# Favorite new authors



## Violanthe (Feb 7, 2006)

Who are your favorite new authors - by which I mean authors who have only just started publishing in the last five to ten (at the most) years? What fresh faces would you recommend to readers stuck in an author rut? Who has the most potential? On the other hand, what new authors have you found disappointing?


----------



## Noldor_returned (Feb 7, 2006)

JK Rowling for one. Excellent, and good discussion material. Jonathon Stroud. Very good concepts. Wrote the Bartimaeus series. I can't think of any more at present.


----------



## Talierin (Feb 7, 2006)

Jack McDevitt - excellent sci fi novels in a classic vein, but that still hit on big questions


----------



## Violanthe (Feb 14, 2006)

> Jonathon Stroud. Very good concepts. Wrote the Bartimaeus series


 
Haven't heard of that one. Can you tell me more about it?


----------



## Noldor_returned (Feb 14, 2006)

I liked it, but as an adult, you may find it a bit childish. Basically, it revolves around magicians who rule empires. So, the Empire in charge at the time is British, and they try to conquer every other country. Magicians rule every country, except a few with non-magicians, and the British don't want them. The magicians summon demons or spirits to help them with their duties, or for protection. However, there are those who don't want the magicians in power, and some who have a Resistance to magic.
Overall, not bad, and fairly interesting.


----------



## ingolmo (Feb 18, 2006)

Even though lots of TTFers are going to disagree with me on this one, but I've got to include Christopher Paolini, the author of the Inheritance Trilogy.
Also, Eoin Colfer, the author of the Artemis Fowl books, is a must on this list.


----------



## Noldor_returned (Feb 18, 2006)

How could I have forgotten the Artemis Fowl series? It is one of my fave's.
I didn't mention Paolini because I didn't know when he was first published.
I've thought of another one: Kevin Crossley-Holland, who wrote the _Arthur_ series. After LOTR and HP, they would be my favourite books.


----------



## Violanthe (Feb 22, 2006)

I just finished Eragon myself. I wasn't incredibly impressed. But I'm curious about the opinions of members here: What do people like or dislike about these books?


----------



## Noldor_returned (Feb 22, 2006)

If you really want to know, go to:
http://www.thetolkienforum.com/showthread.php?t=18361


----------



## Elbereth (Feb 28, 2006)

Two authors have impressed me recently:

Dan Brown 

and 

Gregory Maguire

And yes, I know what you are thinking....how commercial are those choices...but if you actually read their books, you may agree too.


----------



## Noldor_returned (Feb 28, 2006)

I've been meaning to read something of Dan Brown's, but I don't want to buy it and find I don't like it. No one I know seems to have a copy, so I'll just wait for a little longer.


----------



## Violanthe (Feb 28, 2006)

I've heard mixed reviews on Dan Brown. Some people love him, but the rest seem to pan his books. No in between


----------



## Noldor_returned (Feb 28, 2006)

Speaking of Dan Brown, I heard on the news that he was plagiarising or something. What's up with that?


----------



## e.Blackstar (Feb 28, 2006)

Noldor_returned said:


> Speaking of Dan Brown, I heard on the news that he was plagiarising or something. What's up with that?



I'm not exactly the deal, but I think some author is suing Random House because he/she claim that _The DaVinci Code_ is very similar to a book that he/she wrote. (It was about Mary Magdelene and Jesus getting married and having kids.)

BUT...no one can copyright an idea, so we'll see where that goes.


----------



## HLGStrider (Feb 28, 2006)

Alexander McCall Smith and I get along splendidly so far. His Ladies' Dectective Agency series especially. He has a wonderful sense of humor and his books make you feel good about life.

Kate DiCamillo is excellent, a children's author adults should read because they could learn from her. She writes books that are all at once amusing and heart breaking. 

I wouldn't call Christopher Paolini a favorite but I definitely like his stories so far.

Hmmmmmmmmmm. . . I read quite a bit, but a lot of what I buy are classics.

As for non-fiction, I like Lynne Truss.


----------



## Violanthe (Mar 7, 2006)

One of my favorite new authors is R. Scott Bakker.


----------



## Wolfshead (Mar 8, 2006)

JK Rowling and Dan Brown are the two that immediately spring to mind for me. Brown's book _are_ badly written, but they're great thriller material so I'm happy enough.

Re the whole thing about Brown being sued - basically most of his ideas in The Da Vinci Code are previously explored in a book called The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail which was written in the 80's and was a non-fiction bestseller. Two of the three authors of that are suing Brown for plagiarism. Their names are Richard Leigh and Michael Baigent. If you rearrange Baigent you get Teabing, hence 'Leigh Teabing'. Brown has blatently taken their (largely crackpot) ideas and worked them into his story, but is it plagiarism? Not to me it isn't, and I'd be surprised if Leigh and Baigent get anywhere with it.

And I'd also highly recommend the Langdon book that comes before The Da Vinci Code - Angels And Demons. I'd say it's on a par with his most famous work.


----------



## Violanthe (Mar 14, 2006)

I think I may break down and listen to Da Vinci code on audiobook


----------



## Noldor_returned (Apr 20, 2006)

I don't know when this person was first published, but she has an excellent style and I love the books she writes. Tamora Pierce is her name, and has anyone heard of her, or even read something she wrote?


----------



## Violanthe (May 16, 2006)

What books of hers would you recommend for people to start with?


----------



## Talierin (May 16, 2006)

I've read a lot of Tamora Pierce's stuff... I believe I started with her Alanna series.

A new auther I've been enjoying a lot is Paul Stewart & Chris Ridell's The Edge Chronicles. They're one of those post-harry potter british fantasy series for young adults, but they've got so much imagination in them and are written and ILLUSTRATED so well I'd dare to call them the cream of the crop of what's been coming out for young adults in recent years. There's seven books out in the USA now:

1. Beyond the Deepwoods
2. Stormchaser
3. Midnight over Sanctaphrax
4. The Curse of the Gloamglozer
5. The Last of the Sky Pirates
6. Vox
7. Freeglader

http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/edgechronicles/


----------



## Noldor_returned (May 16, 2006)

Talierin said:


> I've read a lot of Tamora Pierce's stuff... I believe I started with her Alanna series.


 
Hmm. That was one of the series which I just couldn't get into. I did find the Lady Knight series intriguing, and I haven't read any of the Circle series' in a while. Maybe that's something I could do when I have the time. So Violanthe, try reading either First Test (Lady Knight series) or Book 1 in the Circle Opens series, I can't remember what the title is


----------



## Violanthe (May 23, 2006)

Any of her stuff available on audiobook?


----------



## Rhiannon (May 23, 2006)

Tamora Pierce is pretty big as a pre-teen fantasy author--I'm sure some of her books are available on audiobook. I wouldn't call her a new author, though--I think she's been publishing since the mid-80s. I read the Lioness Quartet and enjoyed it, but not enough to re-read it (and I do re-read a lot). I enjoyed her Protector of the Small series much more, until the fifth book when I lost interest. I outgrew her writing style pretty quickly, I think, and considering how young her target audience is (8-14) I wasn't always comfortable with some of the characters behavior, especially in the Lioness Quartet. 

Elbereth made a good call on Gregory Maguire--I wouldn't call him a favorite, but he is a solid new writer. I just read _The Decoy Princess_ by Dawn Cook and really enjoyed it--she has another series that I haven't read, but I believe she's a pretty new writer.


----------



## Rhiannon (Jul 3, 2006)

Jasper Fforde. Jasper Fforde is a relatively new writer, and his books are delightful.


----------



## Violanthe (Jul 6, 2006)

What are his books like?


----------



## Rhiannon (Jul 6, 2006)

Surreal. Clever. Funny. Literary. The Thursday Next books take place in an alternate universe where people are obsessed with books, Shakespeare is regarded as a mega-pop star, and someone has invented a machine that allows you to enter books. An evil mastermind uses it to kidnap Jane Eyre from her book and hold her for ransom. At one point there's a Rocky Horror-esque performance of _Richard III_. It's fabulous.


----------



## Persephone (Jul 6, 2006)

Lisa Carey. However, at the moment, I love Dan Brown and Philip Pullman.


----------



## Violanthe (Jul 9, 2006)

Thanks, I'll look him up at my library.

What about Lisa Carey have you been enjoying, Narya?


----------



## Persephone (Jul 23, 2006)

Violanthe said:


> Thanks, I'll look him up at my library.
> 
> What about Lisa Carey have you been enjoying, Narya?


 

In the Country of the Young. Her Aisling is one very eeerrrriiieeee character. Plus I love the way she told the story, the descriptions almost made me smell the harbor. Plus I am in love with Ireland. So anything Irish will melt me away. I love the irish folklore incorporation in the story and the way she introduced her readers to it.

Love it. Still have to get Mermaids though. Glad to see someone who knows her here.


----------



## Talierin (Jul 25, 2006)

Jasper Fforde is a funny funny man. The Thursday Next novels are the best! Skip The Big Over Easy though, it's rubbish, I didn't even make it all the way through it.


----------



## Violanthe (Jul 25, 2006)

Are those available on audio, do you know?


----------



## Talierin (Jul 25, 2006)

Yeah, I've shelved them at the library


----------

