Quote:
Originally Posted by dwanthny
I agree.
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Even in my general despising of Heinlein, he was indeed an important author, and if you like golden age of science fiction you would want to check him out.
But I would not go so far as to say he's required reading if you're interested in Science Fiction
at all. There have been a variety of iterations and styles through out the history of the genre, and Heinlein was most important to a specific period. If you preferred "New Wavers" like John Varley or J.G. Ballard, Heinlein (or Asimov, etc.) would not necessarily be an imperative.
I actually like hard science fiction the best, and a lot of golden age fit in that period, which is why I read Heinlein. I even liked some of his work. But as I said, his viewpoints were terribly off-putting in a few specific works, and I would not recommend him because those particular works are his most seminal. And to this day, every time I hear the word "grok" a shudder runs down my spine.
-Pie