Authors you'd recommend
 

When I find an author that I like, I tend to read everything they've written.

Let's put up our favorites. Take some time, and do it right. Mention their most common genre. Tell us why you like him/her. Link us to their website or body of work. Maybe post a picture of them and/or your favorite work's cover.

Bernard Cornwell.

I didn't discover him until about 5 or 6 years ago, I guess. He writes fiction, but grounds it in real historical settings. The first of his books I read was 'The Winter King' because I'm a sucker for the King Arthur stories. It's a different view of Arthur, told by one of his warriors, Derfel(pronounced Dervel) Lots of real life, pragmatic angles, shield wall battle scenes, and disabused glamours. The series progresses to tell the full Arthur/Merlin/Lancelot/Guinevere saga in a way that will supplant your previously held imagery because it makes so much sense.

Bernard also has a huge Sharpe series. A British Skirmisher that gets all the girls, defies all the bosses and turns all the tides. (You'd all bang him, ladies; and you all imagine you'd be him in that position, fellas)

I have read the Stonehenge series, most of the Saxon Chronicles, and noe of the Starbuck (Pirate books) series. and have never been bored or dissapointed.

http://www.bernardcornwell.net/im/be...etter_half.jpg

Khaled Hosseini Only the two, Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Sons, but what awesome books about the people of Afghanistan. Makes me think about how lucky I am.

John Updike I like his writing style. I like "slice of life" books (and movies) about the lives of ordinary screwed up people.

Anna Quindlen The woman can write! That is all!

Alice Sebold Reading The Lovely Bones is difficult, not because it's not beautifully written, but because it's such a wrenching subject. Also, her memoir of her rape in college, Lucky, touches on the aftermath of such a horrendous experience.

Edgar Allen Poe. Because he's Edgar Allen Poe. "I cannot, for my soul, remember how, when, or even precisely where, I first became acquainted with the lady Ligeia. Long years have since elapsed, and my memory is feeble through much suffering."

Great thread. I could go on for days. :blush:

Jeff Noon. A very quirky, but brilliant author from manchester. His work almost, but not quite, falls into the sci-fi fantasy genre....though perhaps magical realism would be a better description. His debut novel Vurt blew me away. He followed it with Pollen, set in the same fantastical rendering of Manchester. It's a Manchester that is different to reality, with half breeds of dog and shadow, drug soaked feathers that carry you to a different realm....but becareful not to bring anything back because it will exact a price. Different as it is it carries the flavour, the essence of a manchester I know well.

What never ceases to amze me about Vurt is the beauty of his writing. The vitality of the setting and the characters. The whole thing feels almost mythically real, with its neverending rain, and the sun glinting off the broken glass in Bottletown, the dark romance of a brother and sister, running from a shadowcop and seeking the help of dogs and dreamsnakes. And every so often a message from the Game Cat....addressed to his kitlings, scored under with a deep bass beat and more than a little shadowed himself.

The same writer wrote a followup to Alice through the Looking Glass: The Automated Alice....set again in Manchester, with computers made from anthills and characters as wild as any Carroll could conceive.

Nymphomation also a wonderful book. Never have dominoes and lotteries seemed so important or so dangerous. Everything scented with the spice of a curry house.

Falling Out of Cars took a step in a new direction. Manchester left behind this one was a differently conceived England. No less dangerous but more recognisable in some ways.

Without a doubt one of the most interesting writers England's produced in a good many years. Vurt is also available as an audio book voiced by Paul McGann. And my what a voice he has!

Andrew Vachss

He's a mystery novelist, who has written a long series of novels about very unlikely characters who essentially live in the underground in New York City ... no, not the subway, they have somewhat more conventional lodgings, but well, they all live in the shadows. Over the years it's been interesting watching the characters grow and develop.

The story content is not for everyone (Vachss is an attorney specializing in victims of child abuse, and that's a common theme across the novels), but it's always raw and visceral, but still manages to be touching and compelling.

The contrasts are extreme, but you end up wanting to know these people ... even if you could never be a part of their world, which is as far away from most of us as Asimov's Foundation.

Someday, I hope to have Hot and Sour Soup as good as Mama's. But since there is no such thing, I know it won't ever happen. But I still hope.

Read them in order. Do not skip around. The storyline is consistent across books. Start with Flood.

At one time I'd have said Anne Rice. I can't stand her newer stuff.

Robert Heinlein... I cut my teeth on his "juvenile" science fiction. You could do worse than to start with The Man Who Sold The Moon.

Lois McMaster Bujold... Her Vorkosigan series is excellent. Her fantasy series are, to me, OK, but they suffer from not being Vorkosigan.

Terry Pratchett. Funny. Puns. Social commentary. My favorite has been "Going Postal."

Richard Russo. Most famous for Empire Falls (which I think is his most recent) but his earlier novels are well worthwhile. My favorite is Straight Man, which is an academic novel featuring a protagonist who's a congenital smartass, much like myself.

for suspence writting, I have always liked three main authors: Stephen King, Dean Koontz, and Robin Cook. All three for different reasons.

Stephen King is obviously one of the main suspense writers of our time, but I have found that I really like his stories that are outside of his normal writing type. Books like The Green Mile, The Stand, The Dark Tower Series, Dreamcatcher, and the Shawshank Redemption. When reading the books you cant help but notice his writting style throughout it, but it just seems so different then what he writes

Dean Koontz I like specifically for his stories. His writing style is lacking in my opinion, but his stories are great and imaginative.

Robin Cook has some great medical thrillers. He uses his knowlege and skills as a PhD to write great medical thrillers. Like the book Acceptable Risk where a man finds an ancient mold under a house In Salem he inheireted which has great medical advantages but later proves to be personality altering and the cause for the Salem which hunts. He uses enough truth to make it sounds believeable, but with a great story behind it.



For Classic writers, Rudyard Kipling and his traditional writting with East Indian folk tales has always captured me. Rikki Tikki Tavi has been my favorite since I was little. His stories are short and full of life and excitement, and are very easy to read.

And another one I will throw out there is Jacquelyn Mitchard. Now being a male, I didnt think I would like her stories directed at a female audience, but I read the Deep End of the Ocean and really loved it. The emotion portrayed in the book was almost tangible and it was a saddness and happines and life trials all in one book. Very well written.

Tolkien!

Larry Niven. The earlier, the better, unfortunately. A master of the "what ramifications arise from this particular SF concept" style of science fiction.

my favorite series OF ALL TIME! Whenever I'm in need of comfort, I pull out "A Civil Campaign" or another one in the series, and re-read.

H. P. Lovecraft. For scaring the shit out of yourself, nothing better.

Michael Slade. A couple of lawyers writing under this nom-de-plume have put out scientific horror/thrillers based in the British Columbia region of Canada.

Edgar Allen Poe. Just because.

Alan Moore. From Watchmen to From Hell, the man can write. Even though I personally disagree with his findings in From Hell, it doesn't detract from the storyline.

Dr. Thomas Noguchi.

Charles Addams.

Carl H. Claudy.

Oh I love Lovecraft! And Edgar Allen Poe as well. I remember as a kid when I couldn't sleep at night I'd scour all the bookshelves looking for distraction. Those chilling stories were perfect for an insomniac 10 yr old!

I've read all of Bernard Cornwells Sharpe stuff, most of the books end with major battle, cannons, cavalry charges, evisceration, 3 rounds a minute in all weathers, fix Baynoets ! stirring stuff.
I've also read the Winter King
Attention to historical detail is his thing
I recently read one about an Archer, it was basically Sharpe with a bow.

Terry Parcthet- already been covered.

Isaac Aimov- My first Major Science Fiction read, Foundatio novels and short stories.

Douglas Adams - Inclusing the Dirk Gently books, which are not Sci-fi.

Pretty much my favourite, and no-one else has mentioned yet so hopefully I'll introduce some of you to him, Iain (M) Banks.
Science Fiction as Iain M. Banks and other fiction as Ian Banks both types very good, often a bit weird and may have very dark endings

William Gibson- The Neuromancer books, cyberspace written on a manual typewriter in 1982.
Pattern Recognition was the most recent I have read, not science fiction, beautifully written, I though the ending was a bit lame

Kate Atkinson - I've bigged her up before. She writes about people on the edge of lives, women who wonder, "Is this all there is? Where's my real life?" but with great humour. The despair of her characters stays with me, but I laugh out loud reading every single book. She also weaves intricate plots, and paths cross eachother when you least expect it. Her books are set in real situations, but there is often an element of the bizarre, if not downright fantasy. Behind the Scenes at the Museum is a good place to start.

Esther Freud - writes mainly about childhood, mostly from the point of view of a child. Very evocative writer, understands the confusion and lack of ability to see the bigger picture that most children have. When you read her books you are aware that there is more going on than the character is aware of. Funny, gentle, well written. Again, there is pain there, but more often smiles. Hideous Kinky is probably her best known, my personal favourites are Peerless Flats and The Wild.

Jonathan Coe - another bittersweet writer. He can make me laugh so hard I have to put the book down, but also his characters are so well drawn that any pain or hopelessness they feel is felt directly by you. Another elegant writer, with a way of carefully planting threads throughout the book that are cleverly drawn together before you are even aware of it. I always feel sorry to realise I am coming to the end of one of his books. My personal favourite is The House of Sleep - which goes on my Top Ten List of All Time. I gave it away because I loved it so much. Hasn't come back to me, I guess it wasn't real love.

Mark Gatiss - a bit of a cheat here as the man is one of my heroes. He's only written two non-Dr Who books so far (he has a three book deal, the next one is due out shortly) but they're corkers. Slyly funny, fast faced and a bit of hot sexy action. The book equivalent of a takeaway - you wouldn't want to live on it, but you look forward to it as a treat.

Jasper Fforde - again, funny, fast paced, full of puns and literary allusions. Start with The Eyre Affair and read in order. Ooh, checking Amazon I see there are some I haven't read! Damn not having a charity bookshop on my doorstep any more!

If I saw a book by any of the above and I had money in my pocket I would buy it. No questions, wouldn't read the back, wouldn't leaf through it - straight up to the counter and home with a sense of anticipation. I recommend them to everyone who asks me about books. Hope someone here will try one and enjoy.

I'm a picky reader these days. More out of time available then any real pickiness. My job takes up a lot of time. I have more time to read deployed believe it or not then back here in garrison. when I was a young man I would read almost anything I could get my hands on that was science fiction, followed by fantasy. Bradbury, Heinlen, Clark, Asimov, Niven. Many others. I enjoyed their compilations of short stories almost more sometimes then the long novels.

Being a military man, one of my all time favs is Starship Troopers. Wow. The movie didn't come close to what that book is about.

Oh yea, I got on a Stephen king kick for a long time. Not any Stephen King kick, just his books that reference anything about the Dark Tower, and all of the Dark Tower books.

One of my alltime favs is http://www.ursulakleguin.com/ I did one of her short stories in speech one year and was runner up for the state competition. I'd recommend it to anyone. http://harelbarzilai.org/words/omelas.txt

Have you looked at David Weber and John Ringo? They've done a lot of military SF.

Haven't read em, but, I will check them out sometime when I'm not learning Russian 8 hours a day. Promise.

Brian Lumley and Guy Des Cars

Really like David Weber's Honor Harrington series. And Ursula LeGuin has a new book out--Lavinia, about one of the characters in the Aeneid.

Randy Wayne White -secret agent florida stuff. disturbing in a good way. ish

Carl Hiaasen -complet fruitcakesflorida stuff. funny, weird macabre, funny

Jilly Cooper (Riders onwards) very british. hilarious, excellent characters and insight

Steven Gillis literary fiction, varied, friend, but would diss if it was bad. Different. refreshing change. Bri's writing reminds me of this guy's work.

Lindsey Davis Roman detective, but more about the character and the lifestyle than the mysteries

Dick Francis -brit horse-racing related detective. dated. nostalgic and excellent character insight

Janet Evanovich (avoid the seasonal specials) light, silly funny

(I'm working on the fleshing it out thing)

Michael Chabon.

A reviewer once said that Chabon only has one topic - male relationships.

His books are very well-crafted, they are paced and constructed with care for every phrase. I'm reading The Yiddish Policemen's Union right now, and it perfectly merges both the pulp detective style with the dark brooding and desperate undercurrent of Jack London and the klondike authors. I highly, highly recommend it.

After that, maybe read The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, a story of two cousins who are early pioneers in writing and drawing comic book. This is the book that won him the Pulitzer Prize.

That is a fabulous title!

www.sheldonsiegel.com


:-)

That's not you, that dude has hair.

Not to mention a wife and two kids.

But he is a friend of mine sort of and he's actually really a nice guy.
And the books are really good too.

Iain M. Banks

Wonderful writer. Though I think i prefer the stuff he writes under Iain Banks, the 'straight' novels, rather than the Sci-fi.

I think I prefer the sci-fi actually. They're longer!
Although just today I was thinking of one of the details from The Wasp Factory (about being able to tell what someone has been drinking from their farts)...

He writes things that stick in the mind!

"All your nonsenses and truths, your finery and squalid options..."

I loved his early work. Wasp Factory, Espedair Street, The Bridge and Walking on Glass. I had my hand on one of his just last week....wasn't as knocked out by the last couple I've read. Might give it a go though. When he's on form he is one Britain's best writers imo.

Sundae you ever read any Jeff Noon? Well worth a go. I love his use of language. A true poet.

I keep hearing about Heinlein. If I were to start in, what would you recommend as a first book?

This was the first one I read.

Bastard.


Smooth. First one of his I read was Job. Then Stranger in a Strange Land, The Cat who Walked Through Walls and Time Enough For Love (can't recall in which order). There are a bunch of light, little Heinleins like Starship Troopers. But I found the more involved of his books (Time Enough For Love has an epic feel to it) more engaging. In Job, Stranger, The Cat, and Time Enough for Love, he is exploring fundamental questions. Job is very funny and dark.


[eta] Heinlein's work is of its time. It needs to be read on its own terms. Set aside modern notions of gender :P

Ew, I hated Job. And I thought it was completely different from all of the other books of his that I'd read (both in style and in the fact that I hated it.) I hated it for mostly other reasons, but IMHO you'd be really irritated by its stupid religious interpretations, smooth.

You would like The Moon is a Harsh Mistress a lot. Stranger in a Strange Land after that.

I'll check out Job.

I didn't realize (or had forgotten) that Stranger in a Strange Land was him. I really didn't like that book. Maybe Job will be better.

:lol: Harsh. I think I'll pretend that a four-minute timestamp difference means you weren't responding directly to my post about Job.

For the record, I really enjoyed the first two thirds of Stranger in a Strange Land, but thought the last third kind of went off the deep end.

My two favourite Heinleins are Job and The Cat who Walked Through Walls.

I think i like Job because it's different. It's original and clever. And I found it funny.

I'd plump for RAH's Time Enough For Love. I recently reread Number Of The Beast and was amused to rediscover a sequel element in it to TEFL, though NOTB is perhaps the most peculiar of late Heinlein. Computer plotbunnies end up dating the piece, at best.

Other dead white men in Sci-Fi that I've found stand rereading: Zelazny, Anderson, Clarke; just about any title from these. Bradbury is of that generation, and still with us for the next few years anyway. He's quite lit'r'ry. I've rather lost my taste for Ellison, though the man's still fun to watch. The now apparently retired Alan Dean Foster is my idea of someone to write better than.

Nonfiction: you could hardly do better than the perennial John McPhee. Particularly his tetralogy-plus Annals Of The Former World -- four and a half books all about rocks and deep time, and he makes the rocks sing. Even those who believe they must reject science to be good Christians could read the long handiwork of the Creator, marvelous in our sight, in this tale told in the rocks.

I just reread McPhee's Oranges.