Survivor Appendix N Authors- LEIBER WINS!

[Bradley Hindman]

Anderson, Poul 3
Bellairs, John 19
Brackett, Leigh 16
Brown, Frederic 18
Burroughs, Edgar Rice 26
Carter, Lin 16
de Camp, L. Sprague 15
de Camp & Pratt 20
Dunsany, Lord 19
Farmer, P. J. 19
Gardner, Fox 21
Howard, R.E. 16
Lanier, Sterling 18
Leiber, Fritz 22 + 1 = 23
Merritt, A. 20
Moorcock, Michael 26
Norton, Andre 23
Offutt, Andrew J. 20
Pratt, Fletcher 20
Saberhagen, Fred 12
St. Clair, Margaret 18
Tolkien, J. R. R. 25 - 2 =23
Weinbaum, Stanley 16
Wellman, Manley Wade 18
Williamson, Jack 18
Zelazny, Roger 24

 

[Yardiff]

Anderson, Poul 3-2=1
Bellairs, John 19
Brackett, Leigh 16
Brown, Frederic 18
Burroughs, Edgar Rice 26
Carter, Lin 16
de Camp, L. Sprague 15+1=16
de Camp & Pratt 20
Dunsany, Lord 19
Farmer, P. J. 19
Gardner, Fox 21
Howard, R.E. 16
Lanier, Sterling 18
Leiber, Fritz 23
Merritt, A. 20
Moorcock, Michael 26
Norton, Andre 23
Offutt, Andrew J. 20
Pratt, Fletcher 20
Saberhagen, Fred 12
St. Clair, Margaret 18
Tolkien, J. R. R. 23
Weinbaum, Stanley 16
Wellman, Manley Wade 18
Williamson, Jack 18
Zelazny, Roger 24

 

[Lord Mhoram]

Anderson, Poul 3
Bellairs, John 19
Brackett, Leigh 16
Brown, Frederic 18
Burroughs, Edgar Rice 26
Carter, Lin 16
de Camp, L. Sprague 15
de Camp & Pratt 20
Dunsany, Lord 19
Farmer, P. J. 19
Gardner, Fox 21
Howard, R.E. 14
Lanier, Sterling 18
Leiber, Fritz 23
Merritt, A. 20
Moorcock, Michael 26
Norton, Andre 23
Offutt, Andrew J. 20
Pratt, Fletcher 20
Saberhagen, Fred 12
St. Clair, Margaret 18
Tolkien, J. R. R. 23
Weinbaum, Stanley 16
Wellman, Manley Wade 18
Williamson, Jack 18
Zelazny, Roger 25

 

[Yardiff]

Anderson, Poul 1
Bellairs, John 19
Brackett, Leigh 16
Brown, Frederic 18
Burroughs, Edgar Rice 26
Carter, Lin 16
de Camp, L. Sprague 16
de Camp & Pratt 20
Dunsany, Lord 19
Farmer, P. J. 19
Gardner, Fox 21
Howard, R.E. 14
Lanier, Sterling 18
Leiber, Fritz 23
Merritt, A. 20
Moorcock, Michael 26
Norton, Andre 23
Offutt, Andrew J. 20
Pratt, Fletcher 20
Saberhagen, Fred 12
St. Clair, Margaret 18
Tolkien, J. R. R. 23
Weinbaum, Stanley 16
Wellman, Manley Wade 18
Williamson, Jack 18
Zelazny, Roger 25



Corrected for same time posts.

 

[Parmandur]

Not only is it possible, it's done quite regularly. Tolkien is a titan of the fantasy genre, but not the only one... and as titans of the genre go, he's not the best writer by a long shot.

What really gets me about Tolkien is the number of people on these forums who insist that elves'n'dwarves'n'orcs are "staples of the genre" or "universal in fantasy." They are nothing of the kind. They are, in fact, quite unusual in fantasy fiction outside the sub-genre of Tolkien and Tolkien rip-offs. But because D&D happened to be published around the height of the Tolkien craze, the creators (perhaps inevitably) shoehorned it into that sub-genre, and so we're stuck with them forever.

All this post demonstrates is the nigh infinite capacity of humanity in the postlapsarian state to underrate Tolkien.

 

[Parmandur]

JRRT had great stuff in his books, but then you would spend 9 pages on an elven song and 6 pages describing trees. Hyperbole I know.

But those are literally the best parts? Sure, lots of folks can write fights (at which Tolkien was better than average), but it takes talent to describe trees.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

JRRT had great stuff in his books, but then you would spend 9 pages on an elven song and 6 pages describing trees. Hyperbole I know.

That's what made him great, he was writing things he liked, not to shift copies off shelves.

Technically, he wasn't the greatest writer, but then none of the others on this list are either. The likes of Gaiman and Pratchett are far more accomplished, or Poe and Verne, if you limit it to stuff that was published prior to 1979.

 

[Ed Laprade]

Anderson, Poul 1
Bellairs, John 19
Brackett, Leigh 16 - 2 = 14
Brown, Frederic 18
Burroughs, Edgar Rice 26
Carter, Lin 16
de Camp, L. Sprague 16
de Camp & Pratt 20
Dunsany, Lord 19
Farmer, P. J. 19
Gardner, Fox 21
Howard, R.E. 14
Lanier, Sterling 18
Leiber, Fritz 23
Merritt, A. 20
Moorcock, Michael 26
Norton, Andre 23 +1 = 24
Offutt, Andrew J. 20
Pratt, Fletcher 20
Saberhagen, Fred 12
St. Clair, Margaret 18
Tolkien, J. R. R. 23
Weinbaum, Stanley 16
Wellman, Manley Wade 18
Williamson, Jack 18
Zelazny, Roger 25

 

[Dioltach]

The Lord of the Rings was voted the Best Loved Novel in Britain in 2003 after a survey involving three quarters of a million votes. That's a lot of people who thought is was a good book. (I'm not saying it's my favourite book, or that Tolkien is my favourite author on the list - if I bothered to vote, I'd probably upvote Sterling E. Lanier first - but there's no denying that an awful lot of people consider The Lord of the Rings to be a great book for a variety of reasons.

 

[tglassy]

The Lord of the Rings IS a great book, for a variety of reasons. Not least of which is the story itself, the world it is set in and the struggles each of the characters go through. It’s not just the writing that is important. Tolkien made Middle Earth REAL for people. They feel a connection there. It has proven itself timeless. It reaches even people who are not “fantasy” fans. In fact, the only person I’ve personally met who refuses to read/watch the movie does so because it makes him feel superior to not like what other people like. The more popular something is, the less he likes it, because by doing so he can pretend to look down on those who like it.

Not that I’m accusing everyone who doesn’t like LotR of doing that, but he does.