RIP Sir Arthur

[mschatelaine]

One of the most formative authors of my youth; I used to read and re-read my uncle's old copy of Earthlight, and Dolphin Island and Islands in the Sky from the library, and I loved the Tales from the White Hart and The City and the Stars once I was buying second-hand books.

What did I take from them, and from all the short stories? That science and the exploration of space themselves were worth writing stories about, and that they could be interesting at a higher level than boys'-own space adventure stories (Heinlein) or puzzles (Asimov). I think the modern British hard SF is in this vein, and I'm pleased to see it continue so.

Do you know, I don't have any Clarke on my bookshelves? I'll have to fix that tomorrow.

Comments

[carl-allery.livejournal.com]

LOL, you'll get on well with my brother. He maintains that Clarke is the best, but then he's from Minehead. Personally I liked Heinlein's sense of adventure and Asimov's logic puzzles, (especially Susan Calvin) but Clarke was definitely up there with them and I do have several Clarkes on my shelves because I never get rid of any SF books. :)