Disclaimer: Norton is okay, but no where near as good a writer as Vance. Half of my enjoyment may be the nostalgia factor.

Quote from: Ned the Lonely DonkeyI've never read any Andre Norton, that's interesting to know. I think Vance's crazy worlds are exactly the sort of thing you could come up with while trying to make sense of a crazy, random UPP. I also own huge bucket loads of Vance, mostly in cheesy, dissolving 70s paperbacks. Good call on Night Lamp and Ports of Call (and Lurulu, of course) - very much in the free-wheeling Traveller mode.

Sure, it'll be a sad day when he goes, but the guy is over 90. He's a had a good wicket and produced stacks of great books, so sadness should be tempered with satisfaction at a long, successful and, by all accounts, happy life.

Ned

My sadness isn't for him - as you say, he's led a long, fruitful, and happy life. It's purely selfish. I'll miss his writing. He's the last of the Grandmasters from the fifties.

-clash

Depending on what you think qualifies one as a Grandmaster, there are still Harry Harrison and Kurt Vonnegut (the latter a bit of stretch, for various reasons). Actually, The Stainless Steel Rat, and perhaps the first sequel, is a good bit of Traveller inspiration, and maybe Deathworld, too.

Ned

Quote from: Ned the Lonely DonkeyDepending on what you think qualifies one as a Grandmaster, there are still Harry Harrison and Kurt Vonnegut (the latter a bit of stretch, for various reasons). Actually, The Stainless Steel Rat, and perhaps the first sequel, is a good bit of Traveller inspiration, and maybe Deathworld, too.

Ned

No, I meant elected as Grandmaster by the SFWA, my considerations have nothing to do with it.

-clash

Ah, well then, my mistake. (But even so, is Fred Pohl still alive?)

Ned

Quote from: Ned the Lonely DonkeyAh, well then, my mistake. (But even so, is Fred Pohl still alive?)

Ned

Ah - I'd forgotten about him, in spite of just re-reading Gateway - one of the ripest-for-RPGing settings around, BTW. He may still be around. His wikipedia article doesn't have a date of death.

-clash

The Shattered Stars by Richard S. McEnroe.  Freelance merchants.  Rag-tag crew with troubled pasts.  Psionics.  Good stuff that reads like a Traveller game.

Quote from: jrientsI don't read a ton of sci-fi, but E.C. Tubb's Dumarest series has been particularly inspirational lately.

IIRC slow drug and low berth are from those books. Great stuff.

H. Beam Piper - Happy Fun Merc Ball and some parts of the Sword Worlds are both nods to Piper
Alfred Bester (esp. for psionics, space cultures/belters)
Asimov's Foundation series (esp. the early merchant stories)
Hammer's Slammers - grav tanks, 'nuff said
Pournelle - mercs
Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin - first (re)contact with a Human Minor Race on a lower TL iceball planet

forgot:
Legend of Galactic Heroes - Kaiser vs. rebels in Spaaaaaace with big ships, big fleets, Starkiller space fortresses, marines with axes, tons of plots, snappy uniforms, and classic music; plenty of fodder for a naval campaign
Seikai Trilogy (Banner/Crest of the Stars) - pointy ears in Spaaaaaace (could work for Darrians)
Lensmen books by E.E. 'Doc' Smith - the blueprint for what's now known as space opera

What about Iain M. Banks?  Not the Culture novels, but perhaps Against a Dark Background?

Elizabeth Moon's Marque and Reprisal series. Definitely.

-clash

Hammer's Slammers: The concept of "starmercs" and mercenary based warfare being formalized and covered by a complex set of rules.

Of course traveller makes it more humane that Drake did, but they had to make it fit into the framework of the imperium.