JasonZavoda wrote:

I enjoy surreal as well as funky philosophy if it is done well. You should try Tim Powers and Blaylock (if you haven't already) or Neal Gaimen who should never have wasted time on comics (which were good) because he is much, much better with his novels (American Gods and Anansi Boys are two of his best).

It has been a long time since Ive read Sturgeon and while I liked some of his ideas and the way he said them his stories didnt stay with me. Disch I tried and didnt like and Phillip K. Dick, I've read more about him than I've read of his writing. What I did read I didn't care for, which is sad because from what I understand he was truly insane and that can result in some memorable writing (or not in the case of Heinlein and his descent into madness and bad fiction).

For funky and surreal I like a number of non-sf/fantasy writers. Hesse, Pynchon, Salinger, Kerouac, Kesey. Huxley, Dalmas (though he also writes SF) Shea & Wilson, Kafka, Dusty-Evsky the Russian cowboy...

I do think you are giving Foster a bad rap. He can be a decent writer, but he also writes for the bucks sometimes, especially novelizations. I found Splinter of the Minds Eye (the first Star Wars novel, and one that took a completely different spin on the first movie) to be a good book, and some of his other novels are decent as well, Icerigger comes to mind, and in the same setting Mission to Moulekon (sp). I think he is worlds better than Anderson  could ever hope to be, though not what I'd call a great writer by any means.

MetamorphosisSigma wrote:PKD - Yeah, there's a reason Dick was once widely referred to as, "the best science fiction author on any planet." His best stuff is truly great. His worst stuff is so crazy that it's still worth reading just because only he could have written it. Try Counter-clock World (You're full of food!) or Clans of the Alphane Moon sometime, preferably while on something psychedelic.

Bester's The Stars my Destination is hands-down the best standalone SF novel ever written, IMO. I still try slogging through The Demolished Man once in a while, but for whatever reason it hasn't grabbed me yet; maybe I'm just not giving it enough of a chance. I haven't given his later work a chance, yet, mostly from reputation (the story being he was so deep into his alcoholism at that point that they're total trash--evidently not completely true).

Varley's another name I've seen and heard often, and should try out.

Oh yeah, I'm all over Ellison; small doses are best, though. Bad things could happen if one read too many of Harlan's tales in too short a time-frame. Almost everything is depressing, but almost everything is brilliant, too.

JasonZavoda wrote:It is amazing the difference in tastes. I read Bester and will have to reread him, but I barely remember the story, so I couldn't call him memorable let alone great. PKD did absolutely nothing for me. I found his writing to be fragmented and his storys unlikeable. Ellison falls into the unlikeable story category for me as well. I have a couple of his Ive been moving around my shelf avoiding, I will have to give these guys another try (though I sold off most of my PKD when he was hot (he went cold on ebay a few months back). I still have a few left.

I cant stand Pohl, so if it turns out we have fairly opposite tastes you may want to give him a try.

Did not care for Varley's trilogy either.

Currently the best SF writer I've come across is Lois Bujold. Her break into fantasy is mixed. Hallowed Hunt is an amazing book. She has created an incredible fantasy setting with Chalion series. Curse of Chalion is good, Hallowed Hunt is fantastic, Paladin of Souls is very good.

Zenopus wrote:Just started "The Night of Madness" which is the seventh book in Lawrence Watt-Evans' Ethshar series. Each is a stand alone story, but the setting is the same. The first, "The Misenchanted Sword", is the most well known - I remember the Darell Sweet cover from Waldenbooks back in the 80s. Never read it until last summer, but it's very D&D inspired (apparently the setting was originally created for RPGing in the late 70s). The only monsters are dragons and demons. The most interesting theme is the magic system: there are wizards, warlocks, witches, sorcerers, demonologists, theurgists (sort-of clerics) and more, each with their different spells/powers. Most of the stories revolve around problems created by the different types of magic. These are quick, easy reads.