As I mentioned last week, in January of 1990, Tor began published a second series of Tor Doubles: The Tor Double Action Western series. Running for twenty months, the books in this series were anonymously edited and packaged by Martin H. Greenberg and Bill Pronzini through Tekno Books. Not only did they differ from the science fiction series in subject matter, but also in format.

While most of the Tor SF Doubles were published as dos-a-dos format, where the book needed to be flipped over to read the second story, this series was all published in a standard format, with the second story following the first. As it happens, a month after this series was introduced, the Tor SF Double was  published in the same traditional format.

The Westerns also differed because while the SF volumes mostly included stories by different authors (with three exceptions), each of the Tor Double Action Westerns featured two stories by the same authors, essentially making each volume a two story collection.

Over the course of the twenty volumes, twelve authors were represented, with Henry Wilson Allen appearing under two pseudonyms: Clay Fisher and Will Henry, Lewis B. Patten having two volumes showcasing his work, Zane Grey stories appearing in three volumes, and Max Brand showing up in a full quarter of the books published, including the first and last volumes. Also, while most of the authors who were published in the science fiction series were alive at the time their works were printed, only three of the Western authors were alive: Allen, Steve Frazee, and Wayne D. Overholser.

The last five volumes in the series were rebranded as the Tor Double Western series.

1. Max Brand: Battle’s End and The Crosses
2. Zane Grey: Avalanche and The Kidnapping of Roseta Uvaldo
3. Lewis B. Patten: Sharpshod and They Called Him a Killer
4. Wayne D. Overholser: The Riders of Carne Cove and Last Cowman of Lost Squaw Valley
5. Frank Bonham: Red Blizzard and The Oldest Maiden Lady in New Mexico
6. Clay Fisher: That Bloody Bozeman Trail and Stagecoach West
7. Zane Grey: Prospector’s Gold and Canyon Walls
8. Owen Wister: A Pilgrim on the Gila and La Tinaja Bonita
9. Max Brand: Chip Champions a Lady and Forgotten Treasure
10. Steve Frazee: Look Behind Every Hill and The Big Trouble
11. Harry Sinclair Drago: Lone Wolf of Dry Gulch Trail and The Big Trouble
12. John Prescott: The Longriders and The Hard One
13. Will Henry: Frontier Fury and The White Man’s Road
14. W.C. Tuttle: Trouble at War Eagle and The Redhead of Aztec Wells
15. Max Brand: The Red Bandanna and Carcajou’s Trail
16. Norman A. Fox: Hell and Hot Leather and Gun-Rider
17. Lewis B. Patten: Wild Waymire and Gun This Man Down!
18. Max Brand: Outlaw Crew and The Best Bandit
19. Zane Grey: The Kidnapping of Collie Younger and Outlaws of Palouse
20. Max Brand: Range Jester and Black Thunder

And while you might assume this means an additional twenty weeks of coverage for the Tor Doubles series, my plan is to stop after I finish their SF line of doubles.  Sorry for those of you who got your hopes up for a look at the Westerns.

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Steven H Silver is a twenty-one time Hugo Award nominee and was the publisher of the Hugo-nominated fanzine Argentus as well as the editor and publisher of ISFiC Press for eight years. He has also edited books for DAW, NESFA Press, and ZNB. His most recent anthology is Alternate Peace and his novel After Hastings was published in 2020. Steven has chaired the first Midwest Construction, Windycon three times, and the SFWA Nebula Conference numerous times. He was programming chair for Chicon 2000 and Vice Chair of Chicon 7.