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Eric Frank Russell is a good choice that a lot of SF readers miss. *Wasp* would be an especially good choice for Miles fans.
I liked the first few EFR I read, but then hit one that had a lot of unconscious mid-century racism and stopped reading him. LOVE Zenna Henderson, though, and James Schmitz - neither of whom are as well known now as they deserve.
Yes. Cordwainer Smith. He is amazing. My 22 year old son is also a fan, as well as another person I know who is in their upper 20s.
This is the first time in a couple of decades I've heard of ANYONE but me reading Cordwainer Smith!! What a thrill, he set some notions in motion that are still out there today.
I can't express how happy it makes me that Ms. Bujold endorses Cordwainer Smith. I just got into his work recently and it has absolutely exploded my brain, although I find it difficult to explain the appeal to other sci-fi fans. As for aging well, it's certainly different than anything I've read from the last 20 years, but IMHO that's to the good.
Yeah for Lloyd Biggle, Jr.! I still zealously protect my old paperbacks and re-read them every five years or so.
I asked this question quite a while ago, but felt I should answer it as well. I'm enjoying much of Glynn Stewart's work. He's obviously a fan of yours also. He likes to use names from other authors (films included) as minor characters or ship names (for example there was a very small arms dealer named Victor Rotha).
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
I second the mention of Zenna Henderson. You seldom see that name on book shelves any more. I am lucky to have an omnibus of all her People stories, tied together with a sort of frame. I reread it often.
I should also mention Randall Garrett's Lord Darcy collection. Another one I've read several times, but it's been a while - I really need to revisit that one as I enjoyed it very much.
I like most of these, although I still haven't caught up with Cordwainer Smith. Susan Price: I don't think I've noticed racism in Eric Frank Russell's fiction, but racism has been a basic characteristic of humanity for most of human history. Be thankful that it's starting to change these days. If you can't take it in fiction, stick to recent fiction and don't go back.
I don't recall racism in EFR's books; but the sexism is quite noticeable. There are hardly any females who propel plot action. But that is true of a high percentage of early SF. Even Ursula LeGuin later looked back at her own early work and called herself out on unconscious sexism (specifically in *A Wizard of Earthsea*). She made up for it, though, with the even better later books in the series.
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Steve
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Jan 06, 2015 09:51AM
Eric Frank Russell is a good choice that a lot of SF readers miss. *Wasp* would be an especially good choice for Miles fans.
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I liked the first few EFR I read, but then hit one that had a lot of unconscious mid-century racism and stopped reading him. LOVE Zenna Henderson, though, and James Schmitz - neither of whom are as well known now as they deserve.
Yes. Cordwainer Smith. He is amazing. My 22 year old son is also a fan, as well as another person I know who is in their upper 20s.
This is the first time in a couple of decades I've heard of ANYONE but me reading Cordwainer Smith!! What a thrill, he set some notions in motion that are still out there today.
I can't express how happy it makes me that Ms. Bujold endorses Cordwainer Smith. I just got into his work recently and it has absolutely exploded my brain, although I find it difficult to explain the appeal to other sci-fi fans. As for aging well, it's certainly different than anything I've read from the last 20 years, but IMHO that's to the good.
Yeah for Lloyd Biggle, Jr.! I still zealously protect my old paperbacks and re-read them every five years or so.
I asked this question quite a while ago, but felt I should answer it as well. I'm enjoying much of Glynn Stewart's work. He's obviously a fan of yours also. He likes to use names from other authors (films included) as minor characters or ship names (for example there was a very small arms dealer named Victor Rotha).https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
I second the mention of Zenna Henderson. You seldom see that name on book shelves any more. I am lucky to have an omnibus of all her People stories, tied together with a sort of frame. I reread it often.
I should also mention Randall Garrett's Lord Darcy collection. Another one I've read several times, but it's been a while - I really need to revisit that one as I enjoyed it very much.
I like most of these, although I still haven't caught up with Cordwainer Smith. Susan Price: I don't think I've noticed racism in Eric Frank Russell's fiction, but racism has been a basic characteristic of humanity for most of human history. Be thankful that it's starting to change these days. If you can't take it in fiction, stick to recent fiction and don't go back.
I don't recall racism in EFR's books; but the sexism is quite noticeable. There are hardly any females who propel plot action. But that is true of a high percentage of early SF. Even Ursula LeGuin later looked back at her own early work and called herself out on unconscious sexism (specifically in *A Wizard of Earthsea*). She made up for it, though, with the even better later books in the series.
