I got Heinlein. Would have preferred Ellison but Heinlein was another favorite so what the hell.

Gregory Benford
A master literary stylist who is also a working scientist.

I’ve never read any of his works, but I am familiar with his ideas on how to combat global warming.

I am: Mickey Spillane A tremendously successful writer of extreme over-the-top hard boiled detective novels, who occasionally dabbled in science fictional elements (badly).

I knew I wasn’t a geek.

Okay, wait a damn minute here. I’m the one who actually write PI fiction, WTF? If Spillane was an option, how’d I end up with Heinlein?

I am: Arthur C. Clarke Well known for nonfiction science writing and for early promotion of the effort toward space travel, his fiction was often grand and visionary.

Since 2001 is one of my favorite movies, (I’ve seen it 18 times over the years!) I guess this is a bit of a compiment!

Your “open the pod-bay doors, Hal” scribe;
Allan W Janssen

The movies of Dune suck, the book is very good.  He also wrote many other interesting stories, you might enjoy “Whipping Star” in which an actual star is whipped by a female sadist for her pleasure, and “The Dosadi Experiment” in which we learn of a legal system whereby capital cases end either with the death of the defendant, or the death of the prosecuting attorney.  I think Texas in particular should be forced to switch to that model of legal system (the legal system belongs to the race called Gowachin).

dufus-a-roo

I am: William Gibson The chief instigator of the “cyberpunk” wave of the 1980s, his razzle-dazzle futuristic intrigues were, for a while, the most imitated work in science fiction.

I’m so damn trendy.

I wasn’t going to do this as I rarely read SF so I was mildly surprised when this bloke popped up. 

I am:

John Brunner
His best known works are dystopias—vivid realizations of the futures we want to avoid.

And just for kicks I did the ‘which composer are you?’
You are:
Ludwig van Beethoven
Bizarre and eccentric, he considered himself a supremely great genius, and was not mistaken. He turned music upside-down and blew all the powdered wigs out of the concert hall, even though he was deaf.

I don’t know what to say.

I am: Kurt Vonnegut For years, this unique creator of absurd and haunting tales denied that he had anything to do with science fiction.

Tafka I wanna be Kurt Vonnegut, I’ll trade you Clarke and Ellison, plus a future consideration!

I got Gregory Benford, whom I have heard of but never read.  I was hoping for Asimov, but oh well.

Moses - People have been telling me for years to “cheer up” and that I’m weird (among other things).  Not sure about Ellison, but Clark’s optimism of the future just doesn’t suit me.  I’ll have to take it under consideration.

Ellison would be right up your line, he’s the trouble maker! Wait, on second thought that’s me> NEVER MIND

TAFKA Buzz, I am envious of you!

Les you have me listed as an American! Did you guys invade when I wasn’t looking?????

Could be, Moses, could be.  Are you with us or against us?

I was Hal Clement but my favorite would probably be Clarke precisely because of his optimism.  I also like Asimov and Heinlein, though the latter is hardly an optimist.

You know the old expression......

Well, you do! Don’t you?

(If you can’t beat em-)

Hey, DOF, I like Hal Clement. One of my favorite school library reads as a child was “Needle”. It made me fear having an alien “hunter” living inside me that I might not be aware of.

This is nice. I always liked hard science fiction.

I am: Hal Clement (Harry C. Stubbs) A quiet and underrated master of “hard science” fiction who, among other things, foresaw integrated circuits back in the 1940s.

I am: Cordwainer Smith (Paul M.A. Linebarger) This inimitably unique storyteller created a future with so many deep layers of history that all the world we know is practically lost in it.

WHO IN THE BLOODY HELL IS THIS GUY??  Never read any of his stuff.  Looks kinda like some of the fossils in my institute

Ditto, Psychromorbidus.  How did I get this unknown doofus too?

Will trade for Heinlein, Ellison, Bear, or Dick.

Agreed, that man just screams tweed to me.

Though his works may be good, so I shall shut up until I read them.

Agreed, Psychromorbidus, it was a bit flippant of me to dismiss him just because I’ve never heard of him.  I’ll look him up too.

Stanislav Lem

This pessimistic Pole has spent a whole career telling ironic stories of futility and frustration.  Yet he is also a master of wordplay so witty that it sparkles even when translated into English.