Discovered Authors 2010

[nixie]

There are others but these 5 stand out for me.

David Durham,I found a little average but there was enough in Acacia to make me want to finish the series.

Brent Weeks, I did feel the Night Angel Trilogy lacked something but it was still an exceptionally good read.

Daniel Abraham, wasn't sure at first but the first two books in the Long Price grew on me, Oriental flavour with a good dose of cruelty

Peter V Brett, sometimes an author comes along that grabs your attention, drawing you in to their world and you never want to leave. Painted Man done this for me.

Richard Morgan, a third of the way through Steel Remains, and loving it.

 

[Mouse]

Richard Morgan, a third of the way through Steel Remains, and loving it.

This one's on my to-read pile so I'm glad you say it's good, Nixie!

Discovered authors for me in 2010... Probably just:

A.E. Moorat (Funny and gross.)
Oscar Wilde (It's Oscar Wilde.)
Chris Priestley (Ok, but a little predictable.)

 

[neuroticdog]

Well, since I just rekindled my sf and f reading interest this year after taking a many year sabbatical I have quite a few names that, to me are newly discovered. Given that, it's been a wonderful, even have to say revelatory year of reading for me. Some of the authors and their works that just completely blew me away are...

George R. R. Martin-The Song of Ice and Fire quartet. Fun Fun reads...can't wait for the HBO series!!! Gritty and relentless...high on sword, low on sorcery...and I'm fine with that.

M. John Harrison-the Fantasy Masterworks edition of Viriconium which includes all the short stories and the three novels in the cycle. I felt I was in the right mind set for a challenge so I tackled all of these, and found them all rewarding in their own way. His prose is gorgeous and some of his overarching themes I found really intereresting, especially his concept of the anti-fantasy, which these books are supposedly demonstrating.

Lord Dunsany-Read all his early volumes of short stories centering around Pegana, moving into the Books of Wonder, Dreamers Tales and Tales of Three Hemispheres and finally ending with Fifty One Tales. I also read his first novel Don Rodriguez: Chronicles of Shadow Valley. Everything, and I do mean EVERYTHING I read was stupendously memorable and great and I'm planning on reading King of Elfland's Daughter very soon to continue my discovery of this great writer.

China Mieville-Read what many people considered his best...Perdido Street Station, and I can see the reason for the hype surrounding this book even though I was also able to see some of his influences worn very sharply on his sleeve, namely the aforementioned M. John Harrison and Mervyn Peake as well. Regardless, great modern weird, steampunky and horrifying all at once with some truly creeped out images.

Susanna Clarke-Jonnathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. I read much criticism about how slow this supposedly is but I didn't find it that way at all. In fact, I sped read right though the thing...couldn't wait to see what happens next. Loved the dry humor throughout and thought the characters were rendered outstandingly. I also liked the subtle dark turns the story took near the end.

Mervyn Peake-Titus Groan novels. Throughly captured my heart and mind and completely engrossed me in this weird, bizarre world of mindless ritual. Not quite finished yet but I can say that it was my top read of 2010.

 

[Heather Myst]

Phillip Henderson- Druid's Bane This is book one of the series and book two is due out this month. The characters are great and the action is non stop.

Alexey Pehov- Shadow Prowler. A good thief tale in the style of Michael J.Sullivan's Riyria or Scott Lynch's Gentleman ******* series.

 

[Sargeant_Fox]

I discovered Mario Vargas Llosa just before he received the Nobel Prize. I read four novels by him last year and liked them in general, some I loved more than others, but I got the impression he was a great novelist.

 

[GOLLUM]

I discovered Mario Vargas Llosa just before he received the Nobel Prize. I read four novels by him last year and liked them in general, some I loved more than others, but I got the impression he was a great novelist.

I agree, he is very good.

What were the four novels you read?

I have:

Feast Of The Goat *Generally viewed as superceding Marquez's 100 years of Solitude as THE Latin American to read.
Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter *Probably Llosa's most popular if not best loved novel.
The Storyteller *Another of his landmark novels.
The Way To Paradise *Llosa's take on the life of painter Paul Gaugin.
The War At The End of the World *Possibly along with Feast of the Goat my favourite Llosa novel.

 

[Sargeant_Fox]

I've read:

The Time of the Hero: his first novel; liked the second part more, although the first one was quite necessary to set up the awesomeness of the second. A fascinating story about corruption inside a military school.

The Bad Girl: everyone tells me this is his worst novel but I quite liked this love story of a romantic fool ruining his life in pursuit of the woman of his life that keeps running away from him. It's romantic and cynical at the same time.

The War of the End of the World: I read it because of my interest in the history of the Canudos civil war. It's an interesting novel about nationalism, utopias, and the revolutionary spirit. It has a compelling cast of characters, from a religious mystic to road bandits to Machiavellian politicians to revolutionaries.

The Dream of the Celt: his latest novel, about the real-life pioneer of civil rights, Roger Casement, who denounced crimes in the Belgian Congo and Peru and went on to have a role in the Irish uprising of 1916. Another interesting incursion into politics, which seems to be Vargas Llosa's comfort zone.

Next I'll be reading The Feast of the Goat. I already have it, I'm just reading other stuff first.

 

[Sargeant_Fox]

I'm 160 pages into The Feast of the Goat and I'm enjoying it very much. I love the way Vargas Llosa moves back and forth in time, how he mixes the narrative in one period with the memories of his characters. I also like the way he organised the chapters, telling three different stories in succession.