James Tiptree Jr. vs Robert Silverberg

Did Bob Silverberg actually write ANYTHING?

it wasn't for years that i realised this might have been awkward nay tactless had anyonbe decided NOT to overlook my youth

I h8 Jerry Cornelius (and Elric of Melniboné can suck my cock till i cum blood): Moorcock = dead-close of this era, and start of entry into full-on fantasy, which was how SF escaped its responsibilities as GRATE ART FORM after all.

I actually reread the original four Jerry C. books earlier this year to kill time in airports. They were very random in the end, weren't they?

James Tiptree Jr's short stories >>>>>>>> ANYONE ELSES SHORT STORIES EVER, but her novels are mostly crappy and Silverberg has at least a half-a-dozen stone-cold classics.

7 years late but Brightness Falls From The Sky aka

a great murder mystery sci-fi sleaze novel set around some kind of once-in-a-lifetime solar event thing - shamefully I cannot remember the title or any of the particulars except that it involved a troupe of intergalactic porn stars.

the Stars Tears drink is referenced in other short stories so it was really great to read a novel length treatment of the aftermath, it's much better than Up The Walls Of The World. She's up there with all my other favorites - Butler, Rucker, Dick, Sterling, all of them. So much good writing.

sorry, that's "Brightness Falls From The AIR"

I'm about a third through Her Smoke Rose Up Forever, and it is so so good—literally every story so far has been excellent. I think this is now my go-to recommend-to-anyone sci-fi. Pity to hear her novels aren't great, but ime sci-fi generally excels in short form: one sharp idea explored well but not exhausted.

is this really the only Tiptree thread? such a genius, my appreciation increases over time.

it's the only one with the name Tiptree in the title. I didn't put much more effort into searching though (and I don't think I've ever read any Silverberg)

Tiptree >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Silverberg

ha got it. I read "And I Have Come upon This Place by Lost Ways" and "The Women Men Don't See" (probably a cliche to note this, but my god her talent for titles) in fairly quick succession and was just astounded by her range.

Silverberg started as a hack and to hack he did return but in the middle managed to amp himself up crank himself up to writing some good stuff and was and remains a pretty good historian of sf and what makes it tick. Tiptree on the other hand wrote some completely deep original sui generis stuff so Tiptree.

Yeah, Tiptree was good with titles and has a lot of entries on this thread: This Be The Pocket Universe: Post Here When You Realize Or Are Reminded That An SF Title Is From The Canon Of English Poetry

Tiptree ftw, can’t imagine ever getting around to reading Silverberg. I have a horrid looking 90s mass market paperback of his called The Alien Years or something that I’m sure is terrible lol

can't remember much of her smoke... except for the screwfly solution, which i have read more than once and operates on levels most of her peers could barely dream of. guess i should revisit the rest of the collection.