Orbit was a series of anthologies of new science fiction edited by Damon Knight, often featuring work by such writers as Gene Wolfe, Joanna Russ, R. A. Lafferty, and Kate Wilhelm. The anthologies tended toward the avant-garde edge of science fiction, but by no means exclusively; occasionally the volumes featured nonfiction critical writing or humorous anecdotes by Knight. Inspired by Frederik Pohl's Star Science Fiction series, and in its turn an influence on other original speculative fiction anthologies, it ran for over a decade and twenty-one volumes, not including a 1975 "Best of" collection selected from the first ten volumes.

Rationale and publication history

In his Introduction to the final Orbit volume (no. 21), Knight wrote: A series of original anthologies, like Fred Pohl's Star Science Fiction, if it had hardcover, paperback, and book-club editions, could easily pay its way. I made up a proposal, called it Orbit more or less at random, and my agent sent it around ... Thomas A. Dardis, then editor-in-chief of Berkley, bought it, and we worked out the details. For a while Doubleday was interested in doing a hardcover edition, but that fell through; then Berkley was acquired by Putnam, and there was our hardcover edition ... What I wanted to do in Orbit was to bring about a revolution in science fiction, like Campbell's in the eary forties, Gold's and Boucher/McComas's in the fifties. My thesis was that there was no inherent reason why science fiction could not meet ordinary literary standards, but that the pulp tradition of forty years has enouraged ideas at the expense of writing skill. It seemed to me that the only way to cure this was to set high standards at the beginning, even if it meant pubishing a lot of fantasy and marginal material because most hard-core s.f. could not make the grade. Later, cocky with success, I followed this trail too far. Knight listed Gardner Dozois and Gene Wolfe as two authors who he "took a chance on" and who then became frequent contributors to Orbit. Dozois himself did not seem to be thrilled about the trajectory of Orbit or about the consequences of a continued association with Knight's series of anthologies. In an introduction to Wolfe's story The Death of Doctor Island, Dozois wrote: Wolfe remained seriously underappreciated throughout most of the decade [the 1970s] ...book editors were telling me that Wolfe had no real audience and no future as a mass-market author ... Perhaps all this was because Wolfe was strongly identified with Orbit in the early seventies, and, as Orbit was the major American recipient for the spleen of the reactionary backlash that developed early in the decade, his reputation probably suffered from the association, as would the reputations of Joanna Russ, Kate Wilhelm, R. A. Lafferty, and several other frequent Orbit contributors.

Orbit 1

Orbit 1 was published in October 1966 by Berkley Medallion. Algis Budrys praised Knight's skills as editor and critic but said that the compilation "represents science fiction well but not to any extraordinary extent", with no story "clearly and obviously the 'best' of anything". He advised readers to buy the paperback version. Table of contents:

Orbit 2

Volume 2 was published in 1967. Budrys said "It is more a sign that Damon's heart is in the right place than it is a really satisfactory book." Table of contents:

Orbit 3

Volume 3 was published in 1968. Algis Budrys found the volume "happens to contain some remarkable work," although he faulted the jacket copy as overpromotional. Table of contents:

Orbit 4

Volume 4 was published in 1968. Table of contents:

Orbit 5

Volume 5 was published September 1969 by G.P. Putnam's Sons. It was reprinted in October 1969 by Putnam, December 1969 by Berkley Medallion, and November 1970 in the UK by Rapp & Whiting. Barry N. Malzberg wrote that the anthology "doesn't, somehow, seem to be at the same high level of ambition or accomplishment as the earlier volumes," but singled out "The Big Flash" for praise, declaring "The last pages of this story may be one of the strongest experiences available in modern American fiction." Table of contents:

Orbit 6

Volume 6 was published in 1970. Table of contents:

Orbit 7

Volume 7 was first published in 1970. Table of contents:

Orbit 8

Volume 8 was published in 1970 by G.P. Putnam's Sons. Table of contents:

Orbit 9

Volume 9 published by Putnam Books in 1971. Theodore Sturgeon found the anthology "fascinating," saying "I profoundly admire what Knight is doing here."

Orbit 10

Volume 10 was published in 1972. Table of contents:

Orbit 11

Volume 11 was published in 1972. Table of contents:

Orbit 12

Volume 12 was published in 1973. Table of Contents:

Orbit 13

Volume 13 was published in 1974. Table of Contents:

Orbit 14

Volume 14 was published in 1974. Table of Contents:

Orbit 15

Volume 15 was published in 1974. Table of Contents:

Orbit 16

Volume 16 was published in 1975. Spider Robinson dismissed the anthology as minor and disappointing, noting that most of the stories were "manifestly by newcomers, first sales or nearly so." Table of contents:

Orbit 17

Volume 17 was first published in 1975. Table of contents:

Orbit 18

Volume 18 was first published in 1976. Table of Contents:

Orbit 19

Volume 19 was first published in 1977. Table of Contents:

Orbit 20

Volume 20 was first published in 1978. Table of Contents:

Orbit 21

Volume 21 was first published in 1980. Table of Contents:

The Best from Orbit

The Best from Orbit was published in 1975 and reprinted stories from the first ten volumes. Table of Contents: