Attn: Trek authors - Who are your favorite authors?
- Thread starter Ktrek
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Too many to name, and I wish I had more time to read strictly for pleasure. These days I'm usually researching a book or reading manuscripts.
Growing up, I read all the biggies-H.G. Wells, Clarke, Asimov, Bradbury, Burroughs, Conan Doyle, Bram Stoker, Edgar Allan Poe--although my tastes always ran more towards horror and the bizarre than hard sf: more Lovecraft and Leiber than Heinlein if you know what I mean. I liked Robert Bloch, Richard Matheson, John Wyndham, Theodore Sturgeon, Robert E. Howard, Michael Moorcock, etc. Never really got into Philip K. Dick, to be honest.
These days, when I get a chance, I like Tim Powers, Kim Newman, Graham Joyce, stuff like that. I've also been enjoying the MONK tie-in novels, which are good light reading. And, of course, I'm still working my way through Richard Matheson's entire body of work, including his westerns and mainstream thrillers. Probably the best recent book I've read was LITTLE BROTHER by Cory Doctorow, which I only read because I had to write the cover copy!
No doubt I've forgotten somebody crucial, but hope that's what you're looking for.
Growing up, I read all the biggies-H.G. Wells, Clarke, Asimov, Bradbury, Burroughs, Conan Doyle, Bram Stoker, Edgar Allan Poe--although my tastes always ran more towards horror and the bizarre than hard sf: more Lovecraft and Leiber than Heinlein if you know what I mean. I liked Robert Bloch, Richard Matheson, John Wyndham, Theodore Sturgeon, Robert E. Howard, Michael Moorcock, etc. Never really got into Philip K. Dick, to be honest.
These days, when I get a chance, I like Tim Powers, Kim Newman, Graham Joyce, stuff like that. I've also been enjoying the MONK tie-in novels, which are good light reading. And, of course, I'm still working my way through Richard Matheson's entire body of work, including his westerns and mainstream thrillers. Probably the best recent book I've read was LITTLE BROTHER by Cory Doctorow, which I only read because I had to write the cover copy!
No doubt I've forgotten somebody crucial, but hope that's what you're looking for.
Favourites- EE Doc Smith, Asimov, Philip K Dick, Ian Fleming, Arthur Conan Doyle, Lovecraft, Alistair MacLean, Stephen King, Tom Clancy, Tolkien, Lawrence Block, Alan Moore, Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, Alexander Kent, Terry Pratchett, Dean Koontz, James Jones, Raymond Feist, Umberto Eco, Clive Cussler, Elmore Leonard, Michael Crichton... The list is fairly extensive and goes on a lot longer.
Best books... Treasure Island, War Of The Worlds, Don Qixote, Farewell My Lovely, V For Vendetta, Lord Of The Rings, Foucault's Pendulum, Fight Club... A special nonfiction mention for Homicide: A Year On The Killing Streets. Again the list is too long to type out at this time of night.
Among my favorites....
Pierce Askegren, Michael A. Burstein, Kurt Busiek, Adam-Troy Castro, Chris Claremont, J.M. DeMatteis, Diane Duane, Will Eisner, Harlan Ellison, Janet Evanovich, Robert A. Heinlein, Laurie R. King, Ursula K. Le Guin, Vonda N. McIntyre, George Pelecanos, S.M. Stirling, J.R.R. Tolkien, Harry Turtledove, Jack Vance, P.G. Wodehouse, and lots more I'll remember after I post this.
Pierce Askegren, Michael A. Burstein, Kurt Busiek, Adam-Troy Castro, Chris Claremont, J.M. DeMatteis, Diane Duane, Will Eisner, Harlan Ellison, Janet Evanovich, Robert A. Heinlein, Laurie R. King, Ursula K. Le Guin, Vonda N. McIntyre, George Pelecanos, S.M. Stirling, J.R.R. Tolkien, Harry Turtledove, Jack Vance, P.G. Wodehouse, and lots more I'll remember after I post this.
Mark Twain, John Steinbeck, Alexandre Dumas, Ray Bradbury, and the occasional Charles Dickens.
--Ted
--Ted
A quick round-up: Richard Brautigan, Bill Pullman, Audrey Niffenegger, Warren Ellis, Alan Moore, Kurt Busiek, Caleb Carr, Ray Bradbury, James Blish, Isaac Asimov, Frank Miller, Kyle Baker, Charles Schulz, Garry Trudeau, Bill Watterson, Arthur C. Clarke, Douglas Adams, T.S. Eliot, W.S. Merwin.
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I can't hope to name them all, but off the top of my head (and after a glance at my nearby bookshelf) I can say Stephen King, Katherine Kurtz, Holly Lisle, JRR Tolkien, Bill Watterson, Janet Evanovich, William Shakespeare, Anne McCaffrey, Ann (A.C.) Crispin, and Fred Saberhagen.
J.R.R. Tolkien, Douglas Adams, Stephen Donaldson, Robert Asprin, Frank Herbert, Alan Dean Foster, Piers Anthony (early stuff), Arthur C. Clark, Isaac Asimov, Kurt Vonnegut, Alfred Bester, Larry Niven, Carl Sagan, Diane Duane, <mode suck-up=on>David Mack, Dayton Ward, Keith R.A. DeCandido</mode>
Many of the same I've already seen posted: Tolkien (I spent a fabulous hour in the bar at Shore Leave one year being a Tolkien geek with Marco Palmieri and Una McCormack), Wells, Lovecraft, Bradbury, Asimov, Eco, Doyle. Michael Chabon. Carl Sagan. Jules Verne. Philip K. Dick. Ernest Hemingway. Virginia Woolf.
I love the original Frankenstein and Dracula novels. 1984. The Lord of the Rings, of course. These are all books that I have read repeatedly. I usually don't read a book more than once, because there's just too much else out there to read and too little time, but I make an exception for these. I read Snow Crash twice.
And more and more and more single reads I can't think of at the moment.
I love the original Frankenstein and Dracula novels. 1984. The Lord of the Rings, of course. These are all books that I have read repeatedly. I usually don't read a book more than once, because there's just too much else out there to read and too little time, but I make an exception for these. I read Snow Crash twice.
And more and more and more single reads I can't think of at the moment.
Yay, Clive Cussler!
Neil Gaiman, Clive Barker, Sheridan Le Fanu, Bram Stoker, Henry James, Lovecraft, H.G. Wells, Stephen King, Anne Rice (back when she was still being edited).
There are more. That's just off the top of my desperately-needing-coffee brain. Gaiman, Barker and Rice are huge influences for me.
There are more. That's just off the top of my desperately-needing-coffee brain. Gaiman, Barker and Rice are huge influences for me.
Let me add the following non "fiction novel writers" to my previous list:
Charles M. Schulz, Bill Watterson, Gerry Trudeau, Berke Breathed, Gary Larson and Bill Amend. Amazing what they can do in 1-4 panels over such a long time.
--Ted
Charles M. Schulz, Bill Watterson, Gerry Trudeau, Berke Breathed, Gary Larson and Bill Amend. Amazing what they can do in 1-4 panels over such a long time.
--Ted
As others have noted, there are so many writers I could name, and so many titles. Right now, at this moment, I'd have to say my three favorite novelists are Gabriel García Márquez, John Irving, and Tom Robbins. Not surprisingly, their works feature prominently among my favorite novels, including García Márquez's Love in the Time of Cholera, Irving's A Prayer for Owen Meany, and Robbins' Jitterbug Perfume (to name but three). I am also often taken by so-called classic works, which I frequently mix in with my contemporary reading. I have been awed by works such as J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage, Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, and Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment.
I could go on--just glancing around my office, I see six bookcases and a filled-to-overflowing library cart--but I'll spare you. Of course, references are available upon request.
I could go on--just glancing around my office, I see six bookcases and a filled-to-overflowing library cart--but I'll spare you. Of course, references are available upon request.
Many to choose from, but writers I rate off the top of my head; John Brunner, Joe Haldeman William Gibson, Philip K. Dick, Stephen Baxter, Rudy Rucker, Richard Morgan, Arthur C. Clarke, Tom Clancy, Carl Hiaasen, Dan Abnett, Matt Farrer, Christa Faust, William Goldman, Karen Traviss, Douglas Adams, Diane Duane, Alfred Bester, George Alec Effinger, Larry Niven, Harry Harrison, Steven Bochco, Robert Ludlum, Hunter S. Thompson, Neal Asher, Alan Moore... I could go on an on.
I like to think the best book I've read will be the next one.
I like to think the best book I've read will be the next one.
Thanks to everyone for your replies! Very interesting lists and it's interesting to see certain authors come up more than once. Have any of you ever read Chaim Potok? What do you think of his work? Or how about Herman Hesse? Glad to see Dostoevsky mentioned. His book are great!
Kevin
Kevin
Kevin
Kevin
^ I read The Chosen ages and ages ago. I remember liking it at the time, but I'd be hard pressed to give any details.
I have to add a quick 2nd to David's choices of A Prayer for Owen Meany and To Kill a Mockingbird. Rarey is any creative work perfect, but I have yet to find a flaw in either of those books and both are in my top ten best novels ever.
Other writers I enjoy...Sharon K. Penman, A.S. Byatt, Charles Dickens and Jane Austin.
Other writers I enjoy...Sharon K. Penman, A.S. Byatt, Charles Dickens and Jane Austin.
I only just saw this post. But here's my tuppence ha'penny anyway.
My Big Three: JRR Tolkien, Ursula Le Guin, TS Eliot. (Yes, Scott, it was a fabulous time geeking about Tolkien!)
Writers that I return to again and again, loving whatever it is that they bring to the table: Jane Austen, Tove Jansson (children's and adult fiction), Elizabeth Enright, Lois McMaster Bujold, Sylvia Engdahl, Rosemary Sutcliff, Aimee Mann, Emma Goldman, Simone Weil, Brendan Kennelly.
Books that have given me the resources to make sense of the world and how I relate to it: Isaiah Berlin's "The Hedgehog and the Fox", Joanna Russ' "How to Suppress Women's Writing", Hans-Georg Gadamer's "Truth and Method", Russell Hoban's "Riddley Walker", Henry Jenkins' "Textual Poachers", Celia Kitzinger's "The Social Construction of Lesbianism".
Countless fanfictions, but particularly Isabeau's "Captain My Captain" and Dwimordene's "Father and Sons". Endless television, but particularly Chris Boucher for 'Blake' and Russell T Davies for 'Love and Monsters'.
Right now I'm discovering Zora Neale Hurston, and loving Samuel R. Delany's books of essays "On Writing".
My Big Three: JRR Tolkien, Ursula Le Guin, TS Eliot. (Yes, Scott, it was a fabulous time geeking about Tolkien!)
Writers that I return to again and again, loving whatever it is that they bring to the table: Jane Austen, Tove Jansson (children's and adult fiction), Elizabeth Enright, Lois McMaster Bujold, Sylvia Engdahl, Rosemary Sutcliff, Aimee Mann, Emma Goldman, Simone Weil, Brendan Kennelly.
Books that have given me the resources to make sense of the world and how I relate to it: Isaiah Berlin's "The Hedgehog and the Fox", Joanna Russ' "How to Suppress Women's Writing", Hans-Georg Gadamer's "Truth and Method", Russell Hoban's "Riddley Walker", Henry Jenkins' "Textual Poachers", Celia Kitzinger's "The Social Construction of Lesbianism".
Countless fanfictions, but particularly Isabeau's "Captain My Captain" and Dwimordene's "Father and Sons". Endless television, but particularly Chris Boucher for 'Blake' and Russell T Davies for 'Love and Monsters'.
Right now I'm discovering Zora Neale Hurston, and loving Samuel R. Delany's books of essays "On Writing".
Potok? Grew up reading him. One of my dad's favorites and one of the earliest authors I've read.
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