For the Sci-Fi fans, who're the best authors around

[pelvicPUNISHER]

Personally, I like
Timothy Zahn: star wars(heir to the empire, etc..
Isaac Asimov: foundation series,
Michael Stackpole: 4 x-wing books, & I, Jedi

Who else are the among the best and what have they written?

[PauTOT]

try mo rin si David Feintuch I found the Seafort Saga very compelling :)

[Dogberto]

Isaac Asimov's one of DA BEST - but too bad he's not around already. I loved the foundation trilogy. Parang Foundation is to Sci-Fi what Lord of the Rings is to Fantasy! http://www.pinoyexchange.com/angel.gif

[Jacob]

Michael Stackpole is the best when it comes to military SF.

For me, it's Dan Simmons of Hyperion/Endymion series. His works show his versatility (just read the multi-genre storytelling of Hyperion).

Neal Stephenson has promise. Snow Crash, Diamond Age, Cryptonomicon and Zodiac show his intellect and wit. Hope he'll be consistent.

William Gibson and his contemporary Bruce Sterling were hot once. But the real world has caught up with their hi-tech fictional worlds, to make their work compelling.

[asterisk]

Of course, the Dean of Science Fiction: Robert Heinlein

Check out

Stranger in a Strange Land
Starship Stroopers
The Puppet Masters
Orphans of the Sky
Red Planet

among others

[alternativity]

Carl Sagan had "Contact"
and
Arthur Clarke had the Monolith Series (2001, 2010 and so on)

CS Lewis had the Perelandra series, but to appreciate it you have to remember it was written long before we had a good idea what the other planets (mars and venus in particular) were like.

Interesting spirituality perspectives on all of them.

By the way, are you aware of any religious beliefs present in the Federation planets of Star Trek fame? Tnx

[singollo]

yup, isaac asimov. naaddict ako sa foundation trilogy nung high school. pero hindi ako masyadong nagandahan doon sa foundation's edge at foundation and earth. ang labo e.

[Mikoid]

alternativity: I also loved Contact, and it really stands out as a "near-future" sci-fi work.

I really enjoyed the original Foundation Trilogy, was bored by the next two books, and experienced a resurgence upon reading Prelude to Foundation and Forward the Foundation.

I loved the Ender quartet by ORson SCott Card, particularly the first book, Ender's game. This is a must-read for any science-fiction fan.

In terms of gritty sci-fi action and political intrigue, I also admire Michael Stackpole for his work in both the Battletech (Warrior trilogy) and Star Wars (X-Wing, I Jedi, and Dark Tide) universes.

As for the Star Trek universe, my favorites are Diane Duane, and the tandem of Joseph Sherman and Susan Schwartz (Vulcan's Heart and Vulcan's Forge).

Oh, for Star Wars fans, do try getting the latest books -- Vector Prime by Salvatore, and the two Dark Tide books by Stackpole. They are some of the best ones since Zahn. I just hope Kevin Anderson doesn't screw things up for them by writing one of his own.

[SiCkBoY^]

Let's do an ABC of the best sci-fi authors, ok?

A = Isaac Asimov
B = Ray Bradbury
C = Arthur C. Clarke
D = Phillip K. ****
E = Harlan Ellison

hhmmm.... help me out naman =)

[brownpau]

Two more B's for you: Greg Bear and Stephen Baxter. :D

[Limerick]

Isaac Asimov of course...although I heard Stranger in a Starnge Land is good, but I can't find a copy anywhere. Does anyone know where I can get hold of one?

[One]

Robert Heinlein is my fave when it comes to these kinds of books... oh, and also Isaac Asimov, lalo na yung foundation series niya...

:angel:

(Limerick: nakakita ako ng kopya noon sa charisma at shopping center up diliman... kaya binili ko! :P)

[Cerberus]

Isaac Asimov.
Carl Sagan.
Arthur C Clarke.

:)

[Hyperion]

My faves:

Dan Simmons
Greg Bear
Isaac Asimov
Arthur Clarke

[vinta18]

FRANK HERBERT -- Dune rocks!
URSULA K. LE GUIN -- Hainish Cycle
ARTHUR CLARKE -- If only for Childhood's End
ISAAC ASIMOV -- it's the plot
HEINLEIN -- I like the short stories better, check out "All you Zombies"
WILLIAM GIBSON -- "The sky was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel."
DAN SIMMONS -- Hyperion, nuff said
TIMOTHY ZAHN -- Binuhay nya ang Star Wars. Kaya lang puro "point" ng "point" ang characters nya. Parang out of character tuloy
HARLAN ELISON -- Anak ng jueteng! San ka nakarining ng titles na tulad ng kanya? "I have no mouth and I must scream," "The beast who shouted love at the top of the world," "Repent, Harlequin, said the tick-tock man." Title pa lang sulit na. And he wrote the best ST:TOS episode ever, "City on the Edge of Forever."



Oh and please don't call it Sci-fi. Asimov (and a lot of other fans) prefers SF to differentiate it from the shallow BEM-type stories. I'll try to post his article on that.

[dee-dee]

isaac asimov and carl sagan

*okay*

[pro_tempore]

ursula le guin (tops my list ^_^)

michael swanwick

cj cherryh


at syempre:

theodore sturgeon
robert heinlein
rod serling
isaac asimov
arthur clarke
frank herbert
anthony burgess
carl sagan

[f0r5aK3n]

Stephen Erickson
Melanie Rawn
Michael Stackpole
Tad Williams
Janny Wurts (A great graphic artist too)
Raymond Feist
Margaret Weiss
Tracy Hickman

[fredda]

it's time we revived this thread!!!!

Ursula Le Guin plus that chick who wrote 'A Wrinkle in Time' and ofcourse Asimov (tho hindi ako ganon ka-impressed sa writing style nya) and Ray Bradbury!!!!!!!

...Philip ****... i've read Minority Report, he's good..


Robert Heinlein also wish i could find a way to lend you his books pinipilit ko ang mga frends ko na basahin sya lalo na ang 'Stranger in a Strange Land' at yung isa pa na nakalimutan ko na ang title...

i have about ten of his books na nabili ko lang lahat (i swear) sa booksale! ang iba nga ay di ko pa nababasa.

SF writer din ba si Paul Gallico?[

[golden_snitch]

I like...

Arthur C. Clarke
Harlan Ellison
Isaac Asimov

And just recently I've been reading Roger Zelazny's "The Last Defender of Camelot" and his stories are pretty good.

Too bad not too many of the other good authors you read about on the internet actually reach our bookstores.

Oh, and vinta18 mentioned about the use of the term "sci-fi". I also read this article where the author asked several SF writers what they thought was the right way to call their work: science fiction, SF, sci-fi, or skiffy. Interesting, 'no?

Most said it really didn't matter to them (except probably for skiffy). Sci-fi was originally a term people used for B-movies but it's more popular usage these days is to mean just plain science fiction (or the SCI-FI channel wouldn't call themselves the SCI-FI channel). I tend to agree with them but SF is a personal favorite -- easy to say and type. :)

While I'm at it, there's supposedly an alarming decline in SF readership. Sad that SF is not that easy to appreciate. Mahaba-haba yata ang discussion as to why, so I'll just say, promote Science Fiction! Give your kid sister or brother a book. It's good literature. There's a lot of articles out there that will tell you why SF is important so I don't have to say, but help make sure it doesn't just die out.

Happy reading!
:bookworm2:

[f0r5aK3n]

Originally posted by fredda
it's time we revived this thread!!!!

Ursula Le Guin plus that chick who wrote 'A Wrinkle in Time' [/B]

that would be Madeleine L'Engle

[Dunedain]

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (better known as Blade Runner) by Philip K. ****. The questions and answers are still being debated ever since the book was published: Is Deckard human or an android?

[wulfgar]

For me it will have to be...
Anne McCaffrey.

Please see:
Dragonriders of Pern (marami sila)
The Rowan, Damia etc. (basta tungkol sa Talents)

Haven't checked out the Pegasus series though.

[vinta18]

Originally posted by Dunedain
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (better known as Blade Runner) by Philip K. ****. The questions and answers are still being debated ever since the book was published: Is Deckard human or an android?

Nasagot na yan, android sya.

[fredda]

Robert Heinlein

"One man's religion is another man's belly laugh."


"The most ridiculous concept ever perpetrated by H. Sapiens is that the Lord God of Creation, Shaper and Ruler of the Universes, wants the sacharrine adoration of his creations, that he can be persuaded by their prayers, and becomes petulant if he does not receive this flattery. Yet this ridiculous notion, without one real shred of evidence to bolster it, has gone on to found one of the oldest, largest and least productive industries in history."
"Sin lies only in hurting other people unnecessarily. All other "sins" are invented nonsense."
Robert A. Heinlein <siasl.shtml>


from
Carl Sagan

this one I love! "But for us, it's different. Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there - on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. "


"The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors, so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds.


"Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves." - Pale Blue Dot

[Assassin_Mage]

hmm

Rober Heinlein
Isaac Asimov
Anne McAffrey

[vinta18]

Originally posted by golden_snitch
Most said it really didn't matter to them (except probably for skiffy). Sci-fi was originally a term people used for B-movies but it's more popular usage these days is to mean just plain science fiction (or the SCI-FI channel wouldn't call themselves the SCI-FI channel). I tend to agree with them but SF is a personal favorite -- easy to say and type. :)


If you check the "SCI-FI" channel's programs, most of them are not SF or even "sci-fi." The minute they cancelled "Farscape"... ahhh bu that's another story

[fredda]

since mahilig kayo sa SF, I assume na mahilig rin kayo sa mga SF stuff na ipinapalabas sa TV...

ano naman ang TV show na sobrang hindi nyo malilimutan? nagustuhan nyo ba yung 'millenium' na ang gumawa ay yung sa X-Files? the first year na ipinapalabas sa channel 9 ang X-files ay love ko talaga sha...

how about Twilight Zone?

by the way kapag nakakita ako ng Anne Mc Caffrey book ay babasahin ko, mukhang magaling sha... konti llang ang SF authors na alam ko...

[gakutokamui]

syempre dun tayo sa BIG 3 heinlein, clarke and asimov. larry niven (ringworld) is great too. he's really good with world creation.