What is your favorite Science Fiction/Fantasy author?

[Njaco]

Ray Bradbury did a ton of stuff!

Along with "Martian Chronicles", he did "The Illustrated Man" (movie with Rod Steiger), "Fahrenheit 451" (another movie with I believe a German actor), "Something Wicked This Way Comes" and "I Sing The Body Electric". He also did alot of screenplays including "It Came from Outer Space", "Moby Dick" (the movie with Gregory Peck) and a couple shows on "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" and the original "Twilight Zone".

As for the sci-fi and fanatsy discussion, he said: "First of all, I don't write science fiction. I've only done one science fiction book and that's Fahrenheit 451, based on reality. Science fiction is a depiction of the real. Fantasy is a depiction of the unreal. So Martian Chronicles is not science fiction, it's fantasy. It couldn't happen, you see? That's the reason it's going to be around a long time—because it's a Greek myth, and myths have staying power." (from Wiki)

He is one of the best and his writing style is so descriptive. Its so fluid. He and Tolkien are two of my all time favorite authors because they can make a rock sound interesting.

 

[SoD Stitch]

JRR is number one in my book, followed closely by Moorcock (Elric Corum rule!).

BTW, has anyone else here read The Dark Elf Trilogy, by R.A. Salvatore? Great stuff, about a "dark" elf named Drizzt Do'Urden; he's more or less evil, but you can't help but have empathy for him by the end of the first book (which, of course, makes you want to read the rest of the books in the series!).

 

[Njaco]

I tried reading one of the "Dark Elf" series along with Anne Mccafferty but after Tolkien everything else seems like wannbes. Just my impression. I'm not saying they are but it was real hard to get into anything else.

 

[Freebird]

I think at least half of these authors have had movies made from their books.

Some more movies you may have seen...

Robert Howard - "Conan the Barbarian"


C.S. Lewis - "Chronicles of Narnia" ... slightly strange but very atmospheric

Isaac Asimov - Wrote "I Robot"strictly scientific Sci Fi, robot stories, invented stricly logical laws of robotics and outlined the consequences of these laws to human society

Arthur C. Clarke - wrote "2001 - a space "Odyessy" WW2 radar nerd, scientifc Sci Fi, pointed out the usefulness of the geostationary orbit for communciation satellites.

Frank Herbert - "Dune" series. Great scenery, thousands of pages, little action.


Regards,

Henning (HoHun)

 

[Freebird]

Piers Anthony - Best known for his "Xanth" Fantasy series which features a lot of unique characters and interesting stories despite not being too serious and actually relying on puns as one of the major story devices. Good stuff.

Gene Roddenberry - I didn't know he wrote books, too.


Fred Saberhagen - Hm, must have missed this guy.
Regards,

Henning (HoHun)

I never could get into Piers Anthony's "Xanth" series, it seemed like too much parody writing. He wrote an interesting set of books "Split Infinity" "Blue Adept" which were excellent, about a magical realm a scientific society in which it was possible to travel from one to the other through a inter-dimensional curtain. He also wrote a purely Sci-Fi series called "Cluster" which was also very good

Gene Roddenberry co-wrote many of the Star Trek novels.

Fred Saberhagen wrote the "Beserker" series starting in the mid 60's, about intelligent machines that are trying to exterminate all living things. The Star Trek stories about "Vger" the "Borg" borrowed some of his ideas. The machines were originally made as a kind of "doomsday" weapon in a millennias old interstellar war, both races now extinct, but the sentient, self-replicating machines continue their mission to sterilize the Galaxy.

The book "Beserker Fury" is one of my all time favorites, it involves a fascinating look at future space tactics combat, with squadrons of smaller fighters attack spacecraft launching attacks on the enemy "dreadnoughts" "carriers". The battle in some ways resembles the tactics used at "Midway", I would recommend it to anyone who likes Sci-Fi also military {aircraft} tactics.

 

[HoHun]

Hi Freebird,

>I never could get into Piers Anthony's "Xanth" series, it seemed like too much parody writing. He wrote an interesting set of books "Split Infinity" "Blue Adept" which were excellent, about a magical realm a scientific society in which it was possible to travel from one to the other through a inter-dimensional curtain. He also wrote a purely Sci-Fi series called "Cluster" which was also very good

Ah, thanks, I'll look for these! Now that you mention ... a fragment of memory made me check my bookshelf, and I have the first half (I guess) of the "Blue Adept" standing there - it was published in two books in Germany, and I never found the second one. No amazon.com back then - must have been 15 years since I read it!

I think it must have been Anthony, but I don't remember the title ... Science Fiction, post-technology civilization, with a culture based largely on formalized and mostly non-lethal duelling ... does that sound familiar? Can't remember the title I'm afraid ... not even sure of the author.

>Fred Saberhagen wrote the "Beserker" series starting in the mid 60's, about intelligent machines that are trying to exterminate all living things. The Star Trek stories about "Vger" the "Borg" borrowed some of his ideas. The machines were originally made as a kind of "doomsday" weapon in a millennias old interstellar war, both races now extinct, but the sentient, self-replicating machines continue their mission to sterilize the Galaxy.

Hm, sounds like a very American story, but I admit that I remember one or two short stories about "Noymans" (as the self-reproducing machines were called in one of the stories, for von Neumann of course) that really belong to my favourites.

>The battle in some ways resembles the tactics used at "Midway", I would recommend it to anyone who likes Sci-Fi also military {aircraft} tactics.

There is some trilogy by Harry Harrison that has an interesting take on space combat, too ... it turns out that the most effective weapon is a linear accelerator launching iron balls that "ironically match the size and weight of 19th century cannonballs"

Orson Scott Card's "Ender" is tactically quite interesting, too ...

And then there is "Forever War" by Haldemann, of course, which really offers a disturbing perspective on the effects of near-lightspeed operations ...

Regards,

Henning (HoHun)

 

[Aussie1001]

Raymond E Feist, not a bad writer pretty dam good actually.

 

[Maestro]

Are video games authors included in the poll ? If so, I vote for Chris Roberts. Damn, the Wing Commander saga is way better than Star Trek in my opinion.

Otherwise, I vote for Tom Clancy. (Okay, it's not really science fiction, but who cares ?)

 

[drgondog]

I was captured by science fiction when I was about 8 years old. A lot of my favorites are not even on the list.

Heinlein - at the top but his last couple weren't really good to his 1940-1970 standards. Stranger in a Strange Land and Starship Troopers and Glory Road were among several of his works that I can still re read.

Van Vogt - Null A series, Weapon Shops of Isher are several that come to mind

Gordon Dickson - Genetic General/Dorsai series, Necromancer, too many (like Heinlein)

Keith Laumer - Bolo series, Trace of Memory, Plague of Demons, too many to name

James Schmiz - Witches of Karras, Demon Breed, Telzey series

Jerry Pournelle and Niven - collaborative and individual works such as Ringworld, Mote in God's Eye, Protector, etc Legacy of Heorot/Beowolf's Children, Falkenburg series.. (some w/Barnes)

Then Asimov's Foundation trilogy, Tolkien

I like Modessit (sp?), Card, Zelazny - Lord of Light particularly

So many of the ones on your list I like also - I've forgotten a few

Ace Double Books - I have almost a complete collection as well as Blackhawk and Plastic Man comic books. Probably ought to sell before Dems take over

 

[Freebird]

I was captured by science fiction when I was about 8 years old. A lot of my favorites are not even on the list.

Keith Laumer - Bolo series, Trace of Memory, Plague of Demons, too many to name

Jerry Pournelle and Niven - collaborative and individual works such as Ringworld, Mote in God's Eye, Protector, etc Legacy of Heorot/Beowolf's Children, Falkenburg series.. (some w/Barnes)

Zelazny - Lord of Light particularly

So many of the ones on your list I like also - I've forgotten a few

Ace Double Books - I have almost a complete collection as well as Blackhawk and Plastic Man comic books. Probably ought to sell before Dems take over

I could have put 50 on the list and still missed some....

I really liked Laumer's "Bolo" books too, they have some stories similar to the "Beserker" series.

Hey Zelazny was on the list! He needed your vote!

 

[Hunter368]

If you like dark grim fantasy novels check out David Keck's books.

 

[Cota1992]

I forgot Terry Brooks. When I was a teenager the first Book Signing I ever went to was for one his books. Being in Jr High I didn't have the cash to buy the new hardcover he was permoting and was going to buy a paperback of a ealier book. As I waited in line with the others the manager of the store started to give me crap about having a paperback signed. I told her that was all I could afford and that just seemed to make her get even goofier and make a bigger scene. Mr Brooks got up and in a quiet voice asked me my name and reached back and took one of his display copies of the new book and signed it for me and then signed the paperback and then as he handed it to me he looked at the manager and just as quietly said "You can bill me if you want to, you have a problem with that?" and he shook my hand and went on to the next person in line.
I've always have to count him up there for that one time.

 

[Clave]

Stephen Donaldson is the best fantasy author in history.

Close runners-up:

J R R Tolkien
Clive Barker
Raymond E Fiest
Terry Pratchett
Robert Jordan
Terry Brooks
Hugh Cook
C J Cherryh
Alan Dean Foster
Tom Holt
Katherine Kerr
Larry Niven
Douglas Adams

Stephen Donaldson's main works:

The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant

Book 1: Lord Foul's Bane [1977]
Book 2: The Illearth War [1978]
Book 3: The Power that Preserves [1979]

The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant

Book 1: The Wounded Land [1980]
Book 2: The The One Tree [1982]
Book 3: White Gold Wielder [1983]

The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant

Book 1: The Runes of the Earth [2004]
Book 2: Fatal Revenant [2007]
Book 3: Against All Things Ending – [expected 2010]
Book 4: The Last Dark – [expected 2013]

I can't begin to tell you how deep his characters are, or how wide the breadth of his imagination, it is enough to say that the 700+ pages of The Runes of the Earth flowed past in the last 4 days - sheer genius...

The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

By the way, if you do want get into this, you must start at the beginning or it wont make sense...

 

[Marcel]

Clave, you really should read Robin Hobb, her books are really remarkable. She's up there with Stephen Donaldson.

 

[rochie]

voted for hg wells and jrr tolkein but also enjoyed the red dwarf books and tv series by rob grant and doug naylor

 

[Clave]

Clave, you really should read Robin Hobb, her books are really remarkable. She's up there with Stephen Donaldson.

That is a high level indeed - I will look out for her...

 

[HoHun]

Hi Clave,

>That is a high level indeed - I will look out for her...

I don't like Donaldson (to put it mildly), but I'd still recommend Robin Hobb

Try the "Royal Assassin" series - she does a great job of "world building" there.

I found some nits to pick with that series too, but I guess that's just because Fantasy by female authors never works perfectly for me. My overall verdict is still "brilliant".

Regards,

Henning (HoHun)

 

[Clave]

Heh, many people dislike/hate/have never heard of Donaldson, yet somehow he still managed to sell 10 million books...

As for females, C J Cherryh's Faded Sun trilogy is epic and in some ways it is what Dune should have been...

Faded Sun Trilogy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The main protagonists are the Mri, Regul, and Humans.

The Mri are tribal and nomadic, they have a strict caste system divided into Kel: The Black Robes - who are warriors, Sen: White Robes - they are spiritual and scientific leaders, and Kath: The Blue Robes - they the home-makers and bearers of burdens who keep unity within the tribe.

The Mri operate on absolutes, in fact their name for other races is 'Tsi-Mri' meaning 'non-person' but they deal with other people - on their own terms by taking service as mercenaries (Kel only) so they are like ninjas in some ways. The skill with the sword is total, and blade vs blade combat is the defining meaning of life - they also use energy weapons, but it is considered shameful and dishonourable to kill an opponent without knowing their name and clan.

The Regul I imagine to be like Jabba the Hutt in some ways - Younglings are small and mobile, but when they become Elders, they have to live in a sled - which is their hovering, high-tech support system. Regul Elders know everything they need - genetic memory is passed to them in a complete form, and they never forget, never lie, and never fail to recall any piece of information that they learn.

The Humans are explorers in the distant worlds overlapping the Regul galaxy. They are roughly divided into Civil and Military Branches, with the planet's Governor having the last word on policy. Despite the Regul hiring the Mri to defend them, they have been steadily losing planets in a battle with Humankind, and that's pretty much where the trilogy starts: Regul are leaving a planet to be occupied by Humans, but Mri are in occupation also...

It's available as a single volume now and I give it 9.9/10

 

[HoHun]

Hi Clave,

>Heh, many people dislike/hate/have never heard of Donaldson, yet somehow he still managed to sell 10 million books...

I don't think quantity has anything to do with quality, or you'd be pushing Rowling and not Donaldson

>As for females, C J Cherryh's Faded Sun trilogy is epic and in some ways it is what Dune should have been...

I haven't read much by Cherryh, but I was really impressed by what I read. I just ordered "Faded Sun" from amazon

Regards,

Henning (HoHun)

 

[Clave]

Cool - I hope you like it as much as do...