tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post1173626533683600635..comments2024-03-16T18:32:15.171-07:00Comments on Writing About Writing (And Occasionally Some Writing): Write in Phase: Best Contemporary Science Fiction AuthorChris Brecheenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07819138776404280633noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post-25962343209840073982014-01-09T07:10:51.381-08:002014-01-09T07:10:51.381-08:00Jonathan Lethem, though he does a lot of other stu...Jonathan Lethem, though he does a lot of other stuff besides sci-fi and fantasy.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post-45711279486181241862014-01-08T19:37:54.818-08:002014-01-08T19:37:54.818-08:00Gene Wolfe is absolutely brilliant, although I'...Gene Wolfe is absolutely brilliant, although I'm not always sure his brilliance isn't some magic trick that's really just dazzling me into awe.Nahsilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14213494215477999519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post-65056259683113460112014-01-06T00:54:43.323-08:002014-01-06T00:54:43.323-08:00Really tough only allowed one! I think Peter F Ham...Really tough only allowed one! I think Peter F Hamilton just pips Asimov and Iain M Banks though, so nominating him.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post-48436379799926752492014-01-05T22:15:41.743-08:002014-01-05T22:15:41.743-08:00Second Gibson AND Second BujoldSecond Gibson AND Second Bujoldpapadiaboloushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06092209575983870008noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post-44483436507588245952014-01-05T19:42:06.274-08:002014-01-05T19:42:06.274-08:00Part of me hasn't contributed because a while ...Part of me hasn't contributed because a while back you exposed me to a darker side of an author I thought was brilliant... so he's out of the picture. Another reason is this word best. I confess it daunts me for some reason in relation to contemporary authors, presumably because they are probably still writing and have yet to fully become best. With that all out in the air I will nominate an author I recently came across whose discussion I found interesting. Paolo Bacigalupi, I've only read one of his works but I plan on reading others because Windup Girl surprised me. <br /><br />I'll second Terry Pratchett, hilariously funny and PK Dick.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post-43757875318019451412014-01-05T18:02:34.746-08:002014-01-05T18:02:34.746-08:00Philip K. Dick is kind of an outlier, though, isn&...Philip K. Dick is kind of an outlier, though, isn't he? His early stuff doesn't seem to fit here, but then there's the VALIS stuff and the Exegesis, which is maybe important enough for him to be included (that was early 80s, yes? I could google, but...lazy). His work changed so drastically in '74 (that date I'm pretty sure about) when he had his "experience" that he's almost two authors. Just a thought.Lynn Caldwellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02930085990525911252noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post-68566584332272302162014-01-05T15:34:38.321-08:002014-01-05T15:34:38.321-08:00Contemporary author! OK. . . . I will nominate Loi...Contemporary author! OK. . . . I will nominate Lois McMasters Bujold. She's not hard science fiction but that wasn't a stated requirement. :) SE Hudnallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15803353589381122263noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post-92080124698495905832014-01-05T14:46:45.296-08:002014-01-05T14:46:45.296-08:00William Gibson. And HUGE second for Octavia Butler...William Gibson. And HUGE second for Octavia Butler.Lynn Caldwellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02930085990525911252noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post-26222922821632653292014-01-05T14:37:21.727-08:002014-01-05T14:37:21.727-08:00Ok, I thought this one was really way too hard... ...Ok, I thought this one was really way too hard... ONLY ONE??? You're killing me here, Chris. <br /><br />Fine. Terry Prachett... because the man is wickedly and slyly funny. Aertenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13263441606866480030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post-13764651109899089942014-01-03T13:20:36.661-08:002014-01-03T13:20:36.661-08:00You didn't actually mention the author, but I ...You didn't actually mention the author, but I have read almost all of it, so I know who you meant.<br /><br />This nomination is for Octavia Butler, and I whole heartedly second it.Chris Brecheenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07819138776404280633noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post-1790989943267962702014-01-03T13:19:45.470-08:002014-01-03T13:19:45.470-08:00Yikes! I left out her name! Octavia Butler.Yikes! I left out her name! Octavia Butler.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post-28266618614518207202014-01-03T13:18:56.442-08:002014-01-03T13:18:56.442-08:00I just finished reading her Lilith's Brood tri...I just finished reading her Lilith's Brood trilogy and she absolutely belongs on this list. If you all haven't read her work, you'll like it. Her first award winning book (Kindred) came out in 1976, and the first book in the Lilith's Brood series, came out in 1987.<br /><br />She takes on every theme that marks the possibilities of science fiction and adds layers of attention to issues of "othering" that I think made LeGuin such a great author of what we've all voted as the best classic science fiction. Her characters are complex and the stories go places you won't necessarily anticipate. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post-59195461721548764372014-01-01T09:24:55.243-08:002014-01-01T09:24:55.243-08:00That's why last month was Classic authors--a p...That's why last month was Classic authors--a poll you can still vote in (bottom of the left-side menus) if you hurry.<br /><br />The overlap between *People Who Read This Blog* and *People Who Know As Much About The Science Fiction Eras* would be so small as to make such a poll laughable. I made the break off 1970 so that I could contain most of New Age in with classics. Which I know some of us fuddy duddys don't want to believe years we remember as classic, but that was over forty years ago.Chris Brecheenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07819138776404280633noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post-61010777857650863792014-01-01T02:12:16.240-08:002014-01-01T02:12:16.240-08:00Seems to me like your poll structure is going to d...Seems to me like your poll structure is going to de-emphasize folks who were at their best in the 60s and 70s - that means a lot of new wave authors. I mean, I'd want to nominate Philip K Dick here, but the majority of his work was written before 1970, and the really good stuff is spread out between about 1965 and 1980. So in either poll we're seeing about half a career. Many other important authors (Ballard, Brunner, Delany, Ellison, Silverberg, Zelazny, etc etc) also fall into the same hole.<br /><br />In fact, since the New Wave is commonly seen as a turning point in SF history and the end of the Golden Age, why not set your cutoff point at 1964, when New Worlds magazine was first published?<br /><br />Or you could just have a New Wave poll and a separate contemporary poll... I mean, much as it feels wrong to mix Phil Dick in with Golden Age luminaries like Clarke and Asimov, putting him on the same list as current authors like Adam Roberts and Charles Stross doesn't seem right either.---https://www.blogger.com/profile/16520356317884935261noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post-78967635841385677942013-12-31T18:03:12.090-08:002013-12-31T18:03:12.090-08:00I'm going to go with my obvious fandom and put...I'm going to go with my obvious fandom and put LeGuin here. Though I think Left Hand of Darkness may have been her *best* book, I liked many of the ones written after 1970.Chris Brecheenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07819138776404280633noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post-17991690701952464402013-12-31T17:53:19.766-08:002013-12-31T17:53:19.766-08:00David Weber. Frikking. Epic. Space. Battles. David Weber. Frikking. Epic. Space. Battles. Plymouth Ahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00539297105353238798noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post-15153904774413029332013-12-31T17:25:11.381-08:002013-12-31T17:25:11.381-08:00One? Jeebus, that's like picking my favorite f...One? Jeebus, that's like picking my favorite finger...<br />I'm going with Larry Niven, for his accurate and accessible hard science, his fantastic characters, the breadth of his Known Space stories and the best analysis of Superman and Lois Lane ever. papadiaboloushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06092209575983870008noreply@blogger.com