John J. Pierce

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John J. Pierce (1941) is an American science fiction editor.

Pierce began editing the fanzine Renaissance in the 1960s, and was a critic of the New Wave. In 1977, he was named editor of Galaxy at a time when the magazine was undergoing a decline following the editorship of Jim Baen.

After leaving Galaxy, Pierce focused on his series of critical books, A Study in Imagination and Evolution, which form a critical examination of the history of science fiction from a conceptual framework, as opposed to strictly chronological. He also edited three single-author anthologies for Del Rey Books: The Best of Murray Leinster, The Best of Cordwainer Smith, and The Best of Raymond Z. Gallun.

He has written critical essays and book introductions on Cordwainer Smith, and essays on Twin Peaks and The X-Files for the fanzines Wrapped in Plastic and Spectrum. As of 2006, he is planning a new version of his SF history.