Art bt Frank Kelly Freas

Leigh Brackett, Queen of Space

Leigh Brackett was one quarter of Space Opera’s Big Four (Edmond Hamilton, Henry Kuttner, C. L. Moore. These four were actually two married couples who produced many of the classics of the 1930-1950s. Brackett and Moore became TV and Film writers. Kuttner died tragically in 1958 of heart failure. Hamilton went onto pen Superman comics for the 1940-60s.)

Brackett may be best remembered for writing The Big Sleep (1946 ) screenplay with William Faulkner or the Rio Bravo (1959) movies for Howard Hawks, but I will always remember her as the one who wrote The Empire Strikes Back (1980) with Lawrence Kasden. This film is the most perfect example of great Space Opera ever done. Many Star Wars fans do not like it because of it being the middle piece of three but so what? You have all the great Space Opera elements (romance, action, aliens, chases, etc.) and a better budget than the first Star Wars film.

When Leigh wasn’t writing movies, perhaps because of a writers’ strike, she would continue the adventures of her great hero, Eric John Stark. Or she would work on the old farm house she and Ed bought in Kinsman, OH. Or she would spend time in California, where she grew up. Not the most prolific of Pulp writers, the stories she produced were the high water mark against which all others are tested. She and Ray Bradbury inspired each other in the pages of Planet Stories, and no one else deserves the title more, Leigh Brackett, Queen of Space.

This is not a complete list. It doesn’t include fanzine work, Mysteries or Westerns.

Art by Hubert Rogers
Art by M. Isip

“Martian Quest” Astounding Science Fiction, February 1940

Art by Hannes Bok

“The Stellar Legion” Planet Stories, Winter 1940

Art by Hubert Rogers

 “The Treasure of Ptakuth” Astounding Science Fiction, April 1940

Art by Hannes Bok

“The Tapestry Gate” (Strange Stories, August 1940)

Artist Unknown

“The Demons of Darkside” Startling Stories, January 1941

Art by Hannes Bok

“Water Pirate” Super Science Stories, January 1941

Art by Virgil Finlay
Art by Don Lynch

 “The Dragon-Queen of Jupiter” Planet Stories, Summer 1941

Art by M. Marchioni

“Interplanetary Reporter” Startling Stories, May 1941

Artist Unknown

“No Man’s Land in Space” Amazing Stories, July 1941

“Meet the Author” (Amazing Stories, July 1941)

Art by John R. Forte Jr.

“A World Is Born (Comet Stories, July 1941)

Art by G. Thorp

“Retreat to the Stars” Astonishing Science Fiction, November 1941

Art by Leo Morey
Art by Virgil Finlay

“Child of the Green Light” Super Science Stories, February 1942 (Reprinted in Super Science Stories, April 1951)

Art by A. Leydenfrost

“Child of the Sun” Planet Stories, Spring 1942

Art by John Giunta

“Out of the Sea” Astonishing Stories, June 1942

Art by David A. Kyle

“Lord of the Earthquake” Science Fiction, June 1942

Artist Unknown

“Cube from Space” Super Science Stories, August 1942

Art by Milton Luros
Art by John Giunta

“The Halfling” (Astonishing Stories, February 1943)

Art by Frank R. Paul

“Outpost on Io” Planet Stories, Winter 1942

“PS’s Feature Flash” (Planet Stories, Winter 1942)

Art by Hubert Rogers
Art by Kolliker

“The Sorcerer of Rhiannon” Astounding Science Fiction, February 1942

Art by Jerome Rozen
Artist Unknown

“Citadel of Lost Ships” Planet Stories, March 1943 (Reprinted in Tops in Science Fiction, Spring 1953)

Art by George Rozen
Art by Bob Leydenfrost

“The Blue Behemoth” Planet Stories, May 1943)

Art by George Rozen
Art by Bob Leydenfrost

“Thralls of the Endless Night” Planet Stories, Fall 1943

Art by Graham Ingels

“The Jewel of Bas” Planet Stories, Spring 1944

Art by M. Marchioni

“The Veil of Astellar” Thrilling Wonder Stories, Spring 1944

Art by George Gross
Art by Ronald Clyne

“Terror Out of Space” Planet Stories, Summer 1944

Art by Earle K. Bergey
Art by Virgil Finlay

“Shadow Over Mars” Startling Stories, Fall 1944

“Meet the Author” (Startling Stories, Fall 1944)

Art by Harry Lemon Parkhurst
Art by Crank

 “The Vanishing Venusians” Planet Stories, Spring 1945

Art by Chester Martin
Art by Rube Moore

Art by Frank Kelly Freas

“Lorelei of the Red Mist” (with Ray Bradbury ) Planet Stories, Summer 1946 (reprinted in Tops in Science Fiction, Fall 1953)

Art by Allen Anderson
Artist Unknown

“The Beast-Jewel of Mars” Planet Stories, Winter 1948

Art by Earle K. Bergey
Art by Virgil Finlay

“The Moon That Vanished” Thrilling Wonder Stories, October 1948

Art by Vincent Napoli

“Quest of the Starhope” Thrilling Wonder Stories, April 1949

Artist Unknown
Artist Unknown

“Sea-Kings of Mars” Thrilling Wonder Stories, June 1949 (reprints The Sword of Rhiannon)

Art by Allen Anderson
Artist Unknown

“Queen of the Martian Catacombs” Planet Stories, Summer 1949

Art by Allen Anderson

Artist Unknown

“Enchantress of Venus” (aka “City of the Lost Ones”) Planet Stories, Fall 1949

Art by Earle K. Bergey
Artist Unknown

“The Lake of the Gone Forever” Thrilling Wonder Stories, October 1949

Art by Robert E. Schulz

“The Sword of Rhiannon” (Ace Double, 1949)

Art by Earle K. Bergey
Art by Virgil Finlay

  “The Dancing Girl of Ganymede” Thrilling Wonder Stories, February 1950

Artist Unknown

 “The Truants” Startling Stories, July 1950

Artist Unknown
Art by Paul Orban

“The Citadel of Lost Ages” Thrilling Wonder Stories, December 1950

Art by Allen Anderson
Artist Unknown

“Black Amazon of Mars” Planet Stories, March 1951 (expanded as “People of the Talisman”)

Art by Earle K. Bergey
Art by Paul Orban

“The Starmen of Llyrdis” Startling Stories, March 1951

Art by Paul Orban

“The Woman from Altair” Startling Stories, July 1951

Art by Emsh

“Shadow Over Mars” (a: The Nemesis from Terra ) (1951)

Artist Unknown

“The Shadows” Startling Stories, February 1952

Art by Alex Schomberg

“The Last Days of Shandakor” Startling Stories, April 1952

Art by Allen Anderson
Art by Emsh

“Shannach – The Last” Planet Stories November 1952

Art by Frank Kelly Freas
Artist Unknown

“The Ark of Mars” Planet Stories, September 1953

Art by John Schoenherr

The Sword of Rhiannon (1953)

Art by Emsh
Art by Virgil Finlay

“The Big Jump” Space Stories, February 1953

Art by Frank Kelly Freas

“Mars Minus Bisha” Planet Stories, January 1954

Art by Emsh

“Runaway” Startling Stories, Spring 1954

Art by Frank Kelly Freas
Artist Unknown

“Teleportress of Alpha C” Planet Stories, Winter 1955

Art by Frank Kelly Freas

“The Tweener” Fantasy & Science Fiction, February 1955

Art by Frank Kelly Freas
Art by Herman Vestal

“Last Call from Sector 9G” Planet Stories, Summer 1955

Artist Unknown

The Starmen (a: The Galactic Breed and The Starmen of Llyrdis) (1955)

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Art by Robert E. Schulz

The Big Jump (1955)

Art by Emsh

The Long Tomorrow (1955)

Art by John Schoenherr

“All the Colors of the Rainbow” (Venture Science Fiction, Magazine November 1957)

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Art by Dick Shelton
Art by John Giunta

“The Queer Ones” (aka “The Other People”) Venture Science Fiction, March 1957

Art by Virgil Finlay

 “The Road to Sinharat” (a: “The Secret of Sinharat”) Amazing Stories, May 1963

Art by Jack Gaughan

Alpha Centauri – or Die! (1963)

Art by Emsh

The Secret of Sinharet/People of the Talismen (1964)

Art by Chesley Bonestell

“Purple Priestess of the Mad Moon” Fantasy & Science Fiction, October 1964

Art by Gray Morrow

The Coming of the Terrans (1967)

Art by Herbert Danska

“Come Sing the Moons of Moravenn” (The Other Side of Tomorrow, 1973)


“How Bright the Stars” (Flame Tree Planet: An Anthology of Religious Science-Fantasy, 1973)

Art by Karl Thole

The Halfling and Other Stories (1973)
“Mommies and Daddies” (Crisis, 1974)

Art by Jack Gaughan

“The Ginger Star” Worlds of If, February April 1974

Art by Jim Steranko

The Ginger Star (1974)

Art by Jim Steranko

The Hounds of Skaith (1974)

Art by Frank Kelly Freas

The Best of Planet Stories No 1 (1974)

Art by Jim Steranko

The Reavers of Skaith (1976)

Art by Boris Vallejo

The Best of Leigh Brackett (1977)

Art by Steve Ferris

Eric John Stark: Outlaw of Mars (1982)

Art by Luis F. Perez

“Thieves’ Carnival” by Karen Haber/”The Jewel of Bas” (1990)

Martian Quest: The Early Brackett (2000)

Art by Doug Chaffee

“Stark and the Star Kings” (with Edmond Hamilton) (2005)

With husband, Edmond Hamilton

For Leigh’s Mystery fiction click here.

 

Like space adventure then check it out!

2 Comments Posted

  1. I haven’t read most of these, I started getting into Brackett , I read Sword of Rhaiannon ( however you spell it) and couple others. I liked them so much that bought all of the PAIZO books editions of her books but those were mostly about farmers and space dogs or something. Kinda lost me there. What you’re showing here looks much more like what I was after.

  2. Thanks for a great post! I’ve never seen some of those covers and you included a fine selection of artwork from greats such as Virgil Finlay and F. Kelly Freas.

    Hail Leigh Brackett, Queen of Space!

Comments are closed.