Timewaster's Guide Archive

Departments => Books => Topic started by: Patriotic Kaz on March 26, 2009, 09:12:19 PM

Title: Robert Heinlien and the rest of the so-called 4 greats!!
Post by: Patriotic Kaz on March 26, 2009, 09:12:19 PM: Let us sit in judgement of the 4 greats of sci-fi... Are they really worthy of the title? Here is the list: Issac Asimov (author of Foundation), Robert Heinlien (Stranger in a Strange Land), Larry Niven (Ringworld and a Mote in God's Eye), Arthur C. Clarke (He's british and I've only read his short stories which can be good). What are your thoughts on them as a group or individualy?
Title: Re: Robert Heinlien and the rest of the so-called 4 greats!!
Post by: Bookstore Guy on March 26, 2009, 09:15:40 PM: i think this may be better in the "Books" section. :P
Title: Re: Robert Heinlien and the rest of the so-called 4 greats!!
Post by: Patriotic Kaz on March 27, 2009, 03:41:57 PM: Yeah i saw eragon and forgot it was a movie....and it won't let me delete this topic...
Title: Re: Robert Heinlien and the rest of the so-called 4 greats!!
Post by: Bookstore Guy on March 27, 2009, 05:08:27 PM: Eragon has that confounding effect on many of us. I'm sure someone will move this topic if we ask nicely. The question is worthy of discussion.
Title: Re: Robert Heinlien and the rest of the so-called 4 greats!!
Post by: Skar on March 27, 2009, 05:38:12 PM: Where does that list of 4 greats come from?
Title: Re: Robert Heinlien and the rest of the so-called 4 greats!!
Post by: Patriotic Kaz on March 27, 2009, 07:17:09 PM: I'm not certain about the origin of the list but i have seen it on the back of a Larry Niven book and a collection of stories by Arthur C. Clarke i got for chirstmas...
Title: Re: Robert Heinlien and the rest of the so-called 4 greats!!
Post by: readerMom on March 27, 2009, 08:14:08 PM: Asimov deserves the title great, if only for the sheer volume of work. His short story Nightfall is brilliant.
Heinlein was an important part of my teenage years, arguing mentally with his works formed a lot of my opinions that have only been reinforced over the years.
I haven't read Clarke or Niven in a very long time, so I don't really remember.
That being said, a lot of Heinlein's stuff has not aged well. Science fiction is always odd to read after whatever date it was set in. Asimov's writing is very dry to me. The plot and the ideas always seem more important than the characters, so I have a hard time getting through some of his stuff.
I think anyone with an interest in the genre should read at least a sampling of these authors to see where so many ideas floating around came from, and to see how they have changed.
Title: Re: Robert Heinlien and the rest of the so-called 4 greats!!
Post by: Peter Ahlstrom on March 27, 2009, 10:57:06 PM: Skar has an interesting story involving Larry Niven.

All were (are, in the case of Niven) great writers, though Heinlein's pre- and post-Stranger books are rather different from each other.
Title: Re: Robert Heinlien and the rest of the so-called 4 greats!!
Post by: Pink Bunkadoo on March 28, 2009, 01:19:16 AM: I've enjoyed Asimov's short stories and autobiographical stuff. I slogged through the first Foundation book and just couldn't go any further after that.
Title: Re: Robert Heinlien and the rest of the so-called 4 greats!!
Post by: Patriotic Kaz on March 28, 2009, 09:36:22 PM: Man i loved the Foundation books though i really couldn't get into any or the prequels...
Title: Re: Robert Heinlien and the rest of the so-called 4 greats!!
Post by: Hero of Ages on May 27, 2009, 06:44:23 AM: Sorry for the thread rez.

I have 2 new authors to add to the list. They, like Niven, are still publishing. I really enjoy the alternate future that Ben Bova has postulated. Some of his ideas have real scientific merit and so it makes his books even more real to me. The other is Orson Scott Card. His Ender's Game series is one of the best sci-fi series out there. Don't miss his short stories and the Worthing Chronicle.
Title: Re: Robert Heinlien and the rest of the so-called 4 greats!!
Post by: Patriotic Kaz on May 27, 2009, 04:14:39 PM: Orson Scott Card is a B+ writer at best... to compare him to the "classics" is ridiculous

And if you want science merit read Asimov
Title: Re: Robert Heinlien and the rest of the so-called 4 greats!!
Post by: The Jade Knight on May 28, 2009, 03:42:44 AM: Card does sometimes Poll as one of the greatest Sci-Fi writers of all time, however.
Title: Re: Robert Heinlien and the rest of the so-called 4 greats!!
Post by: ErikHolmes on May 28, 2009, 04:28:14 AM: Quote from: Champion Kaz on May 27, 2009, 04:14:39 PM
Orson Scott Card is a B+ writer at best... to compare him to the "classics" is ridiculous

B+ at best?

The Ender series is the only Science Fiction series to ever have won both the Hugo and the Nebula--twice. The third book also got another nomination for the Hugo.

Not even Dune can make that claim.
Title: Re: Robert Heinlien and the rest of the so-called 4 greats!!
Post by: Patriotic Kaz on May 28, 2009, 04:13:04 PM: Yeah i know he is a decorated author... which always makes me laugh because they're so many better writers out there such as Brandon
Title: Re: Robert Heinlien and the rest of the so-called 4 greats!!
Post by: Renoard on May 29, 2009, 06:55:27 PM: Frankly, I always considered Asimov a B+ writer because he is so dry. ( Being compared to him was a low point in the Reading Excuses for me. :P ) I'm wondering if we shouldn't remove him and put Bradbury (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, S is for Space) and De Camp (Lest Darkness Fall, The Glory That Was).
Title: Re: Robert Heinlien and the rest of the so-called 4 greats!!
Post by: Peter Ahlstrom on May 29, 2009, 07:43:58 PM: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep is by Philip K. Dick...
Title: Re: Robert Heinlien and the rest of the so-called 4 greats!!
Post by: Patriotic Kaz on May 29, 2009, 08:31:19 PM: I didn't make the list... i've read it on the back of several different books and saw it on amazon
Title: Re: Robert Heinlien and the rest of the so-called 4 greats!!
Post by: Renoard on May 29, 2009, 09:40:38 PM: Oops you're right. I meant to say I Sing the Body Electric. Though Dicke might be a good addition too. I've been confusing those two titles for 20 years since I was having a brain fart, standing in a Walden Books and reading the backs of mass market editions of both. I bought Pawn of Prophecy instead that day. :)