Who are your favorites?

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Andy1963

Well-Known Member
May 2, 2016
50
196
60
Bernard Cornwell, his Arthurian novels are terrific.
Ken Follet, especially Pillars of the Earth
Conn Igguldon, the Emperor series and Gengis Khan novels are really good.
Arthur C Clarke, his Rama is highly creative.

There are other great authors, too many to mention here
 

Kingunlucky

Well-Known Member
Aug 20, 2016
368
1,681
Jim Butcher
Stephen King (of course)
Elmore Leonard
Kim Newman
Terry Pratchett
Glen Cook
Neil Gaiman
Alan Moore
Garth Ennis
Brian K Vaughan
Hirohiko Araki
Yoshiro Togashi

AND THE LIST GOES AND ON AND ONE AND OOOOOOOOON
 

RichardX

Well-Known Member
Sep 26, 2006
1,737
4,434
Robert McCammon is probably most similar to King in terms of longevity, subject matter, and writing. The biggest difference between the two seems to be that while almost every King book has been turned into a movie none of McCammons books have been. Whether that's for good or ill. McCammon stands on his own but if you are a King fan then his stuff is a very good alternative. Haruki Murakami is probably the greatest living fiction author but his stuff is an acquired taste and not for those that read just for entertainment or to pass the time. "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles" and "Kafka at the Shore" are great books but again it takes some reader effort. I can read Dan Simmons with some effort. Usually about a hundred or so pages longer than necessary but some good stuff if you can get through the overzealous details. I will read anything by Richard Russo. Very funny in a dark way.
 

Coyo-T

Well-Known Member
Oct 3, 2016
67
321
I tend to like individual books/series more than particular authors, but here goes:

H.P. Lovecraft (one of the relative few where I actually do like his overall body of work)
Jim Butcher (Dresden Files)
Kevin Hearne (Iron Druid Chronicles)
Roger Zelazny (Chronicles of Amber)
Anne McCaffrey (Dragonriders of Pern and some lesser known series/books)
Michael Critchton (Jurassic Park and The Andromeda Strain are my favorites)
Dean Koontz (Watchers, Phantoms, Fear Nothing and Seize the Night)
Fred Bodsworth (Last of the Curlews and The Strange One)
W. Bruce Cameron (A Dog's Purpose and A Dog's Journey)
Clare Bell (the Named series, of which Ratha's Creature is best known- technically YA novels, but a very interesting and enjoyable concept)

I'm woefully behind on my classic sci-fi, so a few more older names from that genre could eventually end up on the list, too.
 

Walter Oobleck

keeps coming back...or going, and going, and going
Mar 6, 2013
11,749
34,805
recently, C.J. Box...I've read everything I could get from him and have pre-ordered another coming out next year. excellent story-teller, highly recommended.

over time, Elmore Leonard, John D MacDonald, Harry Crews, Padgett Powell, Cormac McCarthy, Hemingway, Faulkner, Shakespeare, Johne Donne, Herbert Spencer,
Dennis Herrick, Daniel Woodrell, George Eliot, Dean Koontz, Mark Twain, Charles Willeford, Vonnegut, Steinbeck, Dostoyevsky, John Sandford, Chandler, Pynchon, Straub, Walter Percy, Delillo, Styron, Melville, Hannah, Barthleme, Bellow, Trevanian & Patrick F McManus, and oh yeah, Flannery O'Connor. Cervantes Dr Seuss & Louis Lamour
 

Doc Creed

Well-Known Member
Nov 18, 2015
17,221
82,822
47
United States
recently, C.J. Box...I've read everything I could get from him and have pre-ordered another coming out next year. excellent story-teller, highly recommended.

over time, Elmore Leonard, John D MacDonald, Harry Crews, Padgett Powell, Cormac McCarthy, Hemingway, Faulkner, Shakespeare, Johne Donne, Herbert Spencer,
Dennis Herrick, Daniel Woodrell, George Eliot, Dean Koontz, Mark Twain, Charles Willeford, Vonnegut, Steinbeck, Dostoyevsky, John Sandford, Chandler, Pynchon, Straub, Walter Percy, Delillo, Styron, Melville, Hannah, Barthleme, Bellow, Trevanian & Patrick F McManus, and oh yeah, Flannery O'Connor. Cervantes Dr Seuss & Louis Lamour
Great list. I've read about 90% of your list. I haven't read Vonnegut and hope to rectify this soon. Padget Powell has written a follow-up to Edisto and I'll be looking for that, too. It appears we like many of the same scriveners, lol. C.J. Box is great.
 

kingricefan

All-being, keeper of Space, Time & Dimension.
Jul 11, 2006
30,011
127,446
Spokane, WA
Robert McCammon is probably most similar to King in terms of longevity, subject matter, and writing. The biggest difference between the two seems to be that while almost every King book has been turned into a movie none of McCammons books have been. Whether that's for good or ill. McCammon stands on his own but if you are a King fan then his stuff is a very good alternative. Haruki Murakami is probably the greatest living fiction author but his stuff is an acquired taste and not for those that read just for entertainment or to pass the time. "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles" and "Kafka at the Shore" are great books but again it takes some reader effort. I can read Dan Simmons with some effort. Usually about a hundred or so pages longer than necessary but some good stuff if you can get through the overzealous details. I will read anything by Richard Russo. Very funny in a dark way.
McCammon's story 'Nightcrawlers' was adapted for the small screen on Tales From The Darkside (I think, it was one of those serial shows back in the late 80's/early 90's) and was quite well received by critics. I have always thought that Mine would be the best film adaption to make from McCammon's body of work.
 

Arcadevere

Gentle Lady From Brady Hartsfield Defense Squad
Mar 3, 2016
793
3,689
Manila, Philippines
steamcommunity.com
Aside to Stephen King, this is my (as of 2016 List)

-Neil Gaiman
-John Grisham
-Pseudonymous Bosch (Secret Series and Bad Books)
-Cornelia Funke (THE INKHEART TILOGY AAAAAAHHHH)
-Bob Ong (Filipino Writer)
-Gosho Aoyama (Japanese Mangaka / Detective Conan)
-CLAMP (Japanese Mangakas and storywriters / Cardcaptor Sakura, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles, XXXHolic)
-Robert Ludlum (and his successor, Eric Van Lustbader)
-Arthur Conan Doyle
-Charles Dickens
-H.P. lovecraft
-Dan Brown
-Manix Abrera (Filipino Comic writer/ Kikomachine Komix)
-Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldisimo (Filipino Comic Writer and Artist / Trse Comics (this comics was acknowledge by Neil Gaiman if i recall)
 

BrokenolMarine

Well-Known Member
Dec 13, 2016
128
587
65
I mostly stick to King for horror.
I also read...

John Sandford's Davenport and Virgil Flowers series... cop stuff.
WEB Griffin's military series, The Corps (Marines) and Brotherhood of War (Army)
Janet Evanovich's Stefanie Plum bounty hunter series keeps me laughing..

Plus the rest of the collections on the shelves and the kindles.
Lawrence Sanders
Dale Brown
Stephen Hunter
and the rest...
 

Steffen

Well-Known Member
Aug 9, 2015
2,233
12,800
This last decade or so my time for reading si limited, so I stick to King and Clive Barker (the other Master of Horror). Thanks to the magic of e-books, I'm reacquainting myself with the entire body of work by some childhood favourites: Shakespeare, Lovecraft, Poe, Arthur Machen, Tolkien, Oscar Wilde. I've always had a fondness for mythology form around the world, so I've yet to dive into various European collections. Been looking for a good one about Native American and Egyptian lore, but have found anything decent yet.

As a teenager, I really liked Peter Straub, Robert McCammon, Ramsey Campbell, Joseph Wambaugh, James Herbert, Dan Simmons, Anne Rice (got fed up of her real quick though) and a bunch of others I can't quite remember now. One of the coolest books that Stepehn King never wrote is David Morrell's (yeah, Rambo's dad) The Totem, and I'd encourage anyone here to pick up a copy if they can find one. Richard Christian Matheson (the elder Matheson's son) also has a nice short story collection called Scars that I'd recommend.
 

skimom2

Just moseyin' through...
Oct 9, 2013
15,683
92,168
USA
Steinbeck, John Irving, Alcott, Gaiman, Ajvide Lindqvist, Hill, J.R. Ward, Harper Lee, Dickens, McMurtry, Karon, Graham Green, Atwood, Joanne Harris, Thomas Harris, Michael Pollan (nonfiction), Jonathan Maberry, Christopher Moore, Toni Morrison, Rowling (as herself--The Casual Vacancy excepted--and as Galbraith)... so many. I've tried to list those of whom I've read many books (Lee is the exception. One book is all she needed to be at the top of my personal list)--there are certainly a host of 'one offs' that I also admire :)