Runner of Pern/The Wood Boy/The Hedge Knight ( Audio Cassette Abridged)

Born in 1926, Anne McCaffrey became a writer somewhat later than most--her first novel, RESTOREE, was published in 1968. Prior to then, McCaffrey had studied Slavonic Language and Literature at Radcliffe College, been married and had three children, and devoted a lot of time and effort to music and acting, eventually becoming heavily involved with the American premiere of one of Carl Orff's stage pieces. Unquestionably, McCaffrey's major fiction work is the Dragon Riders of Pern series. It began auspiciously in 1967 with a Hugo Award-winning short story, "Weyr Search," that was expanded into her novel, DRAGONFLIGHT. Still going strong after more than 30 years, it is one of the most renowned series in the fantasy genre. The name of her home, Dragonhold-Underhill, is derived from these books. McCaffrey's first four books, RESTOREE, DECISION AT DOONA, DRAGONFLIGHT, and THE SHIP WHO SANG, are all classics written at a time when the worlds of science fiction and fantasy were largely dominated by male writers and male characters. McCaffrey's early writing stood in direct opposition the "establishment," and helped pave the way for other women writers. Her later material has continued in this vein, and while not perhaps achieving the commercial success of some of her contemporaries, has nonetheless maintained an extraordinarily high standard of quality.

Though Robert Silverberg is mainly known for his science fiction writing--more than 60 sf novels and over 250 short stories!--he has also edited numerous anthologies, is a respected critic, and has written over 30 non-fiction titles on topics ranging from mythology to Native American burial mounds. Silverberg began writing in college, publishing his first story in 1954 while he was an undergraduate at Columbia University. He published his debut novel, REVOLT ON APLHA C, a year later, while a junior in college. In 1956, Silverberg won his first Hugo Award, as best new author, and married Barbara Brown. The couple collaborated on one story, "Deadlock" (1959), eventually separating in 1976 and divorcing in 1986. Meanwhile, the 1950s proved incredibly prolific for Silverberg. Between 1954 and 1960, he published seven novels and more than 115 short stories under his own name, not to mention hundreds of others under a variety of pseudonyms. During the 1960s, he published 15 novels and, while his short-story output went way down (to 38), he won his first Nebula for "Passengers," and a second Hugo, for "Nightwings," both in 1969. He also served as president of the Science Fiction Writers of America from 1967 to 1968. Silverberg seemed to have settled into a fairly constant pace with his writing in the 1970s but, unhappy with what he perceived as a lack of appreciation, he slowed down his writing drastically in the latter half of the decade. Nevertheless, he still managed to publish 11 novels and over 40 stories during the '70s, winning three more Nebulas--for A TIME OF CHANGES (1971), "Good News from the Vatican" (1971), and "Born With the Dead" (1974)--and began to edit the influential anthology series Alpha and New Horizons. The 1980s saw him win a number of further accolades for short stories--including "Sailing to Byzantium" (Nebula, 1985), "Gilgamesh in the Outback" (Hugo, 1987), and "Enter a Soldier. Later: Enter Another" (written in 1989, Hugo awarded in 1990)--and begin his second marriage, to Karen L. Hubley, in 1987. In 1990 he started a new anthology series, Universe, which he co-edited with Hubley. In 1995, the first film based on one of Silverberg's works appeared. Based on a 1983 short story of the same name, AMANDA AND THE ALIEN starred model Nicole Eggert and, though not a critical or commercial success, did attain a certain cult status on the late-night cable circuit. Silverberg even had a small role in the film. Silverberg continues to write fiction and nonfiction, and seems to have settled into a role as something of an elder statesman of the science fiction community, a position he clearly deserves.

George Richard Raymond Martin began writing very early, and says that he sold original monster stories to neighborhood kids for pennies--a price which apparently included dramatic readings of these tales. Martin graduated summa cum laude from Northwestern University with a B.S. in journalism. The next year he received a master's degree, also in journalism, and published his first stories, "Songs the Dead Man Sing" and "The Hero". A conscientious objector during the Vietnam War, Martin worked with the Cook County Legal Assistance Foundation as an alternate service. Throughout the 1970s he worked a number of jobs--including teaching journalism and directing chess tournaments--while continuing to write. Martin won his first Hugo in 1975 for "A Song for Lya". His first novel, DYING OF THE LIGHT, received a Hugo nomination in 1978. Ending the 1970s with a bang, he won two more Hugos, both in 1980, one for the story "Sandkings", which also garnered Martin his first Nebula Award. The early 1980s saw the release of two extraordinary novels, FEVRE DREAM and THE ARMAGEDDON RAG. The first of these, a brilliant novel of vampires stalking the Mississippi River towns of the 1800s, remains one of the greatest vampire novels ever written. The second is a searing indictment of America in the 1970s, couched in a strange tale of possession and power in the world of rock & roll. Both novels were nominated for the prestigious World Fantasy Award. Continuing to write award-winning short fiction, Martin began to work in television in the mid-1980s. He was a script editor on the revived TWILIGHT ZONE show, later moving to the enormously popular BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, for which he eventually became the executive producer. In 1987 he introduced an anthology series under the title Wild Cards, which he edited and occasionally contributed stories. This series proved remarkable successful and has expanded to over 30 books. Martin devoted much of the early 1990s to writing one novel, the massive A GAME OF THRONES. This epic fantasy work, the first of a projected series, was met with great acclaim, with many claiming it to be the best high-fantasy novel ever. Its sequel, A CLASH OF KINGS, cemented this theory for many fans, and, with this series, it looks like Martin will remain at the front of the field for a very long time.