Who's your Favorite Author and why

[blankslate]

Frank Herbert, for Dune. (not the series. rest of the books weren't near as good.)

I don't know Heretics and Chapterhouse are ones that to me were nearly as good as Dune... however since he wasn't able to complete that story arc we'll never really know.

 

[Nox51]

Jules Verne, The Mysterious Island.

I love the way things are described, and the language used.

I have an original English translation, first edition, 20000 leagues Under the Sea.

How could I forget about Jules Verne?!?

I thought the later books of the Dune series were really good.

 

[Arcadio]

Another vote for Neal Stephenson.

His books have declined in quality.

Anathem was an amazing book.

 

[lxskllr]

Mark Twain - Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer where my favorite as a kid.

Poe. If you have to ask why, you haven't read enough Poe.

These would be my two choices. I think Twain wins out for me due to his real life, and written social satire. I like his style :^)

 

[Ichinisan]

Crichton

 

[Perknose]

Samuel Beckett -- Known most for the play Waiting For Godot, but I love his earlier novels such as Murphy and Malone Dies.

Thomas Pynchon -- Just for the magnificence of Gravity's Rainbow, an insane masterpiece.

Thomas McGuane -- The Bushwhacked Piano is my favorite.

T. Coraghesian Boyle -- A fantastic storyteller.

Anne Tyler -- The Accidental Tourist was made into a movie.

John Barth -- Another truly fantastic storyteller -- think Giles Goat Boy and The Sot Weed Factor.

Vladimir Nabokov - One of the most original stylists in the English language ever. It wasn't even his first (Russian) or his second (French) language. Brilliant!

Dom DeLillo -- Read White Noise. It's short, and hilarious.

Tom Stoppard -- Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is my favorite play ever, even beating out Waiting For Godot, which is considered the best English language play of the 20th century and won Beckett the Nobel Prize for literature.

Louise Erdrch -- Read The Beet Queen.

Carolyn Chute -- Doesn't belong in the top tier, but I LOVED The Beans of Egypt, Maine!

William Faulkner -- Can't not list him.

Paul Theroux -- Yet another great storyteller.

^^^ These are just a few off the top of my head, and are not in any particular order. There are so many others.

 

[RaistlinZ]

Margaret Weis / Tracy Hickman

Love my Dragonlance series.

 

[kranky]

I probably read more than 99% of the members here but mostly magazines/newspapers. I don't have the attention span to enjoy complex fiction - I end up forgetting key details so I have trouble following everything. Clancy and Dale Brown work for me - few characters, straightforward plot, if I don't retain every plot detail it doesn't ruin it.

Complex stuff like Tolkien absolutely doesn't work for me - even in movie form.

 

[olds]

I keep clicking on this thread expecting to see a pic of Bea Arthur.

 

[xSauronx]

Martin Amis hands down. What that dude does with the English language is freaking brilliant and how it's so often wrapped up in disgusting characters and despicable acts makes it all the better.

The first time I read The Information it took me forever because I kept going back and re-reading certain passages just because the phrasing he used was so fantastic. Read everything he ever put out after experiencing that novel.

KT

his father wrote some fantastic books about drinking, never read anything else but maybe i should branch out with them both...

 

[Nintendesert]

These are great thread topics since so many institutions use this question as a security question. I think mother's maiden name should be next.

 

[Paratus]

Another vote for Neal Stephenson.



Anathem was an amazing book.

Agreed, I enjoyed Reamde as well.

 

[Paratus]

Margaret Weis / Tracy Hickman

Love my Dragonlance series.

Never would have guessed.

You should try their Death Gate Cycle if you haven't already.

 

[BarkingGhostar]

Isaac Asimov

All of his robot short stories and all ~13 books of the foundation series. And even more.

 

[WiseUp216]

My favorite author is Hunter S. Thompson. There isn't a single thing he wrote that I didn't love. I've also read a lot of Kerouac.

Favorite book might be 'Sometimes a Great Notion' by Ken Kesey but it's hard to pick just one.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

Frank Herbert. I just always loved Dune, and enjoyed 3-6 thoroughly as well (I thought 2 was really boring when I read it in middle school).

 

[waggy]

Never would have guessed.

You should try their Death Gate Cycle if you haven't already.

great series too.



Stephen R donaldson =Chronicles of Thomas covenent is a good series to read. i don't see it listed often.

 

[pontifex]

Terry Pratchett
Lord Dunsany
Wilfred Thesiger
Frank Herbert
Robert E. Howard
HP Lovecraft
EE Doc Smith
Edgar Rice Burroughs

 

[surfsatwerk]

Another vote for Neal Stephenson.



Anathem was an amazing book.

So you say...

 

[rickon66]

Heinlein first, more his earlier writing than his last. I love good science fiction, but do not like fantasy.

Stewart-The Earth Abides - One of the only books I have ever bought, rather than get at the library, a Fantastic read!!

Earth Abides is a 1949 post-apocalyptic science fiction novel by American writer George R. Stewart. It tells the story of the fall of civilization from deadly disease and its rebirth.

Too many others to list- I have read about 1 or 2 books a week for last fifty some years.

 

[Paratus]

So you say...

I'll second it. It was a great read.

I'm not knocking your opinion, if you don't like his newer stuff you don't like it. Which book of his was the last one you liked?

@ Waggy

I liked Thomas Covenant as well. Donaldsons Gap series wasn't bad either.

 

[orenero]

Margaret Weis / Tracy Hickman

Love my Dragonlance series.

++++ 1111111 on this.. lol

The Dragonlance series were awesome I still have the original soft covers!! If they made this into a movie series and did it decent, it would blow away the lord of the ring series. Also Raistlin was one of my fav characters, next to gold moon

 

[JamesV]

Huge fantasy/sci-fi fan.

Anne McCaffrey is by far my favorite writer. Dragonriders of Pern, Crystal Singer books, Damia and the Talent books, Petaybee books, and even a series about a little unicorn girl in space called Acorna that is better than most war sci-fi series. Nobody does characters the way she does.

Brandon Sanderson is an up and coming favorite of mine, although his last book The Allow of Law was pretty weak, especially considering the uniqueness of his books and worlds. Mistborn, The Way of Kings, and Elantris are three books you should absolutely read if you call yourself a fantasy fan.

Almost forgot The Planet Pirates by McCaffrey - the finest multi-generational space saga ever.