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Modern Russian science fiction writers and their works. Best Russian Fiction: Contemporary Writers

Fantasy is a genre in literature, the basis of which is the presence in the work of an idea or factor that is impossible in real world. The multitude of genres and subgenres that are often completely different from each other, in which everyone will find something for themselves, provides science fiction with a wide range of readers. It is this great diversity that makes it extremely difficult to choose among such a number of famous authors the most outstanding.
This list includes: Isaac Asimov, HG Wells, Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, Robert Heinlein, Ray Bradbury, Stephen King, Dan Simmons, JK Rowling, George Orwell and Aldous Huxley.


The tenth position in the list is occupied by Herbert Wells, earlier physicists added the fourth dimension to the three-dimensional device of the world - time, described long before the real historical events war with the use of chemical warfare agents and described in in general terms operating principle atomic bomb. Many of his ideas were adopted by subsequent generations of authors (anti-gravity, war with hostile aliens, invisibility) and had a significant impact on the face of science fiction in general.


In ninth place - the author of the term "robot" and the creator of the three laws of robotics Isaac Asimov. It is also worth noting that in his works Asimov did everything possible to rehabilitate artificially created creatures, in particular robots, in front of public opinion, since before him, artificial intelligence in the works of science fiction usually acted as a monster that tries to destroy humanity. In many works of other writers written after the Round Dance, robots sometimes without mentioning the three laws of robotics often obey similar rules.


The eighth number in the list in the order of exception is occupied by two writers at once - George Orwell and Aldous Huxley. Despite the diametrically opposed dystopian worlds, both authors in their most famous books talked about the same thing - about how ugly for the world familiar to us look government systems in which a consumer society or a rigid totalitarian system will be brought to an extreme.


The writer, who foresaw the appearance of many such devices familiar to us and populated the red planet with aborigines and earthlings-colonists in his novel, stretching for a good few dozen books, occupies the seventh place in the rating. Headphones - "Shells" already exist, plasma panels are guessed in the TV wall, and TV shows are becoming more and more like what Guy Montag's wife was watching completely disconnected from reality from all famous novel"451 degrees Fahrenheit".


The American writer, nicknamed the "King of Horrors", who breathed a second wind into the horror genre, occupies the sixth position in the ranking. King's work is also interesting because on the pages of some of his books one can see in some way a reflection of the author's struggle with drug and alcohol addiction, and he succeeds in this struggle - the novel "Necessary Things" was written with a mind free from drug or alcohol intoxication.

5. Arkady and Boris Strugatsky



Recognized classics of modern science fiction Arkady Natanovich and Boris Natanovich Strugatsky occupy the fifth item on the list. hallmark their creativity is that most of their characters from the worlds of the future have the features of our contemporaries, and not the exaggerated idealized behavior from utopian works or the base-animal aspirations from cyberpunk novels.

Many of the Strugatskys' books have been screened with varying degrees of success, and many stories have served as the basis for the creation of video games. The world of one of the most successful Ukrainian-made first-person shooters - S.T.A.L.K.E.R. although it is not officially associated with the work of these two science fiction writers, many components are clearly drawn from the novel Roadside Picnic and the story The Forgotten Experiment.


A distinctive feature of the author is the ability to write equally interesting and exciting in almost completely different genres. This can be seen in the example of the Hyperion's Songs tetralogy, where narratives that are completely different in style harmoniously complement each other and gradually shed light on the motives of the characters' actions. Each of the six stories told by the pilgrims on their way to the Tombs of Time could well be considered an independent work.


In third place in the ranking is a British writer who has a huge impact on the younger generation of science fiction readers, the influence of JK Rowling's work on interest in reading science fiction and drawing attention to literature in general. The popularity of her series of Harry Potter novels among children and adults, as well as the money raised by film adaptations of books and publishers of video games based on the seven novels in the series, allow us to disregard special attention to some clearly under-thought-out moments in the wizarding world. The commercial success of the novels is simply incredible - eleven million copies of the book "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" were sold in just a day, which makes it the fastest-selling book in history.


The second position in the list is awarded to one of the most famous science fiction writers, whose work for decades to come predetermined the direction of the genre and had a huge impact on the work of subsequent generations of science fiction writers - this is Robert Anson Heinlein.

On the pages of his books, many topical philosophical and social topics Keywords: individualism, libertarianism, the responsibility of a person to society and society to a person, the imperfection of political and social systems, the role of science, religion and family in the life of an individual and humanity as a whole, the reasons for the formation and development of dictatorships, and many others. In Heinlein's work, each reader will be able to find something for himself, because the works he created can vary greatly, depending on the period of the writer's work.


The well-deserved first place is occupied by the creator of the fictional world of Arda, John Tolkien. It is difficult to name another fantasy world that could compete with Middle-earth in terms of popularity and attractiveness for the widest circle of admirers. On the basis of Tolkien's books, ideas, artificial languages, a subculture that is quite popular in our time has developed. How many devoted followers and admirers, perhaps, not a single science fiction writer has.

Despite the fact that science fiction is still a very popular genre in cinema and literature, many readers know only the classics of the 20th century. Everyone remembers Bradbury, Asimov and Philip Dick, but few can name modern science fiction writers. Science fiction is thriving nonetheless - and there are at least as many good novels coming out as they were 50 years ago. Look At Me has collected 12 contemporary science fiction writers worth reading.

We compiled a list according to several criteria:

Peter Watts

Year of birth: 1958




First novel: « Sea stars» (1999)

Best Novels: False Blindness, Starfish, Echopraxia

A marine biologist by education, Canadian Peter Watts started writing back in the late 90s, but most his career was not noticed until he posted his works in the public domain on the Internet. After that, readers discovered "False Blindness", main novel Watts, and now the writer is deservedly considered one of the best modern science fiction writers. False Blindness is a book that asks unexpected questions about human neuroscience and questions the evolutionary validity of consciousness. On the one hand, everything is mixed in the novel at once: vampires, posthumanism, aliens, on the other hand, this is an extremely minimalistic and clear book in which there is nothing superfluous. Watts' education definitely influences his literature: he looks at humanity from a non-standard angle and invents new creatures, starting from existing marine organisms.

Ken McLeod

Year of birth: 1954




First novel:"Star Faction" (1995)

Best Novels:"Newton's Wake: Space Opera", "Invasion", "Execution Channel"

Ken McLeod has been called "anarcho-primitivist" and "techno-utopian"; in his novels there are always socialist, communist and anarchist ideas, and the author himself admits that he is inspired by the views of Leon Trotsky. McLeod is active political position and often gives public lectures - and criticizes the state modern UK. His books also cannot do without fantastic themes: first of all, he is interested in posthumanism, cyborgs and cultural evolution. What, for example, will happen to our culture if we upload consciousness into a computer? At the same time, McLeod has a sense of humor: his novels are often called satirical, and he himself is very fond of puns - for example, he calls the chapters of his books with ambiguous phrases like "revolutionary platform".

China Mieville

Year of birth: 1972




First novel:"Rat King" (1998)

Best Novels:"Embassy City", "City and City", "Station of Lost Dreams"

China Mieville was born in London to a hippie family. His parents gave him the strange name "China" - this was the custom in the countercultural British society of that time - he had a friend, for example, "India". Mieville is not science fiction in the classical sense, but one of the most popular contemporary authors acting in the genre of speculative literature; he writes both fantasy and horror, and is part of the New Weird, a British fantasy movement that tries to save fantasy from commercialization and clichés. Anything can be found in Mieville's books: magic, people with insect heads, steampunk and cyborgs. Sometimes, however, Mieville is engaged in pure science fiction, and he does it brilliantly. Good example- his novel "Embassy City", in which he considers the problems of language; the author is trying to imagine what kind of culture will have sentient beings incapable of imaginative thinking.

Peter Hamilton

Year of birth: 1960




First novel:"Rise of the Mind Star" (1993)

Best Novels:"Pandora's Star", "The Great north way”, “Dreaming Abyss”

Englishman Peter Hamilton became famous in the early 90s thanks to a trilogy of detective novels about psychic detective Greg Mandela. Since then, however, he began to write fiction of a completely different kind. Hamilton is the author of large, elaborate space epics, having written several space cycles, the most famous of which is the Commonwealth Saga. Its action takes place in the distant future. (the plot of all the books included in the Saga universe stretches over thousands of years): humans colonize the galaxy and fly to distant stars. Together with people, several alien races coexist at once; for novels, Hamilton devised and described complex world with its politics, economy and diplomacy. In general, Hamilton's fiction is about what people imagine when they hear the phrase "space opera", only very well thought out and written.

Carl Schroeder

Year of birth: 1962



First novel:"Ventus" (2000)

Best Novels:"Order", "Labyrinth Lady", "Invariance"

A trained futurist and an influential author for followers of the philosophy of speculative realism, Canadian Carl Schroeder writes novels that border on cyberpunk and space opera. On the one hand, the action of his books usually takes place in the distant future, and the plot is connected with interstellar flights, on the other hand, the writer is interested in issues most often associated with cyberpunk: privacy, self-awareness of an individual (and its dissolution), augmented and virtual reality, artificial intelligence. Schroeder is engaged in futurism professionally: in his spare time, he advises organizations that predict the development of technologies. The best thing about Schroeder's books is what they call worldbuilding; the ability to beautifully, quickly and accurately describe imaginary worlds. In his latest novel, The Order, for example, he talks about very long space travels and describes hundreds of strange worlds, from lonely starless planets illuminated by lasers, and planets consisting entirely of water, to gas planets, where people live in huge balloons, and planets where the atmosphere is like a huge neon lamp.

Charles Strauss

Year of birth: 1964




First novel:"Sky of the Singularity" (2003)

Best Novels:"Accelerando", "Greenhouse", "Rule 34"

The most versatile writer in the entire wave of New British Fiction (the British are distinguished by their craving for "hard" sci-fi and often left political views) Strauss has worked as a computer programmer, pharmacist and technology journalist in his lifetime. For ten years he wrote a monthly Linux column for Computer Shopper magazine, but eventually closed it to devote himself to writing. In literary genres, Strauss is about as extraordinary as in choosing a profession: not counting stories, he published about 20 books in the most different styles, from "hard" science fiction to fantasy and horror in the spirit of Lovecraft. His science fiction novels are best described as "mindfuck": Strauss deceives the reader a lot and comes up with the most incredible designs. An exemplary novel in this sense (he, by the way, may well be the only thing you will read from this list - he is so good)- "Greenhouse", in which a group of people from the future agree to an experiment: they live in an isolated space station in the 20th century. The book leads the reader by the nose and turns everything upside down several times.

John Scalzi

Year of birth: 1969




First novel:"Destined to Win" (2005)

Best Novels:"Men in Red", "Android's Dream", "Locked Up"

Scalzi is a classic geek turned writer. Since 1998, he has been running the Whatever blog, where he speaks out on the most different topics, writes books and articles about video games, cinema and astronomy; he even acted as a consultant on one of the Stargate series. Scalzi's most famous book is The Men in Red, an utterly geeky novel. It comically plays on the well-known stamp from “ Star Trek”- there were often nameless characters in red uniforms who always died in missions to emphasize the danger to the viewer. In most of his time, Scalzi writes more serious - often military - fiction. However, he is capable of much: in one of his recent novels"Locked up" he writes a real detective story. The main thing that distinguishes Scalzi's books is ironic, resourceful characters and witty dialogues.

Alastair Reynolds

Year of birth: 1966




First novel:"Revelation Space" (2000)

Best Novels:"Space of Revelation", "House of Suns",
"Pushing Ice"

Favorite in Russia (Azbuka publishing house regularly prints his novels) Welsh writer known for hardcore science fiction and massive space operas. Like other authors of space operas, he can be described only by numbers: his cycle "The Space of Revelation" covers a time period of tens of thousands of years (although the main action takes place over three centuries), and interstellar travel in it takes place with the help of ships that move almost at the speed of light. Reynolds explains the existence of a mechanical race that destroys intelligent civilizations when they develop to a certain level. For complex and detailed descriptions space, technology and alien civilizations, however, Reynolds hides more personal, private things: lyrical reflections on the philosophy of life and a melancholic mood.

Stephen Baxter

Year of birth: 1957




First novel:"Raft" (1991)

Best Novels:"Proxima", "Ark", "Space Diversity"

Author of nearly 50 novels, Briton Stephen Baxter is one of the biggest thinkers in modern hard science fiction. Baxter comes up with a truly massive space fantasy while managing to maintain scientific credibility (say, in one of his books, he describes the history of the universe from its birth 20 billion years ago to death 10 billion years later). In addition, he performs in the genre of a disaster novel and alternative history. Whatever Baxter writes, he precedes any of his novels with long and detailed studies - therefore, he even predicts the future of mankind by scientific theories. He himself says that he is inspired by the old fiction of HG Wells; the writer, by the way, is the vice president International Society Herbert Wells.

Adam Roberts

Year of birth: 1965




First novel:"Salt" (2000)

Best Novels:"Salt", "Yellow-blue Tibia",
"Glass Jack"

Postmodern trickster Adam Roberts is the most unpredictable author of modern fiction. From each of his new books you do not know what to expect: he has futuristic detective stories, and novels about the colonization of other planets, and space utopias; In addition, under the pseudonyms A.R.R.R. Roberts and The Robertsky Brothers, Roberts wrote several parodies, including those of Tolkien's novels, The Matrix, and Star Wars. Every Roberts novel is a literary game, in all the books he uses unexpected structure and plays with language. His book Glass Jack is coming out soon in Russian, and it perfectly characterizes Roberts: it is a detective story about three murders, written like classic Agatha Christie novels, but with the condition that the reader knows from the very beginning that the killer is the protagonist. Roberts' problem is that he never continues his novels and turns them into series, and in fiction, this is a sure way to never become a popular author: science fiction readers prefer large series, sagas and cycles to dive into one over and over again. and the same world.

Ann Leckie

Year of birth: 1966



First novel:"Servants of Justice" (2013)

Best Novels:"Servants of Justice", "Servants of the Sword"

Despite the fact that Anne Leckie has only published two novels and has not yet completed her debut trilogy, The Empire of Rudch (the final part will be released in October this year), it is already named along with the best modern science fiction writers. Lecky tried to get into science fiction at a young age, but failed to get published. Lecky got married, had two children and took care of the house, but in order not to be too bored at home, she continued to write - and finished the first draft of the novel "Servants of Justice" back in 2002. The book was published in 2013 - and this is one of the most unusual novels of recent times. The main character is a former spaceship (Yes exactly),

First novel:"Moxyland" (2008)

Best Novels:"Moxieland", "Shining Girls", "Broken Monsters"

South African writer, primarily writing detective novels. Let's say one of her books is about a time-traveling killer, another about supernatural murders, the nature of fame and social networks, another about an alternative Johannesburg where criminals are tied to magical animals as punishment. In her novels, Beukes explores contemporary phenomena that excite her: from global surveillance and xenophobia to autotune. The supernatural is mixed with technology, ghosts and magic coexist with smartphones and email, but at the same time, Bukes does not write fantasy - and certainly does not abuse African flavor. At its core, her books are science fiction, because the main thing that distinguishes the genre is the unexpected questions that are asked in it to humanity; that's what Bukes is doing.

Fantasy is one of the genres modern literature who "grew" out of romanticism. Hoffmann, Swift and even Gogol are called the forerunners of this trend. We will talk about this amazing and magical kind of literature in this article. We also consider the most famous writers trends and their works.

Genre Definition

Fantasy is a term that is of ancient Greek origin and literally translates as "the art of imagining." In literature, it is customary to call it a direction based on a fantastic assumption in the description artistic world and heroes. This genre tells about universes and creatures that do not exist in reality. Often these images are borrowed from folklore and mythology.

Fantasy is not only a literary genre. This is a whole separate direction in art, the main difference of which is the unrealistic assumption underlying the plot. Usually, another world is depicted, which exists in a time other than ours, lives according to the laws of physics, different from those on earth.

Subspecies

Science fiction books on bookshelves today can confuse any reader with a variety of themes and plots. Therefore, they have long been divided into types. There are many classifications, but we will try to reflect the most complete here.

Books of this genre can be divided according to the features of the plot:

  • Science fiction, we'll talk more about it below.
  • Anti-utopian - this includes "451 degrees Fahrenheit" by R. Bradbury, "Corporation of Immortality" by R. Sheckley, "Doomed City" by the Strugatskys.
  • Alternative: "The Transatlantic Tunnel" by G. Garrison, "May Darkness Fall Not" by L.S. de Campa, "Island of Crimea" by V. Aksenov.
  • Fantasy is the most numerous subspecies. Writers working in the genre: J.R.R. Tolkin, A. Belyanin, A. Pekhov, O. Gromyko, R. Salvatore, etc.
  • Thriller and horror: H. Lovecraft, S. King, E. Rice.
  • Steampunk, steampunk and cyberpunk: "War of the Worlds" by G. Wells, "The Golden Compass" by F. Pullman, "Mockingbird" by A. Pekhov, "Steampunk" by P.D. Filippo.

Often there is a mixture of genres and new varieties of works appear. For example, love fantasy, detective, adventure, etc. Note that science fiction, as one of the most popular types of literature, continues to develop, more and more of its directions appear every year, and somehow it is almost impossible to systematize them.

Foreign fiction books

The most popular and well-known series of this subspecies of literature is The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. The work was written in the middle of the last century, but is still in great demand among fans of the genre. The story tells of the Great War against evil, which lasted for centuries until the dark lord Sauron was defeated. Centuries of calm life have passed, and the world is again in danger. save middle earth from new war only the hobbit Frodo, who has to destroy the Ring of Omnipotence, can.

Another excellent example of fantasy is J. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire. To date, the cycle includes 5 parts, but is considered unfinished. The novels are set in the Seven Kingdoms, where long summer replaced by the same winter. Several families are fighting for power in the state, trying to seize the throne. The series is far from the usual magical worlds, where good always triumphs over evil, and knights are noble and fair. Intrigue, betrayal and death reign here.

The Hunger Games series by S. Collins is also worthy of mention. These books, which quickly became bestsellers, are teen fiction. The plot tells about the struggle for freedom and the price that the heroes have to pay to get it.

Fantasy is (in literature) a separate world that lives by its own laws. And it appeared not at the end of the 20th century, as many people think, but much earlier. Just in those years, such works were attributed to other genres. For example, these are the books of E. Hoffmann (“The Sandman”), Jules Verne (“20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”, “Around the Moon”, etc.), G. Wells, etc.

Russian writers

Many books for last years written by domestic authors of science fiction. Russian writers are slightly inferior to foreign colleagues. We list here the most famous of them:

  • Sergey Lukyanenko. A very popular cycle is "Patrols". Now the world of this series is written not only by its creator, but also by many others. He is also the author of the following excellent books and cycles: "The Boy and the Darkness", "No Time for Dragons", "Working on Mistakes", "Deeptown", "Sky Seekers", etc.
  • Brothers Strugatsky. They have novels various kinds fiction: "Ugly Swans", "Monday starts on Saturday", "Roadside Picnic", "It's Hard to Be a God", etc.
  • Alexey Pekhov, whose books are popular today not only at home, but also in Europe. We list the main cycles: "Chronicles of Siala", "Spark and Wind", "Kindret", "Guardian".
  • Pavel Kornev: "Borderland", "All-good Electricity", "City of Autumn", "Shining".

Foreign writers

Famous science fiction writers abroad:

  • Isaac Asimov is a famous American author who has written over 500 books.
  • Ray Bradbury is a recognized classic not only of science fiction, but also of world literature.
  • Stanislaw Lem is a very famous Polish writer in our country.
  • Clifford Simak is considered the founder of American fiction.
  • Robert Heinlein is an author of books for teenagers.

What is Science Fiction?

Science fiction is a branch of fantasy literature based on the rational assumption that extraordinary things happen due to the incredible development of technical and scientific thought. One of the most popular genres today. But it is often difficult to separate it from related ones, since authors can combine several directions.

Science fiction is (in literature) a great opportunity to imagine what would happen to our civilization if technological progress accelerated or science chose a different path of development. Usually in such works the generally accepted laws of nature and physics are not violated.

The first books of this genre began to appear as early as the 18th century, when modern science. But as an independent literary movement, science fiction stood out only in the 20th century. J. Verne is considered one of the first writers who worked in this genre.

Science Fiction: Books

We list the most famous works of this direction:

  • "Master of Torture" (J. Wulf);
  • "Rise from the Ashes" (F. H. Farmer);
  • Ender's Game (O.S. Card);
  • "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" (D. Adams);
  • "Dune" (F. Herbert);
  • "Sirens of Titan" (K. Vonnegut).

Science fiction is quite diverse. The books presented here are only the most famous and popular examples of it. It is practically impossible to list all the writers of this type of literature, since several hundred of them have appeared over the past decades.

Adventure novels, detective/action films (since there is almost no difference between them today), fiction of various genres, from the previously very popular science fiction to modern fantasy, alternative or LitRPG - these are the "big three" fiction read by men of all ages. For women, everything is a little different, but fantasy, albeit with other main characters (GG), both by gender and by actions, characters and goals in life, is also in the first positions, sharing the palm with love and melodramatic novels. So, who today can be included in the conditional list of "The best science fiction writers both in the world and in our country", especially since in recent years the interest in is huge.

Science fiction and beyond

Today, few young people will read "Journey to the Center of the Earth", "From the Earth to the Moon", "Around the Moon" by Jules Verne, "War of the Worlds" by H. G. Wells, "Amphibian Man", "Professor Dowell's Head" by Alexander Belyaev, "Hyperboloid engineer Garin", "Aelita" by Alexei Tolstoy, "Sannikov Land" by Vladimir Obruchev, "The Secret of Two Oceans" by Grigory Adamov, "Andromeda Nebula", "Hour of the Bull", "Thais of Athens" by Ivan Efremov.

But on these, by today's estimated standards, rather naive in scientific and technical terms, overly romantic, often stuffed with ideology, important books, more than one generation of men has grown up, who, largely thanks to them, chose the profession of a sailor, submariner, pilot, cosmonaut, design engineer , scientist-archaeologist, historian, physicist, biologist. However, this is not surprising for several reasons:

  • The ideals of most people had little in common with the standards of today's consumer society. In the minds and souls there was a craving for knowledge, dreams of exploring near-Earth space, flying to the stars, meeting other intelligent people on alien planets.
  • A fiction book, almost any, and even more interesting, rare, that one can safely talk about all Soviet and foreign translated fiction, then really was the best gift. This is not a joke or an anecdote, but a harsh everyday reality that stemmed from a terrible shortage of good, in-demand books without page-by-page references to party and Komsomol congresses, shock construction projects and five-year plans, factory plans, battles for crops and high milk yields in the countryside in “the most reading country in the world."
  • Many science fiction writers earned their living not only by literary work, but also have long been established as specialists in various fields of science and technology. Suffice it to recall the great writer, whose books I want to re-read even today, the famous paleontologist, Doctor of Biological Sciences, holder of two orders of the Red Banner of Labor, the Badge of Honor, Ivan Antonovich Efremov.

Books by foreign authors who were able to pass through the sieve of vigilant communist censorship were very popular. Needless to say, this was a definite benefit. This was clearly shown during the years of perestroika by a muddy shaft of low-grade fiction from foreign graphomaniacs, which swept the country, which was hungry for interesting reading. However, then it applied to all genres of fiction.

  • Ray Bradbury from USA. His “Dandelion Wine”, “And Thunder Crashed”, “The Door to Summer”, “Martian Chronicles” and, of course, beloved by communist censors, ideologically sustained, “Fahrenheit 451” were published in the USSR quite a lot and often. The writer was recognized as one of the most widely read American authors, which did not make these smart books worse. Although he is a recognized classic of science fiction, many of his good books are more like legends and parables, closer to the fantasy genre.

  • Arthur Clark from the UK. Known not only as a brilliant science fiction writer, author of the famous "Space Odyssey", "Moon Dust", "Sands of Mars", "Fountains of Paradise", "Songs of a Distant Earth", but also as an inventor, futurologist. His generally recognized and realized contribution to the development of mankind is the idea of ​​​​creating communication satellites in geostationary orbits, which are used today for the operation of the World Wide Web, mobile communications, weather forecasts. Another great idea that was liked not only by readers, but also by scientists, designers, even financiers and economists - a space elevator for inexpensive delivery of goods to the Earth's orbit, is still waiting to be implemented, although many do not doubt the reality of this event in the near future .
  • Isaac Asimov, born in the Smolensk region, is a US writer, biochemist and science popularizer. The “Three Laws of Robotics” invented by him are still used by everyone when describing any artificial intelligence. “I, Robot”, “Steel Caves”, “Bicentennial Man”, “Foundation” earned him fame not only as a science fiction writer, but also as a famous scientist who foresaw the future of mankind, its future history associated with the use of robots.

  • Robert Heinlein from the USA is one of the most famous writers in this genre. He was even nicknamed "The Dean of Science Fiction Writers". His "I have a space suit - ready to travel", the famous "Starship Troopers", "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress", "Farnham's Freehold", "Stepchildren of the Universe" have been read by many fans of science fiction.
  • Clifford Simak (USA) is also one of the founders of American science fiction. The most famous books are Goblin Sanctuary, Transfer Station, Reconciliation on Ganymede. Like previous authors, this is the owner of many significant awards in literature, in particular in the genre of science fiction, an officially recognized Master.

  • Stanislav Lem from Poland. Probably the most famous and titled writer who does not belong to the English school of science fiction. Solaris, The Diaries of John the Quiet, Return from the Stars, Magellanic Cloud, Invasion from Aldebaran are just a small part of his literary heritage.
  • Andrzej Sapkowski (Poland) with a series of world-famous cult novels included in the fantasy saga about The Witcher.

Authors from Russia

Undoubtedly, each reader has his own best science fiction writers. It depends on a lot of things - age, education, worldview, habits, desires, it's impossible to list and explain everything to any psychologist or sociologist. The main thing is that people read fiction, popular science books published on paper, any other media, watch interesting movies, and did not engage in only semi-meaningful, mind-numbing, correspondence in social networks. By the way, this applies not only to the younger generation.

My personal perception:
- Strugatsky - read everything, start with "Monday starts on Saturday", "Picnic on the roadside", "It's hard to be a god"
- Garrison - cycles "Steel Rat", "World of Death" and the novel "Fantastic Saga". If you like this, you can read the rest. And God forbid you start with the cycle "Bill - the Hero of the Galaxy." Yes, it has practically nothing to do with "science fiction".
- Bradbury is a pseudo-philosophy greatly inflated by PR. All books are a complete lack of logic and common sense. In addition, the books were very outdated "technically", and even in the "new" form they were unreadable for techies due to the presence of a huge number of technical blunders. For those who have not read - 451 degrees Fahrenheit is the most interesting for the first acquaintance. Dystopia, blunders are not so visible, well, the classics of science fiction are already, as it is a shame not to read. The scientific nature of books is at zero, social - yes, scientific - no.
- Asimov - science fiction, no doubt, scientific, but very outdated. Moreover, it is outdated not because we can do what is described in books, but because it has been proven and explored that it is impossible to do this, or unprofitable, or nafig not necessary. If we ignore the "technical" details and absurdities, then you can read it, but at present it is not so interesting anymore. It’s worth starting with cycles about robots, there are still interesting stories there. "Foundation" - only for fans of Asimov
Arthur Clarke is a very strong writer. A real SF, a classic of the genre. You should still start not with the Odyssey, but with the novels "Sands of Mars" and "Moon Dust"
- John Wyndham. Day of the Triffids. - a great disaster novel. Absolutely does not interfere with what is written about the more "old" time. In pursuit, I can advise John Christopher Death of Grass.
— Frank Herbert. Dune. - This is, of course, a whole era. But it has nothing to do with NF. I would call Fantasy in sci-fi setting. The book is interesting, but strongly on the fan. Either you like it or you don't.
- Flowers for Algernon. Daniel Keyes - Yes, a must read. Rather social, but also belongs to the National Front.
- Belyaev should be read in total. NF no doubt. Outdated, but even now it is very relevant, and the ideas are very interesting. Classic
- Lukyanenko and Bushkov are very interesting books, but not SF. If Lukyanenko is somewhere else somehow, then Bushkov is a complete pipe in this regard. Action and space adventurers (sometimes virtual adventurers). Lukyanenko's most successful are the cycles "Deeptown" and "Lord from Planet Earth", as well as the novel co-authored with Perumov "No Time for Dragons"
- Heinlein - yes. Cool. It can be attributed to NF with great interference, but still. It’s worth starting with “Stepsons of the Universe”, “Double Star”, “Moon Hardly Laying”, “Door to Summer” (required!), “Star Beast”, “I have a spacesuit - ready to travel”, “Space Rangers” (exactly in this translation), "The Martian Podkane". I must add that all the film adaptations of his books are very sucks and only confuse fans of science fiction and anger fans of Heinlein
- Stanislav Lem. - an excellent writer. More like a philosophy, but SF is still there. Solaris is definitely worth a read. I can add to the list to read: "Tales of Pilot Pirks" (technically outdated, otherwise not), "Eden", "Invincible". If you like it - feel free to read everything from Lem - you won't regret it
- Martin is a very average writer, nevertheless very popular. It has very little to do with NF. "Desert Kings" is one of his strongest songs.
- Simak is a very strong author, but again, he is not a sci-fi author even once. Although he is considered the founding father of American SF. But everything needs to be read.
- Dan Simmons - very powerful, exciting, but not for everyone.

Not in the review of excellent Soviet NF authors:
- Obruchev - "Plutonia, Sannikov Land"
- Kazantsev - cycles Georgy Sedov, "Polar opposition", "Planet of Storms"
- Snegov "- the cycle "People are like gods"
- Pavlov - cycle "Moon Rainbow"
- Nemtsov is a short-range fantasy, a lot has already been done, but nevertheless
- Georgy Martynov - "Stargazers", "Guest from the Abyss", "Callisto", "Spiral of Time"
- Adamov - "Winners of the Subsoil", "The Secret of Two Oceans"
- Evgeny Voiskunsky, Isai Lukodyanov ("Ur, the son of Sham" is one of my favorite books)
- and many others.

And from imports:
Where is Jules Verne?
- Larry Niven "Ring World"
- Paul Anderson. I can’t say that NF is strong, but much closer than many of the presented
- etc.

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