Friday, May 28, 2010
My Notes for the ConDuit panel: Exploring the Classics of Sci-Fi/Fantasy
These are notes for a panel I’m on at ConDuit, titled Exloring the Classics: Stories You May Have Missed. I'm posting this in case the attendees or online readers are interested in the stories/writers/books I'm planning on mentioning. There are so many more authors and books, but I can't mention them all. If you have any other classics that you'd like to mention, please let me know.
Panel description:
Exploring the Classics: Stories You May Have Missed:
There are certain books, movies, novellas and short stories that should be required knowledge for a sci-fi or fantasy fan, stories that form a base for all other stories in the genre. We all know about The Lord of the Rings and Dune, but what other classics are there that are often missed?
Books and authors that are very influential in the field of sci-fi and fantasy:
H.G. Wells—The Time Machine
Jules Verne—20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Bram Stoker—Dracula
H.P. Lovecraft
Edgar Rice Burroughs--Tarzan
J.R.R. Tolkien
C.S. Lewis
Lord Dunsany—The King of Elflands Daughter
Fritz Leiber—Fafard and the Grey Mouser
Robert Howard--Conan
Robert Heinlein—Starship Troopers
David Eddings—The Belgariad Books
Arthur C. Clark
Anne McCaffery—Dragon Riders of Pern
Isaac Asimov—Foundation Lost
Frank Herbert—Dune
Roger Zelazny—The Amber books
Michael Moorcock—The Elric Saga
Ursula LeGuin—The Earthsea books
Terry Brooks—The Elfstones of Shannara
Marion Zimmer Bradley—The Mists of Avalon
The War at Troy by Quintus of Smyrna
Age of Wonder: Exploring the World of Science Fiction, edited by David Hartwell
Alternate Worlds: An Illustrated History of Science Fiction, edited by James Gunn
The Best of the Nebulas
Science Fiction Hall of Fame
Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison
Tales Before Tolkien: The Roots of Modern Fantasy
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3 comments:
What about Zimmerman Bradley's Darkover novels, Feist's Riftwar saga, & the whole collection of novels associated with the creation of Dungeon's & Dragon's, from the mid 1970's to the present. So much world-building went into those stories, and they have become a very unique group of literature. It is a shared world on a gargantuan scale, and the collaboration between people and the response of one author to another I think has had a huge impact on fantasy specifically.
Sabrina,
Yes, I agree with your list. The pre-Dungeons and Dragons novels that influenced Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson (I did a signing with Arneson at Gen Con once) should be included, such as Jack Vance's work, which had a huge influence on the magic system that was used in the first D&D books.
For mer personally, Robin McKinley's work and Andre Norton's also had a big influence.
If anyone else has "classic" type books they want to mention, please let me know.
Paul Genesse
Author of The Dragon Hunters
www.paulgenesse.com
I also think that other of Heinlein's works should be included. His work on J.O.B. is such a parallel to the Dante's inferno. He has so many other works and I totally agree that Andre Norton's works made a HUGE influence as well.
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