First novels—as in, the first manuscript a writer actually completes, not necessarily their first published work—are always fascinating. Often they are… how to put this? Simply quite terrible; there’s a reason most published authors have a “trunk novel” or two gathering dust somewhere. But some first novels are different: some first novels are perfectly good books that just don’t get published for one reason or another, be it market forces or plain bad luck.

But if a writer attains a sufficient level of fame, there will always be interest in their early work—which means sometimes, that “lost” first novel eventually gets published. The six books on this list are by great SFF writers who passed away before their “first” books saw print—leaving their readers one last unexpected gift.

Warrior of the Altaii, by Robert Jordan

The late Robert Jordan (neé James Oliver Rigney Jr.) is justifiably famous for his hugely popular epic fantasy saga The Wheel of Time (coming soon to a TV streaming service near you), but before he became one of the world’s leading fantasy authors, he wrote in several genres under different names. His published debut, the non-fantasy historical epic The Fallon Blood, was released under the name Reagan O’Neal, and he also wrote a series of well-received Conan stories. But Jordan’s first published novel was very nearly this one, Warrior of the Altaii; he actually sold it to DAW books, but saw the offer revoked when he requested changes to the contract. Years later, after The Wheel of Time had ignited interest in his work, he claimed to have left instructions that the manuscript be burned when he died, lest it make its way into readers’ hands, but cooloer heads seem to have prevailed, as fans of the much-missed fantasy master now have one more of the author’s books to cherish. It’s the epic story of Wulfgar, leader of the Altaii, as he struggles to save his people from threats both natural and magical. When he encounters a woman from a different world named Elspeth, Wulfgar has to figure out if she might be the salvation of the Altaii people, or seal their doom. The book is more than a simple bit of juvenilia; there are seeds here that would go on to bloom in his later saga. Consider this posthumous release a rare opportunity to get a glimpse of the evolution of a fantasy master. (And for the true fan, note that the Barnes & Noble hardcover edition features an exclusive color map and bonus illustration.)

For Us the Living, by Robert Heinlein

The first novel written by Science Fiction Grandmaster Heinlein, For Us the Living incorporates many of the themes, and even the characters, that would later populate his more mature work. However, Heinlein being Heinlein, the book was considered unpublishable in 1939 because of its racy themes, from free love to overt political themes that would have made publishers sweat. Heinlein put the book aside and eventually destroyed what manuscript pages he had. A single copy remained hidden in a box in a garage, however, and was discovered and published in 2003 despite the clear intention of its author that it be forgotten by history.

Gather Yourselves Together, by Philip K. Dick

Philip K. Dick’s first novel (though there’s some disagreement whether Gather is really his first, or is just a very early book from the mega-prolific writer) wasn’t science fiction; Dick initially considered sci-fi to be a lesser genre good only for paying the bills via short stories (this was the 1950s, after all); he wanted nothing more than to be a mainstream novelist. The plot of his first attempt, involving a trio of employees left in post-communist revolution China to close down a company’s operations, isn’t particularly groundbreaking, and there’s little doubt that it long remained unpublished for good reason—although it’s perfectly competent and displays occasional flashes of Dick’s genius here and there, it feels less like a singular work than something that any writer could’ve written—which isn’t something you can say about most everything he wrote afterward. There are a handful of writers whose early failures were lucky, in the sense that they pushed them onto different creative paths; Dick is certainly one of them, but it remains fascinating to read this posthumously published first novel and see how truly far afield he wandered.

Blind Voices, by Tom Reamy

Tom Reamy was a legendary figure in SF fandom circles in the 1950 and ’60s, and always aspired to be a writer himself. Something held him back, however; while he wrote and worked on his fiction, he didn’t start submitting stories until the early 1970s. Once he got started, it was clear all that work had paid off—he began selling stories steadily, including one slated for Harlan Ellison’s legendary vaporware anthology The Last Dangerous Visions. Blind Voices was Reamy’s only completed novel, but he didn’t get to see it hit print; it was published after he died unexpectedly of a heart attack in 1977. There’s some reason to believe Reamy wasn’t satisfied with the manuscript—which the published described as a complete but not final draft—and indeed the book feels rough in places. But it’s also a fantastic story about a strange and terrible circus and freak show that comes to a small Kansas town during the Depression and changes the lives of three local girls. The book was a Hugo and Nebula Award finalist, and is well worth reading if only to get a sense of what we lost with its author’s untimely passing. Unfortunately, it’s currently out of print.

Islandia, by Austin Tappan Wright

When Austin Tappan Wright died in 1931, most knew him mainly as a legal scholar who dabbled in writing; his sole published credit was a short story dating to 1916. But he left behind the fruits of a lifelong project: a huge fantasy novel about an isolated, magical realm, as well as a lengthy ancillary work describing the island nation’s history, culture, and politics. Wright’s family pulled everything together and published the novel in 1942, and while it was never a huge success, it’s ambitious and accomplished enough to have earned straight-faced comparisons to The Lord of The Rings in terms of its complexity and world-building, and it remains in print to this day—which is an accomplishment for any novel nearly its centennial. Wright began working on the story when he was a kid, and spent his whole life adding to it, shaping it, and expanding upon it while using it to explore his own thinking on utopian themes. It’s an incredible achievement, and well worth seeking out.

The Wolfman, by Nicholas Pekearo

Nicholas Pekearo was on his way: an auxiliary policeman for the NYPD, he worked on his first novel in his spare time and seemed destined to be a success, but he he was killed in the line of duty in 2007, leaving behind his first novel, which was subsequently published by Tor Books. In it, Pekearo infuses the werewolf legend with tragedy and pathos, as lycanthrope detective Marlowe Higgins assuages his guilt over the lives he takes in wolf form by hunting down vicious killers, a hobby that puts him on the scent of a serial killer. Pekearo’s prose received praise for its spare, punchy elegance; reading this posthumous novel, you get the feeling the world missed out on many more books from someone with who could’ve become a heavyweight talent.

What other posthumous novels are worth checking out?