This isn't regarding Bradbury and perhaps there's a more appropriate website to post such a question but, I think you guys may be able to help me out anyway.

I've been reading Science Fiction for more than 20 years and have almost exhausted the material from the mid 40's to the mid 70's. My question is this- Can anyone recommend some great authors or novels from the 80's and 90's. Thank You, grasstains

Try here; they know everything. http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=rec.arts.sf.written&btnG=Google+Search&meta=

I haven't stayed as current as I would like, but these two are pretty good and quite popular:

William Gibson: NEUROMANCER, PATTERN RECOGNITION, MONA LISA OVERDRIVE.

Neal Stephenson: SNOW CRASH, CRYPTONOMICON.

P.S. I thought WE knew everything at this site! :-)

I am familiar with Neuromancer, or it's existence, and will definately be reading it. I will also check out that website. I really respect the opinions and wisdom of those who participate on this website, so I thought what better place to start my search. You DO know everything at this site and that's why we keep coming back. Thanks Again, grasstains

You seem to like the same sort of fiction that I like, Mr Dark, except the scifi. I like scifi sometimes but can't stand it too long before it starts to bother me. But I was given a book by a friend called "Lost Boys" by Orson Scott Card who seems to be a popular modern scifi writer. Have you read anything by him? I hesitate because of the popular modern writers I've read when I finish their books I am not happy. One thing about them is the slang which is tiresome because I hear it on tv, in movies, and by everybody else. Some 70's short stories are laughable now, at least to me, because of all the "groovy's" and other nonsense. Another reason is that the authors write crudely as though we all are deviants. The characters almost are always despicable people that causes me to really consider whether the person's villain is not so bad a fellow after all. I'm not implying that I want a perfect protaganist but I would rather have one that is somewhat likeable. Lastly I dislike them because of their stretched length. Not many writers know when to edit or stop. I don't know how many books I've read that should have been at most a short story. If you need 500 or more pages to express your genius, stop! you are not a genius.

[This message has been edited by Ought Not (edited 02-06-2004).]

grasstains:

.....My favorites include a writer that really started out great...I always thought he was brilliant. But he never exploded into a 'Nova' like I thought he would. I know he eventually taught college in Colorado. Nonetheless, try reading at least the early works (1960s)...of author Vance Aandahl. He appeared regularly in 'The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.'
click on, or type into finder: http://isfdb.tamu.edu/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?Vance_Aandahl

.....And Rog Phillips' magnificent 1958 "Rat in the Skull', was a most memorable story.



[This message has been edited by Nard Kordell (edited 02-06-2004).]

Dandelion: That website freaked me out, couldn't cope. Back to the friendly confines.

Nard: I was originally looking for something or someone more recent but....You've got my eyebrows raised over this Vance Aandahl guy. I have two SF encyclopedias and he's in niether one. The hunt is on. Thank You. Is Phillips' Rat And Skull a novel or short story?

Ought Not: Orson Scott Card is one of the few authors I have read from the 80's and 90's. "Enders Game" is considered to be his best work and one of THE best novels ever. I have not read Lost Boys. Is that the same as the movie with Keifer Sutherland?

grasstains,

to answer your original question, why not take a look at the award winners and nominees from the 1980s onwards? You can view lists of Nebula Award winners (voted for by the Science Fiction Writers of America) here:
http://dpsinfo.com/awardweb/nebulas/

and Hugo Award winners (voted for by attendees of the world SF conventions) here:
http://dpsinfo.com/awardweb/hugos/

Of course, award winners are not always the best; and the best are not always award winners; but this is a good starting point.

- Phil

grasstains:

No, Vance Aandahl never appeared in a science fiction encyclopedia. I never could figure that one out...

As to the Rog Phillips story, it was nominated for a Hugo award, and appeared in 'IF Magazine', in 1958. I can't recall the length, but it was something close to a short story...

Ought Not: I read Ender's Game and loved it. In addition to that one, though, I've only read a few short stories. Fortunately, for me, I read Ender's Game without knowing anything about it, so I got the full impact of the "surprise" ending.

Philnic: Good suggestion. I'm going to print those out and try to start doing some catching up.

I know there is great stuff going on in literature, and imagine there is a lot of good sci-fi going on, too.

I do share the concern about the quality of language and story out there; but I hope to find that my worries are not justified. Like I say, there is some really good work being done in fiction/literature -- I'm hoping to find that the same is true in sci-fi.

RE: OS Card. He also wrote a charming historical fantasy series about "Alvin Maker", starting out with "Seventh Son".

Also, Roger Zelazny's Amber series is one of my favorites.

You ever hear of a fellow named Joseph Wood Krutch?
(Click on, or type into finder http://home.utm.net/pan/krutch.htm

Krutch appears on the 'favorite reading list' of Ray Bradbury, years ago. Ray mentions that it was in his reading of Joseph Krutch, that made him write "The Off Season", which appeared in 'The Martian Chronicles'.


[This message has been edited by Nard Kordell (edited 02-07-2004).]

Being a long-time devotee of Henry Thoreau, I've been a fan of Krutch through his biography of Thoreau and some of his nature writings.

I was completely unaware of the Bradbury connection. Thanks for the insight, Nard.

philnic:
Great advice. The reason for being so out of touch is that my SF reference books are out of date, circa 1978 and 1980. Now I have a pretty descent idea of who's who since that time. For instance, I learned an author named Lois McMasterujold won the Hugo Award for best novel three times from 1991-1995. I've never heard of her before. Thank you

One of my personal favorites of the books from that period is DOOMSDAY BOOK, by Connie Willis. It's a time travel story of a young woman in a futuristic England who is inadvertently transported back to the time of the Black Death, and unable to return. A most harrowing book, wonderfully written, and ultimately life affirming. I have recommended it many times, and never heard anything but raves from those who have read it.