What scifi authors do you all read?

[ralps]

My favorites are Anne McCaffrey, Robert Heinlein, Spider Robinson, James White, Piers Anthony, Jerry Pournelle, Larry Niven and Robert Forward.
:bounce:

[CBGLuthier]

1. Oh let's see

Julian May, Isaac Asimov, Alfred Bester, Heinlein, Neil Stephenson, Robert Silverburg, Roger Zelazny, Joe Haldeman.

Have read everyone on your list except for James White. Liked them all except for Robert Forward.

[ralps]

3. If you get a chance try James White.

He wrote a bunch of stories about a Hospital/Space Station called Sector General. In 2001 ORB came out with an omnibus of his first Sector General stories called "Beginning Operations"
:hi:

[bobbieinok]

24. his books are really fascinating

[bullimiami]

2. your list is good

mccaffery, heinlen, piers anthony add asimov, herbert (include brian), brian lumley (absolutely amazing vampires). so many more.... then all of the fantasy authors.

[qnr]

4. Most of those listed by everyone so far, and I'll add

Dickson and Sargent.

[Technowitch]

5. Let's see...

Dan Simmons
Marion Zimmer Bradley
Niven and Pournelle
Stephen Baxter
Robert Heinlein
Robert Forward
James Hogan
David Brinn
David Gerrold
Elizabeth Moon
Isaac Asmov
Arthur C. Clarke

And lots, lots more...

[kcr]

6. So many

Brinn, Tepper, Simmons, Pratchette, Gaiman, McDevitt, Stasheff, Miellville, Kress, Sawyer are all near the top of the list.

[realisticphish]

7. holy crap

noone has said Douglas Adams! for shame! those of you who read piers anthony, what do you think of the recent Xanth books? i think they suck monkey balls, compared to the early ones

:hippie: The Incorrigible Democrat

[ralps]

8. I still like the Xanth books but there are other books I like

just as much, like Spider Robinson's Callahan's series especially the last one "Callahan's Con".
:hi:

[Chovexani]

9. I've never met a Xanth book I didn't revile

I like Piers Anthony, he's not one of my favorite authors but his stuff can be a decent time-waster. The Xanth books though? HATE. Early ones, recent ones, doesn't matter. I can't stand them.

Probably because I really hate the sort of punny, juvenile humor that runs all over them like a bad case of the clap. They remind me of those really shitty April Fool's issues of Dragon Magazine I used to line my cat's litter box with.

[hyphenate]

13. I haven't read any for a while

I kind of think that the author must be bored with them, and is just writing them for the money.

There are other series like that--John DeChancie's Castle series, the Time Wars series by Simon Hawke, Christopher Stasheff's Wizard series, and others. After awhile, they just try to appease the fans, not themselves. And when you use a "formula" to write like some of these people do, it's easy enough to have a template ready, insert a new "McGuffin" and you're halfway there.

[realisticphish]

16. yeah

he'll go of for CHAPTERS just to get ONE pun in. it pains me, cause i really liked the first 10-15 books


:hippie: The Incorrigible Democrat

[Chovexani]

10. Octavia Butler is one of my favorites

I love her stuff. Although the Earthseed novels are downright scary to read now in light of the current political climate. :scared:

[confludemocrat]

37. She was on Democracy Now on friday in a longish segment

I jotted down two books, if I got it right: Fledgeling and The Parable of the Talents. Anyway, I will look for her books. She grabbed me with her readings that she did toward the end of the interview.

[phantom power]

11. The three Gregs....

Greg Egan
Greg Benford
Greg Bear

John Varley
Larry Niven
Linda Nagata
Neal Stephenson
Peter Watts
David Brin
Barbara Hambly
Tad Williams
Eric Nylund

Oh yeah, Kim Stanley Robinson

And I like Robert Forward, although he's not a very gifted writer. I'd also include Stephen Baxter in that category. Hard SF writers, in the old-school tradition.

Oops, and Vernor Vinge

[Forkboy]

26. Kim Stanley Robinson is excellent

though his latest,Forty Signs of Rain,is very slow (but it's part 1 of a trilogy so it's just setting up al the characters).The Years of Rice and Salt is the best book I've read in years (read twice now),and the Mars Trilogy is as good a science fiction gets.

The three Gregs are also very good.Greg Bear's Darwin's radio and Darwin's Children were both very enjoyable.

Stephen Baxter did a book with Arthur C. Clarke called the Light of Other Days that was fascinating.

'Space is what keeps everything from being in the same place. Right?' With these words Hiram Patterson, head of the giant media corporation OurWorld, launches the greatest communications revolution in history. With OurWorld's development of wormhole technology, any point in space can be connected to any other, faster than the speed of light. Realtime television coverage is here: earthquakes and wars, murders and disasters can be watched, exactly as they occur, anywhere on the planet. Then WormCams are made to work across time as well as space. Humanity encounters itself in the light of other days. We witness the life of Jesus, go to the premiere of Hamlet, solve the enigmas that have baffled generations. Blood spilled centuries ago flows vividly once more - and no personal treachery or shame can be concealed. But when the world and everything in it becomes as transparent as glass and there are no more secrets, people find new ways to gain vengeance and commit crime, and Hiram Patterson finds new ways to keep his Machiavellian schemes secret.

[hyphenate]

12. I've read so many through the years

Right now though, I'm more into fantasy than SF. I would say my favorites include Tad Williams, Connie Willis, anthologies, Piers Anthony, Madeline L'Engle (even though some of her books fall on the juvenile side), Jane Yolen, Patricia McKillip and other such writers.

In the past, my faves have included Larry Niven, Alan Dean Foster, Kevin Anderson, Robert Heinlein, Ike, Harlan Ellison, etc.

[ruthg]

14. My latest favorite

Is Robert Charles Wilson...

My favorite of his..... The Chronoliths

[Gothic Sponge]

15. Still working my way through the Herbert Dune books

[Ready4Change]

38. I became less enamoured of them as they went.

I felt the first was the best, and stands very well on its own.

The others, imo, were more cashing in on the moment, rather than needed on their own merits. I'd say continue reading them so long as you are enjoying them, then don't worry about the rest.

[franmarz]

17. scifi authors-

Asimov and Ley-and Heinlein are my very most favorites. I have not been into Scifi in the past few years, but watch the films on TV instead.

[ismnotwasm]

18. All of the above plus

Julian May, C.J. Cherryh, and Ursula Le Guin

[lazarus]

19. not a fan of McCaffrey or Anthony

Piers Anthony is a hack, McCaffrey is just too, I dunno, I just feel my estrogen levels rise whenever I read her. :D

Niven and Pournelle I can only take when they're together.

Forward's good.

Vernor Vinge is awesome.

Heinlein was my first, so I'll always have a place in my heart for him. (Hint: look at my username, he's half the reason I have that).

Question: Are we going to be discussing fantasy here as well, or just SF?

[Robeson]

20. Bradbury, Clarke, and Asimov are favorites...

...but then again, I love a lot.

[Wilber_Stool]

21. Phillip K. Dick

I think he's the best when it come to characters. Niven is a good pure science-fiction (as opposed to fantasy) writer.

[Mabus]

22. Ellison & Heinlein

are my favorites.

I fell in love with Heinlein when I read "Stranger in a Strange Land" and fell for Harlan with "Repent Harlequin said the Tick Tock Man."

I want to add Philip K. Dick and Philip Jose Farmer, especially the Ring World Series.

[sans qualia]

23. *gasp* No Rudy Rucker fans?

I loooooove Rudy Rucker. He's so damn hot.

[bobbieinok]

25. read many--Elizabeth Moon, Barbara Hambly, David Weber, M Weiss

etc etc

like some Heinlein, HATE some Heinlein

Hal Clement..Mission of Gravity: one of the all time best science sci-fi stories

[NewHampshireDem]

27. Please, tell me someone here reads Iain M Banks ...

He is without a doubt the one of the *best* authors I have ever read, and that he happens to write sci-fi is a big plus.

He is wildly popular in the UK, but is more of a cult(ure) figure here in the US. He writes both sci-fi and straight fiction.

http://www.iainbanks.net/

I also would recommend John C. Wright's "Golden Age" trilogy. Each book was so good that I read it in a single weekend.

http://www.sff.net/people/john-c-wright/

I also think some of the best sci-fi ever written is Jonathan Lethem's work, especially his debut, Gun, with Occassional Music. I also really enjoyed Amnesia Moon.

[paulk]

28. I've read several of his books -

They're hard to find here in the states - I got most of mine in, of all places, Nepal.

Another obscure British writer I like is Keith Roberts (Pavane, The Chalk Giants). His books are also very hard to find here.

[NewHampshireDem]

29. I ordered mine through amazon.co.uk

Well worth the shipping charge if you place a big order ... I think it came out to be about $2 or $3 bucks a book, which isn't too unreasonable.

[ruthg]

31. Ian Banks..

looks interesting.....which of his SF books would you recommend starting with???

[paulk]

35. "Excession"

My favorite. A full blown space opera - reminded me of Vernor Vinge's "A Fire Upon the Deep". Top notch.

[ruthg]

30. Robert Charles Wilson is a current favorite

especially The Chronoliths, Mysterium and Blind Lake.

I have also enjoyed Robert J. Sawyer lately and I am quite fond of Robert Reed, Nancy Kress, Greg Bear and Gregory Benford and Connie Willis ( mostly for fun).

Past favorites include Arthur C Clarke, Heinlein, Larry Niven, JG Ballard and Ursula K. Le Guin ( her SF rather than fantasy).

[phantom power]

32. Roger MacBride Allen

He wrote The Ring of Charon, and The Shattered Sphere, both very entertaining.

[TrogL]

33. Delaney, Zelazny, Brunner, Lem, Farmer

[Bridget Burke]

34. Raised on the Holy Trinity

Heinlein, Clarke & Asimov, that is. Andre Norton when I was very young. Lots more since then.

Favorites I haven't seen mentioned: Fritz Leiber, Tanith Lee, Cordwainer Smith, Avram Davidson & R A Lafferty.

[robbedvoter]

36. Isaac Asimov

[YankeyMCC]

39. My list

Asimov
Heinlein
Clark
Philip K Dick
Chalker - Mostly sentimental value for me
Swanwick
Kim Stanley Robinson
Steven Baxter
Kress
Kage Baker
Greg Bear - although I have read any by him in a long time

I'm sure there are many I'm forgetting particularly all the short story authors I enjoy in my Asimov's Magzine. That makes up about 80% of my SF reading but it is difficult to remember all their names of the top of my head.

[porter]

40. Porter's List

Asmov, Chalker and several of the other future types are good, but I like what I call "fictional history" ( or as my wife tells it - "any cover with a dragon") Eddings, Salvatore, McCaffery, Tad Williams, M. Weis

[Mythsaje]

41. I tend not to like "hard" sci-fi.

BORING. Great if you're an engineer or something, but I'm far more interested in the human element than the technical aspects. If an author spends more than a couple pages explaining the science behind it, straight into the void with it.

For some reason that doesn't apply to David Weber, and I'm not sure why.

Heinlein

Herbert--Primarily the Dune Series. I know too many people didn't read past God-Emperor. Too bad for them. The last two books were about the Bene Gesserit. And I am/was fascinated by the very concept of the Bene Gesserit.

Alan Dean Foster

Philip Jose Farmer (World of Tiers--classic)

Andre Norton when I was a kid. I about had a fit when they made that damn "Beastmaster" movie. Goddam vultures.

Niven and Pournelle

Orson Scott Card (though I much preferred Alvin the Maker to the Ender stuff).

Spider Robinson. Callahan's rocks!

Elizabeth Moon

Sheri S. Tepper's "True Game" series was pretty cool.

I've always preferred fantasy to sci-fi, but these days it's all too damned incestuous for my taste. I want to see something original, not more of the same pseudo-medieval nonsense. That's been done to DEATH.

I'm even more partial to Urban Fantasy, but, then again, since that's what I write, I may be a bit prejudiced there.

[Reader Rabbit]

42. These days, I prefer Bujold, Cherryh, LeGuin, & Sharon Shinn

All women. Hmm....

Oh, wait! I like Allan Steele's Coyote series, too, so there ya go!

[semillama]

43. absolute favorite would be David Brin

but I really enjoy Asimov and Dick. Also Le Guin. I actually haven't read much sci-fi lately, mostly fantasy. Not sure why. I like the genre.