🎯 Where Should I Start?
ⓘ About James Blish
Author James Benjamin Blish was born May 23, 1921 at East Orange, New Jersey. Using a hectograph, he self-published a fanzine called The Planeteer which ran for six issues. He attended meetings of the Futurian Science Fiction Society in New York City during this time as well. From 1947 until they divorced in the year 1963, he was married to a fellow Futurian named Virigina Kidd. He was married to writer Judith Ann Lawrence, his second wife, from the year 1968 until he died. He is also the one credited with coining the term “gas giant” to refer to huge planetary bodies. James attended Rutgers University, studying microbiology, and graduated in the year 1942. He was drafted into the Army, and served for a brief time as a medical laboratory technician.
All Book Series by James Blish
Star Trek: The Classic Episodes, Volume 1
Series opener · book 1 of 3 · published 1991
Star Trek: The Classic Episodes, Volume 3
Latest in the series · book 3 of 3 · published 1991
And All the Stars a Stage
Latest in the series · book 11 of 11 · published 1971
The Issue at Hand
Series opener · book 1 of 3 · published 1964 Pen name · William Atheling Jr.
More Issues At Hand
Book 2 of 3 · published 1970 Pen name · William Atheling Jr.
Star Trek: The New Voyages
Book 2 of 17 · published 1976 Anthology · Eleanor Arnason,Sondra Marshak,Myrna Culbreath
The Price of the Phoenix
Book 5 of 17 · published 1977 Anthology · Sondra Marshak,Myrna Culbreath
Star Trek: The New Voyages 2
Book 7 of 17 · published 1977 Anthology · Sondra Marshak,Myrna Culbreath
The Fate of the Phoenix
Book 13 of 17 · published 1979 Anthology · Sondra Marshak,Myrna Culbreath
The Galactic Whirlpool
Book 16 of 17 · published 1980 Anthology · David Gerrold
Death's Angel
Latest in the series · book 17 of 17 · published 1981 Anthology · Kathleen Sky
The Golden Age of Science Fiction - Volume VI
Series opener · book 1 of 3 · published 2016 Anthology · Robert Sheckley
The Golden Age of Science Fiction - Volume IV
Book 2 of 3 · published 2018 Anthology · Robert Sheckley
The Golden Age of Science Fiction - Volume X
Latest in the series · book 3 of 3 · published 2018 Co-authored · Poul Anderson,Clifford D. Simak,Fritz Leiber,Harry Harrison,Roger Dee,Anthony Gilmore,Robert Hoskins,Richard Rein Smith
6 Great Short Novels of Science Fiction
Series opener · book 1 of 18 · published 1954
Human Machines: An Anthology of Stories about Cyborgs
Book 8 of 18 · published 1975
The Arbor House Treasury of Modern Science Fiction / Great Science Fiction of the 20th Century
Book 13 of 18 · published 1980
The Golden Age of Science Fiction - Volume X
Latest in the series · book 18 of 18 · published 2018
? Frequently Asked Questions
Who is James Blish?
Author James Benjamin Blish was born May 23, 1921 at East Orange, New Jersey. Using a hectograph, he self-published a fanzine called The Planeteer which ran for six issues. He attended meetings of the Futurian Science Fiction Society in New York City during this time as well.
Which James Blish series should I start with?
The best place to start is the Cities in Flight series, the earliest of James Blish's multi-book series: it opens with They Shall Have Stars / Year 2018! (1956) and runs to 4 books across 1956–1962, ending with A Life for the Stars (1962). James Blish's other series stand alone, so they can be read in any order.
How many books has James Blish written?
James Blish has 101 books catalogued in this guide, published between 1952 and 2024. 55 of them belong to 10 named series — the largest being the Star Trek Adventures series with 17 books — and 46 are standalone titles, collections or anthologies.
In what order should James Blish's series be read?
Read each series in publication order — the numbered entries in each series follow the year each book first appeared. James Blish's series do not depend on one another, so they can be started in any order; by start date they are Cities in Flight (1956–1962, 4 books), After Such Knowledge (1958–1971, 4 books) and Haertel Scholium (1961–1973, 5 books), plus 7 more.
How are James Blish's books organised into series?
This guide splits James Blish's 101 books into 10 named series and 46 titles that stand alone or appear only in collections: Star Trek Adventures (17 books, 1970–1981); Star Trek: TOS Adaptations (12 books, 1967–1977); Haertel Scholium (5 books, 1961–1973); Cities in Flight (4 books, 1956–1962); After Such Knowledge (4 books, 1958–1971), plus 5 further series.