The Evolution of Science Fiction discussion

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1940-1959: The Golden Age of SF > What This Folder Is For...

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message 1: by Jim (new)

Jul 08, 2017 04:32AM

Any topics dealing with SF books, stories, or whatever that originated between 1940 & 1959.

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message 2: by Jim (last edited May 31, 2021 06:10PM) (new)

Sep 26, 2018 05:10AM

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message 3: by Jim (new)

Feb 08, 2019 06:22AM

Hold for future.

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message 4: by Jim (new)

Feb 08, 2019 06:22AM

SF Authors by Period Lists
This list shouldn't be considered complete nor is it strictly limited to influential SF authors & editors. I tried to list some of their best known & most influential works, contributions, &/or description. Basically, it's a quick cheat sheet to help recognize authors common to this group, although not every entry can be nominated for a group read.

Don't take the dates as gospel. They're roughly accurate for the majority of their SF works & you may find one or two outside them. In front of their names, I put how many books &/or short stories we've read by them in this group as of Jan2019.

Pay attention to death dates. Many authors have works repackaged, so the first publishing date is long after their deaths. For the purposes of group reads, we try to use the period in which the work was written even though we often rely on publishing dates.

For further details, you can click on the author & book links to see what GoodReads has on them or check out the following.
Fantastic Fiction
Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFDB)
The Ultimate Science Fiction Web Guide

This topic is locked. If you'd like to comment, please do so in the SF or Influential Authors topic.

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message 5: by Jim (last edited Jun 08, 2020 04:07AM) (new)

Feb 08, 2019 06:22AM

# books
group read --- Author's name --- Writing period --- Comments
A
- Kobo Abe (1950s-1990s, died 1993) - best known SF is Inter Ice Age 4.
- Alan Burt Akers - see Kenneth Bulmer
- Brian W. Aldiss (1950s & up) - grandmaster of SF
- Kingsley Amis (1950s-1980s, died 1995) - mostly thrillers, literary fiction, horror, & comedy. The Alteration is alternate timeline SF.
- Poul Anderson (1950s-2000) - grandmaster of SF
3 - Isaac Asimov (1939-1990s) - Foundation, I, Robot, & many more

B
- René Barjavel (1940s-1970s) - most works in French. Only La Nuit des temps (The Ice People) (1968) is currently available in English. Also wrote short stories.
- Barrington J. Bayley (1950s-2000s, died 2008) - short stories & novels. Best known for his The Soul of the Robot series.
2 - Alfred Bester (1950s-1990s) - The Stars My Destination, The Demolished Man, & many others.
- Lloyd Biggle Jr. (1950s-1990s, died 2002) - most prolific for short stories in the 1950s, novels in the 60s-70s. Monument is best known SF. Also wrote mysteries.
- James Blish (1950s-1970s) - "After Such Knowledge" & "Cities In Flight" series plus.
- Pierre Boulle (1940s-1980s) - The Bridge Over the River Kwai (not SF), Planet of the Apes, Garden on the Moon, & others.
- Robert Bloch (1940s-1990s, died 1994) - horror & mystery writer most famous for Psycho. A correspondent with H.P. Lovecraft. He & Andre Norton wrote The Jekyll Legacy together. He also teamed up with Harlan Ellison in Partners in Wonder for several Jack the Ripper stories.
- J.F. Bone - (1950s-1970s) - The Lani People & 31 short stories. We read the short story Pandemic, but "Triggerman" won Hugo.
- Leigh Brackett (1940s-1970s) - The Long Tomorrow, 'Skaith' & 'Eric John Stark' series, & more. Wife of Edmond Hamilton.
3 - Ray Bradbury (1940s-2000s) - Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, & many more.
1 - Fredric Brown (1940s-1970s) - Martians, Go Home, What Mad Universe, & others.
- John Brunner (1950s-1990s) - Stand on Zanzibar, The Sheep Look Up, The Shockwave Rider, & more.
- Algis Budrys (1950s-2000s) - Rogue Moon, Who?, & many others.
- Kenneth Bulmer aka Alan Burt Akers (1950s-1990s, died 2005) - used many pseudonyms & wrote in many genres, often franchise novels. To Outrun Doomsday & Cycle of Nemesis are standalone SF. Whirlpool Of Stars is the first of his Hook series Tully Zetford. Best known for his Dray Prescott series using Alan Burt Akers which starts with Transit to Scorpio (Dray Prescot, #1).
- David R. Bunch (1950s-1990s, died 2000) - short stories only. Bunch! is his most popular collection.
- Anthony Burgess (1950s-1990s) - A Clockwork Orange & The Wanting Seed plus others.
- F.M. Busby (1950s-1990s) - 'Demu', 'Rissa Kerguelen', & 'Holzein' (Rebel) series & more. A lot of short stories.

C
- Martin Caidin (1950s-2000) Cyborg (6 Million $ Man) & more. Action oriented.
- John W. Campbell Jr. (1930s-1970s) - Who Goes There? (The Thing movies) & others. Very influential editor 1940s-1960s.
- Cleve Cartmill (1940s-1950s, died 1964) - Best known for his short story "Deadline" which described the atomic bomb before it was public. He wrote other short stories & several novels such as The Space Scavengers.
- A. Bertram Chandler (1940s-1980s, died 1984) - SF short stories & novels. Best known for his John Grimes series that begins with The Road to the Rim. Father-in-law of horror author Ramsey Campbell.
4 - Arthur C. Clarke (1950s-2000s) - Childhood's End, Rendezvous with Rama, 2001: A Space Odyssey, many short stories.
- Hal Clement (1940s-2000s, died 2003) - SF short stories & novels. Best known for his short stories & early novels Needle & Mission of Gravity.
- Mark Clifton (1950s-1960s, died 1963) - SF short stories & several novels. His best known novel is They'd Rather Be Right written with Frank Riley.
- Edmund Cooper (1950s-1970s) - aka Richard Avery the pseudonym he used for his Expendables series which starts with The Deathworms of Kratos. He used other pseudonyms & wrote speculative fiction & poetry.

D
- Clark Darlton (1950s-2000s, died 2005) - Wrote in novels & short stories in German, but translated to French, Dutch, & English. Best known works in English are The Rebels of Tuglan & Escape to Venus.
- L. Sprague de Camp (1940s-1990s) - Lest Darkness Fall SF, a lot of fantasy. Famous for editing the Lancer editions of REH's Conan books with Lin Carter & his fantasy with Fletcher Pratt.
- Lester del Rey (1950s-1970s) - The Runaway Robot, The Mysterious Planet, & more. Also wrote fantasy & was an influential editor.
- Gordon R. Dickson (1950s-1990s) best known for his Dorsai! (SF military) series, & his fantasy series
The Dragon and the George. Time Storm, Wolfling & many other SF books. He wrote the Hoka series with Poul Anderson.

E
- Richard Mace Elam (1950s-1960s, died 2013) - YA SF, best known for his short SF stories in "Boy's Life". A collection of his stories is Young Readers Science Fiction Stories.
- Harlan Ellison (1950s-2018 died) - many short stories & scripts. Also edited anthologies including Partners in Wonder where he collaborated writing short stories with many of the greats.
- Carol Emshwiller (1950s-2000s, died 2019) - SF short stories & novels. Best known for The Collected Stories of Carol Emshwiller, Vol. 1 & The Mount.
- E. Everett Evans (1950s-1970s) - Man of Many Minds, The Planet Mappers, & more. Wrote Masters Of Space with E.E. "Doc" Smith.

F
- John Russell Fearn (1930s-1950s, died 1960)- prolific pulp author, both SF novels & short stories, as well as other genres. Books include The Golden Amazon series. He used many pseudonyms alone & with other authors in the pulps: Volsted Gridban (also used by E.C. Tubb), & more.
- Jack Finney (1950s-1990s) - Best known for Invasion of the Body Snatchers & Time and Again.
- Gardner Francis Fox (1940s-1980s, died 1986) - pulp author 10 Gardner Francis Fox Planet Stories Collected & Illustrated, best known for his S&S such as Kyrik: Warlock Warrior & Kothar stories.His SF like Escape Across The Cosmos is usually action oriented.

G
- Daniel F. Galouye (1950s-1970s, died 1976) - Dark Universe, Simulacron 3, & several others as well as 2 short story collections.
- Randall Garrett (1940s-1980s, died 1987) - short stories & novels, SF & fantasy. Best known for his Lord Darcy trilogy which is alternate history.Anything You Can Do ... is also SF. His Gandalara series (with his wife, Vicki Ann Heydron) is more fantastic than SF, IMO.
- Hugo Gernsback (1910s-1950s) - Namesake of the Hugo award. Coined the term Science Fiction. He did write several novels, but is chiefly remembered for giving SF writers a place to publish.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Ge...
1 - Tom Godwin (1950s-1970s) - best known for The Cold Equations and Other Stories.
- James E. Gunn (1950s & up) - many short stories & dozens of books such as The Joy Machine & Gift From The Stars.

H
- Edmond Hamilton (1920s-1970s) - Prolific space opera & other SF. Wrote the Captain Future series & Starwolf trilogy plus others such as City at World's End & The Valley of Creation. Married to Leigh Brackett.
- Charles L. Harness (1950s-1990s) - The Paradox Men is one. Better known in the UK than US, although he is a US author.
1 - Thea von Harbou (1900s-1950s) - best known for writing the screen play of Metropolis by her husband, Fritz Lang. Most books in German.
- Henry Hasse (1930s-1970s) - best known for his short stories. One novel, "The Stars Will Wait" (1968) is in the ISFDB, but not on GR.
4 - Robert A. Heinlein (1940s-1980s) - Grandmaster of SF, best known for Stranger in a Strange Land & his Juveniles in the 1950s. He wrote a lot of short stories in the 1940s-50s & very long, preachy novels from 1970 until his death in 1988. Spider Robinson, his fanboy, finished his last 2 novels long after his death.
1 - Frank Herbert (1950s-1980s) - best known for Dune & it's many subsequent novels, many of which are written with or by his son, Brian Herbert. He also wrote the Pandora series & other SF short stories & novels.
1 - James Hilton (1920s-1950s) - Lost Horizon (1930) is speculative fiction that we read. Best known for Good-Bye, Mr. Chips which was also made into a movie. (Not to be confused with James Hilton, a new thriller author.)
- L. Ron Hubbard (1930s-1980s) He died in 1986, but many books were published well after his death. Best known for creating the Church of Scientology & Dianetics. Also an SF author & editor. "Mission Earth" is his only series plus many standalones. He also edited many anthologies in the "Writers of the Future". Good friends with both John W. Campbell Jr. & A.E. van Vogt.
- Denis Hughes (1950s, died 2008) - prolific pulp author of SF novels as well as other genres. Best known SF is as Gill Hunt (also used by John Brunner & E.C. Tubb. He also wrote Maid of Thuro as with John Lane, one of his pseudonyms.
- Gill Hunt (1950s) - pseudonym used by John Brunner, E.C. Tubb, & Denis Hughes as pulp authors for novels such as Hostile Worlds.
- Aldous Huxley (1920s-1950s, died 1963) - best known for Brave New World & Island utopian societies. He also wrote nonfiction & poetry.

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message 6: by Jim (last edited May 21, 2019 04:38AM) (new)

Feb 08, 2019 06:23AM

# books
group read --- Author's name --- Writing period --- Comments

J
- Carl Jacobi (1920s-1990s) - horror, fantasy, crime, & SF short stories.
- Raymond F. Jones (1940s-1970s) - best known for This Island Earth which became a movie & many short stories.

K
- Alexander Kazantsev (1940s-1970s) Russian without many works translated to English. The Destruction of Faena is, as well as a collection of his short stories on his arctic adventures, Against the Wind.
- Joseph E. Kelleam (1930s-1970s) - short stories & space opera, Hunters Out of Space.
- David H. Keller (1920s-1960s) - a psychiatrist & his stories reflect that. He wrote both novels & short stories.
- Gérard Klein (1950s & up) - many works only in French or translated to languages other than English. Best known for The Overlords Of War & his Starmaster's Gambit series, he's also written numerous short stories.
- Nigel Kneale (1950s-1970s) - best known for the Quatermass BBC series which also became 4 books.
- Damon Knight (1940s-1990s) - very influential SF author & editor with many novels & short stories. Husband of Kate Wilhelm, another very influential SF author & editor. They helped create the Clarion Writers Workshop & helped many aspiring authors. His best known short story is To Serve Man which was also one of the original Twilight Zone episodes.
- C.M. Kornbluth (1930s-1950s, died 1958) - best known for his short stories, especially The Little Black Bag, he also wrote novels, some coauthored with Frederik Pohl.
- Henry Kuttner (1930s-1950s, died 1958) - many short stories & novels alone & with his wife C.L. Moore (1930s - 1980s, died 1987). Also wrote as Lewis Padgett & other pseudonyms. Who wrote what is often a matter of discussion since it's believed she wrote several stories published under his name. Very prolific & influential team.

L
- Keith Laumer (1950s-1990s, died 1993) - best known for his Bolo & Retief! series, he wrote many other books & short stories. A stroke in 1971 pretty much ruined him.
3 - Ursula K. Le Guin (1950s to 2010s, died 2018) - Multiple award winner, possibly best known for her Hainish (SF) & Earthsea (fantasy) series, & The Lathe of Heaven (2 movies) she wrote many more plus short stories. Gender, environment, & political themes.
- Stan Lee (1940s to death 2018) - wrote no SF novels, but inspired many with his, Jack Kirby, & Steve Ditko comic book characters especially from the 1960s on.
- Fritz Leiber (1930s-1990s, died 1992) - coined the term (S&S). Most famous for his Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser series (S&S), he also wrote horror & SF both novels & short stories. The Wanderer & The Big Time are his best known SF books.
- Murray Leinster (1910s-1970s) - The Sidewise Award for Alternate History took its name from his story, “Sidewise in Time.” He also wrote westerns, mysteries, & more. Best known for his Med Ship series & many short stories.
1 - Stanislaw Lem (1950s-1980s, died 2006) - Polish author best known in the US for Solaris.
- Madeleine L'Engle (1940s-2000s, died 2007) - best known SF is the Time quintet which starts with A Wrinkle in Time. She won several awards including the Newbery Medal.
- Milton Lesser (1950s-1960s, died 2008) - pseudonym of Stephen Marlowe. Best known for his detective & mystery novels under his real name & various pseudonyms, he wrote mostly SF short stories & some novels as Milton Lesser. Recruit for Andromeda & The Star Seekers are his 2 best known.
- Doris Lessing (1940s-2000s, died 2013) - mostly fiction with social commentary. Best known SF is probably The Memoirs of a Survivor & her Canopus in Argos: Archives series,Re: Colonised Planet 5, Shikasta is the first.
1 - C.S. Lewis (1930s-1960s) - essayist & Christian apologist, he's best known for his Narnia (fantasy) & Cosmic trilogy (SF) that stars with Out of the Silent Planet.
- Frank Belknap Long (1930s-1970s, died 1994) - horror, fantasy, & SF, often a mix. Best known for his short stories, although he published almost 30 novels. Died broke.
- Robert A.W. Lowndes (1930s-1970s, died 1998) - His best known novel is Mystery of the Third Mine & he wrote many short stories. Edited many SF magazines.

M
- John D. MacDonald (1950s-1980s, died 1986) Best known for his Travis McGee series & other mysteries, but he also wrote several SF books. The Girl, the Gold Watch & Everything is probably the best known & was made into a movie in 1980. Other Times, Other Worlds is a collection of SF short stories.
- Katherine Anne MacLean (1950s & up) - mostly short stories during the Golden & New Age, also wrote some novels. Missing Man lengthened from a short story. Married for 6 years around 1960 to David Mason, an SF & fantasy author.
- Stephen Marlowe (1950s-1960s, died 2008) - Best known for his detective & mystery novels under his real name, he wrote mostly SF short stories & some novels under the pseudonym of Milton Lesser. Recruit for Andromeda & The Star Seekers are his 2 best known.
- Richard Matheson (1950s & up) - best known for The Shrinking Man (SF), I Am Legend (SF-horror), & Hell House (horror). He also wrote Nightmare At 20,000 Feet (Twilight Zone episode starring William Shatner) & the short story "Steel" which was both a Twilight Zone episode (starring Lee Marvin) & the basis for the movie starring Hugh Jackman.
- David Mason (1950s-1970s, died 1974) - Married for 6 years around 1960 to Katherine Anne MacLean. Little of note save that Asimov included his short story "Road Stop" in Thinking Machines & the other 4 authors are very well known.
- Judith Merril (1950s-1970s, died 1997) - short stories, a few novels, & editor.
- A. Merritt (1910s-1940s) - SF & fantasy. Best known for The Moon Pool.
- P. Schuyler Miller (1930s-1970s, died 1974) - short SF & critic/reviewer.
1 - Walter M. Miller Jr. (1959-1980s, died 1996) - some short story collections, but primarily known for A Canticle for Leibowitz (1959) which we read.
- Naomi Mitchison (1920s-1980s, died 1999) - novels & short stories, children & adult, generally 'inspirational'. Memoirs of a Spacewoman (1962) & Solution Three (1975) are both adult SF.
- C.L. Moore (1930s - 1980s, died 1987) - wrote alone & with her husband Henry Kuttner. Who wrote what is often a matter of discussion since it's believed she wrote several stories published under his name. Very prolific & influential team.
- Ward Moore (1940s-1970s, died 1978) - Bring the Jubilee is alternate history, Greener Than You Think is apocalyptic SF.
- William Morrison (1940s-1960s) - pseudonym for Joseph Samachson, a chemist. Comics & pulps.

N
- Andre Norton (1950s-2000s, died 2015) - many SF & fantasy novels. Possibly best known for her Witch World series, but very popular for the Time Traders, Hosteen Storm, & others. Many were shelved as 'Juveniles', but featured adult main characters.
- Alan E. Nourse (1950s-1990s, died 1992) - He was an MD & best known for Star Surgeon & The Bladerunner.

O
- Bob Olsen (1920s-1950s, died 1956) - space opera: Captain Brink of the Space Marines & The Four Dimensional Escape: A Fourth-Dimensional Short Science Fiction Story.
- George Orwell (1949) (pseudonym of Eric Arthur Blair) - 1984

P
- Lewis Padgett (1930s-1950s, died 1958) - pseudonym for Henry Kuttner &/or his wife C.L. Moore. Who wrote what is often a matter of discussion since it's believed she wrote several stories published under his name. Very prolific & influential team.
- Edgar Pangborn (1950s-1970s, died 1976) - best known for his "Post-Holocaust Stories" starting with Davy.
1 - H. Beam Piper (1940s-1960s, died 1964) - Best known for his numerous short stories & Little Fuzzy. We've read Time And Time Again, his first short story.
1 - Frederik Pohl (1940s-2000s, died 2013) - Prolific author of novels & short stories, also influential editor of several magazines including, Galaxy, If, & Super Science Stories. Best known novels (besides anthologies) are his Heechee series starting with Gateway & Space Merchant series starting with The Space Merchants.
- Arthur Porges (1950s-2000s, died 2006) - best known for short stories in the 1950s-1960s, The Ruum and Other Science Fiction Stories.
- Fletcher Pratt (1940s-1960s) - Invaders From Rigel, Alien Planet, but mostly wrote fantasy & nonfiction war books. Most famous for his war games & literary club "Trap Door Spiders" that Isaac Asimov fictionalized into his Black Widowers stories. Also co-wrote fantasy with L. Sprague de Camp.
- Robert Presslie (1950s-1960s) - Wrote only short stories. His stories are available on the Internet Archive HERE.
- E. Hoffmann Price (1920s-1980s, died 1988) - best known for his short stories & as an editor, toward the end of his life he wrote almost a dozen novels. Operation Misfit is the first of his only SF novel series, "Operation".

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message 7: by Jim (last edited Mar 07, 2019 07:02AM) (new)

Feb 08, 2019 06:24AM

# books
group read --- Author's name --- Writing period --- Comments

R
- Ayn Rand (1930s-1950s, died 1982) - best known for her philosophy 'objectivism', Anthem & Atlas Shrugged are her only 2 SF works.
- Mack Reynolds (1950s-1980s, died 1983) - best known for his short stories in the 50s-60s, most of his books are now out of print. I particularly liked his Joe Mauser: Mercenary From Tomorrow series.
- Frank Riley (1950s) - They'd Rather Be Right with Mark Clifton & some short stories.
- Duane Rimel (1930s-1980s, died 1996) - best known for his short stories, he only wrote one novel "Time Swap" (1969) as 'Rex Weldon'. The author Rex Weldon is associated with porn books on GR. Duane W. Rimel is associated with Lovecraft, which seems correct, but also with a porn book. They may be correct. See the ISFDB page.
- Keith Roberts (1960s-1990s, died 2000) - best known for Pavane, many short stories, & being difficult to work with.
- Frank M. Robinson (1950s-2000s, died 2014) - The Dark Beyond the Stars, Waiting, & The Power were his best known novels. He also wrote a lot of short stories.
- Eric Frank Russell (1930s-1970s, died 1978) - Best known for his short stories, his novel Wasp & Sinister Barrier.

S
- Joseph Samachson (aka William Morrison) (1940s-1960s) - a chemist who wrote for the comics & pulps. He also published several novels such as Dead Man's Planet.
- James H. Schmitz (1940s-1970s, died 1981) - best known for short stories The Best of James H. Schmitz & James H. Schmitz Resurrected: Selected Stories of James H. Schmitz. He also wrote novels such as the The Witches of Karres & the 'Hub Universe' series which begins with A Tale of Two Clocks.
- Bob Shaw (1950s-1990s, died 1996) - prolific both short stories & novels. Best known for hisOrbitsville series.
1 - Robert Sheckley (1950s-1990s, died 2005) - best known for his short stories, his novel Immortality, Inc. was the basis of the SF film "Freejack" (1992). He is the father of Alisa Kwitney a YA fantasy & horror author.
- Robert Silverberg (1950s & up) - Extremely prolific author & the editor of many anthologies, his ISFDB page is the longest I've read. He writes SF, mystery, & fantasy as well as nonfiction & more. His most popular SF novel is Dying Inside. He also wrote erotic novels under the pseudonym Don Elliott such as The Flesh Peddlers. He is married to Karen Haber.
1 - Clifford D. Simak (1930s-1980s, died 1988) - Way Station & City are his most popular SF novels. Wrote many short stories & fantasy.
- Curt Siodmak (1940s-1980s, died 2000) - best known SF novel is Donovan's Brain. Screenwriter for The Wolfman (1941) & many other films.
- Clark Ashton Smith (1910-1960s, died 1961) - best known for his contributions to Weird Tales. He wrote many short stories & has 2 novels, although both were published 40 years after his death.
- Cordwainer Smith (1950s-1960s, died 1966) - Best known for his short stories (one published in 1928). The Game of Rat and Dragon might be his best known. Norstrilia was originally published as 2 books. (pseudonym of Paul M.A. Linebarger)
- E.E. "Doc" Smith (1920s-1960s, died 1965) - Best known for his Lensman & Skylark series. His work was appended by several other authors decades after his death.
- George O. Smith (1940s-1970s, died 1981) - Best known for his Venus Equilateral series which are a collection of short stories. He also published about a dozen novels of which Space Plague is the most popular.
- Olaf Stapledon (1930s-1940s, died 1950) - very influential for his sweeping galactic viewpoint in Star Maker & Last and First Men which was new at the time.
1 - George R. Stewart (1949) - primarily nonfiction & literature, his only SF book is Earth Abides which we have read.
- G. Harry Stine (1950s-1990s, died 1997) - started the first model rocket company, MMI. Best known for the original Star Trek The Abode of Life which he wrote as Lee Correy. He also wrote the Warbots series.
1 - Theodore Sturgeon (1930s-1980s, died 1985) - We've read his most popular book More Than Human. He's also well known for his short stories & the novels Venus Plus X, The Dreaming Jewels, & The Cosmic Rape. A good friend of Robert A. Heinlein. They belonged to the same nudist colony.

T
- Walter Tevis (1950s-1980s, died 1984) - best known for Mockingbird & The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976 movie starring David Bowie). He also wrote The Hustler (not SF, 1961 movie starring Paul Newman & Jackie Gleason).
- Theodore L. Thomas (1950s-1970s, died 2006) - best known for his short stories & the 2 novels he wrote with Kate Wilhelm: The Clone (1965) & The Year of the Cloud (1970).
- J.R.R. Tolkien (1930s-1970s, died 1973) - fantasy author, best known for The Hobbit or There and Back Again & The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Very influential for epic storytelling across genres.
- E.C. Tubb (1950s-2000s, died 2010) - prolific pulp author, both SF novels & short stories, as well as other genres. Best known for his Dumarest series that begins with The Winds of Gath. He used many pseudonyms alone & with other authors in the pulps: Volsted Gridban (also used by John Russell Fearn), Gill Hunt (also used by John Brunner & Denis Hughes), Bryan Shaw (also used by John Russell Fearn & others), & more.
- Wilson Tucker (1940s-1970s, died 2006) - action & SF. Many short stories & novels such as The Year of the Quiet Sun, The Long Loud Silence, & a collection of his short stories, The Best of Wilson Tucker.

V
- Jack Vance (1940s-2000s, died 2013) - mostly SF & fantasy, also wrote mystery & won an award. Best known for The Dying Earth series (wizards in space), many short stories, Emphyrio, & more.
2 - A.E. van Vogt (1940s-1990s, died 2000) - prolific author of short stories & novels. Besides short story compilations, he is possibly best known for his Slan, Null-A, & Isher (fantasy Weapons Shop) series & standalone novels The Silkie & Mission To The Stars. A giant of the Golden Age of SF. Friend of John W. Campbell Jr. & L. Ron Hubbard. We've read The World of Null-A & The Voyage of the Space Beagle.
1 - Lyn Venable (1950s) - less than a dozen short stories only. We read Time Enough At Last which was made into one of the original Twilight Zone episodes. See this topic for more.
4 - Kurt Vonnegut (1950s-2000s, died 2007) - Best known for Slaughterhouse-Five, we've read 2 novels (The Sirens of Titan & Galápagos) plus 2 short stories (2BR02B & Harrison Bergeron).

W
- Donald Wandrei (1920s-1980s, died 1987) - SF, fantasy, & weird stories, often a mix such as in The Web of Easter Island.
- Manly Wade Wellman (1920s-1980s, died 1986) - mostly known for fantasy, horror, & weird fiction, The Beyonders is one of his few SF novels.
- James White (1950s-1990s, died 1999) - Best known for his Sector General series which starts with Hospital Station.
- Kate Wilhelm (1950s - 2018 died) - very influential SF author & editor with many novels & short stories. Wife of Damon Knight, another very influential SF author & editor. They helped create the Clarion Writers Workshop & helped many aspiring authors.
- Jack Williamson (1930s-1990s, died 2006) - His most influential novel is probably The Humanoids which is one of his most popular along with ".Darker Than You Think & The Legion of Space. He wrote many others & a lot of short stories. He is credited with coining the terms "genetic engineering" & "terraforming. Very influential on other authors as outlined in The Williamson Effect, an anthology in which some of the best authors contributed stories & tell how he influenced them.
- Philip Wylie (1930s-1970s, died 1971) - Best known for When Worlds Collide which was made into the 1951 movie, he also wrote Gladiator which is what Superman & pretty much ever comic hero ever after was based on.
- John Wyndham (1930s-1960s, died 1969) - best known for The Day of the Triffids, The Chrysalids, & The Midwich Cuckoos all of which have been made into movies. Very prolific both novels & short stories.

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