What books/authors do you read and follow?

[Nathan Caroland]

As you might have picked up on another thread here, I am an avid reader, something I think I picked up from my mother (she puts me to shame really) and something that I have passed down to my second daughter.

I read something between one to three books a week, depending upon the subject, my interest and my time. Once I pick up a book, I don't put it down, I always finish, even if I find that I don't care for it when I'm halfway through it. Just how I am.

I used to be very heavily into fantasy, that's all I would read. The more Sword and Sorcery the better in my opinion though I have moved more towards science fiction and modern day horror over the last few years.

Some of the favorites that have stuck in my mind over the years are:

Gary Gygax:

The first books I read (outside of school and See Spot Run) were by Gary Gygax, his old Greyhawk series with Gord 'the Rogue'. His first two when he was with TSR were classics for me, and to this day, I own four copies of each, as for some odd reason I bought them everytime I was in a second hand store. I picked up all his books that continued the series as well when he left TSR (Gord the Rogue series).

Dennis McKierinan:

Another favorite of mine, which I picked up directly after the Gord books were the 'Iron Tower Trilogy' and the 'Silver Horn Duology' by Dennis McKierinan (I might have butchered his last name). Fantastic books if you have never read them, and they take a very heavy nod towards Tolkien.

Which funny enough - I have never never liked, Tolkien that is. I know, I know, I'm about to be spitted and roasted for saying that, but I never did like his style of writing. For that matter, I didn't like the movies either (dodging the stones and running).

Robert Jordan:

The Wheel of Time series. I absolutely loved that ... up until book six. My gawd, end the series already. He plans to take the series out to 13 or 15 books, he hasn't decided yet. Personally, I think there are too many 'main' characters in the book and it has gotten too political. I understand it gets better around book ten, but I just can't bring myself to pick them up anymore. Maybe when he is done with the whole series I'll give it another shot.

David Eddings:

The MAN when it comes to fantasy writing in my opinion. He has done ... oh I figure around twenty or so books, probably more. Did the Belgarath and that whole series of books (two sets of five) and they are absolutely fantastic. Read them. Now. More importantly though, his latest books that start with the Elenium series that cover 'Sparhawk' are some of the best fantasy writing in my opinion. Think of a pious paladin who has no problem strangling someone with chicken wire and you'll understand why everyone loves this character and the series in general.

Ed Greenwood:

I like his first five or six books, and being that I was a real D&D geek at one time, I thought the world of the writing. They still hold a certain nostalgia with me now, but in truth, I think he has a ghost writer doing his work for him now, 'his' writing has changed so much in the last few novels and you can just 'feel' it. I could be wrong, but his latest stuff really doesn't impress me at all.

Robert Asprin:

Author of the 'Myth' series, they they are lite fantasy with a serious low key humor that gets you laughing everytime. Think Piers Anthony, but slightly more low key. He started the books over twenty years ago and I think he has managed about ten or eleven books. His latest one is a collaboration and I'm in the midst of it right now - not sure what I think of it.

Laurell K. Hamilton:

I found her first book on an airplane when I was working for the airlines as a mechanic and I quickly got interested in her Anita Blake series. Modern day, vampires, were creatures, magic and lots of action. Also a duff-load of sex and sensuality, which really isn't my boat, but I can get around that easily enough. Damn good books - think she has 13 from the Anita seires out. She also has another one out over a fairy - but about every third page has someone quivering in feminine pudding ectasty (thanks Duende) that it is more soft porn than actual litiature. I don't really recommend those.

Jim Butcher:

Author of the Dresden files. I've only read three of these books, but I hopped over to Amazon the other night and ordered the whole series which is up to seven at the moment. I like them. Again, modern day magic done very well.

Simon R. Green:

He does the 'Nightside' books, think he has six or so of them out at the moment, and I've only read two of them, but I found that they captured my interest very quickly and were easy fast reads. I bought the rest of them last week too - so now I've got something to read for the next couple weeks! See a trend here though - modern day magic.

Sandy Mitchell:

Who actually happens to be a guy writing under the pseudo name of a woman - don't ask me why. Still that being said, she (he) writes my favorite WH40k books, those dealing with Ciaphus Cain. If you haven't read these - you must! Think of an imperium hero, someone who is supposed to move the troops to amazing feats and keep order and discipline ... and he's a complete and utter coward (well, I think he thinks he is, but you have to read the books). There are three books out on Cain at the moment and I certainly hope there are many more, though I do have to say that the last book ended rather abruptly and not as clean as I would have liked.

I could go on, but these are the ones that stick out in my mind the most of course. I'm curious as to your thoughts on these authors and anyone else that you might suggest. I'm always up for a good book - so give me some options!

[Pr0fane]

Hmm...like you I am a voracious reader. Also several books a week. I'm on a learning kick right now so I'm reading stuff like "Blink" and "Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell and various works by Leo Buscaglia, but my mainstay has always been Sci-Fi and Fantasy, in that order. I won't go into the whole pantheon of authors, but some of my favorites are;

• David Gemmell
  
• Orscon Scott Card
  
• Terry Pratchett
  
• Terry Goodkind
  
• William Gibson
  
• Robert A. Heinlein
  
• James Alan Gardner
  
• Greg Bear
  
• Anne McCaffrey
  
• Larry Niven
  
• Melanie Rawn

...I could go on and on, but I won't.

[Duende]

I've been a bookworm my entire life. I can read just about anywhere; even in moving vehicles which probably came from a long bus ride home from school (about 45 min) so what better time to dive into my fav book. And like FF, I prefer the Sci-Fi/Fantasy novels, and also into the more Fantasy part of that.

So here's some of my favorite authors:

C.S. Friedman- Most of her novels contain elements of both fantasy and science fiction, especially her Coldfire Trilogy of which the first novel "Black Sun Rising" I count as one of my favorite books of all time. Her newest, "The Wilding" (the cover art is where my avater comes from) is a sequel to her very first novel "In Conquest Born". I'll be reading it shortly, after I finish my current book..

Tad Williams - His first novel "Tailchaser's Song" stars cats as the characters and is a very good story. His Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn Trilogy is a great fantasy tale while his Otherland Series is a great complex sci-fi story. His books are very long though (average 700-800 pgs) but I was glued to every page.

Robin Hobb - Most known for her Assassin's Apprentice and The Liveship Traders Trilogies. The former follows a character named FitzChivalry Farseer, who was born a royal bastard, through his life as he's raised to be an assassin. The latter concerns the events concerning the mysterious Bingtown Traders "liveships" which are made from "wizardwood" and whose mastheads come to life after being owned by a family for three generations. Robin Hobb also writes short stories under the penname Megan Lindholm.

Melanie Rawn - Also writes very long novels but her Dragon Prince and Dragon Star Trilogies were excellent. I neer learned so much about political manuvering and plotting (albiet in a fantasy setting) than in these novels. Also like her Exiles novels, but she seems to be taking her time getting the books written (book 2 was out years ago, clifferhanger ending, still waiting on book 3. Grrr...)

Kate Elliot - Her Crown of Stars series is excellent and just keeps growing... It was originally supposed to be a trilogy, but then she continued in to a fourth, then (in author's note) said she'd finish it in the fifth book... but now the fifth book is out in hardcover now and the sixth is in the works (supposedly it will be the last one!).

C.J. Cherryh - Has written like a bazillion books! I've neer seen anyone able to flesh out alien species so well. My favorite is her Foreigner series with the Ateva race of beings. My only problem with her writing is that sometimes characters get bogged down in a lot of conversation with little action.

I'd also like a mention a favorite stand-alone novel, a collaboration written by Melanie Rawn, Jennifer Roberson, and Kate Elliot titled "The Golden Key". It has a character that has a unique magical ability. He's an artist that has the ability to manipulate time and reality within his paintings, even going as far to trap a woman he loves within one and prolong his own life for a plot that spans generations. An excellent book.

OK, that was one of my longest posts ever! Whew, I'm winded! :coffee:

[Valloa]

I adore reading and usually have at least one book close by at all times. My preferences are Fantasy, followed by good Fiction/Historicals (that aren't romance novels, yuck!) then Sci-Fi.

My favs:

Anne McCaffery - I grew up on her series "The Dragonriders of Pern." Wonderful, wonderful books that blend fantasy and Sci-Fi and have dragons. Whoohoo!

Mercedes Lackey - A wonderful author with a true talent for making you care about the characters she writes. I prefer her fantasy books, especially the Valdemar series. She also writes very good modernish fantasy.

Anne Logston - Her "Shadow" series is sadly out of print but it was the best written fantasy books I've ever seen about Thieves. Her Guardian series was also very well done. Her books are amusing, clever and certainly not ever boring.

I also regularly read Holly Lisle, Laurell K. Hamilton, Anne Rice, and whatever author wrote a book looks interesting to me when I see it.

[angel of death]

hmmm,

I'd have to say I love

David Eddings

I've read the belgariad about 11 times, and the Malorean about 7.

Laurell K. Hamilton:

I really enjoy those books, although they do get rather full of sex later on. The first 2 annoyed me because she repeated sentences all through them. :vb_mad2: . Enjoyed the vampire killyness though

Robert Jordan:

I started reading this series but got bored and thought I'd maybe wait till they all came out before trying to rememeber what had happened in the previous books.

Terry Pratchet:

Have enjoyed the ones I have read, but find I have to be in a particular type of mood for that humour.

Anne McCaffrey:

I liked her Pern books, but haven't really read much of her other stuff.

George RR Martin:

Just bought his main trilogy at the start of the year, and loved them. Now one of my favourites.

Elizabeth Moon:

The sheepfarmers daughter series is fantastic. This is my current favourite series.

Tolkien:

Lord of the Rings and the

Hobbit.

Raymond E. Feist

Really enjoyed the serpentwar saga, but haven't read all his books in order so haven't really gotten 'into' them as much as some other books. I find them hugely enjoyable though.

also a bit of a dragonlance/forgooten realms fan. And occaisionally Games Workshop books for the background factor.

I'm sure I'm forgetting at least 5 series/authers but that's do.

angel of death

[Duende]

Mercedes Lackey - A wonderful author with a true talent for making you care about the characters she writes. I prefer her fantasy books, especially the Valdemar series.

D'oh! How did I forget Mercedes!!! :doh:

My own daughter's first AND middle names come from her books:

Gwena - from Elspeth's Companion

Kethrey - from the "Oathbound" and "Oathbreaker" books

Silly me! :bird:

*Edit* Cool avater, angel of death! Sephiroth is the MAN!

[angel of death]

oh yeah, thats right, Mercedes Lackey is also a huge favourite of mine. whoops

thanks Duende, I just joined up and looked thorugh the ones on this site, and thought it matched my name best.

angel of death

[lauth81]

I read mostly SF (my motto is read SF and play Fantasy ...), so my list includes more SF than Fantasy, but anyway:

SF

Iain M. Banks: He´s my favourite author. His books are Space Opera at it´s best, very imaginative and with a good portion of humour in it.

Alastair Reynolds: also Space Opera. Very dark and gritty.

Neal Stephenson: Snow Crash is cool, Cryptonomicon is really interesting (and teaches you a lot about encryption methods ...). Didn´t read the baroque cycle, though.

I also like "old school SF": Larry Niven, Ray Bradbury, Philip K. Dick

Some authors are one-hit-wonders in my mind: e.g. William Gibson´s Neuromancer trilogy is great, everything else is merely ok IMHO

Fantasy

Robert E. Howard; The original Conan stories are a fine piece of literature. Howard´s really good technically. Didn´t read anything else of his work yet, but it´s only a matter of time until Solomon Kane or King Kull land on my bookshelf.

Also fine Sword and Sorcery: Karl Edward Wagner´s Kane stories and Moorcocks Elric books

and of course: Tolkien

There are some game-relatéd books, which I like: The Dragonlance Chronicles by Weis/Hickman, most books by Elaine Cunningham, the Azure Bonds trilogy by Jeff Grubb.

Other literature:

I like Franz Kafka. Don´t know if you´ve ever heard of him (he´s a german writer from the early 1900s) and I don´t know if his books are translated into english. Very frightening (not in a horror sense) books. You should check out "Der Prozess" ("The trial"?).

[Nathan Caroland]

I've heard of about half of the authors that have been put forth here and have jotted down three or four to look up. Interesting stuff.

I remember reading something of David Gemmels .. didn't he do something about some old warrior and some young peasent girl wanting to learn the art of war or something? Sounds familiar for some reason and I can't place it for the life of me.

Anne McCafferty - I think I've read one of her books, but I can't say I was impressed. Might have just been the time and the mood I was in when I picked it up but it was one of those that never really caught my attention.

Raymond Feist I remember quiet well, liked Pug!

Now, I have to ask, does anyone here actually like Anne Rice? I have read two of her books, Vampire Lastat (who hasn't) and I believe it was 'The Body Snatcher' (or maybe catcher) and I have to say that her style of writing just doesn't do it for me at all. Rather put off by the woman in general - I look at the book jacket with her on it and see 'freaky sexual chick' written across her forehead (QFP - Duende).

Of course, that being said, have to probably lump Laurel K. Hammilton in with her too, but atleast her writing is pretty good.

[LeadAsbestos]

I'm a devoted Clive Barker fan. Some of his stuff is a bit too :flypig: but his straight horror is top notch, and even if his story-telling gets weak, the ideas behind the stories are amazing. Stay away from the fantasy for the most part, although some fans will say otherwise.

HP Lovecraft is a fave too, despite all the problems! Michael Moorcock and the Eternal Champion, Robert E. Howard and Conan... Ah, the pulps!

Entertaining writing certainly dosen't have to be good.

Anne Rice is neither good nor entertaining, although young ladies who enjoy Anne Rice tend to be.

[Sakura]

So, Authors I really like are:

Terry Pratchett,

Robert Asprin,

Steven Brust

Wrote the Vlad Taltos Series; Dark, dry humor, Mafia kind type as main char.

Ann Granger

Good old english crime stories, with a human touch

Elizabeth George

Also english crime stories, nice, deep charakters.

Tess Geritsen

Thrillers that won't let you go, very...thrilling

The Harry Potter Books

Jane Austen

These are the ones I red basicly everything from, there are plenty other I like.

[Ritual]

I'm not such a keen follower of certain authors, but tend to read stuff from a broad range of authors and genres. Currently I'm hooked on rock'n'roll biographies. Not much into rock'n'roll, but it's quite interesting to read about bands and artists.

Exceptions are Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman who I tend to follow very faithfully.

[Mosch]

Pratchett and Gaiman here too

Also I just picked up a cheap book from a discount bin. It's called "The Book Akhram" by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman and is a part of the ongoing story "The prophet's rose" (keep in mind that I translated the German title here, might not be accurate). This book is great. It's a story about a world where the gods wage war and one tries to emerge as the final god, the one who is left. However, the book does not focus on the gods at all, but on their followers. It has a kind of "believable fantasy" in an arabian setting, where immortals, Djinns, sorcerors and monsters exist, but are kind of "believable". They are not the main event - that is one is reserved for the humans and the profane people - but they are there, not splendid, shining beings of pure power, but creatures who have certain skills that are completely normal to them while they lack some skills that humans have. Also, and this is a novum, I have yet to find one stereotype in the book. The characters are believable: There is this black Paladin who kills and maims and basically pleases the god of destruction - and later in the book he is home, plays with his children, talks to his wife and weeps when he is told about a friend's death.

I'll try to get the other books, I really love this one. I started reading it yesterday at about 8 PM until my father told me that I should put the book away and go to bed. Note, my father works at nights and comes home in the morning.

Rober Rankin is another great author, and I just love it how his books contain elements that are outrageously absurd (a family eats their supper - a six-legged goose) and at the same time have parts of normal, profane human life in them later (Man goes to bar and talks about the game last night).

I also read Journey to the West, but of course this is neither an ongoing series nor can we expect to see more from the author

[Nathan Caroland]

Haven't heard of that one by Wies and Hickman - might have to pick that one up. Thanks!

[Klute]

I'm a devoted Clive Barker fan.

Whoooop.....thats me in the attic to dig out the Books of Blood.

That guys mind is seriously odd and brilliant.

Guess Ive read pretty much all of Stephen King.

Same with Tolkien......Silmarillion my favourite.Hard read at times but some of the stories are amazing.

Same with Pratchett but been slacking with the last few.

Any fan of Silence of the Lambs should read the books...Thomas Harris if I remember rightly.Red Dragon being the best.

Right Im off to get Books of Blood..........:evil:

[Nathan Caroland]

Funny, I've never read Clive Barker or Stephen King. Might be something I should look into. Actually, I think I read the first 10 pages of the Stand but for some reason, maybe I lost the book, never finished the rest (which is odd for me).

Myself, I just finished up the first six Nightside books by Simon R. Green. Really enjoyed them, though the sixth one was a bit of a let down from the first five as our intrepid 'hero' gets to the point where he is a really powerful bastard which for me, looses some of the charm of the character. Of course, that's all supposed to be part of the plotline as he is supposed to destroy the world (not giving anything away, you learn that in the first book easily enough) so I guess I'll go along for the ride to see where it ends.

Reading the 'Dresdin Files' now by Jim Butcher - got six books to go through, though apparently I've read the first one at one time or another as I found out yesterday when I picked up the book. I'll still read it though to get a full story for the rest of the series.