io9’s top 20 science fiction movers and shakers for 2009

Posted by Paul Raven @ 13-12-2008 in Science Fiction

The first of a mere three authors among the twenty is Neal Stephenson. He comes in six places after Will Smith. And two after Kanye West.

I suppose I should be grateful he ranks two slots above Stephanie Meyer. Your thoughts?

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4 Responses to “io9’s top 20 science fiction movers and shakers for 2009”

  1. Charlie Jane Anders says:

    Hey Paul, thanks for the feedback! We went back and forth about who to include, and the rankings were certainly pretty arbitrary. On the other hand, this was a list of people who helped bring science fiction to mainstream attention in 2008, not people we like. There are certainly plenty of SF writers who would have been on a list of creators that wowed us in 2008. And for what it’s worth, I do think Will Smith had more impact on the larger zeitgeist (outside of science fiction fans) than Neal Stephenson this year. Kanye West is more debatable, I’ll admit. Like I said, the rankings were a tad arbitrary. Thanks again for the feedback!

  2. Kathryn Cramer says:

    I posted my thoughts HERE.

  3. Paul Raven says:

    Hi Charlie Jane, thanks for dropping by! I understand the ‘why’ of your list; if anything that’s exactly what makes it so frustrating to someone very much in the books-and-stories camp. The writer provide the innovation, and twenty years later Hollywood flogs it for a fortune to Joe Average. I guess we should be glad to be sat out lonely on the cutting edge!

  4. Kathryn Cramer says:

    From that perspective, I suppose 2008’s most influential ought to be people like Bill Gibson and Lou Aronica.

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