Favorite Authors: Larry Niven, Harry Harrison and Jim Butcher

[vadslram]

There is a pinned thread on favorite books but do you have any authors that you would read anything they wrote, can you reread their works and get more out of it every time? For me if I stop reading and start looking at words but see the scenes in my head then that is good writing.


My absolute favorite is still Larry Niven, He hasn't written anything on his own for a long time but even his colaborations are good. The first book I read of his was Ring World and since then I've read anything he had any input on. He even wrote for Star Trek.

Harry Harrison. The DeathWorld trilogy was his best but the Stainless Steel rat series was great too.

The only current writer I put into that category is Jim Butcher. He writes mainly ~fantasy. and one character got a short lived TV series, The Dresden Files.

 

[Dotini]

A year or so ago my girlfriend suggested I watch the HBO series Game of Thrones. I did, and enjoyed it so much I was inspired to read A Song of Ice and Fire, the best-selling epic fantasy series by George RR Martin. Having read and re-read the 5 books so far published, I became so taken with Martin's storytelling ability that I was inspired to look into his earlier material to see what I could find.

First, I read the three prequels, The Hedge Knight, The Sworn Sword and The Mystery Knight. I found these to be perfect masterpieces of the short story, or novella form. These stories largely dispense with any magical elements and are distilled to character development and the dramatic choices that must be made when chivalric vows, dynastic succession (and the human heart) find themselves in conflict. This is terrifically enjoyable reading!

Currently I'm going through Martin's early sci-fi, horror and hybrid fantasy material which rather routinely brought him Hugo, World Fantasy, Nebula, and Bram Stoker awards. I've particularly enjoyed the novels Armageddon Rag and Fevre Dream, and the short stories The Way of Cross and Dragon, and Sandkings.

 

[jedishrfu]

I read Isaac Asimovs Foundation trilogy ages ago and decided to reread them after I saw the I Robot movie. From there I got sucked into reading the I Robot short stories then began the task of reading every book connected to the Robot series, Foundation Prequels...

I was absolutely amazed at how Asimov had bound all of his various trilogies together into a comprehensive universe that spanned 20,000 years.

 

[chasrob]

Greg Bear has a distinctive style of writing that I recommend. Some of his far future work can be difficult to read through, but his near-future stuff--FORGE OF GOD, QUANTICO, MARIPOSA, etc., is as good as anyone's. Thrillers with a hint of SF, especially the last two.

 

[Jilang]

Robert Heinlein. He's dead now and the books were written some decades ago, but they are absolutely brilliant in terms of foresight and storytelling. I defy anyone to read Time Enough for Love and and not want to re-read it at least 6 times.

 

[Dotini]

Robert Heinlein. He's dead now and the books were written some decades ago, but they are absolutely brilliant in terms of foresight and storytelling. I defy anyone to read Time Enough for Love and and not want to re-read it at least 6 times.

"Even today, twenty years after his death, Heinlein remains the single most important and influential science fiction writer since H. G. Wells"

- George RR Martin
http://bnreview.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Guest-Books/George-R-R-Martin/ba-p/5151

 

[jedishrfu]

There was a similar battle between Isaac Asimov and Arthur C Clarke:

He admired a number of his contemporaries, in particular fellow science-fiction author and science writer Arthur C. Clarke, with whom he entered into the lighthearted "Treaty of Park Avenue," which stipulated that Clarke was free to refer to himself as the best science fiction writer in the world (Asimov being second-best), provided he admitted that Asimov was the best science writer in the world (Clarke being second-best). He freely acknowledged a number of his fellow writers as superior to himself in talent, saying of Harlan Ellison, "He is (in my opinion) one of the best writers in the world, far more skilled at the art than I am."

wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Asimov

 

[Astronuc]

I read Asimov, Heinlein, Clarke and Bradbury ages (4 decades) ago. I enjoyed the stories, particularly Asimov's Foundation series. At age 16, Heinlein's Glory Road made an impression, probably because I knew a girl like the one, Star, described in the story.

I would like to see the Foundation series made into movies, as long as the producers stick to the story.

 

[cobalt124]

I started as a kid on Doctor Who (read religiously over and over again), then John Christophers Tripod books, onto E.E Smith (who really got me into sci-fi), Asimov, Philip Jose Farmer, A E van Vogt, Ray Bradbury (Fahrenheir 451 we studied at school). Smith I couldn't read again later on, Asimov I could and enjoyed all the more, (found a 70's BBC Radio serialisation of the Foundation Trilogy on the internet that got me interested again). Recently read an omnibus of John Wyndhams novels. Couldn't put it down. Agreed we need more movies of classic sci-fi novels.

 

[meBigGuy]

Besides Clarke/Bradbury/Asimov/Heinlein/? I would add Phillip Dick, but he is not for everyone, I guess.

I'll read anything Charles Stross writes (but not all are great)
Also Alastair Reynolds (I loved "Pushing Ice")
Other authors I look forward to are Neal Stephenson, Vernor Vinge.

I started reading the Game of Thrones, but stopped when it caught up to the TV show. I figured if I kept reading I'd just get frustrated by the differences and it would ruin my future enjoyment of the TV show. The books are so good that the TV show's different treatment doesn't really distract from their enjoyment. (It was hard to stop)