Kevin's Watch

Well, what did you think? I had to vote for the Dean, Heinlein. So many of his works helped to define the Genre.

I agree! In SF, the depth of Heinlein's writing - from his young adult books to his adult SF - he has no peer!

Never read much sci-fi, but Herbert's definitely my fav.

Toss up for me between Dan Simmons and David Zindell.

David Zindell!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WHERE THE HELL IS H.G.WELLS ON THAT LIST?????? How can you forget to list the father of sci-fi??? No offense and dont mean to sound angry.

It's a hell of a difficult choice. If I could spread my votes, they'd be for Heinlein, Asimov, and Herbert probably.

Although Wells (and what about Verne?) may be "fathers" of Sci-Fi, their stuff just doesn't really do it for me.

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Avatar wrote:Although Wells (and what about Verne?) may be "fathers" of Sci-Fi, their stuff just doesn't really do it for me.

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HERESY!!!!

For taste, there is no accounting.

--A

I'm not big into sci-fi for the most part, but Bradbury is always a classic. His shorts are absolutely terrific. I also like sci-fi that's not really by "sci-fi" people--Anne McCaffrey's Killashandra books are a perfect example.

Of those choices, I've read Asimov, Bradbury, Hebert, Clarke, Wells, and of course Donaldson, and while I found their works to be interesting and sometimes entertaining (with the exception of Bradbury, whose writing just irritates the hell out of me for some reason), none of them were also exciting the way SRD's Gap Cycle was for me.

Also, call me a blasphemer, but I really enjoyed the Dune movie and the Children of Dune miniseries more than the books. Maybe I have no taste in sci-fi...

Piers Anthony.
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..
Kidding (though the Bio of a Space Tyrant books were interesting).
For pure sci-fi, my vote goes to Zindell. Wolfe would be first, of course, but there's too large a tilt towards the fantastical.

Would've been nice to see some Phillip K. Dick or William Gibson on the list, though.

Yeah, and the great Olaf Stapledon.

I vote for Iain M Banks. 'Excession' is one of my favourite books.

David Feintuch. His 'Hope' series is the best thing ever written in the sf genre.

Bucky OHare wrote:I vote for Iain M Banks. 'Excession' is one of my favourite books.

Banks is a legend. I loved the Affront in that book.

Asimov, hands down. No other writer was as prolific, none was more influential (except H.G. Wells, who I didn't see on the list). The Three Laws of Robotics has been memorized by every junior high school nerd, ever. Star Trek's Data has them imprinted in his positronic pathways (another Asimov invention). The Robot novels alone would have given him my vote, but then there's the Foundation novels, too. Those also would have been enough for me. Now, all those others were great, too. Heinlein, Sturgeon, Bradbury, Clarke, Herbert, and Ellison were close childhood friends of mine. But IMO, Asimov was the best of them. His inventiveness, humor, and ability to predict technological advances was no less than brilliant (Well, except for that time he predicted that man would not reach the top of Mt. Everest in a short story published 2 days after man reached the top of Mt. Everest.... ).

Asimov had the ability to be my best friend, and I never even had the pleasure of meeting him.

Caer Sylvanus wrote:William Gibson.

Definitely a ground-breaker in my opinion. I think that part of the reason that technology is turning out the way it is, is that the techs read Gibson, and said: "God, this is so cool, let's try and make it."

dAN, Asimov was definitley one of my earliest introductions to Sci-Fi. I agree with everything you've said about his work there.

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I'm currently just finished NEVERNESS .. danlo's recommendations got the better of me!!

Conceptually NEVERNESS is awesome!! Zindell is without doubt a brilliant mind .. and spectacular thinker!!

But his authorship isnt as tight as Donaldson's .. his story is laboured with excessive detail .. though the details is good!!

Its just not a punchy package! Though in no way can anyone fault its genius!! I loved these books!!

I am going to begin the EA CYCLE .. soon .. but I have lost the 9th kingdom somewhere!! .. dont know much about this series .. am expecting a lot of it though after really enjoying THE NEVERNESS SERIES.

i think ZINDELL should be an option .. also NIX ..

Woah! Obviously not a heap of SF lovers on this forum - stands to reason I guess - BUT look at the 'other' percentage.

Some inclusions should have been:

HG Wells
Vernor Vinge
Stephen Baxter

Both Vernor Vinge & Baxter are hard-core SF, with big sales, big ideas, and reference points for a lot of other authors - Vinge, perhaps more so. Actually, the more I think about it the more Baxter is a bit derivative, and the more Vinge breaks new ground. I just wish he would write another goddam book!