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Writers Who Will Stand the Test of Time?

Posted by Cliff on from the for-the-well-read-among-us dept.

Embedded Geek asks: "Every year, the online version of Locus (a trade magazine of Science Fiction & Fantasy) asks the question: "Name the 5 deceased 20th century SF & fantasy writers you think will still be read 50 years from now." The results favored some of the bigger names (Heinlein, Asimov, Tolkein) as well as a few lesser known figures (Simak, Bester). I would like to ask a broader question: What authors (in any genre, fiction or nonfiction) alive today will still be read (hard copy or online) in 2051?" If I had to answer off of the top of my head, I know William Gibson, Charles Sheffield, and Orson Scott Card would be in my list, but that's not all of them. A few authors who I thought would be classics have since vanished (whatever did happen to Daniel Keys Moran, anyways?) aand of course there are a few iffy ones which I could be convinced on (C.J. Cherryh, anyone). What authors do you feel will stand the test of time? Yeah, these are sci-fi authors, but that's about what I read these days.

2 of 843 comments (clear)

  1. Well, it's obvious! by addaon · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Jon Katz!

    (Moderation guidelines: +1, Bork Bork Bork)

    --

    I've had this sig for three days.
  2. Damn Good Authors, Books by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Redundant

    1) Carl Sagan - The Demon Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
    2) AC Clarke - Rendezvous with Rama.
    3) Richard Dawkins - The Selfish Gene, The Blind Watchmaker
    4) Daniel Dennett - Content and Consciousness, Brainstorms
    5) Robert Wright - The Moral Animal
    6) Stephen Hawking - A Brief History of Time