The Ministry of Information has picked up the lastest meme doing the rounds, which is to copy SFX Magazine’s list of top science fiction and fantasy authors, list the ones you’ve read, and say a few words on each.
I’ll do this one in several parts, starting with a list of those authors I’ve not actually read, and haven’t really got anything to say about. In most cases I do recognise the name, and one or two are on my ‘to read’ list.
99. Gwyneth Jones
98. Sara Douglass
96. Terry Goodkind
92. Michael Marshall Smith
89. Jonathan Carroll
88. Scott Lynch
87. David Weber
85. Jacqueline Carey
83. Theodore Sturgeon
82. J.V. Jones
81. Joe Abercrombie
79. Simon Clark
77. Samuel R. Delany
76. Charles de Lint
74. Edgar Rice Burroughs
72. Susanna Clarke
71. Stanislaw Lem
68. Katherine Kerr
65. Marion Zimmer Bradley
64. Richard Matheson
62. Elizabeth Haydon
61. Terry Brooks
60. Richard Morgan
58. Jennifer Fallon
57. Mercedes Lackey
55. Harlan Ellison
54. Jasper Fforde
53. Octavia Butler
51. Robert E. Howard
50. Sherri S. Tepper
47. Jules Verne
46. Alastair Reynolds
44. Clive Barker
43. Jim Butcher
42. Tad Williams
40. Trudi Canavan
37. Alan Moore
31. Lois McMaster Bujold
29. Anne McCaffrey
28. Steven Erikson
26. Guy Gavriel Kay
22. Philip Pullman
21. Robin Hobb
16. J.K. Rowling
12. David Gemmell
10. Robert Rankin
There are a couple of them I recognise from quotes - Theodore Sturgeon is known for Sturgeon’s Law, which states that 90% of everything is rubbish, and this applies across all genres, and presumably all media. And Mercedes Lackey gave the famous quote “Clichés are useful shorthand for readers”. I parsed this to read “Don’t bother to read her books, you’ll find them clichéd”.
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