Roc Books is a fantasy

Fantasy

Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...

 imprint

Imprint

In the publishing industry, an imprint can mean several different things:* As a piece of bibliographic information about a book, it refers to the name and address of the book's publisher and its date of publication as given at the foot or on the verso of its title page.* It can mean a trade name...

 of Penguin Group

Penguin Group

The Penguin Group is a trade book publisher, the largest in the world , having overtaken Random House in 2009. The Penguin Group is the name of the incorporated division of parent Pearson PLC that oversees these publishing operations...

, as part of their New American Library

New American Library

New American Library is an American publisher based in New York, founded in 1948; it produced affordable paperback reprints of classics and scholarly works, as well as popular, pulp, and "hard-boiled" fiction. Non-fiction, original, and hardcopy issues were also produced.Victor Weybright and Kurt...

. The imprint was launched in April 1990 after Penguin Chairman, Peter Mayer, asked John Silbersack, the editor in chief of New American Library's science fiction program, to launch a new imprint that would draw more attention to Penguin's SF presence. The name Roc Books was chosen as a homage to Penguin's many famous bird named publishing imprints. Roc was named after the enormous predatory bird of the Arabian 2001 Nights. After Penguin's merger with G.P. Putnam's Sons the imprint was aligned to Ace books and the current editorial team at Roc is the same team that edits the Ace

Ace Books

Ace Books is the oldest active specialty publisher of science fiction and fantasy books. The company was founded in New York City in 1952 by Aaron A. Wyn, and began as a genre publisher of mysteries and westerns...

 imprint, although the two imprints maintain a separate identity.
Inaugural List:

The first monthly list at Roc was:

• ROBOT VISIONS: Isaac Asimov
• THE WARRIOR LIVES: Joel Rosenberg
• PROJECT SOLAR SAIL: Arthur C. Clarke
• AMONG MADMEN: Jim Starlin & Daina Grazuinas
• BARROW: Jim Deakins

Roc's authors have included:

• Isaac Asimov
• Stephen Baxter
• Peter S. Beagle
  Peter S. Beagle
  Peter Soyer Beagle is an American fantasist and author of novels, nonfiction, and screenplays. His most notable works include the novels The Last Unicorn, A Fine and Private Place and Tamsin, and the award-winning story "Two Hearts".-Career:Beagle won early recognition from The Scholastic Art &...
  
  
• Anne Bishop
  Anne Bishop
  Anne Bishop is an American fantasy writer. Her most noted work is The Black Jewels trilogy. She lives in upstate New York. She won the Crawford Award in 2000 for the first three novels in her The Black Jewels series: Daughter of the Blood, Heir to the Shadows, and Queen of the Darkness.-The Black...
  
  
• Jim Butcher
  Jim Butcher
  Jim Butcher is a New York Times Best Selling author most known for his contemporary fantasy book series The Dresden Files. He also wrote the Codex Alera series. Butcher grew up as the only son of his parents, and has two older sisters. He currently lives in Independence with his wife, Shannon K...
  
  
• Rachel Caine
  Rachel Caine
  Rachel Caine is a pen name of Roxanne Longstreet Conrad, an American writer of science fiction, fantasy, mystery, suspense, and horror novels. She also publishes media tie-in novels as Julie Fortune.-Personal life:...
  
  
• Karen Chance
  Karen Chance
  Karen Chance is an urban fantasy novelist. She grew up in Orlando, Florida. She has lived in France, Great Britain, Hong Kong and New Orleans, where she has taught history...
  
  
• Nancy Collins
• Arthur C. Clarke
  Arthur C. Clarke
  Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, CBE, FRAS was a British science fiction author, inventor, and futurist, famous for his short stories and novels, among them 2001: A Space Odyssey, and as a host and commentator in the British television series Mysterious World. For many years, Robert A. Heinlein,...
  
  
• Glen Cook
• Mary Gentle
• Charles L. Grant
  Charles L. Grant
  Charles Lewis Grant was a novelist and short story writer specializing in what he called "dark fantasy" and "quiet horror." He also wrote under the pseudonyms of Geoffrey Marsh, Lionel Fenn, Simon Lake, Felicia Andrews, and Deborah Lewis.Grant won a World Fantasy Award for his novella collection...
  
  
• Simon Green
• Guy Gavriel Kay
• E. E. Knight
  E. E. Knight
  E. E. Knight is the pen name for a science fiction and fantasy writer, born in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He grew up in Stillwater, Minnesota and now resides in Oak Park, Illinois with his wife, newborn daughter and young son....
  
  
• Laurell Hamilton
• Ursula LeGuin
• Dan McGirt
  Dan McGirt
  Dan McGirt is an American author, of the comic fantasy genre. His current books consist of the Jason Cosmo series.-External links:**...
  
  
• Grant Naylor
• Andre Norton
• Terry Pratchett
• S. M. Stirling
  S. M. Stirling
  Stephen Michael Stirling is a French-born Canadian-American science fiction and fantasy author. Stirling is probably best known for his Draka series of alternate history novels and the more recent time travel/alternate history Nantucket series and Emberverse series.-Personal:Stirling was born on...
  
  
• Harry Turtledove
  Harry Turtledove
  Harry Norman Turtledove is an American novelist, who has produced works in several genres including alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction.- Life :...
  
  
• Rob Thurman
  Rob Thurman
  Robyn Thurman, writing under the name Rob Thurman, is the author of the Cal Leandros Series of six novels: Nightlife, Moonshine, Madhouse, Deathwish, Roadkill, and Blackout...
  
  
• Boris Vallejo

Roc was publisher of FASA's game related Battletech and Shadowrun novels beginning with Shadowrun: The Secrets of Power #2 : Choose Your Enemies Carefully by Robert N. Charette in February 1991.