Posted on 12/04/2013 8:13:32 AM PST by Kip Russell
One of the things that makes science fiction so popular is that it means many things to many people. Some people will insist that they are not even reading science fiction when they read a Star Wars novel or a novel dealing with alternate history. That is what makes Sci-Fi so wonderful! It’s easy to love and difficult to define. What other genre has so many sub-genres? You have hard Sci-fi, often times written by people who actually were scientists. There’s Cyber Punk, adventurous Space Opera, Military Sci-Fi, Alternate History, Steam Punk, and even Space Westerns. Something for almost everybody!
In truth, speculative fiction dates back hundreds of years but modern Sci-Fi began to develop as we know it in the 19th century with writers like H.G. Wells and Jules Verne. But it was in 1926 that Sci-fi really began to take off with the creation of the pulp magazine, Amazing Stories, the first publication devoted to science fiction. The magazine survived for nearly 80 years and helped to launch the careers of greats such as Roger Zelanzy, E.E. “Doc” Smith, Jack Williamson, and countless others.
Trying to pick the 15 greatest writers is no easy task. I’ve based my list on a number of factors including body of work, influence, awards won, and staying power. With that in mind my list does tend to weigh heavily towards older writers. Another factor was that I went with writers who are predominantly known for their science fiction. Many great fantasy writers have written exceptional Sci-Fi stories but I decided to go with only those known for their science fiction. Ultimately is was more of a challenge to decide who to keep off rather than who to keep on.
(Excerpt) Read more at mania.com ...
bfl = bump for later (gots to have me sci-fi)
Just goes to show how much "different strokes" applies to sf...I like my SF hard as diamond. Give me a story that gives details of life in the first second after the Big Bang (with discussions of the physics of such life as part of the story!) and I'm happy as a clam.
I was going to make a similar statement, until I saw you had already covered it. And you know what? He is never, ever going to finish it! It's obvious he has no intention of ever even trying. I plan on finding and desecrating his grave, if I outlive him.
I have great ideas, I might be on the list if I could actually write. lol
Agree about Blish. Clifford Simak deserves mention for City.
Loved Slan!
There’s a posthumous sequel written from a partial draft. Anyone read it?
No “honorable mention” at least for Poul Anderson? James Blish? Marion Zimmer Bradley? John Brunner? Henry Kuttner? Keith Laumer? Anne McCaffrey? Clifford Simak? A.E. VanVogt? Disagree with excluding Roger Zelazny. And my personal favorites that would be on my list but probably few others: A. Bertram Chandler, Ron Goulart, Lloyd Biggle Jr. & G. C. Edmondson
Well....you can travel to Spokane, WA in August 2015 for Worldcon and tell him yourself.. He's one of the Guests of Honor
ping for later reading...
But Edgar Rice Burrows should be on there too, even if he seems to be somewhat anachronistic.
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