So when a British magazine writes one of these lists it's a British Popularity Contest; but when an American magazine does it, its the World's best SFF authors?
Mild Colonial Boy, Esq. | Homepage | 06.20.08 - 1:10 pm | #

Thanks for stopping by, it's always cool to see new visitors here.

SFX is a British Magazine, isn't it? I don't know that it is available here in the US.
Rob B | Homepage | 06.20.08 - 1:40 pm | #

It can be found in some newsagents in the US, but friends report they've only seen copies in places like LA and NYC.

Interestingly, SFX sells more copies than I believe any comparable US magazine, and with 3,000 votes it blew any of the recent other votes on Malazanempire, Westeros and Wotmania out of the water, but the British-o-centric nature of the list is still to be expected. If there was a comparable US publicity vote Goodkind would come in much higher and Jordan would be Top 10, which I think would blow the validity of the list for even more people (although I do enjoy Jordan and think he gets a bit of a rough ride considering some of the positive things he did for the genre; he'd be in my Top 20, certainly).

You'll probably be interested to know that last time SFX did their list as voted for by a bunch of SF writers, Gene Wolfe came in at #1, with Tolkien at #2 and Pratchett at #3.
Adam Whitehead | Homepage | 06.24.08 - 8:53 pm | #

Hi Adam,

From what I've seen/read/heard about SFX, I wish I could get it here in the States. In terms of importance, it is tough to argue Jordan's spot. I enjoyed the early novels and will be rereading them as the publication date of the final volume draws closer.

Re-reading my comments, I may have been a bit snarky.

Comparing writers lists with readers lists is always interesting and I'm not surprised Wolfe topped the writer's list.
Rob B | Homepage | 06.25.08 - 8:18 am | #

I'm shocked at the number of authors on the list I've never heard of -- Robert Rankin, Peter F. Hamilton, Steven Erikson, for instance -- considering the number of classic authors who are completely missing here. Cordwainer Smith, Poul Anderson, and Cliff Simak were giants of the field. I loved Scott Lynch's books, but he's just the latest Fritz Leiber imitator -- where's the original?

For more recent authors, how about Connie Willis, Steven Brust, Caroline Stevermer....
Sol | 06.25.08 - 10:15 pm | #

Fritz is sadly absent from the list. Surprised you haven't heard of Hamilton and Erikson - they are both pretty big on both sides of the Atlantic.
Rob B | Homepage | 06.25.08 - 10:28 pm | #