Chief Creative Officer, Publisher
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I suspect that poor sales has kept the other volumes from returning to print, or we would have seen more of them since 2003. Thieves World is great, but it's also a product of the 1980s for the most part, which puts it about 20-50 years too recent for most of the stuff I'm currently considering. It's also a project of gigantic proportions, involving tracking down the rights from dozens of authors (many of them now dead). I think it's more than I can chew right now, especially since many of the original fantasy works that inspired the Thieves World authors in the first place have languished out of print for decades.
Here are a couple of interesting Thieves World links I just turned up. Perhaps you can dig up more information there.
A Notable Guide to Thieves World
Thieves World Wikipedia Page
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Hello Erik,
I already suspected that Thieves' World was somewhat too recent.
Nevertheless thanks for your answer. You may be right. Digital versions of Dragon or Dungeon were considered impossible due to copyright issues. Why should it be any better with novels?
I'll have a look at the thievesworld.info site.
Cheers,
Günther
Hi!
How about the Prof. Jameson series by Neil R. Jones?
These were written back in the 1930's and early 1940's.
They've only been reprinted/collected once. That was by Ace Books back in the late 1960's (I still have my copies!).
Prof. Jameson had his body (after his death.) placed in an artificial satellite orbiting the Earth. This was how he planned on keeping his corpse perfectly preserved for eternity.
Millions of years later he is still orbiting the (now dead) Earth where it is discovered by a "Zerome" ship. The "Zeromes" are a race of benevolent machine men. The were once normal biological beings. But they figured that machin bodies were better suited to explore the galaxy, so all the spacefaring "Zeromes" have volentarily abandoned their flesh and blood bodies in exchange for robot bodies. They discover Prof. Jamesons PERFECTLY PRESERVED corpse. They place his brain in a machine body and revive him. He decides he likes being a machine man and enjoys the company of the "Zeromes". So they go flying around the galaxy have great adventures and helping other beings to boot.
They stories have aged amazingly well and have a genuine sense of wonder about them.
I bet that the reprint right are fairly cheap! LOL
Here are a few Prof. Jameson links...
http://thenostalgialeague.com/olmag/jameson.html
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_R._Jones
http://www.meteor25.fsnet.co.uk/
http://davidszondy.com/future/robot/jameson.htm
Take care.
Doug
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Chief Creative Officer, Publisher
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I've been accumulating the Professor Jameson stories, and recently read the first of them. It's interesting, but I'm a little nervous what the audience might make of a band of interstellar adventurers that all look like modrons.
I hear the second story (Planet of the Double-Sun?) is quite compelling, so I have high hopes for the rest of the series.
This is exactly the sort of stuff I've been reading lately. My fingers smell like pulps and my apartment is filled with paper chips and flakes! :)
I've been accumulating the Professor Jameson stories, and recently read the first of them. It's interesting, but I'm a little nervous what the audience might make of a band of interstellar adventurers that all look like modrons.
I hear the second story (Planet of the Double-Sun?) is quite compelling, so I have high hopes for the rest of the series.
This is exactly the sort of stuff I've been reading lately. My fingers smell like pulps and my apartment is filled with paper chips and flakes! :)
SPOILER ALERT!!!
Planet of the Double Suns is great! It deals with ovelapping/parallel universes!
Take care.
Doug
I've been accumulating the Professor Jameson stories, and recently read the first of them. It's interesting, but I'm a little nervous what the audience might make of a band of interstellar adventurers that all look like modrons.
Here is some decent "Zorome" art.
and as far as modrons are concerned.. I thought gamers were open minden?:-)
http://www.projectrho.com/rocket/rocket3k.html
Scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page.
Take care.
Doug
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Chief Creative Officer, Publisher
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Ok, Planet Stories readers! Do me a favor and head over to the link Doug just posted. Scroll all the way to the bottom until you get to the montage of images of cone-headed robots with tentacle arms.
Would you buy a novel in which every single character looked like that?
Would you buy a novel in which every single character looked like that?
Don't see why not.
Besides, think of the virtually untapped anime tentacle market!
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 6
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Ok, Planet Stories readers! Do me a favor and head over to the link Doug just posted. Scroll all the way to the bottom until you get to the montage of images of cone-headed robots with tentacle arms.
Would you buy a novel in which every single character looked like that?
I would, but then I enjoyed Dragon's Egg (about more or less one-dimensional blobs living on a Neutron Star) and Mission of Gravity (largely about things that looked like millipede-scorpion crosses). Not as a regular thing, though.
Ok, Planet Stories readers! Do me a favor and head over to the link Doug just posted. Scroll all the way to the bottom until you get to the montage of images of cone-headed robots with tentacle arms.
Would you buy a novel in which every single character looked like that?
Hey! That's misleading the jury!! :-)
Every single character doesn't look like that.ONLY THE ZEROMES!! :-)
In every story they run up against a different race of beings to either help or ahnilate
So doen't be so speciescentric!
Who wants to read stories where every character is a bipedal humanoid? LOL
Take care.
Doug
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Would you buy a novel in which every single character looked like that?
Well, in my case the quality of the story told is more important to me than the looks of the characters in it.
Sure, these guys look strange and I really can't imagine to identify with protagonists like these, but this might be the most interesting aspect in a book like this.I'd give it a try!
Wow.
Dennis Wheatley sounds really interesting.
Thanks for the tip. Probably not right for Planet Stories, but I'm going to have to pick up some of those occult library books.
Wheatley was a writer I thought of suggesting, but he didn't seem exactly right for the series Paizo is producing. Besides which, most of his work is still actively in-print (on this side of the Atlantic, at least) so I don't know how copyright would work out. Many of his themes are grounded in real-world occultism (predominantly Satanism), which doesn't tie too well into the pulp fantasy genre.
Nonetheless, I would recommend his work as an entertaining read, particularly for fans of the Hammer films, many of which were based on, or owed tribute to, Wheatley's writings.
Would you buy a novel in which every single character looked like that?
Honestly... probably not.
So, Erik, give us an idea of how many books and magazines you have in your "to read" pile right now. And are they all in your apartment, or do you have some storage space elsewhere?
And (sorry this is off-topic) are you doing any writing? I haven't seen your name (except as Publisher, obviously) on any Pathfinder stuff or GameMastery stuff recently.
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Chief Creative Officer, Publisher
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Would you buy a novel in which every single character looked like that?Honestly... probably not.
Would it help if they were all named stuff like 4XMB-13H?
So, Erik, give us an idea of how many books and magazines you have in your "to read" pile right now. And are they all in your apartment, or do you have some storage space elsewhere?
There are really two piles. One is stuff I've identified as "must read" for Planet Stories purposes. Right now that's probably about a dozen books, with perhaps 4 or 5 as strong contenders at any given moment.
I then have a large bookcase at work with perhaps 100 books and a handful of magazines, as well as my personal book and pulp collection (at home), which includes perhaps 50 pulp magazines and probably about 250 paperbacks. One cool thing about doing Planet Stories is that like-minded readers often send me books or magazines for consideration. I just received a HUGE box of pulps and pulp reprints today, and I'll probably spend a few hours looking through it tonight and deciding if any of it should advance immediately to the strong consideration pile.
And (sorry this is off-topic) are you doing any writing? I haven't seen your name (except as Publisher, obviously) on any Pathfinder stuff or GameMastery stuff recently.
I wrote the first Pathfinder Journal article in Pathfinder #1, but most of my writing time these days has been focused on writing the Pathfinder Gazetteer, which is a "broad strokes" look at the entire Pathfinder world. Given my day-to-day responsibilities here at the office (which more often than not extend into my home life) and the fact that I'm trying to keep my girlfriend from thinking I am too obsessed with work to be a functioning mate (she may be right on this score), the Gazetteer has taken me a lot longer to write than I thought it would.
I plan to finish today or tomorrow, though, and I can't wait for the extra free time that will produce--mostly so I can read more classic fantasy and science fiction for consideration for Planet Stories!
I am not a well man.
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Chief Creative Officer, Publisher
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I can't find the original Dune book, you plan on reprinting it or I just suck at google-fu and amazon-fu?
I certainly wouldn't say that you "suck" at anything, but I did turn it up rather easily.
Erik-
I am sure that my author suggestions are going to be nothing you have not heard or considered already, but here I go anyway:
Gardner Fox, Zelazny, and more Edgar Rice Burroughs.
While I appreciate your shining the light on lesser-known authors I would also think that occasionally publishing a wider-known one will help sell the series as a whole. I can literally say that I have never read a ERB book that I did not like-- ever! With any character!
That said, I liked Kuttner's book, and *loved* Black God's Kiss by Moore, and had never heard of either author before reading them here. So, I am finding Planet Stories to be a nifty way to expand my pulptastic horizons with little to no effort! :)
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I can't find the original Dune book, you plan on reprinting it or I just suck at google-fu and amazon-fu?I certainly wouldn't say that you "suck" at anything, but I did turn it up rather easily.
Oh, ther ethey are.
Well, lets say that I have little skill points in Amazon Fu then ^_^|
Chief Creative Officer, Publisher
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Erik-
I am sure that my author suggestions are going to be nothing you have not heard or considered already, but here I go anyway:
Gardner Fox, Zelazny, and more Edgar Rice Burroughs.While I appreciate your shining the light on lesser-known authors I would also think that occasionally publishing a wider-known one will help sell the series as a whole. I can literally say that I have never read a ERB book that I did not like-- ever! With any character!
That said, I liked Kuttner's book, and *loved* Black God's Kiss by Moore, and had never heard of either author before reading them here. So, I am finding Planet Stories to be a nifty way to expand my pulptastic horizons with little to no effort! :)
Burroughs is fairly well in print. In the case of the Princess of Mars, it's in print by Barnes & Noble, which cuts off a significant sales channel. We may get to some of the rarer stuff, but most of the first dozen or so most people would think of can be fairly easily obtained. The University of Nebraska Press puts out a nice series of Burroughs editions, as do a few other houses.
I am working on Gardner F. Fox. I'd like to do something with the Llarn books, or possibly his fantasy heroes (though I suspect the rights there may be tied up). He wrote a few mostly forgotten novels for the original Planet Stories magazine, which would be fun to track down.
We have considered a few Zelazny tales, but again there most of it is in print.
If you liked Black God's Kiss I predict you will adore Northwest of Earth, which is even better. It's also (by far) the thickest Planet Stories release to date, and is far cheaper than it probably should have been.
I am really pleased to hear that you are enjoying the line. Please help us spread the word!
Hi!
The Llarn books are great fun.
someone mentioned "Maza of the moon" by klinein a previous post.
The book is great while it's sooo over the top1
It is of course dated, but that didn't impede my enjoyment last year when I read it!! I think that it holds up much better that the "Lensman" series by smith.
The Kane series by KEW is probably (IMHO) the 2nd greatest Sword and Sorcery series ever writeen. BUT!! The content is very ADULT!!
Lots of Andre´ Norton's earlier works are out of print. These are almost all Planetary Adventure stories. Lots of mutant tlelpathic animals, young protagonists, newly discovered planets with ancient civilizations ect. ect.
Perfect stuff for a series called Planet Stories..
Here are a few..
Sargasso of space.
Daybrak 2250 A.D.
Storm over Warlock.
Eye of the monster.
Secret of the Lost Race
Operation time Search (a fellow goes back in time and gets involved in the war between Atlantis and Mu!! :-)
Beast Master is sadly still in print!! The movie was good and of course and the book is so much better.
Well that's it for now! Gotta get back to work!!
BUT I STILL THINK THAT PROF: JAMESON AND THE ZOROMES ARE A GREAT CHOICE!! :-)
Take care.
Doug
This isn't a request for an author, but rather for an annual (??) product that ties in with the RPG side of your business:
'Bestiary of Planet Stories'
Imagine having the d20, or True20, or whatever system, stats for the Argzoon, the dastardly Blue Giants of Mars! While a Bestiary, it could also highlight personalities, so we see Inhetep in his Mystic Theurge glory....
I don't know if there is any other copyright involved, but I for one would pick up something like this in a heartbeat. I'm thinking soft cover, 64 pages, though hard cover and bigger wouldn't deter me either. ;)
This isn't a request for an author, but rather for an annual (??) product that ties in with the RPG side of your business:
'Bestiary of Planet Stories'
Imagine having the d20, or True20, or whatever system, stats for the Argzoon, the dastardly Blue Giants of Mars! While a Bestiary, it could also highlight personalities, so we see Inhetep in his Mystic Theurge glory....
I don't know if there is any other copyright involved, but I for one would pick up something like this in a heartbeat. I'm thinking soft cover, 64 pages, though hard cover and bigger wouldn't deter me either. ;)
I really like Zeb's suggestion here. I am one of those guys who just loves his game's crunchy bits-- this would be a fun product.
The suggestion of marrying some of these stories to game statistics is an intriguing one. How many people would be interested in something like this?
Count me in.
Giants in the Earth and Novel Approach were two of my all-time favorite Dragon series.
I've already used several of the China Mieville monsters from Dragon in my campaign.
After reading Jack Vance's Dying Earth a few months back, I started statting up some of the creatures within.
So yeah, I'd eat that up. :)
The suggestion of marrying some of these stories to game statistics is an intriguing one. How many people would be interested in something like this?
I'd be all over that like stink on a monkey (more for the monsters than anything else....I'm a creature sucker) as I used to love Giants in the Earth as a ready source of bizarre NPCs (and did I mention the beasties? ;-)
The problem as I see it is that Dragon used to be the ideal venue for such projects and there really isn't anything like that right now put out by Paizo (Pathfinder is already stuffed to the gills). So I'd be curious as to how such a plan would come to fruition....perhaps a Planet Stories/Gamemastery one off with collected stats from an assortment of stories?
And then there's the issue of which edition is used for statistics...a thorny problem if ever there was one... ... ...For example, I really (REALLY) doubt I would purchase such a venture if it were only with 4th edition stats (I have enough material at home that I can use more or less instantly without having to worry about converting).
Cheers,
Colin
The suggestion of marrying some of these stories to game statistics is an intriguing one. How many people would be interested in something like this?
Backrubs FOR ALL if this happens! :D
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Place your fan requests for Planet Stories here!
for Sword & Sorcery:
Karl Edward Wagner: The Kane storiesPhilip Jose Farmer: Hadon of Opar and Flight to Opar
Andrew J. Offut: Demon in the Mirror
Charles Nuetzel: Swordmen of Vistar
for historical Adventure:
Talbot Mundy: Tros of Samothrace, Jim Grimm
Space adventure:
Poul Anderson: The High Crusade, Agent Flandry of Terra
Jungle adventure:
Robert Moore Williams: Jongor series
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Chief Creative Officer, Publisher
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Oooh I love me some Robert Moore Williams.
As a friend recently said, you have to be in a certain mindset to truly appreciate his hacky writing, but I find him to be _the_ prototypical pulp writing. Lots of action, some really embarrassing bits of writing, and more crazy ideas per column inch than in just about anything I've ever read.
Also, it's best to be forgiving of cliché turns of phrase when reading Robert Moore Williams.
But boy, I sure enjoy some of his stuff!
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Chief Creative Officer, Publisher
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This is a little behind the times, I know, but YES, EMPHATICALLY YES, I would buy and read a book about Jameson and his tentacled, cone-headed cyborg buddies! Man, that sounds great!
You are on record!
By the way, I just got my SECRET OF SINHARAT -- it was so freaking awesome! I'm gonna start on the PEOPLE OF THE TALISMAN in a minute . . . I know you said might do more Brackett, so if you do, make sure to stick ENCHANTRESS OF VENUS (CITY OF THE LOST ONES) in with RHIANNON; it's pretty short, and it's not included in the big Haffner omnibi!
Brackett is great. Please help us spread the word about her on message boards and blogs and stuff. Her modern audience is absolutely tiny.
"Enchantress of Venus," one of the greatest science fiction stories I've ever read, is currently in print from Haffner in the "Stark and the Star Kings" volume. I'd like to put out the three original Stark novelettes at some point, but I don't want to hurt sales of that volume for him.
But we've got the Books of Skaith trilogy on the way, and are negotiating for another novel for 2009.
Brackett is great. Please help us spread the word about her on message boards and blogs and stuff. Her modern audience is absolutely tiny.
She must be in coming back though, first Planet Stories, then the other day BBC 7 had a great reading of The Last Days of Shandakor. Please bring back Rhiannion; my copy is knackered.
Some of my suggestions might be a bit leftfield or too recent, but I'll leave you to judge:Dennis Wheatley's work- while not SciFi/Fantasy and at times cringeworthy, his Satan/Black Magic stuff is old fashioned pulp fun and I'm sure informed many a Call of Cthulhu session. I think The Devil Rides Out and his earlier stuff is out of print and out of copyright, but I'm not certain. {EDIT} Just spotted the previous posts on Wheatley and totally get it- was an outside chance anyway.
Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu stuff is also gone the way of dust, okay, it's horribly unPC and offensive in parts, but again, it's pulp and the staple of every International Criminal Mastermind that ever was, from Ming the Merciless to Blofeld.
The rest of these are of unsure providence, so bear with me and forgive me if they're down in the local B&N; I've just not seen them for years:
Howard's Crusader stories, like Hawks of Outremer and The Sowers of Thunder could do with a decent re-airing too. Not Fantastical, but red blooded heroics (helps that the two I mentioned feature kick ass Irish Knights).
Alan Garner's Alderley Books may be for slightly younger readers, but the first, The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, introduces Svarts and has some of the best writing on the dangers of the Underdark you're likely to come across.
K.W. Jeter's Morlock Night: Yup, the Morlocks build their own Time Machines and invade London- Steampunk hokum at it's most eclectic .
Lord Dunsany's Joseph Jorkens stories are great fun, Horror, ScFi and pulp adventure recounted at a Gentleman's club.
All I can think of right now- good to recall them though- makes me miss my wasted teenage years of hunting for used books.
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Chief Creative Officer, Publisher
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Thanks for the suggestions!
As for Fu Manchu, it looks like Adamant Entertainment will be bringing all of the books out in trade paperback form over the next year or so. The first of their reprint volumes is available here.
--Erik
Has Clark Ashton Smith been brought up? I've been trying to track down stories by him in print, and save for the odd Lovecraft pastiche it's been a devil to find.
Let me just say thanks for bringing the works of CL Moore and Leigh Brackett back into print. I have multiple versions of Northwest Smith and stark colelctions, but I'm always glad to buy another to try to keep 'em around.
suggestions:
"Flame Winds" by Norvell Page - Prester John as a sword and sorcery hero, by the author of most of the Spiders pulp adventures.
The "Nifft the Lean" stories of Michael Shea. Clark Ashton Smith-flavored.
Too bad Charles Saunders doesn't seem to want the original Imaro stories in print, because those would be perfect.
Hey all!
Has anyone considered reprinting some of Cordwainer Smith`s (Paul M. A. Linebarger) stories?
These would fit perfectly into the „Planet Stories“ line.
I’ve re-read quite a bit of his work lately and they have held up wonderfuly well. Just a good as Ray Bradbury’s work does.
Linebarger was an amazing man. He was a Spy, Diplomat, Linguist and one of the Greatest SF writers ever.
Most of his stories take place in the same universe/future called the„Instrumentality of Mankind”.
These stories are simultaniously heartbreaking and optimistic. Everything needed for a good “Planet Story” are here. Sacrifice, love, adventure, philosophy,redemption,sacrifice, what is humanity, humor ect.
These are stories that read on so many different levels that it boogles the mind. On one level they are far future adventure stories. On the other hand they are also religious/philosophical treatsies.
No matter what, they are all entertaining!
Cordwainer Smith is too important of a figure to be forgotten. His story “Scanners Live in Vain” was one of the first stories to be admitted to the SF Hall of Fame by the Science Fiction Writers of America. His work was a great influence on Robert Silverberg who helped initiate the “ Cordwainer Smith Rediscovery Award“. This is givien every year at the World SF Convention to groundbreaking and important writers who have been more or less forgotten by modern audiences.
The winner(s) in 2004 were Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore. As a married couple the wrote many stories under the pseudonom „Lewis Padgett“. But most Planet Stories readers already now them through Elak and Jorie.
The winner in 2005 was none other than LEIGH BRACKETT!! Most PS readers know her also.
So if 3 of these winners have already appeared in Planet Stories ,shouldn’t then the man who inspired this award also appear in Planet Stories.
Here is the „Cordwainer Smith“ Wiki link…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordwainer_Smith
So people, please read up on this man and give your opinions!!
You won’t be disappointed.
Take care.
Doug
I think the Nifft stories are still in print from Baen. And Nightshade published Imaro and Imaro 2 in the last couple of years. I hear through the grapevine that they had high hopes for the series, but that sales were not great.
Nightshade published the Imaro novels--not the short stories, which (other than the ones which were cannibalized for the first novel) have never been collected. But yeah, I don't think the sales were great.
I would suspect Baen doesn't still have Nifft in print as the only copies amazon has are from independent sellers.
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Chief Creative Officer, Publisher
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Poul Anderson -- The Broken Sword
Poul Anderson -- Three Hearts and Three Lions
Manly Wade Wellman -- John Thunstone Stories and John the Balladeer Stories
I must confess that I am not a huge fan of Poul Anderson. His work just doesn't sing to me, but then I will admit that I have not read Three Hearts and Three Lions and I've mostly focused on other stuff like Virgin Planet, which I found disappointing.
I LOVE Manly Wade Wellman. Nightshade has a great deal of his work in print, but I'd love to publish Who Fears the Devil? anyway. Silver John is a wonderful character.
I might like the caveman Hok even more, though.
I haven't read any of the Thunderstone stories. Do you have any recommendations?
Smith is hard to find, in my experience.
The works of Lord Dunsany aren't terribly available, and I'm sure there's a lot that simply isn't.
It's a bit out of the Planet Stories lineup, but the "Arsene Lupin" stories by Maurice Leblanc are fantastic and esoteric as all hell.
Honestly, it'd be worth checking on the publication status and/or material of any author mentioned in Lovecraft's "Supernatural Horror in Literature".
With the absurdly enormous output of Isaac Asimov, I'm certain that a significant portion of his work is totally unavailable to the general public. Hell, I'd pay good money just for a compilation of his science columns in Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine.
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Smith is hard to find, in my experience.
The works of Lord Dunsany aren't terribly available, and I'm sure there's a lot that simply isn't.
It's a bit out of the Planet Stories lineup, but the "Arsene Lupin" stories by Maurice Leblanc are fantastic and esoteric as all hell.
Honestly, it'd be worth checking on the publication status and/or material of any author mentioned in Lovecraft's "Supernatural Horror in Literature".
With the absurdly enormous output of Isaac Asimov, I'm certain that a significant portion of his work is totally unavailable to the general public. Hell, I'd pay good money just for a compilation of his science columns in Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine.
Dunsany is available through Chaosium, and I'm not sure he counts as Pulp. Leblanc is on the cusp of Pulp, but I'm not sure his Sherlockian protagonist should count as Pulp any more than Doyle's... Lovecraft's mentions from his essay are currently available in at least two forms: Lovecraft's Favourite Weird Tales and the American Anthology of Horror 7th edition, a survey textbook from Houghton-Mifflin. The more Lovecraft and his immediate peers are accepted into the literary establishment (as defined by the scions of academia), the farther they will move from Pulp status. It may not be too much longer before they are forgotten entirely as writers of Pulp Fiction, just as no-one today remembers that Dickens was once a serialist and taken none too seriously.
But I forget: is Planet Stories designed to return to print the best representations of the Pulp Era, or simply reprints of out-of-print stories and novellas; or does Planet Stories ultimately intend to publish a strange brew of the two sprinkled with the occasional overlooked bright oddity? Whatever the plan, I love the series and only wish for leatherbound EP-style editions.
Oh, and to Eric Mona, if you're reading:
please print a collection of Frank Belknap Long, who is long out-of-print, and definitely-definitely Pulp.
Hey all!
I've been following this thread pretty closely and I'm starting to wonder how closely this series will follow the spirit/concept of "PLANET STORIES"
I'm almost 50 years old, so what I wish/want from this series might not be what younger readers want. You also have to understand that lots of these "forgotten, golden-Age writers" were still in print and more or less household names way up into the 1970's so I am more tolerant of "dated" SF than someone younger might be.
Here are some links to what I think should define (IMHO) the selection criteria for "PLANET STORIES"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet_Stories
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_fantasy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetary_romance
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sword_and_planet
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planets_in_science_fiction
There are tons of authors and Stories that deserve to be re-discovered by a newer/younger audience, But i think that this series would be the place for writers such as Lovecraft or even Isaac Asimov (even though I am a huge fan of both and both men are "Gods" of their fields.)
I think that the series should stick to adventure oriented Science Fantasy stories like those written by....
such past masters/mistresses as
Andre Norton.
early Ursula LeGuin
Poul Anderson
A.E. Van Vogt
Jack Vance
Maron Zimmer Bradley
Or especially Lin Carter, who is a genuine goldmine when you consider that the series has so far showed no shyness about printing pastiches (Moorcocks and Klines Mars stories)
Or more modern works such as
the "New Sun" (or "Urth") series by Gene Wolf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_of_the_New_Sun
All of these people wrote/write a deft mixture of Sf and Fantasy that will appeal greatly to fans of both genres. These are also stories that are still accessible to newer/younger fans
If this series was named for example "The AMAZING STORIES Library", then most of the great genre writers would have a place here.
The series is called "Planet Stories" though and I think (IMHO) that the choice of stories should fit the theme/concept/spirit of "Planet Stories"
And one small request...
regarding what I said at the beginning about being tolerant of "dated" SF....
For god's sake don't print any E. E. "Doc" Smith!!! His dialog is so clunky that it hurts!! The Lensman and SkyLark series always sound so incredibly cool when being described, but go ahead and try reading them without wincing! I find them impossible to read and I grew up on reprints of this kind of stuff!!
What I'm mainly trying (albeit badly and disjointedly) to say is that we should decide what the spirit of this series is and then stick to it. Even when focused, there is such a wide range of styles, stories and voices that are not just "good" but truly "GREAT".
Take care.
Doug
"science fiction makes the implausible possible, while science fantasy makes the impossible plausible." Rod Serling