Lancer Books
Encyclopedia
Lancer Books was a series of paperback books published from 1961 through 1973 by Irwin Stein and Walter Zacharius. While it published stories of a number of genres, it was noted most for its science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 and fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...

, particularly its series of Robert E. Howard
Robert E. Howard
Robert Ervin Howard was an American author who wrote pulp fiction in a diverse range of genres. Best known for his character Conan the Barbarian, he is regarded as the father of the sword and sorcery subgenre....

's Conan the Barbarian
Conan the Barbarian
Conan the Barbarian is a fictional sword and sorcery hero that originated in pulp fiction magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, several films , television programs, video games, roleplaying games and other media...

 tales, the first publication of many in paperback format. It published the controversial novel Candy by Terry Southern
Terry Southern
Terry Southern was an American author, essayist, screenwriter and university lecturer, noted for his distinctive satirical style...

 and Mason Hoffenberg and the ribald series The Man From O.R.G.Y. Lancer paperbacks had a distinctive appearance, many bearing mauve or green page edging.

From magazines to paperbacks

During 1954, Stein and his wife Helen had begun a magazine company named Royal Publications, which published the magazines Our Life and Celebrity from Royal's East 44th Street offices. During 1955, Stein added the magazines Infinity and Suspect Detective Stories (which became Science Fiction Adventures with its fifth issue). During 1958-59, Stein published two monster magazines, Monster Parade and Monsters and Things.

As various genre magazines became less common, Stein decided to end his magazine business and begin publishing paperbacks. He initiated Lancer Books during June 1961. Larry Shaw
Larry Shaw (editor)
Lawrence Taylor Shaw was a Hugo Award-winning science fiction fan, author, editor and literary agent who usually published as Larry T. Shaw....

, who had edited the magazine Infinity
Infinity (magazine)
Infinity Science Fiction was a short-lived American science fiction magazine. It was published from November 1955 to November 1958 and released a total of 20 issues. The editor of the magazine was Larry T. Shaw...

, returned as the editor of Lancer Books.

The company became bankrupt during the mid-1970s, but Stein continued a book-packaging business into the 1980s. Zacharius initiated Kensington Books
Kensington Books
Kensington Publishing Corp. is an American book publisher.- Overview :Kensington was founded in 1974 by Walter Zacharius, formerly of Lancer Books. Steven Zacharius became president and CEO in 2005. Vice president Michael Rosamilia has been the CFO since 1989. Laurie Parkin is the vice president...

 in 1974, and he authored the World War II novel, The Memories We Keep (2005).

Genres

Lancer's science fiction and heroic fantasy books were noted for his frequent use of cover art by Frank Frazetta
Frank Frazetta
Frank Frazetta was an American fantasy and science fiction artist, noted for work in comic books, paperback book covers, paintings, posters, LP record album covers and other media...

. Frazetta began doing covers for Lancer with John Benyon Harris
John Wyndham
John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris was an English science fiction writer who usually used the pen name John Wyndham, although he also used other combinations of his names, such as John Beynon and Lucas Parkes...

's The Secret People
The Secret People
The Secret People is a science fiction novel by John Wyndham. It is set in 1964, and features a British couple who find themselves held captive by an ancient race of pygmies dwelling beneath the Sahara desert...

(1964) and Ted White
Ted White (author)
Ted White is a Hugo Award-winning American writer, known as a science fiction author and editor and fan, as well as a music critic...

's Phoenix Prime (1966), and later did several covers for Lancer's Conan series.

In addition to science fiction and heroic fantasy, Lancer published private-detective adventures with sexual themes, true crime and espionage stories, plus gothic romances such as Shadows (1970) by Jan Alexander (pseudonym for Victor J. Banis
Victor J. Banis
Victor J. Banis is an American author, often associated with the first wave of west coast gay writing. For his contributions he has been called "the godfather of modern popular gay fiction." He is openly gay.-Life:...

. Lesbian fiction authors published by Lancer included Rea Michaels (Duet in Darkness, Cloak of Evil), Sylvia Sharon (pseudonym used by Paul Little) and Florence Stonebraker.

Lancer Books published paperback editions of classic novels, reprinting public domain
Public domain
Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...

 works. This series was designated Magnum Easy Eye Classics, as the typography of the books was larger, enabling readers to avoid eye strain. Among the authors represented in this series were H. G. Wells
H. G. Wells
Herbert George Wells was an English author, now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, even writing text books and rules for war games...

, Jules Verne
Jules Verne
Jules Gabriel Verne was a French author who pioneered the science fiction genre. He is best known for his novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea , A Journey to the Center of the Earth , and Around the World in Eighty Days...

, Rudyard Kipling
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...

, Samuel Clemens, Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...

, Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. His best-known books include Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....

, Jane Austen
Jane Austen
Jane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature, her realism and biting social commentary cementing her historical importance among scholars and critics.Austen lived...

, Helen Keller
Helen Keller
Helen Adams Keller was an American author, political activist, and lecturer. She was the first deafblind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree....

 and Bram Stoker
Bram Stoker
Abraham "Bram" Stoker was an Irish novelist and short story writer, best known today for his 1897 Gothic novel Dracula...

. Besides the complete and unabridged text, each book included a brief, unsigned biographical article about the author. Because the works were in the public domain, Lancer included a copyright notice for the special contents (i.e., the biographical information) for each book.

Lancer also published books of social commentary, such as The Angry Black, edited by John Williams, and popular culture titles, such as The Beatle Book.

External links

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