The World's Largest Coalition of Nontheists and Nontheist Communities!

Reccomended SFF Authors/Books?

What are your favorites?

A couple off the top of my head:

Tolkien and Frank Herbert (of course)
Matthew Woodring Stover -- Heroes Die and Blade of Tyshall are excellent, but I haven't read Cain Black Knife yet

The Women of the Otherworld series by Kelly Armstrong is excellent if you like occult fiction (which I do)

Patricia Briggs -- I've only read her Mercy Thompson series so far, and it's very entertaining

Anne Bishop -- Kushiel's Dart and Sebastian are what I've read so far

Douglas Adams, of course

I can't remember the name of the author, but the Wayfarer's Redemption series is pretty good, if a little complicated

Umm...who else?

Jane Yolen wrote a wonderful YA series called the Pit Dragon Trilogy that I wore out when I was young.

Umm... That's what's popping into my head at the moment. What about you guys?

0 members like this

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jim DePaulo on May 4, 2009 at 8:34pm

If you haven't already read it pick up Turtledove's Agent of Byzantium. It's a series of loosely connected short stories set around 700 -800 CE in the Eastern Empire.
The alternate event was that Muhammad became a Christian monk.

Permalink Reply by Paul on May 5, 2009 at 8:38am

Thanks for the reccomendation. I'll check it out

Permalink Reply by Angie Jackson on May 4, 2009 at 8:48pm

Lois McMaster Bujold (best writer EVER) - Miles Vorkosigan series

Terry Pratchett - Discworld

Emma Bull/ William Shatterly - NeverNever

Patricia Wrede - Cimorene & Dragon series (can't remember what series is actually called, but awesome for getting preteens into scifi)

Grimm Brothers

Permalink Reply by no0ne on May 15, 2009 at 10:38pm

I never thought of the Grimm Brothers as falling into the SF/Fantasy category (more like folk tales) but I guess their stories are 'out of this world' ;p

Permalink Reply by IMAOZI on May 12, 2009 at 9:35am

I have to go with Stephen Baxter as a great author of Sci-Fi. Hie "Evolution" series is great.

Permalink Reply by Rick Marsteller on May 12, 2009 at 6:04pm

Brian Daley was always a favorite. He just never disappoints, though you may have to special order most of his stuff. He's the guy that wrote the very first Star Wars Spin Off: The Han Solo Trilogy. His original stuff is great, too.

Harry Harrison: Death World, The Stainless Steel Rat, Bill the Galactic Hero.

Douglas Adams. Yes yes. Terry Pratchett.

Terry Gilliam (of Monty Python - I'm thinking of his Starship Titanic - based on Douglas Adams' original idea and written by Mr. Gilliam entirely in the nude!), Alan Dean Foster, Heinlein...hmm...

Permalink Reply by Paul on May 13, 2009 at 7:54am

Sorry to be pedantic, but wasn't Terry Jones the Python that wrote Starship Titanic in the nude?

Permalink Reply by no0ne on May 15, 2009 at 10:31pm

Joe Haldeman (Forever War)
Karl Schroeder (Virga series)
Octavia Butler (Xenogenesis trilogy)

Permalink Reply by Ryan Goldblatt on July 7, 2009 at 8:06am

A few other authors worthy of mention:

Really, really surprised no one has mentioned Zelazny.
"Lord of light." arguably the best sci fi book ever written.

Another good author though not in his class is David Brin who having worked for NASA really is a rocket scientist. Some of his stuff doesn't do much for me but "Earth" is a brilliant book.
I also like Larry Nivens "A mote in gods eye."

Permalink Reply by Loren Miller on February 22, 2010 at 8:22am

"Hail, Mahasamatman - Buddha!"

"Hi, Sam."

Excellent, excellent, EXCELLENT book!

Permalink Reply by Stephen Goldin on July 7, 2009 at 9:03am

Let me put in a few words for some "old timers" whose works are great but, because the publishing industry is so myopic, may not be in print these days. You may have to undergo the ordeal of haunting used book stores.

Clifford D. Simak, particularly Way Station and Time Is The Simplest Thing.

Murray Leinster, whose book The Wailing Asteroid is practically the definition of sense-of-wonder, and whose "Med Ship" books pre-date and out-do Star Trek. (Or, as Murgatroyd the tormal would say, "Chee.")

J.T. McIntosh. A work that I think is particularly brilliant is Born Leader (hardback title) or Worlds Apart (paperback title...and for once, both titles were perfectly accurate). His concept of atomic energy in here is what what can charitably be called "quaint", but I've never seen anyone else capture charisma on paper as well as he does in here.

Fritz Leiber: just about anything.

There are plenty more, but that should be enough homework for you for now.

Permalink Reply by Jaume on July 7, 2009 at 10:02am