Favourite Fantasy Authors

[Billy Oblivion]

I can't recommend anyone higher than Mick Farren: The DNA Cowboys Trilogy, The Texts of Festival, The Song of Phaid the Gambler and many others.

He's an obscure English ex-hippy musician who probably did a few too many drugs in the 60s & 70s and if you know anything about him you'll realise that he writes himself into all of his own books as the hero ((in the DNA Cowboys' books he manages to write himself as both of the heroes).

He's not a very consistent author but he's well worth a read. I've read most of his books several times over the years and I never cease to get enjoyment from them.

And his book on the history of the Black Leather Jacket is a good read too.

 

[Bookwyrm]

Fav. authors

Tough list to make. In no particular order:
J. K Rowlings
Anne McCaffrey
Terry Brooks
Katherine Kerr
Tolkien

 

[defiant_whisper]

top 5 fav. fantasy authors

1) Stephen R. Donaldson (Thomas Covenant trilogies rule all... at least in my book... no pun intended

2) Storm Constantine (Wreaththu trilogy and later aditional book are fantastic)...(and for those of you who don't know who she is... Wreaththu is the correct spelling... hehe)

3) Clive Barker (i loved Weave World and Imagica)

4) Ayn Rand (her only book that even comes close to fantasy is Anthem... and that's more sci-fi... but i thought she deserved a place on this list... )

5) Mark Helprin (if only because of his book Winter's Tale)

 

[GreenMonkey]

Hi, new member here, clicked on through via a banner at hometheaterforum.com (where I am a very active member).

Despite my dabbling in HT and videogames, a good book always comes first. Books are portable, too!

My top 5 have changed in recent years. I've been reading fantasy/sci-fi since 5th grade (started out with Piers Anthony's Xanth, then LOTR right after). I'll be 25 in Oct and just got married in Vegas in June.


My top 5 (definitely changed in the past 2 years):

1) Robin Hobb (All of them! Esp. Farseer trilogy! New favorites, didn't like Farseer nearly as much in high school. Now I like. I guess my worldview has changed a lot)
2) Raymond Feist (not sure on the new trilogy yet. Holds #2 slot very much due to his Empire trilogy w/ Janny Wurts. Some of my favorite books ever.)
3) R.A. Salvatore (Forgotten Realms Dark Elf books)
4) Mercedes Lackey (Esp. Last Herald mage. Not so keen on the newer stuff).
5) Margaret Weis & Tracey Hickman (Dragonlance stuff. Sorry, big fan of Raistlin)


I'm considering George RR Martin, but I need to see the series through before I draw a judgement on it. Great, great stuff so far. I like Terry Brooks but he rings in underneath the top 5.


Personally, I still like Edding's Belgariad and Mallorean. I would have listed him the in top, once upon a time. But his latest books are just terrible. I bought the last one in hardcover (The Redemption of Athalus, I think? Elder Gods trilogy) - god, what a mistake. What a waste of me $20. Not only formulaic, but terribly written and the storyline was lame. What happened??? No offense if anyone enjoyed it.

 

[Yobmod]

Hello Everybody, i'm new here. None of my freinds seem to read so i have to find somewhere online i can discuss cool books.

Here's my (fantasy authors) top 5:

1) Patricia Mckillip (Forgotten Beast of Eld, Ombria in Shodow, Riddlemaster Trilogy - all beautifully written, and strangely dreamlike.)

2) Gene Wolfe (Book of the Long Sun, Loatro in the Mist, Peace - the last is one of my favourite books ever, but i didn't put him top 'cos the Sun books are a bit SF.)

3) Stephen Donaldson (1st and 2nd Chromicles of Thomas Covenant, Mordanst Need dualogy - Covenant is a great character, he's not nice but you still care what happens to him; a sign of great writing.)

4) Michael Moorcock (Gloriana, Corum books, etc etc. - I couldn't get into Elric, but some of these books are great. Gloriana is a fav of mine, very reminiscent of Gormanghast but less sprawling.)

5) Sherri S. Tepper (Beauty, True game trilogies - I think her early bookswere excellent, unusual and well thought out. I don't like her new stuff tho, but thats mostly (lame) SF, so doesn't affect this list.)

Just below them are Jack Vance (still only read his Lyonesse Trilogy), Mervyn Peake (Gormanghast rules!), Guy G. Kay (if only for Tigana) and Ursula LeGuin (prefer her SF). So the list may be completely different in a few months when i get around to reading some more books by these authors (and G R R Martin and Stephen King finish their series.) Jordan's WoT debacle almost put me off fantasy altogether, so i'm not reading any series' until there is an end in sight.
Just starting Zelazny's Amber series now

Anywho - thanks for reading. Hopefully i'll be back regularly,

Yobmod X

 

[MEYERTREE]

yeah, and Terry Goodkinds following that same road.
don't think i'm gonna buy anymore in either series until they're both finished.

 

[Yobmod]

I've somehow still managed to order the first 3 of song of ice and fire and the first 4 of Malazan book of the fallen. Will i be able to resist the temptation once they are all lined up on the shelf?

 

[Oponn]

Why would you want to?
Nice favourites list, I love them all as well. Have you read Jack Vance's Dying Earth series as well? If you like them I reccomend the works of Clark Ashton Smith. A Song of Ice and Fire and Malazan Book of the Fallen are two of the top (in my opinion) current fantasy series. Good choices

 

[Yobmod]

I've got The Tales of the Dying Earth, but it's so big, that i havn't had time to read it
Might start by taking the individual stories in it, and intersperse with other books.

Am i the only one who thinks it's strange to have a top 5 of authors who have only written one (partial) series of books? I would never put Erikson, Jordan, Goodkind (ugh!) etc in such a list - its like reviewing a book when only half way through (imo). And have many of GRR Martins fans gone out to find the other stuff he's written, like fevre dream?

Of course, maybe i'm just fussy. I wouldn't put Eddings on the list, no matter how many series he finishes

 

[Kahrey]

I like:

1. L.E. Modesitt, Jr.
2. David Gemmell
3. Terry Brooks

They are my favorites.

 

[Litany]

And have many of GRR Martins fans gone out to find the other stuff he's written, like fevre dream?

Me, for a start.

The reason he's on my list is that his series, incomplete as it is, is still the best fantasy series I've ever read. And it's as simple as that.

 

[Yobmod]

Hey, i like GRR Martin too, but don't you worry that the story might go all downhill? I guess i'm just too pessimistic

5 years ago i thought Robert Jordan was God's gift to fantasy, then his characters started annoying me with all their dithering - now i wish i'd never started the WoT. (Gosh i sound bitter...)

Not long til Feast of Crows (hopefully), so i'll reread the series then

 

[Litany]

I've never liked Robert Jordan. His work is cliched in the worst possible way. The only thing that surprised me about his series was that there was actually room for it to go downhill.

I read the statements made by Martin, and he seems to care a lot more about his characters and where the story takes him than in cashing in on tripe. The books are huge and complex, so it's going to take a while to tie it all together, but he's not writing himself into a corner with any of it, his books are all as fresh and complex as each other, his characters are as real as literary characters can be. He has everything he needs already in place to ensure that his series doesn't turn in to a banal festival of pantsness.

And even if the series does go downhill, the books I've read so far will still be the best fantasy I've ever read. In the same way that I can appreciate the Night's Dawn trilogy for some of the best sci fi I've ever read even though the ending blew chunks.

 

[GreenMonkey]

Am i the only one who thinks it's strange to have a top 5 of authors who have only written one (partial) series of books?

I feel the same way. I'm waiting for GRR Martin to finish his series before he can make the list. I'm the same way about favorite bands though - they have to have at least 3 albums I love before they can become a "favorite". Perhaps this mentality comes from reading too many trilogies.

 

[Yarr]

I am pleased to see Hobb in many lists...good people!
I haven't read all the books of well known writers (like Feist), so those I can't consider.

1. Robin Hobb (Hobb rox my sox)
2. Janny Wurts
3. Roald Dahl

To be honest...I only really like Robin Hobb at the moment as top author. Rowling I like as well, but in writing style or depth she will never live up to the adult authors, in my opinion.

About Eddings:
Eddings is ok... But he is in my opinion a bit repetitive. He has a fondness for god themes, to name one. In all the books I read of him, there was a fiery female, gods, a band of hero's on a quest and banter. The typical spitfire and witty heroines (sort of Amazonian women attitude), which Eddings especially likes to portrait is one of my peeves. He doesn't do much other different females. My other peeves are the witful chats. In every book again. Not every character has to be sharp of tongue and letting characters have a "deep" or "wise" conversation can be impressive too. Maybe even more so. Also the cheeky godess theme is a bit overused, after the 9 books of Elenium, Tamuli and Althalus (and I may not know of others).

Eddings main problem may be that he can't let go of the "Sassy matchmaking goddess, scoundrel a band of hero's going against a ancient evil" idea. He has used it in about every book now and the witty people and coupling is for me of no huge interest anymore.

Perhaps Leigh Eddings, the sometimes co-author, is like the Yoko Ono of the books But I have not read every single book of his, so he might have written books which breaks with his writing tradition and are pretty good

About GRR Martin:
First I loved his book - finally someone next to Hobb with in depth writing - but later on I started to loose my enthusiasm. Sometimes it is a bit too detailed, certain actions (think about 18+ stuff) and some relationships have a high "ew!" factor However, it's all very short those scene's, so you can easily skip it or read through it. It's more that in each book there doesn't happen a lot, for such fat books Still, good reads, but you must be willing to invest. I do fear a bit that Martin's books are going to take Jordanesque size by now...(I do wish to live long enough to know the ending )

 

[Catalyst 1474]

1. Robin Hobb
2. Sarah Ash
3. David Gemmell

Reasons....

Robin Hobb - an incredible writer. Period. Anyone who has not read the Farseer and Tawny Man Trilogies should do so immediately (and read the Liveship Traders Trilogy while you're at it). Hobb makes you really care about the characters, and those she doesn't make you love, you loathe with every fibre of your being. The good guys do not always win, and to be honest I'd be hard pressed to find a series where the main character goes through such emotional and physical hell. Harry Potter got it light when his parents were killed. He should be grateful, and if he isn't then he should spend an afternoon living as FitzChivalry Farseer.

Sarah Ash - I just recently started reading the Tears of Artamon series and I have to admit I'm hooked. Much like Hobb she really makes you care about some characters and loathe others. While not on a par with Robin (yet) this series shows great promise. If anyone wants to discuss this series further then I posted a thread on this board. Please post there if you have anything to say about this series.

David Gemmell - brilliant author. While he may not make you care about his characters as much as Hobb or Ash that is not really important, as his books are based around action. Great books to read if you don't want to bring yourself to the edge of suicide because of a depressing chapter by Robin Hobb. If you like lots of action, complex characters and a very detailed world then Gemmell is for you.

 

[Linguana]

1. JK Rowling
2. Ralf Isau
3. Katherine Applegate

The first one's pretty obvious. Since I haven't found anything better than Harry Potter yet, JK is my author goddess .
Ralf Isau is a German fantasy writer who excels at mixing reality, history, great characters and fantasy into an amazing story that can be read and re-rad 100 times.
The third one isn't really an only-fantasy-author but I love her series Everworld so much that I read it every year at least once and never get bored with it. I haven't read much of her "new" series Remnants yet, though.

That's just my current favourites, though. I also like Garth Nix and Philip Pullman a lot, and - of course - never forget the big master JRR Tolkien . Marianne Curley is one of my favourites too, now. I only read one of her books but that convinced me to buy everything else there is by her .

 

[Oberon]

Th3y changed my life!

JRR Tolkien
SR Donaldson
F Herbert
S King
D Duncan

I simply reread their work more often than anyone else.

O

 

[Nosferatu Man]

I'm the same way about favorite bands though - they have to have at least 3 albums I love before they can become a "favorite". Perhaps this mentality comes from reading too many trilogies.

Haha, perhaps. My favourite band, Slint, only made two LPs and one EP. Their first LP Tweez is pretty good (I reckon) - much better than just about everything else out there, and their second LP Spiderland is just absolutely amazing (better than Tweez). Their untitled EP is amazing aswell - no words, just all instrumental.

Another of my favourite bands is Tortoise. All 5 of their albums that they've made are absolutely amazing. You should check out both bands if you like rock or jazz. Or classical for that matter. You won't like them if you're into pop or hiphop though.

Who qualify for your favourite bands?

 

[GreenMonkey]

He should be grateful, and if he isn't then he should spend an afternoon living as FitzChivalry Farseer.

HAHAHAHAHA no kidding.


As far as favorite bands question:
1) Collective Soul
2) Live
3) Alice in Chains