Tor Doubles are a series of science fiction books published by Tor Books between 1988 and 1991, mostly in tête-bêche (two covers) format. The Tor Doubles series was inspired by the Ace Doubles, published between 1952 and 1973. Tor published 36 books in their Doubles series. For my money, one of the best of the bunch is #15: Nightwings by Robert Silverberg and The Last Castle by Jack Vance.
Nightwings won the Hugo Award for Best Novella in 1969. It’s a story of an alien invasion and its aftermath. Nightwings is the first in a trilogy of novellas, the next two being “Perris Way” (1968) and “To Jorslem” (1969). These three works were later collected into a single fixup in three sections, also titled Nightwings. According to Silverberg’s introductions, the changes required to turn the three shorter works into a novel were relatively minor.
Jack Vance’s The Last Castle is one of my favorite stories. It won the 1966 Nebula Award for Best Novella and the 1967 Hugo Award for Best Novelette. It is about a future civilization of wealthy nobles who live in high-tech castles, which are maintained by an enslaved alien race, the Meks. After centuries of slavery, the Meks revolt, destroying the castles and slaughtering their elite inhabitants, until only one castle is left. This predicts what will happen eventually where injustice and inequality are unaddressed.
Along with two prize winning stories, Tor Double #15 features two excellent covers: Brian Waugh did the cover for The Last Castle and Mark J. Ferrari did the cover for Nightwings. These fine collections of SF and fantasy stories are still available online at reasonable prices. Highly recommended! GRADE: A (for both)
TOR DOUBLE SERIES:
| # | First book | Second book | Publication date | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arthur C. Clarke A Meeting with Medusa | Kim Stanley Robinson Green Mars | October 1988 | 0-8125-3362-3 |
| 2 | Greg Bear Hardfought | Timothy Zahn Cascade Point | November 1988 | 0-8125-5971-1 |
| 3 | Robert Silverberg Born With The Dead | Brian W. Aldiss The Saliva Tree | December 1988 | 0-8125-5952-5 |
| 4 | John Varley Tango Charlie and Foxtrot Romeo | Samuel R. Delany The Star Pit | January 1989 | 0-8125-5956-8 |
| 5 | Poul Anderson No Truce With Kings | Fritz Leiber Ship of Shadows | February 1989 | 0-8125-5958-4 |
| 6 | Barry B. Longyear Enemy Mine | John Kessel Another Orphan | March 1989 | 0-8125-5963-0 |
| 7 | Vonda N. McIntyre Screwtop | James Tiptree, Jr. The Girl Who Was Plugged In | April 1989 | 0-8125-4554-0 |
| 8 | Leigh Brackett The Nemesis From Terra | Edmond Hamilton Battle for the Stars | May 1989 | 0-8125-5960-6 |
| 9 | Isaac Asimov The Ugly Little Boy | Theodore Sturgeon The [Widget], the [Wadget], and Boff | June 1989 | 0-8125-5966-5 |
| 10 | Robert Silverberg Sailing to Byzantium | Gene Wolfe Seven American Nights | July 1989 | 0-8125-5924-X |
| 11 | James Tiptree, Jr. Houston, Houston, Do You Read? | Joanna Russ Souls | August 1989 | 0-8125-5962-2 |
| 12 | Roger Zelazny He Who Shapes | Kate Wilhelm The Infinity Box | September 1989 | 0-8125-5879-0 |
| 13 | Kim Stanley Robinson The Blind Geometer | Ursula K. Le Guin The New Atlantis | October 1989 | 0-8125-0010-5 |
| 14 | Poul Anderson The Saturn Game | Gregory Benford and Paul A. Carter Iceborn | November 1989 | 0-8125-0277-9 |
| 15 | Jack Vance The Last Castle | Robert Silverberg Nightwings | December 1989 | 0-8125-0194-2 |
| 16 | James Tiptree, Jr. The Color of Neanderthal Eyes | Michael Bishop And Strange At Ecbatan The Trees | January 1990 | 0-8125-5964-9 |
| 17 | L. Sprague de Camp Divide and Rule | Leigh Brackett The Sword of Rhiannon | February 1990 | 0-8125-0362-7 |
| 18 | C.L. Moore Vintage Season | Robert Silverberg In Another Country[note 1] | February 1990 | 0-8125-0193-4 |
| 19 | Fritz Leiber Ill Met in Lankhmar | Charles de Lint The Fair in Emain Macha | March 1990 | 0-8125-0821-1 |
| 20 | L. Sprague de Camp The Wheels of If | Harry Turtledove The Pugnacious Peacemaker [note 1] | April 1990 | 0-8125-0202-7 |
| 21 | Roger Zelazny Home is the Hangman | Samuel R. Delany We, In Some Strange Power’s Employ, Move On A Rigorous Line | May 1990 | 0-8125-0983-8 |
| 22 | Leigh Brackett The Jewel of Bas | Karen Haber Thieves’ Carnival [note 1] | June 1990 | 0-8125-0272-8 |
| 23 | Norman Spinrad Riding The Torch | Joan D. Vinge The Tin Soldier | July 1990 | 0-8125-0551-4 |
| 24 | Roger Zelazny The Graveyard Heart | Walter Jon Williams Elegy For Angels And Dogs [note 1] | August 1990 | 0-8125-0275-2 |
| 25 | John M. Ford Fugue State | Gene Wolfe The Death of Doctor Island | September 1990 | 0-8125-0813-0 |
| 26 | John Varley Press Enter■ | Robert Silverberg Hawksbill Station | October 1990 | 0-8125-5948-7 |
| 27 | Orson Scott Card Eye For Eye | Lloyd Biggle, Jr. The Tunesmith [note 2] | November 1990 | 0-8125-0854-8 |
| 28 | Kim Stanley Robinson A Short Sharp Shock | Jack Vance The Dragon Masters | December 1990 | 0-8125-0895-5 |
| 29 | Ian Watson Nanoware Time | John Varley The Persistence of Vision | January 1991 | 0-8125-5940-1 |
| 30 | Poul Anderson The Longest Voyage | Steve Popkes Slow Lightning | March 1991 | 0-8125-1170-0 |
| 31 | Gordon R. Dickson Naked To The Stars | Gordon R. Dickson The Alien Way | February 1991 | 0-8125-0396-1 |
| 32 | Harlan Ellison Run For The Stars | Jack Dann and Jack C. Haldeman II Echoes of Thunder | April 1991 | 0-8125-1180-8 |
| 33 | Mike Resnick Bwana | Mike Resnick Bully | May 1991 | 0-8125-1246-4 |
| 34 | Damon Knight Rule Golden | Damon Knight Double Meaning | June 1991 | 0-8125-1294-4 |
| 35 | Dean Ing Silent Thunder | Robert A. Heinlein Universe | July 1991 | 0-8125-0265-5 |
| 36 | Fritz Leiber Conjure Wife | Fritz Leiber Our Lady Of Darkness | August 1991 | 0-8125-1296-0 |
At least one more in the series was prepared but never published: Esther Friesner‘s Yesterday We Saw Mermaids paired with Lawrence Watt-Evans‘s The Final Folly of Captain Dancy would have been series number 37.
Excellent stories. I’m both a Jack Vance and Robert Silverberg fan. I’ve read probably 75% of the stories in the series. I believe the novella length is probably the best length for SF stories..
Steve, I totally agree with you on the novella length being best suited for SF stories. I’m thinking about rereading the TOR Doubles series from start to finish. But first, I have to wrap up my review of THE BEST FROM FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION series. Only 6 more volumes to go!
It’s impossible to pick a “best” from this series; I keep wavering between twenty-five choices. Luckily the reader does not have to pick a “best;” all one needs is to pick up a volume at random and enjoy. That said, how can you lose with both Vance AND Silverberg?
Jerry, exactly! Both Vance and Silverberg are well represented by THE LAST CASTLE and NIGHTWINGS. I grew up reading ACE Doubles so when TOR Doubles appeared, I was totally onboard. By and large, I thought the 36 volumes were well done and offer plenty of great stories!
Of course, I’ve read the Silverberg and much of his other short fiction. I agree on the novella length too. I should look for the Vance, which I haven’t read.
Jeff, the TOR Doubles series presented plenty of great stories at a great price!
Was THE LAST CASTLE a series on Amazon? It seems familiar.
Patti, the movie you’re thinking of is a Robert Redford film: https://www.amazon.com/Last-Castle-Redford/dp/B004BGJXIE
Typically bad product of director/writer Rod Lurie. (I went to high school with him, and his tv and films are pretty much what I’d expect of him.)
I think you mean MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE. That was Philip K. Dick, not Vance.
This does seem the more likely source of confusion.
Yes, this is one of the best of a good set, and as Jerry notes, there are all kinds of others that also are.
FWIW, the Fritz Leiber double-volume that officially ended the series wasn’t published in dos-à-dos format…and is preferred as a package to the later Tor packaging of the two novels as DARK LADIES. (Really, Tor?) Also, a triple volume of Leiber’s three horror novels, including YOU’RE ALL ALONE, perhaps in the recorrected THE SINFUL ONES text but preferably with Leiber’s original title, would be a good thing for some small press to issue eventually.
And as this series was at least as much inspired by the Dell “Binary Star” novella/short novel twofers, a combined consideration of those wouldn’t be out of the question!
Meanwhile, the ideal form for any fiction is whatever length the story requires. There are plenty of masterworks at all lengths, and no lack of weak novellas in sf as well as other forms.
Todd, I had forgotten about DELL’S BINARY STARS series. I might just do some FFBs on them:
No. 1. FRITZ LEIBER Destiny Times Three (c.1973) bound with NORMAN SPINRAD Riding the Torch (cover by George Tsui with interior illustrations by Freff; c.1974; August 1978; 1st DELL printing; Dell code number 11090)
Listed as “Two Great Novellas in a Single Volume.” James R. Frenkel is credited [but only in the introductions] as the series editor.
Note that for each of these “double” volumes, there is an “Afterwords” essay by the other author in the book. For example, the Fritz Leiber story has an “Afterwords” essay penned by Norman Spinrad, and vice versa.
Information concerning the interior illustration artist Freff (aka Connor Freff Cochran) can be found at: http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?11513
No. 2. GORDON EKLUND The Twilight River (c.1973) bound with F. PAUL WILSON The Tery (cover by George Tsui with interior illustrations by Stephen Fabian; February 1979, 1st DELL printing)
No. 3. RON GOULART Dr. Scofflaw bound with ISIDORE HAIBLUM Outerworld (cover by George Tsui with interior illustrations by James Odbert; August 1979, 1st DELL printing)
This is a true first paperback edition for both of these stories as copyright publication for both is 1979.
No. 4. JOAN D. VINGE Legacy (c.1976, 1977, 1978, 1980) bound with STEVEN G. SPRUILL The Janus Equation (cover by George Tsui with interior illustrations by Jack Gaughan; February 1980; 1st DELL printing; Dell code number 10821)
No. 5. GEORGE R. R. MARTIN Nightflyers (c.1980) bound with VERNOR VINGE True Names (cover by George Tsui with interior illustrations by Jack Gaughan; February 1981, 1st DELL printing)
Of course I’ve bought and read most of these books, somehow the works from those old days were more interesting for me (ok, I’m an old man too).
And the authors – really the greatest!
Wolf, I agree. There are some great writers and stories in the TOR Doubles series. Of course, I grew up reading ACE Doubles and they have a special place in my heart!
The two that you are featuring here sound very good. I don’t think I have read anything by Vance.
I definitely think that focusing on science fiction in novella length would work well for me. I will have to add that to my list for the book sale (coming in September).
Tracy, Jack Vance will take you to some exotic places. His stories in THE DYING EARTH brought him to prominence. Since you like mysteries, you might enjoy Jack Vance’s The Many Worlds of Magnus Ridolph which feature investigations by Magnus Rudolph who might remind you of Hercule Poirot in the Future.
For someone who grew up on Asimov etc Jack Vance was totally extraordinary and unexpected!
I have to thank some fan who got a translation of the Demon Princes series – wow!
Wolf, it took Jack Vance 20 years to complete THE DEMON PRINCES series. Each book and each villain are unique!
Tracy, Vance also published several well-respected mystery novels, including two reginal mysteries featuring rural policeman Joe Bain ( an outline for a third, unfinished and previously unpublished Joe Bain novel was been released included in a 2013 omnibus edition of the first two books) , three paperback original stand-alone novels by “Ellery Queen” (Vance originally refused to acknowledge these due to excessive and unwarranted editorial revisions; Vance’s original version have now been published), the Edgar Award-winning THE MAN IN THE CAGE, and the criminally now-forgotten thriller BAD RONALD, among them. I urge caution, Tracy, because once you fall down into the Jack Vance rabbit-hole (whether for science fiction, fantasy, or mystery) you may not want to get out.