15 Greatest Science Fiction Writers of All Time, and Who Do You Think?

February 26th, 2009

I’m a month late commenting on this list of the 15 greatest science fiction writers of all time, but I will comment and offer my own.

15. Larry Niven“
14. Philip Jose’ Farmer
13. Robert Silverberg“
12. Ursula K. Le Guin
11. Harry Harrison
10. Frederick Pohl
9. Frank Herbert
8. Harlan Ellison
7. Jack Williamson
6. E. E. Doc Smith
5. Philip K. Dick
4. Ray Bradbury
3.  Robert A. Heinlein
2. Isaac Asimov
1. Arthur C. Clarke
Some comments.     I love almost all of these authors.   They’re great!   With the exception of perhaps one or two, every one has written something I love.   Celebrating them is a good thing.   My list will have some changes.   I favor more contemporary writers, although the test of time is a good test.   I think we’ve learned something about writing science fiction over the past century, and more people do it better now than at any time ever in the past.   Great writers are expected to have the complete package and perform regularly and well over a career.

For myself, I weight novels more than short stories, and have my own personal preferences.   I weight serious science fiction more than softer things, but not always when I am swept away.

My list
15. David Brin.   The Uplift books are wonderful and imaginative.   Some of Brin’s short stories are legendary.   Kiln People was a really good book, and some of his other stand alones are also remarkable.

14.   John Brunner.   Stand on Zanzibar is one of my favorite novels of all time.   I feel like he was an unappreciated writer.

13. Neal Stephenson.   Snowcrash and The Diamond Age are instant classics, and his other books are also quite memorable.   I will remember the opening chapter of Snowcrash forever.

12. Philip Jose Farmer.   As I said yesterday, he was my first favorite author, and the World of Tiers books and the Riverwold books are great.

11. Ray Bradbury.   Not the hardest sf writer out there, but a really great writer.   Farhenheit 451 still resonates today in so many ways.

10. Arthur C. Clarke.   Not as high as you might have expected.   I’ve liked nearly everything I have read from Sir Arthur, but haven’t loved a lot so much.   Very good to great, but not legendary consistently.

9. Ursula K. LeGuin.   Unfortunately the only female writer on my list.   I don’t know whose fault that is exactly, but there it is.   Her novel The Dispossessed is one of my all time favorites, and so is A Wizard of Earthsea if you will let me stray into fantasy for a moment.

8. Dan Simmons.   God, I love this guy.   Hyperion blew me away.   So did Carrion Comfort, and many more of his novels and short stories.   I have fallen behind   reading him, and I am more than willing to jump genres to do so.   He only lives a couple of hours drive away in Colorado and I must meet him sometime.

7. Fred Pohl.   My first year of college Pohl was my favorite writer.   I devoured the Gateway books, Man Plus, everything he write that I could buy.   His short story “Day Million” is one I love so much.

6. Roger Zelazny.   Another love in college.   Lord of Light.   Creatures of Light and Darkness.   Isle of the Dead.   Over in fantasy the classic Amber series.   And such wonderful short stories…he died way too young.

5. Joe Haldeman.     The Forever War was a special read for me and I still remember buying the book in a mall B. Dalton’s back in the 1970s.   So many other great novels and short stories coming so consistently.   His novella “For White Hill” is one of my favorite short pieces.   I am fortunate to have had Joe as a Clarion West teacher and to have him come as a guest for my Launch Pad Astronomy Workshop (now taking applications for July 2009).

4. Larry Niven.   I don’t know that everyone would put him so high, but I really admire so much of his work, albeit some is in collaboration.   Ringworld still blows me away.   So does “The Hole Man.”   Legacy of Heorot is also a favorite novel, and don’t forget The Mote In God’s Eye.

3. Isaac Asimov.   I have to put him this high, but not higher.   So many books and short stories, so many so clear and insightful things he had to say.   He was always like a friend I never met.   The Robot stories and Foundation carry so much magic with them.   Timeless.

2. Vernor Vinge.   I hope Vernor doesn’t feel he is getting too old to be this high!   His Deep books, his Bobble books, and more put him up here.   And while I have some issues with his vision of the singularity, I find him quite visionary and worth listening to as a thinker independent of being a writer.

1. Robert Heinlein.   Between Starship Troopers and especially Stranger in a Strange Land, this guy has always been science fiction to me.   And about another dozen books and short stories.


Honorable Mentions
: Orson Scott Card, Nancy Kress, Gregory Benford, David Gerrold, Robert Silverberg, Robert Sawyer, Michael Swanwick, Robert Charles Wilson, Alfred Bester…

Who do you think?   As usual pick up to three, and be encouraged to explain your picks.

Greatest Science Fiction Writer of All Time

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