Bantam Spectra is the science fiction division of American publishing company
Bantam Books
Bantam Books is an American publishing house owned entirely by parent company Random House, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House; it is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. It was formed in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin, Jr., Sidney B. ...
, which is owned by
Random House
Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...
.
According to their website, Spectra publishes "science fiction, fantasy, horror, and speculative novels from recognizable authors". Spectra authors have collectively won 31 such awards in the fields of science fiction and fantasy, and been nominated on 132 occasions. These authors include the following:
* Anthony Ballantyne
*
Bruce Sterling
Michael Bruce Sterling (born April 14, 1954) is an American science fiction author known for his novels and short fiction and editorship of the '' Mirrorshades'' anthology. In particular, he is linked to the cyberpunk subgenre.
Sterling's first ...
*
Catherine Asaro
Catherine Ann Asaro (born November 6, 1955) is an American science fiction and fantasy author, singer and teacher. She is best known for her books about the Ruby Dynasty, called the Saga of the Skolian Empire.
Biography
Catherine Asaro was b ...
Christopher Barzak
Christopher Barzak (born July 21, 1975) is an American author. He has published many short stories, beginning with "A Mad Tea Party" in ''Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet'' in 1999. In 2007 he published his debut novel, '' One for Sorrow'', whi ...
*
Connie Willis
Constance Elaine Trimmer Willis (born December 31, 1945), commonly known as Connie Willis, is an American science fiction and fantasy writer. She has won eleven Hugo Awards and seven Nebula Awards for particular works—more major SF awards tha ...
*
Dan Simmons
Dan Simmons (born April 4, 1948) is an American science fiction and horror writer. He is the author of the Hyperion Cantos and the Ilium/Olympos cycles, among other works which span the science fiction, horror, and fantasy genres, sometimes wi ...
*
David Brin
Glen David Brin (born October 6, 1950) is an American scientist and author of science fiction. He has won the Hugo,David J Williams
*
Doug Beason
Doug Beason (born 1953) is an American scientist and science fiction author.
He graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in 1977 with a dual major in physics and math. He started his first novel while at the Academy after returning the ...
Elizabeth Bear
Sarah Bear Elizabeth Wishnevsky (born September 22, 1971) is an American author who works primarily in speculative fiction genres, writing under the name Elizabeth Bear. She won the 2005 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, the 2008 Hugo ...
Ellen Kushner
Ellen Kushner (born October 6, 1955) is an American writer of fantasy novels. From 1996 until 2010, she was the host of the radio program '' Sound & Spirit'', produced by WGBH in Boston and distributed by Public Radio International.
Background ...
*
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 ...
*
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 ''Reas ...
John Ford
John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...
*
Justina Robson
Justina Robson (born 11 June 1968 in Leeds, England) is a science fiction author from Leeds, England.
Biography and publishing history
Justina Robson was born in Leeds on 11 June 1968, and studied philosophy and linguistics at the University o ...
Lisa Goldstein
Lisa Goldstein (born Elizabeth Joy Goldstein on November 21, 1953) is an American fantasy and science fiction writer whose work has been nominated for Nebula, Hugo, and World Fantasy Awards. Her 1982 novel '' The Red Magician'' won a Nation ...
*
Liz Williams
Liz Williams (born 1965) is a British science fiction writer, historian and occultist. ''The Ghost Sister,'' her first novel, was published in 2001. Both this novel and her next, ''Empire of Bones'' (2002) were nominated for the Philip K. Dick ...
Robert Charles Wilson
Robert Charles Wilson (born December 15, 1953
) is an American-Canadian science fiction author.
Career
Wilson was born in the United States in California, but grew up near Toronto, Ontario. Apart from another short period in the early 1970s ...
Scott Lynch
Scott Lynch (born April 2, 1978) is an American fantasy author who wrote the '' Gentleman Bastard Sequence'' series of novels. His first novel, ''The Lies of Locke Lamora'', was purchased by Orion Books in August 2004 and published in June 2006 u ...
Tim Lebbon
Tim Lebbon (born 28 July 1969, London) is a British horror and dark fantasy writer.
Life
Lebbon was born in London. He lived in Devon until he was eight and then in Newport until the age of 26. He now lives in Goytre, Monmouthshire with his ...
*
William Gibson
William Ford Gibson (born March 17, 1948) is an American-Canadian speculative fiction writer and essayist widely credited with pioneering the science fiction subgenre known as ''cyberpunk''. Beginning his writing career in the late 1970s, hi ...
More than 20 ''Star Wars'' novels have been published under the Bantam Spectra Imprint. Notable Spectra ''Star Wars'' novels include
Timothy Zahn
Timothy Zahn (born September 1, 1951) is an American writer of science fiction and fantasy. He is known best for his prolific collection of ''Star Wars'' books, chiefly the ''Thrawn'' series, and has published several other series of sci-fi and f ...
's blockbuster ''Thrawn Trilogy'',
Barbara Hambly
Barbara Hambly (born August 28, 1951) is an American novelist and screenwriter within the genres of fantasy, science fiction, mystery, and historical fiction. She is the author of the bestselling Benjamin January mystery series featuring a fre ...
's '' Children of the Jedi'', and others. Eventually Lucasfilm, which owns ''Star Wars'', decided to have Scholastic and Del Rey publish their books, leading to the end of the Bantam Spectra Star Wars era.