Wind-Up Girl - It was different when it was published, but "changed SFF forever"? Hardly. Snow Crash -
Game of Thrones - This kind of political fantasy had been done, and done. Martin just did it longer, much longer. Or maybe it's the length that changed...etc.
No mention of Robert E. Howard, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and E.E. Smith? Your list is invalid.
Seriously, though, for io9 this isn't a bad list. Wells, Verne, Asimov, Clarke, Heinlein (although I'd quibble that STARSHIP TROOPERS has been more influential than STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND, given the amount of military SF out there). Not as many flavors-of-the-month you usually see on their lists.
Sorry Rick but I love Dhalgren. Agree with you on the Hunger Games tho. I guess Stranger in a Strange Land was very influential but it is not very good. Neither is Foundation which not very well written. Should be some Philip Dick here.
James-EE Smith? He is totally unreadable. He was unreadable when I was 14 and is unreadable now. And when I was 14 I was not very particular. He is the ultimate example of bad writing.
I'm not a huge fan of Smith's writing, although if I'm in the right mood I can enjoy it, but when you think about his concepts, who's been more influential in SF? Wells and Verne, maybe John W. Campbell. I agree about Philip K. Dick, though.
8 comments:
I agree with many, but
Dhalgren - Really? It's not even very good.
Wind-Up Girl - It was different when it was published, but "changed SFF forever"? Hardly.
Snow Crash -
Game of Thrones - This kind of political fantasy had been done, and done. Martin just did it longer, much longer. Or maybe it's the length that changed...etc.
Kindred - Nope.
Hunger Games - Are you kidding me?
No mention of Robert E. Howard, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and E.E. Smith? Your list is invalid.
Seriously, though, for io9 this isn't a bad list. Wells, Verne, Asimov, Clarke, Heinlein (although I'd quibble that STARSHIP TROOPERS has been more influential than STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND, given the amount of military SF out there). Not as many flavors-of-the-month you usually see on their lists.
Sorry Rick but I love Dhalgren. Agree with you on the Hunger Games tho. I guess Stranger in a Strange Land was very influential but it is not very good. Neither is Foundation which not very well written. Should be some Philip Dick here.
James-EE Smith? He is totally unreadable. He was unreadable when I was 14 and is unreadable now. And when I was 14 I was not very particular. He is the ultimate example of bad writing.
Smith might not have been a good writer, but his books were hugely influential. Probably belong on a list like this.
I'm not a huge fan of Smith's writing, although if I'm in the right mood I can enjoy it, but when you think about his concepts, who's been more influential in SF? Wells and Verne, maybe John W. Campbell. I agree about Philip K. Dick, though.
Olaf Stapledon's Star Maker has got to be somewhere on any such 'influential' list.
In sort of an upset as lists like these go, I have read 16 of these.
Personally, I'd add Dune, The Man in the High Castle, and maybe Stand on Zanzibar to the list. The Day of the Triffids, too, maybe.
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