delgadosaur wrote:
Okay Rak, I see your point, but as the conversation went on, I think that Bill and others pro-Bradbury, myself included, softened their respective stances toward a 'hey there's lots of good sci-fi writers around, why argue about it'. Sorry if my opinion became too sharp, was not my intention.

I think part of the reason the thread got so derailed by the "fame" question is that some people reacted as if calling Bradbury the most famous was an insult to their favorite sci-fi author.  But fame doesn't reflect quality; there are many untalented people who are famous (Lindsay Lohan, anyone?), and many talented people who are obscure.  Bradbury became well known not because he was necessarily the best sci-fi author working, but because he appealed to a lot of influential mainstream critics who usually looked down on sci-fi, and that helped to get him a lot of exposure other SF writers didn't, regardless of their merits.

Oh, and before this starts a new fight, NO, I am defnitely not calling Bradbury the Lindsay Lohan of science fiction!  I certainly rank him as among the best.