# SF Masterworks
**SF Masterworks** is a series of classic science fiction paperbacks published by the Orion Publishing Group through its imprints [Millennium](https://www.edgepedia.org/millennium) and Gollancz, begun in 1999 with the aim of keeping important science fiction novels in print[1](https://www.worldswithoutend.com/lists_sf_masterworks.asp) • [2](https://dev.sfbook.com/sf-masterworks.htm). The series is a publisher's collection rather than an award: sfbook.com describes it as "a collection of some of the most important science fiction literature published in the last 70 years with the aim of keeping such works in print"[2](https://dev.sfbook.com/sf-masterworks.htm). Iain M. Banks called it "An amazing list, genuinely the best novels from sixty years of SF"[3](https://www.hachette.co.uk/masterwork-of-the-week/2013/02/27/the-sf-masterworks/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Orion Publishing Group, through its imprints Millennium and Gollancz[1](https://www.worldswithoutend.com/lists_sf_masterworks.asp) |
| Launch | 1999; the first title in the publisher's dated list, Earth Abides by George R. Stewart, appeared 10 June 1999[4](https://www.hachette.co.uk/housekeeping/2015/02/02/sf-masterworks-the-complete-list/) |
| Founder | Malcolm Edwards, then managing director of Orion Books, who found that touchstone works of post-war SF had drifted out of print[5](https://www.gadgets360.com/culture/features/sf-masterworks-a-collection-of-science-fiction-classics-every-fan-should-own-1473144) |
| Series structure | Numbered paperback series 1999 to 2009, then an unnumbered relaunched series from 2010; books are numbered in series publication order, not original publication date[6](https://sfandfantasy.co.uk/php/series-list.php?subsection=16) • [1](https://www.worldswithoutend.com/lists_sf_masterworks.asp) |
| Scale | Well over a hundred titles; the Science Fiction Awards Database cites 170 titles through May 2019[7](https://www.hachette.co.uk/news/2019/01/16/golden-age-masterworks/) • [8](https://www.sfadb.com/SF_Masterworks) |
| Companion lines | Fantasy Masterworks (from 2000) and Golden Age Masterworks (from 2019)[9](https://sfbook.com/fantasy-masterworks.htm) • [7](https://www.hachette.co.uk/news/2019/01/16/golden-age-masterworks/) |
| Coverage | Titles from as far back as H. G. Wells and Mary Shelley's *Frankenstein*[1](https://www.worldswithoutend.com/lists_sf_masterworks.asp) • [2](https://dev.sfbook.com/sf-masterworks.htm) |
## Origin and selection
Darren Nash, Digital Publisher at Gollancz, explained the series' origin: "The series was started because the then head of Gollancz, Malcolm Edwards suddenly realised that quite a few of what are generally regarded as the touchstone works of post-war SF had been allowed to drift out of print"[5](https://www.gadgets360.com/culture/features/sf-masterworks-a-collection-of-science-fiction-classics-every-fan-should-own-1473144).
The Science Fiction Masterworks were launched in January 1999 with a list curated by Edwards, advised by genre figures including [George R. R. Martin](https://www.edgepedia.org/george-r-r-martin), [Arthur C. Clarke](https://www.edgepedia.org/arthur-c-clarke), [Terry Pratchett](https://www.edgepedia.org/terry-pratchett), and Ursula K. Le Guin[7](https://www.hachette.co.uk/news/2019/01/16/golden-age-masterworks/). SFBook states that the novels "have been chosen by leading SF writers, editors and the MD of Orion Books"[2](https://dev.sfbook.com/sf-masterworks.htm).
## Publication history
**Numbered and relaunched series.** The initial numbered SF Masterworks series was issued in paperback between 1999 and 2009 by Orion's Millennium and Gollancz imprints, and was a successor to the Gollancz Classic SF and VGSF Classics series of 1986 to 1990; it was itself superseded by an unnumbered paperback series in 2010[6](https://sfandfantasy.co.uk/php/series-list.php?subsection=16). The relaunched series added many new titles, and many of the original Masterworks are included in the current collection[2](https://dev.sfbook.com/sf-masterworks.htm).
The first titles in the numbered order were *The Forever War* by Joe Haldeman (1974), *I Am Legend* by [Richard Matheson](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-matheson) (1954), *Cities in Flight* by [James Blish](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-blish) (1970), *Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?* by [Philip K. Dick](https://www.edgepedia.org/philip-k-dick) (1975), and *The Stars My Destination* by Alfred Bester (1956)[1](https://www.worldswithoutend.com/lists_sf_masterworks.asp).
**Related lines.** Gollancz has run a companion Fantasy Masterworks series since 2000, described by sfbook.com as a collection of acclaimed, original, or influential fantasy titles with the same aim of keeping important works in print[9](https://sfbook.com/fantasy-masterworks.htm) • [10](https://www.sfadb.com/Fantasy_Masterworks). A [Cambridge University Press](https://www.edgepedia.org/cambridge-university-press) study of fantasy publishing describes Fantasy Masterworks as constituting a canon of the genre, republishing old and pre-Tolkien works alongside a choice of less mainstream "highbrow" fantasy[11](https://assets.cambridge.org/97811087/08678/excerpt/9781108708678_excerpt.pdf). In 2019, Gollancz marked the twentieth anniversary of the series with a new strand, the Golden Age Masterworks, focused on key titles from the golden age of science fiction, works whose length and pulpiness had never quite fit the main Masterworks list[7](https://www.hachette.co.uk/news/2019/01/16/golden-age-masterworks/) • [12](https://www.hachette.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Orion-Spring-2019-catalogue_low-res.pdf).
Since September 2011 the Masterworks have been "the tip of the Gateway iceberg", the SF Gateway digital library launched to make genre backlists available as ebooks[3](https://www.hachette.co.uk/masterwork-of-the-week/2013/02/27/the-sf-masterworks/). By 2019 the SF Gateway hosted over three thousand titles[7](https://www.hachette.co.uk/news/2019/01/16/golden-age-masterworks/).
## Contents and reception
The list spans the genre's history, from [Mary Shelley](https://www.edgepedia.org/mary-shelley)'s *Frankenstein* (1818) and [H. G. Wells](https://www.edgepedia.org/h-g-wells)'s novels through mid-century writers such as Alfred Bester, Frederik Pohl, and Olaf Stapledon to later authors including Christopher Priest, Dan Simmons, Alastair Reynolds, and Nicola Griffith[2](https://dev.sfbook.com/sf-masterworks.htm) • [8](https://www.sfadb.com/SF_Masterworks). Philip K. Dick is heavily represented, with titles including *Ubik*, *The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch*, *Martian Time-Slip*, and *[A Scanner Darkly](https://www.edgepedia.org/a-scanner-darkly)*[2](https://dev.sfbook.com/sf-masterworks.htm).
The publisher notes that the list has changed over time: a few titles have gone, many have been added, and there has been "a concerted effort to introduce more female writers to the list as their works have become available"[3](https://www.hachette.co.uk/masterwork-of-the-week/2013/02/27/the-sf-masterworks/). The books are numbered in series publication order and are, according to WWEnd, "highly prized and collected"[1](https://www.worldswithoutend.com/lists_sf_masterworks.asp). The Science Fiction Encyclopedia records that many classic titles have been reissued in the two Gollancz reprint series, SF Masterworks from 1999 and Fantasy Masterworks[13](https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/gollancz).
## References
1. [SF Masterworks, Worlds Without End](https://www.worldswithoutend.com/lists_sf_masterworks.asp)
2. [SF Masterworks, SFBook](https://dev.sfbook.com/sf-masterworks.htm)
3. [The SF Masterworks, Hachette UK (2013)](https://www.hachette.co.uk/masterwork-of-the-week/2013/02/27/the-sf-masterworks/)
4. [SF Masterworks: The Complete List, Hachette UK (2015)](https://www.hachette.co.uk/housekeeping/2015/02/02/sf-masterworks-the-complete-list/)
5. [SF Masterworks: A Collection of Science Fiction Classics Every Fan Should Own, Gadgets 360 (2016)](https://www.gadgets360.com/culture/features/sf-masterworks-a-collection-of-science-fiction-classics-every-fan-should-own-1473144)
6. [SF Masterworks 1999-2009, SFandFantasy.co.uk](https://sfandfantasy.co.uk/php/series-list.php?subsection=16)
7. [Golden Age Masterworks!, Hachette UK (2019)](https://www.hachette.co.uk/news/2019/01/16/golden-age-masterworks/)
8. [Gollancz, SF Masterworks, Science Fiction Awards Database](https://www.sfadb.com/SF_Masterworks)
9. [Fantasy Masterworks, SFBook](https://sfbook.com/fantasy-masterworks.htm)
10. [Gollancz, Fantasy Masterworks, Science Fiction Awards Database](https://www.sfadb.com/Fantasy_Masterworks)
11. [Publishing the Science Fiction Canon, Cambridge University Press](https://assets.cambridge.org/97811087/08678/excerpt/9781108708678_excerpt.pdf)
12. [Orion Spring 2019 catalogue, Hachette UK](https://www.hachette.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Orion-Spring-2019-catalogue_low-res.pdf)
13. [Gollancz, The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction](https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/gollancz)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Literature and written works › Creative written works and worlds › Adaptations, tie-ins, and fictional worlds › Awards, lists, and canon › Canon and curated reading lists*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license