"SF Grandmaster"

[SDNess]

Who are the "Grandmaster's" of Science Fiction and how does one achieve this "position"?

I've seen it on the cover of many novels.

 

[Foxbat]

I'm not aware of any award - it's probably more of a publishing ploy to sell a few more copies. The two most likely awards to see on a cover are the Hugo or Nebula awards.

For me, the Grandmasters would be the likes of Asimov, Heinlein, Zelazny, Dick, Clarke, Herbert, Silverburg, and many many more.

Quality and quantity of work would be the criteria for my list.

 

[nemogbr]

You have forgotten Jules Verne.

THere's of course the ones not translated into the english language

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

The SFWA gives out a Grand Master award every year at the Nebulas.


To quote from their site (http://www.sfwa.org/awards/grand.htm)

The Grand Master award is given to a living author for a lifetime's achievement in science fiction and/or fantasy. Nominations for the Grand Master award are made by the president of SFWA; the award is given upon approval of a majority of the SFWA® officers. While it is not a Nebula Award, it is awarded as part of the Nebula Awards® Banquet.

Here's a list of past Grand Masters:

Robert A. Heinlein (1974)
Jack Williamson (1975)
Clifford D. Simak (1976)
L. Sprague de Camp (1978)
Fritz Leiber (1981)
Andre Norton (1983)
Arthur C. Clarke (1985)
Isaac Asimov (1986)
Alfred Bester (1987)
Ray Bradbury (1988)
Lester Del Rey (1990)
Frederik Pohl (1992)
Damon Knight (1994)
A.E. Van Vogt (1995)
Jack Vance (1996)
Poul Anderson (1997)
Hal Clement (Harry Stubbs) (1998)
Brian W. Aldiss (1999)
Philip José Farmer (2000)
Ursula K. Le Guin (2002)

 

[Foxbat]

Aahh! You live and learn

 

[SDNess]

Interesting. There are several on that list, however, that I don't know of...

 

[dwndrgn]

Interesting. There are several on that list, however, that I don't know of...

Nothing like a new author to check out to get you excited to head to the library!

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

True.


Not to get pedantic about it, but most of thse are OLD authors, and well worth checking out. Many of them are pioneers who helped build the genre and quite apart from that, an exciting tale, well told never grows old.

 

[riffraff]

what about H G Wells or George Orwell, both of them wrote very famous science fiction books

 

[nemogbr]

what about H G Wells or George Orwell, both of them wrote very famous science fiction books

George Orwell is most likely not considered sci fi any longer. It might offend the critics sensibilites.

Stanislaw Lem ended up "consigned" to sci fi and his books were more psychological with sci fi undertones. It just irks me when people don't give a book a chance because it's only for nerds or geeks.

 

[dwndrgn]

True.


Not to get pedantic about it, but most of thse are OLD authors, and well worth checking out. Many of them are pioneers who helped build the genre and quite apart from that, an exciting tale, well told never grows old.

I meant 'new' as in 'new to me' not new as in just recently entering the genre. And it is absolutely true that if a story is written well, it will stand the test of time. It is also fun to re-discover authors you enjoyed years before and see the stories with 'new' eyes.

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

Oh yes, I knew that was what you meant!


I tend to get a bit evangelical about the Great Old Ones.

 

[dwndrgn]

No problem! I understood where you were coming from .

 

[Seth God Of Chaos]

Earlier you mentioned isaac asimov i have one of his books and would love to get a few more do you have any idea were i could find them

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

Serious? Asimov's the most easily available sf writer as far as I know. Any decent bookstore or library should suffice. Try a book of short stories first, possibly I, Robot. I'd say The Gods Themselves is his best novels, but Caves of Steel is great too and the Foundation novels are of course sf essentials.

 

[Silk]

I hope i don't get slated for this but I've never really had an inclination to read Asimov!

My mum used to read his books when I was a kid and some of the covers used to scare me and its left this detrimental lasting impression on me

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

I don't think Asimov ever got scary, but he could be a bit dry at times for some tastes. Incidentally, all the 80s pbacks of Asimov I have feature serene scenes of spacecraft, and the 90s editions look even more vanilla, so its possible that your mum has earlier editions. A lot of people are really into old sf covers, you should check out what these are!

 

[Silk]

I didn't know that, might pop myself off to the library and see if they're still there

 

[Seth God Of Chaos]

Cheers

Curse our crappy bookstore

 

[Drake Leon]

The SF Grandmasters... Ah, what lovely memories. These awards were for (older) contemporary authors, only- thus the lack of Verne and Wells, etc. Specifically, the first dedicated to Heinlein because he jumpstarted the Golden Age of the genre. Isaac Asimov wrote so many solid, good novels so quickly that he is probably the most well known of the Grandmasters except Clarke and Heinlein himself. Asimov never really wrote anything scary, though... Clarke might be the most famous due to 2001: A Space Odyssey, which admittedly deserves it's fame.