It has also been translated into Italian and German.
The Best of Raymond Z. Gallun is a collection of science fiction short stories by American author Raymond Z. Gallun, edited by J. J. Pierce. It was first published in paperback by Del Rey/Ballantine in August 1978 as a volume in its Classic Library of Science Fiction.
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.
The Best of C. M. Kornbluth is a collection of science fiction and fantasy short stories by American author C. M. Kornbluth, edited by Frederik Pohl. It was first published in hardback by Nelson Doubleday in October 1976 and in paperback by Ballantine Books in January 1977, as a volume in its Classic Library of Science Fiction. A second hardcover edition was issued by Taplinger in November 1977, and an ebook edition by Faded Page in December 2017.
The Best of Cordwainer Smith is a collection of science fiction short stories by American author Cordwainer Smith, edited by J. J. Pierce. It was first published in hardback by Nelson Doubleday in July 1975 and in paperback by Ballantine Books in September of the same year as a volume in its Classic Library of Science Fiction. The Ballantine edition was reprinted in October 1977 and July 1985. Phoenix Pick issued a new edition in trade paperback and ebook in April, 2017. A British paperback edition under the alternative title The Rediscovery of Man was published by Gollancz in June 1988, and reissued in 1999, 2003, and 2010; Gollancz also brought out hardcover and ebook versions in September 1988 and November 2012, respectively. The book has also been translated into German.
The Best of Fredric Brown is a collection of science fiction short stories by American author Fredric Brown, edited by Robert Bloch. It was first published in hardback by Nelson Doubleday in January 1977 and in paperback by Ballantine Books in May of the same year as a volume in its Classic Library of Science Fiction. The book has been translated into German and Spanish.
The Best of John W. Campbell is the title of two collections of science fiction short stories by American author John W. Campbell. The first, a British edition edited by George Hay, was first published in hardcover by Sidgwick & Jackson in February 1973, and in paperback by Sphere Books in November 1976. Sidgwick & Jackson later gathered together with The Far-Out Worlds of A. E. van Vogt (1968) into the omnibus volume Science Fiction Special 15 (1975), and with Brian N. Ball's Singularity Station (1973) and Poul Anderson's Orbit Unlimited (1961) into the omnibus volume Science Fiction Special 20 (1977). The second collection of this title, an American edition edited by Lester del Rey, was first published in hardcover by Nelson Doubleday in May 1976, and in paperback by Ballantine Books in June 1976 as a volume in its Classic Library of Science Fiction. The American edition was reprinted by Del Rey/Ballantine in February 1995, and has also been translated into German.
The Best of H. P. Lovecraft: Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre is a collection of stories by American author H. P. Lovecraft. It was first published in trade paperback by Del Rey/Ballantine in October 1982 as a volume in its Classic Library of Science Fiction, and reprinted in September 1988 and April 1995, with an ebook edition issued in November. 2002.
