SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

We all have some authors we immediately buy when we come across a new book by them.

Mine would be:
Sci-fi - Iain M Bank, Peter F Hamilton and Alastair Reynolds

Fantasy - Brent Weeks

Who would be your "buy on sight" authors?

Elizabeth Bear (SF & F)
Lois McMaster Bujold (SF & F)
Jacqueline Carey (SF & F)
Barbara Hambly (F & Mystery)
Patricia McKillip (F)
Robin McKinley (F)
Sean Stewart (F)
Catherynne M. Valente (F & Poetry)
Jo Walton (F & Poetry)
Connie Willis (SF)

Sadly, those are just the living ones. . .

Steven Erikson
Scott Lynch
Patrick Rothfuss
George R.R. Martin

This list has gotten a lot smaller than it used to be for me. At this point, it's basically Moira J. Moore (fantasy) and Mira Grant (zombie SF/horror under this name, but fantasy as Seanan McGuire, which I don't read), but they only have one series each that I'm following. And if they were hardcover-first authors it would be library all the way. (Though I might buy Feed in hardcover now that I know how good it is. I would definitely buy it in trade paperback, as the mass market paperback is so large that it's especially prone to wear and tear.)

I used to buy Lois McMaster Bujold in hardcover without a second thought, but then she published The Hallowed Hunt (which I thought was disappointing), and went on a fantasy romance kick with the Sharing Knife books (which didn't interest me very much). I bought CryoBurn in hardcover, but if I hadn't been able to do so very cheaply because of a coupon and some rewards bucks from Borders, I might not have.

I have just realized that my buy-on-sight list is shorter than expected:
* George R.R. Martin
* Almudena Grandes
* Arturo Pérez-Reverte

Only the first one writes sci-fi/fantasy; the Spanish authors have written historical fiction, contemporary, newspaper articles... I truly recommend them to anybody who likes good reading.

I define "buy on sight" as "I'm definitely going to buy this book at some stage":

China Miéville
Neil Gaiman (if it's novels)
Iain M. Banks
A.A. Attanasio
Connie Willis
Neal Stephenson
Patrick Rothfuss (latest addition)

There's some more that are not SciFi/Fantasy authors.

Regards
Caleb

Robin McKinley
Diana Wynne Jones
Margaret Maron
Laurie R King

In no particular order ;)



Sigler Scott
Shaun Jeffrey
Paul Elard Cooley
Jake Bible
J.C. Hutchins
Seth Harwood

Brandon Sanderson
Katherine Kerr
Neil Gaiman (I love his graphic novels too).
Kim Harrison (at least her Rachel Morgan series)

I tend to get more excited about particular series than particular authors. Although some authors (Neil, I'm looking at you) hit it out of the ballpark more often than others.

Definetly Guy Gavriel Kay.

I can't believe that
Stephen King didnt make the list yet.

Tom Clancy
Charlaine Harris
Douglas Preston
Jonathan Maberry
James Patterson
Kim Harrison
John Grisham
W.E.B. Griffin

I realize not all these are sci fi, but its my list

Perhaps the reason I have a to-read shelf of about thirty books is due to the amount of authors I buy on sight. Doesn't that mean that the fantasy and sci fi genres are stronger than ever?

My automatic purchases include:

Brandon Sanderson
Cherie Priest
Scott Lynch
George R. R. Martin
Patrick Rothfuss
John Scalzi
Joe Abercrombie
Lois McMaster Bujold
Neil Gaiman
Michael J. Sullivan
Robin Hobb
Brian Ruckley
A. Lee Martinez
Janny Wurts
Ted Chiang

And of course,

Guy Gavriel Kay

I'm still working on many of their back catalogues. Honorable mention also goes to David Weber, Joe Hill, classic Stephen King and Elizabeth Bear. I love authors so much! They're my rock stars ;)

I'm sure I've forgotten some, but I haven't had my coffee yet...

Must haves in all genres:

George R.R. Martin
Robin Hobb
Laurie R. King
Patrick Rothfuss
Brandon Sanderson
Jacqueline Carey
Diana Gabaldon
J.K. Rowling

For me this list is short. I can't afford to have too many on it!

Robin Hobb
Scott Lynch
George R.R. Martin
Patrick Rothfuss
Brandon Sanderson

Buy on sight

Guy Gavriel Kay
Steven Brust
Robert J. Sawyer
William Gibson
Neal Stephenson
Vernor Vinge

Dawn wrote: "For me this list is short. I can't afford to have too many on it!

I know the feeling!
Tim Powers
Graham Joyce
Jonathan Carroll
Natsuki Takaya
Thomas Sowell

Harlan Ellison (I've got most of his, but there are a few that have escaped me, I think)
John Scalzi
Robert Heinlein (have most of the adult works, need to collect the juveniles)

Other than those, I think I'm pretty much satisfied with impulse buying based on back-of-the-book descriptions.

I only really have one author whose books I will buy as soon as I know about them (regardless of whether I really have the money to spare at the moment or not, too). And that would be Carol Berg. The list might expand a little if/when I have the economic means to buy more books, but for now, that's it.

(That said, I do also have a Japanese manga artist whose books I order more or less as soon as they come out.)

Neil Gaiman
Terry Pratchett
Jasper Fforde (just pre-ordered 'One of our Thursdays is Missing'.
Connie Willis
Greg Egan.

It's funny how personal these lists are. Some of the authors whose names appear repeatedly I find to be 'meh', or worse (and I'm sure people will say the same about my list). Its also interesting how universal some authors' names appear to be.

My list, limited to SF/Fantasy, well refined over years, in no particular order:

C. J. Cherryh (Fantasy and SF)
Guy Gavriel Kay
Carol Berg
Patricia McKillip
Barbara Hambly
R.M. Meluch
Sarah Zettel
Juliet Marillier
Karin Lowachee

There are huge numbers of books I've enjoyed as much, but year on year, these authors consistently deliver stories of topnotch craftsmanship and quality, and each one has a track record long enough to rely on.

Roger Zelazny had his place on this list, also, before he passed on.

Mainstream authors I've bought on sight throughout their careers include:

Dick Francis
Dorothy Dunnett

and for nonfiction,

Laura Hillenbrand

Oh, wow, non-SF, didn't even think about that ...

Richard Rhodes (non-fiction, wrote Making of the Atomic Bomb, have read several others of his. Good reporter)
Andrew Vachss (fell in love with the Burke Books, I dig gritty)
For a while I was getting everything Jerry Ahern, Axel Kilgore, and Jonathan Cain, then I completed the series collections and was done)
Had up to about #50 in the Destroyer series, too.
Carl Hiassen, but gave those up around the time the one with the lottery ticket came out ...

Oh, can't believe I forgot Neal Stephenson (SF mostly). Though honestly, the Baroque Cycle was kind of a miss for me. But Anathem was a love at first sight book for me (I broke the hardcover copy I bought from reading it too much and had to buy another, plus a paperback!), so if anything else he comes out with looks interesting, I'd probably snabble it up.

If C.J. Cherryh comes out with any more sequels to Cyteen, I'd probably buy them even though Regenesis was disappointing. Or any sequels to Downbelow Station, or that were otherwise in the Alliance/Union universe. (Cherryh is SF&F but I only read her SF.)

this is a great thread. My to read list is growing by leaps and bounds.

Patrick Rothfuss
Brandon Sanderson
Scott Lynch
Jim Butcher
Peter V. Brett
Joe Abercrombie

Think that covers all the ones I'll just buy regardless of what it is...

eta: Martin too, I guess. But only for ASoIaF.

Sheri S. Tepper
George RR Martin
Tad Williams
Robin Hobb
Jim Butcher


Janny,

I read a lot of Dick Francis as a kid, I got introduced via the Reader's Digest condensed books that my mom had.

Lara Amber wrote: "Sheri S. Tepper
George RR Martin
Tad Williams
Robin Hobb
Jim Butcher


Janny,

I read a lot of Dick Francis as a kid, I ..."

Wow, period. I cannot imagine a Dick Francis book, condensed. He wrote with such spare, vivid clarity. Great author. You always came away from his reads with more knowledge about something - and what a keen observer of human nature.

A great book is great, no matter what genre.

For SFF

CJ Cherryh
Janny Wurts
Juliet Marillier
Julie E Czerneda
Ursula K. Le Guin
Stephen Lawhead
Stephen Baxter
Samuel R. Delany
Brent Weeks (so far)
Jack McDevitt
Neil Gaiman
David Weber
Cory Doctorow

All new Star Wars and Star Trek books

Buy on sight without reading reviews? Only one author, I think:

R.M. Meluch (who is not on Goodreads, apparently)

I got sucked in with the Merrimack series, and now can't help myself from picking up whatever else I find (usually in the used bookstores because they're all older).

Ted Chiang
Catherynne M. Valente
China Miéville
Connie Willis
Sergei Lukyanenko (Сергей Лукьяненко) (This is assuming something new is actually translated into English.)

Terry Pratchett and Steven Brust and Margaret Atwood and Haruki Murakami belong on this list, but I'm not actually caught up on reading everything they've done so far, so I've declared a moratorium on their work until I do catch up. Well, excepting Murakami's 1Q84, which I'll mostly likely be unable to restrain myself from buying the minute it's translated. (It's due "sometime" this year, but in one volume in English, instead of as a series.)

Edit to add: I also only listed living authors.

Janine wrote: "Buy on sight without reading reviews? Only one author, I think:

R.M. Meluch (who is not on Goodreads, apparently)

I got sucked in with the Merrimack series, and now can't help myself from picking..."

Janine, here he is: R.M. Meluch
(I couldn't get the "add book/author" thingie to find him, either. It's apparently fussy sometimes.)

Karin Slaughter, Jane Haddam, Donna Leon, David Rotenberg, Ian Rankin, Martin Cruz Smith..

At one time, L.R. Wright until she passed away, Laurell K. Hamilton, until I got a bit tired of her books... John Wyndham and Alistair MacLean

Candiss wrote: "Janine wrote: "Buy on sight without reading reviews? Only one author, I think:

R.M. Meluch (who is not on Goodreads, apparently)

I got sucked in with the Merrimack series, and now can't help myse..."

She....grin.

INCREDIBLE books, and yes, it is HARD to make her name highlight. She writes beautifully. Her Myriad series is wonderful, fun space opera with vivid characters. For her serious work, I was blown away by Jerusalem Fire.

Great to see some people around here know and enjoy this author. Shows some good taste in this group ;) I have always felt she is greatly under appreciated.

Destructo wrote: "Neil Gaiman
Terry Pratchett
Jasper Fforde (just pre-ordered 'One of our Thursdays is Missing'.
Connie Willis
Greg Egan.

It's funny how personal these lists are. Some of the authors whose names ap..."

Great minds think alike -

Mine are
Terry Pratchett
Neil Gaiman
Jasper Fforde

I'll pre-order anything by them - I also recently found and love Connie Willis

Good idea for a discussion since seeing what others with similar tastes enjoy is a good way to find new authors finding new authors

While I was out (browsing in a bookstore, naturally) I remembered another buy-on-sight author: Ysabeau Wilce (fantasy). Granted, she has only written two novels (third coming after a delay later this year) and a handful of short stories — but her work is glorious.

And I think Bujold's SF is still buy on sight for me. Just not the fantasy.

I am with Nikki, I would buy on sight (I preordered but then it did not come out on 2010!) Ysabeau S. Wilce´s books, of any kind.

I buy almost all my books online, so it´s mostly a matter of pre-ordering. And I got to admit that a lot of authors which used to be buy everything sort of disappointed and I gave up on buying before reading tons of reviews. My current buy everything list is
- Ted Chiang - and it is really everything, up to 25 euros for a short story.
- George RR Martin - if only. Apart from Wild Cards and anthologies.
- Connie Willis - though maybe I will rethink it, I was disappointed in this latest duology.
- Patricia McKillip
- Robin McKinley
- Megan Whalen Turner, nominally YA; but it´s better fantasy than almost all fantasy novels
- Terry Pratchett - apart from spinoffs, like guidebooks and comics
- Neil Gaiman - I quit at Anansi boys, but was reconverted by The Graveyard Book-
- Ellen Kushner
- Frances Hardinge - again nominally YA but IMO much more interesting complex fantasy than most fantasy novels
- N.K. Jemisin - ok, just two books, and on the strength of just two books there were lots of authors which qualified way back then and no longer do, but still looking to buy her next few books.
- Neal Stephenson

sadly Kage Baker has past away. She was also somebody whose books I looked forward to.John M. Ford as well.

Authors which are not instant decisions, but where there is a big likelihood of me ending up buying the new ones

- Iain M Banks, though I have given up for now on his non-sf novels.
- Martha Wells
- C.S. Friedman
- Sean Stewart
- Sarah Monette - whatever new name will be. Flawed, but each sucessive book was IMo getting better.

I thought of another one - Pamela Dean (fantasy). Some of my favorite authors release books so infrequently that unless another one is coming out it's easy for them to momentarily slip my mind.

Just remembered one more 'must buy' for me - Naomi Novik
(and I can't believe how many books I've added to my TBR list because of your posts! thank you)

Iain M. Banks
William Gibson
Charles Stross
Joe Abercrombie
Richard K. Morgan
Neal Stephenson

And the newest addition based on only one book so far
Ian Tregillis

I suppose I should add GRRM because I will instantly buy any of his new fiction (should there ever be any more published) I am not inclined toward Wild Cards nor will I buy any of the anthos he edits without taking a look at the author lists and reviews.

Candiss wrote: "Janine wrote: "Buy on sight without reading reviews? Only one author, I think:

R.M. Meluch (who is not on Goodreads, apparently)

I got sucked in with the Merrimack series, and now can't help myse..."

R.M. Meluch is not a he. Her name's Rebecca. I remembered seeing that some time ago, but I checked on Wikipedia. You can also go to her website and click on the Navajo Loom link where you'll see a picture of her.

These are all great lists. Perhaps it would be a good idea to add the major genre the author writes next to their names.

That way it would be easier for future reference if someone is looking for new Sci-Fi or fantasy authors to explore.

I thought of another buy-on-sight — Caroline Stevermer (fantasy). (I like Crusader's suggestion and will be editing my previous posts in the thread shortly.)

Weirdly, whether or not someone is a buy-on-sight decision depends almost as much on the publishing industry as on whether or not I like the author. I know now that sales determine whether or not the publisher keeps or drops an author, so those whose books I feel strongly about, I buy. A while ago Ace tried to kick Moira J. Moore to the curb mid-series; they changed their mind, but I'm uncertain if it was due to readerly outcry or because her editor went to bat for her. (I know the former happened and I think the latter did but I'm not sure.) So I will always buy her books. (Note: if I thought her books were becoming terrible I would stop. I'm not crazy. Or so I like to think. :)

Mark Del Franco (fantasy) is kind of a similar case. I am curious enough about where the series is going to keep buying the books, especially since my library seems to have stopped buying this series. (Though I am thinking of pruning the first three from my collection soon, since the library has them and space is an issue for things that aren't my very favorites with lots of re-read value.) As long as he's being published in paperback I'll pick him up. (Speaking of the Connor Grey series and not the Laura Blackstone one; the latter didn't push my buttons enough.)

Once an author is a hardcover-first author I'm fairly likely to decide that they don't need my sale (in HC, anyway) to keep their books coming out. This particularly applies if I feel like the quality of the books is defining. (I liked the way Laurell K. Hamilton's Merry Gentry series started, but I feel like it went downhill soon after the beginning. And I don't think Kim Harrison's Hollows series went downhill precisely, but I do think I wasn't enjoying it enough to keep buying them once the series switched to hardcore. I get them from the library now.)

Though of another buy-on-sight: Galen M. Beckett (fantasy). (But only his Invarel series under this name, not the other stuff he's done as Mark Anthony.)

Elena wrote: "Definetly Guy Gavriel Kay."

And also Dan Simmons.

I've been trying to think about this..I haven't been into Fantasy as long as some others, but definitely have some favorites:

Steven Erikson, Joe Abercrombie, China Miéville, Neil Gaiman, Jim Butcher

I have lately purchased books byJohn Scalzi, Juliet Marillierand Scott Lynch which look like promising additions to the list.

About 10 years ago I would have said George R.R. Martinbut now I just dont trust him to finish the series, so I wont get it until it is done.

For me, now, there are none. Jordan and now Martin have spoiled it. I won't start any series now unless its either done, or the books stand on their own merits. So much of the genre is wrapped up with huge series that it puts a damper on my ability to get into anything new. (I am curious to see how either Sanderson or Abraham finishes A Song of Ice and Fire.)

I've been thinking about this for a while - I used to have a ton of "buy on sight" authors, but now I'm down to a few.

Jim Butcher, but only the Dresden Files books.
John Varley (I may be behind on him)
Bill Bryson