[Arith]

Hi guys. Ive noticed that there are a ton of good British and Canadian authors that are not really well known in the states, like Ericson. Are there any others that readers from the US should know about? It seems that these authors tend to be more then the popcorn fantasy we see coming out of the US a lot. Two authors i found on Amazon.uk were Cobley's Shadowkings and Barclay's Cry of the Newborn, any other suggestions?

[Lowlander]

My impression is that the newest "fad" in fantasy is Australia. I've lost count how many new Australian fantasy authors have been launched in the past 3 years.

For British fantasy you can alway rely on the househould names like Robert Holdstock, Tanith Lee, Gemmell etc..

As for the new names, well you mentioned Barclay. His Raven novels are very "Gemmellesque" so it's rather surprising his stuff has not been published in the US.

Chaz Brenchley wrote the excellent Outremer trilogy (published in the US by Ace in six volumes) : excellent crusader-like fantasy in middle-east setting.

Richard Calder is an interesting science-fantasy writer. He's probably a bit too ribald and cynic for US publishers. The best place to start for fantasy fans is probably his novel Malignos.

KJ Parker has published the Fencer & Scavenger trilogies for Orbit. No US publisher till now. He's rather dark and pessimistic about human nature.

Graham Edwards wrote the excellent Stone trilogy a couple of years ago. No US publisher. Very difficult to classify : partly lost race, Victorian adventure novel and heroic fantasy novel with dragons, elves and speaking turtles. Probably to bizar for the US market. Even in the UK a rather obscure series.

John Courtenay Grimwood wrote the excellent Arabesk trilogy. Not really fantasy but still an "fantastical" story. Partly cyberpunk, romance, detective novel and alternate history. Is being published in the US now by Bantam.

Chris Wooding just finished his Saramyr trilogy. Very well written series with an oriental setting.

Amanda Hemingway (formerly known as Jan Siegel) launched a new series. Published in the US by DelRey.

Charles Stross : Scottish writer of SF has started a new science-fantasy series : the trade princes (very much in the style of Zelazny's Amber). Strangely enough this series is published in the US by Tor but has not yet found a UK publisher.

And of course there is an enormous amount of good YA fantasy by British writers.

[KatG]

Grimwood and Wooding are already getting a fair amount of buzz in the States. There's also Debbie Miller, who has new works coming out and also wrote some under the name Miller Lau.

In Canada, two authors who are starting to get noticed are Caitlin Sweet and R. Scott Bakker, and both have forums here and have been interviewed by the site. Sweet doesn't have a U.S. publisher but can be obtained in the States from her Canadian publisher, Penguin, and Bakker is published by Overlook Press in the States. There's also Tanya Huff, who has books coming out from DAW.

[Mathain]

Richard K. Morgan has been contracted for a fantasy novel. I'm excited.

[Sean Wright]

Allen Ashley is a fantastic British writer - intelligent, insightful, a great storyteller. If you like your fantasy to be challenging, slick and worthwhile, Allen Ashley's your man. His collection, Urban Fantastic (http://www.crowswingbooks.co.uk/91334/105865.html) comes out in June 2006 - from small indie press Crowswing Books.

[Brys]

I can't believe this - we're talking about British fantasy authors, and the three best haven't even been mentioned:
China Mieville
M John Harrison
Michael Moorcock
Though I think Mieville probably has recieved decent exposure in the US, as he seems to be as well known as Vandermeer. Moorcock now lives in the US, yet he still isn't that well known amongst general fantasy readers (which is surprising for the most influential living fantasy writer).
The Canadians are also writing some great fantasy as well, with Erikson, Bakker and Kay.

And if we're wondering where it all came from, a lot of the pre-Tolkien fantasy writers also seem to be British - Lord Dunsany, ER Eddison, Clark Ashton Smith. And then there was Tolkien and Peake in the 1940s/50s - though I think we can't complain that Tolkien hasn't been seen enough in the US, and Peake's not seen enough in the UK, let alone the US.

[Pug]

I would say Mieville is more well known that Vandermeer. At least on general fantasy message boards, Mieville gets many more mentions than Vandermeer.

Not sure I even notice where an author is from, though.

[Rob B]

Hi guys. Ive noticed that there are a ton of good British and Canadian authors that are not really well known in the states, like Ericson.
Erikson is fairly well known, his books started appearing from Tor last year (or was it the year before?).

Brys, I think Arith was questioning more so about British Authors who aren't too well known or not even published here in the States.

I think it is a crime that Barclay's novels haven't been picked up by a US publisher.

[Eventine]

No Neil Gaiman mention yet?

Shameful.

[Rob B]

Yeah, but we all know about Neil Gaiman, don't we?