Because the favorite authors thread is already hitting critical (topic) mass. :p

First off- I KNOW. Sci-Fi ISN'T Fantasy, and Fantasy ISN'T Sci-Fi.

However! AS anyone who has read Niven's Rainbow Mars, Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia (think now- remember what Uncle Andrew did in the first place? Hmmm? ), Dahl's 'The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar', or hell, Discworld, can attest, it's a line that is quite often blurred, and ably.

Thus, you get one topic. So shush.

Mine arrrrrre:

The Neverending Story, by Michael Ende. If you love the movie, you'll love the book, and see the second movie for the travesty it really is.
The Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis. Again, if you only know these from the movies, you do yourself an injustice.
The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien. You don't really need to cite the author's name there, do you?
Rainbow Mars, by Larry Niven. The polar opposite of ALL of his other plots. And the single most original take on time travel since Wells tackled it. Oh, and Terry Pratchett helped him come up with it.
The Dark Tower, by Stephen King. The very best Sci-Fi/Horror/Epic/Western/Fantasy you'll ever read. Guaranteed. Also has the best metafiction I've ever read.
'The Island of Dr. Moreau', by H.G. Wells. Only Wells could be so gruesome, thoughtful, fluid, and lasting. Yeah, if you EVER thought War of the Worlds was creepy, you ain't seen nothin' yet.
Watchers, by Dean Koontz. The touching story of a man and his dog. Heh.
The Foundation series by Isaac Asimov. Thinking was never so badass.
Q-Squared, by Peter David. I dislike Peter David. I find his writing trite and pompous these days. I CANNOT call this book anything but AWESOME. Mostly for Trekkies, true, but still!
Hogfather, by Terry Pratchett. Why Hogfather, out of the whole series, you ask? The characters are ALL *very* engaging, the laughs are steady and little and big, and I gurantee you will NOT see THAT ending coming. Plus, it's got Death, Susan, AND the Death of Rats as central characters.
Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman. Read it when it was first published in 199...7?; have not found a book that I HAD to keep reading since.
The Farseer trilogy by Robin Hobb. I have never found another book that I had to actively restrain myself from talking to, the hero was that sympathetic.
Shaman's Crossing, by Robin Hobb. Perfect fiction. Reads as though it has one plot until roughly the three-quarters mark, where it will dawn on you that no, it's this *other* one entirely. Is splendidly vague as to whether you're reading fantasy or sci-fi until the end (to put a fine point on it- whether or not it was fnatsy or the hero was going mad due to an incident in the very beginning I could't guess until the end). Is even the first book in a trilogy, and feeds smoothly into the second book, as well as stands on its own merit quite nicely.

Now it is an hour past dawn, and I need sleep.

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"Ain't nothin' left to do but smile, smile, smile." -The Grateful Dead

Can I share your bookshelf?

The few that are on that list that I haven't read will be being hunted down, through that forest where such things grow, with a paper bag and a lure.

Um... Hounds of the Morrigan, by Pat O'Shea. I haven't really got on with any of her others, but this is an amazing (kids') book.
Otherland by Tad Williams. It's basically a book the size of an entire shelf, split into four arbitrary sections.
Asimov's short robot stories. They're dated, but clever.

(You know this thread will do exactly the same thing, right?)

Hounds of the Morrigan, and it's for kids?
AS for my feelings on reading kids' books as adults- Dr. Seuss, Shel Silverstein. I rest my case.

Oooh, I remember Otherland! I never finished it. But Beezle Bug is still one of my favorite names ever.

Asimov's shorter robot stories? Like Norby?













(I know nothing of the kind!) ...T_T

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"Ain't nothin' left to do but smile, smile, smile." -The Grateful Dead

I read Hounds of the Morrigan years ago...never knew it was kids' fiction! It was in the adult fiction section of my local library.

William Gibson's Neuromancer makes my list. I haven't tried any of his other books yet, but I'll be re-reading this one.

Neal Stephenson's Baroque Trilogy. First one's a bit rough (he takes 250p to clear his throat), but after that it's a lovely wild ride...into the Industrial Revolution.

And Cryptonomicon by the same author.

Must be read as a set.

Each page is like a truffle of awesome.

~CTP

Not sure if one would label "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman as Fantasy...but why the hell not.

Transmetropolitan by Warren Ellis.

Good Omens - Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.

HHGTTG and Dirk Gently - Douglas Adams

Starship Troopers - Heinlein

LotR trilogy - Some guy*

Discworld Series - Pratchett. Haven't read all of them, but loving it.

To Say Nothing of the Dog - Connie Willis

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*Why yes that's Facetiousness, why do you ask?

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Isn't sanity just a one-trick pony anyway? All you get is one trick: rational thinking. But when you're good and crazy, oooh, oooh, the sky's the limit.

Ah, good ol' Facetiousness. He's one of my favorite authors.

Ever read The Forever War by Joe Haldeman, Dave? I've read it and Troopers, and greatly feel that it was what Starship Troopers shoulda been.

And CTP reminds me- has anoyne read Whitechapel Gods? It's about two clockwork gods (perhaps demigods, perhaps other thing entirely) who kidnap and subsequently split in half, then rule over all of Whitechapel with depsotic metal fists. It SOUNDS nifty, but I haven't had the courage to read it and find out if it sucks.

It's just so much fun sounding!

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"Ain't nothin' left to do but smile, smile, smile." -The Grateful Dead

There are so many fantasy novels that I like, I'm going to do it the other way round and put down the ones I don't like.

The later books in the Riftwar Cycle, by Raymond E Feist. The first few are quite good, the later ones aren't.

Dragons of a Fallen Sun, can't remember who its by.

The Harry Potter books are OK, but far overrated in my opinion.

Another good series is the Wizard Apprentice series, by Debra Doyle and James MacDonald. I've got books 2-8, but I don't know if I'll ever find a copy of book 1...I asked in a bookshop (a bookshop which had the others on the series, mind you) and they couldn't find it.


Most fantasy books are good, that I've read. My main problem now is finding more. No good bookshops near where I live. Could easily be 20 miles to the nearest good bookshop.

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A table, a chair, a bowl of fruit and a trombone; what else does a man need to be happy?

Yes. I read the first three and enjoyed them, but started getting bogged down with the fourth. After the fifth there was just such a wait for the next book that I completely lost interest, and I never went back to them. Now I'm running into the same thing with George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series.

When it comes to sci-fi and fantasy, I've found that I really enjoy anthologies more than novels (or, God help me, series; doesn't anyone write single books anymore?). Two of my favorites are Masterpieces of Fantasy and Wonder (edited by David G. Hartwell, from 1989) and The Arbor House Treasury of Modern Science Fiction (edited by Robert Silverberg and Martin H. Greenberg, from 1980)--both a bit hard to find because of their age, but worthwhile.

Oh, and one for my dislike pile: Dune. HATE.

It fell short of its promise. Fun read, but not a good read.

CTP: I hear Wall Street is deathly afraid of some setting up a system like Cryptonomicon's.

Miss Hellbore: Well poo. Is there no good steampunk-y literature outside of short story??

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"Ain't nothin' left to do but smile, smile, smile." -The Grateful Dead

Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan in my opinion. It's YA, if that's a turn-off.

Know of him, and as for age limitations, the next thing I MUST buy is a paperback of The Neverending Story, perhaps Green Eggs and Ham as well. If that tellsl you anything.

Leviathan is steampunk, eh? HMMMMMMmmmmmm.

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"Ain't nothin' left to do but smile, smile, smile." -The Grateful Dead

Here is a picture of the map on the opening page.

GREAT GADFRY that is the best map ever.

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"Ain't nothin' left to do but smile, smile, smile." -The Grateful Dead

Er, well the Nightside Series by Simon R. Green is pretty awesome.

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This is brought to you by naked people, because that's how we're conceived.

I liked Tommy Oblivion a LOT until his powers got explained. Then he got boring.

Great bad guys all the way through, though.

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"Ain't nothin' left to do but smile, smile, smile." -The Grateful Dead

If you're looking for steampunk, there's also George Mann's The Affinity Bridge and Cherie Priest's Boneshaker.

Both of which, I hope to find time to actually READ this weekend.

Did you find the time?

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"Ain't nothin' left to do but smile, smile, smile." -The Grateful Dead

have any of you heard of Terry Brooks? he's got some good stuff all around...