Favorite Sci-fi/Fantasy Authors

[tanis]

So, I've been wondering for a long time what authors the rest of you read on a regular basis, and/or the authors you've read that you most enjoyed, or that most influenced you in some way, specifically from a genre within Science Fiction or Fantasy.

Besides being secretly interested as to how we all would compare, I also thought it might be a nice way to find new reading material, since it's summer and I don't have a girlfriend anymore, and need some stuff to do besides go to the pool and work. XD

So, what say you?

[David Roomes]

Sorry for the very late reply.

Here'a short list of authors I read when I was younger that influenced me. Not a complete list,  just what comes to mind:

J. R. R. Tolkien - The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings (of course, weren't we all influenced by this one?)
Raymond E. Feist - The Riftwar Saga and a few others
Terry Brooks - The Shannara Series
Weis and Hickman - The Dragonlance novels (just the first 6, not the 17,000 that followed). Also a few other trilogies by them.
R. A. Salvatorre - Miscellanous books
Joel Rosenberg - Guardian of the Flames series
Gary Gygax - The Gord Series (I'm almost embarrassed to include this one as the writing was quite bad )
Patricia McKillip - The Riddle-Master Series

Noticeably absent from my list are a number of famous authors. I've never read David Eddings. I've never read Michael Moorcock. I've never read Anne McCaffrey. etc. Nothing against them, just never got around to them.

Scattered in my reading during my younger years were a number of novelizations from fantasy films. The Dark Crystal, Dragonslayer, etc. Both of which were hugely influential to Khoras.

Also, I only recently started reading A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin. Now I see what the big deal is. He's fantastic. I LOVE his stuff. It's my own fault though. About 10 years ago, a very good friend of mine handed me a book entitled "A Game of Thrones" and said 'Dave, you've got to read this'. I put the book down and forget about it. Now, here it is 10 years later and I am KICKING MYSELF for not reading it then. I am in love with this series. I'm also watching it on HBO and enjoying seeing it on screen. Love it!

And I also love science fiction. Here it's a bit more scattered. I've read the greats - Asimov, Heinlein, Bradbury, etc. Just last summer I read Dune by Herbert. Two years ago, I read everything I could get my hands on from H. P. Lovecraft just out of curiosity. Read lots of his short stories. And I've also been reading a lot of the original Conan stories by Howard. Well, I was before stumbled upon George Martin. Now, I'll probably read nothing else until I get caught up with everyone else. Five big fat books. Well, I'm almost done with the second book - A Clash of Kings. I have 3 more to go. Then I'll be caught up.

Interesting side note - I've never read any George Martin before this except that I think I may have read one of his short stories a few years ago. Not really sure. I noticed a startling similarity between his Wall and the Seven Gods and between Garreon's Wall and the Six Gods of the Chaddamar in Khoras. I'm wondering if I may have subconsciously been influenced by such a short story.

Anyway, fun topic!

[David Roomes]

By the way, Tanis, if you haven't yet read George R. R. Martin and you are looking for something to do this summer, I HIGHLY recommend his Song of Ice and Fire series. The first book is called "Game of Thrones". It really is that good. One famous author referred to him as the "American Tolkien". I thought that was a bit of an exaggeration, until I read the first book. By the end of the first book, I was hooked. There are currently 5 in the series and I think he's got two more coming before it's done.

[tanis]

OH GOD THERE ARE SEVEN???

I haven't even made it through the third yet. >,>;

Terry Brooks is hands down my favorite author for personal reading, though overall, it's close between him and S?ren Kierkegaard. I've read all of the Shannara books currently out, I'm in the process of reading the Word & Void series, and I hope to eventually read all his books. Not only do I really enjoy them, but they've done a lot for me as far as helping me figure out my personal philosophy, from the concept of Truth, to reality, to morals, even though quite a bit of that just came from my own mind while reading them.

I've only read The Hobbit, but I loved it, though I can somewhat understand critiques of Tolkien that say he wasn't much of a writer. His stuff is great, but definitely brings his English professor influences into the mix. XD Oh wait, I started The Silmarillion several years ago, but I got busy with school and haven't touched it since. ^^;

Of course I love Weis and Hickman's Dragonlance series. Tanis. XD; They helped to really get me into more fantasy that wasn't quite so mainstream, like Tolkien.

I also love Piers Anthony. I've only read the first three books of the Blue Adept series, but one of these days I plan to read the last one, and read at least a couple more of his series.

Now, I'm going to say this, and I hope you won't take offense... but I've read the first two A Song Of Ice And Fire books by George R. R. Martin, and I love them. However, I hate his writing style. I love the classics, and don't mind reading Melville even, but I find George Martin's books to be amazingly good, deep and intelligent, but fairly dry at times, and just a bit wordy. However, when I find the time, I intend to get back into them and finish them. I have the first four already.

They'll have to wait for me to pick A Knight Of The Word by Terry Brooks back up, though, because I got to nearly the very end, and stopped being in the mood for reading. Of course, I DID have two kids (my cousin and his friend) staying in my room for almost a full week. I love the kid, but they were driving me crazy, and I was still dealing with my breakup, and the stress just got too high.

As for Asimov, I've always wanted to read his stuff, but never found the time. I think I may have read one of his short stories, but I can't remember. I'm not sure if I should start with I, Robot, or go for one of his novels to get into him, though.

I also really want to read Philip K. Dick. I'm thinking I'll just be bland and start with Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? instead of picking up A Scanner Darkly first.

I adored Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, if that counts. Also, Ray Bradbury and Kurt Vonnegut are two authors I've always loved. I'm really only familiar with particular short stories of Vonnegut's, but I've loved every one I've read.

And while I'm not interested in reading the entire series, Dune was an amazing book. How it turned into the movie with Kyle MacLachlan and Sting, I'll never know. XD;

However, even though I mentioned summer reading, I ended up deciding that it's time to jump into my VERY long list of Kierkegaard, Kant, Nietzsche, and Wittgenstein first, and seeing as that comprises some 6 short treatises and one huge (and, sadly, very slightly abridged) work of philosophy. So my work is probably cut out for me. However, I'm still down for suggestions, so feel free.

And thanks for responding, Dave, even if it's late. XD I'm just glad to see some activity on here again. ^^;

P.S. - I honestly kind of think of Terry Brooks as the closest thing to another Tolkien. His Shannara series is basically the same thing as Tolkien's Middle Earth, except his series is after the modern world, and Tolkien's predates the modern, human world.

[David Roomes]

Tanis,

That's a heck of a list you've got there. It makes me realize just how much I have yet to read. SO MANY BOOKS, so little time. Good grief!

While we're on the topic of writers and such, since you're familiar with Dragonlance stuff, you may have heard of a writer named Douglas Niles. He wrote Moonshae Isles and a few Dragonlance books and other stuff. Well, I just found out that my friend and business partner is friends with Douglas Niles. Like REALLY GOOD friends. They grew up together. Just about blew my socks off. People can always surprise you. Maybe one day I'll get to meet him. I read and enjoyed the Moonshae trilogy in high school.

By the way, I've been away from Khoras and the forum a lot this summer (and I apologize about that to one and all), but plan on coming back with more frequent updates and more regular forum visits. It's time for me to start digging into Khoras again and get some stuff done. Life just seems to get in the way sometimes.

Hope everyone is having a very good summer.

David

[tanis]

That IS pretty cool, actually. :O

As for being busy, believe me, I know how much life can get in the way of the shit you would like to do sometimes. Don't sweat it, Dave.