The Big and the Small discussion

So what authors of science, be it non-fiction or hard science fiction, do you enjoy most? I'm a huge fan of Brian Greene, Michio Kaku, Poul Anderson and Larry Niven. The first two for their ability to break down complex subjects like physics and cosmology, into material I can understand. The latter two, both science fiction writers, I enjoy due to their penchant for using real real science in their world building.

All the old, hard sf, writers, Asimov, Clark, Heinlein, Niven, Pohl and of course Frank Herbert.

Few can match them these days except for Ian M. Banks. He is so good that after exhausting his sf I started reading his non-sf, which turns out to be brilliant too.

Ah, Frederik Pohl, I have been wanting to read Gateway. It will hopefully be one I read soon. Frank Herbert, is a given, I have read Dune, now like three times. Where to start there? Political, ecological, religion, it's all there. In my own writing, I want to emulate him in creating works that take place in the future yet touch on those plot-points that prove timeless.

As much as I enjoy Niven and Anderson for their ability to use hard science, I admit that at times I am left flat by their prose. Asimov was good, but I did at times find his characters somewhat one dimensional. Though, his ideas were without doubt, groundbreaking. Heinlen was best, in my own opinion, in his early days. Later, he drank his own kool-aid and became a bit odd.

Herbert, however, knew how to truly write. However, he too grew a bit strange as his own series ground towards it's own conclusion. I enjoyed his foresight, which I found reminiscent of writers such as Roger Zelazny. You really do not see that today, which is unfortunate.

William Faulkner, Raymond Chandler, Garcia Marquez--guys who write sentences that take my breath away, and who are doing more than just writing sentences, but giving us a clear sense of emotional and moral clarity about ourselves and the world.