Oh, all right, just the one meme...

[julesjones]

I don't usually go in for memes, especially more or less randomly generated "quizzes", but it was difficult to resist this morning's which science fiction writer are you?. Especially after pnh pointed out that one of the questions was "how big of an asshole are you?", clearly indicating that the quiz compiler knows our tribe only too well... Anyway, it seems that I am

Hal Clement (Harry C. Stubbs)

A quiet and underrated master of "hard science" fiction who, among other things, foresaw integrated circuits back in the 1940s.

which was not unwelcome, but a bit of a surprise, given what's typically hard in *my* sf. Though not as much of a surprise as it was to autopope when he discovered that he is secretly Robert Heinlein. :-)

Comments

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

Hal Clement (Harry C. Stubbs)

Oddly enough, I seem to be him, too. Integrated circuits, eh...

[brooksmoses]

Yeah, me three.

I suspect this is what comes of being a quiet, polite type.

[feetnotes.livejournal.com]

hal clement was - and interesting, too; but he didn't exactly eschew sex, either - vide _Cycle of Fire_, inter alia.

[julesjones]

I have read far less, and far less recently, of Hal Clement's work than I would like. I am growing more and more inclined to remedy this in the near future...

[brooksmoses]

... but a bit of a surprise, given what's typically hard in *my* sf.

*snork*

I'm...

[seawasp]

... Arthur Clarke.

If I can choose his early career, I'll take it. I'm NOT moving to Sri Lanka.

[hafren.livejournal.com]

I turned out to be some bugger called Cordwainer Smith I've never heard of....

[feetnotes.livejournal.com]

then you probably don't deserve to be - swap cordwainer smith out, and piers anthony in.

[julesjones]

That is a cruel and heartless suggestion, and most unworthy. And Cordwainer Smith is in fact a good deal more accurate than Piers Anthony, even if Hafren's never heard of him. :-)

(Right, all I need now is a Rumor Miller, and that'll be a full house on the various groups of people on this LJ's Friends list... Why is it *this* post that's seen an explosion of interest?)

re: "cruel and heartless.. ..and most unworthy" (+ "Why?")

[feetnotes.livejournal.com]

ok, ok, ok... i'll accept on trust from you s/he's closer to paul linebarger writing as cordwainer smith than to piers anthony, and stand - or rather, sit - reproved.

though piers anthony is one of the most commercially successful exploiters of the sf & (especially) fantasy publishing categories over the last thirty years; and for all the greater part of his work lacks any other ambition, his name is widely known and recognised: if the silly sod dismisses every author whose name s/he doesn't recognise as "some bugger.. I've never heard of", s/he will miss out on more than one of the finest stylists whose work graces these fields, for the best of which i assume your friends hold some considerable regard...

and i think this last may also, at least in part, answer the "why?": (fantasy &) sf're categories your friends are liable to both appreciate, and for which to hold fond memories; whilst "lj meme" holds out the promise of entertainment... :-)

i regret i can't supply a rumour miller: however, if you feel life might be improved by meeting one of the best [a] rumour mongers i've had the pleasure [b] of knowing in my life, i can attempt to introduce him to the lj world, and to your own good self...[c]

[a] - i.e. most devastatingly successful
[b] - mostly
[c] - i'm unsure for how many seconds it'll retain his interest, though...

Re: "cruel and heartless.. ..and most unworthy" (+ "Why?")

[julesjones]

Hafren's excuse is being a most literate person (note well whom I specifically named with regard to synopsis-checking and manuscript-submitting some while back...) but essentially a mundane - hence the slightly facetious remark. I think she would gain far greater pleasure from reading Cordwainer Smith than from reading Piers Anthony, but I'm not surprised that she hasn't heard of him. :-)

re: "cruel and heartless.. ..and most unworthy" (+ "Why?")

[feetnotes.livejournal.com]

"man, the guy's so unhip that when you mention dylan, he thinks you're talking 'bout dylan thomas - whoever he was..." [a] [b]

[a] - from "a simple desultory philippic" - paul simon [b]
[b] - from memory; may not be totally accurate: but it is close.

[niobedancing.livejournal.com]

Yes!! I'm William Gibson!!