Your Top Ten Science Fiction Writers, and then some.

[Ian Mackinder]

Re: Your Top Ten Science Fiction Writers, and then some.

 

After all if you say you like the color Blue' date=' you will inevitably be attacked by someone that "I like Blue!" translates in their brain as "If you don't like Blue you are made of Epic Fail!"[/quote']

 

Then, of course, there are people who state this outright - "If you like blue, then you must be (something insulting)".

[RexMundi]

Re: Your Top Ten Science Fiction Writers, and then some.

 

Heh, so true so true. I'm sure there is potential in a Soap Opera. "As the Forum Turns......"

 

~Rex

[Lawnmower Boy]

Re: Your Top Ten Science Fiction Writers, and then some.

 

I can't marry you, Rex.

There's.... someone else.

[RexMundi]

Re: Your Top Ten Science Fiction Writers, and then some.

 

Heh, I said Soap Opera, not SPANISH soap opera.....

 

Besides you forgot the music.

 

Does bring up a topic related point. I've noticed that a lot of the picks in the others tend to run either Hard Sci Fi (Hogan and the likes), or Space Opera. I'd expected to see a bit more of a representation of the Transhumanist stuff, and even more forays into the "New Space Opera" genre. Any of the fans of those genre's got more suggestions?

 

~Rex

[Folded]

Re: Your Top Ten Science Fiction Writers, and then some.

 

Well, I don't know exactly what 'Transhumanist' means (and I've looked it up several times in the past), how about these suggestions (chosen in terms of possible source material, not just whether I like them or not):

 

Harry Harrison - more the humor than the bleak. A Stainless Steel Rat game would rock, or one based on "Star Smashers of the Galaxy Rangers". "Make Room" might be interesting, though.

 

Alfred Bester - one of my favorites, who really explored some of the society-changing possibilities inherent in sci-fi (what if Teleport was an Everyman skill?). His novel "Psychoshop" (finished after his death by Roger Zelazny) would make a great setting for an adventure or recurring location.

 

Roger Zelazny - Amber is some of my favorite material ever, whether you consider it SF or Fantasy (it could be either)

 

Philip K. Dick - who was always asking 'What is it to be human?' Anyone who wants a philosophical campaign should read one or two of his novels

 

Frank Herbert - 'Dune' is one of the great political/religious intrigue books of all time, regardless of genre. With the right group, a campaign in that universe could be really good. Or REALLY bad.

 

 

Glen Cook - granted, some of the most mean-hearted sci-fi I've ever read (can't remember the title, it involved two major mercenary families at war), but a very strong setting, with some real possibilities. The Garrett Files, as well, though that's fantasy.

 

Gene Wolfe - I think the 'New Sun' world would make a great HERO campaign. Elements of fantasy and sci-fi both, set in a world so far in the future that almost anything could turn up.

 

Fritz Leiber - "The Big Time" would make the setting for a fantastic campaign. I won't spoiler, but I highly recommend reading it.

 

Robert Anton Wilson/Robert Shea - The Illuminatus trilogy, The Schroedinger's Cat trilogy, and all the others. Conspiracy theories, universe hopping, completely bizarre political systems, they did a little of everything. I don't know if I'd want to run a full Illuminatus campaign, but there are ideas and plot hooks galore.

 

 

Anthologies - there are hundreds of gems buried in anthologies and collections out there. And, if we're talking about source material, one good idea is worth a thousand pages of crap. Used book stores tend to have a lot of them lying around, and they're starting to appear in large numbers for the Kindle and similar devices.

[Tasha]

Re: Your Top Ten Science Fiction Writers, and then some.

 

I read pretty much everything. I look for stories with really good characterization and fun plots.

 

This is the list of authors that I buy books for whenever they appear on the Shelves of the bookstore

David Weber- I like his earlier stuff more. He's getting into too much boring politics and the stories are suffering for all of the bulk of the political crap.

John Ringo- He writes a good story. He sometimes makes my skin crawl with his right wing points of view, but the stories are fun and I can ignore his politics (I feel the same about DW at time too)

Lois McMaster Bujold- She also writes a fun story that has a lot of good character development. I really enjoy her books.

Mike Shepherd- His Kris Longknife novels are a ton of fun and the characters are interesting. It was quite refreshing to read this series

Lillith (Lili) Saintcrow- Her stories are kind of sci fi kind of urban fantasy, but they all have that cyberpunk vibe but with magic instead of cyberware. Fun stuff. (Hunter series is the best of these so far)

Charles Stross

Elizabeth Moon. The Serrano novels, the new series Trading in... She's a fun author. Good fun characters.

David Drake- again he writes good characters who are fun to follow on their adventures.

 

Now some authors of SciFi that I have enjoyed

Larry Niven- I have read much of the Known Space stuff when I was younger

Isaac Asimov- Not always one of my favorites, but he does write a good story.

Robert A. Heinlein- He was really my first initiation to SciFi when I was young

Robert Adams- Castaways in time is technically Sci fi as is Horseclans. Both fun series.

Orson Scott Card- His never ending Ender series has been very entertaining

Walter Jon Williams- Hardwired was great Cyberpunk and his other sci fi novels are fun too

William Gibson- Has been hit an miss for me though his early cyberpunk stuff was fun

E.E. "Doc" Smith- Fun stuff

 

 

I pretty much like anything that has a good story and a strong character (even better if the protagonist is female). I read everything. I even read and have liked stories that have a political bent that is totally opposite (I am fairly Liberal in my political views).

 

PS Can we NOT say nasty things about authors? We all have different tastes and just because you don't enjoy a certain author's stuff doesn't mean that I want to read your attacks of that author. Thanks

[Kraven Kor]

Re: Your Top Ten Science Fiction Writers, and then some.

 

Honestly, most of my Star HERO material comes from a very few sources -

 

Heinlein and Orson Scott Card for my politics. My setting's culture has Heinlein's tendency towards social liberty and personal responsibility, but with Card's shadowy-but-not-really-evil Government.

 

Bujold, and some bits and pieces from various games and UFO mythology, is the basis for my modes of travel and most of my weaponry. I do love having a gun that even Player Character's fear. "I have a lot of hit points, how bad can it be?" "This gun Drains DEX. Permanently." "I drop my gun and put my hands up..."

 

Then most of my tech gadgetry is actually just a hodge-podge of sci-fi tropes - power armor, blasters, nano-materials, small scale fusion batteries, etc.

 

Truth be told, I need to broaden my horizons on Sci Fi, having only earnestly read a few authors - Heinlein, Asimov, Card, and Bujold. With a few short stories by Clarke, a single Elizabeth Moon book I didn't care for, and a handful of Star Wars expanded universe stuff. And then the book "Armor" by I forget who (his only work, I believe, and not terribly good beyond the awesome tech.)

[TSandman]

Re: Your Top Ten Science Fiction Writers, and then some.

 

I discovered Robert J Sawyer a few years ago... I didn't think that we had a good scifi writer in Canada until then...

 

a blurb from his site (sfwriter.com)

"Robert J. Sawyer is one of only seven writers in history to win all three of the world's top Science Fiction awards for best novel of the year: the Hugo, the Nebula, and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award (the full list of such winners: David Brin, Arthur C. Clarke, Joe Haldeman, Frederik Pohl, Kim Stanley Robinson, Robert J. Sawyer, and Connie Willis)."

 

what I've read so far impressed me

[AlHazred]

Re: Your Top Ten Science Fiction Writers, and then some.

 

When these "your favorite author" lists come up in the Forums, I'm usually at a loss. I mean, I haven't met any authors in person, so I don't really know how they are as people and am unable to make any value judgments based on personality.

 

And it's possible to like some books an author has written, and despise others - some authors write far better short stories than books, or vice versa. So, my top authors list has qualifiers (books/series that I thought were fantastic) and sometimes caveats (books/series I would rather forget). These are the Space Opera/classic Sci-Fi guys.

 

1. Jack Vance: This is the one sci-fi author I recommend with no reservations. The Demon Princes, Planet of Adventure, and Cadwal Chronicles series are fantastic Space Opera. One of the few authors where I must own all of his books and stories.*
   
2. Keith Laumer: A profoundly influential author in two wildly different sci-fi movements: military sci-fi (with the excellent Bolo series) and sci-fi humor (with the Retief series -- the picaresque adventures of a space diplomat!)**
   
3. Isaac Asimov: While there's much from this author I didn't care for, he also wrote much I did. The original Foundation trilogy and the Robot novels (including The Caves of Steel and The Naked Sun) are classic sci-fi. I, Robot deserved a much better screen treatment than the Robots Gone Wild movie we got.
   
4. Robert Heinlein: His juvenile fiction is better than his serious sci-fi, in my opinion -- Have Space Suit—Will Travel sparked my early love for sci-fi -- but it's all gestational material for later liberal sci-fi themes. That reminds me, I must read Podkayne of Mars; meant to for some time, but haven't gotten around to it.
   
5. James P. Hogan: The Giants series (Inherit the Stars, The Gentle Giants of Ganymede, and Giant's Star) stands as the exemplar for changing Space Opera genre of the 80s -- action and romance, but also plausible physics and logic and tactics from his characters. Code of the Lifemaker and The Genesis Machine are also recommended.
   
6. Stanislaw Lem: His Cyberiad reshaped my idea of robots at a young age, and his other works are influential sci-fi. A challenging author, but highly entertaining.
   
7. Edgar Rice Burroughs: The John Carter of Mars series -- enjoyable space yarns. Turn your brain off before entering.
   
8. James White: The Sector General series is excellent Space Opera with a twist - since it was written by a sci-fi fan author, it has gems in it that refer to the bits you liked of other authors' works.
   
9. Alan Dean Foster: I grew up reading the Flinx series, and it shaped a lot of the ideas I had for what sci-fi should be.
   
10. Gordon R. Dickson: Spacepaw and Spacial Delivery are underrated classics. Also, some of the themes therein weren't further explored by sci-fi authors for decades, until transhumanism made the truly alien a subject of conversation again.
    

* He's remarkably consistent in style, and while it's not everyone's cup of tea, its sufficiently different from what most people write to make it stand out.

** The early Retief stories are far superior to the later ones, sadly. Laumer suffered a stroke that severely affected his ability to write, but he forced himself to do it anyway. The Retief stories that resulted are... not good...

[teh bunneh]

Re: Your Top Ten Science Fiction Writers, and then some.

 

And then the book "Armor" by I forget who (his only work' date=' I believe, and not terribly good beyond the awesome tech.)[/quote']

 

John Steakley. I read it back in high school and loved it.

[RexMundi]

Re: Your Top Ten Science Fiction Writers, and then some.

 

Don't forget Vampire$ from Steakley. Of which I'm still waiting for the sequel, heh. Armor still remains one of my favorite books but you need to understand the stuff in between the lines for it to be a fun read.

 

~Rex