Top Ten Tuesday - Authors Who Deserve More Recognition
Top Ten Tuesday is hosted at The Broke and The Bookish
This weeks list: Top Ten Authors That Deserve More Recognition
Okay, there are a few possible directions to take this. First I'll cover a couple folks who deserve more credit for how influential they were, then some semi-obscure to obscure authors I'm fond of, and finally I'll move on to some up-and-comers. Onward!
1. Lord Dunsany
One of the granddaddies of all genre, who has somewhat fallen out of common reading. If you're a fan of fantasy, and you haven't read The King of Elfland's Daughter
, you have some homework to get to. (Also see my review here)2. Raymond Chandler
Nothing simple about his brooding pulp detective novels; this is prose so sharp you could cut yourself, and he deserves more readers from all corners of the reading world.
3. Peter S. Beagle
I've seen enough copies of the recent collection of his short fiction (review here) at the library to think that people are reading it, but I'm sometimes surprised by how many haven't tried his inventive fantasies.
4. Octavia E. Butler
I'm ashamed I hadn't read anything by her until just recently. Amazing work, my review of Dawn here.
5. R. A. MacAvoy
I remember loving her books years back, but she's barely written anything recently, so she's fallen off the radar. If you have a yen for medieval fantasy with unique magic, a good historical setting and angels that are fascinating, track down her Trio For Lute series, it starts with Damiano.
6. Michael Scott Rohan
I do hope I'm not leading you astray with the previous and this one; I haven't read either author for years. I remember very good things about Rohan's Winter of the World
fantasy trilogy, but it's been out of print for a while.7-10: I'm lucky enough to have a collection of friends who have written some awesome books. So hell yes, I think they should get more recognition! Browse away:
Erin L. Snyder
I edited these books; I should know how good they are. I think they're damn good.
Facsimile (near future SF novel about social networking, artificial intelligence and the future of society. Has awesome characters, dark humor, and an intricate and intelligent setting.)
For Love of Children
(dark fantasy novel with lovely stylized prose, which takes Santa Claus and other modern myth figures as serious characters. It's incredibly moving.)A Man of Snow and Other Seasonal Stories (THIS ONE IS SHORT AND FREE!)
Chris Braak
The Translated Man
(noir/detective novel set in an incredibly inventive world, similar to steampunk only more intriguing and unique)Joseph Laycock
Vampires Today: The Truth About Modern Vampirism
(scholarly work about the modern subculture, it's really interesting)Gabriel McKee
The Gospel According to Science Fiction
(academic work, great survey and analysis of religious themes in SF)
Happy Reading!
Octavia Butler is on my list as well. She deserves to be more well-known! I've never read any Raymond Chandler before so I think that's someone I definitely need to check out.
ReplyDeleteI love Chandler. His Marlowe novels are dark, violent and occasionally dated as any noir detective pulps, but it's the quality of the description that I adore. He pretty much invented the noir style. Plus if you read them in order there's an overarching story about the progress of Marlowe's struggles with morality and the world. My favorite is The Long Goodbye, though.
ReplyDeleteI read a biography of Chandler which said he drafted each sentence on its own small slip of paper because he wanted each phrase to be carefully chosen, with no wasted words.
You are certainly right with Raymond Chandler. Thanks for this.
ReplyDeleteThat last book sounds interesting. :) My library carries 3 Raymond Chandler works: I'll look at them today and see if anything catches my interest!
ReplyDeleteRaymond Chandler for the win!!!
ReplyDeleteLove Raymond Chandler!
ReplyDelete