Top 15 Greatest Science Fiction Writers of All-Time

http://www.mania.com ^ | Jan 30, 2009 | Tim Janson

[Billthedrill]

Here’s a vote for William Gibson.

And another here. BTT

[Notary Sojac]

I did quite enjoy "Job: A Comedy of Justice".

That's because Lazarus Long and his insufferable, alliteratively named, incest obsessed brood are nowhere to be found.

[Mad Dawgg]

"Interesting, most wouldn't put Pohl that high; the "Big Three" are traditionally Heinlein, Clarke, and Asimov."

Pohl has always been better than Clarke. Clarke gets his ranking on most of those lists from his works that went Hollywood and his Knighthood.

Pohl was the better writer AND Clarke has said so many times. In fact his final work was in collaboration with Pohl. One thing I admired about Clarke is that though he was a homosexual, he just didn't make an issue of it. He said it was personal and not part of his work.

BTW personally I would put Clarke in the top eight. But never in the top three. AND if you include earlier writers like Verne and Wells then he slides out of the top ten (If we are including Shelley as SciFi)

[Mad Dawgg]

Here’s a vote for William Gibson.

And another here. BTT

Me too. "Pattern Recognition" Being my favorite,

[Telepathic Intruder]

Well, what I meant is that the spacing guild weren’t as mutated as that. They weren’t giant fish in tanks, nor did they threaten emperors directly. But your point remains cogent; they were the real power. And would Paul have really destroyed all the spice in the future? It seems just about every sci-fi novel has some element of time travel, doesn’t it?

[DollyCali]

interesting post

[circlecity]

"Disagree about the movie though."

I think the reason I liked the series better was that the the actors better matched the characters I had envisioned in my mind as I read the book than the movie did. A purely personal asthetic thing.

[S.O.S121.500]

Lists are like opinions are like.....

[Telepathic Intruder]

Purely by the way, I wonder how many times Duncan Idaho was killed throughout that entire set of books...

[Dick Bachert]

Sorry, I meant to write ALGORE!

Global Warming guru Algore – wearing his ever present Nobel medal – is seen here en-route to an important “scientific” conference in Nassau hosted by the UN/IPCC where he was to be the keynote speaker.

Topics on the agenda were to have included “Finding a Good Bail Bondsman,” “Not ALL Criminal Lawyers Are Sharks,” “Changing Careers for Dummies,” “You Want Fries With That?,” “How To Encrypt Emails,” “The Best Prison Jobs,” “Getting Along With Your Cellmate” and “Getting Used to Sleeping On Your Back.”

A sudden – and unfortunate – blast of what the “scientist” in charge of the conference termed “global warming” caused the meeting to be rescheduled until Algore can be thawed some time next Spring – assuming there will BE one.

Our reporter has learned that the influential conservative web site Free Republic has launched a contribution drive to rent a freezer locker in which to keep Gore for the 10 to 15 years estimated it will take for the so-called “mainstream media” to begin covering the Climategate story.

[Dick Bachert]

[circlecity]

"I wonder how many times Duncan Idaho was killed throughout that entire set of books..."

LOL - its a big number. Duncan was clearly Herbert's favorite character and he's the only one I can think of that appears in every one of the Dune books. You just cant keep a good ghoula down.

[Telepathic Intruder]

I’d like and Angelina Jolie ghoula of my own. Even if the eyes looked a little disturbing.

[theneanderthal]

No Kilgore Trout?

Venus on the half shell. That would be Sturgeon.

[reformedliberal]

Sometimes an idea just peters out, but I have also been waiting forever for that final book in the series.

I am in the add Gibson camp. Not sure about volume of work as a criteria, though. Corey Doctorow deserves inclusion with 8 or 10 books (too busy to go check). Octavia Butler may be too identified with “-isms” & (fill in the blank)politically correct liberal “studies”, but her science fiction is amazing.

My preference is for what I call *sociological science fiction* that explores life and people within a future context or within the context of paranormal abilities.

Maybe “15 Greatest” is too arbitrary.

[Beowulf9]

Hmm, maybe I should brush up on my sci-fi definition. Yeah, I loved it too. Very much took me out of my element, to say the least:)

[Beowulf9]

“If you haven’t read it, check out his singleton novel, “And The Devil Will Drag You Under”. Good stuff.”

I will! I haven’t read him in a long time but I loved the Well of Souls books.

[MasterGunner01]

No on the list but one of the greatest: A.E. van Vogt. Here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._E._van_Vogt#Novels

[Billthedrill]

Concur on Van Vogt. Slan was a beautiful piece of work. The Weapon Shops of Isher contained a phrase I remember since I read it as a teenager: "The right to buy weapons is the right to be free."

[Ransomed]

Here’s an essay by conservative sci-fi writer John C. Wright that van Vogt should be looked at as 1/3 of the ‘big three’ of golden age authors instead of either Clarke or Bradbury.

http://www.scifiwright.com/2013/02/the-big-three/

Freegards