Leigh Brackett was one quarter of Space Opera’s Big Four (Edmond Hamilton, Henry Kuttner, C. L. Moore. These four were actually two married couples who produced many of the classics of the 1930-1950s. Brackett and Moore became TV and Film writers. Kuttner died tragically in 1958 of heart failure. Hamilton went onto pen Superman comics for the 1940-60s.)

Brackett may be best remembered for writing The Big Sleep (1946 ) screenplay with William Faulkner or the Rio Bravo (1959) movies for Howard Hawks, but I will always remember her as the one who wrote The Empire Strikes Back (1980) with Lawrence Kasden. This film is the most perfect example of great Space Opera ever done. Many Star Wars fans do not like it because of it being the middle piece of three but so what? You have all the great Space Opera elements (romance, action, aliens, chases, etc.) and a better budget than the first Star Wars film.

When Leigh wasn’t writing movies, perhaps because of a writers’ strike, she would continue the adventures of her great hero, Eric John Stark. Or she would work on the old farm house she and Ed bought in Kinsman, OH. Or she would spend time in California, where she grew up. Not the most prolific of Pulp writers, the stories she produced were the high water mark against which all others are tested. She and Ray Bradbury inspired each other in the pages of Planet Stories, and no one else deserves the title more, Leigh Brackett, Queen of Space.

This is not a complete list. It doesn’t include fanzine work, Mysteries or Westerns.

Art by Hubert Rogers

Art by M. Isip

1. “Martian Quest” Astounding Science Fiction, February 1940

Art by Hannes Bok

2. “The Stellar Legion” Planet Stories, Winter 1940

Art by Hubert Rogers

3. “The Treasure of Ptakuth” Astounding Science Fiction, April 1940

Art by Earle Bergey

4. “The Tapestry Gate” (Strange Stories, August 1940)

Artist is not known

5. “The Demons of Darkside” Startling Stories, January 1941

Art by Hannes Bok

6. “Water Pirate” Super Science Stories, January 1941

Art by Virgil Finlay

Art by Don Lynch

7. “The Dragon-Queen of Jupiter” Planet Stories, Summer 1941

Art by M. Marchioni

8. “Interplanetary Reporter” Startling Stories, May 1941

Artist is not known

9. “No Man’s Land in Space” Amazing Stories, July 1941

Art by John R. Forte Jr.

10. “A World Is Born (Comet Stories, July 1941)

Art by G. Thorp

11. “Retreat to the Stars” Astonishing Science Fiction, November 1941

Art by Virgil Finlay

12. “Child of the Green Light” Super Science Stories, February 1942

Art by A. Leydenfrost

13. “Child of the Sun” Planet Stories, Spring 1942

Art by John Giunta

14. “Out of the Sea” Astonishing Stories, June 1942

Art by Frank R. Paul

15. “Lord of the Earthquake” Science Fiction, June 1942

Artist is not known

16. “Cube from Space” Super Science Stories, August 1942

Art by Milton Luros

Art by John Giunta

17. “The Halfling” (Astonishing Stories, February 1943)

Art by Frank R. Paul

18. “Outpost on Io” Planet Stories, Winter 1942

Art by Hubert Rogers

Art by Kolliker

19. “The Sorcerer of Rhiannon” Astounding Science Fiction, February 1942

Art by Jerome Rozen

Artist is not known

20. “Citadel of Lost Ships” Planet Stories, March 1943 (Reprinted in Tops in Science Fiction, Spring 1953)

Art by George Rozen

Art by Bob Leydenfrost

21. “The Blue Behemoth” Planet Stories, May 1943)

Art by George Rozen

Art by Bob Leydenfrost

22. “Thralls of the Endless Night” Planet Stories, Fall 1943

Art by Graham Ingels

23. “The Jewel of Bas” Planet Stories, Spring 1944

Art by M. Marchioni

24. “The Veil of Astellar” Thrilling Wonder Stories, Spring 1944

Art by George Gross

Art by Ronald Clyne

25. “Terror Out of Space” Planet Stories, Summer 1944

Art by Earle Bergey

Art by Virgil Finlay

26. “Shadow Over Mars” Startling Stories, Fall 1944

Art by Harry Lemon Parkhurst

Art by Crank

27. “The Vanishing Venusians” Planet Stories, Spring 1945

Art by Chester Martin

Art by Rube Moore

Art by Frank Kelly Freas

28. “Lorelei of the Red Mist” (with Ray Bradbury ) Planet Stories, Summer 1946 (reprinted in Tops in Science Fiction, Fall 1953)

Art by Allen Anderson

Artist is not known

29. “The Beast-Jewel of Mars” Planet Stories, Winter 1948

Art by Earle Bergey

Art by Virgil Finlay

30. “The Moon That Vanished” Thrilling Wonder Stories, October 1948

Art by Vincent Napoli

31. “Quest of the Starhope” Thrilling Wonder Stories, April 1949

Artist not known

Art by Virgil Finlay

32. “Sea-Kings of Mars” Thrilling Wonder Stories, June 1949 (reprints The Sword of Rhiannon)

Art by Allen Anderson

Artist is not known

33. “Queen of the Martian Catacombs” Planet Stories, Summer 1949

Art by Allen Anderson

Artist is not known

34. “Enchantress of Venus” (aka “City of the Lost Ones”) Planet Stories, Fall 1949

Art by Earle Bergey

Art by Virgil Finlay

35. “The Lake of the Gone Forever” Thrilling Wonder Stories, October 1949

Art by Robert E. Schulz

36. “The Sword of Rhiannon” (Ace Double, 1949)

Art by Earle Bergey

Art by Virgil Finlaay

37. “The Dancing Girl of Ganymede” Thrilling Wonder Stories, February 1950

Artist is not known

38. “The Truants” Startling Stories, July 1950

Artist is not known

Art by Paul Orban

39. “The Citadel of Lost Ages” Thrilling Wonder Stories, December 1950

Art by Allen Anderson

Artist is not known

40. “Black Amazon of Mars” Planet Stories, March 1951 (expanded as “People of the Talisman”)

Art by Earle Bergey

Art by Paul Orban

41. “The Starmen of Llyrdis” Startling Stories, March 1951

Art by Paul Orban

42. “The Woman from Altair” Startling Stories, July 1951

Art by Rmsh

43. Shadow Over Mars (a: The Nemesis from Terra ) (1951)

Artist is not known

44. “The Shadows” Startling Stories, February 1952

Art by Alex Schomberg

45. “The Last Days of Shandakor” Startling Stories, April 1952

Art by Allen Anderson

Art by Emsh

46. “Shannach – The Last” Planet Stories November 1952

Art by Frank Kelly Freas

Artist is not known

47. “The Ark of Mars” Planet Stories, September 1953

Art by john Schoenherr

48. The Sword of Rhiannon (1953)

Art by Emsh

Art by Virgil Finlay

49. “The Big Jump” Space Stories, February 1953

Art by Frank Kelly Freas

50. “Mars Minus Bisha” Planet Stories, January 1954

Art by Emsh

51. “Runaway” Startling Stories, Spring 1954

Art by Frank Kelly Freas

Artist is not known

52. “Teleportress of Alpha C” Planet Stories, Winter 1955

Art by Frank Kelly Freas

53. “The Tweener” Fantasy & Science Fiction, February 1955

Art by Frank Kelly Freas

Art by Herman Vestal

54. “Last Call from Sector 9G” Planet Stories, Summer 1955

Artist is not known

55. The Starmen (a: The Galactic Breed and The Starmen of Llyrdis) (1955)

Art by Robert E. Schulz

56. The Big Jump (1955)

Art by Emsh

57. The Long Tomorrow (1955)

Art by John Schoenherr

58. “All the Colors of the Rainbow” (Venture Science Fiction, Magazine November 1957)

Art by Dick Shelton

Art by John Giunta

59. “The Queer Ones” (aka “The Other People”) Venture Science Fiction, March 1957

Art by Virgil Finlay

60. “The Road to Sinharat” (a: “The Secret of Sinharat”) Amazing Stories, May 1963

Art by Jack Gaughan

61. Alpha Centauri – or Die! (1963)

Art by Emsh

62. The Secret of Sinharet/People of the Talismen(1964)

Art by Chesley Bonestell

63. “Purple Priestess of the Mad Moon” Fantasy & Science Fiction, October 1964

Art by Gray Morrow

64. The Coming of the Terrans (1967)

Art by Herbert Danska

65. “Come Sing the Moons of Moravenn” (The Other Side of Tomorrow, 1973)

66. “How Bright the Stars” (Flame Tree Planet: An Anthology of Religious Science-Fantasy, 1973)

Art by Karl Thole

67. The Halfling and Other Stories (1973)

68. “Mommies and Daddies” (Crisis, 1974)

Art by Jack Gaughan

69. “The Ginger Star” Worlds of If, February April 1974

Art by Jim Steranko

70. The Ginger Star (1974)

Art by Jim Steranko

71. The Hounds of Skaith (1974)

Art by Frank Kelly Freas

72. The Best of Planet Stories No 1 (1974)

Art by Jim Steranko

73. The Reavers of Skaith (1976)

Art by Boris Vallejo

74. The Best of Leigh Brackett (1977)

Art by Steve Ferris

75. Eric John Stark: Outlaw of Mars (1982)

75. “Thieves’ Carnival” by Karen Haber/”The Jewel of Bas” (1990)

76. Martian Quest: The Early Brackett (2000)

Art by Doug Chaffee

77. “Stark and the Star Kings” (with Edmond Hamilton) (2005)

With husband, Edmond Hamilton

For Leigh’s Mystery fiction click here.