Thought he'd been doing that before he got the ST editing gig, although I've never actually read any of it.
Spoilers TOS #5 The Prometheus Design by Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath Review Thread
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Pohl's work at Bantam was never, strictly speaking, an "ST editing gig". He was an editor for Bantam Books in the mid-70s, and Star Trek titles comprised just a few of the books he edited. In fact, he had a series of "Frederik Pohl Selections" (SF titles) published by Bantam in 74-76, which included Delany's Dhalgren, Russ's The Female Man, a couple by Mack Reynolds, and a half-dozen more.
I can't find a definitive date when he stopped editing for Bantam, but I assume it more-or-less coincides with the end of the "Frederik Pohl Selection" series.
Pohl published novels and stories going all the way back to the early 50's, but when he was busy editing as many as three SF digests (Galaxy, If and Worlds of Tomorrow) at the same time in the 60's, then taking over editing for Ace Books after Donald A. Wollheim left to form his own publishing imprint (DAW) at the beginning of 1972, then editing for Bantam, he didn't have a lot of time for novel-writing, and his output as a writer was slim from 1960-1976-ish.
Thanks. Any of his works particularly outstanding (and still in print)?
Not unlike David Hartwell's role during the early "Timescape" era of Pocket's STAR TREK line. STAR TREK was just one component (albeit a profitable one) of an entire line of SF novels overseen by Hartwell. As I understand it, he left Pocket Books when told that he could only publish Star Trek novels and not SF in general.
Pohl's 1976-1979 1-2-3 punch of Man Plus, Gateway and Jem were award winners at the time. I haven't read the first or third in decades, but when I revisited Gateway (and its sequels) 10 or 12 years ago, it stood up admirably.
I read pretty much everything he published through the late 80's. The Coming of the Quantum Cats and Terror stick in my mind, so I'd also recommend those.
ETA: You may have to go to eBay, though. Very few books of that vintage are still in print.
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Or more likely Alibris. You'd be amazed at the things you can find there. That's where I got my copies of Ghosts and More Ghosts, Call Me Bandicoot, and Les Paul's autobiography, as well as my DVDs of the first two Guardians of the Galaxy movies, and Never Cry Wolf.
*****
And all three of the works you cited are available through Alibris, with Gateway and Jem starting at 99 cents used, and Man Plus starting at 1.45 used (for that opus, a hardcover in VG condition is actually cheaper than any of the MMPBs listed). And there are over 200 other Pohl titles listed.
*****
And all three of the works you cited are available through Alibris, with Gateway and Jem starting at 99 cents used, and Man Plus starting at 1.45 used (for that opus, a hardcover in VG condition is actually cheaper than any of the MMPBs listed). And there are over 200 other Pohl titles listed.
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My strongest memory of this novel is how the "spray 'n' wear" clothing option of the sonic shower (TMP) was used as a murder weapon in an attempt to assassinate Spock.
A scene which probably ends in Kirk saving Spock's life by tearing his clothes off
A scene which probably ends in Kirk saving Spock's life by tearing his clothes off
Not quite.
https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Prometheus_Design/iz26UdIKoIQC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=cubicle
It was the Vulcan guest character Savaj whose superhuman strength was necessary to save Spock from the constricting fibers, which "would not yield to Human hands." After all, in M&C's world, Kirk's role is to be constantly overpowered and dominated by Spock and various superhumanly strong guest characters.
And indeed, in the opus under discussion, M&C were relatively restrained about that. Possibly the most restrained they'd ever been.
