HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: jdnicoll@prism.ccs.uwo.ca (James Davis Nicoll)
Subject: Re: Diamond-hard SF
Organization: University of Western Ontario, London
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 20:02:06 GMT

	I  think dogma can be screamingly hilarious (As  I tried
to show in my 'terribly serious movie reviews' a  while back).
French's 'woman's  room' is sidesplitting  when read  in the
right frame, as is most political dogma (uw's  old paper, the
Chevron, was a  wonderful stalinist farce), and  the  occasional
instalment of  'Raymond's Reviews'. There's  just something about
an    iron-clad faith that the author's One True  Path  is the
only One True Path that I  find very funny, as long as  the Faithful
Ones  lack power  over other people's lives.

							James Nicoll
Xref: sparky rec.arts.sf.written:15085 alt.cyberpunk:5988
From: rickk@emu.com (Rick Kleffel)
Subject: Re: Diamond-hard SF
Organization: E-Mu Systems
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 14:54:31 GMT

In article <1992Nov17.151531.21197@kakwa.ucs.ualberta.ca> aaron@space.ualberta.ca writes:
>[Nick Szabo calls for fiction free of 'mundane' characters and plot elements,
>with an exciting idea on every page.]

Then perhaps he should try reading some of the meta-fictional experiments
of Polish writer Stanislaw Lem.  He has totally succeeded in eliminating
every element of plot and character in such works as:

"Imaginary Magnitude" -- introductions to books of the 21st century. Includes
an introduction to a scholarly work on computer generated literature, a work
by a man who attempted to teach bacteria the english language, a self-modifying
encylcopedia, an introduction to a lecture by the first on-line AI, and, of
course, an introduction.  Extremely witty and so packed with truly (for want
of a better term) "mind boggling" ideas that it can sustain many, many readings.

"One Human Minute" -- Reviews of books of the future.  An incredible essay 
on "The Upside-Down Evolution" (Weapons Systems of the 21st Century), a review
of a sort of computerized Guiness book, and a very pessimistic lecture on SETI
and the creation of life on earth.

"Fiasco" -- a novel, with nominal elements of archetypal characters -- the
physicist, the cyberneticist, the theologist, the pilot -- who journey to
another star to meet a race of ets called the Quintans.  More pessiimistic
thought on SETI that's hugely entertaining, and the only decent description
of interstallar travel *ever* written that's not "let's jump into hyperdrive"
and not a thinly-veiled phd doctrine in theoretical physics.

And others too numerous to mention.  One must wonder why Mr. Szabo has 
never heard of this author if he's interested in SF.  WHile he's not riding
the racks with the latest Star Wars novel or Heinlein re-issue, he is billed
as the largest selling SF author in the world.  I in fact know several people
who have his works in the original Polish editions.  Hie thee hence to
a decent books store, Mr. Szabo -- your days of crabby comments will come
to a brief but beatific end.  

-- 

Rick Kleffel*System Administrator*E-Mu Systems, Scotts Valley, Ca*rickk@emu.com*
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: arthurc@sfsuvax1.sfsu.edu (Arthur Chandler)
Subject: Re: works of L. Ron Hubbard
Organization: California State University, Sacramento
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 1992 17:37:21 GMT

 I'm a big fan of *Slaves of Sleep.* We're not talking Dostoyevsky here;
but it's a well-paced and rollicking tale.  If you read f &sf primarily
for fun, *Slaves of Sleep* is one of the best of the "alternate worlds"
genre.
 
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: allan@slab.unt.edu (Mark Allan)
Subject: To Reign In Hell (Was Stephen Brust's Best)
Organization: School of Library & Info Sci, UNT
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 20:36:52 GMT

I just spent 3 hours last night reading _To Reign in Hell_, and feel that it 
is by far Stephen Brusts best.  Of course, however, I am also a big Zelazny 
fan.  I liked the first couple Taltos books, too, but when he was going 
through a divorce the books seemed like a therapy treatment of his family 
problems.            Mark
Allan@slab.unt.edu  
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: al@iris.claremont.edu (ere i am, jh)
Subject: Guy Kay answer and new question...
Organization: Harvey Mudd College, Claremont, CA 91711
Distribution: na
Date: 18 Nov 92 18:29:20 GMT

A few people responded to my earlier query privately.  _A Song For Arbonne_
is slated for a Jan '93 release.  "Marketing decisions."  Feh.

I would truly appreciate it if some kind Canadian, or someone planning on 
visting Canada, who has access to this group would purchase this book
for me.  I will pay for all costs, including postage (in $US).

Alternately, is there any way for me to mail order it, either from ROC
Canada or any company, bookstore, etc.?  Any information you could
provide would be appreciated.

Please respond via e-mail, and if I receive any information of general
interest, I will post.
-- 
Michael L. Medlin  al@iris.claremont.edu

In the kingdom of boredom, I wear the royal sweatpants.
--mark leyner
From: ojvind@chagall.cns.caltech.edu (Ojvind Bernander)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: SF for kids and teens?
Date: 23 Nov 1992 22:10:06 GMT
Organization: California Institute of Technology
NNTP-Posting-Host: chagall.cns.caltech.edu

>Excerpts from netnews.rec.arts.sf.written: 23-Nov-92 SF for kids and
>teens? Sandra_M_Lowe.Henr80@XER (386)
>
>> I have searched my bibliographies and lists and have surprised myself that I
>> don`t have a list of SF for kids and teens, or any books in my lists designated
>> as juvenile.  So what I would like is a list of reccommendations for books for
>the very young and for teens.  

I grew up on, and revered, C.S. Lewis septology about Narnia.
The first one that Lewis wrote was "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe."
The first one, chronologically, is called, hm, in Swedish it was called
"My Uncle, the Magician."  The books can be read independently and though
it is fantasy rather than sf it opened my eyes to "fantastic" literature.
They are still wonderful after all these years and have been turned into
radio and TV shows.  Great stuff.

-- Oj
From: seth@inferno.uoregon.edu (Seth Scott)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: New Hitchhiker's Book:  Reviews ...?
Date: 16 Nov 1992 14:40:13 GMT
Organization: University of Oregon Network Services
NNTP-Posting-Host: inferno.uoregon.edu
Summary: anybody read this/should I grab a copy?
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL5


Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: durrell@pinball.arcade.uiowa.edu (Bryant Durrell)
Subject: Re: Human Computers in SF--Help!
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 14:09:10 GMT
Organization: University of Iowa

In article <1e6r7hINN2o4@agate.berkeley.edu> curtis@cs.berkeley.edu (Curtis Yarvin) writes:
>Yup; Moran actually seems to have some kind of a clue about the
>way computer systems work.

>Dunno where he got it, but there you go.

As I understand it, he's spent some time as a Fidonet.person, which
may have something to do with it.

Bryant Durrell
durrell@chop.isca.uiowa.edu
From: dani@netcom.com (Dani Zweig)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: The Gripping Hand (was: Re: Mote around...)
Date: 22 Nov 92 23:50:40 GMT
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest)

esr@snark.thyrsus.com (Eric S. Raymond):
[Sequel to "The Mote in God's Eye]
>Heh heh heh.  I've *read* it.
>
>Pocket Books sent me a galley last week.

Nov 25, 1992:  Reclusive Reviewer Robbed -- Galley Stolen by "Faceless
Men in Black Hats" -- Leading Scientists Baffled!!

-----
Dani Zweig
dani@netcom.com

"One of my favorite games when I was a kid was 'murder/suicide.'
 Dad would show us a photo and ask us, "Is it a murder or a suicide?"
	  --  Colleen Doran
Xref: sparky rec.arts.sf.written:14984 alt.cyberpunk:5878
From: esr@snark.thyrsus.com (Eric S. Raymond)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: raymond reviews
Date: 22 Nov 92 14:36:30 GMT

In <By01xw.DC0@news.cso.uiuc.edu> William Shakespeare wrote:
> Yeah, I wonder the same thing.  Where's Raymond?  Bring back Raymond.

I've been busy.  But the Reviews *will* return.
-- 
					Eric S. Raymond <esr@snark.thyrsus.com>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: shaw@physics.wm.edu (John Shaw)
Subject: Re: Are *YOU* Human?
Reply-To: shaw@physics.wm.edu
Organization: Rio de Caca Illuminati
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 00:19:49 GMT

Hmm, I have to comment since I just finished reading "Do Androids Dream of 
Electric Sheep?".   My opinion is that Deckard is not a replicant.  This is quite 
consistent throughout the book,  the Voight-Kampff test is designed to test 
for empathy, and the replicants are deficient in this ability.  Deckard is not.

There is one point where a bounty hunter _is_ thought to be a replicant.  This is
a character who apparently likes to kill androids.   He kills Luba Luft in a very 
cold blooded way and seems to lack the ability to care for others.   

The androids Pris Stratton, Rachel Rosen, and Roy Blaty seem to me less
sympathetically treated in the book than in the movie.  They are extremely 
intelligent, but this is coupled with a total absence of any moral imperatives
other than survival.   This flaw is contrasted with the humanity of Deckard who
suffers even when he knows he has no choice but to eliminate the androids.  He
has empathy for those who have none of their own.

On another note but related,  the book  "We Can Build You" by Dick has a character
named Rosen who builds androids and a businessman who wants to use them to
attract customers to his settlements on the moon and mars.  The androids are much
less threatening characters and the plot is more of a conflict between Rosen, the 
businessman, and a young girl Pris who lacks empathy however.  Are there any Dick 
scholars who would like to comment on the connection between these two books?


John Shaw

Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: andreas@appel012.hydromech.uni-hannover.de (Andreas Dunker)
Subject: Re: Foundation and Nemesis?
Organization: RRZN
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL4
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 14:39:20 GMT

cs_d637@ceres (Paul Neve) writes:
: I've just reread Nemesis...
: 
: Are there any other Asimov fans out there who have any idea whether he
: intended to link Nemesis with the Foundation/Robot/Empire/just about
: everything else series? The Ethyro people look as if they were going to
: evolve into the Spacers, and the line at the end of the book, "who could
: make sense of a galaxy of chaos" (or something) sounds like he had ol'
: Hari Seldon when he wrote this...
: 
: Ideas, anyone...?
: ..PN...
--

In a german translation, Asimov wrote, that he don't want to include
Nemesis in Foundation/Robot/Empire. In my opinion, it could be a little
difficult, cause the development of the Hyperspace engines are described
in one Robot short story.

Andreas
______________________________________________________________________________

Andreas Dunker                                Institut fuer Stroemungsmechanik
andreas@appel012.hydromech.uni-hannover.de          und elektronisches Rechnen
                                                                   im Bauwesen
                                                         Universitaet Hannover
2B  |  ! 2B  (W. Shakespeare)                                     West Germany
______________________________________________________________________________
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: weverett@jarthur.claremont.edu (William M. Everett)
Subject: Re: The best sf story ever
Organization: Harvey Mudd College, Claremont, CA 91711
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 07:51:49 GMT

In article <1992Nov17.044919.5345@leland.Stanford.EDU> mirage@leland.Stanford.EDU (Dean Joseph Sanvitale) writes:
>The best sf story ever written, or at least one of the best, in my opinion
>was PRESS ENTER which appeasr in Wolfheim's 1984 anthology.  I'm a CS major
>and yet, after reading this computer horror tale, I was afraid or my once
>friendly MAC for a week.  Read it, but BEWARE
>
>			mirage@leland.stanford.edu
>
	Can't agree. I didn't like the story very much, actually. I found that
it didn't really explain any interesting scientific ideas. It just summarized
a lot of ways that computers can be used to hack, etc, and then introduced
the horror part without really explaining how it accomplishes what it does.
	If you want to read a story that is chilling, insightful, and well
explained, read 'Blood Music' by Greg Bear. I read that story in a collection,
put down the book, and wouldn't read another story from the collection for
a couple of days.
	*********************************************************
	*  William Everett		Tan, Rested, and ready  *
	*  Harvey Mudd College		     NIXON in '96       *
	*                                                       *   
	*  These opinions are mine- you can't have them         *   
	*********************************************************

Xref: sparky rec.arts.sf.written:15021 alt.cyberpunk:5915
From: stong@ariel.ucs.unimelb.EDU.AU (Simon Tong)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Daniel K. Moran (was Re: Human Computers in SF--Help!)
Date: 23 Nov 1992 10:02:14 +1100
Organization: University of Melbourne
NNTP-Posting-Host: ariel.ucs.unimelb.edu.au

In article <1992Nov16.140910.28754@news.uiowa.edu> durrell@pinball.arcade.uiowa.edu (Bryant Durrell) writes:
>In article <1e6r7hINN2o4@agate.berkeley.edu> curtis@cs.berkeley.edu (Curtis Yarvin) writes:
>>Yup; Moran actually seems to have some kind of a clue about the
>>way computer systems work.
>
>>Dunno where he got it, but there you go.
>
>As I understand it, he's spent some time as a Fidonet.person, which
>may have something to do with it.
>

Moran has been "BBSing since the ancient olden days" and has acquired an
Internet account since August this year.

If someone has missed his press release he posted here and want a copy,
drop me a line, I'll e-mail it.

As to where he got his computer knowledge, what a funny question to ask !
I strongly suspect he's just like you and me, by reading about it and
hand-on experience.

Is anyone else out there as annoyed as I am about the unavailability of his
books ?  If you are, I strongly suggest that you do something about it.
As I understand, there is NO guarantee that Bantam will reprint _Emerald Eyes_
and _The Long Run_ when _THe Last Dancer_ comes out next year.

I have written to Bantam to let them know what a pity it is to let them go out
of print in the first place and it would be in their own interest to reprint
the first two volumes in the LONG series.  

Bantam' address is :-

Bantam Books
666 Fifth Avenue,
New York,
New York 10103.


From: bobdev@hprpcd.rose.hp.com (Bob Devereaux)
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 15:42:19 GMT
Subject: Re: Questions about novel submission...
Organization: HP Roseville Site
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written

William--

Best thing to do is write a query letter to the specific editor.  Include
a short synopsis & the opening twenty-or-so pages.  In my experience, this
still qualifies as a query (mail it flat, include SASE for reply, tell 'em
the sample is discardable in the event of rejection).  If the editor replies
with interest & a request to see the whole ms., then it's "solicited" &
you're home-free.

Robert Devereaux
bobdev@hprpcd.rose.hp.com
From: lnh@soliton.physics.arizona.edu (sometimes a Wombat)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: Brust, P.J.F., and Cat's Laughing
Date: 20 Nov 92 22:39:44 GMT
Organization: Society for the Appreciation of Janni Lee Simner

harsh@owlnet.rice.edu (Anish Harshad Masharani) writes:
> Have any of you heard anything by Cat's Laughing?
> It's a group that is supposedly made up of Stephen Brust, Emma Bull, and some
> other folks.

Yes, I have their second album.  The "thrid album" mentioned by Will
Shetterly (Bull's husband) in ELSEWHERE was a bid to force them to get
back together.  They're good.  If you get a chance to see Bull on stage, 
do -- she has almost as much stage presence as Peter Gabriel.

For the source of the name, see "The Wild Wicked Old Man" by W.B. Yeats.

> Also, does anyone know what P.J.F. stands for at the end of Brust's name

Is the FAQ entry on this gone?  Pre-Joycean Fellowship, whose members
include Brust, Bull, Shetterly, Pamela Dean, Kara Dalkey (all in the same 
writers group), Jane Yolen (who's son is also a member of Cats Laughing), 
and Neil Gaiman (of SANDMAN fame).  Damon Knight is rumored to be
sympathetic.

The name is in parallel to the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, that group
of painters headed by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, started in the mid-1800's
under the manifesto that all art since Raphael had been headed in the
wrong direction.  The PJFers (or PJamers as Brust calls them) think
that the modern novel is doing things wrong, and they trace it back to
the influence of Joyce (ULYSSES) and all the modernists who followed
his footsteps.

They advocate what Bull calls "sneaky art" -- literature that happens in
the course of things as one is writing.  Other quotes:  "Sops for the
groundlings *and* the toff seats[1]" -- Dalkey;  "Just tell the story" 
-- Yolen (this the author of SISTER LIGHT, SISTER DARK?)

They have a point, but the last time I asked, they still couldn't
defend their position coherently.

[1] Groundling -- the SOR seats in the orchestra pit in Elizabethan
theaters; toffs -- Victorian slang for upper class.

	Larry "Does that help?" Hammer
--

LNH@physics.arizona.edu   \   One like a wombat prowled obtuse
GEnie: L.HAMMER2           \  and furry  -- Christina Rossetti
From: howard@hasse.hal.com (Howard Gayle)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: Ecologies Wanted
Date: 19 Nov 92 14:16:16 GMT
Reply-To: howard@hal.com (Howard Gayle)
Organization: HaL Computer Systems, Inc., Campbell, California
NNTP-Posting-Host: hasse.hal.com
In-reply-to: ott@ansoft.com (nancy ott)

In article <Bxxn5G.MHL@ansoft.com>, ott@ansoft (nancy ott) writes:
>  Slonczewski also wrote
>another ecology-oriented book about Quakers adapting to a new planet,
>but I can't remember its name.

Still Forms on Foxfield.
--
Howard Gayle
HAL Computer Systems, Inc.
1315 Dell Avenue
Campbell, California 95008
USA
howard@hal.com
Phone: +1 408 379 7000 extension 1080
FAX  : +1 408 379 5022
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: xtifr@netcom.com (Chris Waters)
Subject: Re: Stephen Brust's best
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest) 
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 19:32:17 GMT

In <farrell.721966243@coral> farrell@coral.cs.jcu.edu.au (John Farrell) writes:

>  I haven't read Phoenix Guards or this Gypsy one, which I only just heard
>about, but it seems my opinions are the exact opposite of yours! The Sun, the
>Moon and the Stars was nice, but not very interesting. Brokedown Palace was
>very boring indeed. Cowboy Feng and TRIH were both excellent. The Taltos
>series started off excellently, but I am worries that it will get bogged down
>as a chronicle of Vlad's marital problems.

Just to really confuse matters, my opinions are orthogonal to these.  I
think that _TSTM&TS_ and _TRIH_ are his best works, Brokedown Palace I
thought nice, but not very interesting, and Cowboy Feng's I consider a
complete waste of trees.  :-)

But, in the final analysis, it's nice to have a writer who can write
such a variety of books in such a variety of styles that something of
his will appeal to almost anyone.  The downside, OC, is that you may
encounter a book of his you don't like first, and never discover the
rest of the his work.

My advice to anyone who has read one Brust book and given up:  don't.  :-)
-- 
Chris Waters    | the insane don't | "Don't you boys know NICE songs?"
xtifr@netcom.COM| need disclaimers |                 -- Joe's mama
From: mst@vexpert.dbai.tuwien.ac.at (Markus Stumptner)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: Looking for author/title of short story
Date: 17 Nov 92 12:52:50 GMT
Organization: DB and ES Subdivision, TU Vienna

From article <D3u5TB1w165w@stam.nl>, by nicolas@stam.nl (Nico Veenkamp):
> tamossel@cs.vu.nl (Mossel TAK) writes:
>> Hiya. Some time ago, I read a short story about a man who programmed a 
>> computer to process a prayer over and over

> wasn't that a short story by Asimov. The computer was supposed to print 
> out all the nine billion names of God.

Clarke wrote it, not Asimov.  'The Nine Billion Names of God' was the
title of the story.  Don't know if it's the one he wants to know
about, though.
-- 
Markus Stumptner                                mst@vexpert.dbai.tuwien.ac.at
University of Technology Vienna                 vexpert!mst@relay.eu.net
Paniglg. 16, A-1040 Vienna, Austria             ...mcsun!vexpert!mst
From: mab@buphy.bu.edu (Michael Burstein)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: anybody read /enjoy James Hogan?
Date: 23 Nov 92 21:51:33 GMT
Organization: Boston University Physics Department

I've read _The Protues Operation_ (title? Proteus is right) and thought
he did a good job characterizing some of the scientists who worked on
the Manhattan District.  I also thought it was clever the way he made
one major military project (the fictional one) take precedence over the
real one!

However, some of his recent stuff is less sf and more technothriller.
I'm not saying that this is bad -- it all depends on what you want.


-- 
Michael A. Burstein
Physics Department, Boston University         mab@buphy.bu.edu
590 Commonwealth Ave.                         (617) 353-9437 (o)
Boston, MA 02215                              (617) 735-9433 (h)
Organization: Center for Machine Translation, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 11:19:41 -0500 
From: John Robert Leavitt <jl3j+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Author Polls: George R. R. Martin

Welcome to the author polls.  This week's author is
George R. R. Martin.

INTRO to AUTHOR POLLS  (skip if you've participated before):

   Since no two readers can generally be expected to agree
   about the quality of a given author, an overall poll
   like that used in rec.arts.movies would be useless
   except as an incendiary.  However, there is often good
   agreement about which books by a given author are most
   worthy: thus this poll.
IF YOU MISSED AN EARLIER POLL and want to contribute, please
   feel free to DO SO.

BALLOT FORMAT  (read this once):

   You have four votes, one each at +3, +2, +1, and -1. You
   may vote for a work of any length, though you may wish
   to restrict yourself to the form in which the author was
   most prolific.

SAMPLE BALLOT (just a reminder):
   + 3 <vote for at most one work>
   + 2 <vote for at most one work>
   + 1 <vote for at most one work>
   - 1 <vote for at most one work>

SEND BALLOTS TO THIS ADDRESS.  If you prefer multiple choice,
you can obtain fairly complete bibliographies by anonymous ftp
from gandalf.rutgers.edu, in /pub/sfl/authorlists.

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS (abridged):

John W. Campbell
----------------
 Who Goes There?                   +   6
 Twilight                          +   4
 Ultimate Weapon                   +   3
 Cloak of Aesir                    +   1
 Forgetfulness                     +   1
 Mightiest Machine                 +   1
 Night                             +   1
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 Islands of Space                  -   1

NOTE: On the advice of my predecessor, Tom Hyer, I will not be placing
these results in the previous poll archives.  This is due to an
extremely low response rate (4 people, including Tom).

PREVIOUS AUTHOR LISTS are available via Email from this address,
via anonymous ftp from any CMU CS machine (e.g., ftp.cs.cmu.edu
[128.2.206.173]), or through AFS in the directory:

         /afs/cs/user/jrrl/public/authorlists.

If accessing this directory through anonymous ftp, it is important to
"cd" to the directory using one operation, as some of the superior
directories on the path are protected from access by anonymous ftp.

PREVIOUS AUTHORS:
  Roger Zelazny
  Orson Scott Card
  Ursula K. Le Guin
  Larry Niven
  C.J. Cherryh
  Robert A. Heinlein
  David Brin
  Arthur C. Clarke
  Isaac Asimov
  John Brunner
  Frank Herbert
  Jack Vance
  Philip K. Dick
  Samuel R. Delany
  Greg Bear
  Robert Silverberg
  Philip Jose Farmer
  Poul Anderson
  Frederick Pohl
  Joe Haldeman
  Stanislaw Lem
  Cordwainer Smith
  Tanith Lee
  Gordon R. Dickson
  Walter Jon Williams
  Fritz Leiber
  Clifford D. Simak
  Harlan Ellison
  Gregory Benford
  Theodore Sturgeon