Uh. Well, crud. Other than a given one or two, I CANNOT EASILY PICK AND CHOOSE. I love and respect a lot of authors, and that comes from picking a lot of different books, even without having FINISHED the series said books come from. And then there are authors I absolutely love because of ONE BOOK so far but didn’t quite make it into my list since gosh, I’m already over my top ten (make it almost a top 20 actually).
Argh.
Screw it, I’m going to list the ones whose books I will always be excited to see, will always read and re-read from again, and will definitely purchase at some point or other. And yes, obviously this is not going to be a top ten.
Top TWENTY All Time Favorite Authors
In no particular order…
Lindsey Davis – Historical whodunnits based in Ancient Rome.
Personal favorites: The Silver Pigs, Shadows in Bronze, Venus in Copper (well, waddaya know, the first three books of the Marcus Didius Falco mysteries!)
Robin McKinley – Fantasy, ranging from fractured fairy tales to other forms
Personal favorites: The Hero and the Crown, The Blue Sword, Deerskin, Beauty
Neil Gaiman – Fantasy and science fiction of the widest sort
Personal favorites: Neverwhere, The Sandman series, American Gods
Brandon Sanderson – High fantasy
Personal favorites: Mistborn – The Final Empire, The Well of Ascension, The Hero of Ages (minus Elantris, this was technically the only series I’ve read of his, but I’m making my way to his other works!)
Tamora Pierce – Fantasy
Personal favorites: Song of the Lioness quartet, Beka Cooper series, Protector of the Small series (because choosing A favorite book from this author is unreasonable I tell ya!)
Patricia Briggs – Urban fantasy
Personal favorites: Iron Kissed, Silver Borne, River Marked (#3, #5, and #6 of the Mercy Thompson series, though I have read the first two of her Alpha & Omega series and liked those, too)
Juliet Marillier – Historical fantasy
Personal favorites: Wildwood Dancing, Cybele’s Secret (fractured fairy tales!)
Kristin Cashore – Fantasy
Personal favorites: Graceling, Fire (considering she’s only got three books, I’d say this is a good record, and Bitterblue was awesome, too, albeit not as epically awesome as the first two books)
Terry Pratchett – Fantasy
Personal favorites: Night Watch, The Truth, Moving Pictures (#29, #25, and #10 of the Discworld series, respectively)
Jane Austen – Regency romance
Personal favorites: Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Sense and Sensibility
Agatha Christie – Mystery
Personal favorites: And Then There Were None, The Mousetrap and Other Plays (I get confused over which ones I’ve already read versus what I’ve seen on TV, but I know there were a few more stories I loved)
Douglas Adams – Science fiction
Personal favorites: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
Maria V. Snyder – Fantasy
Personal favorites: Poison Study, Magic Study (a short story here and there, too, and I swear I’ll read the rest of the Study series at some point!)
Brent Weeks – High fantasy
Personal favorites: The Way of Shadows, Shadow’s Edge, Beyond the Shadows (also a trilogy–The Night Angel trilogy–and like Sanderson, I’m making my way to the rest of his books)
Scott Westerfeld – Science fiction
Personal favorites: Leviathan, Behemoth, Goliath (the Leviathan trilogy was AWESOME, though a number of his other YA science fiction is pretty good, too)
Laini Taylor – Fantasy
Personal favorites: Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Lips Touch: Three Times (one’s the beginning of a trilogy, the other is a compilation of three fantastic short stories)
Manga:
Eiichiro Oda: One Piece (an epic adventure fantasy where there never seems to be an end in sight)
Bisco Hatori: Ouran High School Host Club (still remains one of my favorite romance manga out there)
CLAMP: Cardcaptor Sakura, Magic Knight Rayearth, X/1999 (I haven’t read much of their newer stuff, but I was always more attached to old-school CLAMP anyway)
Miho Obana: Kodomo no Omocha (also an awesome manga, with the most hyperactive protagonist EVER)
Story and Somnomancy 
It’s lovely to see 8 of my all-time favorites on your list. If I added just a couple, I’d have a top ten! One of them would be, of course, Tanya Huff (for The Silvered, as well as other books she has written). It would be very difficult to come up with (just) ONE more, though. <_<
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I feel like I’ve left out so many other authors, though, especially ones I’ve only started reading and already love *twitches*
Can I just adore authors in general? >>
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I think you do. ❤ After all, what about Shakespeare, Tolkien, Stout, Francis, Butcher, Robb, Krentz … oh so many more.
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I knew as I started going through these lists I would kick myself for authors I wish I had included. Neil Gaiman and Robin McKinley from your list are making me sad I didn’t add them. Dame Agatha and Jane Austen made my list however:). And The There Were None is probably my favorite Christie as well. I really like that you listed your favorite books for each author!
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I’ve already kicked myself a few times looking at other bloggers’ lists because I could have added a few more to my already large list, so I’m certainly on the same boat.
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I did not know you’re a Pratchett fan! Or that you read manga! Then again I’m not here as often so I might’ve forgotten that you mentioned it. Yay Ouran. 😀 I got the box set recently and can’t wait to read it!
Oh oh – guess what? I met Brandon Sanderson the other day! He is BEYOND cool. And he signed two of my books! I started reading his Stormlight Archive series and it’s looking pretty good so far!
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I’ve read quite a few Pratchett books and have been a big fan (I got the opportunity to meet him at the New York Comic Con a few years back and was practically squeeing with excitement). That said, I haven’t read EVERYTHING Pratchett, but I’m slowly but surely making my way there.
And yessss, Ouran is AWESOME and squeeful and funny and and just…awesome (I think I said that already). I used to collect manga when I was younger, so I have a pretty nifty collection, lol. That said, I do NOT have Ouran or One Piece, which is sad because they are truly my favorites so far.
And I read the post about your Sanderson meet! I AM SO JEALOUS. I hope he makes his way back to New York for a signing at some point, it’d be great to have him do a reading here. Have you seen some of his writing lectures? He has a ton of them posted up, and I occasionally listen to them when I get the chance.
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Awww – you’re so lucky to have met Pratchett! I am so sad that I will never get that opportunity now, or any new books by him in the future. 😦
Ouran is one of my absolute favourites. There’s just so much goodness going on there I don’t know where to start!
And no, I haven’t! I will have to look these up now. He is such a brilliant speaker. 😀
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