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Conan The Librarian
City Guard
Joined: 27 May 2004
Posts: 144
Location: Merry Olde England |
| Who is your favourite Author and why? |
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H.P. Lovecraft.
Since he can write fantasy, horror and science fiction.
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The optimist sees the doughnut.
But the pessimist sees the hole. |
Sat Jun 19, 2004 9:15 am |
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Amelia
City Guard
Joined: 18 Jun 2004
Posts: 141
Location: Ong's Hat, New Jersey |
Probably Robert Anton Wilson or Umberto Eco. The both write keenly intelligent and witty books.Their topics are well thought out and indepth and I really enjoy the subject matter.
This is a difficult question as there are so many good authors out there. (Pynchon, Castaneda, Hakim Bey, Huxley, Mckenna, Palahniuk, Lovecraft, Joyce, Lethem, Rudy Rucker, Neal Stephenson etc...)
Anybody read House of Leaves written by Mark Z. Danielewski?
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The real secret of magick is that the world is made of words. And that if you know the words that the world is made of, you can make of it whatever you wish. -Terence Mckenna |
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Sat Jun 19, 2004 8:42 pm |
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Neo_Genesis
The Assassin
Joined: 10 Aug 2003
Posts: 3050
Location: The Netherlands |
Raymond E. Feist.
he has a style, that inpresses me so deeply, that I must continue his books, not on page is boring, that's what makes him so good.
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Always wondering how it would be... |
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Sat Jun 19, 2004 10:16 pm |
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Dhruin
Stranger In A Strange Land
Joined: 20 May 2002
Posts: 1825
Location: Sydney, Australia |
My sentimental favourite is Isaac Asimov. He was the first SF author I ever read (almost accidentally) and he left a huge impression. I'm also fond of most of the Golden Age SF writers (Clarke, Heinlein, Campbell etc). Favourites like Donaldson and Feist are probably better writers than Asimov; Feist in particular has such an eye for detail and his political machinations feel more realistic and gritty than most fantasy authors I've read.
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Editor @ RPGDot |
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Sun Jun 20, 2004 12:00 am |
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Namirrha
Noble Knight
Joined: 03 May 2002
Posts: 218
Location: Utah County, Utah. |
Gene Wolfe for his fantastic imagination and insight into religion, philosophy, and paradoxes of human nature. He's a writer who cannot be confined to or defined by any one genre. And I'll cast a vote for Umberto Eco as a close second, whose The Name of the Rose and Baudolino are masterworks of fiction and philosphy. It is no coincidence that both Wolfe and Eco are devotees of Jorge Luis Borges.
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Give me the shadows, shield me from the light, and I shall let nothing pass in the darkness of the night. |
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Sun Jun 20, 2004 6:36 am |
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ScOut3R
Tempered Warlord
Joined: 15 Feb 2002
Posts: 299
Location: Hungary |
It may be sound odd or even stupid, but my favorite writer is Tom Clancy. His Jack Ryan series inspired me what to learn after secondary school and i'm not disappointed  I think that's all:)
Oh, and i like a lot of fantasy writers, most of them hungarians, so their names won't tell you anything, but i like Salvatore as a "foreign" writer.
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Wed Jun 23, 2004 9:26 pm |
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cfmdobbie
High Emperor
Joined: 01 Jul 2002
Posts: 1859
Location: London, England |
I can't pick a favourite! 
For classic Sci-Fi, Isaac Asimov. I love the way he always emphasised the "science" part of the genre: stories didn't just happen to be set, for example, on a spaceship - the setting would be inextricably linked with the plot and usually the conclusion as well.
Fantasy, Michael Moorcock. He wrote several series of books that intertwine most satisfactorily! I don't mean in the "token cameo" sense, but in that you'd suddenly realise there was an overall plot that ran concurrently over all the books, and in fact the various heros happened to be alternative aspects of the same person. Marvellous stuff.
Comedy/Fantasy, Terry Pratchett. An entire generation was introduced to books solely through Pratchett's work. It's humour, but it's intellectual humour, with sub-plots, characters and even entire books parodying well-respected authors' works. I particularly enjoyed the Horsemen of the Apocalypse as recounted in Good Omens.
The Action/Sci-Fi crown has to be shared between William Gibson and Neal Stephenson. Neuromancer and Snow Crash are milestone works in recent Sci-Fi.
As those are my preferred genres, I'll leave it there.
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Charlie Dobbie
=Member of The Nonflamers' Guild=
=Moderator of the Morrowind/Oblivion Forums= |
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Thu Jun 24, 2004 6:14 pm |
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_gator
High Emperor
Joined: 28 May 2003
Posts: 530
Location: Kentucky |
For a while, my favorite author was Robert Jordan. The stories were very engrossing and detailed. Lately though, the story has slowed down so much that it gets harder to keep interest....
So thinking back, I would have to pick Terry Brooks. He had a way of leaving you hanging at the end of a chapter that made you want to skip ahead a few chapters to continue the current storyline (I did a few times). I have read his earlier works, but not the more recent stuff. |
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Fri Jun 25, 2004 5:02 am |
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RPG Frog
Blade Runner
Joined: 02 Jan 2004
Posts: 748
Location: the Matrix |
quote:
Originally posted by _gator
For a while, my favorite author was Robert Jordan. The stories were very engrossing and detailed. Lately though, the story has slowed down so much that it gets harder to keep interest....
So thinking back, I would have to pick Terry Brooks. He had a way of leaving you hanging at the end of a chapter that made you want to skip ahead a few chapters to continue the current storyline (I did a few times). I have read his earlier works, but not the more recent stuff.
Terry Brooks is the man!!! Elfstones of Shannara is one of the greatest books I have EVER read.
My fave is definitely Terry Brooks. I love EVERY Shannara novel.
for 2nd place it's a 60-way tie...
RE Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, HP Lovecraft, Frank Herbert, Robert Jordan, Michael Morcock, Karl Edward Wagner, Phillip K Dick, JRR/Christopher Tolkien, Eji Yoshikawa, Luo Ghonzhong...
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Between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the gleaming cities…there was an Age undreamed of, when shining kingdoms lay spread across the world like blue mantles beneath the stars…Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand…to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandaled feet. - Robert E. Howard |
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Fri Jun 25, 2004 5:15 am |
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Arma
Mysterious Lady
Joined: 24 Oct 2003
Posts: 1230
Location: in the middle of hell |
quote:
Originally posted by _gator
Lately though, the story has slowed down so much that it gets harder to keep interest....
Hmmm, isn't that a little bit exaggerated? RJ has slowed down so much, that the whole plot is not only not moving, it is indeed moving in a backwards fasshion ...
Otherwise, my favorite authors are Terry Pratchet (with his as yet unmatched fantasy-parady humourous style) and Agatha Cristy (with the very much thrilling crime-solving mysteries) |
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Fri Jun 25, 2004 3:40 pm |
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Edda
Village Leader
Joined: 10 Dec 2003
Posts: 82
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My favourite book for years is “Sinuhe, the Egyptian”, written by Mika Waltari (an author from Finnland). Action and adventure are taking place in mediterranean countries more than 1000 years before Christ. The real topic of the book is man: character, motivation ... The book makes me think about life.
I have another favourite author for years: Jane Austen. I like her humour, her understanding for the weaknesses of people. 
Last edited by Edda on Wed Jun 30, 2004 4:24 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Fri Jun 25, 2004 4:41 pm |
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Namirrha
Noble Knight
Joined: 03 May 2002
Posts: 218
Location: Utah County, Utah. |
quote:
Originally posted by kengo2019
JRR/Christopher Tolkien, Eji Yoshikawa, Luo Ghonzhong...
Another Eiji Yoshikawa fan. Excellent.  Which of his books have you read?
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Give me the shadows, shield me from the light, and I shall let nothing pass in the darkness of the night. |
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Sat Jun 26, 2004 4:40 pm |
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RPG Frog
Blade Runner
Joined: 02 Jan 2004
Posts: 748
Location: the Matrix |
quote:
Originally posted by Namirrha
quote:
Originally posted by kengo2019
JRR/Christopher Tolkien, Eji Yoshikawa, Luo Ghonzhong...
Another Eiji Yoshikawa fan. Excellent. Which of his books have you read?
Musashi & Taiko. Does he have other Samurai books?
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Between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the gleaming cities…there was an Age undreamed of, when shining kingdoms lay spread across the world like blue mantles beneath the stars…Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand…to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandaled feet. - Robert E. Howard |
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Sun Jun 27, 2004 7:36 am |
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Jaz
Late Night Spook
Joined: 20 Jan 2002
Posts: 9708
Location: RPGDot |
My favorite authors (at least those coming to my mind right now):
The Golden Age (SF): Isaac Asimov - nearly every sentence he wrote was important for the story
The New Wave (SF): Philip K. Dick - my reality has many levels, too
The Cyberpunk (SF): Pat Cadigan - her mindscapes are spooky
The Dark Fantasies: Michael Moorcock - I love unhappy endings
The Light Fantasies: Markus Heitz - he sure knows how to make the best use of a long-dead horse
The Shivers: Dean R. Koontz - reading his books made me jump, plus his horror rarely is supernatural in nature
The Facts: Marc Bowden - one word: balanced
The Funnies: George MacDonald Fraser - he makes me laugh
The Gaming Franchise: Sandy Mitchell (a lovechild of Fraser and Harry Harrison ) - he, too, makes me laugh... despite a grim setting
Authors who will never see another cent of my money because I found their works insufferable despite giving them a second, third and fourth chance:
Tom Clancy - comic-book plots, long-winded, boring, manages not to go into detail when things finally become interesting
Stephen Ambrose - one word: unbalanced
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Jaz |
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Mon Jun 28, 2004 12:16 am |
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Namirrha
Noble Knight
Joined: 03 May 2002
Posts: 218
Location: Utah County, Utah. |
quote:
Originally posted by kengo2019
quote:
Originally posted by Namirrha
quote:
Originally posted by kengo2019
JRR/Christopher Tolkien, Eji Yoshikawa, Luo Ghonzhong...
Another Eiji Yoshikawa fan. Excellent. Which of his books have you read?
Musashi & Taiko. Does he have other Samurai books?
He has one other called The Heike Story ( http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0804833184/ref%3Dnosim/speculativefic05/103-1214412-9033435 ). It's based on the classic Heike Monogatari. I haven't read Yoshikawa's version, but I have read the original translated by Kitagawa, who, IMO, did an outstanding job. Helen McCullough's translation of the Heike falls short of Kitagawa's.
A bit of an aside, I found the Heike to be one of the best books I have ever read either in native (English) or in foreign literature. The opening of the Heike is comparable to the Iliad: "The bell of the Gion Temple tolls into every man's heart to warn him that all is vanity and evanescence. The faded flowers of the Sala trees by the Buddha's death-bed bear witness to the truth that all who flourish are destined to decay. Yes, pride must have its fall, for it is unsubstantial as a dream on a spring night."
If you like Japanese history and literature, as it seems you do, the Heike is a must-read.
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Give me the shadows, shield me from the light, and I shall let nothing pass in the darkness of the night. |
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Mon Jun 28, 2004 3:40 am |
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