Top 5 Favorite Authors!!

[juzzza]

I actually agree with this:

Tolkien.......the body of his fantasy work is of such significance and lasting influence and merit by virtue of the universal appeal, significance and seminal quality of his work, of the mythological stature of the world he created, its history and languages.

However, I just don't enjoy reading his stuff, so he ain't on my list I am afraid.

It's a bit like Mohamed Ali, nobody can deny that he is the greatest, and without him boxing just wouldn't be the same, however, modern era fighters are too big and too powerful... Still great to look at him in action mind you.

 

[zakhrin]

My today list (can evolve since i haven't read some authors yet)

1. George RR Martin (no contest)
2. Weis and Hickman (special mention for The rose of the prophet)
3. Tad Willams
4. Jack Vance (really good at SciFi and Fantasy)
5. Pierre Bordage (I have to put a french writer )

It's really hard to put down 5 writers. I should have put Scot Card, just because of Ender...
I want to put as well a special line for Fritz Leiber. The lankhmar series is fantastic.

 

[Daedalusman]

Here is my list of the top 5 authors of mine

1: J. R. R. Tolkien - Will never be toppled
2: G. R. R. Martin - Probable will always remain second to Tolkien
3: Robert E. Howard - His stories are just so much fun to read
4: J. K. Rowling - Her books will always bring me great pleasure
5: R. A. Salvatore - His fast pace stories are a great change from the longer more involved books that I like the read

That’s my list for now. I haven't read a lot of stuff though so I'm sure once I read more this list will change but until then...

 

[Beleg]

Authors for today:

1. Tim Powers
2. Graham Joyce
3. Ian MacLeod
4. Louis Mcmaster Bujold
5. Michael Moorcock

 

[annabelle]

here my top 5 authors :

- Robin Hobb
- GRR Martin
- JRR Tolkien
- Tad Williams
- Robert Jordan

 

[Eldanuumea]

George R.R. Martin
J.R.R. Tolkien
Robin Hobb
Tad Williams
Neil Gaiman

The five above have by far the most votes thus far.....I noticed interesting patterns. Those who voted for Tolkien generally also voted for Martin. Many who voted for Hobb also voted for Gaiman.

I was surprised at Gaiman beating out Stephen King, Moorcock, Feist, Eddings, Stover, and other giants in the field. I wonder whether it is his traditional novels or his graphic novels that are having the most impact.

I have never read anything by Tad Williams....looks like I had better get on the ball!

 

[BeardofPants]

Wow, I haven't read anything by Hobb. It's not that I don't want to, because I've been meaning to for ages, but everytime I consider buying something, there's never a complete set!

*thinks she should probably try harder...

 

[Literbug]

This is difficult for me as I probably haven't read much fantasy . It's entirely possible this list will change as I discover and explore different authors, and reappraise what I've read in the past. But for the moment, my top five fantasy authors are:

1. J.R.R. Tolkien
2. Gene Wolfe
3. George R.R. Martin
4. Ursula Le Guin
5. Mervyn Peake

J.R.R. Tolkien for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.

Gene Wolfe for The Book of the New Sun (arguably science fiction, but I consider it science fantasy) and the short story "The Island of Doctor Death". I read Wolfe's seminal series recently so perhaps it hasn't had time to fement, but I'm confident it will have canonical durability for me.

George R.R. Martin for A Song of Ice and Fire. This is my favourite contemporary high fantasy series (without wanting to offend anybody, unfortunately, I couldn't get into Terry Brooks, Robert Jordan nor Terry Goodkind ).

Ursula Le Guin for The Earthsea Quartet and the short story "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" (and her excellent science fiction novel The Left Hand of Darkness).

Mervyn Peake for The Gormenghast Trilogy.

At the moment I'm enjoying Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogy. It is very possible that I might include her on the strength of this trilogy once I'm finished. I've heard great things about Tad Williams and Jack Vance, and I'm looking forward to reading them both.

 

[Erfael]

This is difficult for me as I probably haven't read much fantasy . It's entirely possible this list will change as I discover and explore different authors, and reappraise what I've read in the past. But for the moment, my top five fantasy authors are:

1. J.R.R. Tolkien
2. Gene Wolfe
3. George R.R. Martin
4. Ursula Le Guin
5. Mervyn Peake

J.R.R. Tolkien for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.

Gene Wolfe for The Book of the New Sun (arguably science fiction, but I consider it science fantasy) and the short story "The Island of Doctor Death". I read Wolfe's seminal series recently so perhaps it hasn't had time to fement, but I'm confident it will have canonical durability for me.

George R.R. Martin for A Song of Ice and Fire. This is my favourite contemporary high fantasy series (without wanting to offend anybody, unfortunately, I couldn't get into Terry Brooks, Robert Jordan nor Terry Goodkind ).

Ursula Le Guin for The Earthsea Quartet and the short story "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" (and her excellent science fiction novel The Left Hand of Darkness).

Mervyn Peake for The Gormenghast Trilogy.

At the moment I'm enjoying Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogy. It is very possible that I might include her on the strength of this trilogy once I'm finished. I've heard great things about Tad Williams and Jack Vance, and I'm looking forward to reading them both.

Not a bad list there, Literbug, for someone who hasn't read much fantasy...looks a lot better to me than some lists from some who have read much fantasy...

 

[Lani]

Well, I decided to actually do some counting, however since a lot of people didn't do the rankings, I decided that instead of the original scoring tactics I will just count up how many times each author was mentioned in the Top5 list and here's what I've got:


George R.R. Martin 36
Robin Hobb 30
J.R.R. Tolkien 29
Tad Williams 14
Neil Gaiman 14
Raymond Feist 13
Stephen Donaldson 12
Gene Wolfe 10
Robert Jordan 10
Guy Gavriel Kay 9
Steven Erikson 9
J.K. Rowling 8
Matthew Woodring Stover 8
David Gemmell 8
Ursula LeGuin 8
Terry Brooks 7
David Eddings 7
Michael Moorcock 6
Stephen King 6
Terry Pratchett 5
RA Salvatore 5
Robert E. Howard 4
Jacqueline Carey 4
Terry Goodkind 4
Melanie Rawn 4
E.R. Eddison 4
China Mieville 4
Lord Dunsany 3
Roger Zelazny 3
J.V. Jones 3
Orson Scott Card 3
Jon Carroll and Pat O'Leary 3
M. John Harrison 3
Luis McMaster Bujold 3
Phillip Pullman 3
Lynn Flewelling 3
Steven Brust 3
Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman 3
Fritz Lieber 2
Enid Blyton 2
John Crowley 2
Sara Douglass 2
Edward Whittemore 2
Tim Powers 2
Mervyn Peake 2
John Marco 2
CJ Cherryh 2
Jeffrey Ford 2
Janny Wurts 2
Frank Herbert 2
Philip Dick 2
James Barclay 2
Greg Keyes 2
Jeff Vandemeer 2
Dave Duncan 2
LE Modestitt 2
Peter Beagle 1
Gabriel Garcia Marquez 1
Bernard Cornwall 1
Lois de Benaires 1
Jorge Luis Borges 1
Kate Elliott 1
Philip Jose Farmer 1
Clark Ashton Smith 1
Tom Arden 1
Samuel Delaney 1
Juliet Marillier 1
Patricia McKillip 1
R. Scott Bakker 1
Neal Stepehnson 1
Andreas Bull-Hanson 1
Jonathan Stroud 1
William Morris 1
Charles de Lint 1
Fred Saberhagen 1
Wolfgang Hohlbein 1
David Drake 1
Karl Edward Wagner 1
Garth Nix 1
David Farland 1
Clive Barker 1
Jack Vance 1
Pierre Bordage 1
Graham Joyce 1
Robert Silverberg 1
Gary Jennings 1
Robert Stanek 1
Angela Carter 1
Ian MacLeod 1
Tanith Lee 1
Lloyd Alexander 1
D. Wynne Jones 1
PC Hodgell 1
Carol Berg 1
Kurt Busiek 1
Mary Gentle 1
Paul Kearney 1
Paolini 1
CS Friedman 1
Eric Neilson 1
Mickey Zucher Reichart 1
Dennis McKiernan 1
Michael Chabon 1
Alan Moore 1
Jasper Fforde 1
Marcus Herniman 1

 

[Beleg]

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[Sparhawk]

1. Tolkien
2. Weiss & Hickman
3. David and Leigh Eddings
4. Robert Jordan
5. Terry Goodkind

and in that particular order

 

[Lews Therin]

1) Tolkien
2) Guy Gavriel Kay
3) Raymond Feist
4) George R.R. Martin
5) Robert Jordan

Only Tolkien is first, the rest is in no oreder.
Also, Tad Williams and LE Modesitt should be up there I hate the top5, top 10 is much better

 

[algernoninc]

top of the tops

i can't resist making lists and tops. i guess my avatar should be the guy from "High Fidelity" movie. (MEMO: do a top five film favorites)

so, back to fantasy, I can't make an educated estimate, as fantasy books are still at a premium in Romania - meaning not available in stores, so I can only mention the ones I did read:

1. Tolkien - outdated maybe, but still the most inventive and coherent of them all.

2. George R. R. Martin - everybody mentions a Song of Ice and Fire, but I would put him here for "Windhaven" and "The SandKings"

3. Robin Hobb - it's what I'm reading this evening, and I wish I don't reach the last page of "Fool's Fate" - give us more ...

4. Tad Williams - he rambles, he's kitsch sometimes, but he still paints a powerful landscape, and he still stirs my imagination. So ... until I discover somebody better

5. Patricia McKillip - just because I get tired of reading the same names again and again. I read "Winter Rose" and she gets kudos for atmosphere, and feeling and ... magic

p.s. I like this thread, I think I should start a "best short story" debate , if somebody hasn't already done it

 

[Zsinj]

1. Tad Williams- The term epic doesn't even begin to describe his works!
2. J.R.R. Tolkien- 'Nuff said!
3. Michael Moorcock- Good, dark stuff. Elric is the man!
4. Weis & Hickman- The Dragonlance Series rocks!
5. Robert E. Howard- The master of Sword and Sorcery!

 

[beleeze]

in no particualr order

David Gemmell - the characters are just amazing. And the fact that he has made me cry on a few occassions

R. Feist - he's stories are always great and has a few memorable characters, but i dont like his recent work too much

George R R Martin - He knows exactly what he is writing, his stories are well stuctured and thought throw and i HATE his villians (that means he is doing thing right!) - but his over descriptive sexual scenes mark him down!)

David Eddings - his first series of any saga are always great e.g belgariad or elenium, great fun characters, simple stories, no one hardly EVER dies!, but then everything seems the same in the 2nd series e.g tamuli and maleorian

I havent read Erickson yet, but i think when i do read him, he'll be in the list for sure

 

[Boiler]

Forme, as for many others, the quality of an author goes hand in hand with (parts of) his works. So here are my 5 highlights:

- George R. R. Martin ( A Song of Ice and Fire)

- David Gemmell (esp.The Waylander books)

- Raymon Feist/Janny Wurts (Empire Trilogy)

- Stephen Donaldson (Thomas Covenant)

- David Eddings (The Belgariad)

 

[Jenab]

Skewed judgments.

A vote is only as good as the voters are experienced. Probably most of the people voting on their best authors haven't read the books that other voters have read. Everybody votes from their experience, which in most cases is a small fraction of the total works of Fantasy/SF considered here.

In other words, the quality judgment can't help but be skewed by marketing.

Somebody who has read a lot of George R.R. Martin's books should propose which book would be the one which puts Martin's best foot forward...and then we'd all go read that book. The the same with Hobb, Feist, Tolkien, Williams, Jordon, Erikson, Gemmell, and all the rest. When all the voters are familiar with the best work of all the authors, then the marketing will have been set at naught and the votes will mean something.

BTW, I note that no one has mentioned:

Trudi Canavan (The Black Magician)
Richard A. Knaak (some Dragonlance and others)
Jean M. Auel (Earth's Children [ancient historical fantasy])
Anne Bishop (Black Jewels)
Deborah Chester (Ruby Throne, Sword-Ring-and-Chalice)
Glen Cook (The Black Company and other series)
Elaine Cunningham (several series in Forgotten Realms)
Cecilia Dart-Thornton (The Bitterbynde)
Jennifer Fallon (Second Sons)
Kate Forsyth (The Witches of Eileanan)
Kathleen & Michael Gear (The People of ____ [ancient historical fantasies])
Jeff Grubb (Magic: The Gathering)
Brian Jacques (Redwall)
Katharine Kerr (Deverry, Westlands, Dragon Mage)
Robert J. King (Magic: The Gathering)
Elizabeth Moon (The Deed of Paksinarrion)
Clifford D. Simak ("Project Pope", "The Goblin Reservation", etc.)
Dan Simmons (Hyperion)
Michael A. Stackpole (Dragoncrown Wars)
Victoria Strauss
Paula Volsky ("The Grand Ellipse," etc.)
Angus Wells (Godwars, Kingdoms)
Michelle West (The Sun Sword)

Jerry Abbott

 

[magze]

The thing is if you review your favourite authors every few months or so you will more than likely find that your tastes have changed E.G having just read the Belgariad and halfway through the Malloreon my favourites are :
Fiest
Tolkien
Barclay
Eddings
KIng

 

[Beleg]

Jenab, I have seen people mention almost all of the authors you have listed before. [Read many of 'em myself too] They probably didn't like the stories well enough to put them in their top-five list. It is no fluke that people like Martin, Williams and Tolkien rate so high on this list. They write fiction which is easy to read, involving, not really convulted, and enjoyable without spending too much brainpower. [Not everyone has the time or the brains or the will to read the Tim Powers, Gene Wolfes, Samuel Delany's, E.R.R Eddison's of this world]
Also, the original author of this thread, way back asked us to list our own favorite authors [a list whcih by its very nature is going to be subjective]. And the names here are just a measure of our personal tastes not an exhaustive pronouncement on the genre's best.