Le Guin is the paragon of sociopolitical science fiction, and usually focuses on what different/future societies might be like. What Vinge is famous for is transhumanism/posthumanism and artificial intelligences.
Neal Stephenson is an author I have been meaning to read more of for years. The only thing I read by him is Snow Crash, which was awesome. Paolo Bacigalupi looks interesting - The Windup Girl was amazing - but as far as I know that's just about all he's written so far. He's only been an author for two or three years. Ted Chiang intrigues me too, but he's also only written a half-dozen or so stories so far - granted, pretty much every damn one has won an award. Still, I think the title "best author of all time" should go to someone who's written more than one or two things.
Michael Crichton I don't think much of at all. He may be a better writer than Clarke, but he's the polar opposite of Clarke in pretty much every way. He does a ton of research to make sure the science in his books is solid... but in all cases the science turns into a disaster in some way or another. No matter what it is - computers, alien life, time travel, amusement robots, genetic engineering - it'll kill ya (but not global warming, though - he didn't think that was real). The man seems mortally afraid of science, and turned out to be a real-life science denier, which to me seems like the opposite of what a science fiction writer should be about. Crichton may have been a great writer, but he wasn't a science fiction writer. I would say he was a pop horror/thriller writer who was just meticulous about using good science when creating his monsters.
The only things I've read by Bradbury are Fahrenheit 451 and a couple of short stories like "The Veldt", and I think I may have seen a TV version of The Martian Chronicles at one point. I suppose I should probably read more from him, but I don't know where to start. And of course, Douglas Adams, but he's another of those authors who only published a half-dozen SF things - just the 5 Hitchhiker books, the first Dirk Gently book, and a couple of short stories and radio/TV scripts. Philip K. Dick is awesome, though, and sadly not taken as seriously as he should be because of the movie adaptations.
If you're looking for candidates for "best SF author of all time", a good place to start is probably the list of SF Grand Masters:
- 1975 Robert A. Heinlein (1907-1988)
- 1976 Jack Williamson (1908-2006)
- 1977 Clifford D. Simak (1904-1988)
- 1979 L. Sprague de Camp (1907-2000)
- 1981 Fritz Leiber (1910-1992)
- 1984 Andre Norton (1912-2005)
- 1986 Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008)
- 1987 Isaac Asimov (1920-1992)
- 1988 Alfred Bester (1913-1987)
- 1989 Ray Bradbury (1920-2012)
- 1991 Lester del Rey (1915-1993)
- 1993 Frederik Pohl (1919-2013)
- 1995 Damon Knight (1922-2002)
- 1996 A. E. van Vogt (1912-2000)
- 1997 Jack Vance (1916-2013)
- 1998 Poul Anderson (1926-2001)
- 1999 Hal Clement (Harry Stubbs) (1922-2003)
- 2000 Brian W. Aldiss (1925-)
- 2001 Philip José Farmer (1918-2009)
- 2003 Ursula K. Le Guin (1929-)
- 2004 Robert Silverberg (1935-)
- 2005 Anne McCaffrey (1926-2011)
- 2006 Harlan Ellison (1934-)
- 2007 James Gunn (1923-)
- 2008 Michael Moorcock (1939-)
- 2009 Harry Harrison (1925-2012)
- 2010 Joe Haldeman (1943-)
- 2012 Connie Willis (1945-)
- 2013 Gene Wolfe (1931-)
If you want my guesses for who's going to win in 2014 (which will be announced at the end of December, I think), I'd say, in order of likelihood starting with the most likely:
- Samuel R. Delaney
- Larry Niven
- Gregory Benford
- David Brin
- Greg Bear
Orson Scott Card may have an outside chance, but I wouldn't bet on him.
Of course, to win a Grand Master award, you have to a) have written a ton of SF, b) been somewhat influential in SF, c) won a ton of SF awards, d) been around as an SF writer for a few decades, e) still be active in the SF community, and f) be alive. A number of great writers don't meet all of these criteria, even though they come close, like:
- Gordon Dickson (fails f)
- William Gibson (fails e)
- Frank Herbert (fails b and f)
- John Scalzi (fails d)
- Dan Simmons (fails a)
- Charles Stross (fails b and d)
- Roger Zelazny (fails f)
If you're interested in some of the greatest science fiction writers to have their work show up in anime (or manga), well:
- Isaac Asimov: Time of Eve is practically an Asimov story. (Actually, a neat mix of Asimov and Philip K. Dick.)
- Arthur C. Clarke: His influence is all over 2001 Nights (as if the name wasn't obvious enough).
- Ursula K. Le Guin: Had some of her work adapted by Miyazaki Jr.. (Actually, interesting story - Le Guin has always had a hard time with getting her work adapted, so she is cautious about okaying it. Hiyao Miyazaki asked permission, and she said no, because she'd never heard of him. She later regretted it. Years later, Gorou Miyazaki again asked permission, and Le Guin said yes, but was always a bit disappointed that Gorou did it rather than Hiyao.)
And if you want to give Japanese science fiction authors a try, here are a few whose works are available in English (though I haven't read any yet):
- Toh Enjoe (1972-) Self-Reference ENGINE, Harlequin's Butterfly (and The Empire of Corpses, with Project Itoh).
- Ryou Hanmura (1933-2002) Legend of an Enchanted Planet.
- Project Itoh (1974-2009) The Indifference Engine, Harmony. (Project Itoh, aka Satoshi Itoh, died at age 34 of cancer. Toh Enjoe was his buddy - they became friends while competing for the same award - and after Itoh died, Enjoe finished Itoh's last unfinished work: The Empire of Corpses.)
- Chouhei Kambayashi (1953-) Good Luck, Yukikaze, Prism, Unbroken Arrow.
- Koushuu Tani (1951-) Endless Search for the Enemy, Planet CB-8 Wintering Party.
- Sakyo Komatsu (1931-2011) Virus, Sayonara Jupiter.
- Taku Mayumura (1934-) Shiseikan (aka. Administrators).
- Ryu Mitsuse (1928-1999) Ten Billion Days and One Hundred Billion Nights, The Sunset, 2217 A.D..
- Yasutaka Tsutsui (1934-) The Girl Who Leaped Through Time, Paprika, Salmonella Men on Planet Porno.
- Masaki Yamada (1950-) Aphrodite.
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