# Your Favorite Fiction Author



## Dru Edwards (9 mo ago)

Anyone do any reading of fiction? Favorite authors?

I became a* Stephen King* fan when I read the Dead Zone back in '86 and then I never stopped. I have all his books. *H.P. Lovecraft *is another favorite of mine. He's got some great stuff.

How about you?


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## JBFairthorne (Oct 11, 2014)

Hemingway


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## Mark Brown (Jan 4, 2022)

Wilbur Smith, thats who pops to mind. Nothing heavy but some fun easy read beach style novels.


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## polyslax (May 15, 2020)

Haven't read tons of fiction.Enjoyed Tolkien as a teen. Fell hard for Vonnegut's writing a little later. I've had bursts of sci-fi activity from time-to-time, Frank Herbert, Arthur C. Clarke etc.


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## markxander (Oct 24, 2009)

on a big sci fi kick right now and reading cixin liu's three body problem trilogy. i am also a big magic realism guy and i have read a lot of jorge luis borges, salman rushdie, italo calvino. i also like postmodern stuff -- i have enjoyed marisha pessl and thomas pynchon's shorter works.

a million years ago i liked hemingway, bukowski, and mark leyner a lot, but the last few years i don't have time for their macho horseshit.

i haven't read much since i did my MA in 2012, but a new kobo around christmas and my library card have really turned me back around. i read nk jemisen's broken earth trilogy in february and was so into it that i didn't stop.

i should add that i love mark leyner's et tu babe? and have a tribute to it on one of my guitars. it doesn't really completely hold up in 2022, but i have never been on a plane and not brought/read this book:


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## leftysg (Mar 29, 2008)

I like King, although the length is often daunting, so much so that the Stand, Under the Dome and Dark Tower series have been beyond me. His short story collections are quite satisfying. The most recent one of his that I really enjoyed was The Institute. 
I have tried to make it through Martin's GOT's but not yet completed. 
I enjoy ghost stories, in particular British writer M.R. James. They are locked in time, late to post Victorian era I'd say, and have been popular choices for BBC's ghost stories for Christmas episodes. 
Tolkien's trilogy and Hobbit were great, but the Silmarillion...tougher. I am looking forward to Amazon Prime's September release of earlier Tolkien material.


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## Rollin Hand (Jul 12, 2012)

John Sandford - some of the best "guy" crime thrillers around.

Lee Child - when he's good, he's really good. Don't waste time on the Reacher books written by Andrew Child.

Stephen King - his early stuff is very good.

Laurie R. King - specifically the Mary Russell series. 

Robert B. Parker - there are some lulls in his catalogue, but the good stuff is so, so, slick.

From Canada, I love Giles Blunt's Cardinal series.


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## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)

Jack Whyte He does the best version of King Arthur and the round table


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## KapnKrunch (Jul 13, 2016)

Mervyn Peake stands alone. Born 1911, died 1968.


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## Mark Brown (Jan 4, 2022)

Rollin Hand said:


> Lee Child - when he's good, he's really good


You are right about that. Unfortunately the inverse is also true.


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## Acoustic Tom (Apr 6, 2020)

Anne Rice


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## YaReMi (Mar 9, 2006)

KURT VONNEGUT


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## Verne (Dec 29, 2018)

Jonathan Kellerman
Harlan Coben
Dean Koontz 

All very different writers in similar genre.


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

KapnKrunch said:


> Mervyn Peake stands alone. Born 1911, died 1968.


First 2 books of Gormenghast are outstanding.


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## HighNoon (Nov 29, 2016)

John Le Carre (mostly fiction)....or as the old retired spy on the midnight train in the early 80's from Roma to Munich told me when he saw me with one of his books....'he knows what he's talking about'.


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

Sandford, Crais, Child, Coben, C.J. Box, Parker, and Hurwitz are all excellent reads.

In the fantasy realm I've recently discovered John Gwynne and love everything so far. Too many to list in Sci-Fi/fantasy genres.


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## Alan Small (Dec 30, 2019)

Elmore Leonard

Carl Hiaasen


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## BlueRocker (Jan 5, 2020)

Douglas Adams


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## ezcomes (Jul 28, 2008)

Who is it that wrote 45s speechs? They write some great fiction


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

I don't know if it's a psychological disorder on my part, but as much respect as I have for writers of fiction (and I thoroughly enjoy Eleanor Wachtel's interviews with them: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/writersandcompany ), I have little interest in reading it. Mysteries, sci fi, historical fiction, "literature", whatnot, doesn't matter. Same thing for poetry, theatre, art, and movies. Just not interested, and less interest the older I get. I know I _*should*_ like it. I mean, billions of people couldn't ALL be wrong, right? But billions of people also like alcohol, fish, and jewellery (not _together_, silly), and I can't find anything appealing about those either.

So, no favorites here. And apparently, no fun. Carry on.


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## SWLABR (Nov 7, 2017)

John Irving.

For some Can-Con David Adams Richards.


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## YaReMi (Mar 9, 2006)

mhammer said:


> I don't know if it's a psychological disorder on my part, but as much respect as I have for writers of fiction (and I thoroughly enjoy Eleanor Wachtel's interviews with them: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/writersandcompany ), I have little interest in reading it. Mysteries, sci fi, historical fiction, "literature", whatnot, doesn't matter. Same thing for poetry, theatre, art, and movies. Just not interested, and less interest the older I get. I know I _*should*_ like it. I mean, billions of people couldn't ALL be wrong, right? But billions of people also like alcohol, fish, and jewellery (not _together_, silly), and I can't find anything appealing about those either.
> 
> So, no favorites here. And apparently, no fun. Carry on.


Kurt Vonnegut ...


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## Paul M (Mar 27, 2015)

King James.


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## Rollin Hand (Jul 12, 2012)

Alan Small said:


> Carl Hiaasen


You reminded me of another Florida writer that I like a lot: Randy Wayne White.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

YaReMi said:


> Kurt Vonnegut ...


That's a suggestion, or a comparison?


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## jimmythegeek (Apr 17, 2012)

Mordecai Richler will always have a pretty big chunk of my heart. Thomas Pynchon just a hit or miss for me but the hits hit hard. I’ve never read anything by Michael Chabon or Jonathan Lethem that I didn’t like but I haven’t read them all. Come to think of it, I really like Robertson Davies. I guess I like a lot lol.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

Wow no Neil Gaiman in this thread?


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Ray Bradbury


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## markxander (Oct 24, 2009)

jimmythegeek said:


> Mordecai Richler will always have a pretty big chunk of my heart. Thomas Pynchon just a hit or miss for me but the hits hit hard. I’ve never read anything by Michael Chabon or Jonathan Lethem that I didn’t like but I haven’t read them all. Come to think of it, I really like Robertson Davies. I guess I like a lot lol.


crying of lot 49 was hugely enjoyable for me, gravity's rainbow was... not. i think most non-maniacs will agree with you on pynchon


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## Verne (Dec 29, 2018)

For my Can-con.....Kelly Armstrong. Fiction/fantasy I suppose. I found the Cainesville series enjoyable.


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## Wardo (Feb 5, 2010)

davetcan said:


> First 2 books of Gormenghast are outstanding.


I read that in about grade 10 - the description was such that I could visualize what he was writing about.


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## alphasports (Jul 14, 2008)

Big John Grisham fan...ok very airport-grade fiction but outstanding. I can vaporize one of his books in 3 hours, still have time to take a piss before landing


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## Wardo (Feb 5, 2010)

P.G. Wodehouse
John Mortimer
Evelyn Waugh
Kurt Vonnegut


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## jimmythegeek (Apr 17, 2012)

markxander said:


> crying of lot 49 was hugely enjoyable for me, gravity's rainbow was... not. i think most non-maniacs will agree with you on pynchon


I have reread Crying of Lot 49 probably a dozen times. I’ve only read Gravity’s Rainbow once but I actually (somewhat maniacally) liked it. I don’t think I made it through 100 pages of Against the Day. I finished Vineland largely for spite (how could something that starts so we’ll end so poorly?!?). Inherent Vice is as good as Lot 49 and even Bleeding Edge was OK. 

In my previous post I somehow managed to omit Flann O’Brien/Myles NaGopaleen and Don Delillo. I’ve spent a lot of time rereading most of their bibliographies.


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## jimmythegeek (Apr 17, 2012)

Wardo said:


> P.G. Wodehouse
> John Mortimer
> Evelyn Waugh
> Kurt Vonnegut


All of John Mortimer’s dialogue for Rumpole is just SO satisfying.


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## KapnKrunch (Jul 13, 2016)

davetcan said:


> First 2 books of Gormenghast are outstanding.


It's difficult to find, but "Boy In Darkness" is a creepy short-story adventure that inserts into Titus' history at some point, where there is a age gap in "Gormenghast".


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## blueshores_guy (Apr 8, 2007)

T. Jefferson Parker
Jo Nesbo


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## YaReMi (Mar 9, 2006)

mhammer said:


> That's a suggestion, or a comparison?


Suggestion!
I don't read these days as much as I would like to. I used to read a lot fifty plus years ago, long time before internet, kijiji, and GC and other forums. I also find it difficult to commit myself to a piece of fiction where within few pages it's so obvious what tricks and schemes the author is using to get me interested. I have the same problem with commercial cinema. I don't want nor like predictable. Maybe that's why in music I worship Zappa and few unpredictable others (Tom Waits, Ry Cooder, etc.).
*Vonnegut* is always fresh. If I reach for a fiction to read, it's usually something older that I might have missed years ago .. Jack Kerouac, Hunter S Thompson, Henry Miller, Philip Roth, poems by Charles Bukowski. I wish I was reaching more often 
My mother was addicted to reading memoirs and I had an opinion about it. Now, when I'm not old yet but already septuagenarian, I find lots of pleasure in reading memoirs of my guitar heroes .. Keith Richards, Robbie Robertson, Andy Summers, Greg Lake, Bob, Neil, .. others. More are coming I hope ...
*Vonnegut* is always fresh.


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## Wardo (Feb 5, 2010)

jimmythegeek said:


> All of John Mortimer’s dialogue for Rumpole


That’s where I got my cross examination style and then add my southern red nek accent to that and it fucks them right up every time … lol


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## AJ6stringsting (Mar 12, 2006)

Arthur C. Clark
Gene Rodenberry based books
Carl Sagan
Gary Jennings


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## Dorian2 (Jun 9, 2015)

Pet Cemetery was my first King book in '86. Big fan here as well.


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## allthumbs56 (Jul 24, 2006)

davetcan said:


> Sandford, Crais, Child, Coben, C.J. Box, Parker, and Hurwitz are all excellent reads.
> 
> In the fantasy realm I've recently discovered John Gwynne and love everything so far. Too many to list in Sci-Fi/fantasy genres.


Big, big fan of Crais and Robert B Parker. Sandford too. I highly recommend Bernard Cornwell too - his historical fiction is superb. My favourite series of his is still the Sharpe stuff - kept it all and re-read it yearly.


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## diyfabtone (Mar 9, 2016)

Lawrence Durrel


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## funkmaster (11 mo ago)

Gabriel García Márquez & Haruki Murakami, love me some mystical realism.


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## Kitten_shark (8 mo ago)

Another vote for Murakami, but also some love for fellow Canadians Steven Erikson and Guy Gavriel Kay.


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## 1SweetRide (Oct 25, 2016)

Dru Edwards said:


> Anyone do any reading of fiction? Favorite authors?
> 
> I became a* Stephen King* fan when I read the Dead Zone back in '86 and then I never stopped. I have all his books. *H.P. Lovecraft *is another favorite of mine. He's got some great stuff.
> 
> How about you?


I like Stephen King also. Read most of his stuff. Working through Mr. Mercedes now and want to buy the Dark Tower series. I really like Robin Hobb for fantasy and of course James S. A. Corey (The Expanse). Evan Currie is a newer SF writer that I enjoy.


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## laristotle (Aug 29, 2019)

Wardo said:


> That’s where I got my cross examination style and then add my southern red nek accent to that and it fucks them right up every time … lol


I always picture you as Ben Matlock when you mention law. lol


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## laristotle (Aug 29, 2019)

Sci-fi fantasy
Piers Anthony
David Eddings


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## Wardo (Feb 5, 2010)

laristotle said:


> I always picture you as Ben Matlock when you mention law. lol


Not far off .. lol


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## Dru Edwards (9 mo ago)

Verne said:


> Jonathan Kellerman
> Harlan Coben
> *Dean Koontz*
> 
> All very different writers in similar genre.


I have 70 of Dean Koontz's books and I'm only missing a few. I've read nearly half (still ongoing). I really enjoyed the Odd Thomas series.


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## Verne (Dec 29, 2018)

Dru Edwards said:


> I have 70 of Dean Koontz's books and I'm only missing a few. I've read nearly half (still ongoing). I really enjoyed the Odd Thomas series.


The Odd Thomas series was great!! That's a reread for me for sure. My woman read the Frankenstein series and really liked them. I found he and John Saul were very similar writers, but I stuck with Mr Koontz.


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## Henk Don (Nov 15, 2019)

Wilbur Smith
David Baldacci
Tom Clancy
John Grisham


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Although I don't read fiction myself, I was reminded of how much I enjoyed the books of Canadian author Ken Roberts ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Roberts_(author) ), when I'd read them to my sons. I particularly liked his book _Pop Bottles_, that probably means a lot more to an older generation. A couple of kids find a huge stash of empty pop bottles, during an era when you'd get a couple of cents a bottle for empties. It's like finding a bag of stolen cash. (I remember cruising the beach with my cousin, asking sunbathers "Excuse me sir, are you done with that bottle?", and cashing in a quintet of them for a popsicle or fudgicle.) 

The kids face two dilemmas. One is that they can't cash in too may bottles at once or else they'll tip their hand to other neighbourhood kids. The other is that there are two corner stores in their neighbourhood where they could get penny candy. One has an excellent and extensive choice of candy, but the owner is fussy about where the bottles came from (ideally from his own store). The other has a more restricted choice of candy, but is lax about bottle origin.

Another of his - _Hiccup Champion of the World_ - concerns a kid who has been hiccuping constantly for several months and gains notoriety because of that. Slated to appear on a major talk show, his nervousness just before appearing makes the hiccups suddenly stop, and he has to contend with the question of whether to keep up appearances or not.

Roberts' books always lay out moral choices before the young protagonists to work through. Gives young readers something to mull over, that isn't beyond their reasoning at that age.


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## Doug Gifford (Jun 8, 2019)

Kurt Vonnegut I'm thinking. But my favourite book is _The Master and Margarita_ by Mikhail Bulgakov. I've read it at least a half dozen times over the years a love it every time. And recently learned that it was Mick Jagger's inspiration when he wrote "Sympathy for the Devil."


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