Who's the most underrated Vintage SF writer?

[Briareus Delta]

Frederik Pohl's erstwhile collaborator, CM Kornbluth should not be forgotten. Also, Bob Shaw - a classic SF author and rarely seen in bookshops these days. Actually, its hard to find any good SF in bookshops these days amongst the legions of rubbish fantasy dekalogys or whatever they are. My fantasy is to go in one day and find a good book.

[j. d. worthington]

Kornbluth is definitely worth noting ... he's been mentioned in at least two or three posts on this thread, I believe, but I, for one, would like to see more attention paid to his work, especially as there's been a collection of his complete short stories, His Share of Glory, a few years ago; and one can't get much more appropriate an examination of our modern trends than "The Little Black Bag" or "The Marching Morons"....

[The DeadMan]

• Clifford D. Simak
• A.E. Van Vogt
• Alfred Bester
• Keith Laumer
• Christopher Rowley

[Briareus Delta]

Originally Posted by j. d. worthington

Kornbluth is definitely worth noting ... he's been mentioned in at least two or three posts on this thread, I believe, but I, for one, would like to see more attention paid to his work, especially as there's been a collection of his complete short stories, His Share of Glory, a few years ago; and one can't get much more appropriate an examination of our modern trends than "The Little Black Bag" or "The Marching Morons"....

Yes, I have a collection of his short stories, The Best of CM Kornbluth, edited by Pohl, which includes the two titles you mention. They are excellent.

[Tim R. Mortiss]

I think David R. Bunch is undeservedly forgotten. He wrote a pretty interesting dystopia called Moderan.

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by Tim R. Mortiss

I think David R. Bunch is undeservedly forgotten. He wrote a pretty interesting dystopia called Moderan.

I'm not sure he would come under the rubric "vintage" in the way I would think of it -- which, I'll admit, centers mostly on the writers of the 30's through the 50s -- but, save for that quibble, I think you very may well have hit on exactly the most undeservedly neglected writer in the field! Bunch was incredible, and his cautionary tales in Moderan might well leave even Ambrose Bierce aghast. Thank you very much for mentioning someone whom -- I'm ashamed to admit, but must -- even I allowed to slip my mind. Time for a Bunch reprinting, I'd say!

[raith50]

Keith Roberts (alternate realities)
John Blackburn (technological apocalypse)
Edmund Cooper (just great)
Richard Cowper
Christopher Priest (very philosophical)
John Varley
Jack Vance (richly textured and believable worlds)
Bob Shaw (impossible to find these days)

More to come as I remember them and go through my library

[pyan]

Originally Posted by j. d. worthington

I'll add my voice to those asking for a definition of "vintage". For me, it would be those writers/works published roughly from the mid-1930s to the first years of the 1960s

Yes, I'd agree with that, and for my money the most underrated author is E.E. (Doc) Smith: the founding father of the large-cast,multi-book series with the Skylark series, Circus D'Alembert series, and, to my mind, the epitome of Space Opera: the immortal Lensman books.

[pyan]

Originally Posted by raith50

Bob Shaw (impossible to find these days)

Try Amazon.com, Raith ; most titles available.

[KoffeeKat]

Norman Spinrad.
If you can get hold of a copy of "The Solarians" read it, it's great!

[Triceratops]

Well, the one who got me started in this fiasco was Poul Anderson. When I belonged to the SFWA many moons ago we exchanged letters for two years. What a cordial and instructive mentor he became. His Virgin Planet was the first SF title I ever read. I don't think he's mentioned often enough for his body of work and impact that he had on the genres of SF and Fantasy.

Some might consider him a hack, or remember him more for his novelizations, but A. D. Foster's Ice Rigger really blew me away. I don't think Alan Foster is ever mentioned as one of the greats.

Now, as far as classic SF and Fanatasy. Are we refering to the Golden Age?
Isn't the Goden Age somewhere between 1930 and 1945? I can't remember the stats on that.

Tri

[iansales]

Originally Posted by pyanfaruk

Yes, I'd agree with that, and for my money the most underrated author is E.E. (Doc) Smith: the founding father of the large-cast,multi-book series with the Skylark series, Circus D'Alembert series, and, to my mind, the epitome of Space Opera: the immortal Lensman books.

Er, Smith didn't write the Family d'Alembert series. They were written by Stephen Goldin, based on notes left by Smith after his death.

I tried rereading Smith's Masters of Space earlier this year. So much for fond memories. It was terrible...

[iansales]

Keith Roberts <-- his Pavane is in the SF Masterworks series, so hardly "underrated"
Christopher Priest <-- still being published, major movie released this month
John Varley <-- still being published
Jack Vance <--- when oh when is Lurulu going to be published in paperback?

[pyan]

Originally Posted by iansales

Er, Smith didn't write the Family d'Alembert series. They were written by Stephen Goldin, based on notes left by Smith after his death.

Well, by Yog-Sothoth's Globes! I never noticed that. Thanks, Ian.
By the way, if you thought Masters of Space has aged badly, try The Galaxy Primes!

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by Triceratops

Now, as far as classic SF and Fanatasy. Are we refering to the Golden Age?
Isn't the Goden Age somewhere between 1930 and 1945? I can't remember the stats on that.

For most references, the Golden Age began when John W. Campbell took over editing Astounding Science Fiction in 1938 (often it is specifically dated to the July 1939 issue, however) through 1959, though some date it to the inception of Horace L. Gold's Galaxy Science Fiction in October 1950, or even from the second issue of Anthony Boucher's The Magazine of Fantasy (when and Science Fiction was added to the title), because of their emphasis of literary values over the physical sciences. An extreme case can be made that it lasted until the New Wave of the 1960s, but the beginning of that particular movement is rather nebulous, some dating it to Moorcock becoming editor of New Worlds, some to the publication of Ballard's The Drowned World, and some even dating it back to the late 1950s, with such writers as Philip Jose Farmer beginning publication. However, for convenience, it generally refers to the years 1938-1959.

And, yes, Poul isn't mentioned nearly enough. While he's not in the rank of my very favorite writers, he certainly was an important voice in the field, and deserves to be remembered more than he is (as an sf writer -- his fantasies The Broken Sword and Three Hearts and Three Lions are frequently listed as among the classics of the genre, with good reason).