A fix-up (or fixup) is a
novel
A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...
created from several
short fiction
A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...
stories that may or may not have been initially related or previously published. The stories may be edited for consistency, and sometimes new connecting material, such as a
frame story
A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent.
Frame and FRAME may also refer to:
Physical objects
In building construction
*Framing (con ...
or other interstitial narration, is written for the new work. The term was coined by the
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
writer
A. E. van Vogt
Alfred Elton van Vogt ( ; April 26, 1912 – January 26, 2000) was a Canadian-born American science fiction author. His fragmented, bizarre narrative style influenced later science fiction writers, notably Philip K. Dick. He was one of the ...
,
[ who published several fix-ups of his own, including '']The Voyage of the Space Beagle
''The Voyage of the Space Beagle'' (1950) is a science fiction novel by Canadian-American writer A. E. van Vogt. An example of space opera subgenre, the novel is a "fix-up" compilation of four previously published stories:
*"Black Destroyer" ...
'',[ but the practice (if not the term) exists outside of science fiction. The use of the term in science fiction criticism was popularised by the first (1979) edition of '']The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (SFE) is an English language reference work on science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and f ...
'', edited by Peter Nicholls, which credited van Vogt with the creation of the term.[
The name “fix-up” comes from the changes that the author needs to make in the original texts, to make them fit together as though they were a novel. Foreshadowing of events from the later stories may be jammed into an early chapter of the fix-up, and character development may be interleaved throughout the book. Contradictions and inconsistencies between episodes are usually worked out.
Some fix-ups in their final form are more of a ]short story cycle A short story cycle (sometimes referred to as a story sequence or composite novel) is a collection of short stories in which the narratives are specifically composed and arranged with the goal of creating an enhanced or different experience when rea ...
or composite novel, rather than a traditional novel with a single main plotline. Examples are Ray Bradbury
Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and r ...
's ''The Martian Chronicles
''The Martian Chronicles'' is a science fiction fix-up novel, published in 1950, by American writer Ray Bradbury that chronicles the exploration and settlement of Mars, the home of indigenous Martians, by Americans leaving a troubled Earth that ...
'', and Isaac Asimov
yi, יצחק אזימאװ
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Petrovichi, Russian SFSR
, spouse =
, relatives =
, children = 2
, death_date =
, death_place = Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
, nationality = Russian (1920–1922)Soviet (192 ...
's ''I, Robot
''I, Robot'' is a fixup (compilation) novel of science fiction short stories or essays by American writer Isaac Asimov. The stories originally appeared in the American magazines ''Super Science Stories'' and ''Astounding Science Fiction'' betw ...
'' both of which read as a series of short stories which may share plot threads and characters, but which still act as self-contained stories.[ By contrast, van Vogt's '']The Weapon Shops of Isher
''The Weapon Shops of Isher'' is a science fiction novel by Canadian writer A. E. van Vogt, first published in 1951. The novel is a fix-up created from three previously published short stories about the Weapon Shops and Isher civilization:
* "The ...
'' is structured like a continuous novel, although it incorporates material from three previous van Vogt short stories.
Fix-ups became an accepted practice in American publishing during the 1950s, when science fiction and fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...
—once published primarily in magazines—increasingly began appearing in book form. Large book publishers like Doubleday and Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publ ...
entered the market, greatly increasing demand for fiction. Authors created new manuscripts from old stories, to sell to publishers. Algis Budrys
Algirdas Jonas "Algis" Budrys (January 9, 1931 – June 9, 2008) was a Lithuanian-American science fiction author, editor, and critic. He was also known under the pen names Frank Mason, Alger Rome (in collaboration with Jerome Bixby), John ...
in 1965 described fixups as a consequence of the lack of good supply during the "bad years for quality" of the mid-1950s, although citing ''The Martian Chronicles'' and Clifford D. Simak
Clifford Donald Simak (; August 3, 1904 – April 25, 1988) was an American science fiction writer. He won three Hugo Awards and one Nebula Award. The Science Fiction Writers of America made him its third SFWA Grand Master, and the Horror Wr ...
's ''City
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
'' as exceptions.[
]
Examples
Science fiction and fantasy
* ''Slan
''Slan'' is a science fiction novel by American-Canadian writer A. E. van Vogt, as well as the name of the fictional race of superbeings featured in the novel. The novel was originally serialized in the magazine ''Astounding Science Fiction'' ...
'' (1946) by A. E. van Vogt
Alfred Elton van Vogt ( ; April 26, 1912 – January 26, 2000) was a Canadian-born American science fiction author. His fragmented, bizarre narrative style influenced later science fiction writers, notably Philip K. Dick. He was one of the ...
* ''The Book of Ptath
''The Book of Ptath'' is a science fiction novel by Canadian-American writer A. E. van Vogt. It was first published in book form in 1947 by Fantasy Press in an edition of 3,021 copies. The novel was originally serialized in the magazine ''Unkno ...
'' (1947) by A. E. van Vogt
Alfred Elton van Vogt ( ; April 26, 1912 – January 26, 2000) was a Canadian-born American science fiction author. His fragmented, bizarre narrative style influenced later science fiction writers, notably Philip K. Dick. He was one of the ...
* ''The World of Null-A
''The World of Null-A'', sometimes written ''The World of Ā'', is a 1948 science fiction novel by Canadian-American writer A. E. van Vogt. It was originally published as a three-part serial in 1945 in ''Astounding Stories''. It incorporates con ...
'' (1948) by A. E. van Vogt
Alfred Elton van Vogt ( ; April 26, 1912 – January 26, 2000) was a Canadian-born American science fiction author. His fragmented, bizarre narrative style influenced later science fiction writers, notably Philip K. Dick. He was one of the ...
* ''Triplanetary
''Triplanetary'' is a science fiction board wargame originally published by Game Designers' Workshop in 1973. The game is a simulation of space ship travel and combat within the Solar System in the early 21st Century.
History First edition
'' ...
'' by E. E. Smith
Edward Elmer Smith (May 2, 1890 – August 31, 1965), publishing as E. E. Smith, Ph.D. and later as E. E. "Doc" Smith, was an American food engineer (specializing in doughnut and pastry mixes) and science-fiction author, best known for the '' ...
* ''The Voyage of the Space Beagle
''The Voyage of the Space Beagle'' (1950) is a science fiction novel by Canadian-American writer A. E. van Vogt. An example of space opera subgenre, the novel is a "fix-up" compilation of four previously published stories:
*"Black Destroyer" ...
'' (1950) by A. E. van Vogt
Alfred Elton van Vogt ( ; April 26, 1912 – January 26, 2000) was a Canadian-born American science fiction author. His fragmented, bizarre narrative style influenced later science fiction writers, notably Philip K. Dick. He was one of the ...
* ''The Martian Chronicles
''The Martian Chronicles'' is a science fiction fix-up novel, published in 1950, by American writer Ray Bradbury that chronicles the exploration and settlement of Mars, the home of indigenous Martians, by Americans leaving a troubled Earth that ...
'' (1950) by Ray Bradbury
Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and r ...
* ''I, Robot
''I, Robot'' is a fixup (compilation) novel of science fiction short stories or essays by American writer Isaac Asimov. The stories originally appeared in the American magazines ''Super Science Stories'' and ''Astounding Science Fiction'' betw ...
'' (1951) by Isaac Asimov
yi, יצחק אזימאװ
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Petrovichi, Russian SFSR
, spouse =
, relatives =
, children = 2
, death_date =
, death_place = Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
, nationality = Russian (1920–1922)Soviet (192 ...
[
* '']City
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
'' (1952) by Clifford D. Simak
Clifford Donald Simak (; August 3, 1904 – April 25, 1988) was an American science fiction writer. He won three Hugo Awards and one Nebula Award. The Science Fiction Writers of America made him its third SFWA Grand Master, and the Horror Wr ...
* ''The Mixed Men
''The Mixed Men'' is a fix-up novel of science fiction short stories by Canadian-American writer A. E. van Vogt that focus on the mixed offspring of Dellian Supermen and human beings. The novel's title is taken from van Vogt's 1945 ''Astounding ...
'' (1952) by A. E. van Vogt
Alfred Elton van Vogt ( ; April 26, 1912 – January 26, 2000) was a Canadian-born American science fiction author. His fragmented, bizarre narrative style influenced later science fiction writers, notably Philip K. Dick. He was one of the ...
* ''More Than Human
''More Than Human'' is a 1953 science fiction novel by American writer Theodore Sturgeon. It is a revision and expansion of his previously published novella ''Baby is Three'', which is bracketed by two additional parts written for the novel (" ...
'' (1953) by Theodore Sturgeon
Theodore Sturgeon (; born Edward Hamilton Waldo, February 26, 1918 – May 8, 1985) was an American fiction author of primarily fantasy, science fiction and horror, as well as a critic. He wrote approximately 400 reviews and more than 120 sh ...
* ''Mutant
In biology, and especially in genetics, a mutant is an organism or a new genetic character arising or resulting from an instance of mutation, which is generally an alteration of the DNA sequence of the genome or chromosome of an organism. It ...
'' (1953) by Henry Kuttner
Henry Kuttner (April 7, 1915 – February 3, 1958) was an American author of science fiction, fantasy and horror.
Early life
Henry Kuttner was born in Los Angeles, California in 1915. Kuttner (1829–1903) and Amelia Bush (c. 1834–1911), the ...
and C. L. Moore
Catherine Lucille Moore (January 24, 1911 – April 4, 1987) 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 ...
(as Lewis Padgett
Lewis Padgett was the joint pseudonym of the science fiction authors and spouses Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore,Nicholls 1979, p. 445. taken from their mothers' maiden names. They also used the pseudonyms Lawrence O'Donnell and C. H. Liddell, as wel ...
)
* ''The Weapon Shops of Isher
''The Weapon Shops of Isher'' is a science fiction novel by Canadian writer A. E. van Vogt, first published in 1951. The novel is a fix-up created from three previously published short stories about the Weapon Shops and Isher civilization:
* "The ...
'' (1954) by A. E. van Vogt
Alfred Elton van Vogt ( ; April 26, 1912 – January 26, 2000) was a Canadian-born American science fiction author. His fragmented, bizarre narrative style influenced later science fiction writers, notably Philip K. Dick. He was one of the ...
* '' Earthman, Come Home'' (1955) by James Blish
James Benjamin Blish () was an American science fiction and fantasy writer. He is best known for his ''Cities in Flight'' novels and his series of ''Star Trek'' novelizations written with his wife, J. A. Lawrence. His novel ''A Case of Conscienc ...
* '' Men, Martians and Machines'' (1955) by Eric Frank Russell
Eric Frank Russell (January 6, 1905 – February 28, 1978) was a British writer best known for his science fiction novels and short stories. Much of his work was first published in the United States, in John W. Campbell's '' Astounding Science ...
* '' Hell's Pavement'' (1955) by Damon Knight
Damon Francis Knight (September 19, 1922 – April 15, 2002) was an American science fiction author, editor, and critic. He is the author of "To Serve Man", a 1950 short story adapted for ''The Twilight Zone''.Stanyard, ''Dimensions Behind th ...
* '' Lest We Forget Thee, Earth'' (1958) by Robert Silverberg
Robert Silverberg (born January 15, 1935) is an American author and editor, best known for writing science fiction. He is a multiple winner of both Hugo and Nebula Awards, a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, and a Grand ...
(as Calvin M. Knox)
* ''The Outward Urge
''The Outward Urge'' is a science fiction fix-up novel by British writer John Wyndham. It was originally published with four chapters in 1959. A fifth chapter, originally published in 1961 as the separate short story "The Emptiness of Space", w ...
'' (1959) by John Wyndham
John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris (; 10 July 1903 – 11 March 1969) was an English science fiction writer best known for his works published under the pen name John Wyndham, although he also used other combinations of his names ...
(as John Wyndham and Lucas Parkes)
* ''A Canticle for Leibowitz
''A Canticle for Leibowitz'' is a post-apocalyptic social science fiction novel by American writer Walter M. Miller Jr., first published in 1959. Set in a Catholic monastery in the desert of the southwestern United States after a devastating n ...
'' (1959) by Walter Miller, Jr.
Walter Michael Miller Jr. (January 23, 1923 – January 9, 1996) was an American science fiction writer. His fix-up novel, ''A Canticle for Leibowitz'' (1959), the only novel published in his lifetime, won the 1961 Hugo Award for Best Novel. Pr ...
* '' The War Against the Rull'' (1959) by A. E. van Vogt
Alfred Elton van Vogt ( ; April 26, 1912 – January 26, 2000) was a Canadian-born American science fiction author. His fragmented, bizarre narrative style influenced later science fiction writers, notably Philip K. Dick. He was one of the ...
* ''The Great Explosion
''The Great Explosion'' is a satirical science fiction novel by English writer Eric Frank Russell, first published in 1962. The story is divided into three sections. The final section is based on Russell's 1951 short story "...And Then There We ...
'' (1962) by Eric Frank Russell
Eric Frank Russell (January 6, 1905 – February 28, 1978) was a British writer best known for his science fiction novels and short stories. Much of his work was first published in the United States, in John W. Campbell's '' Astounding Science ...
* '' Hothouse'' (1962) by Brian W. Aldiss
Brian Wilson Aldiss (; 18 August 1925 – 19 August 2017) was an English writer, artist, and anthology editor, best known for science fiction novels and short stories. His byline reads either Brian W. Aldiss or simply Brian Aldiss, except for ...
* ''Savage Pellucidar
''Savage Pellucidar'' is a 1963 fantasy story collection by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, the seventh and final book in his series about the fictional "hollow earth" land of Pellucidar. It was published twelve years after Burroughs's dea ...
'' (1963) by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American author, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best-known for creating the characters Tarzan and John Carter, he ...
* ''Stormbringer
Stormbringer is a magic sword featured in a number of fantasy stories by the author Michael Moorcock. It is described as a huge, black sword covered with strange runes, created by the forces of Chaos with its own will. It is wielded by the doo ...
'' (1965) by Michael Moorcock
Michael John Moorcock (born 18 December 1939) is an English writer, best-known for science fiction and fantasy, who has published a number of well-received literary novels as well as comic thrillers, graphic novels and non-fiction. He has work ...
* ''Rogue Ship
''Rogue Ship'' is a 1965 science fiction novel by Canadian-American writer A. E. van Vogt, adapted from three short stories to form a novel. The three short stories used were:
* "Centaurus II" (Originally published in ''Astounding Science-Fictio ...
'' (1965) by A. E. van Vogt
Alfred Elton van Vogt ( ; April 26, 1912 – January 26, 2000) was a Canadian-born American science fiction author. His fragmented, bizarre narrative style influenced later science fiction writers, notably Philip K. Dick. He was one of the ...
* ''The Dying Earth
''The Dying Earth'' is a collection of fantasy short fiction by American writer Jack Vance, published by Hillman in 1950. Vance returned to the setting in 1965 and thereafter, making it the first book in the ''Dying Earth'' series. It is retitled ...
'' (1950) by Jack Vance
John Holbrook Vance (August 28, 1916 – May 26, 2013) was an American mystery, fantasy, and science fiction writer. Though most of his work has been published under the name Jack Vance, he also wrote several mystery novels under pen names.
...
* ''The Eyes of the Overworld
''The Eyes of the Overworld'' is a picaresque fantasy fix-up novel by American writer Jack Vance, published by Ace in 1966, the second book in the Dying Earth series that Vance inaugurated in 1950. Retitled ''Cugel the Clever'' in its Vance Inte ...
'' (1966) by Jack Vance
* ''Counter-Clock World
''Counter-Clock World'' is a 1967 science fiction novel by American author Philip K. Dick. It was expanded from his short story "Your Appointment Will Be Yesterday", first published in the August 1966 edition of ''Amazing Stories''.
The novel d ...
'' (1967) by Philip K. Dick
* ''Pavane
The ''pavane'' ( ; it, pavana, ''padovana''; german: Paduana) is a slow processional dance common in Europe during the 16th century (Renaissance).
The pavane, the earliest-known music for which was published in Venice by Ottaviano Petrucci, ...
'' (1968) by Keith Roberts
Keith John Kingston Roberts (20 September 1935 – 5 October 2000) was an English science fiction author. He began publishing with two stories in the September 1964 issue of ''Science Fantasy'' magazine, "Anita" (the first of a series of stor ...
* ''The Silkie
The Silkie were an English folk music group. Their name was derived from an Orcadian song "The Great Silkie of Sule Skerry", which they sometimes performed. They were briefly considered to be the English equivalent of Peter, Paul and Mary, with t ...
'' (1969) by A. E. van Vogt
Alfred Elton van Vogt ( ; April 26, 1912 – January 26, 2000) was a Canadian-born American science fiction author. His fragmented, bizarre narrative style influenced later science fiction writers, notably Philip K. Dick. He was one of the ...
* ''The Ship Who Sang
''The Ship Who Sang'' (1969) is a science fiction novel by American writer Anne McCaffrey, a fix-up of five stories published 1961 to 1969. By an alternate reckoning, "The Ship Who Sang" is the earliest of the stories, a novelette, which became ...
'' (1969) by Anne McCaffrey
Anne Inez McCaffrey (1 April 1926 – 21 November 2011) was an American-Irish writer known for the ''Dragonriders of Pern'' science fiction series. She was the first woman to win a Hugo Award for fiction (Best Novella, ''Weyr Search'', 19 ...
* ''Quest for the Future
''Quest for the Future'' is a science fiction novel by Canadian-American writer A. E. van Vogt. It was first published by Ace Books in 1970.
A schoolteacher from the 20th century becomes involved in the activities of a group of time travelers.
...
'' (1970) by A. E. van Vogt
Alfred Elton van Vogt ( ; April 26, 1912 – January 26, 2000) was a Canadian-born American science fiction author. His fragmented, bizarre narrative style influenced later science fiction writers, notably Philip K. Dick. He was one of the ...
* '' Half Past Human'' (1971) by T. J. Bass
T. J. Bass, real name Thomas J. Bassler, MD (July 7, 1932 – December 13, 2011) was an American science fiction author and physician, having graduated from the University of Iowa in 1959. Bassler is also known for his controversial claim tha ...
* ''Operation Chaos
Operation CHAOS or Operation MHCHAOS was a Central Intelligence Agency domestic espionage project targeting the American people from 1967 to 1974, established by President Lyndon B. Johnson and expanded under President Richard Nixon, whose mission ...
'' (1971) by Poul Anderson
Poul William Anderson (November 25, 1926 – July 31, 2001) was an American fantasy and science fiction author who was active from the 1940s until the 21st century. Anderson wrote also historical novels. His awards include seven Hugo Awards and ...
* ''Puzzle of the Space Pyramids {{Unreferenced, date=February 2011
''Puzzle of the Space Pyramids'' is a fix-up science fiction novel by American writer Eando Binder. It tells the story of several successive space expeditions to Mars, Venus, Mercury and Jupiter. As each planet is ...
'' (1971) by Eando Binder
Eando Binder is a pen name used by two mid-20th-century science fiction authors, Earl Andrew Binder (1904–1965) and his brother Otto Binder (1911–1974). The name is derived from their first initials ''(E and O Binder).''
Under the Eando nam ...
* ''To Your Scattered Bodies Go
''To Your Scattered Bodies Go'' (1971) is a science fiction novel by American writer Philip José Farmer, the first book in the Riverworld series. It won a Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1972 at the 30th Worldcon. The title is derived from the 7th ...
'' (1971) by Philip Jose Farmer
Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...
* ''The Fabulous Riverboat
''The Fabulous Riverboat'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Philip José Farmer, the second book in the Riverworld series .
A shorter version of the novel was serialized in '' If'' magazine as "The Felled Star" (July and August 1967) ...
'' (1971) by Philip Jose Farmer
Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...
* ''The World Inside
''The World Inside'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Robert Silverberg, published in 1971. The novel originally appeared as a series of shorter works in 1970 and 1971, all but one published in ''Galaxy'', including the Hugo nominat ...
'' (1971) by Robert Silverberg
Robert Silverberg (born January 15, 1935) is an American author and editor, best known for writing science fiction. He is a multiple winner of both Hugo and Nebula Awards, a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, and a Grand ...
* '' 334'' (1972) by Thomas M. Disch
Thomas Michael Disch (February 2, 1940 – July 4, 2008) was an American science fiction author and poet. He won the Hugo Award for Best Related Book – previously called "Best Non-Fiction Book" – in 1999, and he had two other Hugo nomination ...
* '' The Godmakers'' (1972) by Frank Herbert
Franklin Patrick Herbert Jr. (October 8, 1920February 11, 1986) was an American science fiction author best known for the 1965 novel '' Dune'' and its five sequels. Though he became famous for his novels, he also wrote short stories and worked a ...
* '' To Ride Pegasus'' (1973) by Anne McCaffrey
Anne Inez McCaffrey (1 April 1926 – 21 November 2011) was an American-Irish writer known for the ''Dragonriders of Pern'' science fiction series. She was the first woman to win a Hugo Award for fiction (Best Novella, ''Weyr Search'', 19 ...
* ''A World Out of Time
''A World Out of Time'' is a science fiction novel by Larry Niven and published in 1976. It is set outside the Known Space universe of many of Niven's stories, but is otherwise fairly representative of his 1970s hard science fiction novels. The m ...
'' (1976) by Larry Niven
Laurence van Cott Niven (; born April 30, 1938) is an American science fiction writer. His best-known works are ''Ringworld'' (1970), which received Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards, and, with Jerry Pournelle, ''The Mote in God's Eye'' ...
* ''In the Ocean of Night
''In the Ocean of Night'' is a 1977 in literature, 1977 fix-up hard science fiction novel by American writer Gregory Benford. It is the first novel in his Galactic Center Saga. It was nominated for the Nebula Award for Nebula Award for Best Novel ...
'' (1977) by Gregory Benford
Gregory Benford (born January 30, 1941) is an American science fiction author and astrophysicist who is professor emeritus at the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Irvine. He is a contributing editor of ''Reason ...
* '' The Mercenary'' (1977) by Jerry Pournelle
Jerry Eugene Pournelle (; August 7, 1933 – September 8, 2017) was an American scientist in the area of operations research and human factors research, a science fiction writer, essayist, journalist, and one of the first bloggers. In the 1960s ...
* ''If the Stars are Gods
''If the Stars are Gods'' is a science fiction novel by American writers Gregory Benford and Gordon Eklund, published in 1977. It is an expansion of the Nebula Award-winning short story, first published in '' Universe 4'' (1974).
Plot summary
'' ...
'' (1977) by Gregory Benford
Gregory Benford (born January 30, 1941) is an American science fiction author and astrophysicist who is professor emeritus at the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Irvine. He is a contributing editor of ''Reason ...
and Gordon Eklund
Gordon Eklund (born July 24, 1945 in Seattle, Washington) is an American science fiction author whose works include the "Lord Tedric" series and two of the earliest original novels based on the 1960s '' Star Trek'' TV series. He has written under ...
* '' Born to Exile'' (1978) by Phyllis Eisenstein
Phyllis Eisenstein (February 26, 1946 – December 7, 2020) was an American author of science fiction and fantasy short stories as well as novels. Her work was nominated for both the Hugo Award and Nebula Award.
Early life
Eisenstein was born Phy ...
* ''Space War Blues
''Space War Blues'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Richard A. Lupoff. It is a fixup of several previously published pieces, the longest of which, "With The Bentfin Boomer Boys On Little Old New Alabama" (hereinafter “WTBBB”), ...
'' (1978) by Richard A. Lupoff
Richard Allen Lupoff (February 21, 1935 – October 22, 2020) was an American science-fiction and mystery author, who also wrote humor, satire, nonfiction and reviews. In addition to his two dozen novels and more than 40 short stories, he a ...
* '' Catacomb Years'' (1979) by Michael Bishop
* '' The World and Thorinn'' (1981) by Damon Knight
Damon Francis Knight (September 19, 1922 – April 15, 2002) was an American science fiction author, editor, and critic. He is the author of "To Serve Man", a 1950 short story adapted for ''The Twilight Zone''.Stanyard, ''Dimensions Behind th ...
* '' The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger'' (1982) by Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...
* '' The Crucible of Time'' (1983) by John Brunner
* ''Icehenge
''Icehenge'' is a science fiction novel by American author Kim Stanley Robinson, published in 1984.
Though published almost ten years before Robinson's Mars trilogy, and taking place in a different version of the future, ''Icehenge'' contains ele ...
'' (1984) by Kim Stanley Robinson
Kim Stanley Robinson (born March 23, 1952) is an American writer of science fiction. He has published twenty-two novels and numerous short stories and is best known for his ''Mars'' trilogy. His work has been translated into 24 languages. Many ...
* ''Emergence
In philosophy, systems theory, science, and art, emergence occurs when an entity is observed to have properties its parts do not have on their own, properties or behaviors that emerge only when the parts interact in a wider whole.
Emergence ...
'' (1984) by David R. Palmer
David R. Palmer (born 1941) is an American science fiction author. His works have been nominated three times for Hugo Awards.
Biography
Palmer was born at Chicago and studied at Highland Park High School. He is married and lives in Florida, wh ...
* ''The Postman
''The Postman'' is a post-apocalyptic dystopia science fiction novel by David Brin. It is about a man wandering the desolate Oregon countryside who finds a United States Postal Service uniform, which he puts on and then claims he is a mail carri ...
'' (1985) by David Brin
Glen David Brin (born October 6, 1950) is an American scientist and author of science fiction. He has won the Hugo,[Saturnalia
Saturnalia is an ancient Roman festival and holiday in honour of the god Saturn, held on 17 December of the Julian calendar and later expanded with festivities through to 23 December. The holiday was celebrated with a sacrifice at the Temple ...]
'' (1986) by Grant Callin
''Saturnalia'' was a 1986 science fiction novel by Grant Callin, published by Baen Books. It was based on a short story named "Saturn Alia". It was followed by a sequel, ''A Lion on Tharthee''.
Plot summary
In the late twenty-first century, a s ...
* ''Tuf Voyaging
''Tuf Voyaging'' is a 1986 science fiction fix-up novel by American writer George R. R. Martin, first published in hardcover by Baen Books. It is a darkly comic meditation on environmentalism and absolute power.
This novel is a collection of rel ...
'' (1986) by George R. R. Martin
George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin; September 20, 1948), also known as GRRM, is an American novelist, screenwriter, television producer and short story writer. He is the author of the series of epic fantasy novels ''A Song ...
* '' Life During Wartime'' (1987) by Lucius Shepard
Lucius Shepard (August 21, 1943 – March 18, 2014) was an American writer. Classified as a science fiction and fantasy writer, he often leaned into other genres, such as magical realism.
Career
Shepard was a native of Lynchburg, Virginia where ...
* ''A Different Flesh
''A Different Flesh'' is a collection of alternate history short stories by American writer Harry Turtledove. The stories are set in a world in which ''Homo erectus'' and various megafauna survived in the Americas instead of Native Americans or ...
'' (1988) by Harry Turtledove
Harry Norman Turtledove (born June 14, 1949) is an American author who is best known for his work in the genres of alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction, and mystery fiction. He is a student of history and completed ...
* ''Prince of Mercenaries
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...
'' (1989) by Jerry Pournelle
Jerry Eugene Pournelle (; August 7, 1933 – September 8, 2017) was an American scientist in the area of operations research and human factors research, a science fiction writer, essayist, journalist, and one of the first bloggers. In the 1960s ...
* '' Mirabile'' (1991) by Janet Kagan
Janet Kagan (born Janet Megson, April 18, 1946 – February 29, 2008) was an American author. Her works include two science fiction novels and two science fiction collections, plus numerous science fiction and fantasy short stories that app ...
* ''Crashlander
''Crashlander'' is a fix-up novel by American writer Larry Niven, published in 1994 () and set in his ''Known Space'' universe. It is also a term used in the Known Space universe, denoting a human born on the planet ''We Made It''.
Plot summary ...
'' (1994) by Larry Niven
Laurence van Cott Niven (; born April 30, 1938) is an American science fiction writer. His best-known works are ''Ringworld'' (1970), which received Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards, and, with Jerry Pournelle, ''The Mote in God's Eye'' ...
* ''Amnesia Moon
''Amnesia Moon'' is a 1995 novel by Jonathan Lethem. Lethem adapted the novel from several unpublished short stories he had written, all about catastrophic, apocalyptic events. When Tor Books published the second edition in 1996, they commissi ...
'' (1995) by Jonathan Lethem
Jonathan Allen Lethem (; born February 19, 1964) is an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. His first novel, ''Gun, with Occasional Music'', a genre work that mixed elements of science fiction and detective fiction, was publishe ...
(fix-up of all previously unpublished stories)
* ''Vacuum Diagrams
''Vacuum Diagrams'' is a collection of science fiction short stories by British writer Stephen Baxter. The collection connects the novels of the Xeelee Sequence and also shows the history of mankind in the Xeelee universe, and ultimately the u ...
'' (1997) by Stephen Baxter
* '' Kirinyaga'' (1998) by Mike Resnick
Michael Diamond Resnick (; March 5, 1942 – January 9, 2020) was an American science fiction writer and editor. He won five Hugo awards and a Nebula award, and was the guest of honor at Chicon 7. He was the executive editor of the defunct ...
* ''Rainbow Mars
''Rainbow Mars'' is a 1999 science fiction short story collection by American writer Larry Niven. It contains six stories of Hanville Svetz, five previously published and the longest, "Rainbow Mars", written for the collection. The setting of the ...
'' (1999) by Larry Niven
Laurence van Cott Niven (; born April 30, 1938) is an American science fiction writer. His best-known works are ''Ringworld'' (1970), which received Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards, and, with Jerry Pournelle, ''The Mote in God's Eye'' ...
* ''From the Dust Returned
''From the Dust Returned'' is a fix-up fantasy novel by Ray Bradbury published in 2001. The novel is largely created from a series of short stories Bradbury wrote decades earlier, centering on a family of Illinois-based monsters and ghosts name ...
'' (2001) by Ray Bradbury
Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and r ...
* ''Coyote
The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecologica ...
'' (2002) by Allen Steele
Allen Mulherin Steele, Jr. (born January 19, 1958) is an American journalist and science fiction author.
Background
Steele was born in Nashville, Tennessee on January 19, 1958. He was introduced to science fiction fandom attending meetings o ...
* ''Sister Alice
''Sister Alice'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Robert Reed, first published in 2003. It was a finalist for the 2004 John W. Campbell Memorial Award.
The five sections of the novel originally appeared in a different form in the ma ...
'' (2003) by Robert Reed
Robert Reed (born John Robert Rietz Jr.; October 19, 1932 – May 12, 1992) was an American actor. He played Kenneth Preston on the legal drama '' The Defenders'' from 1961 to 1965 alongside E. G. Marshall, and is best known for his role as the ...
* ''Roma Eterna
''Roma Eterna'' is a science fiction fixup novel by American writer Robert Silverberg, published in 2003, which presents an alternative history in which the Roman Empire survives to the present day. Each of the ten chapters was first published as ...
'' (2003) by Robert Silverberg
Robert Silverberg (born January 15, 1935) is an American author and editor, best known for writing science fiction. He is a multiple winner of both Hugo and Nebula Awards, a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, and a Grand ...
* ''The Carpet Makers
''The Carpet Makers'' (German original title: ''Die Haarteppichknüpfer''), also published under the title ''The Hair Carpet Weavers'', is a science fiction novel by German writer Andreas Eschbach, originally published in 1995.
The first English ...
'' (2005) by Andreas Eschbach
Andreas Eschbach (born 15 September 1959, in Ulm) is a German writer, primarily of science fiction. His stories that are not clearly in the SF genre usually feature elements of the fantastic.
Biography
Eschbach studied aerospace engineering ...
* ''Accelerando
''Accelerando'' is a 2005 science fiction novel consisting of a series of interconnected short stories written by British author Charles Stross. As well as normal hardback and paperback editions, it was released as a free e-book under the CC ...
'' (2005) by Charles Stross
Charles David George "Charlie" Stross (born 18 October 1964) is a British writer of science fiction and fantasy. Stross specialises in hard science fiction and space opera. Between 1994 and 2004, he was also an active writer for the magazine '' ...
* ''From the Files of the Time Rangers
''From the Files of the Time Rangers'' is a fix-up novel by Richard Bowes dealing with time travel and alternative history. Its foreword, "Rick Bowes: An Appreciation", is by Kage Baker, author of The Company novels. The novel was edited by Marty ...
'' (2005) by Richard Bowes
Richard "Rick" Dirrane Bowes (born 1944) is an American author of science fiction and fantasy.
Biography
Bowes was born in 1944 in Boston, Massachusetts. He attended school both in Boston and on Long Island, New York. His brother is fine artis ...
* ''Central Station
Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...
'' (2016) by Lavie Tidhar
Lavie Tidhar ( he, לביא תדהר; born 16 November 1976) is an Israeli-born writer, working across multiple genres. He has lived in the United Kingdom and South Africa for long periods of time, as well as Laos and Vanuatu. As of 2013, Tid ...
* ''Driftwood'' (2020) by Marie Brennan
Marie Brennan is the pseudonym of Bryn Neuenschwander, an American fantasy author. Her works include the ''Doppelganger'' duology ('' Doppelganger'' and its sequel '' Warrior and Witch'', respectively retitled ''Warrior'' and ''Witch'' on late ...
Other genres
* ''Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town
''Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town'' is a sequence of stories by Stephen Leacock, first published in 1912. It is generally considered to be one of the most enduring classics of Canadian humorous literature. The fictional setting for these stori ...
'' (1912) by Stephen Leacock
Stephen P. H. Butler Leacock (30 December 1869 – 28 March 1944) was a Canadian teacher, political scientist, writer, and humorist. Between the years 1915 and 1925, he was the best-known English-speaking humorist in the world. He is known ...
* ''The Inimitable Jeeves
''The Inimitable Jeeves'' by P.G. Wodehouse was the first of the Jeeves novels, although not originally conceived as a single narrative, being assembled from a number of short stories featuring the same characters. The book was first published ...
'' (1923) by P. G. Wodehouse
Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, ( ; 15 October 188114 February 1975) was an English author and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Jeev ...
* '' The Big Four'' (1927) by Agatha Christie
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictiona ...
* ''The Red Pony
''The Red Pony'' is an episodic novella written by American writer John Steinbeck in 1933. The first three chapters were published in magazines from 1933 to 1936. The full book was published in 1937 by Covici Friede. The stories in the book ...
'' (1937) by John Steinbeck
John Ernst Steinbeck Jr. (; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer and the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature winner "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social ...
* ''The Unvanquished
''The Unvanquished'' is a 1938 novel by the American author William Faulkner, set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County. It tells the story of the Sartoris family, who first appeared in the novel ''Sartoris'' (or ''Flags in the Dust''). ''The Unv ...
'' (1938) by William Faulkner
William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer known for his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, based on Lafayette County, Mississippi, where Faulkner spent most of ...
* ''The Big Sleep
''The Big Sleep'' (1939) is a hardboiled crime novel by American-British writer Raymond Chandler, the first to feature the detective Philip Marlowe. It has been adapted for film twice, The Big Sleep (1946 film), in 1946 and again The Big Sleep ...
'' (1939), ''Farewell My Lovely
''Farewell, My Lovely'' is a novel by Raymond Chandler, published in 1940, the second novel he wrote featuring the Los Angeles private eye Philip Marlowe. It was adapted for the screen three times and was also adapted for the stage and radio. ...
'' (1940) and ''The Lady in the Lake
''The Lady in the Lake'' is a 1943 detective novel by Raymond Chandler featuring the Los Angeles private investigator Philip Marlowe. Notable for its removal of Marlowe from his usual Los Angeles environs for much of the book, the novel's comp ...
'' (1943) by Raymond Chandler
Raymond Thornton Chandler (July 23, 1888 – March 26, 1959) was an American-British novelist and screenwriter. In 1932, at the age of forty-four, Chandler became a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive durin ...
[
* ''Report on England, November 1940'' by Ralph Ingersoll][
* '' Go Down, Moses'' (1942) by ]William Faulkner
William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer known for his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, based on Lafayette County, Mississippi, where Faulkner spent most of ...
* ''Dandelion Wine
''Dandelion Wine'' is a 1957 novel by Ray Bradbury set in the summer of 1928 in the fictional town of Green Town, Illinois, based upon Bradbury's childhood home of Waukegan, Illinois. The novel developed from the short story "Dandelion Wine", wh ...
'' (1957) by Ray Bradbury
Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and r ...
* ''Lives of Girls and Women
''Lives of Girls and Women'' is a short story cycle by Nobel Prize–winning author Alice Munro, published by McGraw-Hill Ryerson in 1971. All of the stories chronicle the life of a single character, Del Jordan, and the book has been characterized ...
'' (1971) by Alice Munro
Alice Ann Munro (; ; born 10 July 1931) is a Canadian short story writer who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013. Munro's work has been described as revolutionizing the architecture of short stories, especially in its tendency to move f ...
* '' Who Do You Think You Are?'' (1978) by Alice Munro
* ''The Things They Carried
''The Things They Carried'' (1990) is a collection of linked short stories by American novelist Tim O'Brien, about a platoon of American soldiers fighting on the ground in the Vietnam War. His third book about the war, it is based upon his ex ...
'' (1990) by Tim O'Brien
* ''Green Shadows, White Whale
''Green Shadows, White Whale'' is a 1992 novel by Ray Bradbury. It gives a fictionalized account of his journey to Ireland in 1953-1954 to write a screen adaptation of the novel ''Moby-Dick'' with director John Huston. Bradbury has said he wrote ...
'' (1992) by Ray Bradbury
Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and r ...
* ''Trainspotting
Trainspotting may refer to:
* Trainspotting (hobby), an amateur interest in railways/railroads
* ''Trainspotting'' (novel), a 1993 novel by Irvine Welsh
** ''Trainspotting'' (film), a 1996 film based on the novel
*** ''Trainspotting'' (soundtr ...
'' (1993) by Irvine Welsh
Irvine Welsh (born 27 September 1958) is a Scottish novelist, playwright and short story writer. His 1993 novel '' Trainspotting'' was made into a film of the same name. He has also written plays and screenplays, and directed several short fil ...
* ''Haunted
Haunted or The Haunted may refer to:
Books
* ''Haunted'' (Armstrong novel), by Kelley Armstrong, 2005
* ''Haunted'' (Cabot novel), by Meg Cabot, 2004
* ''Haunted'' (Palahniuk novel), by Chuck Palahniuk, 2005
* ''Haunted'' (Angel novel), a 200 ...
'' (2005) by Chuck Palahniuk
Charles Michael "Chuck" Palahniuk (; born February 21, 1962) is an American freelance journalist and novelist who describes his work as transgressional fiction. He has published 19 novels, three nonfiction books, two graphic novels, and two adul ...
* ''A Visit from the Goon Squad
''A Visit from the Goon Squad'' is a 2011 Pulitzer Prize-winning work of fiction by American author Jennifer Egan. The book is a set of thirteen interrelated stories with a large set of characters all connected to Bennie Salazar, a record company ...
'' (2010) by Jennifer Egan
Jennifer Egan is an American novelist and short-story writer. Egan's novel ''A Visit from the Goon Squad'' won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction. As of February 28, 2018, she is the Presiden ...
* ''The Seven Wonders'' (2012) by Steven Saylor
Steven Saylor (born March 23, 1956) is an American author of historical novels. He is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, where he studied history and classics.
Saylor's best-known work is his ''Roma Sub Rosa'' historical mystery ...
See also
* Clip show
A clip show is an episode of a television series that consists primarily of excerpts from previous episodes. Most clip shows feature the format of a frame story in which cast members recall past events from past installments of the show, depicte ...
* Retroactive continuity
Retroactive continuity, or retcon for short, is a literary device in which established diegetic facts in the plot of a fictional work (those established through the narrative itself) are adjusted, ignored, supplemented, or contradicted by a subse ...
References
{{reflist, 25em, refs=
[
{{cite book
, last=Bruccoli , first=Matthew J. , author-link=Matthew J. Bruccoli
, year=1979
, title=Raymond Chandler: A descriptive bibliography
, series=Pittsburgh Series in Bibliography
, publisher=]University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...
Press
[
{{cite magazine
, last=Budrys , first=Algis
, date=October 1965
, title=Galaxy Bookshelf
, magazine=Galaxy Science Fiction
, pages=142–150
, url=https://archive.org/stream/Galaxy_v24n01_1965-10#page/n141/mode/2up
]
[
{{cite book
, last=Ingersoll , first=Ralph
, year=1940
, chapter=Publishers' foreword
, page=v
, title=Report on England, November 1940
, publisher=Simon and Schuster
, location=New York, NY
, chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/ReportOnEngland#page/n9/mode/2up
, via=Archive.org
]
[
{{cite book
, last=Latham , first=Rob
, year=2009
, chapter=Fiction, 1950-1963
, page=82
, editor1-last=Bould , editor1-first=Mark
, editor2-last=Butler , editor2-first=Andrew M.
, editor3-last=Roberts , editor3-first=Adam
, editor4-last=Vint , editor4-first=Sherryl
, title=The Routledge Companion to Science Fiction
, publisher=Routledge
, isbn=9781135228361
, chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y7CNAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA80
]
[
{{cite magazine
, last=Liptak , first=Andrew
, date=2013-08-05
, title=A.E. van Vogt and the fix-up novel
, magazine=Kirkus Reviews
, url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/features/e-van-vogt-and-fix-novel/
]
[
{{cite book
, last=Luscher , first=Robert M.
, year=2012
, chapter=The American short-story cycle
, editor-last=Bendixen , editor-first=Alfred , editor-link=Alfred Bendixen
, title=A Companion to the American Novel
, series=Blackwell Companions to Literature and Culture
, volume=80 , page=370
, publisher=John Wiley & Sons
, isbn=9781405101196
, chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5WyidbsLaxQC&pg=PA370
]
[
{{cite book
, first1 = Peter , last1 = Nicholls
, first2 = John , last2 = Clute
, year = 1999
, title = New Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
, page = 432
, publisher = Orbit
, location = London, UK
, isbn = 1-85723-897-4
]
[
{{cite web
, title=Fixup
, website=Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
, edition=Third
, url=http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/fixup
]
[
{{cite web
, last=Weinberg , first=Robert
, year=1980
, title=A.E. van Vogt
, type=interview
, website=Icshi.net
, publisher=Isaac Walwyn
, url=http://www.icshi.net/sevagram/interviews/weinberg.php
, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201115125318/http://www.icshi.net/sevagram/interviews/weinberg.php
, archive-date=2020-11-15
, access-date=2016-12-27
, url-status=dead
]
Writing
Novel forms
Short stories
Science fiction terminology