I have a number of hero writers and I'm curious, who do other writers admire. I'm talking professionals, here, people who make their living writing.
I've got two classes of admired writers; ones I try to emulate and ones I don't figure I've got a chance of following their act. :)
Currently chief among the second group is Patrick O'Brian, author of Master and Commander and all the rest of the Aubrey/Maturin series. These are stories as full of sea air and history as most textbooks are full of boredom and silverfish eggs. I don't think I could do what he did (and for 21 volumes!) if my life depended on it and I had fifty years to make a good run up. If you love to make a meal of words, these are rare steak, lobster thermidor, tender veggies hot with steam, three different fine wines and pudding with Jamaica Blue Mountain for dessert. Not a meal but a feast.
In the first class, of people I try to emulate, Keith Laumer comes to mind. Laumer's easy, open style and facility with dialog are a much better fit for my own talents. Laumer I can measure myself against and feel good about my efforts.
Anyone else want to talk about writing heroes?
- Erin
Most admired authors
I LOVE O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin books! I have all of the finished ones in hardcover, plus #21, published in hardcover as incomplete, but containing the pages he had typewritten plus the ones he had written by hand prior to his death.
There are a number of authors I truly love and admire, as much for the quality of their plots and characters as for the sheer excellence of their wordcraft. Robert Heinlein, Neal Stephenson, William Gibson, Raymond Chandler, John Varley, Lawrence Block, Donald E. Westlake, David Weber, Laurell K. Hamilton, Anne McCaffrey, Jim Butcher ... these writers can craft worlds with words and bring people and places to life.
Sometimes, I'll read a passage by one of these authors and think, "maybe someday, if the muse is kind, I can put something like that on a page that will make someone just stop, take a breath, and feel the moment."
A terrific question, Erin!
Randalynn
Most Admired Authors
Randalynn managed to nail most of my favorites. What I admire in an author is the ability to bring fictional character and situations to life. Some are better with plot and the story while others excel at characterizations. David Weber is one the best at both because he has written a series that despite its length still makes me buy the newest Honor Harrington book no questions asked. CS Forester author of the Hornblower Napoleonic naval series. Wen Spencer is an excellent character author. Her book "Tinker" is very good. Let's not forget EE Doc Smith as well James Tiptree who took our imaginations to places never before traveled.
Nice tropic Erin and nice reply Randalynn
grover
Hmmm
I don't consider myself a "writer", but I do have some favorites if not heroes; Heinlein of course, "I will Fear No Evil" was pretty good. Stephen Jay Gould, in the effort to educate humanity catagory for devoting his life to trying to help people understand what "evolution" really meant. Isaac Asimov, for just being plain out there. Oh, and Jane Austin for "Pride and Prejudice" who showed me what it really meant to be a desperate woman in a time when femininity actually meant something and carried a price. Jane knew about "forced femme" big time. :)
Among the more recent, of course, Vonnegut, and John Irving always appealled to me for his dark humor, or maybe it was the transexual character he painted in "The World According to Garp"? If I want kink and some S&M I go back to Anne Rice before she became famous for the Vampire stuff. I confess that I like Poe, for the shear madness and because he scares me. There is alway Twain or Clemens as you wish, and Ambrose Bierce, more a columnist than a writer who dissapeared mysteriously and wrote some wonderfully cynical/sardonic work.
If I really want to be depressed I read the Russian authors, Gogol and "Dead Souls" still cracks me up. Well, it was a great question Erin and I will stop now. Thanks for asking.
Gwen
Gwen Lavyril
Gwen Lavyril
A forgotten crowd?
Every time these list get started some of my favorite Authors are left off, and I wonder if they are forgotten completely.
People like: Willa Cather (My Antonia and O Pioneers are both The Great American Novel IMHO. Was she TG? We probably shouldn't speculate about people who lived too long ago to have the ability to decide.), Virginia Woolf (She Was a TG writer. Yeah, I avoided her in collage too, but not having to read under a deadline, or maybe because I settled down, really improved her. And she taught me how to abuse semicolons too.), Faulkner (Good when I was younger, even better now.), Steinbeck (My favorite long ago, and still wonderful.), Hardy, D H Lawrence,... Does anyone read people like John Barth, Italo Calvino, Paul Auster but me?
Some of these people make me make a greater effort as I read (I don't think I read especially well) but they reward the effort with language, characters and an escape from reality (What else is fiction for?).
I read about seven or eight of O'Brian's books and thought they were great, but it was becoming a life style rather than a story (I mentioned I read slowly, right?); it looked like he would never stop (I wish he hadn't the way he did.). But how about Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe's stories. Why should the navy get all the glory, they have Hornblower too. (This isn't a history question, I mean in fiction.) Sharpe is a lot of fun and has characters that grow too.
I know I'm weird, but is my reading list that weird too?
Seek Joy;
Jan
Liberty is more than the freedom to be just like you.
I'm eclectic
My list of infuential writers include the great short story writers like Poe, O Henry, Twain. Twain is a huge influence. C Northcotte Parkinson -- of the silly Parkinson's Law -- also wrote a fine series of Hornblower style novels I much enjoyed as a teen.
As a child, Verne, Asimov, Heinline, Conan Doyle.
Books that I still think of and occasionally read include The Wind in the Willows, The whole Tolkien Ring saga and The Hobbit. HHGG and the Monty Python books/scripts plus The Hackers Dictonary, 2nd ed are big humor influnces as is Garision Keilor, Bob and Ray, early Woody Allen.
Then there are some more serious books/non-fiction/authors. A Sand County Almanac, US Grant's autobiography, Tolan's "The Rising Sun", The Spirit of St Louis. John Kenneth Galbraith, Milton Friedman.
There are many more but this were a few that came to mind.
John in Wauwatosa
John in Wauwatosa
Clair Bee and John Wooden
And hundreds of others.
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
And Joseph Heller
and at least 22 others.
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
I'm sooo sorry
Angela,
one
two
three
alltogether now
"Is there a ... *catch*?"
Budump-dump. -- bad attempt at comic snare-drum rimshot --
John in Wauwatosa
John in Wauwatosa
Author, Author!
I have to agree with the O'Brien books. Whenever I need to escape this world I can slip aboard the Surprise in an instant. The only trouble is that you just have to keep reading, and with 20 books in the series it is a long time before you can stop.
Conrad's ability to make people and places stand clear of the page and to create characters with major flaws that one can still love and cry for is exceptional in my experience. I love his regular device of having a third party tell the story. I would use it myself but every time I start it feels like plagiarism.
Evelyn Waugh taught me to challenge the world around me; Jane Austen remains one one of the best character painters ever and showed the world that satire need not be heavy handed.
There are so many authors whose work I know only a little of, but whose books have strongly influenced my thinking: To Kill a Mocking Bird, The World According to Garp, Sidddhartha, Catch 22, Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (the book that showed me that I wasn't mad to have a different person inside, waiting to get out), and I am sure I went to school with some of the characters in High Fidelity (Nick Hornby).
Of course I would never admit to reading Chick Lit, or Terry Pratchett, so if anyone sees them on my bookshelves the must have been left by someone else, OK?
Tara.
The strangest journeys start with a single step.
The strangest journeys start with a single step.
Don't hide Terry, Tara
Pratchett today is what Vonnegut was in the sixties and seventies (dismissed as a novelty for adolescents), but in forty years people will see more to him (the change has already started.)
And Yeah, Hesse seems to have been forgotten too. I don't find him a deep and untriguing as I did at sixteen, but he deserves more attention. Give Siddhartha or Stepenwolf or Glass Bead Game or any of his books to a kid today.
Hugs
For adolescents...
Well, Pratchett actually targets young readers, but does so without alienating older ones, which is a good (and often lucrative) gift. Not having read Vonnegut I can't say if that applies to him too.
But I think in recent years what we've seen is a greater general appreciation of work written for young people, and the idea that this is a 'lesser' genre for the literate to dismiss is very fast becoming outdated. Not least as more authors who have first established themselves as grown-up fiction writers are now writing for children as well.
Another Pratchett Fan
I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who enjoys reading the stories by Terry Pratchett. He's one of the few writers who can create worlds with a consistent internal logic, draw me in with an amazing assortment of well developed inhabitants, draw me into the drama of their lives, make me laugh out loud and, if I'm not careful, actually think about some things in new ways.
There's a number of other writers I've become a fan of. I'm falling asleep as I type, so I'll be just throwing names out as they come to me and may leave some that I may add to later, as well as correct any misspelling. The ones I can think of are Anne McCaffery, Ursula le Guin, Isaac Asimov, Beverly Cleary, J R R Tolkein, Madelynne LeEngle, Charles de Lint, J K Rowling, Joan D Vinge, Douglas Adams, Phillip Jose Farmer, William Sleater, Larry Niven, C S Lewis, Lewis Carrol, L Frank Baum, and the Brothers Grimm.
While all these and other authors have had a huge impact on me and the stories I write, I know I could never write the way they did. Even if I was able to perfectly imitate them, that's all I'd be, an imitation. I will admit I have done some fan fiction, but it's been more of an attempt to explore the worlds created by others using my own style, while attempting to keep true to the feel of the original stories and characters. I see it more as an act of admiration, such as a young child might attempt to duplicate the actions of a much loved older sibling.
Okay, I guess I'm starting to back-pedal a bit now that I think of it. Still, I have done my best to tell the stories I need to tell, in a voice I hope is becoming more of my own rather than a faint imitation of the authors who've opened their minds and hearts, sharing the stories they have to tell.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Heather Rose Brown
Author of Bobby's Rainy Day Adventure
Pratchett?
Hallelujah!
At last!
I love his work, have nearly all his books and live not far from Wincanton, the only place in England to be twinned with a fictional place - Ankh Morpork!
Wonderful.
Not in the same vein, but I can also add Dean Koontz, David Eddings and one collaboration called the Talisman by Steven King and Peter Straub. Right here, right now. Wolf!
Thanks Kristina for putting me straight on that one.
Nick B
Wow, where to begin?
Hey Erin et al,
The ones that stand out from the past; Azimov, Heinlein, Chaulker, McCaffrey, Goodkind, etc. More recently I have a fairly long-time liking for Mercedes Lackey. I have just finished Eric Flint and David Weber's "Belesarius" series, and some of the "Ring of Fire" series. I have also read and enjoyed a number of Nora Robert's ".... in Death" books.
My favourite genre is fantacy with a strong leaning toward scifi, which is of course reflected in the favourite authors list.
with love,
Hope
P.S. Chaulker of course combines scifi with a little fantacy and a strong dose of TS/TG/furry in many of his books.
with love,
HER
Once in a while I bare my soul, more often my soles bear me.
Admir'd Miranda
Well, Shakespeare. :-) After that I go somewhat genre:
Marion Zimmer Bradley, specifically for Darkover; C J Cherryh, mostly for the Merchanter books, especially Downbelow Station and Rimrunners, but also for Morgaine; Iain M. Banks for the Culture series of books; Mervyn Peake for Gormenghast and the sheer dark painterly beauty of his prose; Rachel Pollack for Unquenchable Fire and Godmother Night; Melissa Scott for Shadow Man and to a lesser extent Trouble And Her Friends; Mary Gentle, for Golden Witchbreed and Rats & Gargoyles; Philip Pullman for His Dark Materials.
These the most influential, I guess; the ones who made emotions in me that I want to make in others.
Those are all SF and/or Fantasy; and while there is some TG material in some of their works, to a greater or lesser degree, I wouldn't say that's why I read them (as usually I wasn't aware of that content before getting the book).
I take inspiration where it finds me
There are a lot of good (and bad) examples of the storyteller's art out there to learn from. Not all of them are written; films come to mind (and trust me, the writer is only one part of what makes or breaks a movie. I mean, look at the original Star Wars, for crying out loud - the dialog sucked!) I'm as much intrigued by Steven Spielberg's approach of showing the truth of life through mundane, everyday details as I am by Guy Ritchie's once-pioneering, now-clichéd visual techniques. And Ernest Hemingway's Spartan economy of words appeals to me in an entirely different way from L. M. Montgomery's vivid, but almost gratuitous descriptions of scenic beauty. As does Milan Kundera's ability to distill the pure essence of character, relationship, and situation - of life - into mere words, to make stories that feel more intensely real than real life sometimes.
When I'm writing, I've found I prefer to start with a concept or approach or voice in mind, but then let the story tell itself how it wants to be told. Usually I just feel the need to write; characters and situations appear in my head, and I more or less just watch them and write down what I see. It's sort of dream-like in that I can try to influence the characters and situations to follow some plot I have in mind but if I push too hard one way or the other they get fed up and leave. The point is, I've absorbed and assimilated all these tools and techniques and styles to whatever degree I'm able, consciously and unconsciously, from everything I've ever read or seen or heard and somehow they seem to know how they would be best put to use, far better than I do. Does any of that make sense to you? I'm not sure it does to me.
There's something terribly ironic about not being able to adequately put into words how you go about using words, especially if you have pretensions of being a writer. But there you go.
Most admired
Too many to practically note. I grew up with some of the great sci-fi masters: Heinlein, especially "Starship Troopers" and "Glory Road," Asimov, Clarke, Van Vogt, Zelazny's "Lord of Light," Phillip Jose Farmer's "Riverworld", Larry Niven, and Jack Vance's wild and crazy worlds. Mixed in were the historical writers, like Daniel Peters, who wrote "The Incas," a terrific historical novel, and a lot of non-fiction from writers who make the past come alive, like Michael Grant.
More recently, it's been the three "B"s, Benford, Brin, and Bear, who have turned out some superb mind-blowing stuff, and alternative worlds with Randall Garrett and Glen Cook, S. M. Stirling, Richard Adams' "Watership Down" and "Maia", and a dozen more lessor-known writers, but still superb, such as Terry Goodkind, Vernor Vinge, Barry Hughart (who wrote three wonderful books about a fictitious Ancient China, and then quit because of a dispute with his publisher), and Barbara Hambly. These are the authors I'll read more than once. I'd include Robert Jordan and George R R Martin, but they seem to have no regard for their readers -- they just can't finish a serial.
Favorite author? Jack Vance.
Writing to me is a craft, not a gift. Any decent storyteller can tell a story if they "feel" it. It's the story itself that makes the difference. The finest stylist can paint a pig white, put a horn on its nose and pretend it's a unicorn, but the reader will think bacon.
Aardvark
"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."
Mahatma Gandhi
"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."
Mahatma Gandhi
Elmore Leonard
Just re-reading "The Hot Kid". Leonard is a straight-forward stylist with a knack for concentrating your attention through just the right phrase.
"...grinning at him like a cat if a cat had tits." I'd have put a comma there somewhere. :)
Lawrence Block, Robert Parker, Walter Mosley, Ed McBain, John Sandford and Donald Westlake (and others) have this facility, too. It's not just a guy thing either, Janet Evanovich and Sue Grafton are good at it as well.
John D. MacDonald may have been the best at such smart-assery, always putting in a wry little twist like a wrapped bittersweet chocolate on the funky pillow of an unmade bed. Mosley and Block come closest to MacDonald's mastery of this, to my mind. With Carl Hiassen, the chocolate may be mousetrapped. :)
- Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
MacDonald
Oh, yeah, the Travis McGee series. Great stuff.
True story: I was learning Vietnamese at the Defense Language Institute in Biggs field, TX in 1972. While I was in the barracks, lying on the bed reading one of the Travis McGee books (forget which one - some color - purple or copper) one of the guys saw me through the door, and asked me if I liked it. I told him, yeah. He said that his father wrote it. He had MacDonald on his nametag, was on the lean side and about average height with wire-rimmed glasses and a bandanna wrapped on his head, unusual for the time, but not too unusual I suppose, considering the vast discrepancy in hair lengths between the civilians and military of the day. Some of the troops were ashamed to go out in public because everyone knew you were in the military. He had very light hair, nearly white, and looking at one of John D. MacDonald's pics (I never saw one before) brings back memories; he resembled his father with those slight jowls. I remember that he never made it through language school -- I believe he convinced the powers-that-be that he was unsuited for Army life. The Colonel in charge at the time was pretty cool, had open talk sessions with the troops, and would have listened to a young man who was adamant that he didn't fit in, especially with the Vietnam War winding down.
Yeah, John D. MacDonald could write. Weird how I forgot about him; I used to look for Travis McGee books back then.
Aardvark
"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."
Mahatma Gandhi
"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."
Mahatma Gandhi
Janet Evanovich
It seems like her latest books have been written by a Janet Evanovich committee. They lack the quick-witted surprise-around-every-paragraph of her first five or so.
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Authors
I have many favorite authors, most of them have already been mentioned. One author(ess) that I admire greatly, and she is a recent author, and I have talked to people that don't like her or her work, but being a woman, and knowing hardship, I admire her for her writing skills, from being almost destitute to being a billionaire almost over night, and this does say something about her books, and I am sure it is intutively obvious who I am talking about, and that is JK Rowling with her Harry Potter series.
I understand a lot of it is copied from other peoples works, and it isn't totally original. Why I say this is because I saw an old time BBC show called Little Witches or some such name, that was about a school for young witches, and all the characters that were in that series, also is in the Harry Potter series. I'm sure this inspired her to write on this subject matter. Now true, it wasn't totally original, but what it did have was a good story. Yes I know, everyone of the books is the same type of story. But I truely enjoyed them. So did my kids and my husband.
I must say, that for a woman, to go from being poor and almost destitute, to rich and married with kids, I admire her, and I wish I could be as lucky as she was to make a hit. But then again, if you try too hard, it never happens. A lot of good writers came about because of sheer luck. Being in the right place, at the right time. I just hope that with her fame and fortune, she stays humble. That is the true mark of a famous person.
Sorry if some of you don't care for her, but you have to admire the fact she rose from nowhere to somewhere, in almost no time at all. I am truely happy a woman was able to do that for a change, for most times it is the men who get all the fame.
Another Author I like is, Lilian Jackson Braun with her 'The Cat Who' series. I enjoy those books just for the fun of it, or Tony Hillerman With his mystery tales using American Fokelore and American Indian Themes for the mystery.
Just thought I would mention the more recent authors.
Hugs
Joni W
Potter is great
I have to say that I love the books of Harry Potter too, they're a lot of fun, and bought a lot of people into the fantasy genre. It also made a lot of kids begin reading again, something that is a good thing, I think. Sadly, most kids in those times rather spent times in front of the PC or the TV than reading a book or playing outside.
another favorite writer of mine is Raymond E. Feist. He wrote the Magician series, a high fantasy world with Elves, Dwarves, dragons, magic, the whole lot. It's taking place on Midekema and Kelewan, most of the time. It's a huge series, 23 books and still counting.
Also a good writer is Roald Dahl, I loved his books as a kid, and I'm still in love with his work. Whenever I'm sad, his work brings a smile on my face.
The Cat Who series are also books to enjoy.
Love,
Marie-Claire
Hmm, this is tricky...
...and yet a wonderful question. I have many different authors who I love, and read over and over. Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams, and Jules Verne rate highly, along with Anne Rice and Lewis Carrol, who I love so much that I actually had "Jabberwocky" memorized at one time. However, my two most favorite authors ever are from the romance genre: Jane Austen (of course,) and Nora Roberts. While Nora Roberts isn't exactly what you'd call the world's most creative writer- most of her books take the exact same story and reenact it with different characters- she does know how to take a formula and keep it entertaining. Also, as of late I've been reading lots of Poe and Lovecraft, two authors who I love even though pretty much every thing they've ever written gives me the heebie jeebies.
Two Authors I like to read
I like reading Clive Cussler and Dean Kuntz, both of them keep me interested in the story as I go along. I somehow do enjoy autobiographies, but since they are self stories I can not claim them as preferred authors.
Jill Micayla
May you have a wonderful today and a better tomorrow
Jill Micayla
Be kinder than necessary,Because everyone you meet
Is fighting some kind of battle.
Hmmm... I'm thinking it's
Hmmm... I'm thinking it's not fair to name authors that are personal friends (at best it would make me look like an oh-so-gauche name dropper, and at worst a weird stalker-y type)
So. Yes, there are huge amounts of authors I look at as role models, each for a different reason. From Asimov for his sheer flexibility of subject to Rowling for her style that makes a book readable and enjoyable by adults yet completely understandable by her young fans
I'd have to say my current favorite is Laurie R King. A mystery writer whose work actually got me to enjoy mysteries again for the first time in over twenty years. I hate figuring out the whodunit a quarter of the way through
Favorite authors
My list would include Mark Twain, Dante Alighieri, Samuel Beckett, Edward Albee, Kate Chopin, Jane Austin, Kurt Vonnegut, Ken Kesey, George Elliot, Gertrude Stein, Ernest Hemmingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Barbara Tuchman, Alexander Dumas, Charlotte Brontë, Sir Walter Scott, Eugene Ionesco, Morris West, J.K. Rowling, Miguel de Cervantes, William Shakespeare, Plato, Sophocles, Aeschylus. John Irving, Albert Camus, Voltaire, Friedrich Nietzsche , Jean Paul Sartre, Soren Kierkegaard, Sinclair Lewis, George Orwell, Aldous Huxley, Joseph Conrad, Joseph Heller, and a host of others for whom my memory is failing. I have read so many great authors that is impossible to remember them all at this time, and I am sure I will regret not mentioning them. I was the only 'male' in a class with 14 other women, in a comparative literature and languages course at Ohio State, and it was an absolutley eye and world-opening course. I apologize for all the great authors that I have not mentioned, but I have been influenced by so many great writers, and their writings and thoughts are etched upon my mind. If not for the works of these, and many other writers, we would all be captives of the Stone Age.
I must also include not only the Travis McGee series by John D. McDonald, but quite a few of his other works. I love the Travis McGee series, and those are the best mystery/detective novels that I have read. You can watch both the character and author evolve progressively through each novel. Rumors persist that McDonald had written a finish to the series that contained the color black, in which Travis dies, but I prefer to think that he is still out on the Busted Flush with a Plymouth gin in his hand.
For those of you that remember Kesey as the only the writer of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", I would suggest that you read it as many times as you can, for McMurphy is only the antagonist while Chief Bromden is the protagonist; also, you have missed a truly great work if you have not read "Sometimes a Great Notion".
These are only my humble opinions, and I do not claim my llist of authors to be all-inclusive.
Hugs,
Michele
Miss Amelia
FAVs
Oh, I have enjoyed many writers over the years. David Weber (Honor Harrington), Anne Mcaffery (Pern series), Elizabeth Haley (Earth series), Fleury, (Deception of Choice), Ardvark (Warrior of Batuk), Heinlein's early writing (I did not care much for his later writing), The Foundation series, The Rama Series (though the ending was sad.)
There are several other Authors, too numerous to mention who I enjoy much here, but I am not going to spend the night figuring out who they all are.
Thank you all.
In my opinion, this site has uncommonly good authors.
Gwenellen
My Friends and Inspirations while growing up
Robert heinlein: Starship troopers-all time favorite book
Terry Goodkind: Sword of Truth series. some of you may recognize that i ripped him off by using the seperating lands by magic bit. its my all time favorite fantasy series.
Steve Perry: the Matador series- all time favorite sci fi series
Simon Green: he comes in second for all time fav sci fi with his Deathstalker series.
Margaret Astrid Lindholm Ogden aka Megan Lindholm whom you all probably know as (Robin Hobb) : is second for fantasy with her Farseer series
Robert Anthony Salvatore AKA R.A. Salvatore: for his Drizzt Do'Urden tales and in case you hadnt guessed, was my inspiration for The Guardian Princess with The Spearwielder's Tales
and of course.....Terry Brooks, who i attribute some of my weird humor to.
almost forgot
Almost forgot David Drake for his "Hammers Slammers" series. I always thought his gay body guard was interesting
Gosh too late
I opened this thread with the express intention of saying Patrick O'Brian and find that everyone's beaten me to it. I love the total immersion in the period even though reading two or three Aubrey / Maturin books on the bounce will leave me talking like the characters. He has one trick I've tried (unsuccessfully so far) to emulate which is to switch location and time in one paragraph pulling you through the story. Has anyone read Allan Mallinson? He's the closest thing O'Brian has to a disciple, and while not as good as the master his Matthew Hervey is a refreshing change from other fictional soldiers... almost an anti-Sharpe.
There are authors who I love but would never try to emulate. Conrad springs immediately to mind, as does Hardy (though I have a tendency to put upon my heroines), Primo Levy ('The Periodic Table' changed my life in many small ways) and Orwell.
I only discovered Ken MacLeod recently but he has a way of creating likeable characters that I much admire and I'm trying my best to learn.
Favorite Authors
I really liked Heinlein's earlier work. He was my introduction to Science Fiction. Anne McAffery is a great in my mind, particularly the novel "Sassinak". David Webber's Honor Harrington series took on a life of its own and when I finished the last book, it felt as if I had lost a friend.
Elizabeth Haley is a relatively new author with some excellent work out.
gwen
Reopening old posts
Favorite authors?
I'm not as well rounded a reader as a lot of you and I delve into Fantasy, a little of Sci-fi and a few others. lets see, favorite authors?
Anne Rice - for passionate writing. who else can make a vampire a feeling, caring, soul?
David Eddings - The Belgariad, for his fun dialog and bantering, no one made me laugh as much.
Fionna McIntosh - Bordering T.G. elements. fantastic fresh look on old theme
Heinlein - Stranger in a Strange Land, Time enough for Love..... good stuff, bordering on T.G.
Louis McMasters Bujuold - the Miles saga, great character development
Mercedes Lackey- liked her characters, but her writing made me throw her books across the room pissed off.
Robert Jordon - well developed characters, very well developed world. keep notes... Too bad he died.
Orson Scott Card - Enders Game was fantastic!
Anne McAfferty - I liked Freedom's Landing, but I didn't care for the dragons of pern.
Modesitt Jr.- Currently reading Magic of Recluse series. He does a LOT of research into wood crafting and blacksmithing, I like reading his describing the folding of metal better than his fight scenes.
Jean Johnson - a friend who just got published with a fantasy based erotica series. It's worth checking out.
Frank Herbert - Dune. need I say more?
I know this is a little off, but Joss Wheaton for Firefly, the T.V. series. The characters and writing were incredible...... and along those lines, so is the writing for HEROS.
as for here on B.C. Melenie Brown, for Reluctant cheerleader, promdate, etc.... Admiral for Christina Chase, Edeyn for Sk8r Grrls, Heather O'Malley for College girl, Heather Rose Brown, for a few of her stories. There are too many to name and I'm now too tired to remember all of them.
You get the picture.
Love and hugs,
A.A.
Cormac McCarthy? Annie Proulx?
Yes, Patrick O'Brian's great too. and Jan makes me want to check out Willa Cather. Hugs, Daphne
Daphne
Writers I have loved.
I started reading CS Forester with a book he had written about being on a British Corvette in the North Sea during WW2. I can not even imagine driving a speed boad around in the stormy, icy seas in war time. He then went on to do the Horblower Series.
One time, not even realizing what I had done, I picked up an Elizabeth Cartland book, thinking it was one of his, and that got me started on the impassioned bodice rippers.
It was her books that probably made me begin to rediscover my feminine side.
Then of course there were people like Piers Anthony, and a half dozen others I can't remember. The sweeping RAMA series really captivated me.
Then, there is ofcourse, Anne McGaffery, with her lovely, compelling Pern series.
David Weber's wonderful Honor Harrington series of perhaps 15 or so books was quite wonderful to me. I cried when I realized that her and her crew's homecomming from a planetary prision camp; along with her lost arm,and her comment; "I'm sorry we are late", would effectively signal the end of the series.
David Weber teamed with an author named John Ringo and I have since followed his work. He was difficult for me to follow at first because his liberal use of semi colons made his prose seem breathless and hurried. I now love his work. "March Upcountry" is not to be missed in my opinion.
Of late, there have been so many good stories here at BCTS that I just have not had the time to actually purchase a book. I won't mention any names but some of you still have torn shirts and lipstick on your necks, and know full well that I would be very content to lie chained at your bed sides. :)
"slave" Gwendolyn (smirk!)
Honor lives on, Gwen ...
... in at least three books past the one where she and her crew return. Ashes of Victory comes after Echoes of Honor, then War of Honor, and At All Costs. Not to mention four Worlds of Honor books of short stories set in the Honorverse, and a book called The Shadow of Saganami about some new Maticoran recruits and some of the officers and non-coms who served with Honor -- and she has a cameo. *grin*
I'm sure there's more Honor down the road, as soon as David figures out where to take our supergirl next.
Get busy, Gwen girl -- you've got some reading to catch up on!! *grin*
Much love,
Randa
P.S. And it's Anne McCaffrey -- I"ve got every Pern book sitting on the bookshelf right next to my desk. *smile*
More Weber's Honor
Gwen the next Honor-verse story is due out in March 2009. It is the second book in The Shadow of Saganami series. "Storm from the Shadows" is Rear Admiral Michelle Henke story that starts approximately upon her capture by the Peeps. Teasers can be found at http://jiltanith.thefifthimperium.com/ and here is its amazon page. http://www.amazon.com/dp/1416591478?tag=dahaksorbit-20&camp=...
Wow that was a long link!!!!
Additionally David Weber has his sequel to "Off Armageddon Reef" coming out this week, "By Schism Rent Asunder."
I might be a fan of his. :)
hugs
grover
Gwen Brown And I Share A Similar Taste In Authors :-)
I mainly read sci fi and fantasy novels. as well as the many stories here. I for one have no real preference for story type/genre as long as it is a good read.
May Your Light Forever Shine
May Your Light Forever Shine