[avidreader]

I am new to this forum , have only been lurking but cannot see any references to
this author who influenced among many others
arthur c clarke and his novel First and Last Men has got to be a classic and on any list of required reading of this genre can anybody please put me right or agree

[SusF]

This name is new to me. What books did he write and when?

Susan

[avidreader]

Although LAFM remains Stapledon’s best–known book, seven years later he produced the even more ambitious Star Maker. Indeed, no work in the whole of literature has a grander theme, for Star Maker is nothing less than a history of the Cosmos – majestically defined by Carl Sagan as “All that is, all that ever was, and all that ever will be.”

[vortexreader]

Last And First Men & Starmaker are two of the most amazing title in the genre. But they are quite difficult reads and I can understand why some people can't be bothered with them. You're right though, Stapledon has influenced so many of the great writers who came after him.

[The Iron Orchid]

Olaf Stapleton is one of those writers whose vision is so unique he is almost a genre unto himself. I would like to recommend his Sirius, the story of a dog with human-level intelligence. Sirius is created in a laboratory by a well-meaning scientist, but must come to terms with his existence as a one-of-a-kind being forever caught between two worlds. It's poigniant. It's haunting. It's great love story. It's a great dog story!