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 Ger ...

. According to their website, Spectra publishes "science fiction, fantasy,

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction ** Japanese horror, Japanese horror fiction **Korean horror, Korean horror fiction * Horror film, a film genre *Horror comics, comic books focusing o ...

, 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 *

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 ...

* Catherynne Valente * Charles Platt * Christopher Barzak *

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 *

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 __NOTOC__ David J. Williams is a British-born American science fiction writer and video game writer. His debut novel, '' The Mirrored Heavens'', was described as "Tom Clancy interfacing Bruce Sterling" by Stephen Baxter, and is part of the ''A ...

* Doug Beason *

Elisabeth Vonarburg Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

* Elizabeth Bear *

Elizabeth Hand Elizabeth Hand (born March 29, 1957) is an American writer. Life and career Hand grew up in Yonkers and Pound Ridge, New York. She studied drama and anthropology at The Catholic University of America. Since 1988, Hand has lived in coastal Main ...

* Ellen Kushner * George R. R. Martin * Gregory Benford * Ian McDonald *

Jamil Nasir Jamil Nasir is an American science fiction and fantasy author born in Chicago, Illinois, United States. He has won a Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire for foreign novel and received a special citation from the Philip K. Dick Award The Philip K. Dic ...

* Joe Lansdale *

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 ...

* Karen Fowler * Kelley Armstrong * Kevin J. Anderson *

Kim 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 ...

* Lisa Goldstein * Liz Williams * M. K. Hobson *

Maggie Furey Maggie Furey (''née'' Armstrong) was a British fantasy writer who was born in Northumberland, England, UK in 1955. A qualified teacher, she wrote fantasy since 1994, and is best known for the '' Artefacts of Power'' tetralogy. A resident in ...

Margaret Ogden Margaret Astrid Lindholm Ogden (born March 5, 1952), known by her pen names Robin Hobb and Megan Lindholm, is an American writer of speculative fiction. As Hobb, she is best known for her fantasy novels set in the ''Realm of the Elderlings'', w ...

* Mark Budz * Michael McQuay * Neal Stephenson * Patrice Murphy *

Patricia Geary Patricia Geary is an American author. After writing two borderline fantasy novels, '' Living in Ether'' (1982) and '' Strange Toys'' (1987), the latter of which won the Philip K. Dick Award, she found it difficult to sell her third novel as she h ...

Paula Volsky Paula Volsky is an American fantasy author. Biography Paula Volsky was born in Fanwood, New Jersey. She majored in English literature at liberal arts college, Vassar, in New York State, where she became friendly with Esther Friesner and Jane Bi ...

* Richard Grant * Robert Charles Wilson * Roberta MacAvoy *

Roger MacBride Allen Roger MacBride Allen (born September 26, 1957) is an American science fiction author. He was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut and grew up outside of Washington, D.C., graduating from Walt Whitman High School. He graduated from Boston Universit ...

* Scott Lynch * Sheri Tepper * T. A. Pratt * Tim Lebbon *

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 ...

* William McCarthy

Bantam Spectra series

Star Wars

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 ...

'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 Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC is an American film and television production company and a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is a business segment of The Walt Disney Company. The studio is best known for creating and producing the ''Star Wars'' and ' ...

, which owns ''Star Wars'', decided to have

Scholastic Scholastic may refer to: * a philosopher or theologian in the tradition of scholasticism * ''Scholastic'' (Notre Dame publication) * Scholastic Corporation, an American publishing company of educational materials * Scholastic Building, in New Y ...

and Del Rey publish their books, leading to the end of the Bantam Spectra Star Wars era.

References

External links

* * American speculative fiction publishers Random House Science fiction publishers {{US-publish-company-stub