Samuel R Delany, Philip K Dick, Ursula K Le Guin, and (maybe) William Gibson.

[pmb]

What scifi/fantasy authors would you be willing to defend as writers of high quality literature and not just genre fiction? What authors both have something to say, and say it well?

NB: I'm primarily looking for people who are by default filed in the SciFi ghetto, not "real" authors who have occasionally been filed in SF/fantasy. Because Kurt Vonnegut is widely acknowledged to be a virtuoso writer and has written a bunch of SF, but I'm not sure that most people think of him as a science fiction writer.

Comments

[pants-of-doom.livejournal.com]

Bruce Sterling. And a lot of people already mentioned.

[pants-of-doom.livejournal.com]

This is who I was trying to think of: Angela Carter. Also, Alan Moore, but I'm thinking of Watchmen and don't know what his novel is like.

[goteam.livejournal.com]

I liked Voice of the Fire a lot. Does Angela Carter get filed under fantasy/sf? I'm still working my way through the collection of her stories you sent me, at a rate of maybe one a month because they kick my ass so hard.

[pants-of-doom.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure where Angela Carter gets filed. I got her at an SF specialty bookstore (the one I used to work at), but I think a lot of people don't know where to file her because she's so weird.

I've been planning to read Voice of the Fire, but whenever I remember to see if the library has it I have to do a ton of reading for school and end up not going.