ORBIT

   Seminal US ORIGINAL-ANTHOLOGY series ed Damon KNIGHT. Although Orbit was not the first such series, having been preceded by STAR SCIENCE FICTION STORIES in the USA and NEW WRITINGS IN SF in the UK, it was itsextraordinary early success that precipitated the boom in such series in the early 1970s. It had a more literary orientation than the sf magazines, and perhaps for this reason was especially popular with the active members of the newly formed SCIENCE FICTION WRITERS OF AMERICA. For whatever cause, stories from Orbit dominated the NEBULA awards in their early years, although none has ever won a HUGO. Orbit 1 (anth 1966) contained "The Secret Place" by Richard MCKENNA, which won the short-story Nebula.Orbit 3 (anth 1968) featured 2 Nebula-winning stories: "Mother to the World" by Richard WILSON and "The Planners" by Kate WILHELM. Orbit 4 (anth 1968) contained another winner in "Passengers" by Robert SILVERBERG. That was the last Orbit story to win an award, although the year of pervasive dominance was 1970, when between them Orbit 6 (anth 1970) and Orbit 7 (anth 1970) provided 1 of the 5 novellas on the final Nebula ballot, 3 ofthe 6 novelettes, and 6 of the 7 short stories. Three writers in particular became associated with ORBIT, and remained its most regular contributors: R.A. LAFFERTY, Wilhelm and Gene WOLFE; in the run of 21 volumes, Lafferty and Wilhelm had 19 stories each, and Wolfe 18. Orbit lost its dominance once the flood of competitors appeared, and with \#14 had to change publishers (becoming confined to a hardcover edition in the process) in order to survive. Notable stories in later volumes include Wolfe's "The Fifth Head of Cerberus" in Orbit 10 (anth 1972), Ursula K. LEGUIN's "The Stars Below" in Orbit 14 (anth 1974) - which also contained Joan D. VINGE's debut story - and Wilhelm's "Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang" in Orbit 15 (anth 1974). Orbit was especially notable for stories that seemed at the time odd and sui generis, quite unlike the usual run of GENRE SF and fantasy, but with hindsight were early signs of a generalsophistication of genre sf in the 1970s, in which this series at first played a vital role; later numbers became rather insipid. Other volumes in the series are Orbit 2 (anth 1967), Orbit 5 (anth 1969), Orbit 8 (anth 1970), Orbit 9 (anth 1971), Orbit 11 (anth 1972), Orbit 12 (anth 1973),Orbit 13 (anth 1974), Orbit 16 (anth 1975), Orbit 17 (anth 1975), Orbit 18 (anth 1976), Orbit 19 (anth 1977), Orbit 20 (anth 1978) and Orbit 21 (anth 1980). The Best From Orbit (anth 1977) is culled from the first 10 vols.

   MJE/PN