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Which Sci-Fi Writer are you?

Domi

By Domi
in Noobermeet

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Azazello

Azazello

Posted
Posted
Arthur C. Clarke

Well known for nonfiction science writing and for early promotion of the effort toward space travel, his fiction was often grand and visionary.

Not a bad choice. He is a paragon of classical science fiction. Plus he lives in The Tropics. Smart man, with good taste.
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Meira

Meira

Posted
Posted
Hal Clement (Harry C. Stubbs)

 

A quiet and underrated master of "hard science" fiction who, among other things, foresaw integrated circuits back in the 1940s.

 

The only sci-fi I've read has been by Ursula LeGuin or Philip K. Dick, so I have no idea who this guy is. I too would probably have better luck with fantasy writer test. :p

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cirerrek

cirerrek

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Posted

Gregory Benford?

 

A master literary stylist who is also a working scientist.

 

I've read a fair amount of sci-fi and I've don't recall hearing of this chap.

 

Guess I'll need to do some research and decide if I need to add him to my reading list.

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Neferit

Neferit

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Hal Clement (Harry C. Stubbs)

A quiet and underrated master of "hard science" fiction who, among other things, foresaw integrated circuits back in the 1940s.

 

 

*ahem* I didn't even know that someone like him even existed :p

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Elfen Lied

Elfen Lied

Posted
Posted
Heh, I wish they had 'fantasy'. I am not big on Sci-Fi, so I have no idea who I ended up to be

 

same, i took the test multiple times with different answers and i didnt know any of them

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Eleima

Eleima

Posted
Posted

I'm James Tiptree, Jr. (Alice B. Sheldon)...

In the 1970s she was perhaps the most memorable, and one of the most popular, short story writers. Her real life was as fantastic as her fiction.

 

Wow... Euh, but who's she? Blush.gif

I really hope Frank Herbert's in there somewhere, I'm a huuuuuuuuuge fan of his works (but then again, the only other sci-fi writer I know of is Arthur C. Clark et saac Asimov, so... Blush.gif ).

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Caedwyr

Caedwyr

Posted
Posted
Heh, I wish they had 'fantasy'. I am not big on Sci-Fi, so I have no idea who I ended up to be: Olaf Stapledon. But I guess, I need to check him out.

 

http://paulkienitz.net/skiffy.html

 

 

I've read a couple books by Olaf Stapledon:

 

Sirius: A Fantasy of Love and Discord (1944) (ISBN 0-575-07057-9)

Star Maker (1937) (ISBN 0-8195-6692-6)

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olaf_Stapledon#Bibliography

 

Sirius was the first one I read:

 

The premise of the novel is not unusual: scientist Thomas Trelone creates a super-intelligent dog, named Sirius. Yet a sense of existential questioning suffuses the book, as the author delves into every aspect of Sirius's psyche. Both the author and his characters go to great lengths to prevent Sirius from becoming a circus-type wonderdog, and instead seek to develop Sirius's character much like an author and a family would create and foster that of a human child.

 

The novel describes the dilemmas and problems faced by Sirius, created by the English scientist Trelone and raised in North Wales, near Trawsfynydd. Sirius is born at the same time as Trelone's human daughter Plaxy, and the two of them are raised together as brother and sister. The book is narrated by Plaxy's husband.

 

I'd have to say that it starts out decently, but the last third of the book goes off in a direction which was totally unbelievable and felt extremely forced. For a good start I was pretty dissapointed with how it ended up turning out. Still, if you are looking to read some earlier Sci-fi set in otherwise normal surroundings it may be worth your while to pick it up.

 

Star Make was the second one I read:

 

Star Maker is a cornerstone work of science fiction. Stapledon undertakes the immense task of describing the entire history of life in the universe. It dwarfs in scale even his 1930 book Last and First Men, which is a history of the human species over two billion years. It tackles philosophical themes such as the essence of life, of birth, decay and death, and the relationship between creation and creator, and it succeeds in evoking a sense of the sheer scale and complexity of the cosmos. The narrator starts with a concern at the clash of ideas on Earth and finds analogies to both communism and fascism among the aliens he visits.

 

A pervading theme is that of progressive unity within and between different civilizations. Some of the elements and themes briefly discussed prefigure later fiction concerning genetic engineering and alien life forms. It has long been considered to be one of the finest works of science fiction ever written.

 

It feels a bit dated, especially with respect to the science but its an interesting read. Like many of the sci-fi novels of the era it comes from character development is sparse to non-existent and the story is entirely plot driven (character, personal interactions, atmosphere and most other literary techniques are never touched upon). It was probably the lack of interesting characters and character interactions that ended up putting me off it somewhat, and I ended up finding somewhat difficult to finish.

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