Respect! I've enjoyed the multiple story arcs. I tend more to Sci-Fi, but Disc World rules. Having been through the classics by R.A. Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, & Issac Asimov I ventured into younger, newer authors. Iain Banks, (or Iain M. Banks when in Sci-Fi mode) put together a smarter than Star Wars like universe that's a good read. For single volume stories I've found Alan Dean Foster's work to be an easy read full of odd ideas and fun characters. Larry Niven's works are always good for a second or third read with reoccurring characters, grand scale ideas, and a fair amount of hard (fictional) science.
Well, I just picked the one that's my favorite to just pick up and re-read whenever I'm just wanting an entertaining read. As for other authors: Isaac Asimov (fanny pinching though he was) Robert A. Heinlein (Possibly better than Asimov for standalone books) Clarke - not so much. Charles Sheffield had some REALLY GOOD 'real physics' SF books. James Hogan (Gentle Giants of Ganymede novels) James White (Sector General series) Patricia Briggs (both the young adult books and the full out adult books) Simon R. Green - from the heavy (Deathstalker) to the light (Secret History). Somewhat repetitive in some themes, but nowhere near as bad as Terry Brooks or David Eddings. (I stopped reading Terry Brooks after he repeated the same theme for the 7th time, and David Eddings's Elenium is a poorly disguised copy of the Belgariad) I could go on and on That's the problem with being a speed reading bibliophage. I run out of money, or libraries.
It would be too hard for me to pick just one. Some favorites include: Agatha Christie Ellery Queen (yeah I know, it was really two people) Louis L'Amour Zane Grey Alister MacLean Tom Clancy Clive Cussler Dashiell Hammett Rex Stout Robert B. Parker Mickey Spillane Max Brand Yeah, too many favorites. And there's more................
Another favorite of mine that I don't recall seeing on this thread is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Love when Sherlock describes to Watson how he figured it all out!
Well... Luke for story telling, Paul for substance... Moses? Now sure about that! But, ok, it’s your list! Robert Service for poetry. Pat McManus for story telling! “The Cremation of Sam McGee” - greatest poem of the 20th century! “Modified Stationary Panic” - pure genius!
If we're going to do poets, I'd say The Rev. Charles Dodgson, aka Lewis Carroll. 'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves did gyre and gymbol in the wabe..
Terry Pratchett, anyone who dreams up dwarves creating a society for equal heights, spoofs Shakespeare, politics and creates deeply elaborate puns in the space of a single page, will always be a favorite if mine.
Even better, the society for equal heights was created by _humans_. The best touch, to me, is that the dwarves are basically Jews.
For Fiction: John LeCarre Raymond Chandler Dash Hammett Trevanian Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. Hennig Mankell Douglas Copeland Lawrence Sanders- the McNally series
Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Wendell Berry, G.K. Chesterton, George MacDonald, Dan Simmons, Mervyn Peake Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk
I've been meaning to add some of my favorite NON FICTION writers @PLAla . Rachael Carson Winston Churchill Malcolm Gladwell Mark Twain Tom Wolfe
Churchill is such a fascinating figure. He was a superb writer. I've read two of the three The Last Lion volumes about Churchill by William Manchester. Great writing.
