Ok so whos the best Sci Fi Writer???

[Fitz1980]

I've been a fan of Arthur C. Clark ever since I was a teen.  He's one who was always known for the more "hard sci-fi" where much of his worlds were created based on extrapolating from current scientific theory vs just treating technology as a form of magic or plot device with no real idea as to how it would work.

That said I do feel that his characters are often flat and boring.  His stories tend to be more about the world and the ideas than the characters who drive the plot.

[TheSeane]

I really enjoyed George R. R. Martin's Game of Thrones series.  Read the first four back before they were completed.  Still haven't seen any of the tv series, but I hear it's good.  Also really liked reading some of H.P. Lovecraft's imaginative stories.  He really fits more under the horror genre, but man that guy had a fun writing style and really put you in some dark moods.  His life is just as interesting as his stories.  If you get the chance go watch the documentary on him.  It's what got me started on his short stories.  Rat's in the Walls is very creepy.

You can watch the entire thing here :-)
http://www.snagfilms.com/films/title/lovecraft_fear_of_the_unknown#

[keiranmac]

Dorothy Fontana

[The_Xenologer]

Some of my favourite ones are:

Robert J. Sawyer
Isaac Asimov
Orson Scott Card
Greg Bear
Douglas Adams

[Karla]

It occurred to me that the term 'Science fiction' is a bit of a misnomer. It should be really be called fantastical future fiction. That sounds much better :)

If you think about it, it's not about science at all. You don't get many books about someone spending half a year performing an experiment, writing up their results and presenting them at a conference*. But I suppose if the author uses sound scientific principles then you could argue that it actually is Sci-fi (unlike the original series of Star Trek where they had to figure it all out after it became really popular)


(* Ironically enough I have actually just written a chapter in my own book where the heroine gives a presentation to a science department at university. I was trying to be satirical. I'll get Stuart to tell me if I have succeeded or not.)

[Toresu]

To me, i keep with the classics: H.G. Wells and Isaac Asimov

[The_Xenologer]

To me, i keep with the classics: H.G. Wells and Isaac Asimov

What have you read by Asimov? I've read the Robot novels and most of the Foundation series. His stuff is great!

[roccovittore]

My favorite is David Gerrold. Not only did he write the Star Wolf series, he wrote Star Trek's classic "The Trouble with Tribbles."

[lord_george]

Gerrold is pretty good!
My favorite is a newer author, Karen Traviss. I've read all of her Wess'har Wars series, her Star Wars: Republic Commando & Legacy of the Force novels, and the first in her Gears of War novel series (I'm not a gamer, but I loved the book anyway)

[eagleday]

Jules Verne is my childhood, while Michael Crichton is my teenage.

[nomadicnudist]

I'll leave "best" up to other people to decide.  Far and away the funniest is Douglas Adams who wrote "Hicthhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."

[Dan]

One writer who I think is kind of brushed aside today is Philip K. Dick.  My favorite novel of his is "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?," which was adapted into "Blade Runner."  His sci-fi was always grounded in oftentimes sad reality, following heroes trying to navigate that murky existence.  In short, heavy stuff.

I loved Minority Report. It has little to do with the movie of the same title.

[Kyle]

Philip K Dick is my personal favorite.
Arthur C Clark is very good, but his characters aren't. The ones that don't focus so much on the characters and more on the science are great.
I've never been a fan of Asimov. Although Foundation was great, the sequels were very weak I thought.
Frank Herbert's Dune is probably one of the best out there. Although some of the sequels aren't so great. I haven't read his Lazarus stuff, but it's supposed to be better than Dune, according to fans.

[Ed]

I read Hardeman's Forever War for the first time the other day. Thoroughly enjoyed it, especially as I wasn't expecting it to have a happy ending! Made me really rather happy :P

Iain M Banks is still my favourite, though. Got his new one, The Hydrogen Sonata, for Christmas and while it's not his best Culture novel by a fair way, it's still got some very, very good bits, some making me giggle uncontrollably, and his imagination and flair for the visually spectacular is undiminished.

[Malachite]

I personally would have to go with John Brunner. I'm not certain if he is terribly well known, but he wrote the most singularly enthralling science fiction novel I have ever read, entitled "The Crucible of Time". In essence, it followed the development of a species of aliens, with sections devoted to major historical figures. It was interesting, well written, and made one feel as if one was actually reading about an alien world. No work I've read before or since has had quite the same feel as said novel.