How did you ever come up with THAT list? Were those just the authors of the first six adult books you read and you still remember them fondly? You seem to be a fan of "classic" sci-fi and fantasy, those people are all long-dead. Yet you don't include Heinlein, Bradbury, or Asimov. Or Frank Herbert. And I won't even ask how you chose the one representative of the entire rest of the vast universe of literature: Plato. Not Shakespeare, Twain, Cervantes, etc. Well I loved the Perelandra series by C.S. Lewis but "Lord of the Rings" affected me more deeply so I voted for Tolkien because he's on the list. But he's only my favorite of those guys. James P. Hogan, Alan Dean Foster, and Robert L. Forward, one of them is my all-time favorite depending on what day you ask me. Or Michener or Auel, I read outside the genre occasionally.
Well, for one thing I have a considerably larger list but one, there are only so many slots in a poll and two, it was late and those were the first things to come into my head. Not all of the works done by these authors were SciFi. Tolkien was mainly within those realms but Lewis wrote a few adult books that had a lot to do with God. Wells became more of a political writer and while his works reflected things that were to come in the recent future he also wrote a great deal about women's rights and global unity. He was truly ahead of his time as science didn't catch up to him as quickly as it did Jules Verne. Plato, I just find interesting and he was ahead of his time as well. Shakespeare is great as are Asimov, Bradbury (My mom met him when he did a talk for her school.), Herbert are great. You can't discount I, Robot or the Martian Chronicles or the Dune series. It's all good.
Myself, of course. Michael Crichton is a close second, as well as Wendy Northcutt (gotta love them Darwin Awards books).
shakespeare, chauser and bacon. everything else ever written is crap! sorry, the thread just begged for an answer like that.
I hate shakespeare. Fuck that english bastard. Scotland forever! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Clive Barker Neil Gaiman Douglas Adams Kurt Vonnegut Tom Robbins Herman Wauk Jane Austen Tad Williams Jorge Borges ... and many many more.
When I was young: Dostojevski Tourgenjev Tolstoi Henry Miller lots of other dark bullshit When I am now: Charles Buckowski John varley (scifi) random shit ....
i voted for other! and my top 5 "other" authors are (in no specific order): kurt vonnegut e. e. cummings allen ginsberg ray bradbury chuck palahniuk
it changes all the time but at the moment kafka interests me the most,just read the trial and its the most frustrating book i have ever read.i have a very big soft spot for douglas adams.i think the language used in romeo and juliet is close to perfect,same for macbeth (in terms of atmosphere).and my guilty pleasure is bernard cornwell,trash; but good trash.
Very difficult question. As far as long standing favourites go, I've always been a pretty big Graham Greene fan, but you're putting me on the spot here. If I come back tomorrow I'll say someone totally different. john smith: I read 'The Wee Free Men' a few months ago, and actually enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I was going to. Haven't read anything else by him though, got any recommendations?
right now i'm really into eion colfer. its too bad that i've only ever heard of 3 of his books. i know hes got more, can anyone tell me what they are?
I do not really have a favorite author, but I have probably read more Vonnegut than anyone else, and I have enjoyed most of his work.
He is brilliant, isn't he? *immediately starts rereading How To Be An Alien* But i'd have to go with Evelyn Waugh. Oh, but Nietzsche, obviously! Forgot about non-fiction...
Shakespeare is the greatest author of all time (so far), case closed, but you did say "favorite". I was going to say Neitzsche as personal fave because he is so funny, and insightful, and wow "deep", but I can't really pin down a favorite, sorry. I pick Tolkien out of that list as fave for sure, but obviously plato added a little bit more to the intellectual culture than any other on the list, or possibly any list, minus the things that were supposedly written by God himself through a medium.
Ya I love Micheal Crichton. I also really like Robert Jordan (great fantesy) Orson Scott Card (great science fiction) and Jack Whyte, who has a great series on the legend on king Arthur, told in way without the magic, but as if it were historical fiction (which is what it is sometimes dubbed) Actually its interesting how book stores classify it...some put it in the fantesy section, others in the fiction.
