Sunday, March 15, 2015

Authors helping authors: Underrated and Underread Fantasy

If you love fantasy and haven't been to the reddit Fantasy sub you really should check it out. It's an amazing group for a number of reasons including:
  • A lot of authors hang out there and are very open to interactions.
  • A fabulous set of moderators that keep the group growing by leaps and bounds by fostering an incredibly friendly and respectful online presence.
  • Really great contributing members who have great posts and comments.

As is the nature of such forums, a lot of names come up time and time again in recommendations: Patrick Rothfuss, Brandom Sanderson, Joe Abercrombie, even myself - for which I'm very grateful. But there are a ton of quality authors that just don't get the mentions that they should. 

From time to time some of the members hold polls and I thought one of the best was a poll to highlight those authors that aren't often mentioned, but should be. Running these polls can take a lot of work and I'm grateful for p0x0rz for putting it together. You can find the full list here. But I'm reproducing it here sorted alphabetically by author's first name.

So, if you find yourself looking for something new, I suggest you check out some of these books. You just might find your next favorite read.

Author
Book or Series
Adrian Faulkner
Four Realms, the
Adrian Tchaikovsky
Shadows of the Apt
AE Marling
Brood of Bones
Alex Bledsoe
Eddie LaCrosse series
Andre Norton
Witch World
Anne Lyle
Night Masque series
Anthony Horowitz
Gatekeepers, the
Ari Marmell
Goblin Corps, the
Barbara Hambly
Those Who Hunt the Night | Darwarth Trilogy
Barry Hughart
Bridge of Birds
Ben S Dobson
Scriber
Blake Charlton
Spellwright
Bradley Beaulieu
Lays of Anuskaya
Brian D Anderson
Godling Chronicles
Brian Ruckley
Godless World
Brian Staveley
Emperor's Blades, the
Caitlin R. Kiernan
Drowning Girl, the
Carol Berg
Lighthouse Duet | Rai Kirah trilogy | Song of the Beast
Carrie Vaughn
Discord's Apple
Catherynne M Valente
Orphan's Tales, the
Chris Claremont and George Lucas
Chronicles of the Shadow War
Chris Kellen
Sorcerer's Code series
Chris Wooding
Tales of the Ketty Jay series
Christopher Buehlman
Between Two Fires
Christopher Kellen
Arbiter Codex, the/ Elements of Sorcery | Kane Series
CJ Cherryh
Fortress series
Courtney Schafer
Whitefire Crossing
D. B. Jackson
Thieftaker
Daniel Abraham
Dagger and Coin Series | Long Price Quartet, the
Daniel Polansky
Low Town
David Dalglish
Shadowdance series
David Gemmell
Hawk Queen duology | Troy series
David Hair
Moontide Quartet
Dawn Cook
Decoy Princess, the
Diana Wynne Jones
Fire and Hemlock
Django Wexler
John Golden: Freelance Debugger | Thousand Names, the
Donna Boyd
Devancroix Dynasty
Douglas Hulick
Tale of the Kin, A series
EE Knight
Age of Fire series
Eliezer Yudkowsky
Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality
Elizabeth Bear
Eternal Sky
Ellen Kushner
Riverside series, the
Emma Bull
Territory
Eve Forward
Villains by Necessity
Felix Gilman
Half Made World
Francis Pauli
Kingdoms Gone series
Fritz Leiber
Lankhmar series
Gene Wolfe
Latro in the Mist
Genevieve Valentine
Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti
George Macdonald
At the Back of the North Wind
Glen Cook
Dread Empire | Garrett P.I.
Glenda Larke
Havenstar | Watergivers trilogy
Greg Keyes
Kingdom of Thorn and Bone
Gregory S Close
In Siege of Daylight
Ha Il-Kwon
Annarasumanara
Harry Harrison
Hammer and the Cross series
Helen Lowe
Wall of Night series
Holly Lisle
Korre series, the
Hope Mirrlees
Lud-in-the-Mist
Howard Andrew Jones
Chronicles of Sword and Sand
Ian Tregillis
Milkweed Triptych
Irene Radford
Dragon Nimbus, the
Isobelle Carmody
Green Monkey Dreams
J. V. Jones
Barbed Coil, the
J.D. Hallowell
War of Blades
J.M.M. McDermott
Dogsland trilogy
J.S. Morin
Twinborn series
Jack Vance
Lyonesse | Dying Earth series
Jacqueline Carey
Sundering, the
Jaida Jones and Danielle Bennet
Havemercy
James Clemens
Banned and the Banished series
James Sutter
Death's Heretic
Janny Wurts
War of Light and Shadow
Jeff Salyards
Bloodsounder's Arc
Jeff VanderMeer
Annihilation
Jennifer Fallon
Tide Lords
Jim Grimsley
Kirith Kirin
JJ Abrams and Doug Dorst
S.
JL Doty
Gods Within series
John Brown
Servant of a Dark God
John Gwynne
Faithful and the Fallen series, the
John Marco
Tyrants and Kings and Lukien
John Morressy
Iron Angel series
Jon Sprunk
Shadow Saga
Judith Tarr
Alamut
Julian May
Saga of Pliocene Exile series
JV Jones
Sword of Shadows, a
Kage Baker
Anvil of the World | House of Stag
Kameron Hurley
Bel Dame Apocrypha
Karen Rae Levine
Sister Raven
Kate Elliot
Spiritwalker series | Crossroads Trilogy
Katherine Kurtz
Deryni
Kay Kenyon
Entire and the Rose series
Ken Scholes
Psalms of Isaak series
KJ Bishop
Etched City
KJ Parker
Folding Knife | Purple and Black | Sharps
Laini Taylor
Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy
Lavie Tidhar
Violent Century
Lindsay Buroker
Emperor's Edge, the
Lord Dunsany
King of Elfland's Daughter
Louise Cooper
Time Master Trilogy
Lyndon Hardy
Master of Five Magics
Lynn Flewelling
Luck in the Shadows | The Tamir Triad
M. Todd Gallowglas
Tears of Rage series | Halloween Jack series
Marie Brennan
Memoir by Lady Trent series
Mark Charan Newton
Legend of the Red Sun, the | Drakenfeld
Mark Frost
List of Seven
Mark T Barnes
Echoes of Empire
Markus Heitz
Dwarves
Martha Wells
Cloud Roads, the | Death of the Necromancer
Mary Gentle
Ash: A Secret History
Maryna Dyachenko
Scar, the
Mat Nastos
Wier Codex
Matthew Stover
Acts of Caine
Max Gladstone
Three Parts Dead
Mazarkis Williams
Emperor's Knife
Melina Marchetta
Finnikin of the Rock
Mercedes Yardley
Bone Angel Trilogy, the
Mervyn Peake
Gormenghast
Michael Montoure
Still Life
Michael Scott Rohan
Winter of the World series
Michael Stackpole
Once a Hero
Michael Swanwick
Iron Dragon's Daughter, the
Michelle West
Sun Sword | House War
Mike Carey
Felix Castor
Mike Shevdon
Courts of the Feyre
Miles Cameron
Traitor Son Cycle
Mitchell Hogan
Sorcery Ascendant Sequence
Moses Siregar
Black God's War
Multiple Authors
Sundering D&D series
Myke Cole
Shadow Ops series
N.K. Jemisin
Dreamblood Duology | Inheritence Trilogy
Nick Harkaway
Gone Away World, the
Nnedi Okorafor
Who Fears Death
P. C. Hodgell
Kencyrath
Pamela Dean
Tam Lin
Patrica A McKillip
Riddle Master trilogy | Alphabet of Thorn | In the Forests of Serre | Od Magic
Patricia Bray
Sword of Change, the
Paul Kearney
Monarchies of God | Macht Trilogy
Paul S Kemp
Egil and Nix series, the
Paula Volsky
Illusion
Peter Orullian
Unremembered, the
Peter Stenson
Fiend
Poul Anderson
Broken Sword
Rachel Aaron
Legend of Eli Monpress, the
Raymond Feist and Janny Wurts
Empire Series
Richard Adams
Shardik
Rob J Hayes
Ties That Bind series
Robert Asprin and Lynn Abbey
Thieves' World series edited
Robert E Howard
Savage Tales of Solomon Kane
Robert Evert
Riddle in the Stone series
Robert Holdstock
Mythago Woods
Robert Jackson Bennett
Troupe, the | American Elsewhere
Robert Silverberg
Lord Valentine's Castle
Robert VS Redick
Chathrand Voyage
Robin Lythgoe
As the Crow Flies
Rosemary Kirstein
Steerswoman
Rowena Cory Daniells
King Rolen's Kin
Russel Kirkpatrick
Fire of Heaven series
S M Wheeler
Sea Change
Saladin Ahmed
Throne of the Cresent Moon
Sam Bowring
Strange Threads Duology
Sam Sykes
Aeon's Gate series
Sarah Monette
Bone Key, the
Sean Williams
Books of the Cataclysm
Sebastien de Castell
Greatcoats series, the
Sherwood Smith
Inda
Simon Brown
Chronicles of Kydan
Simon R Green
Blue Moon Rising
Snorri Kristjansson
Valhalla Saga, the
Stella Gemmell
City, the
Stephen R Lawhead
Dragon King Trilogy | King Raven Trilogy
Steven Brust
Vlad Taltos series
Tad Williams
Bobby Dollar series | Shadowmarch Series | Otherland series
TC McCarthy
Germline
Ted Chiang
Stories of Your Life and Others
Ted Dekker
Circle, the series
Teresa Frohock
Miserere: An Autumn Tale
Terry Brooks
Genesis of Shannara, the
Tim Powers
Drawing of the Dark, the
Tom Lloyd
Twilight Reign | Empire of a Hundred Houses series, the
Wesley Chu
Lives of Tao, the
Wil Wight
Traveler's Gate
wildbow
Worm
William Horwood
Hyddenworld Quartet
William King
Gotrek and Felix series
William Nicholson
Noble Warrior Trilogy
Wu Ch-Eng-En
Monkey
Ysabeu S Wilce
Flora Segunda Series, the
Zachary Jernigan
No Return

13 comments:

  1. Thanks for linking this. I've read some of these, and they are indeed incredible books. One down side of the current system for finding reads (more and more Amazon dependent) is that the rich tend to get richer with regards to hits and recognition. And since we have to search by author, not general topic, we tend to miss newer works (or older ones) by people we haven't heard of yet. I miss the old days when you could go to a bookstore and simply see rows and rows of titles without having to know exactly what you're looking for in advance.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Shelf space is definitely shrinking at bookstores. I tend to get a lot of my recommendations from goodreads - have you been there at all?

      Delete
  2. E.L. Wagner don't forget you can still browse at your local library. Most library's have databases outside of their online catalogs which allow you to browse books by subject. Novelist is a common database that is great for just this type of searching. Sorry I've been a librarian for eight years so I like to plug libraries when I can. As for the list I love it! Thank you Michael. I love John Marco and would recommend him to anyone. He's also going to be in the upcoming Unbound Anthology with Micheal for anyone that want to check that out.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Good point! Libraries are indeed great resources. From time to time I hear from librarians who have been "hooking up" readers with my books - can't beat that!. I'm glad to hear John is in Unbound. I look forward to seeing his story.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for the list, with columns. I saw your post on Goodreads and was discouraged by all the tiny print. I guess my TBR list is not getting smaller anytime soon.

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