Who Do You Think Are The Most Neglected and Forgotten Writers?

[2DaveWixon]

If you like your fantasy a tad wacky

*Raises hand eagerly*

 

[BAYLOR]

The White Company? (Doyle, that is...)

I think I have a copy of that in my collection. It's unfortunate that Doyle is most often remembered for Sherlock Holmes and sometimes for The Lost World and almost nothing else. Doyle was a far more versatile writer then he's been given credit for.

 

[2DaveWixon]

David Brin
Chad Oliver
Fredric Brown
Harry Harrison
Fritz Leiber
Robert Howard?

And I think I'll second, or third, the nominations of Murray Leinster.

I just scanned back though the pages of this thread. And I found myself struck by the number of mentions of the older fantasy writers, such as Eddison. And I realized that I'm old enough that, in my formative years, I sought out and eagerly read anything at all that had to do with Sf or Fantasy -- and being young and eager, even rabid, I was less concerned with the quality of those writings, than with the worlds they created, that I could fall into...

At least part of the reason, then, that such authors have sunk out of sight, may be the fact that in their age there was a paucity of such fiction -- as opposed to these later days, when there is so much around that the old books are overshadowed.

 

[BAYLOR]

So far , this topic has been a fun and informative. Ive

David Brin
Chad Oliver
Fredric Brown
Harry Harrison
Fritz Leiber
Robert Howard?

And I think I'll second, or third, the nominations of Murray Leinster.

I just scanned back though the pages of this thread. And I found myself struck by the number of mentions of the older fantasy writers, such as Eddison. And I realized that I'm old enough that, in my formative years, I sought out and eagerly read anything at all that had to do with Sf or Fantasy -- and being young and eager, even rabid, I was less concerned with the quality of those writings, than with the worlds they created, that I could fall into...

At least part of the reason, then, that such authors have sunk out of sight, may be the fact that in their age there was a paucity of such fiction -- as opposed to these later days, when there is so much around that the old books are overshadowed.

I read one novel by him The Forgotten Planet. I Thought it qute good , Ive never read anything sees by him and I know very little about him. I do recall seeing a Time Tunnel which he was the author of .

 

[2DaveWixon]

So far , this topic has been a fun and informative. Ive


I read one novel by him The Forgotten Planet. I Thought it qute good , Ive never read anything sees by him and I know very little about him. I do recall seeing a Time Tunnel which he was the author of .

That Time Tunnel book was just one of those novelizations that they used to do for movies and teevee shows -- hack work, often, those were, a gimmick that agents would try to find to get their struggling clients a little income.
Leinster's more worthy stories were still not award-winning in their literary quality, perhaps; but they were enthralling adventures that really appealed to teen me...

 

[BAYLOR]

That Time Tunnel book was just one of those novelizations that they used to do for movies and teevee shows -- hack work, often, those were, a gimmick that agents would try to find to get their struggling clients a little income.
Leinster's more worthy stories were still not award-winning in their literary quality, perhaps; but they were enthralling adventures that really appealed to teen me...

He writer that very few in the modern era seem to be aware of.

 

[2DaveWixon]

Tom Godwin? Didn't write a lot, but....who can forget "The Cold Equations"?

And we spoke of "wacky fantasy" a while back? How about "wacky science fiction?" A master of that was surely Eric Frank Russell.

 

[Extollager]

Rachel Maddux's The Green Kingdom got a mass-market paperback reprint years ago, but seems to be nearly forgotten now. More recently, a university press reprinted it, but is anyone buying and reading that?

 

[Extollager]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0870497804/?tag=id2100-20

Worth reading, I'm telling ya, people....

 

[svalbard]

Hugh cook is one who very few people have heard of, though he was a creative storyteller. Brilliant even imo.
His works featured reprehensible protagonists , quirky worldbuilding, and unpredictable plotlines. Not to everyone's taste, for sure.

To paraphrase

And the fire spoke to Gouda Muck "Thou art who thou art"

From one of my all time favourite books The Warwolf and The Walrus.

 

[psikeyhackr]

If you like your fantasy a tad wacky

I was under the impression that fantasy was a tad wacky by definition.

 

[BAYLOR]

Tom Godwin? Didn't write a lot, but....who can forget "The Cold Equations"?

And we spoke of "wacky fantasy" a while back? How about "wacky science fiction?" A master of that was surely Eric Frank Russell.

I think The Cold Equations was adapted some years ago for television, I cannot remember which tv show .

Eric Frank Russell. , Ive read one book by him The Great Explosion .

 

[picklematrix]

I was under the impression that fantasy was a tad wacky by definition.

I dont consider everyday high fantasy to be 'wacky' as such, as it is often based on norse or some other mythology, and a medieval setting as opposed to anything really off the wall.

 

[picklematrix]

To paraphrase

And the fire spoke to Gouda Muck "Thou art who thou art"

From one of my all time favourite books The Warwolf and The Walrus.

I love that one also. Possibly the best in the series.

 

[svalbard]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0870497804/?tag=id2100-20

Worth reading, I'm telling ya, people....

I will check that one out.

 

[Nozzle Velocity]

Stanley G. Weinbaum always comes to mind in discussions like this. It's understandable that he'd be forgotten given his career only lasted about 18 months - but what a career. He wrote with a clean, stripped down, more modern style compared to many clunkers in the 30s. (Sorry, Doc Smith)

Slightly funny story. On a construction site in 1991, we got on to the subject of SF books, and someone told me Raymond Z. Gallun was their uncle. Had I read him? Of course, I replied. He was one of the absolute best of the 30s. I immediately knew this guy was telling the truth, because who the hell else would use that name? Asimov or Heinlein, okay, he might be having a heat stroke. But Raymond Z. Gallun? I even spelled out his name to prove I knew who he was.

Gallun was really good, too; similar to Eric Frank Russell and Murray Leinster in their early years.

 

[Al Jackson]

Someone had an entry hereabouts on a short short short story. The absolute master of this was Fredric Brown.
Consider this by Fred Brown:
The End
Professor Jones had been working on time theory for many years.
"And I have found the key equation," he told his daughter one day. "Time is a field. This machine I have made can manipulate, even reverse, that field."
Pushing a button as he spoke, he said, "This should make time run backward backward run time make should this," said he, spoke he as button a pushing.
"Field that, reverse even, manipulate can made have I machine this. Field is a time." Day one daughter his told he, "Equation key the found have I and."
"Years many for theory time on working been had Jones Professor.

 

[Al Jackson]

Cyril M. Kornbluth.
He died way too young, age 32. His short stories are remarkable. His collaborations with Fred Pohl are landmarks, The Space Merchants and Gladiator at Law . Few novels , his Not This August was nominated for a Hugo.

 

[BAYLOR]

Cyril M. Kornbluth.
He died way too young, age 32. His short stories are remarkable. His collaborations with Fred Pohl are landmarks, The Space Merchants and Gladiator at Law . Few novels , his Not This August was nominated for a Hugo.

Kornbluth had heart damage , It happened during his service in WW II. Yes ive read those books well too. Imagine if he had lived another 50 years the kinds of books he might have written

Henry Kutter and Stanley Weinbaum too, Imgine if they had gotten to live longer.

 

[BAYLOR]

Keith Laumer