You’ve probably heard by now of the NPR Top 100 Science Fiction and Fantasy Books list (http://www.npr.org/2011/08/11/139085843/your-picks-top-100-science-fiction-fantasy-books). The list has been criticized, rightfully, for being skewed towards recent and popular books, and excludes many of the older grandmasters of science fiction and fantasy, not to mention that it treats these two very different genres as equivalent. For an imperfect metric, however, it certainly offers some food for thought. The following is my list of favorite authors off the list of winners, in no particular order, followed by my favorites from the finalists that didn’t make the final cut. (more…)