Re:Sci-fi authors
You know, you’re right! I’ve almost given up reading SF because you just can’t find a decent stand-alone novel anymore. Right now I’d better add a disclaimer. My alias isn’t a joke. I’m 61 years old and I read my first two SF (not SciFi or Sci Fi) novels at 10. They were Andre Norton’s [u]Starman’s Son[/u] and Heinlein’s [u]Starbeast[/u] (Lummox still rocks!). While Heinlein’s and Asimov’s juveniles are good reads, if outdated, Norton’s early stuff just never seems to grow old.
Look to pre-80’s stuff. Even the best writers began whoring themselves out by the late 80’s when they realized that the money was in serialized novels. Herbert wrote [u]Dune[/u] and could’ve stopped there, but it turned out he had more to write—and it was good—but you only [i]need[/i] to read [u]Dune[/u]. It stands on it’s own. Too much of this modern crap is written to force you to buy the next volume in the “quadra-tetralogy”. These suckers need 9000 pages to tell a story and, then, they still can’t tie up all the loose ends.
Here’s a short list. Actually two.
Authors first: Alfred Bester; Robert A. Heinlein; Isaac Asimov; Frank Herbert; Theodore Sturgeon; ANDRE NORTON, ANDRE NORTON & ANDRE NORTON; Robert Sheckley, Silverberg, Pournelle, Gregory Benford, Ursula K. Le Guin .
OKay, I’m someoldguy, there’s newer authors who also fill the bill (that guy who wrote [u]Mona Lisa Overdrive[/u] for instance) , but these come to mind easily.
Try reading some of these: Time Enough For Love; The Stars, My Destination; The Door Into Summer; Dune; Starman’s Son; Witchworld; Beastmaster (not to be confused with the crappy movie or TV show); The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress; The Foundation TRILOGY (if you like series, this is a good one, forget the rest, they were just money makers); The Man Who Sold The Moon (one of Heinlein’s short stories); Majipoor.
I could go on. Maybe fluffybunny will, if he or she is still around. fb has really [u]GREAT[u] taste for SF.
Hope this helps. Hope it makes sense, Hope all’s well. Hope Pope Al cuts back on his three grand a month electric bill. 🙄 [/u]