Colleen McCollough (I loved the masters of Rome series) Anne Rice (I've read everything, even the Beauty series--blush) Neil Gaiman (Favorite new guy) Clive Barker (One of the nicest guys at a book signing) Tom Clancy (What can I say) JK Rowling (Hary is my alter ego!) JRR Tolkien (the MAN!)
Posted by Primal Curve (Member # 3587) on :
Danielle Steel
Posted by Enigmatic (Member # 7785) on :
Steven Brust (The kind of writing which inspires me) Peter F. Hamilton (The kind of hard SF I could never do) Frank Miller (If graphic novels count) Alan Moore (ditto) Brian Williams (I may be biased)
--Enigmatic (plus many classics that go without saying)
Posted by Danzig (Member # 4704) on :
Roger Zelazny Robert Heinlein J. P. Donleavy (Ok, so I have only read one book. Big deal.) Dan Simmons George R. R. Martin J. R. R. Tolkien Alexander and Ann Shulgin (What can I say, I am a head.) Irvine Welsh Hunter S. Thompson Robert Anton Wilson (with Robert J. Shea in the Illuminatus! Trilogy) Brian Jacques (When I was younger, and still for the sentimental value. If I have children, these books will be read to them.)
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Charles Dickens Charlotte Bronte Ernest Hemingway Evelyn Waugh Sean Russell Anne Tyler Tony Hillerman George RR Martin Orson Scott Card Barbara Kingsolver Anne Lamott C.J. Cherryh Tad Williams
Posted by Eaquae Legit (Member # 3063) on :
Susan Cooper Robin McKinley Terry Pratchett Will Ferguson JRR Tolkien CS Lewis and lots more
Posted by Mike (Member # 55) on :
Robert Jordan Posted by Spaceman (Member # 8107) on :
In no particular order... Douglass Adams Poul Anderson Isaac Asimov Ray Bradbury Tom Clancy Arthur C. Clarke James Clavell Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Michael Flynn David Gerrold Harry Harrison Robert Heinlein Larry Niven Frederik Pohl Jerry Pournelle Fred Saberhagen Mark Twain J.R.R. Tolkien
Posted by Miro (Member # 1178) on :
Besides Card...
Chaim Potok Isaac Asimov Neal Stephenson Tamora Pierce Neil Gaiman James Herriot J.R.R. Tolkien
Posted by mimsies (Member # 7418) on :
Jim Sagel Linda Hogan Stephen King Joseph Bruchac Mildred Taylor Madeleine L'Engle Norbert Capek (Chapek) Eoin Colfer J.R.R. Tolkien C.S. Lewis David Peltzer Jonathan Kozol
Posted by TL (Member # 8124) on :
Philip K. Dick Roger Zelazny Harlan Ellison
Elmore Leonard Frank Miller Ed Gorman (vastly underappreciated)
Chuck Palahniuk (Oh, heavens how OSC would HATE him!)
Raymond Chandler Jim Thompson (seriously is any writer better?)
Posted by Tater (Member # 7035) on :
Jane Austen
Posted by TL (Member # 8124) on :
Enigmatic have you read Zelazny? Brust is heavily and obviously influenced by him. Seems to me he sort of used Zelazny's style as a jumping-off point to find his own voice. I look at Brust as sort of carrying the Zelazny torch (as opposed to the other option, who is Jane Lindskold). (Who is also good.)
Posted by Stan the man (Member # 6249) on :
I am fairly out of it right now, but I will try and think up of a couple.
Jack McDevitt Greg Bear Ben Bova Louis L'amour Alighieri Dante Robert Jordan (the non Wheel of Time books) Tad Williams Robert Heinlein Fred Saberhagen Kim Stanley Robinson
Yep, that was bit more than a couple, but oh well.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
First platoon: Philip K. Dick Frank Herbert Roger Zelazny Isaac Asimov Gérard Klein Arthur C. Clarke
Second platoon: Joe Haldeman A. & B. Strugatski A. E. van Vogt Stanislaw Lem John Brunner Robert Heinlein
Non-SF (even though one might wonder ): Haruki Murakami J.D. Salinger (yeah, one book, THAT book)
In the process of joining my platoons: Dan Simmons (have read just Ilium until now, but wow!), George R.R. Martin (if "A song of Ice and Fire" series is anything like what it is said to be).
Posted by Enigmatic (Member # 7785) on :
TL: I don't think I have, but I'm sometimes bad with names until I've read at least a few different books by someone. Recommend a good Zelazny book or starting-point of a series and I'll add it to the pile (currently 2.7 books).
--Enigmatic
Posted by TL (Member # 8124) on :
Series starting-point: 'Nine Princes In Amber'
Standalone novel: 'The Dream Master.' Others would probably suggest 'Lord Of Light'.
In no particular order, eh? Yeah, right. By the way, "Tolkein" comes before "Twain." Posted by Randy (Member # 8181) on :
Isaac Asimov John Christopher (Tripod trilogy) Robert A. Heinlein (pre-1959) John Wyndham Arthur C. Clarke Terry Brooks (Magic Kingdom) Fred Saberhagen Roger Zelazny (original Amber series) Walter R. Brooks Louis L'Amour Charles Sheffield (I don't think this is spelled right) Clifford D. Simak J.R.R. Tolkein (LOTR) Fred Saberhagen (oops, I said that already)
Posted by hugh57 (Member # 5527) on :
Besides OSC...
Robert J. Sawyer Robert Charles Wilson Isaac Asimov Arthur C. Clarke Robert Heinlein Douglas Adams John Varley Charles Stross Stephen Baxter Ray Bradbury Nancy Kress Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. J.R.R. Tolkien Allen Steele
Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
Corwin
If you're starting Dan Simmons, read "Darwin's Blade". That is a really good read.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
I'll try it some time. But for now I've restricted myself from buying books for a while, so it won't happen very soon. Posted by Astaril (Member # 7440) on :
WB Yeats (poetry counts, right?) JRR Tolkien TH White CS Lewis JK Rowling (Hmm. I really seem to have a thing going for initials only authors, don't I?) Ray Bradbury Elizabeth Goudge JM Barrie (Hey, look! More initials!) OR Melling (I swear I'm not doing this on purpose.) Jane Urquhart Homer Diana Wynne Jones Andrew Lang Matt Cohen
I'm sure there's about a hundred more I'm forgetting.
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
Neil Gaiman JK Rowling Philip Pulman Monica Furlong Han Nolan Octavia Butler David Mack Barbara Kingsolver LK Hamilton for pure delightful smut Larissa Lai Lori Aurelia Williams
Posted by Spaceman (Member # 8107) on :
quote:Originally posted by Randy: Spaceman,
In no particular order, eh? Yeah, right. By the way, "Tolkein" comes before "Twain."
Just a little test to see if anyone was actually reading the lists. Posted by Jay (Member # 5786) on :
Other people then OSC write?
Posted by johnsonweed (Member # 8114) on :
Oh Danzig, my son loves Brian Jacques! We made him a Mathias Halloween costume one year and he took photos of himself to a book signing! Mr. Jacques was so nice to him (he was 9 at the time) and told him "I think you make a splendid Mathias!" My son is now 13 and still talks about that day.
Posted by beatnix19 (Member # 5836) on :
J.R.R. Tolkien George R.R. Martin Robin Hobb Lloyd ALexander Brian Jacques Usela K. Leguin Cnris Van Allsburg C.S. Lewis J.K Rowling Bill Watterson
I know these aren't all adult novelist, but still these people have all made me smile over the years. And looking at it now it seems weird, I have a ot of initialled authors.
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
Colleen McCollough (I loved the masters of Rome series) Me too! Agatha Christie Robert Massie J. K. Rowling W.B. Yeats Jack London John Steinbeck Scott Roberts George R. R. Martin Jane Austen L. M. Montgomery Harper Lee
[ June 07, 2005, 05:00 PM: Message edited by: katharina ]
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
Isaac Asimov Phillip K. Dick Chuck Palahniuk Neal Stepehenson Douglas Adams
Some of my favorite books are also written by authors not on that list. Books like Dune, Watership Down, The Neverending Story, Everything is Illuminated, House of Leaves, books where the author either hasn't written anything else or i haven't read anything else, thus precluding them from being in my list of favorite authors.
Then some books by Bradbury, Orwell, Heinlien, Rand, Vonnegut...which I really love, but never considered them my "favorite" authors.
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
Vernor Vinge Robert Silverberg Robert Heinlein Tad Williams Frederick Pohl Larry Niven Isaac Asimov
Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :
Isaac Asimov David Brin Jack Chalker Arthur C. Clarke Robertson Davies Robert Heinlein (mostly his YA books) Robin Hobb Jonathan Kellerman R.A. Lafferty George RR Martin Tim Powers Mike Resnick J.K. Rowling Robert J. Sawyer Robert Silverberg Clifford D. Simak
(I had to put in a plug for some of the ones I read in my early teens. Asimov, Clarke, Heinlein and Simak were the main forces in turning me into a lifelong fan of the science fiction genre.)
Posted by S.M.I.L.E. (Member # 8152) on :
Frank Herbert George R R Martin Harry Harrison C S Lewis Terry Goodkind Terry Pratchet Niel Gaiman Carol Burg Terry Brooks Robert Jordan Homer Robert Silverberg (as an editor too) Nancy Kress Dean Koontz David Eddings Lloyd Alexandar J R R Tolkien Ben Bova C S Friedman
There's more, but that'll be all for now. Posted by His Savageness (Member # 7428) on :
George R. R. Martin Tad Williams Dan Simmons Terry Brooks David Eddings David Farland Charles Dickens Dostoyevsky Ayn Rand Salman Rushdie
Posted by romanylass (Member # 6306) on :
Robert Heinlein Piers Anthony Steven Brust Larry Niven Jerry Pournelle Terry Pratchett Steven King JK Rowling JRR Tolkien
Posted by Traveler (Member # 3615) on :
There are other authors then OSC?? Posted by Altáriël of Dorthonion (Member # 6473) on :
Pam Conrad Naoko Takeuchi Miwa Ueda Yuki Kaori JRR Tolkien JK Rowling
Posted by sarahdipity (Member # 3254) on :
One that I really like that no one's mentioned is Guy Gavriel Kay.
Posted by Kreve (Member # 8110) on :
Usela K. Leguin David Langford Kobo Abe Aaran Allston Kurt Vonnegut Matthew (Woodring) Stover Koushun Takami
Just off the top of my head
Posted by Faire (Member # 8065) on :
Michael Ondaatje Margaret Laurence Mordecai Richler Leo Tolstoy Yann Martel Pierre Berton TS Eliot Samuel Coleridge
Posted by Astaril (Member # 7440) on :
Canadian by chance, Faire?
Speaking of which, I hereby add Morley Callaghan to my list. A brilliant, very under-recognized author in my opinion.
Posted by Darth Ender (Member # 7694) on :
The Great Dark Lord of the Sith Also the well known Darth Card A personal favorite Darth Jordan And the Champion of Darth ways, Darth Asimov
Posted by Cashew (Member # 6023) on :
In no particular order... Tolkien G R R Martin Stephen King William Horwood Edgar Rice Burroughs Julian May Frank Herbert Alexander Solzenhitsyn Anne Perry Tom Clancy James Clavell Richmal Crompton Steven Pressfield
Posted by Ryan Peterson (Member # 8189) on :
Isaac Asimov (that man had a lot of brain in his brain)
Anne McCaffrey (Pern, anyway, and that was a junior high thing so, well, it's been more than a few years)
e e cummings (someone already gave the go-ahead on poets, right?)
C. S. Lewis (pretty curious about this new movie from ?Disney?, actually)
Oscar Wilde (everyone else got a parenthetical insertion, Wilde deserves one as well, I'd imagine)
Louis Sachar (wowee, a lot of wit in that man, it's unfair to call him childish -- although I imagine he'd resent anything but that)
Shel Silverstein ("I made an airplane out of stone... I always did like staying home")
Robert Bolt (A Man For All Seasons, and not so much the movie)
hmm... I think I'd be better at authors I did NOT like, actually. But I won't since, well, I just got done reading half the Sith thread and that was enough criticality for me for the day.
-Ryan
Posted by Little_Doctor (Member # 6635) on :
J.R.R. Tolkein Isaac Asimov George R.R. Martin Robin Hobb/Megan Lindholm J.K. Rowling Eoin Colfer C.S. Lewis
Posted by littlemissattitude (Member # 4514) on :
Tim Powers Kage Baker Faye Kellerman Jonathan Kellerman Clive Barker Irving Stone Tony Hillerman Chaim Potok Stephen King John D. MacDonald (for the Travis McGee books) James Ellroy Robert B. Parker
I'm sure there are others that my poor, tired mind is forgetting right now.
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
Now somebody with a better attention span than mine is going to go through this thread and figure out which authors get mentioned most often.
Posted by alluvion (Member # 7462) on :
I rather like Stephen King, but why is it that his best stuff (ok, the only stuff I read) seems to be his short story work?
seriously.
In respectitude, I'm reminded of OSC's "Fart Farm" and the other stories in "Maps". Most of his compelling writing maybe isn't in his signature novel.
Posted by filmstar (Member # 8115) on :
One that no one has mentioned yet:
Dave Eggers
Posted by johnsonweed (Member # 8114) on :
Looks like Tolkien is the most popular so far!
Am I the only Anne Rice fan here?
Posted by Crotalus (Member # 7339) on :
Alluvion,
To answer your question: I think Stephen King needs the structure and limitations of a short story in order to know when and how to stop. With the exception of "Pet Sematary" I have been sorely disappointed with the ending of every stand alone novel of his that i've read (not counting co-authored stuff). I've also recently been outraged at his Dark Tower ending. He is a great writer, but too often it seems his books just fall apart at the end. "IT" was a truly scary book for the first 3/4ths, then it just got ridiculous.
Posted by Spaceman (Member # 8107) on :
quote:Originally posted by advice for robots: Now somebody with a better attention span than mine is going to go through this thread and figure out which authors get mentioned most often.
On the contrary, I think we should all look at who is mentioned the LEAST. That opens up whole new worlds to explore. Go look for one of the authors you don't know at a used book store, maybe you'll discover a new favorite.
Posted by Destineer (Member # 821) on :
Surprised no one has mentioned the great Gene Wolfe yet.
Another sci fi writer who I've long admired, though he only wrote two amazing books among a whole lot of crappy ones, is A. A. Attanasio.
Posted by SteveRogers (Member # 7130) on :
Douglas Adams Lloyd Alexander (Who is a distant relative of mine, very distant.) Isaac Asimov Ray Bradbury Orson Scott Card Clive Cussler Philip K. Dick Stephen King Dean Koontz C.S. Lewis George Orwell James Patterson Nick Sagan J.R.R. Tolkien
That is it right now, and by the way mine are in alphabetical order.
Posted by Goody Scrivener (Member # 6742) on :
The authors who take up significant shelf space in my home (since this is probably the best gauge for me): Stephen King Jean Auel Isaac Asimov Clive Barker Sara Douglass Janet Evanovich Monica Ferris Neil Gaiman Frank Herbert Brian Herbert with Kevin J Anderson (Dune prequels) Stephen Lawhead Brian Lumley Anne McCaffrey Anne Rice
and since I did this from work, I'm sure I'm missing some...
Posted by Father Time (Member # 7985) on :
Edgar All Poe Charles Dickens Isaac Asimov Robert Frost Hans Christian Andersen Lewis Carroll James Fennimore Cooper Mark Twain CS Lewis Sir Authur Conan Doyle Jules Verne Gerald Lund and who could forget... Dumas and Tennyson?
Posted by Sid Meier (Member # 6965) on :
Isaac Asimov, RA Salvetore, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, and a whole host of other Forgotten Realms and DragonLance authors. Though Clauswitz and Sun Tzu are also good.
Posted by Sid Meier (Member # 6965) on :
There are probly others but don't come to mind atm.
Posted by Sartorius (Member # 7696) on :
Robin McKinley Jane Yolen Douglas Adams Terry Prattchet CS Lewis JRR Tolkien Ray Bradbury Jane Austen EM Forster Oliver Sacks JK Rowling Jerry Spinelli Louis Sachar Lewis Carroll John Updike Elizabeth Peters Barbara Micheals (who is also Elizabeth Peters)
Posted by Cashew (Member # 6023) on :
I've read Maps in the Mirror twice, but don't remember a story called "Fart Farm". There's one called "Fat Farm", but thet doesn't sound as interesting...
Posted by Enigmatic (Member # 7785) on :
quote: On the contrary, I think we should all look at who is mentioned the LEAST. That opens up whole new worlds to explore. Go look for one of the authors you don't know at a used book store, maybe you'll discover a new favorite.
I agree entirely. For example, there's an author on my list that nobody else has mentioned, and I definitely think more people should read his work.
--Enigmatic (whistles innocently)
Posted by genius00345 (Member # 8206) on :
My favorite authors are, in alphabetical order:
Gary Blackwood Orson Scott Card, of course Robert Cormier Chris Crutcher Michael Crichton (surprised no one else mentioned him) Will Hobbs Gordon Korman Gary Paulsen Roland Smith Jerry Spinelli Paul Zindel
and there are more authors that I like, but aren't necessarily my favorite ones.
Posted by AC (Member # 7909) on :
I don't believe anyone has metioned William Gibson yet. His writing does have it's flaws (I could probably point out as many flaws as someone who hates everything hes has ever written), but for some reason it speaks to me in a way that no other writer has.
[ June 10, 2005, 02:54 AM: Message edited by: AC ]
Posted by Spaceman (Member # 8107) on :
quote:Originally posted by genius00345: Michael Crichton (surprised no one else mentioned him)
Some people have a problem with an author always making the scientist into the bad guy.
Posted by sarahdipity (Member # 3254) on :
quote:Originally posted by Spaceman:
quote:Originally posted by genius00345: Michael Crichton (surprised no one else mentioned him)
Some people have a problem with an author always making the scientist into the bad guy.
Yes and some of us just have problems with his writing in general.
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
I think this thread needs some more explanations and less boring lists with a lot of people I have no reason to look up.
I really hate Dave Eggers, mostly because I find myself writing like him and thinking I'm brilliant, when really I'm just a product of my cynical culture.
I really like Sherman Alexie, and that was even before I met him and he made me laugh so hard my head hurt for three days.
While there are many scifi books that I like, I rarely find authors within the genre who are as relevant as OSC. I get disappointed by the sheer escapism in a lot of it, but I was recently relieved to discover Gene Wolfe. His Books of the Long Sun were pretty good, but his There are Doors and Storeys from the Old Hotel were phenomenal.
I guess before I move past sci fi, I do owe a nod to Ray Bradbury, who proved that science fiction is not about the science or the future or the escapism at all. It's about people and grand ideas, and a couple of his stories like The Fire Balloons and The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit really touch me.
My favorite authors of all time, though - the ones who make me cry and shake with the power of sheer humanity - may well be the Latin magical realists. Something about Laura Esquivel, though she borders on the smutty romance genre, is so pertinent and palpable. It's probably just the food - I think food can always make a link. And of course Gabriel Garcia Marquez, who is just flat out wisdom embodied, will always be memorable. He can condense the human spirit into a handful of nonsensical sentences. Julia Alvarez is wonderful too - I wonder why you have to be Latin to turn your reader's brain inside out with things like telling an entire story backwards, which she does in How the García Girls Lost Their Accents.
But my favorite author of all might well be Jorge Luis Borges. Somehow, he combines everything I love - sci fi, philosophy, and that Latin brain-bending thing. The Garden of Forking Paths and The Library of Babel are two of my absolute favorite short stories of all time.
Posted by MattB (Member # 1116) on :
Dennis Lehane, for perfect plotting and wonderful characters. What noir about would-weary detectives confronting evil should be. Sharp and funny, too.
Steinbeck, Flannery O'Connor, Peter Schaffer, and Levi Peterson for knowing the struggle of finding meaning in life. And for sometimes winning it.
Richard Adams, for producing a truly heroic epic about rabbits.
John Irving, who is entirely capable of grotesqueness to the point of self-parody (see The Third Hand), but who, particularly in his peak - Owen Meany, Garp, Hotel New Hampshire, Cider House Rules - knows that people are capable of goodness, sometimes despite themselves. And he can be funny.
Umberto Eco, if you have a lot of time and a good encyclopedia on your hands. He's not funny.
King, for being so bloody entertaining (and at times producing genius - IT is a masterpiece, dragging a little after the climax, but not enough to ruin it. See also the novellas Hearts in Atlantis and Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption. And parts of Wizard and Glass).
Borges, for inventing the term "meat-blanket."
Posted by 0range7Penguin (Member # 7337) on :
Stephen King and (don't hate me) Robert Jordan. though his books have been getting worse as they go along haven't they?
Posted by Lady Eruve (Member # 6883) on :
My biggest favorites are:
Robin McKinley (I really really like her stuff) OSC Stephen Lawhead Tolkein
Some other authors that I like are: Jane Austen CS Lewis Madeline L'Engle Marguerite Henry (in my adolescent, horse crazy phase) Charlotte Bronte
Posted by Snowman (Member # 10426) on :
I love these threads. This is the newest one I could find.
Dean Koontz (my favorite) OSC (2nd) J.K. Rowling (3rd, fell in love with her early in my life) Robert McCammon (4th)
Great authors: Michael Crichton, John D. MacDonald, Tad Williams, Charles Dickens, Tom Clancy, George R.R. Martin, Neal Stephenson.
Ok authors: Stephen King, James Patterson(not horrible, but barely ok), Ian Fleming, JRR Tolkein, Douglas Adams, Richard Laymon, Christopher Paolini.
I've read one book of the following, but these authors seem promising: Clive Barker, Ray Bradbury, Jonathan Kellerman, Bentley Litte, Douglas Preston/Lincoln Child, John Saul, Neil Gaiman, Thomas Harris, Dan Simmons(Hyperion is amazing).
Individual books I like: 1984 by George Orwell, Replay by Ken Grimwood, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.
Authors I don't like: Dan Brown, Chuck Palahniuk, Greg Bear(though I'll try him again), Laurell K. Hamilton, Patricia Cornwell.
Posted by Uindy (Member # 9743) on :
C.S. Lewis J.K. Rowlling Charlott Bronte John Berendt Robert K. Massie
These are only a few but there are so many others
Posted by krynn (Member # 524) on :
R. A. Salvatore Michael Crichton J. K. Rowling
Posted by happysmiley (Member # 9703) on :
Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, Tolkien are my most favorites (not counting osc)
Posted by vonk (Member # 9027) on :
Just a few that come to mind:
Tom Robbins Jack Kerouac Allen Ginsberg Chuck Palahniuk Isaac Asimov William S. Burroughs Anonymous Kilgore Trout Neil Cassidy Hunter S. Thompson Douglas Adams
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