Who's your current favourite author?..............

"Douglas Adams" - I fancy some light reading over the Easter break, and for me nothing quite beats Adams' "Hitchhiker .. " series.

And I still regard the “The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don't.” , as one of the funniest lines ever!
 
I'm really enjoying Kameron Hurley at the moment. I've nearly finished Rapture, the third book in her Bel Dame trilogy, and it's fantastic. I might dive straight into her next series, Mirror Empire, next.
 
Robert Gibson said:
Vance was a literary superman who also had a special kind of humour all his own; his characters spoke a hilariously perfect English at odd moments and were past masters at haggling. An unusual achievement of his was to create an interstellar civilization (the Oikumene, later the Gaean Reach) which was so roomy, you could believe how life wasn't too different in some ways from now: the extra room meant a relaxation of the pressures which in our own lifetimes have led to such rapid change. So many of the folk of forty thousand years hence have life-patterns and concerns not so different from our own, but in vastly more diverse settings. Of course some of the social structures are strange - he is brilliant at creating bizarre customs - but there is plenty of room also for what we would feel as normal life.
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Thats the most apt description of Vance ever and i think i will use it when my literature interested friends ask me why Vance is stands out, is important writer to me.

I too find it very interesting the far future settings,worlds that is both similar to our own times human cultures but at the same time they are strange,bizzare customs. As they should be when its us humans 1000s of years in the future. The weird things we do today in our times must have been unimaginable to humans 1000 years ago.
 
Andy Weir, a great book written in simple style, true sci-fi instead of the pretensive drama that is thrown about these days
 
crooksy73 said:
Having been reading now for almost 40 years I've had a few favourite authors along the way.
I remember as a very young child Helen Nicoll and Jan Pienkowski were high up the list with their Meg and Mog books. I eventually read every single book in the children's section of our local library with Douglas Hill being the outstanding author that had the most influence on my future reading. In my early teens Douglas Reeman and Alastair MacLean were popular until I read Tolkien who shot to the top of the list. In my late teens and early 20's then without doubt it was Stephen King, with Clive Barker and James Herbert following closely behind. In my 30's I'd say it was George R.R. Martin and now in my early 40's I'd say Joe Abercrombie is right up there at the top. I've really enjoyed everything I've read by him so far. I'm almost at the end of Red Country (should finish it tonight) and Half A King is waiting on the shelf. Joe's books are exciting, they're humorous yet dark and violent. Characters who you least expect to like become your favourites for a spell. His world making is excellent and there's a magic here and there without it being complicated. If you haven't read anything by Joe then I'd definitely recommend his works.

I met him in person at the recent signing in Manchester and have to say he's a top bloke. Definitely someone who if I had the opportunity I'd like to spend some time with over a pint or two.

If I was asked who's next novel would I most like to read then Winds of Winter by GRRM would probably be my answer, simply because I seem to have been reading ASOIAF for a very long time. That said, Joe's a relatively young author and I'm hoping to read much more of his works in the future.

Over to you, who's your current favourite author and why?..........
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currently Alexander McCall Smith for his ability to mix everyday life's misadventures (some hilarious) with philosophy - with characters from different countries i.e. Botswana, Scotland, Germany (e.g. a German professor thinking that English people need to learn to say exactly what they feel instead of saying the reverse, as the German professor became more and more confused and struggled to give the right answers). McCall Smith is a superb story teller without any moment of boredom.

Also I am reading Grégoire Delacourt, an equally prolific French writer - does that count?
 
At the moment I am reading my way through everything written by Philip K Dick.He is my favourite writer at this precise moment.
What an inventive mind he had.I am loving all of his stuff.
However,in august,it will be back to Robin Hobb.(Fitz and the Fool.)
 
Jack Vance and Patrick O'Brian. They're my fall-backs when I'm disappointed in something else I try. Both are masters of prose without sacrificing story.

And recently I've been on a Harold Lamb kick. His histories are pretty good, but his pulp stories shine. Lamb was a big influence on Robert E. Howard, but he's unquestionably the better writer. He also had a sense of humour. I see a lot of Lamb in Jack Vance, and I wouldn't be surprised if he proved an inspiration there as well. I own all four volumes of the Khlit stories, and I'm savouring them a story or two at a time. Knowing I have two and a half volumes to go yet makes me happy.

Connavar said:
I too find it very interesting the far future settings,worlds that is both similar to our own times human cultures but at the same time they are strange,bizzare customs. As they should be when its us humans 1000s of years in the future. The weird things we do today in our times must have been unimaginable to humans 1000 years ago.
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Vance was a student of human cultures. A wry, detached, sometimes cynical student. So we have cultures with bizarre customs, because frankly most human customs are pretty arbitrary. Fanciful hats, prestigious automobiles, the shells of giant crustaceans artfully arranged into jewelry. Sacrificing people to appease the sun god, sacrificing them to appease some monster at the bottom of a lake, sacrificing them to sate the whims of a libidinous dwarf. All of a kind. And yet Vance has people speak much the same way regardless of their culture, as a way to point out the universal attitudes humans seem to share underneath all the elaborate customs - typically avarice, deceit, sloth, and self-justification. The trick is to tease out the humour in all this, which Vance does with aplomb.
 
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Now,I have added Jack Vance to my list.He sounds very much to my taste.
I can see my other hobbies and I are going to be strangers for a while.
 
I'm very eclectic in my reading. I read everything in fiction from mysteries, to thrillers, to fantasy, to science fiction, to young adult books, to what could be considered children's books.

Here's a partial list in no special order:

Stephen King

Robert Ludlum

Eric Van Lustbader

Terry Brooks

Robert Jordan

George RR Martin
 
The Traditional ABC's:
Isaac Asimov
Ray Bradbury
Arthur C. Clarke

The Alternate ABC's:
Edmond Hamilton
Jack Vance
Philip José Farmer
 
I've read two Asimov stories i liked very much,recently
Anyway,why CURRENT favourite author?
My fave authors won't change
As you may have read elsewhere,i was mightily impressed by Nina Kiriki Hoffman's the skeleton Key
She might become A favourite author,if the rest of her material resembles that story
 
I am as old as grass and I'm constantly delighted when I find a new author that entertains me.
Sometimes they educate me,or bite into my soul and I will read everything they write.
One such ,I discovered last year,was Scott Lynch.I will be a fan of all his work.
As long as he writes,I'll read his books.
However,my favourite sci/fantasy writer,is and will always be Robin Hobb.
Her writing has given me years of pleasure as I have read and reread all her books.
 
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