In the months before he passed away, Jack Williamson put together what was to be his final contribution to Science Fiction: the stories included in this volume.
Williamson was one of the most important and influential figures in science fiction. Born in 1907, he came to New Mexico with his family in a covered wagon in 1915. His first science fiction story appeared in professional magazine in 1928, and he kept writing new novels and stories until 2005. He coined many words that became staples in science fiction and in the world at large: genetic engineering, terraforming, psionics, spaceport, prime directive, ion drive, Tellurian, neutronium. He is the only writer to receive both SFWA’s Grand Master Award and the Horror Writers of America Lifetime Achievement Award.
Jack Williamson (1908–2006) published his first short story in 1928 and produced entertaining, thought-provoking science fiction from then on. The second person named Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America, he was always in the forefront of the field, being the first to write fiction about genetic engineering (he invented the term), antimatter, and other cutting-edge science. A Renaissance man, he was a master of fantasy and horror as well as science fiction.