Editing James Blish

{{Short description|American science fiction and fantasy author (1921–1975)}}
{{distinguish|James Bliss (disambiguation){{!}}James Bliss}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = James Blish
| pseudonym = {{Ubl
  |William Atheling Jr.
  |Donald Laverty
  |John MacDougal
  |Arthur Lloyd Merlyn
}}
| birth_name = James Benjamin Blish
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1921|05|23}}
| birth_place = [[East Orange, New Jersey]], [[United States]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1975|07|30|1921|05|23}}
| death_place = [[Henley-on-Thames]], [[England]], [[United Kingdom]]
| occupation = Writer, Literary critic
| language = English
| nationality = American
| education = {{Ubl
  |Rutgers University (BS)
  |Columbia University (incompl.)
}}
| period = 1940–1975
| genre = [[Science fiction]], [[Fantasy]]
| spouses = {{Ubl
  |{{Marriage|[[Virginia Kidd]]|May 23, 1947|1963}}<ref name=":0" />
  |{{Marriage|[[J. A. Lawrence]]|November 7, 1964}}
}}
| children = 3
| signature = James_Blish_Signatures.jpg
| years_active = 1940–1975
| website = {{URL|jamesblish.com}}
}}

'''James Benjamin Blish''' ({{Daterangedash|1921-05-23|1975-07-30|mdy}}) was an American [[science fiction]] and [[fantasy]] [[writer]]. He is best known for his ''[[Cities in Flight]]'' novels and his series of ''Star Trek'' novelizations written with his wife, [[J. A. Lawrence]]. His novel ''[[A Case of Conscience]]'' won the [[Hugo Award]]. He is credited with creating the term "[[gas giant]]" to refer to large planetary bodies.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction: gas giant|url=https://sfdictionary.com/view/52/gas-giant|access-date=2023-03-29|website=sfdictionary.com}}</ref>

His first published stories appeared in ''[[Super Science Stories]]'' and ''[[Amazing Stories]]''.

Blish wrote [[literary criticism]] of science fiction using the [[pen name]] '''William Atheling Jr.''' His other pen names included '''Donald Laverty''', '''John MacDougal''', and '''Arthur Lloyd Merlyn'''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite encyclopedia|title=BLISH, James (Benjamin) 1921–1975|date=October 1981|publisher=[[Gale (publisher)|Gale Research, Inc.]]|isbn=9780810322769|editor-last=Olendorf|editor-first=Donna|volume=66|location=Detroit, Michigan|pages=21|encyclopedia=Something About the Author|issn=0276-816X}}</ref>
{{TOC limit|3}}

== Life ==
Blish was born on May 23, 1921, at [[East Orange, New Jersey]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bloom|first=Harold|title=Science Fiction Writers of the Golden Age|date=Jun 1995|publisher=Chelsea House|isbn=9780791021996|location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/sciencefictwrotg00haro/page/63 63]|chapter=James Blish|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/sciencefictwrotg00haro/page/63}}</ref> While in high school, Blish self-published a [[fanzine]], called ''The Planeteer'', using a [[hectograph]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2020}} The fanzine ran for six issues. 

Blish was a member of the [[Futurians]].<ref>Knight, Damon. The Futurians. New York: John Day, 1977.</ref>

Blish attended meetings of the Futurian Science Fiction Society in New York City during this period.
Futurian members [[Damon Knight]] and [[Cyril M. Kornbluth]] became close friends. However, Blish's relationships with other members were often bitter.<ref name="Kirkus Big Ideas">{{Cite web|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/features/big-ideas-james-blish/|title=The Big Ideas of James Blish|last=Litpak|first=Andrew|date=2014-02-13|website=Kirkus|access-date=2017-12-30}}</ref> A personal target was fellow member [[Judith Merril]], with whom he would debate politics. Merril would frequently dismiss Blish's self-description of being a "paper fascist". She wrote in ''Better to Have Loved'' (2002), "Of course [Blish] was not fascist, antisemitic, or any of those terrible things, but every time he used the phrase, I saw red."<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Merril|first1=Judith|title=Better to Have Loved: The Life of Judith Merril|last2=Pohl-Weary|first2=Emily|date=2002-04-19|publisher=Between the Lines|isbn=9781896357577|location=Toronto|pages=[https://archive.org/details/bettertohavelove0000merr/page/58 58]|chapter=Virginia Kidd and the Futurian Motherhood|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/bettertohavelove0000merr/page/58}}</ref>

[[File:BlishGrave.jpg|thumb|James Blish's grave marker.]]
Blish studied [[microbiology]] at [[Rutgers University]], graduating in 1942. He was [[Conscription in the United States|drafted into Army service]], and he served briefly as a [[medical laboratory]] [[Laboratory technician|technician]]. The [[United States Army]] [[Military discharge|discharged]] him for refusing orders to clean a [[grease trap]] in 1944. Following discharge, Blish entered [[Columbia University]] as a masters student of [[zoology]]. He did not complete the program, opting to write fiction full-time.<ref name="Kirkus Big Ideas" />

In 1947, he married [[Virginia Kidd]], a fellow Futurian.<ref name=":0" /> They divorced in 1963. Blish then married artist [[J. A. Lawrence]] in 1964,<ref name=":0" /> moving to England that same year.

From 1962 to 1968, Blish worked for the [[Tobacco Institute]] as a writer and critic. Much of his work for the institute went uncredited.

Blish died on July 30, 1975, from complications related to [[lung cancer]]. He was buried in [[Holywell Cemetery]], [[Oxford]]. The [[Bodleian Library]] at Oxford is the custodian of Blish's papers.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/dept/scwmss/wmss/online/modern/blish/blish.html|title=Collection: Books and papers of James Blish (1921-75)|website=[[Bodleian Library]]|access-date=2017-12-30}}</ref> The library also has a complete catalog of Blish's published works.

== Career ==
Throughout the 1940s, Blish published most of his stories in the few [[pulp magazines]] still in circulation. His first story was sold to fellow Futurian [[Frederik Pohl]] for ''[[Super Science Stories]]'' (1940), called "Emergency Refueling". Other stories were published intermittently, but with little circulation. Blish's "Chaos, Co-Ordinated", co-written with [[Robert A. W. Lowndes]], was sold to ''[[Analog Science Fiction and Fact|Astounding Science Fiction]]'', appearing in the October 1946 issue, earning Blish national circulation for the first time.

=== Pantropy (1942–1956) ===
[[File:Two_complete_science_adventure_books_1951sum_n3.jpg|thumb|Blish's ''The Warriors of Day'' was originally published in ''[[Two Complete Science-Adventure Books]]'' in 1951 as "Sword of Xota"]]

Blish was what Andrew Liptack called a "practical writer".<ref name="Kirkus Big Ideas" /> He would revisit, revise, and often expand on previously written stories. An example is "Sunken Universe" published in ''[[Super Science Stories]]'' in 1942. The story reappeared in ''[[Galaxy Science Fiction]]'' as "Surface Tension", in an altered form in 1952. The premise emphasized Blish's understanding of microbiology, and featured microscopic humans engineered to live on a hostile planet's shallow pools of water. The story proved to be among Blish's more popular and was anthologized in the first volume of [[Robert Silverberg]]{{'s}} ''[[The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One, 1929–1964|The Science Fiction Hall of Fame]]''.<ref>{{Cite book|last=James|first=Blish|title=The Science Fiction Hall of Fame|date=Jan 1976|publisher=Avon|isbn=9780380007950|editor-last=Silverberg|editor-first=Robert|volume=1|location=New York|pages=477–514|chapter=Surface Tension}}</ref> It was also anthologized in ''[[The Big Book of Science Fiction]]'' (2016), edited by [[Ann VanderMeer|Ann]] and [[Jeff VanderMeer]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Big Book of Science Fiction: 9781101910092 {{!}} PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books|url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/248846/the-big-book-of-science-fiction-by-edited-by-ann-and-jeff-vandermeer/|access-date=2020-06-27|website=PenguinRandomhouse.com|language=en-US}}</ref>

The world of microscopic humans continued in "The Thing in the Attic" in 1954, and "Watershed" the following year. The fourth entry, "A Time to Survive", was published by ''[[The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction]]'' in 1957. The stories were collected, edited together, and published as the [[fix-up]] ''The Seedling Stars'' (1956), by Gnome Press. [[John Clute]] said all of Blish's "deeply felt work" explored "confronting the [[Faustian]] (or [[Frankensteinian]]) man".<ref name="Kirkus Big Ideas" />

=== ''Cities in Flight'' (1950–1958) ===
{{Main|Cities in Flight}}
''[[The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction]]'' asserts that not until the 1950s, and the Okie sequence of stories beginning their run, "did it become clear [Blish] would become a [science fiction] writer of unusual depth".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/blish_james|title=Authors : Blish, James|date=2018-03-11|website=[[The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction]]|access-date=2020-02-19}}</ref> The stories were loosely based on the [[Okie]] migration following the [[Dust Bowl]] of the 1930s, and were influenced by [[Oswald Spengler]]'s two-part ''[[The Decline of the West|Der Untergang des Abendlandes]]'' (''The Decline of the West'')''.''

The stories detail the life of the Okies, humans who migrate throughout space looking for work in vast city-ships, powered by [[Spindizzy (Cities in Flight)|spindizzies]], a type of [[anti-gravity]] engine. The premise and plot reflected Blish's feelings on the state of [[Western culture|western civilization]], and his personal politics.<ref name="Kirkus Big Ideas" /> The first two stories, "Okie", and "Bindlestiff", were published in 1950, by ''Astounding''. "Sargasso of Lost Cities" appeared in ''Two Complete Science-Adventure Books'' in April 1953. "Earthman, Come Home" followed a few months later, published by ''Astounding''. In 1955, Blish collected the four stories together into an omnibus titled ''Earthman, Come Home'', published by Putnam.

More stories followed: In 1956, ''They Shall Have Stars'', which edited together "Bridge" and "At Death's End", and in 1958, Blish published ''The Triumph of Time''. Four years later, he published a new Okies novel, ''A Life for the Stars''. The Okies sequence was edited together and published as ''Cities In Flight'' (1970).

Clute notes, "the brilliance of ''Cities in Flight'' does not lie in the assemblage of its parts, but in the momentum of the ideas embodied in it (albeit sometimes obscurely)."<ref name="Kirkus Big Ideas" />
[[File:Two_complete_science_adventure_books_1953spr_n8.jpg|thumb|The novella ''Sargasso of Lost Cities'', Blish's third ''Cities in Flight'' story, was published in ''[[Two Complete Science-Adventure Books]]'' in 1953. ]]

=== ''After Such Knowledge'' (1958–1971) ===
Blish continued to rework older stories, and did so for one of his best known works, ''[[A Case of Conscience]]'' (1958). The novel originated as a novella, originally published in an issue of ''[[If (magazine)|If]]'', in 1953. The story follows a Jesuit priest, Ramon Ruiz-Sanchez, who visits the planet Lithia as a technical member of an expedition. While on the planet they discover a race of bipedal reptilians that have perfected morality in what Ruiz-Sanchez says is "the absence of God", and theological complications ensue. The book is one of the first major works in the genre to explore religion and its implications. It was the first of a series including ''[[Doctor Mirabilis (novel)|Doctor Mirabilis]]'' (1964) -- during whose preparatory research Blish taught himself Latin, to assist reading historic documents [cite: personal conversations with JB] -- and the two-part story ''[[Black Easter]]'' (1968) and ''[[The Day After Judgment]]'' (1971). The latter two were collected as ''The Devil's Day'' (1980). An omnibus of all four entries in the series was published by Legend in 1991, titled ''After Such Knowledge'' (a reference to T.S.Eliot: "After such knowledge, what forgiveness?" [cite: personal conversations with JB]).

''A Case of Conscience'' won the 1959 Hugo Award for Best Novel, and was collected as part of Library of America's omnibus ''American Science Fiction: Five Classic Novels 1956-1958''.<ref name="NESFA Longlist">{{Cite web|url=http://www.nesfa.org/data/LL/Hugos/hugos1959.html|title=The Long List of Hugo Awards, 1959|website=[[NESFA]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190517071616/https://www.nesfa.org/data/LL/Hugos/hugos1959.html|archive-date=2019-05-17|access-date=2020-02-19}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Blish|first=James|title=American Science Fiction: Five Classic Novels 1956-58|date=2012-09-27|publisher=[[The Library of America]]|isbn=9781598531596|editor-last=Wolfe|editor-first=Gary K.|volume=228|location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/americansciencef0000unse/page/373 373–554]|chapter=A Case of Conscience|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/americansciencef0000unse/page/373}}</ref>

=== ''Star Trek'' (1967–1977) ===
{{Main|Star Trek (Bantam Books)}}
Bantam Books commissioned Blish to adapt episodes of ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek]]''. The adapted short stories were generally based on draft scripts and contained different plot elements from the aired television episodes.

The stories were collected into twelve volumes and published as a title series of the same name from 1967 to 1977. The adaptations were largely written by Blish; however, his declining health during this period proved problematic. His wife, J. A. Lawrence, wrote a number of installments. Her work remained uncredited until the final volume, ''Star Trek 12'', published in 1977, two years after Blish's death.<ref name="Ketterer" />{{Rp|25}}

The first original novel for adults based on the television series, ''[[Spock Must Die!]]'' (1970),<ref>''Spock Must Die'' was preceded by ''[[Mission to Horatius]]'' by [[Mack Reynolds]], but the latter novel was written for children.</ref> was also written by Blish, and he planned to release more. According to Lawrence, two episodes featuring popular character Harry Mudd, "[[I, Mudd]]" and "[[Mudd's Women]]", were held back by Blish for adaptation to be included in the follow-up to ''Spock Must Die!''.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Ayers|first=Jeff|title=Voyages of Imagination: The Star Trek Fiction Companion|title-link=Voyages of Imagination|date=2006-11-14|publisher=[[Pocket Books]]|isbn=9781416503491|location=New York|pages=9–11}}</ref> However, Blish died before a novel could be completed. Lawrence did eventually adapt the two episodes, as ''Mudd's Angels'' (1978), which included an original novella ''The Business, as Usual, During Altercations'' by Lawrence. In her introduction to ''Star Trek 12'', Lawrence states that Blish "did indeed write" adaptations of the two episodes. The introduction to ''Mudd's Angels'' acknowledges this, stating that Blish left the two stories in various stages of completion and they were finished by Lawrence; Blish does not receive author credit on the book.

Blish credited his financial stability later in life to the ''Star Trek'' commission and the advance he received for ''Spock Must Die!''.<ref name="Ketterer">{{Cite book|last=Ketterer|first=David|title=Imprisoned in a Tesseract: The Life and Work of James Blish|date=September 1987|publisher=[[Kent State University Press]]|isbn=9780873383349|location=Kent, Ohio|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/imprisonedintess00kett}}</ref>{{Rp|21}}

== Literary criticism and legacy ==
Blish was among the first [[literary critics]] of science fiction, and he judged works in the genre by the standards applied to [[Literary fiction|"serious" literature]].<ref name="Budrys">{{Cite magazine|last=Budrys|first=Algis|date=June 1965|editor-last=Pohl|editor-first=Frederik|title=Galaxy Bookshelf|magazine=Galaxy Science Fiction|location=New York|publisher=Galaxy Publishing Corp.|volume=23|issue=5|pages=164–169}}</ref> He took to task his fellow authors for deficiencies, such as bad grammar and a misunderstanding of scientific concepts, and the magazine editors who accepted and published such material without editorial intervention. His criticism was published in "fanzines" in the 1950s under the pseudonym William Atheling Jr.

The essays were collected in ''The Issue at Hand'' (1964) and ''More Issues at Hand'' (1970). Reviewing ''The Issue at Hand'', [[Algis Budrys]] said that Atheling had, along with [[Damon Knight]], "transformed the reviewer's trade in this field". He described the persona of Atheling as "acidulous, assertive, categorical, conscientious and occasionally idiosyncratic".<ref name="Budrys" />

Blish was a fan of the works of [[James Branch Cabell]], and for a time edited ''Kalki'', the journal of the Cabell Society.

In his works of science fiction, Blish developed many ideas and terms which have influenced other writers and on occasion have been adopted more widely, such as [[faster-than-light communication]] via the Dirac communicator, introduced in the short story "Beep" (1954). The Dirac is comparable to [[Ursula K. Le Guin]]'s [[ansible]].

Blish is also credited with coining the term [[gas giant]], first used in the story "Solar Plexus", collected in the anthology ''Beyond Human Ken'', edited by [[Judith Merril]]. The story was originally published in 1941, but it did not contain the term. Blish reworked the story, changing the description of a large [[magnetic field]] to "a magnetic field of some strength nearby, one that didn't belong to the invisible ''gas giant'' revolving half a million miles away".<ref>{{cite web| url=https://sfdictionary.com/view/52/gas-giant| title=Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction: gas giant| access-date=2022-11-17}}</ref>

== Honors, awards and recognition ==
The British [[Science Fiction Foundation]] inaugurated the James Blish Award for science fiction criticism in 1977, recognizing Brian W. Aldiss. The [[Museum of Pop Culture#Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame|Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame]] inducted him in 2002.

=== Awards and nominations ===
* 1959 [[Hugo Award]] for Best Novel, for ''[[A Case of Conscience]].''<ref name="NESFA Longlist" />
* 1965 [[Nebula Award]] nomination for Best Novelette, for "The Shipwrecked Hotel", with [[Norman L. Knight]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nebulas.sfwa.org/award-year/1965/|title=1965 - The Nebula Awards|website=[[Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America]]|access-date=2017-12-31}}</ref>
* 1968 Nebula Award nomination for Best Novel, for ''[[Black Easter]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nebulas.sfwa.org/award-year/1968/|title=1968 - The Nebula Awards|website=[[Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America]]|access-date=2017-12-31}}</ref>
* 1970 Hugo Award nomination for Best Novella, for ''We All Die Naked''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nesfa.org/data/LL/Hugos/hugos1970.html|title=The Long List of Hugo Awards, 1970|website=[[NESFA]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171003103450/http://www.nesfa.org/data/LL/Hugos/hugos1970.html|archive-date=2017-10-03|access-date=2020-02-19}}</ref>
* 1970 Nebula Award nomination for Best Novella, for ''A Style in Treason''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://nebulas.sfwa.org/award-year/1970/|title=1970 - The Nebula Awards|website=[[Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America]]|access-date=2017-12-31}}</ref>

=== Posthumous Awards and nominations ===
* 2001 [1951] Retro-Hugo Award nomination for Best Novelette, for "Okie".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nesfa.org/data/LL/Hugos/hugos1951.html|title=The Long List of Retro Hugo Awards, 1951|website=[[Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America]]|access-date=2017-12-31|archive-date=September 12, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170912093222/http://www.nesfa.org/data/LL/Hugos/hugos1951.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* 2004 [1954] Retro-Hugo Award for Best Novella, for ''A Case of Conscience''.<ref name="Retro">{{Cite web|url=http://www.nesfa.org/data/LL/Hugos/hugos1954.html|title=The Long List of Retro Hugo Awards, 1954|website=[[NESFA]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180101030323/http://www.nesfa.org/data/LL/Hugos/hugos1954.html|archive-date=2018-01-01|access-date=2020-02-19}}</ref>
* 2004 [1954] Retro-Hugo Award for Best Novelette, for "Earthman, Come Home".<ref name="Retro" />

=== Guest of Honor ===
* 1960 Guest of Honor, [[Worldcon|18th World Science Fiction Convention]].
* 1970 Guest of Honor, [[Eastercon|Scicon 70]].

== Bibliography ==
Blish's work was published by a variety of publishers in the United Kingdom and the United States, often with variations between editions, and with different titles. Blish also expanded and re-published his older work on numerous occasions. His works continued to be re-published after his death.

Very few of Blish's first editions were assigned ISBN numbers.

=== Short fiction and novellas (1935–1986) ===
Novels published in complete form, or serialized, in fiction magazines are included for completeness, and to avoid confusion.

{{Sup|β}} Novelette, {{Sup|ε}} Novella, {{Sup|γ}} Novel.

==== ''The Planeteer'' (1935–1936) ====
{{Div col}}
* "Neptunian Refuge" (November 1935)
* "Mad Vision" (December 1935)
* "Pursuit into Nowhere" (January 1936)
* "Threat from Copernicus" (February 1936)
* "Trail of the Comet" (March 1936)
* "Bat-Shadow Shroud" (April 1936)
{{Div col end}}

==== ''Super Science Stories'' (1940) ====
* "Emergency Refueling" (March 1940)
* "Bequest of the Angel" (May 1940)
* "Sunken Universe" (May 1942), rewritten as "Surface Tension" (1952)

==== ''Stirring Science Stories'' (1941) ====
* "Citadel of Thought" (February 1941)
* "Callistan Cabal" (April 1941)

==== ''Science Fiction Quarterly'' (1941) ====
* "Weapon Out of Time" (April 1941)
* "When Anteros Came" (December 1941)

==== ''Cosmic Stories'' (1941) ====
* "Phoenix Planet"{{Sup|β}} (May 1941)
* "The Real Thrill" (July 1941)

==== ''Future'' (1941–1953) ====
{{Div col}}
* "The Topaz Gate"{{Sup|β}} (August 1941)
* "The Solar Comedy" (June 1942)
* "The Air Whale" (August 1942)
* "Struggle in the Womb" (May 1950)
* "The Secret People"{{Sup|β}} (November 1950)
* "Elixir" (September 1951)
* "Testament of Andros"{{Sup|β}} (January 1953)
{{Div col end}}

==== ''Astonishing Stories'' (1941) ====
* "Solar Plexus" (September 1941)

==== ''Super Science and Fantastic Stories'' (1944) ====
* "The Bounding Crown"{{Sup|β}} (December 1944)

==== ''Science*Fiction'' (1946) ====
* "Knell", as by Arthur Lloyd Merlyn (January 1946)

==== ''Astounding Science Fiction'' (1946–1957) ====
{{Div col}}
* "Chaos, Co-Ordinated"{{Sup|β}} as by John MacDougal, with [[Robert A. W. Lowndes]] (October 1946)
* "Tiger Ride" with [[Damon Knight]] (October 1948)
* "Okie"{{Sup|β}} (April 1950)
* "Bindlestiff"{{Sup|β}} (December 1950)
* "Bridge"{{Sup|β}} (February 1952)
* "Earthman, Come Home"{{Sup|β}} (November 1953)
* "At Death's End"{{Sup|β}} (May 1954)
* "One-Shot" (August 1955)
* "Tomb Tapper"{{Sup|β}} (July 1956)
* ''[[Get Out of My Sky]]''{{Hsp}}{{Sup|ε}} (January 1957), included in ''Get out of My Sky'' Panther ed. (1980)
{{Div col end}}

==== ''Startling Stories'' (1948) ====
* "Mistake Inside" (April 1948)

==== ''Planet Stories'' (1948–1951) ====
* "Against the Stone Beasts"{{Sup|β}} (August 1948)
* "Blackout in Cygni" (July 1951)

==== ''Thrilling Wonder Stories'' (1948–1950) ====
{{Div col}}
* "No Winter, No Summer" as by Donald Laverty, with Damon Knight (October 1948)
* "The Weakness of RVOG"{{Sup|β}} (February 1949), expanded as ''VOR'' (1958)
* "The Box" (April 1949)
* "The Homesteader" (June 1949)
* ''Let the Finder Beware''{{Hsp}}{{Sup|ε}} (December 1949)
* "There Shall Be No Darkness"{{Sup|β}} (April 1950), included in ''Get Out of My Sky'' Panther ed. (1980)
{{Div col end}}

==== ''Jungle Stories'' (1948) ====
* "Serpent's Fetish" (December 1948)

==== ''Fantastic Story Quarterly'' (1950) ====
* "The Bore" (July 1950)

==== ''Imagination'' (1951) ====
* "The Void Is My Coffin" (June 1951)

==== ''Two Complete Science-Adventure Books'' (1951) ====
* ''The Warriors of Day''{{Hsp}}{{Sup|γ}} (August 1951)
* ''Sargasso of Lost Cities''{{Hsp}}{{Sup|ε}} (April 1953)

==== ''Other Worlds Science Stores'' (1952) ====
* "Nightride and Sunrise"{{Sup|β}} with [[Jerome Bixby]] (June 1952)

==== ''Galaxy Science Fiction'' (1952–1970) ====
{{Div col}}
* "Surface Tension"{{Sup|β}} (August 1952), collected in ''The Seedling Stars'' (1957)
* "Beep"{{Sup|β}} (February 1954), expanded as ''[[The Quincunx of Time]]'' (1973)
* "The Writing of the Rat" (July 1956)
* "The Genius Heap" (August 1956)
* "On the Wall of the Lodge"{{Sup|β}} with [[Virginia Kidd]] (June 1962)
* "The Shipwrecked Hotel"{{Sup|β}} with Norman L. Knight, (August 1965), expanded as ''A Torrent of Faces'' (1967)
* "The Piper of Dis"{{Sup|β}} with Norman L. Knight, (August 1966), expanded as ''A Torrent of Faces'' (1967)
* "Our Binary Brothers" (February 1969)
* "The City That Was the World"{{Sup|β}} (July 1969)
* "A Style in Treason"{{Sup|β}} (May 1970)
* ''[[The Day After Judgment]]''{{Hsp}}{{Sup|γ}} (September 1970), collected in ''The Devil's Day'' (1990)
* "Darkside Crossing"{{Sup|β}} (December 1970)
* "The Glitch" (June 1974)
* "The Art of the Sneeze" (November 1982)
{{Div col end}}

==== ''Dynamic Science Fiction'' (1953) ====
* "Turn of a Century" (March 1953)
* ''[[The Duplicated Man]]''{{Hsp}}{{Sup|γ}} with Robert A. W. Lowndes (August 1953)

==== ''Worlds of If'' (1953–1968) ====
{{Div col}}
* ''A Case of Conscience''{{Hsp}}{{Sup|ε}} (September 1953), expanded as ''[[A Case of Conscience]]'' (1958)
* "The Thing in the Attic"{{Sup|β}} (July 1954), collected in ''The Seedling Stars'' (1957)
* "Watershed" (May 1955), collected in ''The Seedling Stars'' (1957)
* "To Pay the Piper" (February 1956)
* ''Welcome to Mars''{{Hsp}}{{Sup|γ}} (July 1966)
* ''[[Black Easter]]''{{Hsp}}{{Sup|γ}} (August 1967), collected in ''The Devil's Day'' (1990)
* "Now That Man Is Gone" (November 1968)
{{Div col end}}

==== ''Star Science Fiction Stories'' (1953) ====
[[File:Cover_If_195309.jpg|thumb|First publication of ''A Case of Conscience'', September 1953.]]
* "F.Y.I." (December 1953)

==== ''The Magazine of Science Fiction and Fantasy'' (1953–1980) ====
{{Div col}}
* "First Strike" (June 1953)
* "The Book of Your Life" (March 1955)
* "With Malice to Come (3 vignettes)" (May 1955)
* "A Time to Survive"{{Sup|β}} (February 1956), collected in ''The Seedling Stars'' Signet ed. (1959)
* "This Earth of Hours"{{Sup|β}} (June 1959)
* "The Masks" (November 1959)
* "[https://archive.org/details/Fantasy_Science_Fiction_v019n04_1960-10_PDF/page/n3/mode/2up?view=theater The Oath]" (October 1960)
* "Who's in Charge Here?" (May 1962)
* "No Jokes on Mars" (October 1965)
* ''Midsummer Century''{{Hsp}}{{Sup|ε}} (November 1982)
{{Div col end}}

==== ''Fantastic Universe'' (1955) ====
* "Translation" (March 1955)

==== ''Infinity Science Fiction'' (1955–1957) ====
* "King of the Hill" (November 1955)
* "Sponge Dive" (June 1956)
* "Detour to the Stars" (December 1956)
* "Nor Iron Bars"{{Sup|β}} (November 1957), expanded as ''Galactic Cluster'' (1959)

==== ''Science Fiction Stories'' (1956) ====
* "[[A Work of Art]]" (July 1956)

==== ''Science Fiction Adventures'' (1957) ====
* ''Two Worlds in Peril''{{Hsp}}{{Sup|ε}} (February 1957)

==== ''Amazing Stories'' (1960–1961) ====
* ''… And All the Stars a Stage''{{Hsp}}{{Sup|γ}} (June 1960)
* "And Some Were Savages" (November 1960)
* "A Dusk of Idols"{{Sup|β}} (March 1961)

==== ''Impulse'' (1966) ====
* "A Hero's Life"{{Sup|β}} (March 1966)

==== ''Analog'' (1967–1968) ====
* "To Love Another" (April 1967), expanded as ''A Torrent of Faces'' (1967)
* "Skysign"{{Sup|β}} with Norman L. Knight, (May 1968)

==== ''Penthouse'' (1972) ====
* "A Light to Fight by" (June 1972)

==== ''Fantasy Book'' (1986) ====
* "The White Empire" (September 1986)

=== Anthologized short fiction (1952–2008) ===
* ''Beanstalk'',{{Sup|ε}} ''Future Tense'' (1952), ed. Kendell Foster Crossen. Greenberger. expanded in ''Titan's Daughter'' (1961).
* "Common Time", ''Shadows of Tomorrow'' (August 1953), ed. Frederik Pohl. Permabooks #P236.
* "A Matter of Energy", ''The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction, Fifth Series'' (January 1956), ed. Anthony Boucher. Doubleday.
* "Nor Iron Bars"{{Sup|β}} (expanded), ''Galactic Cluster'' (October 1959), ed. James Blish. Signet #S1719.
* "The Abattoir Effect", ''So Close to Home'' (February 27, 1961), ed. James Blish. Ballantine Books #465K.
* "None So Blind", ''Anywhen'' (July 1970), ed. James Blish. Doubleday.
* "How Beautiful With Banners", ''Orbit 1'' (1966), ed. Damon Knight. Whiting & Wheaton.
* "We All Die Naked", ''Three for Tomorrow'' (August 1969), ed. Arthur C. Clarke. Meredith Press.
* "More Light", ''Alchemy and Academe'' (November 1970), ed. Anne McCaffrey. Doubleday.
* "Statistician's Day", ''Science Against Man'' (December 1970), ed. Anthony Cheetham. Avon #V2374.
* "Getting Along",{{Sup|β}} ''Again, Dangerous Visions'' (March 17, 1972), ed. Harlan Ellison. Doubleday.
* "A True Bill: A Chancel Drama in One Act",{{Sup|β}} ''Ten Tomorrows'' (September 1973), ed. Roger Elwood. Fawcett Gold Medal #M2820.
* "The Price of a Drink", ''The Berserkers'' (January 1974), ed. Roger Elwood. Trident {{ISBN|0-671-27113-X}}.
* "Making Waves", ''Works of Art'' (January 30, 2008). NESFA Press {{ISBN|978-1-886778-70-2}}.

=== Novels (1952–1990) ===
* ''Jack of Eagles'' (1952). Greenberg., also published as ''ESPer'' (1952). Avon.
* ''The Frozen Year'' (March 19, 1957). Ballantine Books #197, also published as ''Fallen Star'' (1957). Faber & Faber.
* ''VOR'' (April 1958). Avon #T-238.
* ''The Duplicated Man'' (1959). Avalon Books.
* ''A Torrent of Faces'' (1967), with [[Norman L. Knight]]. Doubleday.
* ''The Warriors of Day'' (1967). Lancer Books #73-580.
* ''The Star Dwellers'' (1961). G. P. Putnam's Sons.
* ''Titan's Daughter'' (March 1961). Berkley Medallion #G507.
* ''The Night Shapes'' (October 1962). Ballantine Books #F647.
* ''Mission to the Heart Stars'' (November 11, 1965). Faber & Faber.
* ''Welcome to Mars'' (July 1966). G. P. Putnam's Sons.
* ''The Vanished Jet'' (1968). Weybright and Talley.
* ''… And All the Stars a Stage'' (July 1971). Doubleday.
* ''Midsummer Century'' (May 1972). Doubleday, included in ''Midsummer Century'' Daw ed. (1974).
* ''[[The Quincunx of Time]]'' (October 1973). Dell #07244.

==== ''[[Cities in Flight]]'' series (1955–1962) ====
* ''Earthman, Come Home'' (1955). G. P. Putnam's Sons.
* ''They Shall Have Stars'' (1956). Faber & Faber, also published as ''Year 2018!'' (1957). Avon Books.
* ''The Triumph of Time'' (October 1958). Avon #T-279, also published as ''A Clash of Cymbals'' (1959). Faber & Faber.
* ''A Life for the Stars'' (1962). G. P. Putnam's Sons.

==== ''After Such Knowledge'' series (1958–1990) ====
* ''[[A Case of Conscience]]'' (April 1958). Ballantine Books #256.
* ''[[Doctor Mirabilis (novel)|Doctor Mirabilis]]'' (1964). Faber & Faber #55198.
* ''The Devil's Day'' (February 1990). Baen {{ISBN|0-671-69860-5}}.

=== Collections (1957–2009) ===
* ''The Seedling Stars'' (1957). Gnome Press.
* ''The Seedling Stars'' (February 1959). Signet #S1622.
* ''Best Science Fiction Stories of James Blish'' (1965). Faber & Faber, also published as ''The Testament of Andros'' (August 1977). Arrow Books {{ISBN|0-09-914840-4}}.
* ''Midsummer Century'' (February 1974). Daw #UQ1094.
* ''[[The Best of James Blish]]'' (August 1979). Ballantine/Del Rey {{ISBN|0-345-25600-X}}
* ''Get Out of My Sky'' (April 1980). Panther {{ISBN|0-586-04817-0}}.
* ''A Work of Art and Other Stories'' (July 1993). Severn House {{ISBN|0-7278-4464-4}}.
* ''With All Love: Selected Poems'' (March 1995). Anamnesis Press {{ISBN|0-9631203-1-X}}.
* ''A Dusk of Idols and Other Stories'' (May 1996). Severn House {{ISBN|0-7278-4967-0}}.
* ''In This World, or Another'' (July 2, 2003). Five Star {{ISBN|0-7862-5349-5}}.
* ''Works of Art'' (January 30, 2008). NESFA Press {{ISBN|978-1-886778-70-2}}.
* ''Flights of Eagles'' (October 20, 2009). NESFA Press {{ISBN|978-1-886778-86-3}}.

=== Anthologies (1959–1970) ===
* ''Galactic Cluster'' (October 1959). Signet #S1719.
* ''So Close to Home'' (February 27, 1961). Ballantine Books #465K.
* ''New Dreams This Morning'' (October 1966). Ballantine Books #U233.
* ''Anywhen'' (1970). Doubleday.
* ''[[Nebula Award Stories 5]]'' (1970). [[Victor Gollancz Ltd|Gollancz]].

[[File:Amazing stories 196011.jpg|thumb|right|Blish's novelette "And Some Were Savages" was the cover story for the November 1960 issue of ''[[Amazing Stories]]'', illustrated by [[Ed Emshwiller]]. ]]

=== Nonfiction (1964–1987) ===
* ''The Issue at Hand'' (1964), as by William Atheling Jr. Advent Publishers.
* ''More Issues at Hand'' (December 1970), as by William Atheling Jr. Advent Publishers {{ISBN|0-911682-10-4}}.
* ''The Tale That Wags the God'' (July 1987). Advent Publishers {{ISBN|0-911682-29-5}}.

=== ''[[Star Trek (Bantam Books)#Episode novelizations (1967–1994)|Star Trek]]'' (1967–1977) ===
* ''Star Trek'' (January 1967). Bantam Books #F3459.
* ''Star Trek 2'' (February 1968). Bantam Books #F3439.
* ''Star Trek 3'' (April 1969). Bantam Books #F4371.
* ''[[Spock Must Die!]]'' (February 1970). Bantam Books #H5515.
* ''Star Trek 4'' (July 1971). Bantam Books #S7009.
* ''Star Trek 5'' (February 1972). Bantam Books #S7300.
* ''Star Trek 6'' (April 1972). Bantam Books #S7364.
* ''Star Trek 7'' (July 1972). Bantam Books #S7480.
* ''Star Trek 8'' (November 1972). Bantam Books #SP7550.
* ''Star Trek 9'' (August 1973). Bantam Books #SP7808.
* ''Star Trek 10'' (February 1974). Bantam Books #SP8401.
* ''Star Trek 11'' (April 1975). Bantam Books #Q8717, also published as ''The Day of the Dove'' (October 1985). Spectra {{ISBN|0-553-25169-4}}.
* ''Star Trek 12'' (November 1977), with [[J. A. Lawrence]]. Bantam Books {{ISBN|0-553-11382-8}}.

=== Omnibuses (1970–2013) ===
* ''Cities in Flight'' (February 1970). Avon #W187.
* ''After Such Knowledge'' (July 1991). Legend {{ISBN|0-09-983100-7}}).
* ''The Seedling Stars / Galactic Cluster'' (April 1983). Signet {{ISBN|0-451-12148-1}}.
* ''Black Easter / The Day After Judgement / The Seedling Stars'' (September 26, 2013) {{ISBN|978-0-575-12930-6}}.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{Cite book|last=Ketterer|first=David|title=Imprisoned in a Tesseract: The Life and Work of James Blish|date=September 1987|publisher=[[Kent State University Press]]|isbn=9780873383349|location=Kent, Ohio|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/imprisonedintess00kett}}
* "Special James Blish Issue" (April 1972) ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction''. {{ISBN|0-7165-7204-4}}.
* {{cite book |last1=Stephensen-Payne|first1=Phil|date=August 1996|title=James Blish: Author Mirabilis|url=http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?102689|location=Leeds, West Yorkshire|publisher=Galactic Central Publications|isbn=1-871133-46-7}}

== External links ==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Commons category|James Benjamin Blish}}
* {{Official website|http://jamesblish.com}}
* {{Gutenberg author| id=25608|name=James Blish}}
* {{Internet Archive author|sname=James Benjamin Blish}}
* {{Internet Archive author|name=William Atheling}}
* {{Librivox author|id=1162}}
* {{Isfdb name|7}}
* {{Sfhof|923|James Blish}}
* {{IMDb name|88493}}
* {{discogs artist|James Blish}}
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKFowEqJ6QM& Audio] of Blish giving the Guest of Honor speech at [[18th World Science Fiction Convention|Pittcon]] 1960
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sbj_ClgiQ4c Audio] of Blish giving the Guest of Honour speech at [[Eastercon]] 1970

{{Hugo Award Best Novella}}
{{Authority control}}

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