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Most Influential Science Fiction Authors of All Time

Science fiction is a genre that has evolved over time and changed with the times. Just like any other literary genre, it has gone through a lot of changes since its inception. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly when science fiction was born as many writers claim to have been the best sci fi artists to write science fiction. However, we can give credit to these authors for shaping the genre into what it is today. Here are some of those influential authors and their most famous works:

Jules Verne

Jules Verne is best known for writing about science and exploration. He wrote about space exploration, undersea exploration, time travel, submarines (like in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea), and the future of technology. Some of his most famous works include Journey to the Center of the Earth and From the Earth to the Moon.

Jules Verne’s work has been influential on so many other science fiction authors; he helped inspire them to write their own books—even though they may have had no idea that they were influenced by him!

Mary Shelley

Mary Shelley is a British author best known for her novel Frankenstein. She was born Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin in 1797 in London, England, to parents William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft (who was also an author). When she was still very young, her mother died from complications from giving birth to her.

When she turned 19 years old, Shelley wrote the story that would become Frankenstein. The novel followed Dr. Victor Frankenstein who creates a creature out of dead body parts and brings it to life through electricity; it has since been adapted into many films and TV shows including The Munsters, Young Frankenstein with Mel Brooks’ Gene Wilder playing Dr. Fronkensteen (his name), Buffy the Vampire Slayer starring Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers/Slayer (her name), Angel with David Boreanaz as Angel/Angelus (his name), iZombie starring Rose McIver as Liv Moore/Brain Eater Zombie Queen (her name) and The Walking Dead with Andrew Lincoln playing Rick Grimes/Sheriff Deputy Sheriff Rick Grimes (his name). It’s considered one of the first science fiction novels ever written along with Mary Shelley’s second book: The Last Man which tells us what happened after everyone dies off due to lack of food or water/disease like in World War Z by Max Brooks but way more depressing because there aren’t any superheroes left on earth so no one can save us!

Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin

Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin was born in 1797 and died at the young age of thirty-eight. She is best known for her novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (1818), which she wrote with her husband Percy Bysshe Shelley. Mary Shelley was the daughter of Mary Wollstonecraft (author of A Vindication of the Rights of Women) and William Godwin (an early anarchist philosopher). Her work is considered a major contribution to the Romantic movement.

Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein has been adapted into dozens of films ranging from horror movies like Bride Of Frankenstein to comedy spoofs like Young Frankenstein starring Gene Wilder and Mel Brooks as Igor. It has also inspired other works such as HPLovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos stories based on Yog-Sothoth (“the key and gate”) derived from fragments about this entity found in his dream journal..

Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Stevenson is a Scottish writer best known for the novel The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, which he wrote between October 1888 and June 1889. The story was first published in 1886, three years before his death.

The book is often seen as a study of man’s dual nature—the good side and the evil side—and it raises questions about our ability to control our inner selves.

Stevenson based this book on his own experiences with drugs; he had become addicted to alcohol, opium and chloroform during his time at university in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Margaret E. Knight

You may not know the name Margaret E. Knight, but you’ve definitely seen her work. She invented the paper bag machine in 1868 and it revolutionized the way food was packaged. She was a teacher who used her time off to invent things, like an adjustable spanner (a wrench), a rubber band machine, and a self-closing gate latch.

Her influence on modern life is undeniable: she’s been cited as an inspiration by people like Thomas Edison and Henry Ford—men who themselves have influenced countless others through their work! She died in 1914 at age 76 after having lived outside of Philadelphia for most of her life; today, some schools there are named after her as well as one building at MIT where students study robotics and mechanical engineering!

H.G. Wells

H.G. Wells is one of the most influential science fiction authors of all time. He wrote many books, including The War of the Worlds, The Time Machine, and The Invisible Man. These books were very popular in his lifetime and still are today; they have been made into movies and television shows countless times.

Wells’ novels explore scientific concepts such as time travel and invisibility, but they also explore social issues like class warfare and war. As such, they can be considered both science fiction classics and social commentary novels at once—a unique combination that few other authors can claim to match!

Aldus Huxley

Aldous Leonard Huxley was an English writer and one of the most prominent members of the famous Huxley family.

Huxley’s work is marked by lucid prose, awareness of social problems, and keen satirical wit. He is best known for his novels Brave New World (1932) and Island (1962), but he also wrote nonfiction (including The Doors of Perception in 1954), poetry, travel books, literary criticism, plays and screenplays.

Isaac Asimov

Isaac Asimov is a legendary science fiction author. He wrote the Foundation series, which won him multiple Hugo and Nebula awards in their time—the highest accolades given out by the sci-fi community.

Asimov was also responsible for creating one of the most iconic fictional robots: R2D2 from Star Wars. He also wrote I, Robot, which is considered to be one of his greatest works.

Orson Scott Card

Orson Scott Card is the author of more than 65 books, including the American science fiction series “The Tales of Alvin Maker”, and his work has been translated into over 30 languages.

Card was born in Washington, Utah on August 24th, 1951. He grew up in a Mormon family and attended Brigham Young University where he received a degree in theater arts with an emphasis on directing. He went on to teach English literature at Southern Virginia College before becoming a full-time writer in 1985.

His first published work was a short story called “Gert Fram” which appeared in Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact magazine during 1979-80 issue (Volume 100). The tale tells of a woman whose daughter has died after being born without limbs or eyesight; Gert Fram struggles with her loss while still trying to raise her other children who are suffering from physical disabilities as well.”Ender’s Game” was Card’s first novel published under TOR Books (then known as Tom Doherty Associates) in 1985; it won both the Hugo Award for Best Novel as well as Nebula Award for Best Novel during 1986 (the year it came out). Its sequel titled Speaker For The Dead won both awards again during 1987-88 issue (Volume 16).”Ender In Exile” was another sequel released by Tor Books during 1991 which also earned critical praise but failed to repeat its predecessor’s success at winning any awards despite being nominated several times throughout its run.”Shadow Puppets: Ender Series Book 3″ came out later that same year after Shadow Puppets: Ender Series Book 2 had already been published—both were written by Card himself along with Aaron Johnston and Jake Black respectively but were essentially different stories about their protagonist Andrew Wiggin aka Ender Wiggin

Arthur C. Clarke

Arthur C. Clarke is best known for his 1968 novel 2001: A Space Odyssey, which he wrote in collaboration with director Stanley Kubrick. The book was adapted into a movie in 1968 and again in 2010, while the story has been retold in comic format multiple times (most recently by Dark Horse Comics).

In addition to this most famous work, Clarke also authored The Sentinel (1951), Rendezvous with Rama (1973), The Fountains of Paradise (1979) and 2061: Odyssey Three (1988). He won the Hugo award for fiction four times during his career—the top honor given during World War II era science fiction conventions—and was nominated for Nebula Awards seven times across his lifetime. He also won two Jupiter awards from Analog Magazine: one for “Against Statis” and another for “The Mistaken Ultimatum.” In 1957 he received the John W. Campbell Memorial Award from Who’s Who In Science Fiction And Fantasy magazine; this award is given each year to an outstanding new professional writer who shows promise of becoming an important contributor to science fiction or fantasy literature over time.

Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury was an American author and screenwriter whose work explored fantasy, horror, science fiction, and some elements of satire. He is best known for his dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 (1953) and for the science fiction stories gathered together as The Martian Chronicles (1950). Other famous works include The Illustrated Man, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Dandelion Wine, Fahrenheit 451 and I Sing the Body Electric!

Philip K. Dick

Philip K. Dick was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1928 and died in California in 1982. He wrote 44 published novels and 121 short stories during his lifetime.

His science fiction novels often explored the fragile nature of reality, paranoia about artificial intelligence and its relationship to humanity, as well as drug use in American society. Two of his most famous works are Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968) which later became Blade Runner (1982), adapted for film by Ridley Scott; and A Scanner Darkly (1977), adapted for film by Richard Linklater.

These authors helped shape science fiction as we know it.

  • These authors are known as some of the greatest science fiction writers for their work.
  • Some of them are still writing today.
  • These authors helped shape science fiction as we know it today by creating new genres, inspiring others to pick up the pen and write their own stories, or just being so darn good that they changed the way people thought about science fiction altogether.

Conclusion

We hope you enjoyed this list of influential science fiction authors! At Yield to The People covers sci-fi topics like this and much more, be sure to check them out.

If you have a sci-fi draft you’d like to publish someday, start by hiring a manuscript editing service to refine your writing and story points.

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