Who is Greater, Arthur C. Clarke or Jack Williamson ?

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BAYLOR

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Arthur C Clarke gave us such classic Childhoods End , The City and the Star, The Sand off Mars , End Rendezvous with Rama and sequels , The Sentinel ( which become the basis of 2001 film and book ) did Several sequels to it and so many other wonderful books and stories and, he came up with the concept of the Satellite. He had a very long and successful career

Jack Williamson The Humanoids , Darker then you think, Legion is Space.. The Star Child trilogy with Frederick Pohl. Manseed, Lifeburst , Mazeways, Black Sun , Terrrfroming Earth and many other books and stories . He came up with the terms Genetic Engineering and Terraforming . He too had a very long and successful career.

Both men were Grandmasters in Science fiction. Which of them do you think is greater and why?
 
AE35Unit said:
Not read any Williamson and of course I'm biased towards Clarke ;)
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A great writer , he sold his first story in 1928 . His career spanned not only a good chunk of the pre golden age of science fiction but, a good part of the modern era as well and, he wrote till just about the end of his life. His last novel was the Stonehenge Gate was published in 2005 the year before he died.

I admire both writers.

In the case of Williamson , I didn't start to appreciate him until I started to read more of his books and stories.

Clarks books and stories always filled me awe and wonder . Ive always loved his portrayal and descriptions of space travel and space flight . His novelization of 2001 made me wish that certain scenes he described during Bowman's travel down the Stargate had been in the Kubrick film.
 
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AE35Unit said:
I'm waiting for someone to film 2061, Odyssey 3, followed by 3001
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I would love to see those as films.:cool: Id really like to see Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama film .




Id also to see some do Williamson's The Humanoids as a feature film or television series. :cool:
 
Vince W said:
Rendezvous with Rama was previously unfilmable because there was zero graphic violence or sex, however, with the success of The Martian it could be a big hit if done in a similar way.
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Yep.
 
I would love to see them do a film adaptation of Jack Williamson's story Born of the Sun. That would look great on the big screen and it would be a real crowd pleaser .:cool:
 
Am not really into this" let's pick two authors and choose the best ", school of thought, these are two different writers with probably different ways of doing things.
But I have read and enjoyed them both, so which is the best, they both are!!!
 
I had never heard of Jack Williamson or of any of the books listed by the OP. So, logic dictates Arthur C Clarke must be the greatest of the 2. ;)
 
I noticed an inconsistency in Williamson's With Folded Hands. Their plan is to send a beam to the distant planet containing the Central point that's controlling the robots, thus rendering them all inactive. The prof fires the beam then says "We just to wait 100 years now to get a response. "
In that case, the beam would also take 100 years to reach the planet. 200 years in total! So the plan could never work!
 
Elckerlyc said:
I had never heard of Jack Williamson or of any of the books listed by the OP. So, logic dictates Arthur C Clarke must be the greatest of the 2. ;)
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Williamson like, Clark is well regarded. Both were giants in the field of Science Fiction . :)

Some years back Rodger Zelazny edited and anthology The Williamson Effect. These were homages to him and in the settings of stories.
The story Bad Machines by Fred Saberhagen You have Williamson's Humanoids meeting Saberhagern's Berserkers with a troop of human soldiers caught in the middle. It's fun story and wonderful homage to Williamson .
 
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AE35Unit said:
I noticed an inconsistency in Williamson's With Folded Hands. Their plan is to send a beam to the distant planet containing the Central point that's controlling the robots, thus rendering them all inactive. The prof fires the beam then says "We just to wait 100 years now to get a response. "
In that case, the beam would also take 100 years to reach the planet. 200 years in total! So the plan could never work!
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He also did sequel novel The Humanoid Touch Published 1980 . I have the boo in hardcover but, have not read it as of yet.
 
AE35Unit said:
The story I read was expanded into The Humanoids
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William also wrote some fantasy as well. The Reign of Wizardry and Darker that You Think goes in that direction as well.
 
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