Monday 4 June 2012

An Ace on the Shelf – Pioneering Science Fiction from Ace Books


Solar Lottery by Philip K. Dick
Solar Lottery
by Philip K. Dick
Fans of science fiction owe a great debt of gratitude to Ace Books. This pioneering publisher helped shape the genre by promoting influential authors and numerous important titles during the 1950s and 1960s.
Ace Books was founded in New York by Aaron Wyn in 1952. The company began as a publisher of mysteries and western novels but quickly branched into science fiction, where it would find great success, including multiple wins at the Hugo and Nebula awards.  Ace helped to launch the careers of several noted authors and published the debut novels of Philip K. Dick, Ursula K. Le Guin and R.A. Lafferty.
One of Ace’s biggest coups was the Ace Doubles series.  These paperbacks contained two different novels that were bound together in the dos-a-dos style.  Their strategy was to pair a famous writer with a lesser known one and constantly introduce readers to new literary talent.  While Ace did not invent this concept, they did popularise it, and it became a fantastic marketing tool that benefited both the publisher and readers for many years.  Ace published several hundred Ace Doubles in the dos-a-dos format between 1952 and 1973, and many science fiction fans have built collections around these eye-catching paperbacks.
Ace Books was acquired in 1972 by Grosset & Dunlap, who were in turn bought by G.P. Putnam’s Sons in 1982.  As a subsidiary of Grosset & Dunlap, Ace became a science fiction imprint and continued to find success with William Gibson’s Neuromancer, Kim Stanley Robinson’s The Wild Shore, Lucius Shepard’s Green Eyes, and Michael Swanwick’s In the Drift all in 1984 alone. Today Ace Books is an imprint of Penguin and once again acts as the science fiction arm for a larger company. 

Related Video

AbeBooks on Rare Book Collecting: Dos-à-Dos Books Play Video

Memorable Books Published by Ace

The Cut of the Whip by Peter Rabe (bound with Kill One, Kill Two by Robert Kelston)
The Cut of the Whip
by Peter Rabe (bound with Kill One, Kill Two by Robert Kelston)
Shady Lady by Cleve Adams (bound with One Got Away by Harry Whittington)
Shady Lady
by Cleve Adams (bound with One Got Away by Harry Whittington)
I, the Executioner by Stephen Ransome (bound with So Dead My Love by Harry Whittington)
I, the Executioner
by Stephen Ransome (bound with So Dead My Love by Harry Whittington)
Mrs. Homicide by Day Keene (bound with Dead Ahead by William L. Stuart)
Mrs. Homicide
by Day Keene (bound with Dead Ahead by William L. Stuart)
A Night for Screaming by Harry Whittington
A Night for Screaming
by Harry Whittington
Red Alert by Peter Bryant
Red Alert
by Peter Bryant
The Deadly Streets by Harlan Ellison
The Deadly Streets
by Harlan Ellison
Ten Thousand Light-Years from Home by James Tiptree Jr.
Ten Thousand Light-Years from Home
by James Tiptree Jr.
On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers
On Stranger Tides
by Tim Powers
The Dragon Masters by Jack Vance (bound with The Last Castle)
The Dragon Masters
by Jack Vance (bound with The Last Castle)
Lady in Peril by Lester Dent (bound with Wired for Scandal by Floyd Wallace)
Lady in Peril
by Lester Dent (bound with Wired for Scandal by Floyd Wallace)
Dark of the Woods by Dean Koontz (bound with Soft come the Dragons)
Dark of the Woods
by Dean Koontz (bound with Soft come the Dragons)
The Watergate Girls by Stephen Lewis
The Watergate Girls
by Stephen Lewis
The Angry Ones by John Williams
The Angry Ones
by John Williams
Return to Tomorrow by L. Ron Hubbard
Return to Tomorrow
by L. Ron Hubbard
The Prisoner by Thomas Disch
The Prisoner
by Thomas Disch
The Juvies by Harlan Ellison
The Juvies
by Harlan Ellison
Take it Out in Trade by Walter Whitney
Take it Out in Trade
by Walter Whitney
Death House Doll by Day Keene (bound with Mourning After by Thomas Dewey)
Death House Doll
by Day Keene (bound with Mourning After by Thomas Dewey)
The Twisted Men by Calvin Knox (bound with One of Our Asteroids is Missing)
The Twisted Men
by Calvin Knox (bound with One of Our Asteroids is Missing)
Pulling Through by Dean Ing
Pulling Through
by Dean Ing
A Planet for Texans by H. Beam Piper (Bound with Star Born by Andre Norton)
A Planet for Texans
by H. Beam Piper (Bound with Star Born by Andre Norton)
Space Viking by H. Beam Piper
Space Viking
by H. Beam Piper
Damia by Anne McCaffrey
Damia
by Anne McCaffrey
Neuromancer by William Gibson
Neuromancer
by William Gibson

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