8 famous authors who used secret pseudonyms | MNN - Mother Nature Network MNN.com > Lifestyle > Arts & Culture 8 famous authors who used secret pseudonyms J.K. Rowling wasn't the first. While many established writers are relieved to rely on their fame, these authors adopted sly alter egos. 4 J.K. Rowling, who you might also know as Robert Galbraith. (Photo: Daniel Ogren/ flickr ) Many authors have chosen to publish by a pen name. Lewis Carroll was born Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, Mark Twain grew up as Samuel Langhorne Clemens, and Theodor Seuss Geisel was the name on the birth certificate of Dr. Seuss . But where pen names get interesting is when an established author decides to slip past the spotlight and write something secretly under a pseudonym. Consider the following examples: 1. Agatha Christie: Mary Westmacott The English crime writer wrote an impressive 66 detective novels and more than 15 short story collections under her own name, but she also wrote six romance novels under the name Mary Westmacott. 2. Benjamin Franklin: Mrs. Silence Dogood What a wicked sense of humor this founding father had.

In 1722, a series of “charming” letters were delivered to the New-England Courant (one of the first American newspapers) written by a middle-aged widow named Silence Dogood — who was actually young Benjamin Franklin . After being denied publication in the paper, the sly writer took on the alias, and was quickly published. Of hoop skirts, the cheeky Mrs. Dogood wrote: These monstrous topsy-turvy Mortar-Pieces, are neither fit for the Church, the Hall, or the Kitchen; and if a Number of them were well mounted on Noddles-Island, they would look more like Engines of War for bombarding the Town, than Ornaments of the Fair Sex. An honest Neighbour of mine, happening to be in Town some time since on a publick Day, inform’d me, that he saw four Gentlewomen with their Hoops half mounted in a Balcony, as they withdrew to the Wall, to the great Terror of the Militia, who (he thinks) might attribute their irregular Volleys to the formidable Appearance of the Ladies Petticoats. 3. C.S. Lewis: Clive Hamilton and N.W.

Clerk Clive Staples Lewis, the hugely influential Christian writer who contributed "The Chronicles of Narnia," "Out of the Silent Planet," "The Four Loves," "The Screwtape Letters" and "Mere Christianity" to the world also wrote by another pen name. Under the name of Clive Hamilton, he published "Spirits in Bondage" and "Dymer." And then in 1961, he published "A Grief Observed" which addressed his bereavement over losing his wife. The book was first published under the pseudonym in hopes of avoiding identification of Lewis as the author. 4. Isaac Asimov: Paul French Author and professor Isaac Asimov, best known for his works of science fiction and his popular science books, was asked to write a juvenile science-fiction novel that would serve as the basis for a television series. Fearing that the “Lucky Starr” series would be adapted into the "uniformly awful" programming typical of television, he decided to publish it under the pseudonym Paul French. Plans for the TV series fell through, but he continued to write the books, eventually producing six novels in the series. 5. J.K.

Rowling: Robert Galbraith Having already shortened her name to a gender-ambiguous set of initials, Joanne Rowling recently set the book-reading world reeling when it was divulged that the world’s best selling author was the voice behind Robert Galbraith, supposed first-time author of “The Cuckoo’s Calling.” Said the author upon her outing: “I had hoped to keep this secret a little longer, because being Robert Galbraith has been such a liberating experience. It has been wonderful to publish without hype or expectation, and pure pleasure to get feedback under a different name.” 6. Michael Crichton: John Lange, Jeffery Hudson and Michael Douglas During his time at Harvard Medical School, the bestselling author began publishing under his own name, but then also started publishing under the names of John Lange, Jeffery Hudson and Michael Douglas — the latter being a combination of his name and his brother’s, with whom he co-wrote "Dealing." 7. Stephen King: Richard Bachman Early in horror fiction author Stephen King's career, publishers often limited writers to one book per year, leading King to create a pseudonym to increase publications without over-saturating the King brand.

He convinced his publisher to print the extra novels under the pseudonym, Richard Bachman. Books published under the pen name include: "Rage" (1977), "The Long Walk" (1979), "Roadwork" (1981), "The Running Man" (1982), "Thinner" (1984), "The Regulators" (1996), and "Blaze" (2007). 8. Washington Irving: Jonathan Oldstyle, Diedrich Knickerbocker and Geoffrey Crayon Famed American author of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle," Washington Irving made his debut in 1802 under the name Jonathan Oldstyle. In 1809, he finished his first long book “A History of New-York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty," a political and historic satire published under another pseudonym: Diedrich Knickerbocker. Before its publication, Irving started a marketing hoax by issuing a series of missing person notices in New York newspapers seeking information about Knickerbocker, a Dutch historian who had gone missing from his hotel in New York City.

As part of the scheme, Irving also placed a notice allegedly from the hotel’s proprietor, saying that if Mr. Knickerbocker didn’t return to settle his hotel bill, the hotel owner would publish the manuscript Knickerbocker had left behind. Naturally, it was published and eagerly scooped up. Guerilla marketing has never been the same. Related stories on MNN: The Adventures of Lucky Starr: Isaac Asimov, Paul French: Amazon.com: Books The Adventures of Lucky Starr Customers Who Viewed This Item Also Viewed Page 1 of 1 Start over Page 1 of 1 This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading. Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here , or download a FREE Kindle Reading App . New York Times best sellers Browse the New York Times best sellers in popular categories like Fiction, Nonfiction, Picture Books and more.

See more Product Details Publisher: Nelson Doubleday / SFBC; Book Club edition (1985) Language: English Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,868,128 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) Customer Reviews HALL OF FAME TOP 1000 REVIEWER VINE VOICE on June 11, 2006 Format: Hardcover Isaac Asimov, one of the principal forces behind modern science fiction, wrote this book under a pseudonym (Paul French), he eventually tired of the pseudonym and in later books put clues into them that should have led most readers to figure out who the actual author was.

This book collects three of the six Lucky Starr books, "David Starr, Space Ranger," "Lucky Starr and the Pirates of the Asteroids," and "Lucky Starr and the Oceans of Venus." These books are also collected in a single volume titled "The Complete Adventures of Lucky Starr." "David Starr, Space Ranger" In this book we meet David Starr, who we will know as Lucky for the remaining five books in the series. David is eating in a restaurant when one of the patrons dies. David is soon on his way to Mars to try and understand the source of the poisoning that has killed a number of Earth people randomly across the planet. Working incognito, David encounters John Bigman Jones, a blustering little man whose courage matches his big mouth. In spite of the help that Bigman gives David, David's life is nearly ended more than one time. David also discovers a surprise on Mars that he decides does not need to be revealed to anyone else in the solar system. Eventually David figures out how the poisoning was done, and who the poisoners are. The ending of this short book is fun and makes this book a quick read.

"Lucky Starr and the Pirates of the Asteroids" In this book, the second in the Lucky Starr series, Lucky journeys to the asteroid belt to fight the pirates that may have killed his parents. Read more › Pseudonyms: 10 Questions to Ask Before Choosing a Pen Name Pseudonyms: 10 Questions to Ask Before Choosing a Pen Name by Adrienne DeWolfe Return to The Business of Writing · Print/Mobile-Friendly Version Pseudonyms abound in writing circles. What doesn't abound is clear and insightful advice on how to choose the best pen name for a long-term career in novel writing. Let's have some fun. Check out the names of these genre fiction authors: Robin Hobb, Stephen King, Jack Higgins, Rebecca Brandewyne, Issac Asimov, Barbara Michaels, Alistair MacLean, Eboni Snoe... Do they or don't they write novels under pseudonyms? (Keep reading for the exciting answers to your pop quiz.) One of the biggest decisions you'll face as a newly contracted author is whether or not to write under a pseudonym.

Choosing a pseudonym - which is sometimes referred to as a pen name or a nom de plume - will also be one of your greatest creative challenges. In fact, it's far more difficult to name yourself than to name a character when you're writing novels! Whenever fiction writers ask for my advice about pseudonyms, they're usually wondering: a) Why do published authors choose to write under a pen name, and b) How do genre fiction writers choose a "good" nom de plume. The answers aren't cut-and-dried. There are many reasons to write under a pseudonym. Some considerations are emotional (honoring a relative or mentor); some involve self-protection (keeping aggressive fans from tracking you down); and some considerations are strictly professional (your real name is too complex for the average person to pronounce, spell, or remember.) Later in their novel writing careers, some authors choose to change the name under which they write. A variety of reasons exist for this decision, including: The author wishes to write in multiple fiction genres or sub-genres but doesn't want to confuse his/her core readership. For example, bestselling Romance novelist Nora Roberts (her real name) decided to try her hand at futuristic suspense.

She chose to write the new genre under the pseudonym, J.D. Robb. [Editor's Note: In fact, an alert reader points out that Nora Roberts is a pseudonym for Eleanor Marie Robertson, who also writes as Jill Marsh and Sarah Hardesty.] The author wishes to start fresh. If an author's rate of return is 50% or higher (after his third published novel), publishers will shy away from buying that author's future books. To overcome this "sales stigma", an author might bury his name (or pen name) and give birth to a new pseudonym, hoping for a second chance with publishers and readers. Choosing whether to write novels under a pseudonym is a highly personal, and often emotional, matter. It's important to remember that the decision is, at its core, a business one. Before finalizing your choice, confer with your agent and editor, as well as your spouse. Your advisors can help you make the best choice for your novel writing only if you're clear about your long-term career goals. You need to carefully consider how publicity (both positive and negative) will impact your life, your family's lives, and any other businesses that you may own now or in the future.

Most importantly, you need to understand the far-reaching impact of publicity upon your privacy, as well as your right to privacy, under the law, after you become a public figure. Here are 10 questions to consider as you decide whether or not to write under a pseudonym: How comfortable are you with having your real name splashed all over the Internet, especially if your writing is being savaged in a blog post or book review? Are you likely to attract more readers in your fiction genre if you're writing novels as a male or a female? Would your name be easier to remember, pronounce, or spell if it was more generic? Is your real name so common that it could be easily confused with the name of someone else (for instance, a highly publicized white collar criminal or another author in your fiction genre?) Would you prefer to err on the side of caution, protecting your loved ones from your followers or from any future career fall-out that you may suffer? How comfortable are you with the idea that fans and detractors may be able to find you in the phone book and show up at your house or your place of business? Is your preferred pseudonym easy to spell and remember?

Does your real name invoke a positive association with the fiction genre that you're writing? (For instance, if your birth name is Cherry Clapp, you may face hurdles in the Romance genre.) Are you planning to write multiple fiction genres? Where is your preferred pseudonym likely to be shelved? (At the bottom of a bookstore's stacks? Near the name of a bestselling author in your fiction genre?) Okay: I promised you some answers to the pseudonym mystery, "Do they or don't they write under pen names?" So here goes: Robin Hobb (her pseudonym) writes epic Fantasy. She also writes as Megan Lindholm. Stephen King (his real name) writes Horror. He also writes as Richard Bachman, Eleanor Druse, Steve King, and John Swithen. Jack Higgins (his pseudonym) writes Mystery. He also writes as Martin Fallon, James Graham, and Hugh Marlowe. Rebecca Brandewyne (her real name) writes historical Romance. Issac Asimov (his real name) wrote Science Fiction. He also wrote as Paul French and George E. Dale. Barbara Michaels (her pseudonym) writes gothic and supernatural Thrillers. She also writes as Elizabeth Peters.

Alistair MacLean (his real name) writes Mystery. He also writes as Ian Stuart. Eboni Snoe (her pseudonym) writes African-American Romance. For better or worse, your pseudonym will follow you throughout your novel writing career. It will become your brand, characterizing your public persona and the types of books that you write. Like any decision, choosing a pseudonym has its pros and cons. It can offer you a layer of protection from the public and help you retain a degree of privacy. While deciding whether or not to write under a pseudonym, I encourage you to research the privacy rights that public figures are entitled to under the law. That way, you'll start your novel writing career with your eyes wide open. Find Out More... 10 Authors Who Write Under Different Pen Names | Mental Floss UK 10 Authors Who Write Under Different Pen Names Read everything by your favourite writer? Maybe not, if they’re using alternate pen names... google+ When you see a familiar author’s name on a book cover, you think you know what you’re getting.

Most writers have a specific style, and a genre they return to over and over again, so fans can feel pretty confident that if they liked someone’s last book, they’ll like the next one. But what if a well-known author wants to write something completely different? Changing genre or demographic can be tricky – which is where pseudonyms come in. Here are 10 authors who also wrote under other names: Stephen King Stephen King is known as a pretty prolific author, but back in the ‘70s, publishers wanted him to slow down. The accepted wisdom was that authors should only put out one book per year, to avoid saturating the market. To get around that restriction, King came up with a pseudonym: 'Richard Bachman'. Publishing as Bachman was also a test, of sorts. King wanted to know whether his success was genuinely merited by his writing or just a stroke of luck. So by quietly putting out novels under another name was meant to prove, one way or another, what he owed his success too. Unfortunately for him, he was rumbled pretty quickly when readers noticed the similarities, and by the time he’d written five Bachman books, the truth was out there.

JK Rowling When JK Rowling wrote her first book aimed at adults, she did so under her own name. But the weight of expectation must have been crushing, so for her second book, she picked a pseudonym. 'Robert Galbraith” was named for Robert F. Kennedy and Rowling’s childhood fantasy name, Ella Galbraith, and Rowling submitted the book to publishers without letting on that she was the one behind it. The Cuckoo’s Calling was actually rejected by at least one publisher, and ended up being put out by the same publishing house as The Casual Vacancy. Again, though, Rowling didn’t get to find out how readers would react to her work without her name attached for long before her identity was leaked. Richard Matheson Matheson was another author who chose a pen name to distance himself from some of his work – but in his case, it was usually because he didn’t like it, or didn’t like what editors or filmmakers had done with his work. When his novel I Am Legend was adapted into the 1964 movie The Last Man On Earth, Matheson was so annoyed by changes to his screenplay that he asked to be credited as 'Logan Swanson'.

He repeated the trick when Playboy Press published a heavily edited version of his story Earthbound, and also reused the pseudonym for episodes he wrote for Combat! and The Twilight Zone. It’s one way to make sure your bibliography looks flawless, we suppose. Joyce Carol Oates Joyce Carol Oates’s literary fiction has won her an abundance of awards over the years, but she, too, felt the need to escape the expectations of her readers by adopting a pseudonym. In the ‘80s, she wrote a short, experimental novel called The Lives Of The Twins, and submitted it to publishers under the name 'Rosamond Smith'. The book was accepted, but before it was even published, her cover was blown, with her editors and agents bewildered that she’d tried to trick them. After all, she’d already published more than 40 books in different genres, so they didn’t understand what she was up to. Chastened, Oates told the New York Times that she had just been trying to get a fresh reading from critics, and vowed never to use a pseudonym again.

She soon broke her promise, though: she’s since published a further seven books under the Rosamond Smith moniker, plus three novels as 'Lauren Kelly'. And it even came out that Rosamond Smith wasn’t her first pseudonym, as she’d published several stories under the name 'Rae Jolene Smith'. Sneaky. Agatha Christie Agatha Christie’s name is synonymous with mystery stories – you expect murders and detectives and red herrings from her books. So when she wanted to write something different, she picked a new name: 'Mary Westmacott'. According to Christie, it was less to do with targeting a different demographic and more about letting herself play with a new genre. Writing mysteries was her day job; writing romances was fun. Christie wrote four novels as Westmacott before she got found out, and a further two after the cat was out of the bag. C.S. Lewis C.S. Lewis is best known for the Chronicles Of Narnia, his Christian-flavoured children’s fantasy books. Before he published those, though, and before he became a Christian, he published several volumes of poetry under the name 'Clive Hamilton'.

Spirits In Bondage was written when Lewis was just 20 years old and freshly returned from military service, but sadly for him, it went largely ignored. His second volume of poetry, Dymer, was similarly frostily received, and that failure put Lewis off writing much more poetry. It might also explain why his later books were attributed to 'C.S. Lewis'. Lewis used another pseudonym later in life, too, when he wrote A Grief Observed about the death of his wife. 'N. W. Clerk' wasn’t revealed to be Lewis until after his death in 1963. Isaac Asimov In another case of an author trying to duck damage to their reputation by a potentially awful adaptation, when science fiction writer Isaac Asimov started writing a YA sci-fi book that was going to be turned into a TV show, he chose a new name. David Starr, Space Ranger was published under the name 'Paul French'. Not familiar with that show? The TV series never actually happened, but Asimov went on to write a further five books in the Lucky Starr series.

Eventually, he stopped being embarrassed about them, brought in his famous Three Laws Of Robotics, and admitted Paul French and Isaac Asimov were one and the same. Dean Koontz Some authors write under one name; others under two; a few under three. Dean Koontz, on the other hand, writes under at least ten names. Throughout the 1970s, he published as many as eight books a year, and since his editors told him writing in different genres under the same name was a bad idea, he needed some alternative aliases. So he picked some: 'Aaron Wolfe', 'Brian Coffey', 'David Axton', 'Deanna Dwyer', 'John Hill', 'K.R. Dwyer', 'Leigh Nichols', 'Anthony North', 'Owen West', and 'Richard Paige'. Over the years there have been other works under other names that were suspected to have been written by Dean Koontz, but he swears he only used those names and no others. Ten names is enough for anyone, no?

Anne Rice Under her own name, Anne Rice is known as the author of the Vampire Chronicles, the books that reinvented bloodsuckers as sensitive souls in need of love long before Twilight came along. Since she started writing the Vampire Chronicles, Rice has converted to Christianity and then unconverted again, and written dozens of books along the way, but she also writes under two different pen names: as 'A. N. Roquelaure', she wrote four medieval erotic novels, and as 'Anne Rampling', she wrote two novels purporting to explore the darker side of sex and romance. So, that’s erotic fiction again, then. Michael Crichton Nowadays, the late Michael Crichton is a pretty well-known name in the action/thriller/sci-fi genres, with many of his best-selling books having been turned into blockbusting movies. But when he was just starting out (and still at medical school) Crichton published his writing under pseudonyms. Odds On, his first published novel, was attributed to 'John Lange'; after several more books written as Lange, he published A Case Of Need under the name 'Jeffery Hudson'.

The first time he actually used the name Michael Crichton was in 1969, for The Andromeda Strain. More Lange books followed, but Crichton eventually reverted to using his own name… though not before he published Dealing, a thriller co-written with his brother, under the name 'Michael Douglas'. Read more about: Lucky Starr (Literature) - TV Tropes Lucky Starr You need to login to do this. Get Known if you don't have an account Share WMG Series of juvenile science-fiction novels by Isaac Asimov , written in the 1950s under the pseudonym Paul French. The series relates the adventures of David "Lucky" Starr, Councilman of Earth's Council of Science, and his battles against crime and corruption in different regions of the Solar System. He is accompanied by loyal sidekick John Bigman Jones, whose short height and shorter temper contrast him with the tall, cool-headed hero.

The series comprises six volumes: David Starr, Space Ranger Lucky Starr and the Pirates of the Asteroids Lucky Starr and the Oceans of Venus Lucky Starr and the Big Sun of Mercury Lucky Starr and the Moons of Jupiter Lucky Starr and the Rings of Saturn In his adventures, Lucky faces off against unusual alien organisms and hostile space environments as well as ordinary human sabotage. The predominating threat throughout comes from Earth's rivals in the system of Sirius, who, although descended from Earthmen, think themselves superior and show signs of wanting to take over Earth's Solar System. The stories usually have an element of mystery as well as adventure, with Lucky having to find a criminal hidden in plain sight, and, in true Asimov fashion, the solution can hang on the tiniest point. The Lucky Starr series was written explicitly with the purpose of teaching young people facts about the solar system, which means that it suffers from Science Marches On perhaps more than the rest of Asimov's work—the title Lucky Starr and the Oceans of Venus should be a clue as to how inaccurate it sometimes gets. Nevertheless, the books are still very enjoyable as science-fiction adventures. Not to be confused with the anime Lucky Star .

The first books were also marketed to Hollywood, as the basis for a TV series, which is why Asimov went with the pseudonym. He had seen how Hollywood tended to butcher the works of other SF writers, and wanted to be able to disassociate himself from any resulting series, if he had to. After the TV idea fell through, he started adding elements to the later books that clearly labelled him as the author (such as three-laws robots with positronic brains.) This series provides examples of: Affectionate Gesture to the Head : Shows up from time to time in the books, usually with Lucky ruffling Bigman's hair. Air-Vent Passageway : Bigman uses one to access a critical relay which, once disconnected, will keep an airlock from opening. Artificial Gravity : "Pseudo-grav" is a common Asimovian term used in the series, and in Big Sun of Mercury, it becomes an important part of the plot due to Bigman realizing that one character was able to anticipate a sudden gravity change, thus proving that he deliberately changed the field strength. Awesome McCool Name : John Bigman Jones; he answers predominantly to "Bigman", though he is all of five feet two inches in height.

"Character Name and the Noun" Phrase : Five of the six books in the series have titles of the form "Lucky Starr and The X of Y ". Chromosome Casting : A male example. All the more impressive considering it encompasses six books. Deflector Shields : The Shooting Starr (as well as other ships) use them. Delicious Distraction : In Oceans of Venus, Lucky realizes that the V-frogs seem particularly attracted to petroleum-derived products due to their relative oxygen deficiency. It is this which allows him to break their mental hold at two key points in the story. Early Installment Weirdness : In the first book, Starr encounters an ancient race of Martians who give him a personal force field and dub him "Space Ranger". It was obviously intended as a hero origin story, but all the later books became more of a series of detective novels IN SPACE . He's never called "Space Ranger" again and hardly ever uses the force field. Escape Pod : When he was a child, Lucky was placed in one in Space Ranger to save him from marauding pirates. Everybody Smokes : Quite a few characters do, but not Lucky and Bigman.

Exact Words : In one book, an important plot point is that a capsule with valuable intel data in orbit around a planet is said, by an incomplete transmission received from the ship that launched it, to be in a "normal" orbit — which is taken to mean "standard", around the planet's equator. The capsule cannot be found until it is realised that "normal" was actually used in the geometric sense — "perpendicular", a polar orbit. Future Food Is Artificial : The yeast-farms of Venus are the source of many foods that are served on that planet, as well as long-term compact space rations. Said food is apparently indistinguishable from the real thing. Future Slang : Sands of Mars! Great Galaxy! Space! Laser Blade : Trope Maker , surprisingly enough. They are first featured in David Starr: Space Ranger. Gagging on Your Words : Happens a few times in the books. As one example, Bigman, with great reluctance, admits he isn't very tall in Oceans of Venus. Go-to Alias : Lucky uses "William Williams", or "Dick Williams". Heterosexual Life-Partners : Hector Conway and Augustus Henree.

Neither Henree nor [Conway] had ever married, and for neither were there any girls to compete with Barbara in memory. Possibly also Lucky Starr and John Bigman Jones. His years with Lucky had been happy, exciting ones. He had lived a full lifetime in them and had faced death without fear. He could face death now, also without fear. His Name Is... : In the fourth book, a robot about to shut down says that it received its orders from - well, only one syllable is heard, but its enough to figure out he meant "Earthman" - a project director who once visited its homeworld and stole the servant assigned to him. Honorary Uncle : Councilmen Conway and Henree, to Lucky. Hopping Machine : "Hoppers" are used by Lucky at one point in his stay on Venus to get out of a large crowd of people without needing to shoulder his way through. The Hypnotoad : The V-frogs on Venus have empathic and telepathic abilities. Without human influence to concentrate this ability, it is primarily instinctively used by V-frogs to activate emotions of trust and kindness towards them. With human aid, however, it is possible to read and influence minds.

Ironic Nickname : John Bigman Jones (5 foot 2, counting the hair he keeps combed straight up). "It" Is Dehumanizing : A racist Sirian refuses to use "he" as the pronoun to describe Bigman: Devoure broke in, "We had an example here a while ago, the Councilman's companion. It infuriated and nauseated me merely to be in the same room with him; a monkey, a five-foot travesty of a human being, a lump of deformityï¿½ " The Napoleon : Bigman's forceful personality is well-established in the series. Nice Shoes : On Mars, men (and presumably, women) wear hip-boots of the most riotous possible color combinations. In an aversion, Lucky wears relatively plain ones and gets a ribbing for it from Bigman. Bigman: And you're the only farmboy I ever heard of that was willing to wear simple black and white. No Gravity for You : Inverted in one story, where a character is killed because Earth-like gravity was activated at exactly the wrong moment. Outdated Future : The Zeerust is pretty obvious when it comes to the computers that are available in the series.

A specialized computer man has to prepare input in the form of paper tape in Moons of Jupiter. In Oceans of Venus, a technical officer in charge of the maintenance of the dome (of the city of Aphrodite) as a whole has a portable computer that weighs about 25 pounds. Even allowing for the specialized apparatus hidden in it to control the V-frogs, modern miniaturization would almost certainly have cut that weight down to a more manageable amount, plus made the computer itself less bulky. Punny Name : Lucky, of course, but also his spaceship, the Shooting Starr. Planet of Hats : Almost literally—Martian farm boys all wear garish hip boots, while Venusian men all have moustaches. Politically Incorrect Villain : Most notably, Sten Devoure from Rings of Saturn. He's unabashedly racist and has a very narrow view of what constitutes a human being. Pintsized Powerhouse : Bigman. When he gets into fights, he usually manages to win. Reckless Sidekick : Bigman; Lucky occasionally has to remind him he can't go haring off based on suspicion alone with only the flimiest of plans.

A case where this tendency almost backfires on Bigman is when he proposes single combat with an antagonist who is considerably taller and doesn't play fair. Rule of Cool : In David Starr, Space Ranger, there is a fancy restaurant with tables made out of force fields. Why? Because they're allegedly easy to clean. However, the book goes on to say that the force fields worked too well, and the fields had to be made to purposely glitter so people would see that their plates and cutlery actually rested on something tangible. Science Marches On : To such an extent that the 1970s reprintings included new introductions by Asimov enumerating all the newly-discovered astronomical facts that contradict the books' descriptions. Shown Their Work : It is by Isaac Asimov , after all. He was well-known for meticulously ensuring the science he used was accurate; as one example it is actually perfectly safe to breathe pure oxygen in a pressurized suit at one-fifth normal atmospheric pressure. Silent Whisper : In Lucky Starr and the Rings of Saturn, Lucky and Wess take a moment to speak privately to one another by using ordinary sound waves, conducted through their spacesuits, so there is no risk of being spied upon.

The narrator never tells us what Lucky says, but it becomes clear it has to do with the elaborate deception that Lucky pulls on everyone except Wess later in the book. Society Marches On : Women are barely featured in the series (four of the books have no women at all) and certainly none in positions of power. Space Pirates : Featured in Pirates of the Asteroids, and they also get a mention in Space Ranger. SpaceX : The V-frogs, so named because they are a native species to Venus and appear somewhat froglike (albeit they have six legs). Stellar Name : "Starr", which is pretty self-explanatory. Stop, or I Shoot Myself! : Bigman invokes this to force robots on a Sirian base to deliver him to the base commander, Sten Devoure. Technology Marches On : We will all use microfilm in the future. Three-Laws Compliant : Asimovian robots appear in Big Sun of Mercury, Moons of Jupiter, and Rings of Saturn. Tricked-Out Shoes : See elsewhere in this page for mention of the garishly-colored Martian hip-boots. Underwater City : Featured in Oceans of Venus, as it is essentially a planetary ocean.

Unspoken Plan Guarantee : Invoked in Rings of Saturn; Lucky has a plan to force the Sirians to become arrogant and overplay their hand at an interstellar conference. Unusual Euphemism : "To Sun-center with the Sirian cobbers!" as one example. Venus Is Wet : Oceans of Venus depicts Venus as an ocean planet with seas and kelp (and domed underwater cities). We Would Have Told You, But... : Most commonly used with Bigman, because he doesn't always control his temper and could blab. What Measure Is a Non-Human? : One Sirian villain tries to get a three-laws-compliant robot to kill Bigman by persuading the robot that Bigman isn't a human: after all, he's noticeably smaller than any Sirian! The robot never before saw an Earth human, so it almost works. What We Now Know to Be True : Asimov wrote forewords to his novels, which are now themselves somewhat out of date. But at least he recognized that Science Marches On and wanted to avoid having the readers of his novels get confused.

You Remind Me of X : Very sparingly referred to ordinarily as to his descent from his father and mother, but it becomes a crucial revelation of the true nature of a character in Pirates of the Asteroids due to Lucky catching on to a peculiar aspect of the remembrance - the person in question notices the resemblance when Lucky gets angry, and Lucky knows his father rarely if ever showed it, except most memorably when he was ready to shoot any incoming pirates on the ship the Starrs were travelling on. :: Indexes :: The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction Tagged: Theme Sf written with a specifically juvenile audience in mind is almost as old as the genre itself. The Voyages extraordinaires of Jules Verne , over 60 novels published between 1863 and 1920, were largely marketed as for adolescent boys, though they found an adult readership also. Contemporaneous with Verne's works were the early Dime Novels in the USA, also in the main written for children, and it was not long before Boys' Papers with a strong sf content came along, followed by such Juvenile Series as Victor Appleton 's Tom Swift stories.

The juvenile series written under the floating pseudonym Roy Rockwood , The Great Marvel Series, published much sf between 1906 and 1935. These topics are discussed in greater detail under separate entries in this encyclopedia, as is children's sf written for the Comics . From 1890 to 1920 at least, and to some extent later on, most children's sf was aimed at boys rather than girls and was largely dedicated to the themes of the Lost World , Future War and Inventions (see also Edisonade ). L Frank Baum , writer of the celebrated Oz books, wrote an early work in the latter category – The Master Key: An Electrical Fairy Tale (1901) – but of course fantastic inventions had already played an important role in the stories featuring Frank Reade Jr (see Frank Reade Library ). Children's sf has been and is written for a variety of age groups.

Here we generally regard sf written for children of 11 and under as outside our range, although nostalgic reference must be made to the following: the 1927-1958 Freddy the Pig sequence by Walter R Brooks , several of whose later volumes include sf devices; the relatively rare sf excursions, from 1927 to 1955, of the hugely prolific Enid Blyton ; the splendidly bizarre Doctor Dolittle in the Moon (1928) by Hugh Lofting ; the Professor Branestawm books by Norman Hunter , beginning with The Incredible Adventures of Professor Branestawm (1933), all featuring the ridiculous adventures of the eponymous eccentric scientist (see Mad Scientist ); the minor children's classic My Friend Mr Leakey (coll of linked stories 1937) by the biologist J B S Haldane , a fantasy combining elements of magic and sf; a better known classic series for younger children, the seven Narnia books by C S Lewis , beginning with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950) and ending with The Last Battle (1956) – these stories are basically religious allegory cum Fantasy , but

 contain such sf elements as Parallel Worlds and Time Travel ; The Twenty-One Balloons (1946) by William Pène du Bois , an amusing Pacific-island scientific Utopia ; and the quirkily humorous Uncle stories by J P Martin , shunned by UK publishers in the 1930s but generating a cult following when finally published in the 1960s.

As noted, the above are primarily for younger children (although many adults still find several of them rewarding reading), but they point up a difficulty which exists also in sf stories for older children: the fact that there is little generic purity in children's literature. Much children's fantasy contains sf elements, and conversely much children's sf is written with a disregard for scientific accuracy, whether from hauteur or from ignorance, which effectively renders it fantasy.

Time Travel , for example, has long been an important theme in children's literature, going back at least as far as The Cuckoo Clock (1877) by Mrs Mary Molesworth (1839-1921), and continuing to the present day, through A Traveller in Time (1939) by Alison Uttley (1884-1976), several of the Green Knowe stories by Lucy Boston (1892-1990) and, perhaps the greatest of such novels, Tom's Midnight Garden (1958) by Philippa Pearce ; this latter is the moving and subtle story of a boy who travels back in time, always to slightly more recent periods, to find the nineteenth-century child with whom he falls in love growing older, and away from him; finally, in an overwhelming surprise ending, she meets him in the present day. But in all these examples the time travel is an essentially magic device used in the service of fantasy. Indeed, sadly for sf purists, most sf works of distinction since the 1960s have been at the fantastic end of the sf spectrum.

A fine piece of such peripheral sf is Earthfasts (1966) by William Mayne , one of the best children's writers of the period, in which an eighteenth-century drummer boy emerges from the ground to be met by a sceptical, scientifically inclined present-day youth. There may be a sociological reason for the comparative scarcity of good Hard SF for children in the recent period, or it may simply be the arbitrary preference of the handful of writers who led the renaissance of juvenile fiction that has taken place since the 1960s. Certainly their creative imagination has fed as fiercely on Mythology as on twentieth-century breakthroughs in scientific understanding – breakthroughs that in the period of the Cold War , with the ever-present threat of nuclear Disaster , seemed equivocal in their results. Signs of the renaissance are many: children's books generally and books for adolescents specifically are less patronizing; they more commonly contain a sardonic or even ironic realism; they have become, overall, more subtle, more evocative, more various, more original and more ready to confront problems of pain, or loss, or even sexual love.

The new realism is evident even with those writers of Heroic Fantasy who have followed in the footsteps of J R R Tolkien ; notable among them are Joy Chant (1945- ) and especially Patricia McKillip , although the latter, whose spectacular debut years were devoted to fantasy, seems to write better the further she keeps her distance from sf. The key theme in children's sf is Magic , and several important children's works are discussed in that entry. Sometimes the magic is given a kind of pseudoscientific rationale, with talk of dimensional gates and so on, as in Andre Norton 's many Witch World books, some of which are among her best work; e.g., Warlock of the Witch World (1967). (Norton has also written many colourful books for adolescents which are towards the hard-sf end of the spectrum, sometimes dealing with relations between Aliens and humans.) Ursula K Le Guin 's Earthsea books, beginning with A Wizard of Earthsea (1968), have combined sf and fantasy by making her magic obey such rigorous laws that it may be seen as a kind of Imaginary Science ; it adheres, for example, to the law of conservation of energy.

Many critics regard the Earthsea books as the finest sf work for children of the postwar period. Some of Alan Garner 's novels would also rank very high. Apart from using teenage protagonists, Garner's Red Shift (1973) is an adult book in every respect, narrating a battle against intellectual and physical impotence considerably more demanding than would be found in most supposedly adult romances. It qualifies as marginal sf through its consistent use, from the title onwards, of scientific metaphor and because it depends structurally on a form of psychic Time Travel (focused on a neolithic stone axe). More recently the work of Diana Wynne Jones has also been consistently distinguished, more playful than Le Guin's and more ebullient than Garner's, but as fully aware as either of the difficulties of life both for children and for grown-ups. Much of her work, which treats generic boundaries with disdain, is more fantasy than sf.

The more science-fictional books include The Homeward Bounders (1981), Archer's Goon (1984) and A Tale of Time City (1987), which, with varying degrees of science-fictional rigour, all revolve around causal paradoxes and problems created by travel through time or between alternate worlds, and often with more narrative sophistication than is common in sf for adults. The lunacies of book marketing have never been more clear than in the consignment of such distinguished works as the above, and many others, to what Le Guin has called "the kiddylit ghetto". The paradox is visible in the fact that occasionally US editions of UK children's books have been marketed as for adults, and vice versa. Other important children's sf writers at the fantasy end of the spectrum whose works are discussed in greater detail under their own entries are Susan Cooper , Peter Dickinson , Tanith Lee , Madeleine L'Engle and T H White . Australia seems to produce such writers more liberally than it does their counterparts for adults: interesting work has been produced by Isobelle Carmody , Lee Harding , Victor Kelleher and Gillian Rubinstein .

Most Kelleher novels are impossible to pigeonhole with any confidence as either sf or fantasy; they have elements of both, and do not appear to suffer as a result. Rubinstein's tone falters – it is a sadly common symptom of writers of sf/fantasy for adolescents – when she approaches pure sf motifs, such as the visiting Alien in Beyond the Labyrinth (1988), but her books remain hard-edged and angry. When we turn to hard sf, most work for children has been less distinguished. Carl Claudy wrote some exciting books in the 1930s; W E Johns , besides giving his air-pilot hero Biggles an outright sf adventure in Biggles Hits the Trail (1935), wrote a separate sf series beginning with Kings of Space: A Story of Interplanetary Adventure (1954) and continuing into the 1960s; E C Eliott 's Kemlo space adventures, beginning with Kemlo and the Crazy Planet (1954), spanned the same period and had some popularity.

More recent writers of some quality whose production has been in significant part for children are Paul Capon , John Christopher , John Keir Cross , Tom De Haven , Sylvia Louise Engdahl , Nicholas Fisk , Douglas Hill , H M Hoover , Monica Hughes , Philip Latham , Alice Lightner , M E Patchett , Luděk Pešek , John Pudney , Donald Suddaby , Jean and Jeff Sutton , Hugh Walters , Robert Westall , Leonard Wibberley and Cherry Wilder . Between them even these more recent writers span close to 40 years of hard-sf adventure writing for children. Christopher, Engdahl, Fisk, Hoover, Pešek, Westall and Wilder are probably the most important names here, along with Andre Norton. Between them they have written much thoughtful and stimulating work, but the extent of the list is disappointing when set alongside the quantity, range and variety of adult sf from the same period. The difficulty is, of course, that the intellectual level of a book is not necessarily expressed by a marketing label.

Much adult sf – the works of E E "Doc" Smith or Isaac Asimov , for example – is of great appeal to older children, and is to some extent directed at them. To the degree that older children are able to enjoy adult sf that is well within their reading capacity, the size of the potential market in sf specifically labelled as juvenile obviously dwindles. By far the most celebrated case of the unreal distinction between "juvenile" and "adult" concerns Robert A Heinlein , almost half of whose novels were originally marketed for children. They have been re-released for many years now as if for adults. There are thirteen in all of these "juveniles", among the best being Starman Jones (1953), The Star Beast (May-July 1954 F&SF as "Star Lummox"; 1954) and Citizen of the Galaxy (September-December 1957 Astounding ; 1957).

Heinlein's direct style, his solid science, the naturalness and ease with which he creates a societal background with just a few strokes, all help to make his juveniles among his best works; but their basic strength comes from the repeated theme of the rite of passage, the initiation ceremony, the growing into adulthood through the taking of decisions and the assumption of a burden of moral responsibility. This theme Heinlein made peculiarly and at times brilliantly his own; his is the most consistently distinguished of all hard sf written for young readers. Heinlein is exceptional in that there was no falling-off in quality when he wrote for children. Other sf writers could not quite manage the trick. Isaac Asimov's Lucky Starr books, initially written under the pseudonym Paul French, are well below his best; James Blish 's juveniles are generally disappointing, with the notable exception of A Life for the Stars (September-October 1962 Analog ; 1962), the second of the Cities in Flight tetralogy; Ben Bova , Arthur C Clarke , Gordon R Dickson , Harry Harrison , Evan Hunter and Robert Silverberg all write better for grown-ups, although Hunter's children's books are unusual and interesting.

Alan E Nourse , on the other hand, seems more relaxed when writing for younger people, and some of his best work is in his future- Medicine books such as Star Surgeon (1960). A more recent writer, Robert C O'Brien , wrote two distinguished sf works for children. The witty and sympathetic Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (1971), about experimental rats which have developed super- Intelligence , is for younger children, and in the talking-animal line is preferred by some aficionados to Richard {ADAMS}'s more celebrated Watership Down (1972). O'Brien's Z for Zachariah (1975) is a Post-Holocaust novel for older children; humane, touching and sometimes frightening. Also excellent, and very funny, is the Book of the Nomes trilogy by Terry Pratchett , beginning with Truckers (1989), about aliens trying to live invisibly in a human world. Certain sf themes crop up again and again in recent sf for adolescents.

Post-holocaust stories and stories of rebellion against totalitarian societies (which often practise degrading forms of social engineering) are both very common, as in the work of John Christopher, whose sf for children deservedly won him a new readership when he ceased writing sf Disaster novels for adults. Stories about contact between humans and aliens are often used to impress on children an attitude of cultural open-mindedness which has a clear bearing on problems of racism, sexism and other isms of the real world. Cherry Wilder's Torin series is of this kind, but Wilder knows better than to preach. This is more than can be said of much modern juvenile sf, which has perhaps become, from the mid-1970s, the most ethically intransigent and propagandist since the juvenile fiction of the Victorian era. The familiar voice of the children's author calling for universal harmony can, paradoxically, come to seem hectoring; the list of "antis" is often and easily extended by many children's authors – nostalgically looking back to the seemingly more self-reliant lifestyles of a past age – to include anti-technology and anti-science (see Anti-Intellectualism in SF ).

The theme of Psi Powers is often found in conjunction with work of this sort. It appeals strongly to children, whose sense of weakness and entrapment in a world where they are by and large subject to adult control, whether wisely or not, can be eased by intimations of an inner superiority – and sensitivity – that may be available to them. Typically psi powers (from within) are seen as opposed, and morally preferable, to scientific and technological powers (from without). Isobelle Carmody's Scatterlings (1991), for example, has an urban scientific elite, remnants of those who polluted and nearly destroyed Earth through greed, opposed to the rural, tribalized but radiation-resistant and honest folk descended from the greenies and working-class outcasts the original scientists exploited. Ecology -conscious people versus corrupted technocrats; country versus town; psi powers versus science: these had, by 1990, become the dominant themes of adolescent sf as a whole. The ecology theme now appears almost as a religious motif in sf, and indeed, in the Gaea-worshipping form it sometimes takes, it has already become a secular religion in the real world.

An important commercial area of sf publishing for juveniles is series books, often based on films or television shows. The Star Trek and Star Wars books and the Doctor Who books are two of the longest-running and most successful (the first two series are not specifically marketed for children, but the third is or at least used to be); they contain less hackwork than most of their competition in this sort of area. Some distinguished writers of juvenile fiction are not given separate entries in this volume, even though their work may contain some sf imagery. In past editions of the encyclopedia we did not have the space to give comprehensive coverage to children's writers, and our emphasis is on sf rather than fantasy; although online publication has eliminated space restrictions, much of the present text still reflects the constraints of the print versions. But many writers of sf for adolescents do receive entries, often because they have also written sf for adults or because, like Alan Garner , their work is likely to have repercussions in adult sf. There are also such special cases as Lemony Snicket 's A Series of Unfortunate Events, opening with The Bad Beginning (1999), a partially Gothic series presented as children's fiction but knowingly aimed at older readers.

[PN/DRL] David Starr, space ranger Master science fiction series-no.2: Amazon.es: Paul French: Libros en idiomas extranjeros 5.0 de un mÃ¡ximo de 5 estrellas good book 28 de noviembre de 2012 Por cherokee - Publicado en Amazon.com Formato: Tapa dura Compra verificada Book in excellent condition. Old favorite by a classic author. Originally aimed at young readers, but a good read for adults. 0 de 1 personas piensan que la opiniÃ³n es Ãºtil 5.0 de un mÃ¡ximo de 5 estrellas GREAT story from an earlier era. 13 de agosto de 2013 Por Tad J - Publicado en Amazon.com Formato: Libro de bolsillo Compra verificada All of the books by Isaac Asimov are simply great. He was one of the best, most talented science fiction authors of all time. This is the first of a series for teen-agers. Unless your kids are already too far brain-fried from too many video games, they will enjoy it and the rest of the series.

This is NOT all of the Space Ranger stories in one volume! (Unfortunately.) 2 de 2 personas piensan que la opiniÃ³n es Ãºtil 4.0 de un mÃ¡ximo de 5 estrellas We Meet "Lucky" Starr 9 de junio de 2006 Por Lonnie E. Holder - Publicado en Amazon.com In the first book of this six book series it may be difficult to see that Isaac Asimov wrote these stories. In later books Asimov put in significant clues that should have led an astute read to see that Paul French, the pseudonym he used for the original publication of these books. In this book we meet David Starr, who we will know as Lucky for the remaining five books in the series. David is eating in a restaurant when one of the patrons dies. David is soon on his way to Mars to try and understand the source of the poisoning that has killed a number of Earth people randomly across the planet. Working incognito, David encounters John Bigman Jones, a blustering little man whose big mouth is matched by his courage. In spite of the help that Bigman gives David, David's life is nearly ended more than one time.

David also discovers a surprise on Mars that he decides does not need to be revealed to anyone else in the solar system. Eventually David figures out how the poisoning was done, and who the poisoners are. The ending of this short book is fun and makes this book a quick read. Isaac Asimov originally wrote the Lucky Starr books in the 1950s. By the time the books were reissued, our knowledge of our solar system had changed dramatically. Asimov's description Mars has been invalidated by flybys and landings from various space craft, as Asimov explains in a forward to the revised books. This book is also available collected with the second and third book in this series as "The Adventures of Lucky Starr" and in a single volume titled "The Complete Adventures of Lucky Starr." The Lucky Starr books are a casual read and perfect for readers who enjoyed the Tom Corbett, Space Cadet series of books and Heinlein's juvenile books. There is a lot of logic in each of the books, and just enough hard science fiction to tantalize a reader and hopefully cause the reader to learn more. These books do have a flavor of Asimov's other books, but are less sophisticated.

I enjoy these books, but some other readers may find them too mundane. I recommend these books carefully, because I do not know which category of reader you may be. Good luck! 15 de 15 personas piensan que la opiniÃ³n es Ãºtil The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov, science fiction book 1973 - 288 pages (right) From the back cover of the current paperback: In the twenty-second century Earth obtain limitless, free energy from a source science little understands: an exchange between Earth and a parallel universe, using a process devised by the aliens. But even free energy has a price. The transference process itself will eventually lead to the destruction of Earth's Sun -- and of Earth itself. Only a few know the terrifying truth -- an outcast Earth scientist, a rebellious alien inhabitant of a dying planet, a lunar-born human intuitionist who senses the imminent annihilation of the Sun. They know the truth -- but who will listen? They have foreseen the cost of abundant energy -- but who will believe? These few beings, human and alien, hold the key to the Earth's survival.

Read for group discussion on May 28, 2003 RATINGS: How we each rated this book Dan Our book group has also read the following books by Isaac Asimov: -- Foundation in November 1994 -- The Caves of Steel in February 2001 Bibliography: Isaac Asimov (1920-1992) was an amazingly prolific writer, and arguably the most important science fiction author of the Twentieth Century (Robert Heinlein being the other leading contender).

Awards: 1963 Hugo Award "for putting the science in science fiction" 1966 Hugo Award for Best All-Time Series for The Foundation Series 1973 Nebula Award for Best Novel for The Gods Themselves 1973 Hugo Award for Best Novel for The Gods Themselves 1977 Nebula Award for Best Novelette for "The Bicentennial Man" 1977 Hugo Award for Best Novelette for "The Bicentennial Man" 1983 Hugo Award for Best Novel for Foundation's Edge 1986 Nebula Grand Master Award 1992 Hugo Award for Best Novelette for "Gold" 1996 Retro-Hugo Award for Best Novel of 1945 for The Mule (Part II of Foundation and Empire) Robot / Foundation Series (in order of internal chronology) The Caves of Steel (1954) The Naked Sun (1957) The Robots of Dawn (1983) Robots and Empire (1985) Foundation's Edge (1982) Foundation and Earth (1986) Asimov began his writing

 career with "Marooned Off Vesta" in the March 1939 issue of Amazing Stories, and wrote for publication almost without pause for the next fifty plus years.

Over this span, he wrote well over 250 non-fiction books and better than 200 books of fiction (although just over half of his fiction credits are anthologies he co-edited, most of which were assembled by Martin H. Greenberg). In the early 1940's, under the tutelage of John W. Campbell, Jr., Asimov made his reputation through his short stories. These included "Nightfall," regarded by many as the greatest science fiction story ever written; the stories that were later assembled as the Foundation Trilogy - Foundation (1951, also titled The 1,000 Year Plan), Foundation and Empire (1952, also titled The Man Who Upset the Universe) and Second Foundation (1953) - intoducing Hari Seldon's hypothetical science of psychohistory; and the earliest of his robot stories, featuring the three laws of robotics, which were later collected in I, Robot (1950) and Eight Stories from the Rest of the Robots (1966).

Many of the stories in these two collections were later reprinted in The Complete Robot (1982), Robot Dreams (1986), and Robot Visions (1990), with some new robot stories added. In the 1950's, Asimov turned to writing novels, beginning with Pebble in the Sky (1950), The Stars, Like Dust (1951, vt The Rebellious Stars), and The Currents of Space (1952), all of which were set earlier in the future history of the galactic empire featured in the Foundation series. His novel-length work is generally considered (including by Asimov himself) to have improved with The End of Eternity (1955), a time travel novel, and The Caves of Steel (1954) and The Naked Sun (1957), SF mystery novels that featured detective Lije Baley and his robot companion R. Daneel Olivaw. Baley would return later in Asimov's career in The Robots of Dawn (1983).

Collections of Asimov's short SF from this first phase of his career include The Martian Way and Other Stories (1955), Earth Is Room Enough (1957), Nine Tomorrows (1959), Asimov's Mysteries (1968) (which is a collection of Asimov's science fiction, not of his mysteries - go figure), Nightfall and Other Stories (1969), The Early Asimov (1972), and The Best of Isaac Asimov (1973). During the 50's, Asimov also wrote a series of juvenile science fiction novels, originally printed under the pseudonym Paul French: David Starr, Space Ranger (1952), Lucky Starr and the Pirates of the Asteroids (1953), Lucky Starr and the Oceans of Venus (1954), Lucky Starr and the Big Sun of Mercury (1956), Lucky Starr and the Moons of Jupiter (1957), and Lucky Starr and the Rings of Saturn (1958). Later on, he co-authored another series of young adult SF novels with his wife Janet Asimov (a/k/a J.O.

Jeppson): Norby, the Mixed-up Robot (1983), Norby's Other Secret (1984), Norby and the Lost Princess (1985), Norby and the Invaders (1985), Norby and the Queen's Necklace (1986), Norby Finds a Villain (1987), Norby Down to Earth (1988), Norby and Yobo's Great Adventure (1989), Norby and the Oldest Dragon (1990), and Norby and the Court Jester (1993). Other novels for juveniles of his were The Best New Thing (1971) and The Heavenly Host (1975). Between 1958 and 1980, Asimov's science fiction output was relatively small, as he focused his energies on writing non-fiction. His only important novel during that period was The Gods Themselves (1972), which won a Hugo and Nebula award for best novel.

Most of his short SF from this time is collected in Buy Jupiter, and Other Stories (1975) and The Bicentennial Man and Other Stories (1976). From the early 80's, beginning with Foundation's Edge (1982), for which he won his second best novel Hugo award, Asimov again devoted himself to writing SF. Over the next decade he added six novels to his Robot and Foundation series, joining the two sequences into a single future history. He also wrote a stand-alone novel, Nemesis (1989). Asimov's important collections of short SF during this last phase of his career include The Winds of Change and Other Stories (1983), The Edge of Tomorrow (1985), The Best Science Fiction of Isaac Asimov (1986), The Asimov Chronicles (1989), and Gold (1995). He also published two collections of fantasy short stories, Azazel (1988) and Magic (1996).

Other SF novels to Asimov's credit include Fantastic Voyage (1966) and Fantastic Voyage II: Destination Brain (1987), both based upon the movie, and three novels expanded by Robert Silverberg from classic Asimov short stories: Nightfall (1990), The Ugly Little Boy (1992, vt Child of Time), and The Positronic Man (1993, expansion of "The Bicentennial Man") Asimov also frequently wrote mystery stories. His two mystery novels were The Death Dealers (1958, also titled A Whiff of Death) and Murder at the ABA (1976, also titled Authorized Murder), in which one of the suspects is Isaac Asimov. His numerous mystery short stories told in the Black Widowers Club are collected in Tales of the Black Widowers (1974), More Tales of the Black Widowers (1976), Casebook of the Black Widowers (1980), Banquets of the Black Widowers (1984), and Puzzles of the Black Widowers (1990).

His other mystery shorts are collected in The Key Word and Other Mysteries (1977), The Union Club Mysteries (1983), The Disappearing Man and Other Stories (1985), and The Best Mysteries of Isaac Asimov (1986). Asimov also wrote several books of humor, including The Sensuous Dirty Old Man (1971, originally published as by "Dr. A"), Isaac Asimov's Treasury of Humor (1971), and Asimov Laughs Again (1992). He also penned multiple collections of dirty limericks: Lecherous Limericks (1975), More Lecherous Limericks (1976), Still More Lecherous Limericks (1977), Limericks: Too Gross (1978, with John Ciardi), A Grossary of Limericks (1981, with John Ciardi), and (not quite as dirty) Limericks for Children (1984). Asimov edited or co-edited over 100 SF and other anthologies.

Of particular note are Before the Golden Age (1974), in which Asimov himself selected some of his favorite stories from 1931-1938; Isaac Asimov Presents the Great SF Stories, collecting in 24 volumes notable stories from 1939-1962; and the first seven volumes of The Hugo Winners, presenting winners of short fiction Hugo awards. Asimov's first non-fiction book was an advanced textbook, with Burnham Walker and William C. Boyd, Biochemistry and Human Metabolism (1952).

He went on to publish dozens of collections of science essays and well over 200 other books of non-fiction spanning nearly every conceivable subject, including (with selected examples): General Science (Asimov's Guide to Science, 1972), Astronomy (The Universe, 1966), Biology (The Human Brain, 1964), Chemistry (Building Blocks of the Universe, 1957), Earth Sciences (The Ends of the Earth, 1975), Mathematics (Realm of Algebra, 1961), Physics (Understanding Physics, 1966, three volumes), History (Asimov's Chronology of the World, 1991), Literature (Asimov's Guide to Shakespeare, 1970, two volumes), Bible Studies (Asimov's Guide to the Bible, 1968, two volumes), and Science Fiction (Asimov on Science Fiction, 1981). Asimov's non-fiction interests encompassed, of course, Isaac Asimov himself.

Asimov's books about Asimov included Opus 100 (1969), Opus 200 (1979), and Opus 300 (1984), each giving his thoughts on reaching those milestones in publishing (one can only marvel at the self-restraint that prevented an Opus 400); his two-volume autobiography, In Memory Yet Green (1979) and In Joy Still Felt (1980); and his memoir, I. Asimov (1994). Thanks to Aaron for this "necessarily lengthy" Asimov bibliography Links:

Question: Which science fiction writer wrote novels for younger readers under the pseudonym Paul French?
Answer: Isaac Asimov