Discovered Authors 2011

[Connavar]

Thomas Mann ***
Gabriel Garcia Marquez ****
Kerstin Thorvall ****
Ivar Lo-Johansson ****
Elin Wägner ****

Those authors first book i read is the stars rating for.

 

[dask]

Christopher Morely. Admittedly it was only the preface to Boswell's London Journal but at 21 pages it was superbly thought out, beautifully written, and entertaining to the highest magnitude.

Oh, and James Boswell. Genteel, honest, and down to earth for a young man about town seeking randy sport and acceptance in the easier streets of London.

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

Enrique Vila-Matas
James M. Cain

 

[scytheswath]

Hello everyone, I'm new here and this seemed like a suitable topic to put my 50 cents in...

I recently re-discovered David Brin - i had read a bit a child but the human-dolphin sexual bits in Startide Rising must have sent my hormone overloaded brain into overdrive back then because i had completely missed the awesome ideas in the whole 'uplift as the foundation of galactic law' concept. I highly recommend him....

 

[Bikewer]

Felix Gilman. Just read The Half-Made World, which was quite clever. Alternate (very alternate) 1800s US tale. NOT an "alternate history" story at all.... Two powers are competing for supremacy, the "Line", representing order, and the "Gun" representing chaos. Both do their work through physical avatars...
Excellent story.

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

Jim Thompson

 

[Connavar]

Jim Thompson

Its a shame you read Trangessors after the amazing Killer Inside Me. Was it lack of choice or you dont know his other rated books ?

He is still perfect run in my eyes since i have had the good luck to read his best books, no weak book yet.

I got Pop. 1280 just now from my bookstore along with 9 other books and Pop book is about a twisted law man just like The Killer Inside Me.

I have gone a year without Thompson, it will be lovely to get in his bleak,great stories of darkness.

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

It was a conscious decision. A friend of mine introduced me to Thompson with 'The Killer Inside Me' and then gave me a listing of his good work and the ones that aren't that good. Having read two absolute masterpieces, 'The Killer...' and 'The Getaway' I decided to sample the other end of the Thompson spectrum. I couldn't find 'King Blood', widely reckoned to be his very worst book, so this had to suffice.

The interesting thing is that it still has flashes of brilliance, moments of transcendence amidst the squalour. I have to admit to a certain morbid fascination as well, the urge to witness a massive talent in the process of unravelling - the same impulse, I am certain, that prompts continued sales of Syd Barrett's solo material.

 

[D_Davis]

My big discovery in 2011 has been Manly Wade Wellman.

 

[Anomander]

I have so far discovered:
Chris Bunch - Seer King Trilogy
Paul Kearny - Monarchies of god (it's 15 years old, I have no idea how come I haven't read his work previously)

Also - Patrick Rothfuss - Name of the wind

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

Jessica Amanda Salmonson

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

Geoffrey Household

 

[dask]

Van Wyck Brooks
Edmond Scherer
Rudolf Flesch

 

[J-Sun]

Geoffrey Household

He's a lucky guy - most authors have to work at it to become a household name.

 

[Carmen King]

Anybody heard of MJ Schutte?
Just read his debuting novel, Energy, and it's not bad.

 

[Daisy-Boo]

Peter V. Brett
Mira Grant
George RR Martin (I know, I know! It's taken me waaaay too long.)
China Mieville (I knew about him for ages but finally started reading his work this year.)

 

[Boneman]

Kept looking at it, but not buying. Then sat down and read the 1st chapter and bought: Daniel Abraham Shadow and Betrayal. Even better, it's two books in one!

 

[biodroid]

David Morrell - The more modern, shorter, more technically accurate Ludlum with destructible characters. Even though I still like Ludlum, Morrell is a quick easy read and very satisfying.

 

[Demonomania]

Kept looking at it, but not buying. Then sat down and read the 1st chapter and bought: Daniel Abraham Shadow and Betrayal. Even better, it's two books in one!

Found this at the library Boneman and I must say, I loved it! Very subtle with good pacing. Trying to find the second part as we speak.

Also found recently, was The Hallowed Hunt by Lois Mcallister Bujold and I'm really enjoying it. She seems to have a large output so i think I'll follow up on her too. A previous of hers won many and award so I may start with that, I think it's set in the same world as the one I'm reading.

 

[D_Davis]

David Morrell - The more modern, shorter, more technically accurate Ludlum with destructible characters. Even though I still like Ludlum, Morrell is a quick easy read and very satisfying.

First Blood is amazing. Also, his somewhat-Lovecraftian story in Prime Evil, "Orange is for Anguish, Blue for Insanity" is one of my favorite short stories.