These eight great authors share a unique position in science fiction and fantasy. They are all Grand Masters of Science Fiction, as lauded by their peers, the members of the Science fiction Writers of America. Each Grand Master was asked to name the story that he or she felt was the finest short work produced during the career that earned this singular honor. The eight stories chosen by the eight Grand Masters comprise the main contents of this book. All the stories are memorable; many are reprinted for the first time in many years. Also contained are essays about the authors, and an Introduction by Robert Bloch. Altogether, Grand Masters' Choice is a fitting tribute to eight of the greatest writers in the field, entertaining readers with the words they themselves are most proud to have written. • Introduction • essay by Robert Bloch • The Long Watch • (1949) • Robert A. Heinlein • With Folded Hands • (1948) • Jack Williamson • The Autumn Land • (1971) • Clifford D. Simak • A Gun for Dinosaur • (1956) • L. Sprague de Camp • Lean Times in Lankhmar • (1959) • Fritz Leiber • Toads of Grimmerdale • (1973) • Andre Norton • Transit of Earth • (1971) • Arthur C. Clarke • The Last Question • (1956) • Isaac Asimov
Author
Alice Mary Norton always had an affinity to the humanities. She started writing in her teens, inspired by a charismatic high school teacher. First contacts with the publishing world led her, as many other contemporary female writers targeting a male-dominated market, to choose a literary pseudonym. In 1934 she legally changed her name to Andre Alice. She also used the names Andrew North and Allen Weston as pseudonyms. Andre Norton published her first novel in 1934, and was the first woman to receive the Gandalf Grand Master Award from the World Science Fiction Society in 1977, and won the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) association in 1983. Norton was twice nominated for the Hugo Award, in 1964 for the novel Witch World and in 1967 for the novelette "Wizard's World." She was nominated three times for the World Fantasy Award for lifetime achievement, winning the award in 1998. Norton won a number of other genre awards, and regularly had works appear in the Locus annual "best of year" polls. On February 20, 2005, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, which had earlier honored her with its Grand Master Award in 1983, announced the creation of the Andre Norton Award, to be given each year for an outstanding work of fantasy or science fiction for the young adult literature market, beginning in 2006. Often called the Grande Dame of Science Fiction and Fantasy by biographers such as J. M. Cornwell and organizations such as Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Publishers Weekly, and Time, Andre Norton wrote novels for over 70 years. She had a profound influence on the entire genre, having over 300 published titles read by at least four generations of science fiction and fantasy readers and writers. Notable authors who cite her influence include Greg Bear, Lois McMaster Bujold, C. J. Cherryh, Cecilia Dart-Thornton, Tanya Huff, Mercedes Lackey, Charles de Lint, Joan D. Vinge, David Weber, K. D. Wentworth, and Catherine Asaro.
