Ha!

I did not know about this. Arthur C Clarke was indeed my favourite at that time (even now).

Asimov, however, killed it with his two goosebump-good shorts, Nightfall and Last Question.

I don't remember reading any Clarke short stories, though I do remember a few books favorably - but Asimov's stories were incredible, and stick with me to this day. I should get a few more of his short story collections for the kiddo, I think I have a few of his non-fiction ones on a bookshelf somewhere.

> I don't remember reading any Clarke short stories

Stop what you’re doing and read The Star.

Oh yeah, I remember that one! I forgot that Clarke wrote it.

The 9 billion names of God is very famous.

brilliant stories both, but my two favourite asimov shorts are "profession" (I really, really love the trope that a regimented society depends on outcasts and outsiders for any sort of innovation) and "the martian way" (one of his more minor shorts, but it captures the joy and optimism of golden age solar system exploration fiction like nothing else I've read)

If Lem was there, he would likely have agreed to dedicate his books to "the best third-rate scifi writers", given his generally critical view of American/Western scifi as naive, "commercial trash", and shallow entertainment.

Too bad that I wouldn't be able to read Lem in the original. It's not an easy language to learn, is what I hear.

Not all Western sci-fi are gadget dangling spaceship displays. That might have appeared as the trend to Lem, and I don't blame him. I have only Solaris that's by him, and gotta admit- it's on another level.