Rod Recommends Books

I was at lunch today with my friend Don and he expressed the desire to find some author he hadn’t read, who had a sizeable catalogue, so he could delve deeply into their works. When I got back to my office after lunch I quickly composed this list and sent it over. All of these authors have three things in common – I like their work, they have multiple books in print, and they are all genre writers, though they are in a variety of genres. In no particular order of importance:

Martin Millar (Start with “The Good Fairies of New York”, then do “Lonely Werewolf Girl” – and then, delve into her Thraxas series, under the name Martin Scott)

Neil Gaiman – one of my personal favorites. Any and all. A brilliant story teller. Start with “American Gods”.

Steven Pressfield – start with “The Gates of Fire”, if that one does hook you, nothing will.

Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child (both write alone, but together, they are awesome – the “Pendergast” novels, all 10 of them, are great adventure/thrillers with a science fiction/supernatural bent. Start with Relic, which is awesome).

Jack McDevitt (Science Fiction, start with “The Engines of God”, a very prolific author)

CJ Cherryh (fantasy and science fiction author, start with “The Gates of Ivrel” – she has a huge catalogue).

William Gibson (this is the guy who literally invented the term “cyberpunk” – start at the beginning with Count Zero.)

F. Paul Wilson (writes mostly supernatural thrillers, I am a big fan of his “Repairman Jack” series)

John D. MacDonald (this might be a little off kilter for you, but his series about the private detective Travis McGee is great – I devoured each one.)

Edgar Rice Burroughs (another hugely influential series in my late teens, that I have revisited several times over the years – read his “John Carter of Mars” series, start with “The Warlord of Mars”, there are about ten books, and a movie coming out from Disney this spring.)

And, I do not know if you are a short story science fiction fan, but if you are delve into the rich catalogue of Harlan Ellison, start with “The Beast That Shouted Love At The Heart Of World” or “Deathbird Stories”, both collections of short stories.

Oh, and check the library (or Barnes and Noble) for Bill Willingham’s “Fables” – great story telling.