Who are the best science fiction/fantasy authors?

5/22/ | Myself

[GSWarrior]

There must be a lot of SF fans here. Who are you favorite authors or books? What are you currently reading?

I enjoy SF books that focus on character development over hard scifi themes. Robert Silverberg, IMO, is about the best there is. I also enjoy Gardner Duzois' short stories--some gut-wrenching stuff. Jack Vance's are also very entertaining. Orson Scott Card is pretty good too.

I am currently reading Altered Carbon, by Richard Morgan...it's kind of slow and hard to follow. Not likely to read his other novels.

I have enjoyed some, but not all, of Niven and Pournelle's works.

[americanophile]

Tolkien

[weegee]

A word of caution, 90% of them are crud. 90% of EVERYTHING is crud (Sturgeon’s Law).

[No Truce With Kings]

Three I can recommend wholeheartedly are Lois McMasters Bujold, Eric Flint, and John Ringo.

Ringo’s “The Last Centurion” rocks.

[martin_fierro]

Ray Bradbury.

To SC: < |:P~

[The Louiswu]

Clarke
Heinlein
Asimov
Niven
Pournelle
James P. Hogan
Cook
Feintuch
Gerrold
Herbert


just to name a few...

[contemplator]

Asimov, Bradbury, Herbert (Dune)

[Brett66]

I loved the Posleen war series of John Ringo, one of my all-time favorite novels.

[Tanniker Smith]

I asked a similar question on another board recently. Got a lot of interesting answers.

Anyway, I like Asimov. I can get through Heinlein. I'm currently enjoying Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card, and I've previously read his "Pastwatch", which I liked, too.

Just finished "2001" and it was sleep-inducing. "3001" was better, but not exactly a great read. (I haven't read the others.)

Fantasy, I liked the late David Gemmel's stuff. Lord of the Rings is a must-read if you wish to have a conversation with anyone on the topic of fantasy (and Harry Potter is/will be joining that).

Never read any of "The Wheel of Time" and I don't intend to.

Whoops. There's the bell. Gotta go. More later.

[Lancey Howard]

Robert A. Heinlein

[mykroar]

I haven't read my Sci-fi/Fantasy in quite a while, but among my tops would be:

• Frank Herbert
• Stephen R. Donaldson
• Michael Moorcock

[buccaneer81]

Harry Turtledove

John Birmingham

Robert Heinlein

Orson Scott Card

[wideawake]

Thomas Ligotti and Jorge Luis Borges.

[mewzilla]

E.E. “Doc” Smith. Heinlein. Barbara Hambly. Linnea Sinclair. Asimov. Clarke. David Weber. In any order :)

[PapaBear3625]

If you liked Pournelle's military SF, you will probably like David Drake and John Ringo

Let's not forget Robert Heinlein. While some of his post-stroke fiction was below par, "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" was a classic

[ssaftler]

Asimov had some pretty good characters, such as those in the “Foundation” and “I, Robot” series of books.

Too bad the man was a raving, Kool-Aid drinking leftist...

[GSWarrior]

Of all the Heinlein books I have read I enjoyed Moon the most.

[hosepipe]

C.S. Lewis.. “Screwtape Letters” is the ultimate Sci-Fi..

[GSWarrior]

I enjoyed Pastwatch immensely. Great book.

[willgolfforfood]

Roger Zelazny (I belive he is now deceased) has several extremely entertaining works out.

[NewJerseyJoe]

The three greatest fantasy authors of all time, without question, are:

Al Gore
L. Ron Hubbard
Joseph Smith

[pillut48]

Stephen Donaldson’s 3 Thomas Covenant series (First Chronicles, Second Chronicles, Final Chronicles)—3 books in each set. Lots of sci-fi/fantasy along the lines of Tolkien, but with a modern twist...he also wrote futuristic sci-fi space operas, which I really didn’t care much for, but some people seem to like it.

Anne McAffrey’s PERN/Dragon Riders series (many many books) which her son has now taken over writing. Again, sci-fi, some space opera stuff, fantasy stuff. Very good series too!

Of course, pretty much everything by Ray Bradbury.

[2ndDivisionVet]

The recently departed Robert Jordan (The Eye of the World series and others).

[GSWarrior]

I recommend this book...if you can find it.

[night reader]

Asimov had some pretty good characters, such as those in the “Foundation” and “I, Robot” series of books. Too bad the man was a raving, Kool-Aid drinking leftist... atheist!!!

[shempy]

I agree with many of the names listed so far. I would add Gene Wolfe. His Book of the New Sun series is among my favorites.

[rivercat]

The Forever War by Joe W Haldeman is a fantastic book

The Amber Series by Zelazny is great too.

[Noumenon]

David Weber, for his strongly themed stories of the struggle of good against evil. He’s not afraid to describe evil in terms of collectivism and tyranny. And he does a damn good job of it.

Plus, nobody does space battles as well as he does, IMHO.

For sheer wonder, try Sean Williams and Shane Dix’ Geodesica series. Greg Bear, with his Eon/Eternity series is also one of my favorites.

Most anything by Charles Stross makes for great reading.

[Squawk 8888]

I’m partial to Heinlein. Job is one of the best SF works ever IMO.

[allmendream]

George R.R. Martin's series that starts with “A Game of Thrones”.

Edgar Rice Burroughs “A Princess of Mars”, “The Gods of Mars” and “The Warlord of Mars” (ERB is more famous for Tarzan, but John Carter of Mars is one of the best SciFi series ever, very anti-Communist, anti-racist, very “this is what it means to be a MAN.”).

Also Scott Lynch's “The Lies of Locke Lamorah”, an amazing first book by a promising new author. Check it out!

[nina0113]

If you like military science fiction, try the Honor Harrington series by David Weber. The first one is On Basilisk Station, available FREE! at www.baen.com. There are many other books in the Baen Free Library, and sample chapters from the current line are available too.

[Squawk 8888]

Asimov is a great storyteller but I find his penchant for social engineering to be more than a little off-putting.

[Unassuaged]

Neal Stephenson.

I cannot recommend him highly enough.

CyberPunk and historical fiction/fantasy.

A solid conservative!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neal_Stephenson

[Noumenon]

Oops - can’t leave out Iain M Banks.

Against a Dark Background
The Player of Games
Consider Phlebas
Look to Windward
Use of Weapons

Home runs, all of them. Just re-read Consider Phlebas - every bit as goos as the first time around.

[The Louiswu]

"Honor Harrington series"
I got through 9 of them before I gave up (took a break) - really good but I needed something a little lighter...

[Squawk 8888]

I haven’t read any of his SF titles, but Harry Turtledove’s alternate histories are quite good.

[The Louiswu]

James P. Hogan
Inherit the Stars and Gentle Giants of Ganymede - a very good read with a happy ending. Reminded me of Clarke or old Heinlein.

[latina4dubya]

C.S. Lewis.. “Screwtape Letters” is the ultimate Sci-Fi..

a friend and i were just discussing Screwtape Letters yesterday... she is reading it for the first time... C.S. Lewis was certainly ingenious... so creative and clever in this writing...

[chesley]

I hated “The moon Is a Harsh Mistress”.. However, “Glory Road” in great. And, if I were to be limited to ONE SF Book on a desert island, “Starship Troopers” would have to make the short list.

[GSWarrior]

I loved Lucifer’s Hammer, Footfall, and The Mote In God’s Eye but I hated the Gripping Hand...only read the first 100 pages and had to set it aside.

[HamiltonJay]

In terms of Fantasy..

Weis & Hickman and Tad Williams

[chesley]

Al Gore isn’t in the same class as the other two. They made their stuff up by themselves. Al Gore just hitched a ride on a wagon already moving, and became the driver.

[The Louiswu]

A new player with a nice old style
Orphanage by Robert Buettner - this is now a 3 book series with the 4th coming in November.

[GSWarrior]

Is Terry Pratchett worthwhile? I get a sense he is anti-religion. Not sure I want to read him.

[heartwood]

Lois McMaster Bujold - the Vorkosigan books. Start with Shards of Honor then Barrayar. Work through in order. The Chalion books are fantasy, pretty good but not as good as the Vorkosigan books, and the Sharing Knife series is merely competent fantasy.

I love the Man-Kzin War series.

And Prayers for the Assassin by Robert Ferrigno. Sequel was good and a third is coming out.

Orson Scott Card's Alvin the Maker series.

And I still have a soft spot for Podkayne of Mars.

Here's a question - what are the biggest unanticipated changes in SF, from 70, 50, 30 years ago? I vote for the changed role of women, and the ubiquity of computers, as opposed to robots.

[Question_Assumptions]

Another vote for Niven and Pournelle, particularly their early stuff (e.g., Niven's Known Space, The Mote in God's Eye, Pournelle's King David's Spaceship). I tend to read oddball stuff by second-tier authors so I'm not sure I can give you a useful list, but I do enjoy character development so maybe this will be useful. Some authors I've enjoyed include Cynthia Felice, Wayland Drew, Paul O. Williams, Richard S. McEnroe, Margaret Davis, and George R. R. Martin and Lisa Tuttle's book Windhaven. Most of those authors are out of print, though Windhaven was recently republished, as was Paul O. Williams post-holocaust Pelbar Cycle. From a fantasy angle, take a look at George R. R. Martin's A Song of Fire and Ice series and Holly Lisle.

[latina4dubya]

anybody here ever read The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov? very strange... very Russian...

[Species8472]

All of them! :)

[chesley]

I used to like Turtledove until I read his World War series. I haven’t read anything by him since.

Was there ever a more loathsome protagonist than Sam Yeager?

[Rocko]

R.A. Lafferty, Theodore Sturgeon, Robert Aickman.