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There wasn’t a single major science fiction author during the 1950s and 1960s who didn’t receive a paycheck from Ace Books at one time or another. Everyone from Isaac Asimov to Andre Norton saw their works grace the pages of various Ace paperback editions. Ace was best known for its science fiction double novels, which were issued in the tête-bêche format. The format was simple enough: slap two novels back to back in the same paperback volume, one being upside down from the other. It was a brilliant concept and science fiction fans went crazy over them. Science Fiction Grand Master Robert Silverberg was a regular contributor to Ace’s Double Novel series. Starting in 1957 through the mid-1960s, Bob saw a dozen of his novels (plus a short story collection) published in the Ace Double format. In this, the first of two Armchair Fiction “Masters of Science Fiction” volumes covering these works, you get three of Bob’s best early Ace novels: “The Chalice of Death,” “Starhaven,” and “Shadow on the Stars.” All three are thought-provoking tales that have a pronounced spirit of adventure that keeps the reader moving along at a brisk pace. As if all this isn’t enough, we have thrown in two additional Silverberg bonus stories not seen in print in over half a century: “The Impossible Intelligence” and “Overlord of Colony Eight.”
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