Robert Sheckley, ((July 16, 1928 – December 9, 2005), is a popular American Science fiction writer

Mr. Sheckley wrote more than 15 novels and around 400 short stories. He was so prolific in his heyday that we cannot estimate the actual total. Often the magazine editors requested him to publish some stories under pseudonyms to avoid having his byline appear repeatedly in an issue. 
Four of his stories were made into films; the best known, “The Tenth Victim” (1965), starred Marcello Mastroianni and Ursula Andress.

Born in Brooklyn and raised in Maplewood, N.J., Robert Sheckley had a two year (1946-48) stint with the U.S. army, having served in Korea. In 1951, he received an undergraduate degree from New York University and sold his first short story.

Over the next two decades, he was a major force behind the development of modern science fiction. His first collection of stories, published in 1954, was hailed as one of the finest debut volumes in the genre. In the 1960’s, he found a wider market for his fictions, as his stories started featuring in mainstream magazines such as Playboy.

Many of his novels were well received, among them “Journey Beyond Tomorrow”(1962) and “Dimension of Miracles” (1968), but Mr. Sheckley was best known for his short stories.

Mr. Sheckley’s works has been translated into German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Finnish and Lithuanian. His works are most sought after in Russia and Eastern Europe.

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“Abandon” by Meg Cabot

Meg Cabot symbolizes with light novels, but her latest novel “Abandon” seems to be in a different league than the Princess Diaries that brought her fame and adulation. In the novel, the main protagonist Pierce is seen engrossed in the battle with the underworld. When she first encounters a dark stranger, she is convinced that he takes life but his methodology in doing so was devoid of any figment of imagination. As Pierce tries to uncover the truth surrounding the shocking death of someone close to her, unexpected secrets spurt up and pose several questions in her heart.

Chick lit, Romance, Mystery and Science Fiction are her preferred genre of writing.

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“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear”   – Meg Cabot`

Andre Norton

Andre Norton (February 17, 1912 – March 17, 2005) was born as Alice Mary Norton in Cleveland, Ohio in USA. She is acclaimed for her work in the genre of science fiction and fantasy writings. Such was her desired intent of being a writer that she started writing short stories at a very tender age. She supervised over the literary page of her school’s paper (Collinwood Spotlight) at the capacity of the editor. Prince Command, her first novel, was published in 1934. Her stint with Mather College and Cleveland library system was short-lived owing to the depression and the Second World War respectively.

Starting with juvenile historical fiction, Andre Norton made a gradual leap into fantasy and finally science fiction. The basic framework of her plot derives its essence from the secluded world of whims and fancies. Every time the plot takes place in a far-stretched place of country side. The main protagonist is someone who undertakes his mission singly or in a small group. Fewer instances of the urban scenario or any organised community are mentioned in her novels. The plot thrives with unique individuality and the conflicts arising out of it. Here the individual accounts for all glory and difficulties that is expected of a team.

Many of us do not know that Andre Norton is her pen name, which she used more often when she started full- fledged writing from 1958. She is the recipient of prestigious awards such as Gandalf Grand Master award from World Science Fiction Society in 1977 and Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master award from SFWA in 1983. Her notable works include “The Exile of the stars”, “The Crossroads of Time”, “The time Trader Series”, “The Prince Command”.

“I think the human race made a big mistake at the beginning of the industrial revolution, we leaped for the mechanical things, people need the use of their hands to feel creative”.

                                                                                                                                  — Andre Norton

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John Grisham

John Grisham (born 8 February 1955) is a well known American novelist. A law graduate, who practised for a decade before venturing into writing, Grisham grounds his stories in a legal framework. The titles of many of his novels too are legal terms which suggest his fondness for the subject. There can be no denying that Grisham leads the pack of authors whenever it comes to legal thrillers and crime fiction.

The Last Juror, A Time to Kill, The Client are some of the popular John Grisham novels. His latest novel, The Confession was published by Random House in 2010.

“I seriously doubt I would ever have written the first story had I not been a lawyer. I never dreamed of being a writer. I wrote only after witnessing a trial.”

-John Grisham

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JULES VERNE

(February 8, 1828 – March 24, 1905)

Born to a noble family in Brittany, France, Jules Gabriel Verne, is often regarded as teh Father of science fiction along with Hugo Gernsback and H.G. Wells. Jules wrote about travel under the sea, in air and in space even before submarines and space travel was a reality. He is the third most translated author int he world. Even as a child, Jules loved traveling and writing. His books are the combination of these two passions. It is said that one of Jules’ professors was the French inventor Brutus de Villeroi who went on to create the first submarine. Jules’ might have been inspired by him. Jules started his writing career with Operettas but soon discovered that writing about voyages and adventures was his forte. When his father discovered that his son was writing instead of studying law, he withdrew his financial support and Jules was forced to work as a stockbroker. Verne’s early writings were rejected by many publishers as being too scientific. This changed when he met Pierre-Jules Hetzel, one of the most important French publishers of the 19th century. Hetzel improved Verne’s drafts, made them more lively and readable and the two formed an inseparable team till Hetzel’s death. The Journey to the Centre of the Earth was one of his first successful novels. In his later years Verne entered politics.

Famous books by Jules Verne include

20,000 Leagues under the Sea

Around the World in 80 days

Journey to the Centre of the Earth

The Master of the World

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Sara Paretsky

American author of detective fiction, she is credited with transforming the role and image of women in the crime novel. Sara Paretsky revolutionized the mystery world in 1982 when she introduced her detective V.I. Warshawski, the protagonist of all but two of her bestselling novels. She has served with then-state senator Obama on the board of Thresholds, which serves Chicago’s mentally ill homeless and has mentored teens in Chicago’s most troubled schools. Not only has her work broken barriers, but she has also helped open doors for other women. In 1986 she created Sisters in Crime, a worldwide organization to support women crime writers.

Some of her famous books are:

Indemnity Only (1982)

Guardian Angel (1992)

Windy City Blues (1995)

Sisters On the Case (2007)

John W Campbell

American science fiction writer, he is generally credited with shaping the so-called Golden Age of Science Fiction. From 1938 until his death in 1971 he was the editor from of the science fiction magazine Astounding Science Fiction. In 1996 he was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. The John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel and John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer were named in his honor.

Some of his famous books are:

The Mightiest Machine (1947)

From Unknown Worlds (1948)

The Planeteers (1966)

The Space Beyond (1976)

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Thomas Hardy

English novelist and poet, the bulk of his fictional works, initially published as serials in magazines, were set in the semi-fictional land of Wessex. Known for his novels, Hardy’s poetry has come to be as well-regarded as his novels and has had a significant influence over modern English poetry. The term “cliffhanger” is considered to have originated with the serialized version of his 1873 novel, A Pair of Blue Eyes.

Some of his famous works are:

Far From the Madding Crowd (1874)

The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886)

Tess of the d’Urbervilles (1891)

The Return of the Native (1878)

Lester del Rey

American science fiction author and editor, Del Rey is especially famous for his juvenile novels  from the Winston Science Fiction series, and for Del Rey Books, the fantasy and science fiction branch of Ballantine Books edited by Lester del Rey and his fourth wife Judy-Lynn del Rey. He was awarded the 1990 Grand Master Award by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America for lifetime achievement in science fiction and/or fantasy.

Some of his famous works are:

Marooned on Mars (1952)

Attack from Atlantis (1953)

Moon of Mutiny (1961)

Tunnel Through Time (1966)

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What do you do when you meet the love of your life when you are six years old and he is already 36? And what if he is really just eight years older than you are? For Claire Abshine, it just meant waiting for his visits throughout the years until they meet in real time.

What sounds more like the script for the fourth installment of Spielberg’s “Back To The Future” is actually the storyline of Audrey Niffenegger’s debut novel. The Time Traveler’s Wife is the story of Chicago librarian Henry DeTamble who suffers froms CDP. The problem with Henry’s condition is that CDP (Chrono Displacement Order) causes him to be spontaneously displaced in time. Pulled to moments of emotional gravity from his life, he finds himself whisked away from the present to arrive sans clothing at another place and time. It is through these involuntary trips through time that he meets Claire, who is still in her younger years and falls in love with him.

Far from being a science fiction that explores the endless possibilities of the space-time continuum, this is a touching story about two people whose love spans across time. The author crafts an excellent story with this book. Even though Henry is travelling back and forth through time in almost every chapter, the plot continues to move forward through the skillful sequencing of events. Following a mostly straightforward chronology, their story starts from when Henry first visits Claire in her childhood. Because he is at an older age, he knows the dates that the earlier versions of himself would visit the older versions of Clare. However, as the years pass and the two finally meet, Claire is faced with a dilemma. The version of Henry she gets to meet is a man who is still much younger and hasn’t yet travelled back in time to know Claire.

The story is told in first person narration, both by Henry and Claire So we are allowed to see their lives from both their perspectives. Taking the complex issues of love, science and marriage the author weaves together a touching tale with amazing clarity.

Though the idea of time travel and its complications may not be a very new idea, the author provides a spark of freshness to a love story about two people whose passion spans a lifetime. To add to the building suspense, the author also puts in clever surprises with Henry’s time travels that either fills in lost knowledge about their pasts or provides a glimpse of what could occur in the future.

Revelations of the past, small glimpses of the future and the fear and pain which both Henry and Claire undergo are told in interesting bits and pieces; this one is a definite page turner. A tad lengthy for a light read (518 pages in all), this novel may leave some readers truly exhausted from all the time travel. The writing allows readers to feel emotionally bound to the characters, enabling us to suffer the pain and celebrate the joys of both Henry and Claire. Readers will find themselves fully immersed in the lives of the two protagonists and agree that this debut is a testament to Niffenegger’s literary skill.

This novel has been made into a Hollywood movie starring Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams. The on screen adaptation has been directed by award winner Robert Schwentke.

For a quick synopsis and book trailer video click here.

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