Other SF writers? (Was: How list works and questions to mailers)

Dan'l Danehy-Oakes · 12 May 2008, 20:11 · from 2008-May.txt.gz

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From: danldo at gmail.com (Dan'l Danehy-Oakes)
Date: Mon, 12 May 2008 13:11:17 -0700
Subject: (urth) Other SF writers? (Was: How list works and questions to
	mailers)
In-Reply-To: <44fb53d10805121235w6f72046et8e146b97a78abbab at mail.gmail.com>
References: <44fb53d10805121235w6f72046et8e146b97a78abbab at mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <1f7617370805121311g5854a1c6ifae511c94b636e8f at mail.gmail.com>

On Mon, May 12, 2008 at 12:35 PM, Matthew Keeley
<matthew.keeley.1 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Perhaps we Wolfe fans should put together a list of other worthwhile science
> fiction / fantasy writers? I know a few of the people on the thread have a
> list already.

Equally good, but about as far from Wolfe as you can get artistically
or philosophically,
is Samuel R. Delany. Some of his work, incidentally, is <i>not</i> for
the easily
offended! Good starting places include _Babel 17_, _Empire Star_, and his short
story collection _Aye and Gomorrah_

Anyone who likes Wolfe should give TIm Powers a try: his work is nowhere near
as *dense* as Wolfe's, and certainly less mysterious, but has a
certain similarity
in what he uses SF/F to do. A good stand-alone starting point is the
pirate novel
(h'mmm...) _On Stranger Tides_; his finest work to date is in the
trilogy consisting
of _Last Call_, _Expiration Date_ and _Earthquake Weather_.

Any list like this must include Ursula K. Le Guin, who is another far-from-Wolfe
but awfully good. Start anywhere but her first three books.

I would recommend, with slight hesitation, James Blish, and especially his
four-volume trilogy (and that's not a paradox) "After Such Knowledge." The
first book (_Doctor Mirabilis_) is a historical novel retelling the
life of friar
Roger Bacon; the second, in two volumes (_Black Easter_ and _The Day
After Judgment_) a contemporary fantasy/horror novel, and the third (_A
Case of Conscience_) a SF novel. Together they are an inquiry into the
question whether the quest for secular knowledge for its own sake is a
valid goal, or indeed permissible at all, from a Christian (sc. Catholic) point
of view.

As an alternate take on some of the themes in _Case of Conscience_, one
should also read _The Sparrow_ by Mary Doria Russell, an astonishing
book in its own right and one that may appeal to Wolfe fans specifically
for a number of reasons.

Okay, I'll shut up now and let someone else go.

-- 
Dan'l Danehy-Oakes, writer, trainer, bon vivant
-----
http://www.livejournal.com/users/sturgeonslawyer
http://www.danehyoakes.com

I once absend-mindedly ordered Three Mile Island dressing in a
restaurant and, with great presence of mind, they brought Thousand
Island Dressing and a bottle of chili sauce. -- T. Pratchett

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