carr returned to ace books in 1984 as a freelance editor, launching a new series of ace specials devoted entirely to first novels. this series was even more successful than the first: it included, in 1984 alone, william gibson's "neuromancer", kim stanley robinson's "the wild shore", lucius shepard's "green eyes", and michael swanwick's "in the drift". all were first novels by authors now regarded as major figures in the sf genre. other prominent sf publishing figures who have worked at ace include tom doherty, who left to start tor books, and jim baen, who left to work at tor and who eventually founded baen books. writers who have worked at ace include frederik pohl and ellen kushner.