Pohl, Frederik

Entry updated 6 October 2025. Tagged: Author, Editor.

Icon made by Freepik from www.flaticon.com

(1919-2013) US man-of-letters, professionally involved in the sf field as an editor, literary agent, fan and author since becoming active in AmericanFandom in his teens, his first published piece being a poem, "Elegy to a Dead Satellite: Luna" (October 1937Amazing) as by Elton V Andrews, and his first story proper – the first of well over 200 in an active professional career of more than seven decades (seeLongevity in Writers) – being "Before the Universe" inSuper Science Stories for July 1940, with C MKornbluth under the joint pseudonym S DGottesman, a name mainly used by Kornbluth shared and solo; it was later assembled with other collaborations with his main writing partner asBefore the Universe, and Other Stories (coll1980) with C MKornbluth. Pohl's first marriage was to illustrator and sf writer LesliePerri (1940-1944); his second to fan writer and artist Dorothy Les Tina (1945-1947); his third to sf editor and writer JudithMerril (1949-1952); his fourth to Carol Metcalf Ulf Stanton (1953-1983), who collaborated with him (as CarolPohl) in editing several anthologies, including theScience Fiction: The Great Years sequence [see Checklist]; and his fifth to the academic Elizabeth AnneHull (from 1984 until his death), an academic and a leading member of theScience Fiction Research Association who survived him by several years. Pohl was a member of theFuturians, and wrote much of his early work in collaboration with other members of the group, mostly with C M Kornbluth. Names used by these two, sometimes involving third parties – including Robert A WLowndes and Joseph H Dockweiler (see DirkWylie) – were S DGottesman (see above), Scott Mariner, DirkWylie and theHouse Name Paul Dennis Lavond. On his early solo work Pohl usually used the name James MacCreigh, though he published one story each as Wylie and Warren F Howard. He published much of this work himself while editingAstonishing Stories andSuper Science Stories Spring 1940-Fall 1941; he was subsequently assistant editor to Alden HNorton on these magazines from late 1941 until their demise in 1943.

After military service in World War Two, Pohl became active as an sf literary agent, representing many of the most celebrated writers in the field during the late 1940s. Though his production of new work never fully ceased, he only began writing seriously again around 1950, after abandoning the MacCreigh pseudonym. While working as assistant editor to H LGold atGalaxy Science Fiction he wrote a great deal for the magazine, usually under his own name, sometimes as Paul Flehr, Ernst Mason or CharlesSatterfield, the last name used once for a story written in collaboration with Lesterdel Rey, in partnership with whom he also wrotePreferred Risk (June-September 1955Galaxy;1955) as EdsonMcCann. Other writers with whom he collaborated at one time or another were JudithMerril, IsaacAsimov and Arthur CClarke, the last onThe Last Theorem (2008), a relatively weak completion of a work left unfinished by Clarke at his death. After Kornbluth, Pohl's main partnership was with JackWilliamson, a collaboration extending nearly four decades. Pohl was editor ofGalaxy andIf from late 1961 to mid-1969. While under his aegisIf won threeHugos as Best Magazine 1966-1968. He also founded and edited two shorter-lived magazines,Worlds of Tomorrow (1963-1967) andInternational Science Fiction (1967-1968). Another significant editorial endeavour was an early series of originalAnthologies,Star Science Fiction Stories, beginning withStar Science Fiction Stories (anth1953) [for details see Checklist]. He also edited numerous reprint anthologies, some of them – likeThe Expert Dreamers (anth1962; cut1966), sf stories byScientists – moderately innovative.

As a writer Pohl became recognized initially through the slickly ironic short stories he produced during the 1950s and 1960s, mostlySatires with a hint of black comedy. Works in this vein include the classics "The Midas Plague" (April 1954Galaxy; incorporated intoMidas World, fixup1983), a fine example of theComic Inferno, andThe Tunnel Under the World (January 1955Galaxy;2010 ebook); almost all these stories of the 1950s are collected inAlternating Currents (coll1956; with one story dropped and one added, rev1966),The Case Against Tomorrow (coll1957),Tomorrow Times Seven (coll1959),The Man Who Ate the World (coll1960),Turn Left at Thursday (coll1961) andThe Abominable Earthman (coll1963). Oddly, the only short-fiction award Pohl won before his 1986Hugo for "Fermi and Frost" (January 1985Asimov's) (seeNuclear Winter) was a Hugo for an atypical "posthumous collaboration" with Kornbluth, "The Meeting" (November 1972F&SF), which appeared in theirCritical Mass (coll1977); some of their collaborations had already been assembled asThe Wonder Effect (coll1962), and further selections appeared asBefore the Universe, and Other Stories (coll1980) (see above) andOur Best: The Best of Frederik Pohl and C M Kornbluth (coll1987).

It was in the 1950s also that he cemented his growing reputation with his first novel in collaboration with Kornbluth: the classicSatire,The Space Merchants (July-August 1952Galaxy as "Gravy Planet"; rev and cut1953). The savagely gaudy image here painted of aDystopian future crippled byOverpopulation andEcological degradation, dominated byAdvertising and de facto ruled by private corporations, now seems remarkably prescient (seeMedia Landscape); in the two final chapters of the tale, which appear only in the magazine version, the advertising executive who has emigrated toVenus discovers a new life form which there, on being fed anything, canTerraform the planet. Pohl's solo sequel,The Merchants' War (1984), which takes off from the unexpectedly successfulSpace Flight toVenus that climaxes the first volume (but disregards the magazine ending), was unfortunately belated; both novels were assembled asVenus, Inc (omni1985). The episodicSearch the Sky (1954; rev1985) with Kornbluth is an enjoyable early contribution to the "absurd-society" variety of sf.Gladiator-at-Law (June-August 1954Galaxy;1955; rev1986) with Kornbluth is sillier, but makes some telling comments on housing projects (seeCrime and Punishment). The more ambitious and surrealistically complicatedWolfbane (October-November 1957Galaxy;1959; rev1986) with Kornbluth involves invading alienRobots, the kidnapping of the planet Earth, primitive societies engineered to provide human components for livingMachines on the aliens' own dirigible planet, and a revolt organized by these.

Pohl's early solo novels were less successful:Slave Ship (March-May 1956Galaxy;1957),Drunkard's Walk (June-August 1960Galaxy;1960),A Plague of Pythons (October-December 1962Galaxy;1965; rev vtDemon in the Skull1984) andThe Age of the Pussyfoot (October 1965-February 1966Galaxy;1969) lack the vitality of his collaborations with Kornbluth, though the last has an interestingPrediction of the multi-function,Computer-linked mobile phone. But his collaborations with Williamson were vigorous and competent. They include theJim Eden/UnderseaChildren's SF sequence –Undersea Quest (1954),Undersea Fleet (1955) andUndersea City (1958) (seeUnder the Sea) – and theStarchild novels, assembled asThe Starchild Trilogy (omni1977):The Reefs of Space (July-November 1963If;1964) (seeContinuous Creation),Starchild (January-March 1965If;1965) andRogue Star (June-August 1968If;1969). The latter are intelligentSpace Operas combining Williamson's flair for clarity of action with Pohl's economy of style. As Pohl's solo work matured, so did his collaborative work with Williamson. TheSaga of Cuckoo –Farthest Star (fixup1975) andWall Around a Star (1983), assembled asThe Saga of Cuckoo (omni1983) – is action-adventure fiction involving much gear from theSF Megatext that both authors had been instrumental in creating, includingMatter Transmission,Space Opera combat, a vastSpace Habitat, and more.Land's End (1988) confronts the human survivors of a cosmicDisaster with a godlikeAlien.The Singers of Time (1991) is an excellent fusion of traditional space opera with modern ideas inPhysics.

There was a sharp improvement in Pohl's longer works once he was no longer editing full time. Two fine tales,Starburst (March 1972Analog as "The Gold at the Starbow's End"; exp1982) and "The Merchants of Venus" (July/August 1972If), were important transitional works, the latter forming a prelude to the enterprisingHeechee series –Gateway (November 1976-March 1977Galaxy;1977),Beyond the Blue Event Horizon (1980),Heechee Rendezvous (January-May 1984Amazing;1984),The Annals of the Heechee (1987),The Gateway Trip: Tales and Vignettes of the Heechee (coll of linked stories1990) including the above-cited "The Merchants of Venus" plus fragments couched as future-historical vignettes, andThe Boy Who Would Live Forever (fixup2004) – which tracks humanity's exploration of the Galaxy usingTechnology abandoned by theAliens known as the Heechee, who have gone into hiding because of a perceived threat posed to all living species by the enigmatic Assassins (seeAlternate Cosmos). The artefacts of the HeecheeForerunners still litter the Galaxy, the most important to humanity being Gateway, an extensive spaceport carved out of anAsteroid (seeSpace Habitats) and housing many small but advancedSpaceships capable of travel atFaster Than Light speeds to what (because Heechee astrogation conventions are not understood) seem to be random destinations: a lottery offering riches to a few lucky explorers but injury or death to many. The universe depicted is, in the end, not well designed for humans to comprehend (an inference whose modesty, in the face of the inconceivable complexities of a cosmos created byAI-like entities akin to gods, distinguishes theHeechee series from the work of most of Pohl's contemporaries).Gateway itself, innovatively for Pohl, entwines the progress of the naive explorer Robinette Broadhead with ingenious sidebarInfodumps about Gateway and its human community, and theAI-mediated psychoanalysis of an older Broadhead who has gained wealth at cost of vast guilt and insecurity. This, almost certainly Pohl's best novel, won theHugo, theNebula and theJohn W Campbell Memorial Award, following up the success of the first volume of theMars sequence,Man Plus (April-June 1976F&SF;1976), an effectively cynical novel about the adaptation of a man for life onMars which had won aNebula the year before (seeCyborgs;Pantropy). The rather less impressive sequel isMars Plus (1994) with Thomas TThomas.

JEM (November-December 1978Galaxy;1979; vtJEM: The Making of a Utopia1979) is a similarly cynical and compelling account of theColonization of an alien world (seeUtopias) – which somewhat resembles the eponymous planet inMedea's World (anth1985) edited by HarlanEllison – by competing human power blocs, but the more lightly satiricalThe Cool War (fixup1981) is less successful.Syzygy (1982), a mundane novel about the failure of a much-toutedDisaster to overwhelmCalifornia as a result of a rare alignment of planets, understandably suffers from a lack of melodrama – an absence made good in two later novels, the thrillerTerror (1986), in which terrorists acquire a doomsdayWeapon, and the non-sf "drama-documentary"Chernobyl (1987). Pohl occasionally complained about the unwillingness of sf writers to be constructive in their dealings withNear-Future scenarios, and he made a sustained attempt to practise what he preached inThe Years of the City (fixup1984), aFuture History of theCity ofNew York which won theJohn W Campbell Memorial Award.The Coming of the Quantum Cats (January-April 1986Analog;1986) is anAlternate-History adventure story only lightly seasoned with satire, but a more considerable satirical edge is evident inBlack Star Rising (1985),Narabedla Ltd (1988) and the sharply pointedThe Day the Martians Came (coll of linked stories1988).Homegoing (1989) is a more romantic and light-hearted story of confrontation between humans and aliens.The World at the End of Time (1990) recalls the theme ofLand's End in presenting a human colony's encounter with a godlikeAlien in a tale which traverses aeons to the time and location referred to in the title (seeEnd of the World); while the novellaOutnumbering the Dead (1990) focuses on the predicament of a man who is among the very few who age and die in a world of youthful-seeming immortals (seeImmortality).

The lateEschaton sequence – comprisingThe Other End of Time (1996),The Siege of Eternity (1997) andThe Far Shore of Time (1999), all three assembled asThe Eschaton Sequence (omni1999) – places in a complexSpace Opera arena a war between twoAlien civilizations, each guilty of attempting to enslaveHomo sapiens; a flattening of affect can be detected at points, but the action is densely deployed, and Pohl's demonstration of his comprehensive grasp of the tropes of sf is often masterful. This easy mastery is not always fully engaged inO Pioneer! (October-December 1997Analog;1998), set on a colony planet inhabited by (in all) fiveAlien races, with politicalParanoia rife and justified; nor inAll the Lives He Led (2011), set in a radically changedNear Future 2079, some time after a volcanicDisaster has destroyed America as a country. The young American protagonist – an indentured servant performing ancillary functions in Pompeii as the two thousandth anniversary of the explosion of Vesuvius nears, and elsewhere in the transformed Middle East – is reminiscent of the street-wise entrepreneur of George AlecEffinger's more engagingMarid Audran:Budayeen sequence, and contemplates international terrorism (seePolitics;Religion) from an emotionally distant remove.

Pohl was president ofScience Fiction Writers of America 1974-1976 and president ofWorld SF 1980-1982. Much insight into the early days of his career is provided by the commentary inThe Early Pohl (coll1976), much of which was subsequently incorporated intoThe Way the Future Was: A Memoir (1978). The special September 1973 issue ofTheMagazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction was devoted to his work. In 1993 he was given theSFWA Grand Master Award; in 1998 he was inducted into theScience Fiction Hall of Fame; in 2009 he received theEaton Award for life achievement; and in 2010 he won aHugo for best fan writer, honouring him for his blog, "The Way the Future Blogs" [seelinks below], which comprises short reminiscences of his own life, separate pieces on writers he had known over his long career, and cultural and political commentary from a left-wing position (moderate by European standards but extreme in the US political context); the blog ended only with his death.Gateways: Original New Stories Inspired by Frederik Pohl (anth2010), edited by Elizabeth AnneHull, assembles tales written in honour of his works. Like BrianAldiss, and for even longer, he served his chosen field as ambassador to the wider world; for many years, until Ursula KLe Guin began presidingly to convey the gravitas of her chosen field to a world audience, he and Aldiss were the central men-of-letters of sf. [BS/JC/DRL]

further awards or honours:Skylark Award;Thomas D Clareson Award;Worldcon.

Frederik George Pohl, Jr

born New York: 26 November 1919

died Chicago, Illinois: 2 September 2013

works

series

Space Merchants

The Space Merchants (New York: Ballantine Books,1953) with C MKornbluth [first appeared July-August 1952Galaxy as "Gravy Planet";Space Merchants: hb/RichardPowers]
- The Space Merchants (New York: St Martin's Press,1985) with C MKornbluth [rev of the above: pb/]
  - The Space Merchants (New York: St Martin's/Griffin,2011) with C MKornbluth [rev of the above: with new introduction: pb/Tim Gabor]
The Merchants' War (New York: St Martin's Press,1984) [Space Merchants: hb/Izumi Inoue]
- Venus, Inc (Garden City, New York: Nelson Doubleday,1985) [omni of the above two: using the 1985 rev ofThe Space Merchants:Space Merchants: hb/Jack Woolhiser]

Jim Eden/Undersea

Undersea Quest (New York: Gnome Press,1954) with JackWilliamson [Jim Eden/Undersea: hb/EdEmshwiller]
Undersea Fleet (New York: Gnome Press,1955) with JackWilliamson [Jim Eden/Undersea: hb/EdEmshwiller]
Undersea City (Hicksville, New York: Gnome Press,1958) with JackWilliamson [Jim Eden/Undersea: hb/WallaceWood]
- The Undersea Trilogy (New York: Baen Books,1992) with JackWilliamson [omni of the above three:Jim Eden/Undersea: hb/DavidMattingly]

Starchild

The Reefs of Space (New York: Ballantine Books,1964) with JackWilliamson [first appeared July-November 1963If:Starchild: pb/Jacques Wyrs]
Starchild (New York: Ballantine Books,1965) with JackWilliamson [first appeared January-March 1965If:Starchild: pb/Bill Edwards]
Rogue Star (New York: Ballantine Books,1969) with JackWilliamson [first appeared June-August 1968If:Starchild: pb/PaulLehr]
- The Starchild Trilogy (New York: Science Fiction Book Club,1977) with JackWilliamson [omni of the above three:Starchild: hb/Garvy Viskupic]

Saga of Cuckoo

Farthest Star (New York: Ballantine Books,1975) with JackWilliamson [fixup:Saga of Cuckoo: pb/Philip Perlman]
Wall Around a Star (New York: Ballantine Books/Del Rey,1983) with JackWilliamson [Saga of Cuckoo: pb/DavidMattingly]
- The Saga of Cuckoo (Garden City, New York: Nelson Doubleday,1983) with JackWilliamson [omni of the above two: hb/Kevin Johnson]

Mars

Man Plus (New York: Random House,1976) [first appeared April-June 1976F&SF:Mars: hb/Paul Gamarello]
Mars Plus (New York: Baen Books,1994) with Thomas TThomas [Mars: hb/StephenHickman]

Heechee

Gateway (New York: St Martin's Press,1977) [first appeared November 1976-March 1977Galaxy:Heechee: hb/BorisVallejo]
Beyond the Blue Event Horizon (New York: Ballantine Books/Del Rey,1980) [Heechee: hb/WayneBarlowe]
Heechee Rendezvous (New York: Ballantine Books/Del Rey,1984) [first appeared January, March and May 1984Amazing as "Beyond the Gate", "Where the Heechee Feared to Go" and "Heechee Rendezvous":Heechee: hb/Darrell KSweet]
The Annals of the Heechee (New York: Ballantine Books/Del Rey,1987) [Heechee: hb/Darrell KSweet]
The Gateway Trip: Tales and Vignettes of the Heechee (New York: Ballantine Books/Del Rey,1990) [coll of linked stories and fragments:Heechee: hb/KellyFreas]
The Boy Who Would Live Forever (New York: Tor,2004) [fixup:Heechee: hb/JohnHarris]
The Merchants of Venus (New York: DSC Comics,1986) [chap: graph: adaptation of prelude story which first appeared in July 1972If:Heechee: illus/Neal McPheeters and Victoria Petersen: pb/Neal McPheeters]

Eschaton

The Other End of Time (New York: Tor,1996) [Eschaton: hb/JohnHarris]
The Siege of Eternity (New York: Tor,1997) [Eschaton: hb/JohnHarris]
The Far Shore of Time (New York: Tor,1999) [Eschaton: hb/JohnHarris]
- The Eschaton Sequence (New York: Science Fiction Book Club,1999) [omni of the above three:Eschaton: hb/BruceJensen]

individual titles (fantastic)

Search the Sky (New York: Ballantine Books,1954) with C MKornbluth [hb/RichardPowers]
- Search the Sky (New York: Baen Books,1985) with C MKornbluth [rev of the above: pb/VincentDi Fate]
Gladiator-at-Law (New York: Ballantine Books,1955) with C MKornbluth [first appeared June-August 1954Galaxy as "Gladiator at Law": hb/RichardPowers]
- Gladiator-at-Law (New York: Baen Books,1986) with C MKornbluth [rev of the above: pb/Jael]
Preferred Risk (New York: Simon and Schuster,1955) with Lesterdel Rey, writing together as EdsonMcCann [first appeared June-September 1955Galaxy: hb/Dick Dodge]
Slave Ship (New York: Ballantine Books,1957) [first appeared March-May 1956Galaxy: hb/RichardPowers]
Wolfbane (New York: Ballantine Books,1959) with C MKornbluth [first appeared October-November 1957Galaxy: pb/RichardPowers]
Drunkard's Walk (New York: Ballantine Books,1960) [first appeared June-August 1960Galaxy: pb/Nik Puspurica]
A Plague of Pythons (New York: Ballantine Books,1965) [first version appeared October-December 1962Galaxy as "Plague of Pythons": pb/RichardPowers]
- Demon in the Skull (New York: DAW Books,1984) [rev vt of the above: pb/DonMaitz]
The Age of the Pussyfoot (New York: Trident Press,1969) [first appeared October 1965-February 1966Galaxy: hb/Foster]
- BiPohl: Two Complete Novels (New York: Ballantine Books/Del Rey,1987) [omni of the above plusDrunkard's Walk: pb/DavidMattingly]
JEM (New York: St Martin's Press,1979) [first appeared November-December 1978Galaxy: hb/Irving Freeman]
- JEM: The Making of a Utopia (London: Victor Gollancz,1979) [vt of the above: hb/nonpictorial]
- Man Plus / Jem (New York: Barnes and Noble,2002) [omni of the above and the novelMan Plus (1976): pb/]
The Cool War (New York: Ballantine Books/Del Rey,1981) [fixup: portions first appeared inAsimov's as "Mars Masked", March 1979; "The Cool War", August 1979; and "Like Unto the Locust", December 1979-January 1980: hb/Murray Tinkelman]
Syzygy (New York: Bantam Books,1982) [pb/Lou Feck]
Starburst (New York: Ballantine Books/Del Rey,1982) [hb/DavidMattingly]
Midas World (New York: St Martin's Press,1983) [fixup: hb/Paul Stinson]
The Years of the City (New York: Timescape,1984) [coll of linked stories: hb/Howard Koslow]
Black Star Rising (New York: Ballantine Books/Del Rey,1985) [hb/MichaelWhelan]
The Coming of the Quantum Cats (New York: Bantam Spectra,1986) [first appeared January-April 1986Analog: pb/Todd Schorr]
Terror (New York: Berkley Books,1986) [pb/JohnBerkey]
Narabedla Ltd (New York: Ballantine Books/Del Rey,1988) [hb/BarclayShaw]
The Day the Martians Came (New York: St Martin's Press,1988) [coll of linked stories: hb/Yolande Sitjar]
Land's End (New York: Tor,1988) with JackWilliamson [hb/RonMiller]
Homegoing (New York: Ballantine Books/Del Rey,1989) [hb/BarclayShaw]
The World at the End of Time (New York: Ballantine Books/Del Rey,1990) [hb/BarclayShaw]
Outnumbering the Dead (London: Legend,1990) [hb/Steve Crisp]
Stopping at Slowyear (Eugene, Oregon: Pulphouse Publishing/Axolotl,1991) [hb/Rob Alexander]
The Singers of Time (New York: Doubleday Foundation,1991) with JackWilliamson [hb/MichaelWhelan]
Mining the Oort (New York: Ballantine Books/Del Rey,1992) [Comets: hb/BarclayShaw]
The Voices of Heaven (New York: Tor,1994) [hb/RonWalotsky]
O Pioneer! (New York: Tor,1998) [first appeared October-December 1997Analog: hb/JimBurns]
The Last Theorem (New York: Ballantine Books/Del Rey,2008) with Arthur CClarke [hb/DavidStevenson]
All the Lives He Led (New York: Tor,2011) [hb/Joseph Wright]
The Genius Beasts (Medford, Oregon: Armchair Fiction,2014) [dos: first appeared January 1951Future Combined with Science Fiction Stories as by James MacCreigh: pb/Milton Luros]
No More Stars (Medford, Oregon: Armchair Fiction,2015) with Lesterdel Rey [dos: first appeared July 1954Beyond Fantasy Fiction as by Charles Satterfield: pb/]

individual titles (nonfantastic)

A Town is Drowning (New York: Ballantine Books,1955) with C MKornbluth [hb/EdEmshwiller]
Sorority House (New York: Lion,1956) with C MKornbluth, writing together as by Jordan Parks [pb/Hulings]
The God of Channel 1 (New York: Ballantine Books,1955) as by Donald Stacy [hb/]
Presidential Year (New York: Ballantine Books,1955) with C MKornbluth [hb/]
Turn the Tigers Loose (New York: Ballantine Books,1956) as by Colonel Walt Lasly [hb/John T McCoy]
Edge of the City (New York: Ballantine Books,1957) [tie to the film: pb/]
- A Man is Ten Feet Tall (London: Panther Books,1957) [vt of the above: pb/]
The Man of Cold Rages (New York: Pyramid Books,1958) as by Gordon Parks [pb/Harry Schaare]
Chernobyl: A Novel (New York: Bantam Books,1987) [hb/Brad Holland]

collections and stories

Danger Moon (Sydney, New South Wales: The Malian Press,1953) as by James MacCreigh [story: chap: first appeared August 1951Science Fiction Quarterly; vt "Red Moon of Danger" inPlanets Three below: in the publisher'sAmerican Science Fiction series: pb/StanleyPitt]
Alternating Currents (New York: Ballantine Books,1956) [coll: hb/RichardPowers]
- Alternating Currents (Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books,1966) [coll: rev of the above, with one story dropped and one added: pb/photograph by Erich Hartmann]
The Case Against Tomorrow (New York: Ballantine Books,1957) [coll: pb/RichardPowers]
Tomorrow Times Seven (New York: Ballantine Books,1959) [coll: hb/RichardPowers]
The Man Who Ate the World (New York: Ballantine Books,1960) [coll: pb/]
- The Frederik Pohl Omnibus (London: Victor Gollancz,1966) [coll: exp of the above with 8 more stories fromTomorrow Times Seven above andTurn Left at Thursday below: hb/nonpictorial]
  - The Man Who Ate the World (London: Panther Books,1979) [coll: 6 stories from the above including the 5 fromThe Man Who Ate the World above: pb/Colin Hay]
  - Survival Kit (London: Panther Books,1979) [coll: the remaining 7 stories from the above: pb/Colin Hay]
Turn Left at Thursday (New York: Ballantine Books,1961) [coll: hb/RichardPowers]
The Abominable Earthman (New York: Ballantine Books,1961) [coll: pb/RichardPowers]
The Wonder Effect (New York: Ballantine Books,1962) with C MKornbluth [coll: pb/RichardPowers]
Digits and Dastards (New York: Ballantine Books,1966) [coll: pb/RichardWeaver]
Day Million (New York: Ballantine Books,1970) [coll: pb/Ian Robertson]
The Gold at the Starbow's End (New York: Ballantine Books,1972) [coll: pb/JohnBerkey]
The Best of Frederik Pohl (Garden City, New York: Nelson Doubleday,1975) [coll: hb/JohnBerkey]
In the Problem Pit and Other Stories (New York: Bantam Books,1976) [coll: pb/EddieJones]
The Early Pohl (Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company,1976) [coll: hb/Peter Rauch]
Critical Mass (New York: Bantam Books,1977) with C MKornbluth [coll: pb/EddieJones]
Before the Universe, and Other Stories (New York: Bantam Books,1977) with C MKornbluth [coll: pb/]
Planets Three (New York: Berkley Books,1982) [coll: pb/Gregg Hinlicky]
Pohlstars (New York: Ballantine Books/Del Rey,1984) [coll: pb/RickSternbach]
Our Best: The Best of Frederik Pohl and C M Kornbluth (New York: Baen Books,1987) with C MKornbluth [pb/Isidre Mones]
Platinum Pohl: The Collected Best Stories (New York: Tor,2005) [coll: hb/Digital Art]
The Day of the Boomer Dukes (place not given: Project Gutenberg,2007) [story: ebook: first appeared August 1956Future Science Fiction: na/]
Pythias (place not given: Project Gutenberg,2009) [story: ebook: first appeared August 1956Future Science Fiction: na/]
The Hated (place not given: Project Gutenberg,2009) [story: ebook: first appeared February 1955Galaxy as by Paul Flehr: na/]
The Knights of Arthur (Rockville, Maryland: Wildside Press,2009) [story: first appeared January 1958Galaxy: pb/]
The Tunnel Under the World (place not given: Project Gutenberg,2010) [story: ebook: first appeared January 1955Galaxy as by Paul Flehr: na/]
Anthology of Sci-Fi V29: The Pulp Writers: Frederik Pohl (place not given, USA: Spastic Cat Press,2013) [coll: pb/]
My Lady Greensleeves (Cabin John, Maryland: Wildside Press,2016) [story: chap: first appeared in February 1957Galaxy: pb/]
Asteroid of the Damned (place not given: Project Gutenberg,2020) with DirkWylie [ebook: first appeared Summer 1942Planet Stories: na/]
Highwayman of the Void (place not given: Project Gutenberg,2020) as by DirkWylie [ebook: first appeared Fall 1944Planet Stories: na/]

nonfiction

The Way the Future Was: A Memoir (New York: Ballantine Books/Del Rey,1978) [nonfiction: hb/Joseph Lombardero]
Science Fiction: Studies in Film (New York: Ace Books,1981) with Frederik Pohl IV [nonfiction: coll:Cinema: pb/]
Our Angry Earth (New York: Tor,1991) with IsaacAsimov [nonfiction:Climate Change:Ecology: hb/Joe Curcio]
Chasing Science: Science as a Spectator Sport (New York: Tor,2000) [nonfiction: coll: hb/]

works as editor

Star Science Fiction

Star Science Fiction Stories (New York: Ballantine Books,1953) [anth:Star Science Fiction: hb/RichardPowers]
- Star Science Fiction Stories No. 1 (New York: Ballantine Books,1972) [anth: vt of the above:Star Science Fiction: pb/JohnBerkey]
Star Science Fiction Stories No. 2 (New York: Ballantine Books,1954) [anth:Star Science Fiction: hb/RichardPowers]
Star Short Novels (New York: Ballantine Books,1954) [anth:Star Science Fiction: hb/RichardPowers]
Star Science Fiction Stories No. 3 (New York: Ballantine Books,1954) [anth: book dated 1954 but often listed as published January 1955: held pb issue is owner-dated 1954: hb issue may have been delayed:Star Science Fiction: pb/RichardPowers]
Star Science Fiction Stories No. 4 (New York: Ballantine Books,1958) [anth:Star Science Fiction: pb/RichardPowers]
Star Science Fiction Stories No. 5 (New York: Ballantine Books,1959) [anth:Star Science Fiction: pb/]
Star Science Fiction No. 6 (New York: Ballantine Books,1959) [anth:Star Science Fiction: pb/RichardPowers]
- Star Science Fiction Stories No. 6 (New York: Ballantine Books,1972) [anth: vt of the above:Star Science Fiction: pb/JohnBerkey]
Star of Stars (Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company,1960) [anth:Star Science Fiction: hb/Eric Carle]
- Star Fourteen (London: Ronald Whiting and Wheaton,1966) [anth: vt of the above:Star Science Fiction: hb/]

Galaxy

Time Waits for Winthrop and Four Other Short Novels from Galaxy (Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company,1962) [anth:Galaxy: hb/Roger Zimmerman]
The Seventh Galaxy Reader (Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company,1964) [anth:Galaxy: hb/Roger Zimmerman]
The Eighth Galaxy Reader (Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company,1965) [anth:Galaxy: hb/Tom Chibbaro]
- Final Encounter (New York: Curtis Books,1970) [anth: vt of the above:Galaxy: pb/]
The Ninth Galaxy Reader (Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company,1966) [anth:Galaxy: hb/Howard Bernstein]
The Tenth Galaxy Reader (Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company,1967) [anth:Galaxy: hb/Alan Pecolick]
- Door to Anywhere (New York: Curtis Books,1970) [anth: vt of the above:Galaxy: pb/]
The Eleventh Galaxy Reader (Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company,1969) [anth:Galaxy: hb/James Cooper]
Galaxy: Thirty Years of Innovative Science Fiction (New York: Playboy Press,1980) with Martin HGreenberg and Joseph DOlander [anth:Galaxy: hb/Tommy Soloski]
- Galaxy: Volume 1 (New York: Playboy Paperbacks,1981) [anth: first half of the above:Galaxy: pb/PaulAlexander]
- Galaxy: Volume 2 (New York: Playboy Paperbacks,1981) [anth: second half of the above:Galaxy: pb/uncredited]

Best Science Fiction from the Worlds of If Magazine No 1 (New York: Galaxy Publishing Corp,1964) [anth: no further volumes issued:Worlds of If: pb/nonpictorial]
The If Reader (Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company,1966) [anth:If: hb/Richard Miller]
The Second If Reader (Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company,1967) [anth:If: hb/Richard Miller]
Worlds of If: A Retrospective Anthology (New York: Bluejay Books,1986) with Martin HGreenberg and Joseph DOlander [anth:Worlds of If: hb/AlanGutierrez]

Science Fiction: The Great Years

Science Fiction: The Great Years (New York: Ace Books,1973) with CarolPohl [anth:Science Fiction: The Great Years: pb/]
Science Fiction: The Great Years: Volume II (New York: Ace Books,1976) with CarolPohl [anth:Science Fiction: The Great Years: pb/DonPunchatz]

SFWA Grand Masters

The SFWA Grand Masters, Volume One (New York: Tor,1999) [anth:SFWA Grand Masters: hb/Jack Coggins]
The SFWA Grand Masters, Volume Two (New York: Tor,2000) [anth:SFWA Grand Masters: hb/]
The SFWA Grand Masters, Volume Three (New York: Tor,2001) [anth:SFWA Grand Masters: hb/]

individual titles

Beyond the End of Time (New York: Permabooks,1952) [anth: pb/]
Shadow of Tomorrow: 17 Great Science Fiction Stories (New York: Permabooks,1953) [anth: pb/RichardPowers]
Assignment in Tomorrow (Garden City, New York: Hanover House,1954) [anth: hb/RichardPowers]
The Expert Dreamers (Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company,1962) [anth: hb/Sigrid Spaeth]
- The Expert Dreamers (London: Pan Books,1966) [anth: cut of the above with 1 story dropped and slight reordering: pb/]
The Best Science Fiction from Worlds of Tomorrow (New York: Galaxy Publishing Corp,1964) [anth: pb/]
Nightmare Age (New York: Ballantine Books,1970) [anth: pb/Peter Schaumann]
Best Science Fiction for 1972 (New York: Ace Books,1972) [anth: pb/David McCall Johnston]
Jupiter (New York: Ballantine Books,1973) with CarolPohl [anth: pb/JohnBerkey]
The Science Fiction Roll of Honor: An Anthology of Fiction and Non-Fiction by Guests of Honor at World Science Fiction Conventions (New York: Random House,1975) [anth: hb/John Sposata]
Science Fiction Discoveries (New York: Bantam Books,1976) with CarolPohl [anth: pb/]
C MKornbluth.The Best of C.M. Kornbluth (Garden City, New York: Nelson Doubleday,1976) [coll: hb/Gary Viskupic]
Science Fiction of the Forties (New York: Avon Books,1978) with Martin HGreenberg and Joseph DOlander [anth:Science Fiction of the Decade: pb/Stanislaw Fernandes and EarleBergey]
Nebula Winners 14 (New York: Harper and Row,1980) [anth:Nebula Anthologies:Nebula Awards: hb/Robin Malkin]
The Great Science Fiction Series: Stories from the Best of the Series 1944 to 1980 (New York: Harper and Row,1980) with Martin HGreenberg and Joseph DOlander [anth:Great Science Fiction Series: hb/Jon Weiman]
Yesterday's Tomorrows: Favorite Stories from Forty Years as a Science Fiction Editor (New York: Berkley Books,1982) [anth: pb/]
Tales from the Planet Earth (New York: St Martin's Press,1986) with Elizabeth AnneHull [anth:World SF: hb/Manny Paul]
Future Quartet: Earth in the Year 2041: A Four-Part Invention (New York: William Morrow/AvoNova,1994) with BenBova, JerryPournelle and CharlesSheffield [anth/coll: hb/VincentDi Fate]

about the author

Frederik Pohl. "Ragged Claws" inHell's Cartographers: Some Personal Histories of Science Fiction Writers (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson,1975) edited by Brian WAldiss and HarryHarrison [anth: hb/Nicholas Sutton]
GordonBenson Jr and PhilStephensen-Payne.Frederik Pohl, Merchant of Excellence: A Working Bibliography (Leeds, West Yorkshire: Galactic Central Publications,1989) [bibliography: chap: in the publisher'sBibliographies for the Avid Reader series: pb/nonpictorial]
Michael R Page.Frederik Pohl (Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press,2015) [nonfiction: in the publisher'sModern Masters of Science Fiction series: pb/Percolator: hb/nonpictorial]