author
Edson McCann
A pen name with a hidden story behind it, this byline was used for a fast-moving 1955 science fiction novel created by two major figures of the genre. The result carries the sharp, idea-driven style readers associate with classic mid-century SF.
1 Audiobook
Preferred Risk
by Edson McCann
About the author
Edson McCann was not a single writer, but a joint pseudonym used by Frederik Pohl and Lester del Rey. The name is best known for Preferred Risk (1955), a science fiction novel published under that shared byline.
Sources on the book and its publication history describe the pseudonym as a collaboration between two important American science fiction authors and editors. Pohl became especially well known for novels such as The Space Merchants and for his long influence on the field as an editor, while del Rey built a strong reputation as both a writer and later a major editor in science fiction publishing.
For readers, the name Edson McCann is a small piece of genre history: a reminder of the energetic magazine era of science fiction, when established writers sometimes worked quickly, collaboratively, and under invented names to bring a story into print.