Order of Lester Dent Books

Lester Dent (1904-1959) was an American pulp fiction author, renowned for his work on the Doc Savage series under the pseudonym Kenneth Robeson. Initially, Dent pursued a business degree with aspirations of becoming a banker. However, upon learning that telegraph operators earned $20 more than bankers, he shifted his focus to telegraphy. While working as a telegrapher for the Associated Press, he became aware of the earnings potential in pulp magazine writing and began crafting stories during quieter moments. Soon, he was writing exclusively for Dell Publishing, earning $500 a month. After Dell stopped publishing their pulp magazines, Street and Smith Publications approached him to create a pulp magazine featuring an adventure hero, which ultimately became Doc Savage. Although the stories were published under the name Kenneth Robeson, Dent received $500 (later $750) per novel. He made his debut as a published author in 1933 with The Man of Bronze, the first Doc Savage novel, followed by monthly releases until 1947. While Dent authored the majority of the Doc Savage stories, other writers contributed as well, but only those attributed to Dent are included here. He also wrote standalone novels under his own name, beginning in 1946 with Dead at the Take-Off. Below is a list of Lester Dent’s books in the order of their original publication.