Khrage
Joined: Oct 07, 2005
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 Posted:
Dec 22, 2005 - 03:41 |
 
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Good topic and some good lists here.
Extra points to RonnieColeman for mentioning REH. Not just for Conan though.
Just top three for now. Well top three per section...I am a bibliophile.
Fantasy,
REH, Tolkien, Robert Jordan (thanks to Knife of Dreams...he would have been off this list last year, KOD got him back on top).
Sci-Fi
Orson Scott Card, Robert Heinlein, Orson Scott Card (hes on twice because he is that good).
Horror,
H.P. Lovecraft, Steven King, Brian Lumley (Necroscope series-good modern Lovecrat style writer)
Misc.
Allison Weir-Bibliography/History
Cervantes- Novel/Classic
Mark Miller (God help me) Comic
And of course ole Billy the Bard...
EDIT*
Oh, as someone who has read Joyce (not a lot of us out there I think) I dont find him dull, but neither do I find him terribly entertaining. These guys I find entertaining. People whose works I will read more than once or twice. |
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AlcingRagaholic
Joined: Aug 02, 2003
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Dec 22, 2005 - 03:55 |
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O.S.C. was only mentioned 4 times? Good gahd! Orson Scott Card is the man. The Ender and Bean series rank wayyy up there.
Michael Stackpole has always been a favorite in sci-fi and fantasy, with his Dragon series being really classic. Oh, and 2 words: I, Jedi. Read it.
G. R. R. Martin is good too, though he falls into a similar style from time to time most noted in fantasy genre works. Still better than Jordan, who I have stopped reading due to his PREQUEL to the series instead of working on book 11-13. Dude... end. it.
Neal Stephenson I didn't see on the list. Suck! With good works like Snow Crash, Cryptonomicon and The Diamond Age, I'm surprised.
Timothy Zahn is a rather classy author, and I really liked all of his books in the SW series. He had some really good character work, and made reading them really enjoyable.
I always liked Eugene Ionesco and his crazy works, though they were plays. If you like Theater of the Absurd style plays, Ionesco is your man.
And last, but not least, may he rest in peace, good old Douglas Adams.
Z |
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VinnieSpleenmasher
Joined: Sep 12, 2004
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Dec 22, 2005 - 04:04 |
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Furious_George
Joined: Aug 13, 2005
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Dec 22, 2005 - 04:11 |
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Pratchett
Asimov
De Lillo(sp?)
Shakespeare(not book strictly speaking, and a generic answer, but classic in every sense of the word)
Arthur C Clarke
J.M Strazynski (of Babylon5 Fame) |
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Qaz
Joined: Apr 28, 2004
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Dec 22, 2005 - 04:18 |
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| lukastrika wrote: |
never ment to hurt your feelings, hope you'll find this point a bit more sensillable |
I sure do. It was just as I was the only one mentioning Joyce. Accept for the link to that team of different writers I was referring to in my second post. But your second post shred light and pointed out more clearly what you where trying to say. No hard feelings  |
_________________
Superstition brings bad luck.
"he who has relied least on fortune is established
the strongest"
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Snorri
Joined: Jun 07, 2004
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Dec 22, 2005 - 05:05 |
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SciFi
- Douglas Adams
- Isaac Asimov
- Frank Herbert
- Peter Hamilton
Fantasy
- Pratchett
- Tolkein
- George Martin (Fire and Ice)
- Feist (Magician and Empire Trilogy only)
History
- Colleen McCullough (Rome Series and Troy)
I generally find books much more interesting if they bring something else to their writing as well. Asimov as a Scientist, Herbert for being an astute student of social and political dynamics, Colleen McCullough for being the same in the field of history and Tolkein for his broad knowledge and attention to detail with folklore and languages. Then there's Adams and Pratchett simply because they manage to satirically relate to the human condition so well and Martin/Feist/Hamilton for writing a couple of novels that weren't your generic good vs evil plot and always left you guessing as to where the story was going.
I guess that means some of them probably aren't the greatest authors in terms of story writing technique (Tolkein comes to mind!), but their concepts are usually uniquely interesting. |
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Longrifle
Joined: Dec 28, 2004
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Dec 22, 2005 - 05:13 |
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Fyodor Dostoyevsky
William Shakespeare
Miguel de Cervantes
Herman Melville
Kurt Vonnegut
J.D. Salinger
Mark Twain
George Orwell
Alexandre Dumas
Edgar Alan Poe
John O'Brien
Chinua Achebe
Kobo Abe
Truman Capote
V.S. Naipal
Ursula LeGuin
Henry Fielding
Victor Hugo
Theodore Geisel
Stan Lee |
_________________
"I wouldn't want to belong to a club that would have me for a member." |
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Hank
Joined: Oct 26, 2003
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Dec 22, 2005 - 06:38 |
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Ernest Hemingway
Väinö Linna
Sven Hassel
Elmore Leonard |
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Meech
Joined: Sep 15, 2005
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Dec 22, 2005 - 13:55 |
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Heh, George RR Martin was the reason I started this thread.
Argh Khrage, I can't believe I forgot Brian Lumley. The Necroscope series (First couple of books are just wow) stands up still today. I think that is a sign of a great book, if you can pick it up and read it even after it's been out for 25 year. I still read The Stand and It by Steven King once a year. |
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Khrage
Joined: Oct 07, 2005
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Dec 23, 2005 - 01:52 |
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Yup, no one does H.P. Lovecraft better than Lumley. And he is able to add an entire new dimention to vampire stories while doing it!
Oh and AlcingRagaholic, please give Knife of Dreams (Jordan's latest) a try. Trust me, it actually more than makes up for the last four books. Gave me freaking chills in a couple places. Has a couple moments that honestly make me want to go out and write, just so I could evoke that kind of feeling in a reader...and that is the highest praise I can give. A similar Tolkien moment would be the charge out of Helm's Deep in The Two Towers.
G.R.R. Martin is a great read, be he hasn't given me one of those moments yet. Not saying he couldn't (each book has been better than the last, and none are even close to bad) just hasn't yet. |
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Mnemon
Joined: Aug 02, 2003
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Jan 14, 2006 - 02:00 |
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Siri Hustved, Jonathan Franzen, J.D.Salinger, Mervin Peake, Maxine Hong Kingston, George Perec, Torgny Lindgren, Herman Hesse, Patrick Süsskind, Hemingway, Dostoyevsky', George Orwell, Aldous Huxley, Haruki Murakami ... too many others, though close to no fantasy/SF. I like books that have that magic something in their language, not just in plot, and mostly most Fantasy and SF writing just seems to lack that technical brilliance that is present in the more classic genres - with a couple exceptions.
-Mnemon |
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djbigjake
Joined: Aug 02, 2003
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Jan 14, 2006 - 02:41 |
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No Neal Stephenson love? For shame. |
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PurpleChest
Joined: Oct 25, 2003
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In no particular order, mainly hard sci fi, cyberpunk, hard fantasy.
China Mieville (do not miss this fantasy or SF fans)
Neal Stephenson
Ian M banks (and Ian Banks for post-modern ironic gothic fiction)
William Gibson
Ian McDonald
Bruce Sterling
Kurt Vonnegut
Ursula K Le Guin
Richard K Morgan (great new SF)
Douglas Adams
Philip K Dick
George Orwell
Aldous Huxley
I once new a guy of 28, who had over 60 books, all from the 'Forgotten Realms' AD&D role playing world. For the last 10 years he had read no other form of book.
Do not be that guy.
hence also:
Shakespeare
Satre
Amis
Amis Jnr
Will Self
Tony Parsons
Bill Bryson
Victor Hugo
David Mamet
Michael Moore
Joseph Conrad
And a little light Soduko.
Oh and anyone that has never read 'Catch 22' should be forced to. At gunpoint if neccessary. possibly the finest book ever. IMHO.
EDIT: Proud to have insprired this thread.
RE-EDIT: To add to the OSC controversy. Can't deal with the overt Mormonism I'm afraid. |
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warknight
Joined: Nov 22, 2005
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Jan 14, 2006 - 03:55 |
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I don't have a particularly favorite author, but I've been reading every Black Library book I can get my hands on including the Blood Bowl series. I also read a lot of history. |
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Bloke100
Joined: Nov 18, 2003
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Jan 14, 2006 - 04:06 |
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Douglas Coupland for sure, smart and fun (most of the time). Nick Hornby too, and for fantasy, I guess Anne McCathry and Tolkien.
And Sophia Coppola (as a screenwriter) |
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