Monday, June 01, 2009

[science fiction] ten best authors


Who do you rate the top ten science fiction authors and/or books?

It seems to me you need to define science fiction first. What about Spielberg [admittedly a producer/director], Douglas Adams, Wyndham? Was that SF? Is there a clear distinction between SF and Fantasy?

In a recent poll, these two were not even mentioned:

Alan Dean Foster - Alien, for example plus a hundred other things he's done.

Patrick Tilley - Xan.

What would your top ten be?

H/T my mate.

10 comments:

  1. As someone who has been reading SF for more than fifty years, I'll toss my two cents worth of opinion in this discussion.

    I don't see how it is possible to pick out the top ten; there are a lot of works that were outstanding in their time, but would not necessarily be better than some of the modern works. Verne and Wells, for instance, wrote classics that are still good to read, but aren't really better than Clarke or Heinlein.
    There is also another distinction which should be made; that of storyteller and writer. I have read books that were not what I would call great writings, but were good reads; ER Burroughs and HP Lovecraft come to mind. Neither was a great writer, but they both had a gift for storytelling.

    I don't think there is always a clear distinction between fantasy and SF; some tend to have a bit of overlap.

    Just my opinion.

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  2. Various authors....

    Title.....

    The Bible, Old and New

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  3. Science Fiction? The IPCC of course.

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  4. I notice you didn't provide your top 10 ;-)

    I like both genres, Sci Fi makes you think and fantasy is escapism and reflects human emotions.

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  5. hmm, well, I can add H.G. Wells and Jules Verne. Haven't read anything current due to working motherhood (whinge) ;D (and, no, I'm not That old)

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  6. Here are mine, with my ratings out of 100. I have not included short stories, and also many of them are dystopian, and perhaps not really Sci-Fi. Also, I haven't yet entered all the books I have read, but that was easier than trying to think of them off the top of my head.

    88 Lewis, C.S. 1952. Out of the silent planet.
    88 Niffenegger, Audrey. 2005. The time traveler's wife.
    85 Huxley, Aldous. 1994 [1932] Brave new world.
    82 James, P.D. 1992. The children of men.
    81 Vonnegut, Kurt. 1965. Cat's cradle.
    76 Stewart, George R. 1977. Earth abides.
    73 Clarke, Arthur C. 1970. Childhood's end.
    67 Aldiss, Brian. 1982. Helliconia Spring.
    67 Blish, James. 1972. A case of conscience.
    66 King, Stephen. 1990. The stand.

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  7. robert silverberg
    harlan ellison
    john varley
    bob shaw
    stanislaw lem
    hp lovecraft
    brias aldiss
    aa asnastasio
    hg wells
    phillip k dick

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  8. This requires another post early next week. There are many questions here.

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  9. i somehow forgot - to my eternal shame - the best of the lot, Mr Ray Bradbury

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