A fix-up (or fixup) is a

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

created from several short fiction 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 story (also known as a frame tale, frame narrative, sandwich narrative, or intercalation) is a literary technique that serves as a companion piece to a story within a story, where an introductory or main narrative sets the stage either fo ...

or other interstitial narration, is written for the new work. The term was coined by the

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

writer A. E. van Vogt, who published several fix-ups of his own, including '' The Voyage of the Space Beagle'', but the practice (if not the term) also 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, first published in 1979. It has won the Hugo Award, Hugo, Locus Award, Locus and BSFA Award, British SF Awards. Two print editions appea ...

'', edited by Peter Nicholls, which credited van Vogt with the term’s creation. 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 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 genres, including fantasy, science fiction, Horror fiction, horr ...

'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 tha ...

'' and

Isaac Asimov Isaac Asimov ( ; – April 6, 1992) was an Russian-born American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. During his lifetime, Asimov was considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers, along with Robert A. H ...

's '' I, Robot'', 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'' 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 that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

—once published primarily in magazines—increasingly began appearing in book form. Large book publishers like Doubleday and

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

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, copy editing, editor and critic. He was also known under the pen names Frank Mason, Alger Rome in collaboration with Jerome ...

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's ''

City A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

'' as exceptions.

Examples

Science fiction and fantasy

* '' Slan'' (1946) by A. E. van Vogt * '' The Book of Ptath'' (1947) by A. E. van Vogt * '' The World of Null-A'' (1948) by A. E. van Vogt * '' Triplanetary'' by E. E. Smith * '' The Voyage of the Space Beagle'' (1950) by A. E. van Vogt * ''

'' (1950) by

* '' The Dying Earth'' (1950) by

Jack Vance John Holbrook Vance (August 28, 1916 – May 26, 2013) was an American mystery, fantasy, and science fiction writer. He also wrote several mystery novels under pen names, including Ellery Queen. Vance won the World Fantasy Award for Life Ach ...

* '' I, Robot'' (1951) by

* '' Foundation'' (1951) by

* ''

'' (1952) by Clifford D. Simak * '' The Mixed Men'' (1952) by A. E. van Vogt * ''

Foundation and Empire ''Foundation and Empire'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Isaac Asimov originally published by Gnome Press in 1952. It is the second book in the ''Foundation'' series, and the fourth in the in-universe chronology. It takes place i ...

'' (1952) by

* '' More Than Human'' (1953) by

Theodore Sturgeon Theodore Sturgeon (; born Edward Hamilton Waldo, February 26, 1918 – May 8, 1985) was an American author of primarily fantasy fiction, fantasy, science fiction, and Horror fiction, horror, as well as a critic. He wrote approximately 400 ...

* ''

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 i ...

'' (1953) by

Henry Kuttner Henry Kuttner (April 7, 1915 – February 3, 1958) was an American author of science fiction, fantasy fiction, fantasy and horror fiction, horror. Early life Henry Kuttner was born in Los Angeles, California in 1915. Kuttner (1829–1903) and ...

and C. L. Moore (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 ...

) * '' Second Foundation'' (1953) by

* '' The Weapon Shops of Isher'' (1954) by A. E. van Vogt * '' Earthman, Come Home'' (1955) by James Blish * '' Men, Martians and Machines'' (1955) by

Eric Frank Russell Eric Frank Russell (January 6, 1905 – February 28, 1978) was a British people, 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 ''Asto ...

* '' Hell's Pavement'' (1955) by Damon Knight * '' Lest We Forget Thee, Earth'' (1958) by

Robert Silverberg Robert Silverberg (born January 15, 1935) is a prolific American science fiction author and editor. He is a multiple winner of both Hugo Award, Hugo and Nebula Awards, a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, and a SFWA Grand ...

(as Calvin M. Knox) * '' The Outward Urge'' (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 name ...

(as John Wyndham and Lucas Parkes) * '' A Canticle for Leibowitz'' (1959) by Walter M. Miller Jr. * '' The War Against the Rull'' (1959) by A. E. van Vogt * '' The Great Explosion'' (1962) by

* '' Hothouse'' (1962) by Brian W. Aldiss * '' Savage Pellucidar'' (1963) by

Edgar Rice Burroughs Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American writer, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best known for creating the characters Tarzan (who appeared in ...

* '' Stormbringer'' (1965) by

Michael Moorcock Michael John Moorcock (born 18 December 1939) is an English writer, particularly of 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 wo ...

* '' Rogue Ship'' (1965) by A. E. van Vogt * ''The Beast'' (1965) by A. E. van Vogt * '' The Eyes of the Overworld'' (1966) by Jack Vance * '' Counter-Clock World'' (1967) by Philip K. Dick * '' Pavane'' (1968) by Keith Roberts * '' The Silkie'' (1969) by A. E. van Vogt * '' The Ship Who Sang'' (1969) by

Anne McCaffrey Anne Inez McCaffrey (1 April 1926 – 21 November 2011) was an American 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'', 1968) an ...

* '' Quest for the Future'' (1970) by A. E. van Vogt * '' Half Past Human'' (1971) by T. J. Bass * ''

Operation Chaos Operation CHAOS or Operation MHCHAOS was a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) domestic espionage project targeting American citizens operating from 1967 to 1974, established by President Lyndon B. Johnson and expanded under President Richard Nixon ...

'' (1971) by Poul Anderson * '' Puzzle of the Space Pyramids'' (1971) by

Eando Binder Eando Binder () is a pen name used by two mid-20th-century science fiction authors, Earl Andrew Binder (1904–1966) and his brother Otto Binder (1911–1974). The name is derived from their first initials ''(E and O Binder).'' Under the Eando ...

* '' To Your Scattered Bodies Go'' (1971) by Philip Jose Farmer * '' The Fabulous Riverboat'' (1971) by Philip Jose Farmer * '' The World Inside'' (1971) by

* '' 334'' (1972) by Thomas M. Disch * '' The Godmakers'' (1972) by

Frank Herbert Franklin Patrick Herbert Jr. (October 8, 1920February 11, 1986) was an American science-fiction author, best known for his 1965 novel Dune (novel), ''Dune'' and its five sequels. He also wrote short stories and worked as a newspaper journalist, ...

* '' To Ride Pegasus'' (1973) by

* ''

A World Out of Time A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes''. It is similar in shape to the Ancient ...

'' (1976) by

Larry Niven Laurence van Cott Niven (; born April 30, 1938) is an American science fiction writer. His 1970 novel ''Ringworld'' won the Hugo Award for Best Novel, Hugo, Locus Award, Locus, Ditmar Award, Ditmar, and Nebula Award for Best Novel, Nebula award ...

* '' In the Ocean of Night'' (1977) by Gregory Benford * '' 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 ergonomics, human factors research, a science fiction writer, essayist, journalist, and one of the first bloggers. ...

* ''

If the Stars are Gods ''If the Stars are Gods'' is a science fiction book by American writers Gregory Benford and Gordon Eklund, published in 1977. It is an expansion of the Nebula Award for Best Novelette, Nebula Award-winning novelette, first published in ''Univers ...

'' (1977) by Gregory Benford and Gordon Eklund * '' Born to Exile'' (1978) by Phyllis Eisenstein * '' Space War Blues'' (1978) by Richard A. Lupoff * '' Catacomb Years'' (1979) by Michael Bishop * '' The World and Thorinn'' (1981) by Damon Knight * '' Windhaven'' (1981) by

George R. R. Martin George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin; September 20, 1948) also known by the initials G.R.R.M. is an American author, television writer, and television producer. He is best known as the author of the unfinished series of Hi ...

and Lisa Tuttle * '' The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger'' (1982) by

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...

* '' The Crucible of Time'' (1983) by John Brunner * '' Icehenge'' (1984) by

Kim Stanley Robinson Kim Stanley Robinson (born March 23, 1952) is an American science fiction writer best known for his ''Mars'' trilogy. Many of his novels and stories have ecological, cultural, and political themes and feature scientists as heroes. Robinson has ...

* ''

Emergence In philosophy, systems theory, science, and art, emergence occurs when a complex entity has properties or behaviors that its parts do not have on their own, and emerge only when they interact in a wider whole. Emergence plays a central rol ...

'' (1984) by David R. Palmer * ''

The Postman ''The Postman'' is a Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, post-apocalyptic dystopian 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 h ...

'' (1985) by

David Brin Glen David Brin (born October 6, 1950) is an American science fiction author. He has won the Hugo Award, Hugo,

* ''

Saturnalia Saturnalia is an Roman festivals, ancient Roman festival and holiday in honour of the List of Roman deities, god Saturn (mythology), Saturn, held on 17 December in the Julian calendar and later expanded with festivities until 19 December. By t ...

'' (1986) by Grant Callin * '' Tuf Voyaging'' (1986) by

* '' 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, wher ...

* '' A Different Flesh'' (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 his ...

* '' Prince of Mercenaries'' (1989) by

* '' Mirabile'' (1991) by Janet Kagan * ''The Sword of Destiny'' (1992) by Andrzej Sapkowski * '' Crashlander'' (1994) by

* '' Amnesia Moon'' (1995) by Jonathan Lethem (fix-up of all previously unpublished stories) * '' Vacuum Diagrams'' (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 mag ...

* '' Rainbow Mars'' (1999) by

* '' From the Dust Returned'' (2001) by

* ''

Coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans''), also known as the American jackal, prairie wolf, or brush wolf, is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the Wolf, gray wolf, and slightly smaller than the c ...

'' (2002) by Allen Steele * '' Sister Alice'' (2003) by Robert Reed * '' Roma Eterna'' (2003) by

* '' The Carpet Makers'' (2005) by Andreas Eschbach * '' Accelerando'' (2005) by Charles Stross * '' From the Files of the Time Rangers'' (2005) by Richard Bowes * ''

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 * ''Driftwood'' (2020) by Marie Brennan

Other genres

* '' Scenes of Bohemian Life'' (1851) by Henri Murger * ''

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 st ...

'' (1912) by

Stephen Leacock Stephen Butler Leacock (30 December 1869 – 28 March 1944) was a Canadian teacher, political scientist, writer, and humourist. Between the years 1915 and 1925, he was the best-known English-speaking humourist in the world. Early life S ...

* The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu (1913) by

Sax Rohmer Arthur Henry "Sarsfield" Ward (15 February 1883 – 1 June 1959), better known as Sax Rohmer, was an English novelist. He is best remembered for his series of novels featuring the master criminal Fu Manchu."Rohmer, Sax" by Jack Adrian in David ...

* '' The Inimitable Jeeves'' (1923) by P. G. Wodehouse * '' The Big Four'' (1927) by

Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English people, English author known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving ...

* '' The Pastures of Heaven'' (1932) and '' The Red Pony'' (1937) by

John Steinbeck John Ernst Steinbeck ( ; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer. He won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social percep ...

* '' The Unvanquished'' (1938) by

William Faulkner William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer. He is best known for William Faulkner bibliography, his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi, a stand-in fo ...

* '' The Big Sleep'' (1939), '' Farewell My Lovely'' (1940) and '' The Lady in the Lake'' (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'' (1940) by Ralph Ingersoll * '' Go Down, Moses'' (1942) by

* '' Dandelion Wine'' (1957) by

* '' Three for the Chair'' (1957) by Rex Stout * '' Lives of Girls and Women'' (1971) by Alice Munro * '' 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'' (1992) by

* '' Trainspotting'' (1993) by

Irvine Welsh Irvine Welsh (born 27 September 1958) is a Scottish novelist and short story writer. His 1993 novel ''Trainspotting (novel), Trainspotting'' was made into a Trainspotting (film), film of the same name. He has also written plays and screenplays, ...

* '' Throat Sprockets'' (1994) by Tim Lucas * '' Haunted'' (2005) by

Chuck Palahniuk Charles Michael Palahniuk (;, , born February 21, 1962) is an American novelist of Ukrainian and French ancestry who describes his work as transgressional fiction. He has published 19 novels, three nonfiction books, two graphic novels, and two ad ...

* '' A Visit from the Goon Squad'' (2010) by Jennifer Egan * ''The Seven Wonders'' (2012) by Steven Saylor

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 Press The University of Pittsburgh Press is a scholarly publishing house and a major American university press, part of the University of Pittsburgh. The university and the press are located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The 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

Examples

Science fiction and fantasy

Other genres

See also

References