Favorite/Least Favorite Authors/Books? [Archive]

Ashton_Anchors

03-17-2006, 08:38 AM

Also, add Tolkein to my list of hates.
I can understand about Rowling, but why Tolkien?

My favorites are JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis, Robert Jordan, Anne Rice, Stephen King, whoever wrote Outlaws in the Marsh (the original Chinese telling) and Rowling (not a big favorite but she's alright)

I can't stand... who can't I stand... gosh, thats too hard... I only pick up books that seemed interesting to me. I know! The guy who did "A Land Remembered" I could not stand that book at all.

Adrian_Alexander

03-17-2006, 08:40 AM

His stories don't interest me at all. I tried getting through The Hobbit but it was so boring.

Aratos

03-17-2006, 08:43 AM

The hobbit aint that bad. At least not compared with certain sectionf of Lord Of The Rings. Like half of the Two Towers, most of the songs, the bits where he rambles on about the setting for five pages etc. I'm sure it was a good book, but I can't actually remember a lot of it.

Ashton_Anchors

03-17-2006, 08:45 AM

The only part of LOTR I struggled to get through, was the council of Elrond where Gandalf talks.. and talks for ever. Other than that, they are really good books. And this is comming from someone who has been a fan of his since I was 6 and watched the cartoon LOTR/Hobbit movies and read the Fellowship when I was 8

Adrian_Alexander

03-17-2006, 08:49 AM

I am not that much of a fantasy junkie. The only novel series that has put me in a state of addiction would be Stephen King's The Dark Tower series. God I loved them there books. I like horror more than anything. I read Bram Stokers Dracula at age ten...

zibbit

03-17-2006, 11:37 AM

my favorite authors are R.A. Salvatoe and Richard Backer

LOTR is good but alot of the chapters that fouces on Frodo are really boring

the cartoon versions of the LOTR and the Hobbit are the most horrendous things i've ever seen

dudie

03-17-2006, 11:55 AM

Tolkien and JK Rowling :) I love LOTR and Harry Potter.. i collect the HP books in dutch and english :)

Perdition City

03-17-2006, 02:14 PM

Favourite authors, hmmmmm i'd say Tom Clancy, Chris Ryan, Andy McNab... yes, i'm a fan of special forces books :p I also like Dan Brown's books alot. Also, David Yeadon (don't think he is too well known) but if any of you like travel books then you should check out "the back of beyond" - it's basically a compendium of travel stories from places he has visited.

As for least favorite, I'm not a big fan of J.K.Rowling (I only enjoyed the first harry potter book) ermm i can't really think of anymore! if i read a book I don't like, I don;t read anymore by that author and forget the name lol

PinkKirby

03-17-2006, 02:16 PM

I love the author of D.N.Angel and Fruits basket they write great storys about loving one another!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Countess Cain

03-17-2006, 03:04 PM

Whoa, JK Rowling doesn't have many fans here, does she? I actually really like Harry Potter... It's not my favorite book EVAR out there, and I wouldn't say she's a favorite author of mine, but she's not that bad...

I'm looking forward to book seven. D:

Psychaotic

03-17-2006, 06:26 PM

i dislike j.k rowling and tolkien.... they aren't that interesting. i like anne rice, r.a. salvatore, the dragon lance series..stephen king too. i too lean toward horrorish stuff

Dragon

03-17-2006, 07:22 PM

Robert Asprin ~Myth Series~
Jody Lynn Nye ~Myth Series~
R.A. Salvatore ~All his works that involve D&D and Drizzt du Urden~
Tracy Raye Hickman ~Dragonlance~
Margaret Weis ~Dragonlance~
J.K. Rowling ~Harry Potter Series~
Christioher Paolini ~Eragon & Eldest aka The Inheritance Trilogy~
Jack Mckinney ~Robotech~

Rukida

03-17-2006, 08:25 PM

Brian Jacques, dude!! Love the talking animals! *thumbs up* x3. And Roald Dahl, of course :).

dreamchaser

03-17-2006, 08:51 PM

I love Robert Jordan, David Eddings, Piers Anthony, Stephen King, Robert E. Howard, Sue Grafton, Danielle Steel, Lilian Jackson Braun... I could go on and on. I love Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery and Horror. I love books and reading. I love reading older series (like Conan the Barbarian, Tarzan).

I read books that I like, so I don't have many authors that I dislike.

froggyguy

03-17-2006, 11:00 PM

looks like we've got a pretty wide range of authors here :3
Personally, I'm surprised no one's mentioned Neil Gaiman, as he rocks my socks off and is cool. and has several books out that people like.
so (current) personal favs:

Neil Gaiman (Good Omens, Stardust, Neverwhere, American Gods...)
Neal Stephenson (Cryptonomicon, Snow Crash...)
Tad Williams (Otherland series)
Terry Pratchett (Good Omens, Discworld books)
Frank Herbert (specifically Dune. mostly I just like that book, not the author xD;;)

Slightly less current faves, as in, they're awesome authors, I just haven't read them recently
-pretty much all old-school SF
Asimov
Heinlein
Bradbury
Clarke

come to think of it, most of these haven't been mentioned yet...hm...

Riotfug

03-18-2006, 04:19 AM

I honestly think Bram Stoker is a great writer. Dracula is such a timeless, amazing read

Holy Dragon Sword

03-18-2006, 04:26 AM

Favorites:

-Voltaire
-Charles Bukowski
-Hunter s. Thompson(I saw him only a short while before he killed himself, too...)
-Stephen King
-Orwell
-Shakti Gawain
-James Joyce

Hatred:

-L. Ron Hubbard
-Nicholas Sparks

Vicious

03-18-2006, 04:30 AM

Fav:
Michael Crichton.

That's all. Eh heh.

blackmoon07

03-18-2006, 02:59 PM

I would say I luv Anne Rice- because i luv anything thats about vampires. (I really loved her book ( Blackwood Farm) and others authors.....but she is my fav.

silentfae

03-18-2006, 03:24 PM

I would say I luv Anne Rice- cause anything thats about vampires. (I really loved her book ( Blackwood Farm) and others authors.....but she is my fav.

did you know that anne rice quit writing about vampires?

blackmoon07

03-18-2006, 03:53 PM

i know she writes about vampires. i just wrote me message wrong.. sorry for the error yukichan

Mabu-chan

03-18-2006, 08:09 PM

What are you favorite authors?

Are they romance novelists? Science fiction? :3 Tell us, tell us.

Some of my favorites are Meg Cabot, Dan Brown, Sarah Dessen, J.K. Rowling, and J.R.R. Tolkien.

:3

How about you guys?

Manji

03-18-2006, 08:13 PM

Eiji Yoshikawa, Miyamoto Musashi, Sun Tzu, Arthur Golden, J.R.R Tolkien....

Murasakivie

03-18-2006, 08:26 PM

E. M. Forster is by far my favorite fiction author. Oscar Wilde is my favorite for critical essays. Henry James, in my eyes at least, is the king of short novels. So basically... I like reading a lot of books they force you to read in English? Even though I've never gotten to read any of those men's books in school... D=

Lately, though, I've been reading a lot of Alexandre Dumas, which I blame entirely on Gankutsuou. I usually prefer Albert Camus' work to Dumas'.

I really like Meredith Ann Pierce for fantasy, but few other authors. And although I think J. K. Rowling is fantastic, she's hardly one of my favorites.

dreamcatcher

03-18-2006, 08:30 PM

Some of my favorite manga author are Yuu watase, and Rie Takada. Some of my favorite american authors are Jane Austen, Stephen King, and Ayn Rand

sensei-

03-18-2006, 08:33 PM

Sheridan le Fanu author of Carmilla (one of the earliest works of vampires), Lord Byron (wrote the first vampire story, well Poem), John Polodori author of the Vampyre (first official vampires work) and all the rest are authors of vampire novels jejejejeje

Frofro

03-18-2006, 08:40 PM

My favorites are J.R.R. Tolkien, J.K. Rowling, and Lemony Snicket. Those are the only series that I read a lot of.

Anjolina

03-18-2006, 08:58 PM

For the most part, its hard for me to pick favorites, but I recently read a great book by Sébastien Japrisot. :)

Murasakivie

03-18-2006, 09:01 PM

Sensei- :
Your jejeje made me hahaha.

Kaoru

03-18-2006, 09:47 PM

Tom Clancy writes some great stuff.

Mutsuki_Kaori

03-18-2006, 10:02 PM

J.R.R. Tolkien, Terry Brooks, J.K. Rowling, C.S. Lewis, Frank Herbert, Lewis Carrol...

About all I can think of off the top of my head... of course I've been so busy lately that haven't had time to read. Picked up 「BRAIN VALLEY」　by Hideaki Sena （瀬名秀明） but I haven't had time to read it... also my kanji is poor and I read slowly... I remember picking up Parasite Eve from a public library a few years ago by the same author... I liked the video games so I though I'd try reading it... man it was hard... didn't know hardly any kanji back then... @_@ couldn't even get past the first page... maybe I should pick it up again sometime?

Stuck_Process

03-19-2006, 03:55 AM

Okey, favourite authro, hmm, I read a lot of books (favourite genrés are science fiction and fantasy though) but I'd say my favourite authors are, Shakespear, douglas adams, isaac asimove, Albom, Mitch, Coelho Paulo.
All I can think of as of now, I've got a terrible memory for names, it's more, I go look for books in the bookstore and when I see I remember I know it's an author I've liked before, but I've got realy trouble remember the exact names like this.

silentfae

03-19-2006, 01:37 PM

i know she writes about vampires. i just wrote me message wrong.. sorry for the error yukichan

no no no its okay XD; I meant that she litterly did stop wrting about vampires about sometime around last year. and she "only writes for the lord now" its kinda weird neh?

QuikBunny

03-19-2006, 03:19 PM

I currently enjoy Charlaine Harris, Kelley Armstrong and Kim Harrison :) Great books kinda funny too - they're the vampire/werewolf type of stories - but their comedic flow is great as well

Akumu

03-19-2006, 05:40 PM

elisegrey

03-19-2006, 05:53 PM

I used to absolutely worship David Eddings. And then I stopped fast.

That wasn't, as you'd suspect, because I realised his writing was stale and uninventive, but rather because I realised that with the Belgariad and the Mallorean(?) he'd effectively written exactly the same plot, and then had the temerity to admit to this in canon. Only he rationalised it with 'we're repeating ourselves because we haven't finished our mission yet' or something else completely insulting to even the most stupid reader's intelligence.

I laughed a bit, and then I got mad when I remembered that hold on, I'd actually paid money for this. Grr...

froggyguy

03-19-2006, 07:24 PM

ooh, I forgot to mention Ivanhoe before! Not an author I read, as this is the only book of his I've read, but Ivanhoe is a great read, very classic, and don't worry about it being dry. If you can get trhough LotR (I couldn't xD ) you can get through Ivanhoe! It does have some funky olde-english type words, but on the whole it's very understandable, and not even excessively long (I want to say 500-600 pages?)
so yes, more people should give Ivanhoe some love X3

GracieLizzy

03-20-2006, 05:23 AM

Favourite Authors:

Roald Dahl, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Joan Lingard

Authors I like but aren't my favourites:

Meg Cabot, R.L. Stein, C.S. Lewis

Authors I dislike:

Tolkien... can't get into his books I've tried, I just can't.

Tiamat89

03-22-2006, 09:32 AM

Some of my favorites are Tolkien(of course), R. A. Salvatore,K.A. Applegate, Robert Jordan, and Terry Goodkind. There are a bunch of others but these are the ones I can remember off the top of my head.

Tiamat89

03-22-2006, 09:35 AM

My favorites include George R. R. Martin, Orwell, Gregory Maguire, and Dan Brown. I used to be a huge fan of Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series 'til Naked Empire came around...ugh, I couldn't STAND that book. At least Chainfire redeemed him slightly.
I didn't see anything wrong with Naked Empire except for the name, Jeez people wouldn't leave me alone while I'm trying to read that one at school. The one of that series most people don't like is The Pillars of Creation

GracieLizzy

03-23-2006, 06:43 AM

Another authour I've tried and couldn't get into their works is D.H. Lawrence, I tried to read Lady Chatterley's Lover and I couldn't get into it and therefore never got to Mellors introduction let alone the "naughty bits".

tsukasa

03-24-2006, 02:58 PM

For me I'd have to say "The Dark Tower" Series
As for single book I would say actually, i cant think of one at present.

Tavisha

03-24-2006, 04:42 PM

Right now, Terry Pratchett, William Gibson and PG Wodehouse. In a few months time I'll no doubt have a totally different answer. Horribly varied tastes y'see.

^________^ Absolutely nothing horrible about PG Wodehouse (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._G._Wodehouse). I'm actually near the closing of "Jeeves and the Tie that Binds" and I'm completely hooked. I want to read them all now~ they're so funny & charming. XD And I love the fantasy Pratchett (http://www.terrypratchettbooks.com/) creates.

Besides most classic children books, my other favorites authors are: Nick Bantock (http://www.nickbantock.com/), Philip Pullman (http://www.philip-pullman.com/pages/content/index.asp?PageID=36), Stephen Fry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Fry), J.K. Rowlings (http://www.jkrowling.com/), Douglas Adams (http://www.douglasadams.com/), Richard Adams (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Adams_(author)), Lemony Snicket (http://www.lemonysnicket.com/index.cfm,), Clive Barker (http://www.clivebarker.com/), Diana Wynne Jones (http://www.dianawynnejones.com/dwjflash.htm), Holly Black (http://www.blackholly.com/) and Banana Yoshimoto (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index%3Dstripbooks%26field-author%3Dbanana%20yoshimoto%26results-process%3Ddefault%26dispatch%3Dsearch/ref%3Dpd%5Fsl%5Faw%5Ftops-1%5Fstripbooks%5F8100017%5F2/104-8063025-0430346).

I think my least fav is Stephen King~

PeNCILz

03-24-2006, 04:44 PM

The best series I have ever read was The Dark Tower series by Stephen King
The best book I ever read was The Dark Tower: The Drawing of the Three
The worst series I have ever experienced was Harry Potter (I did not even finish the first one because it was so lame...)

fullmetalalchemist

03-25-2006, 04:04 PM

JK Rowling, Diana Wynne Jones, Megan WHALEN Turner, And!... Hiromu Arakawa! Ok, so he doesn't write novels, but STILL!:D

nikitia

03-25-2006, 08:29 PM

fav's:
absolute foavorite book the phantom of the opera
the rest are
conclave of shadows series written by Raymond E Fiest (its a vengence series i guess you could say, about a boy who lives in a tribe that is slaughtered while he's on one of those i'll make a man outta u missions, and the lengths he goes through to avenge them.)

tales of the otori series written by Lian Hern (another of those vengence series, love story)

and the hythrun chronicles written by Jennifer Fallon (gods, hethins, war, and a chosen one...need i say more...actually the book is built on dirty polotics, in a good way, instead of the over the top rennasance crap some books can repetitivly spout)

i like Stephan King (Dark tower series, talisman and black house, of the best thou Bag of bones), tolkien the silmarillion, t.s. elliott the hollow men (yes i know this is a poem) shakespere, poe, dickens, you know what there are few books i don't like.

oh if you like books with religious connections read a prayer for owen meany by john irving, its a little slow to start but it gets good.

ACTUALLY DON'T EVEN WASTE YOUR TIME ON A BOOK CALLED CATS CRADEL BY KURT VONNEGUT OH MAN I'VE NEVER READ A WORSE BOOK IN MY LIFE! A BAD POEM IS CALLED THE YELLOW WALLPAPER ITS SO CONFUSING, i sat in my liturature class (yes i took a class in high school where all we did was read, write essays and deconstruct everything we read critisize if you wish)

scarecrow

03-25-2006, 08:32 PM

My favourite author.. o-o I don't know. I like Anne Rice, Christopher Rice, Phillip Marlogin.. JK Rowling XD Kate Chopin.. hm o-o don't know! ^__^
I despide: Hemmingway T__T

Gibby Gibson

03-25-2006, 09:51 PM

Lets, see; a list of authors that I like;

Well, I like J. K. Rowling for her imagination. Her stories are really imaginative, in my opinion, but I do feel that her writing style could be slightly better. I am someone who likes details in a story so that I can have a good understanding on what’s being talked about. But I can understand why they may leave things internally vague to let my imagination flow and fill in the gaps.

I also like J. R. R. Tolkien. His stories are really high on my list for the amount of detail it contains. He describes things so that you get a vivid idea on what he was wanting the reading to see; and that is what I enjoy the most.

I also like Dian Duane. She is the author of the Young Wizaard series. I like this series for the way she describes the magic system within it. With no magic wands or random word sayings, I just like how it works and she is also one who likes to add in detail, though not as much as J. R. R. Tolkien.

I don’t really have any authors I despise or hate for I tend to see the good points of all the books I read. There are a few that I may have been disappointed with, but I never considered them as total rubbish and never wanted to read anything from that author again. Just because one book by someone was not up to my standards does not mean all books by that author is like that.

megun

03-25-2006, 11:53 PM

I Really Dont Like Dan Brown's Books!!!!!!!!!!!! Arghhhhhhhhh

PeNCILz

03-26-2006, 02:50 AM

I just remembered one of my love to hate novelists. Dean Koonts. He writes a great story but when it gets past the climax and starts to slow down and begin to reach the end he just goes "OOPS! Reached the end better finish up!" He rushes the ending while the rest of the book is at a different pace.

nikitia

03-26-2006, 07:43 AM

I Really Dont Like Dan Brown's Books!!!!!!!!!!!! Arghhhhhhhhh

guess youre gonna hate the movie.

zetsui101

03-28-2006, 02:58 PM

favorite authors: JRR Tolkien, Sharon Creech, Edgar Allen Poe, and Alice Hoffman

least favorite: Mary Shelley, and Nathaniel Hawthorne

desdemona

03-28-2006, 07:08 PM

my favorite author is Amelia Atwater-Rhodes; she wrote her first book when she was 13
Caroline B Cooney and Cynthia Voight were two authors that i couldn't stand before, but now i like some of their books

Menstrual Cramps

03-28-2006, 10:03 PM

Favorite Author? James Patterson.
Favorite Book? When the Wind Blows

Least Favorite? Oliver Twist =_=

LadyTanyata

03-29-2006, 08:33 AM

My favourites are Nancy Springer, Melanie Rawn, Trudi Canavan, Jane Austen, James Barclay and the Bronte sisters. JK Rowling is alright and I absolutely refuse to read any Terry Prachett.

Rednal

03-30-2006, 10:02 AM

Hmm...

Well, Stephen King isn't half as good as people say. *Laughs* I heard so much hype about his books, read a few, and found that I was sorely let down. He reuses ideas too much, and didn't scare me a bit. This is probably because Manga has made me immune to it, but whatever. XP

The worst published author, however, is Mercedes Lackey. Really. I write a lot myself, and I checked out one of her books just because, and I found myself very annoyed at her poor skill in romance. I will give you an example:

Shey'a'chern (or however it's spelled; it's been awhile) 1: *Falls in love with Shey'a'chern 2, another man* *Is bound soul to soul with him*

Shey'a'chern 2: *Dies*

Shey'a'chern 1: *Gets obsessively depressive because his one, true soulmate is dead* *Grieves for three weeks, is very sick* *Opens his eyes and falls obsessively in love with the next guy he sees*

...It's a bit ridiculous. I dislike shonen-ai as a whole, unless it's used in a funny way (like in Seven Seas' Aoi House), and I didn't know it was in the book when I picked it up. Ms. Lackey just can't do romance AT ALL, and it annoyed me that she had that book published. *Makes a disgusted face* I give most things a try, but... Bleah.

As for best...

I dunno. There's a lot of really good books out there, but... Mary Stanton has to be the best author. :D Her Unicorns of Balinor series, which was unfortunately cut short by Scholastic, is still the best series I have ever read. And I'm sorry Mods, but that includes manga, too. >.< You still put out great stuff, though. XD

*Kyo_Fan*

03-30-2006, 10:10 AM

author faves: Tolkein, Rowling, Philip Pullman,Christopher Paolini,Tamora Pierce and whoever wrote Tithe.
author hates: Hawthorne and Steinbeck.
fave books: Tithe cuz I WANT MY OWN ROIBEN!!!!!!! all the ones by my fave authors.
hated books: Gulliver's Travels. too long and downright gross in parts. anything by steinbeck and hawthorne.

TheMangaQueen

03-31-2006, 07:30 AM

Anne Rice is my defenite favorite, along with Poppy Z. Brite and Dan Brown.

I can't stand Nathaniel Hawthorne. I know he's a writer of classics, but I just find his books extremely boring and full of pointless symbolism *cough*The Scarlet Letter*cough*

PeNCILz

03-31-2006, 10:17 AM

Hmm...

Well, Stephen King isn't half as good as people say. *Laughs* I heard so much hype about his books, read a few, and found that I was sorely let down. He reuses ideas too much, and didn't scare me a bit. This is probably because Manga has made me immune to it, but whatever. XP

The worst published author, however, is Mercedes Lackey. Really. I write a lot myself, and I checked out one of her books just because, and I found myself very annoyed at her poor skill in romance. I will give you an example:

Shey'a'chern (or however it's spelled; it's been awhile) 1: *Falls in love with Shey'a'chern 2, another man* *Is bound soul to soul with him*

Shey'a'chern 2: *Dies*

Shey'a'chern 1: *Gets obsessively depressive because his one, true soulmate is dead* *Grieves for three weeks, is very sick* *Opens his eyes and falls obsessively in love with the next guy he sees*

...It's a bit ridiculous. I dislike shonen-ai as a whole, unless it's used in a funny way (like in Seven Seas' Aoi House), and I didn't know it was in the book when I picked it up. Ms. Lackey just can't do romance AT ALL, and it annoyed me that she had that book published. *Makes a disgusted face* I give most things a try, but... Bleah.

1. Those three books took place over a long period in time. That all did not happen so consecutively to be utterly ridiculous. The whole soul bond thing is in basically all of the Valdemar series. It is basically the same as soul mate but in a much deeper level.

2. The soul bond played a huge part in the story. If it was not for that bond then Vanyel and Tylendel would not have been able to do that portal thing Tylendel did to get revenge. (did you read the book and pay attention at all?)

3. How would you feel if the one you loved with all your heart when you thought parents basically hated and treated you the worst and sent you away to learn but when you get there you learn you do not have the talent to do what you dreamed of? I would be devastated. Mostly by the fact that my first love died... So I don't get on how you see that as something ridiculous.