# Who is the greatest science fiction writer of all time? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 22, 2010, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-greatest-science-fiction-writer-of-all-time/561586 "2010-11-22T21:50:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-greatest-science-fiction-writer-of-all-time/561586/1 "2010-11-22T21:50:55Z")
This thread is for collecting names for a poll. Clarke, Asimov, Heinlein, Vinge, Ellison, Pohl and many, _many_ others-which one gets the title of Grandmaster of Grandmasters? ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-greatest-science-fiction-writer-of-all-time/561586/2 "2010-11-22T21:53:24Z")
Heinlein. _There is no god but Robert, and Spider is his avatar._–deep and profound thing that I made up just for this thread. ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-greatest-science-fiction-writer-of-all-time/561586/3 "2010-11-22T21:54:10Z")
[According to her](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1IxOS4VzKM), it’s Ray Bradbury 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-greatest-science-fiction-writer-of-all-time/561586/4 "2010-11-22T21:55:22Z")
H.G. Wells, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-greatest-science-fiction-writer-of-all-time/561586/5 "2010-11-22T21:57:27Z")
Whatever names people suggest, the winner of the poll will be Robert Heinlein. He is to science fiction what the Beatles are to rock. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-greatest-science-fiction-writer-of-all-time/561586/6 "2010-11-22T21:57:48Z")
RAH ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-greatest-science-fiction-writer-of-all-time/561586/7 "2010-11-22T22:09:49Z")
My vote goes to Isaac Asimov. ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-greatest-science-fiction-writer-of-all-time/561586/8 "2010-11-22T22:14:06Z")
I think it’s a bit silly to vote on a single greatest writer for a genre that broad, but if you’re collecting names for a poll, you might want to include: Sturgeon Brackett Weinbaum E. E. Doc Smith Cordwainer Smith Vance ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-greatest-science-fiction-writer-of-all-time/561586/9 "2010-11-22T22:16:06Z")
> [@Hunter\_Hawk](#): > > I think it’s a bit silly to vote on a single greatest writer for a genre that broad, but if you’re collecting names for a poll, you might want to include: > > Sturgeon > Brackett > Weinbaum > E. E. Doc Smith > Cordwainer Smith > Vance I could Google a list 20 times that size-I want Dopers to pick _one_. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-greatest-science-fiction-writer-of-all-time/561586/10 "2010-11-22T22:17:22Z")
Jules Verne. What do I win? ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-greatest-science-fiction-writer-of-all-time/561586/11 "2010-11-22T22:18:44Z")
Of the classic (pre-WWII) writers of science and speculative fiction I would have to cite Jules Verne as being the most literate and details. Wells, while one of the acknowledged founders of science fiction, was not a great writer at his best, and tended to be didactic toward the end of his career. Of modern writers (post-WWII to the present) I would argue that Fredrick Pohl and Harlan Ellison have been most influential and are the most consistently readable throughout their careers. Other authors like Clarke, Heinlein, Herbert, and Gibson have had fruitful periods but both the quality and scope of work became restricted, and for all many of their later works are readable only by prior fans, as they become so self-referential. Ellison and Pohl, unlike those listed above, continued to write a large body of short fiction throughout their careers, which is often the ideal medium for exploring many concepts in speculative fiction. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-greatest-science-fiction-writer-of-all-time/561586/12 "2010-11-22T22:19:35Z")
The original _Dune_ was the single greatest science fiction novel I have ever read, by leaps, bounds, and light years. I’m going to have to vote for Frank Herbert. ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-greatest-science-fiction-writer-of-all-time/561586/13 "2010-11-22T22:24:38Z")
edit: I see the OP has come back and clarified. So I am changing my post to vote for Harlan Ellison, because Heinlein is getting so many votes and I want to be contrary. ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-greatest-science-fiction-writer-of-all-time/561586/14 "2010-11-22T22:30:03Z")
I would not give him my vote as “best,” but certainly better than some other names thrown out there: Philip K. Dick. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-greatest-science-fiction-writer-of-all-time/561586/15 "2010-11-22T22:33:28Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I could Google a list 20 times that size-I want Dopers to pick _one_. Then you could make this a nomination poll and then run one of those elimination games. ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-greatest-science-fiction-writer-of-all-time/561586/16 "2010-11-22T22:35:27Z")
> [@detop](#): > > [According to her](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1IxOS4VzKM), it’s Ray Bradbury 😃 And of course, according to Bradbury himself, he shouldn’t be on the list:[ > [@Ray Bradbury](#): > > No. First of all, I don’t write science fiction. I’ve only done one science fiction book and that’s Fahrenheit 451, based on reality. Science fiction is a depiction of the real. Fantasy is a depiction of the unreal. So Martian Chronicles is not science fiction, it’s fantasy. It couldn’t happen, you see? That’s the reason it’s going to be around a long time – because it’s a Greek myth, and myths have staying power. ]([http://weeklywire.com/ww/09-27-99/alibi\_feat1.html](http://weeklywire.com/ww/09-27-99/alibi_feat1.html)) ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-greatest-science-fiction-writer-of-all-time/561586/17 "2010-11-22T22:42:29Z")
> [@detop](#): > > According to her, it’s Ray Bradbury 😃 I’m aware of his work. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-greatest-science-fiction-writer-of-all-time/561586/18 "2010-11-22T22:56:29Z")
I love Heinlein’s stuff, but it’s _just gotta be_ H. G. Wells. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-greatest-science-fiction-writer-of-all-time/561586/19 "2010-11-22T22:58:00Z")
> [@NAF1138](#): > > So I am changing my post to vote for Harlan Ellison, because Heinlein is getting so many votes and I want to be contrary. Ellison would be proud of you. And in the same vein, if it can only be one name, I’ll site Pohl. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-greatest-science-fiction-writer-of-all-time/561586/20 "2010-11-22T22:59:05Z")
Mary Shelley should be given an honorific nod. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-greatest-science-fiction-writer-of-all-time/561586.md?page=2)