James E. Gunn

Gunn became a professional writer in 1947 when he wrote a play produced by the University of Kansas, Thy Kingdom Come, then wrote newspaper articles and radio scripts.[10] Although he considered moving to New York to become a playwright, he began his career as a science fiction writer in 1949, making his first short story sale to Thrilling Wonder Stories.[13] He has had nearly 100 stories published in magazines and anthologies and has written 28 books and edited 10. Many of his stories and books have been reprinted around the world.[8]

In 1948, Gunn wrote his first science fiction, ten short stories, and published nine from 1949 to 1952 as "Edwin James", a pseudonym derived from his full name James Edwin Gunn.[10][8] The first two in print, "Communications" and "Paradox" (the first sale), were published in September and October 1949 by editor Sam Merwin in Startling Stories and Thrilling Wonder Stories respectively.[1] Gunn's master's thesis, a critical analysis of the genre, was also published in a professional magazine.[10] His novels were first published by Gnome Press in 1955, Star Bridge, written by Gunn and Jack Williamson, and This Fortress World.[1]

Scribner's published Gunn's novel The Listeners in 1972[14] and it was runner-up for the first annual John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.[3] Carl Sagan called it "one of the very best fictional portrayals of contact with extraterrestrial intelligence ever written." According to the publisher of a 2004 edition, "this book predicted and inspired the creation of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI)—the organization dedicated to the search for extraterrestrial life."[15]

In 1996, Gunn wrote a Star Trek novel that was a novelization of "The Joy Machine", an unproduced episode of the first Star Trek series that was scripted by Theodore Sturgeon.[16]

• Star Bridge, Gunn and Jack Williamson (Gnome Press, 1955)
• This Fortress World (Gnome, 1955)
• The Joy Makers (Bantam, 1961)
• The Immortals (Bantam, 1962), which was adapted for an ABC Movie of the Week in the fall of 1969 and turned into an ironically short-lived TV series in 1970.
• The Listeners (Scribner's, 1972), stories[14][15] – October 1972 collection of six novelettes, five previously published (September 1968 to September 1972); "The 'Computer Run's between each story average 8 pages long"[20]
• The Magicians (Scribner's, 1976) – expanded from a novella, "Sine of the Magus" (Beyond Fantasy Fiction, May 1954)[1]
• Kampus (Bantam, 1977)
• The Dreamers (Simon & Schuster, 1981)
• Crisis! (Tor Books, 1986) – fix-up of six stories published 1978 to 1985[1]
• The Joy Machine (Star Trek, Book 80) (1996)
• The Millennium Blues (e-reads.com, 2000; Easton Press, 2001)
• Human Voices (Five Star Books, 2002)
• Gift from the Stars (Easton, 2005)
• Transcendental (Transcendental Machine #1) ISBN 9780765335012 (Tor, 2013)[13]
• Transgalactic (Transcendental Machine #2) ISBN 9780765380920 (Tor, 2016)
• Transformation (Transcendental Machine #3) ISBN 9780765386663 (Tor, June 2017)

Collections

• Station in Space (Bantam Books, 1958), stories
• Future Imperfect (Bantam, 1964), stories
• The Immortals (Bantam, 1964), four stories; revised and expanded ed. comprising five stories, Pocket Books, 2004[1]
• The Witching Hour (Dell, 1970), stories
• Breaking Point (Walker & Co., 1972), stories
• The Burning (Dell, 1972), stories
• Some Dreams Are Nightmares (Scribner's, 1974), stories
• The End of the Dreams (Scribner's, 1975), stories

Stories[lower-alpha 1]

Anthologies (editor)

• Nebula Award Stories 10 (Gollancz, 1975)

Gunn's other anthologies include The Road to Science Fiction, six volumes from 1977 to 1998. The first four volumes, published by Mentor New American Library from 1977 to 1982, are organized chronologically and cover Gilgamesh to 1981 or "Forever" (volume 4, From Here to Forever). The last two volumes, published by White Wolf, Inc. in 1998, feature "The British Way" and "Around the World".[1]

• Alternate Worlds: The Illustrated History of Science Fiction (Prentice-Hall, 1975), ISBN 0-89104-049-8 – winner of the Locus Award and a Worldcon Special Achievement Award from MidAmeriCon, the 34th World Science Fiction Convention in 1976[3]
• Isaac Asimov: The Foundations of Science Fiction (Oxford, 1982); revised ed. (Scarecrow Press, 1996), ISBN 0-8108-3129-5[21] – Hugo Award winner[3]
• The New Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, editor (Viking Press, 1988), 067081041X – Hugo finalist[3]
• The Science of Science-Fiction Writing (Scarecrow Press, 2000), ISBN 1578860113 – "reflects on the science fiction process and how to teach it"
• Speculations on Speculation: Theories of Science Fiction, by Matthew Candelaria and Gunn (Scarecrow Press, 2005)
• Inside Science Fiction (Scarecrow Press, 2006)
• Reading Science Fiction, by Gunn, Marleen S. Barr, and Matthew Candelaria (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008)
• Gunn, James (July–August 2011). "Science fiction imagines the digital future". Analog. 131 (7&8): 98–103.
• — (2013). Paratexts : introductions to science fiction and fantasy. Lanham, Md.: The Scarecrow Press.
• Star-Begotten: A Life Lived in Science Fiction (McFarland and Company, Inc., 2017)
• Modern Science Fiction: A Critical Analysis: The Seminal 1951 Thesis, with a New Introduction and Commentary (McFarland and Company, Inc., 2018)