Who is the wisest Sci-Fi & Fantasy author?

Posted byDamien WalterPosted inWriting & PublishingTags:, , , , , , , ,

Over on Twitter and Facebook I asked folk to tell me which SF author they would turn to for life advice, for words of wisdom and guidance through the labyrinth of life. And I got quite a response!

[View the story “Wisest of the wise in SF & Fantasy” on Storify]

Popular choices include Neil Gaiman, Ursula Le Guin, Jeff Vandermeer, China Mieville, Kurt Vonnegut, Harlan Ellison, Philip K Dick and Douglas Adams. Is it just coincidence that these are also some of our most enduring writers?

It makes me wonder, beyond a good story, great characters, cool ideas and amazing worlds to explore, is what we really value in our writers is the wise guidance they offer us through life?

Published by Damien Walter

Writer and storyteller. Contributor to The Guardian, Independent, BBC, Wired, Buzzfeed and Aeon magazine. Special forces librarian (retired). Teaches the Rhetoric of Story to over 35,000 students worldwide.

6 thoughts on “Who is the wisest Sci-Fi & Fantasy author?”

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  4. Should’ve asked on google+ too, then you might have had more responses. For what it’s worth, I think Terry Pratchett deserves to be alongside, if not above, most of the names mentioned (except perhaps for Douglas Adams). Humour is clearly a significant indicator of wsdom…

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