Flights of Fantasy discussion

An interesting article from i09: Great Unsung Science Fiction Authors That Everybody Should Read

Included in the article are:

John Brunner
Doris Piserchia
Adam-Troy Castro
Kathleen Ann Goonan
Robert Sheckley
C.L. Moore
William Barton
Kage Baker
Paul Di Filippo
Carol Emshwiller
Clifford D. Simak
Amy Thomson

The names are all new to me, and I've added a few of the suggestions to my wishlist.

Thoughts?

Who would you add to (or subtract from) the list?

Page blocked. I'll look when I get home. I'm curious.

Chris, this isn't the details but I pulled the names for you. I'll try to link them to their GR profiles shortly. Gotta go do some work...

John Brunner
Doris Piserchia
Adam-Troy Castro
Kathleen Ann Goonan
Robert Sheckley
C.L. Moore
William Barton
Kage Baker
Paul Di Filippo
Carol Emshwiller
Clifford D. Simak
Amy Thomson

I've only read one of those (Sheckley), and only heard of one other (Simak).

I wouldn't say that I was all that impressed with Sheckley though, to be honest.

MrsJoseph wrote: "Chris, this isn't the details but I pulled the names for you. I'll try to link them to their GR profiles shortly. Gotta go do some work...

John Brunner
Doris Piserchia
Adam-Troy Castro
Kathleen ..."

Thank you Mrs.J! I've added the list (with author links) to the first post. :)

Thanks, MrsJ....

I haven't read a single word from any of those authors. LOL. Though I've heard of several.

I've heard of Simak because of Stephen King (Ted Brautigan liked him) and I've been curious about Kage Baker's stuff.

Welcome!

I like old school science fiction more than the heavy science stuff off today. Two authors I really enjoy that I don't see too much of are,

Henry Kuttner and Poul Anderson.
I also like Leigh Bracket - she wrote in the style of Burroughs - more fantasy-science than straight science fiction.

I wouldn't necessarily call these authors unsung but they are forgotten.

I'll have to look at the list later...

Poul Anderson did a lot of good stuff.

Andre Norton

I remember enjoying her Moon Magic series: https://www.goodreads.com/series/4919...

Though the books I remember most are books 3-4.

the few i've read off that list make me intrigued as to the rest of the list:

Castro's Emissaries from the Dead is every bit as weird/trippy as they say (A+++ worldbuilding, B- main character, though)

C.L. Moore consistently turned out AMAZING short stories, and indeed, picking up a copy of her "best of" anthology is a super idea.

the first book of Baker's company series, In the Garden of Iden, is both fantastic and hilarious (though it is not a comedy by any stretch).

and Emshwiller's The Mount. just. wow.

H Beam Piper
Alfred Bester
Eric Frank Russel
James Blish

MrsJoseph wrote: "Andre Norton

I remember enjoying her Moon Magic series: https://www.goodreads.com/series/4919...

Though the books I remember most are books 3-4."

My own favorites among her SF are Catseye, Dread Companion, and Ice Crown

The Stars My Destination and The Demolished Man as thecryptile mentioned.

Mary wrote: "My own favorites among her SF are Catseye, Dread Companion, and Ice Crown "

I have Ice Crown but I haven't read it. I'm not sure about the other two. I really need to buy more books...

The only Andre Norton I've read was The Time Traders and I didn't care for it. I will admit I'm not really into the type of story it was either. I am a fan of classic science fiction / fantasy though. Maybe I should give her another try?

I did get Lore of the Witch World (I think...) when it was free on Amazon.

MrsJoseph wrote: "Mary wrote: "My own favorites among her SF are Catseye, Dread Companion, and Ice Crown "

I have Ice Crown but I haven't read it. I'm not sure about the other two. I really need to buy more books..."


Ha! I have the omnibus of the Catseye series.

Nienna wrote: "The only Andre Norton I've read was The Time Traders and I didn't care for it. I will admit I'm not really into the type of story it was either. I am a fan of classic science fiction ..."

That's one of her really early ones. I don't think I've read that one. I can say that her writing is different than a lot today - some people feel she reads dated - and that one is from 1958...

Lore of the Witch World contains some good shorts:
Spider Silk (1976)
Sand Sister (1979)
Falcon Blood (1979)
Legacy from Sorn Fen (1973)
Sword of Unbelief (1977)
The Toads of Grimmerdale (1973)
Changeling (1980)

I can't remember if she does any explaining in these stories (backstory, I mean). The Toads of Grimmerdale and Changeling are connected, IIRC.

If you have any questions, please let me know - I'm pretty good with my Witch World lore.

thecryptile wrote: "H Beam Piper
Alfred Bester
Eric Frank Russel
James Blish"

Good call with James Blish. I'll have to check out the others on your list based on association.

MrsJoseph wrote: "I can't remember if she does any explaining in these stories (backstory, I mean). The Toads of Grimmerdale and Changeling are connected, IIRC."

Yes -- "Changeling"'s the sequel.

But Witch World is a series like Discworld is a series -- lots of stories set in the same world -- albeit with subseries that are more connected.

Mary wrote: "But Witch World is a series like Discworld is a series -- lots of stories set in the same world -- albeit with subseries that are more connected. "

True. But Norton doesn't do a lot of explaining. I always try to make that clear to new readers. I didn't in the past and a few friends were...confused.

There is a rich background and history to the Witch World that is more absorbed than explained the way they do now.

I like Brunner's stuff, but I'm not a big fan of Piserchia. Her stuff feels like it gets weird for the sake of being weird sometimes. Feels forced. Never heard of the others. I'll give them a shot.

Madeleine L'Engle's "A Wrinkle in Time", remember reading this from my local library like 30 years ago. Super enjoyed it and was just reminded by the word tesseract that I randomly found in another discussion.

Ian wrote: "Good call with James Blish. I'll have to check out the others on your list based on association."

Piper's works are mostly in the public domain now, and are available for free on sites like gutenberg.org.

Piper's works are mostly in the public domain now, and are available for free on sites..."

And free or super cheap in the Kindle store, I see. Excellent!

Charles L. Fontenay is certianly nearly forgotten. Many of his works are available in a quite inexpensive Megapack and in Project Gutenberg. One of his best--a novelette called "The Silk and the Song" is rather difficult to get. It is in an inexpensive pb "THE BEST FROM FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION (6th) Sixth Series:" whfich one can buy from ABE or Amazon.

Another great writer from the Golden Age is James H Schmitz. Fortunately one can get his wonderful "Hub" series from Baen Books as well as the famous "Witches of Karres" {and the lovingly created sequels by Mercedes Lackey, Eric Flint and David Freer "The Wizard Of Karres" and the "Sorceress of Karres'.

Maybe I spend too much time wandering the scifi/fantasy aisles in bookstores, but a good number of the authors initially listed are known to me: Sheckley, Brunner, Moore...I've even got a copy of Simak's "Way Station" on my shelf.

As for other authors I might add, I'm a big fan of Jack Vance, who who won the Hugo, Nebula and World Fantasy Award. (He also won the Edgar Award for his mystery writing.) Someone already mentioned Alfred Bester, and the blurb alone for his "The Demolished Man" was worth the price of the book:

"In the future, the police are psychic. Crime is unknown. Escape impossible. Yet in this crime-proof society there resides a rebel - a man about to commit a murder so perfect, so startling, it will defy detection..."

This list is now almost five years old, so I'm assuming some of the authors have gained more exposure.

I, however, have still not read any of them because, well, life. What I need is a time turner to pause time, not even go back, just pause it, so that I could gain an extra 8 to 12 hours to each day specifically for reading!

Jack Vance is certainly one of the greats. His “Dying Earth” series is terrific.
A tribute anthology “

I love Jack Vance as well. His “Dying Earth” series is marvellous. A tribute anthology “Songs of the Dying Earth” is well worth reading.