TOP 10 SCI-FI WRITERS OF ALL TIME (hi, Slam!!)

[Nate C.]

Slam Bradley has a current thread on the newest Grandmaster, Harlan Ellison.

And I kinda thread drifted onto top five/ten best authors, off JWK's comment (cause he's always wrong), so in order to further degrade what sholud be a moment of honoring a true grandmaster, I give you an opportunity to define the top ten Science Fiction authors of all time.

Be prepared to rumble. :p

Mine:
1. Ray Bradbury.
2. Isaac Asimov.
3. Robert Heinlen.
4. Phillip K. Dick.
5. Alfred Bester.
6. Theodore Sturgeon.
7. Fritz Leiber.
8. Frank Herbert.

and I'm gonna save my other two picks for the moment.

[JeffreyWKramer]

My list:

1) Gene Wolfe. I don't personally consider this one even open to discussion. Wolfe is among the best living writers, period, and I think unquestionably the best writer ever among those who have written primarily or exclusively in the fields of SF and fantasy.

2) Ray Bradbury. Visionary, lyrical, sheer genius. Bradbury is arguably the first writer to make the literati take SF seriously.

3) Philip K. Dick. Original, creative, wildly imaginative, evocative, maddening, challenging, psychologically complex, often hallucinatory. Dick is among the most under-rated writers of the 20th century.

4) Harlan Ellison. No living writer has been more recognized across more fields, by the fans, the pros and the critics. Popular acclaim and awards don't always equate to quality - consider TITANIC - but sometimes they do. This is one such time.

5) Theodore Sturgeon. Brilliant, emotional, often subtle SF. Under-rated by the fans, but consistently high-ranked by the SF authors, for very good reason.

6) Alfred Bester. Both thoughtful and action-packed, Bester's focus on the outsider and the antihero helped set stage for the SF "New Wave" of the 1960s.

7) Ursula LeGuin. The best writer yet of sociological and psychological SF, LeGuin excels in examinations of sexuality, politics and all the other big topics via SF.

8) Robert Heinlen. Unapologetically radical and political, Heinlen again and again pushed the limits of what one can do with SF, to very good - and always fascinating - effect.

9) Michael Moorcock - Often identified more with fantasy than SF, Moorcock is still one of the best writers in the history of SF. Anarchic, challenging, he helped push SF to the forefront of experimental literature as one of the leaders of the "New Wave."

10) I dunno who to put here. One can make good arguments for a lot of people at this level. Ballard, Delany, Asimov, Clarke, Zelazny, Farmer? I'll give this more thought.

[Nate C.]

very thoughtful, Jeffrey. And I have got to check out Wolfe.

[Jay]

Depending on how hard line we are with the term Science Fiction Jeffrey's inclusion of Moorcock is most apt. In my opinion there is no living author of speculative fiction whose impact is greater than Michael Moorcock - period. That said:


1. Philip K. Dick

Along with Lovecraft and Ashton Clarke SMith the most imaginative writer I have read, but a much more capable writer than Lovecraft ever was. there are differnt schools of thought regard Sceinece Fiction (that is not to say they are at all exclusive from each other). I'm firmly from the PKD school of science fiction.

2. Gene Wolfe

Michael Swanwick (who is an outrageously gifted writer himself) said he may be the greatest living writer in the English Language. Plays with stream of consciousness with the ease while 99% of writer in speculative fiction don't even know what stream of consciousness is. The Book of the New Sun is a requriement on any legitimate top Fantasy or Science Fiction list. The character of Severian is a profound character study, and Wolfe's use of the unreliable narrator is second to none. Technically, he has no flaws. Also a tremendous short fiction writer, his The Fifth Head of Cerberus is IMHO required readig. Wolfe is like Midas - it's all gold from Wolfe.

3. J.G Ballard

Along with Morocock and Ellison ushered in the New Wave Movement that made Science Fiction worth reading. In my estimation one of the most underated authors of the 20th century. He has few peers in short fiction, and his novels (although not all Sf admittedly) are cutting edge.

4. M. John Harrison

We know bigger names, show me work that was that much superiot to his Viriconium sequence in my opinion, alogn with Peake's Gormenghast and Whittemore's Jerusalem Quartet one of the finest sequences in SF history. The last superior SF novel? 2002, Harrison's Light.

5. Ray Bradbury


The Martian Chronicles alone would put him here, and that's not even his best work IMHO.

6. Samuel Delaney

If we are going to call anyone a pioneer, Delany is a homosexual, african american writer and onr of the great literary critics period. Oh yeah, he also wrote Dhalgren a Sf masterpiece along with other great works like The Einstein Intersection and Babel-17

7. AE van Vogt

Frankly he is one of the best writers of the 20th century - SF or not - his inclusion is mandatory.

8. Harlan Ellison

First, he edited what I think is the single most important SF publication ever (along with Moorcock's 'New Worlds', that being Dangerous Visions. Secondly, he is also one of the great short form writers ever in fiction.

9. Cordwainer Smith

Before his time. The Instrumentality of Mankind, and Rediscovery of Man are among the finest, if not the finest SF collection I have ever read.

10. I have to run bbl. :)

[JeffreyWKramer]

Depending on how hard line we are with the term Science Fiction Jeffrey's inclusion of Moorcock is most apt. In my opinion there is no living author of speculative fiction whose impact is greater than Michael Moorcock - period. That said:

I ended up including him mostly on the strength of his SF. Even if one disregards the Eternal Champion stuff, that still leaves one with a lot of solid SF, particularly from Moorcock's earlier stuff - and especially "Behold, the Man", which is still one of the hardest-hitting SF tales ever written.

[JeffreyWKramer]

Re: my number 10 spot, I keep going back between Samuel Delany (for reasons well summarized by Jan) and Philip Jose Farmer. Farmer really broke open the barriers of what subjects SF could deal with throughout his career, but nowhere more decisively than in "The Lovers", which was the first major SF work to frankly deal with sexual themes. He also continued to experiment through his career, and was the first mainstream SF writer I can think of who tried to incorporate elements of magical realism, ala Borges, into his writing.

[Nate C.]

WHY HAVE I NEVER HEARD OF WOLFE????????????????


(loved Jay's explanation of Bradbury's greatness.)

"And There Shall Come Soft Rains"

and

"The Moon Be Still As Bright"

are required reading.

[JeffreyWKramer]

WHY HAVE I NEVER HEARD OF WOLFE????????????????

Not much attention to the SF fan press? I dunno. Wolfe has been a big name in SF since at least the 80s, and won awards even before then, though I don't know that his fame has really grown that much since then - I think a lot of his fans have been following him more or less religiously for a long time.

Also, much of Wolfe's best stuff is not exactly light reading. "The Book of the New Sun" is full of linguistic virtuosity, metaphor, analogy, symbolism and mysterious bits one has to sort out by playing close attention to the narrative. Comparisons of Wolfe with the likes of Faulkner, Pynchon and Joyce are not just obtuse fanboy pleas that SF is worthy of serious literary attention.

[Nate C.]

Not much attention to the SF fan press? I dunno. Wolfe has been a big name in SF since at least the 80s, and won awards even before then, though I don't know that his fame has really grown that much since then - I think a lot of his fans have been following him more or less religiously for a long time.

Also, much of Wolfe's best stuff is not exactly light reading. "The Book of the New Sun" is full of linguistic virtuosity, metaphor, analogy, symbolism and mysterious bits one has to sort out by playing close attention to the narrative. Comparisons of Wolfe with the likes of Faulkner, Pynchon and Joyce are not just obtuse fanboy pleas that SF is worthy of serious literary attention.

AAGGGGHHHHRRRRRRR. YOU'RE MAKING IT WORSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[JeffreyWKramer]

AAGGGGHHHHRRRRRRR. YOU'RE MAKING IT WORSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Would it help to note that one writer I know describes Wolfe as "like Umberto Eco died and was reincarnated as an SF writer"?

[Nate C.]

Would it help to note that one writer I know describes Wolfe as "like Umberto Eco died and was reincarnated as an SF writer"?

LOL. No.

It wouldn't.

Would it make it worse that I know every writer you've mentioned and a few more, like Rushdie and Naipul, and STILL HAVEN'T HEARD OF WOLFE??????


(I feel as if someone is just now telling me that there's this short story writer I should check out, named Bradbury or something.)

[Slam_Bradley]

I'm working on my list. I have 14 and need to prune it.

Needless to say Bradbury is number one.

[Nate C.]

I'm working on my list. I have 14 and need to prune it.

Needless to say Bradbury is number one.

just number them to 14. It's cool.

[JeffreyWKramer]

Would it make it worse that I know every writer you've mentioned and a few more, like Rushdie and Naipul, and STILL HAVEN'T HEARD OF WOLFE??????


(I feel as if someone is just now telling me that there's this short story writer I should check out, named Bradbury or something.)

Hey, look on the bright side. Suddenly, out of nowhere, you have the unexpected joyful experience of discovering a bona-fide great writer.

[Nate C.]

Hey, look on the bright side. Suddenly, out of nowhere, you have the unexpected joyful experience of discovering a bona-fide great writer.

LOL. I know. I know.

That's the only side to look at this from. :p