List of Ace SF double titles

Ace Books published 221 science fiction Ace doubles between 1952 and 1973 in tête-bêche format, and a further 40 between 1974 and 1978 in a more traditional format in which the two books are both the same way up.

Genres and Collectability

Ace published science fiction, mysteries, and westerns, as well as books not in any of these genres. Collectors of these genres have found the Ace doubles an attractive set of books to collect, because of the unusual appearance of the tête-bêche format. This is particularly true for the science fiction books, for which several bibliographic references have been written (see the References section). The format inspired a further series of sf doubles published by Tor Books between 1988 and 1991, the Tor Double Novels.

Because the tête-bêche format is part of the attraction for collectors, titles published between 1974 and 1978, which contained two titles by one or two authors but which are not tête-bêche are not regarded by some collectors as true Ace Doubles. The distinction is up to each collector; the books are included in the list given below, with the difference in format noted.

The list given here gives a date of publication; in all cases this refers to the date of publication by Ace, and not the date of original publication of the novels. The list is complete for science fiction titles. However, D-13, listed in Miscellaneous Ace Doubles, contains one novel, Cry Plague! by Theodore S. Drachman, which can be regarded as sf, and some science fiction collectors treat this as the first sf Ace Double, even though the novel on the other side is not sf in any way.

For more information about the history of these titles, see Ace Books, which includes a discussion of the serial numbering conventions used and an explanation of the letter-code system.

D Series

F Series

M Series

G Series

H Series

Numbered Series

Serial number 48245, above, was the last Ace Double published in the tête-bêche format. The remainder of the books listed in this section contain two novels, but are published in the traditional way with a single cover and the text the same way up throughout the book. Another Ace SF double(G-723-Andre Norton-Star Hunter/Voodoo Planet) was published in 1968 as a traditional reprint in the second G series (begun in 1964). G-723 was the only traditionally printed SF double included in that series and thus does not fit under any of the categories listed here.

The remaining novels do not have complete date information, so they are sorted in numerical order of the serial number. Note that the following are also not in tête-bêche format.

References
  • Ace Image Library. Contains images of most covers for the doubles in all genres, as well as many of the single titles.
  • Bookscans. Contains numerous images of the Ace covers.
  • Corrick, James A. Double Your Pleasure: The Ace SF Double, Gryphon Books, 1989. ISBN 0-936071-13-3. A historical article, followed by a checklist of the SF Doubles, giving prior publication history for the contents of each one.
  • Thiessen, J. Grant Science Fiction Collector #1, Pandora's Books, 1976. Includes Ace Double checklist.
  • Thiessen, J. Grant Science Fiction Collector #2, Pandora's Books, date unknown. Includes errata for checklist in #1.
  • Tuck, Donald H. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy: Volume 3, Advent: Publishers, Inc., 1982. ISBN 0-911682-26-0. Lists all ACE sf titles, single and double, published through 1968.

The following references have not been seen but cover the Ace Doubles:

  • Jaffery, Sheldon Double Trouble: A Bibliographic Chronicle of Ace Mystery Doubles, Starmont Popular Culture Series no. 11, Borgo Press, 1987. ISBN 1-55742-118-8.
  • Jaffery, Sheldon Double Futures: An Annotated Bibliography of the Ace Science Fiction Doubles, Borgo Press, 1999. ISBN 1-55742-139-0.
  • Peters, Harold R. Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror in the Ace Letter-Series Editions: A Collector's Notebook, Silver Sun Press, 1996.
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