I’ve noticed a few threads recently asking for book recommendations. I’m an avid reader myself, especially at this time of year and thought it would be good to have a thread for recommending authors. It’s always good to discover something new.

James Lee Burke and Don Winslow are two crime / thriller writers I’m enjoying at the moment.

Blake Crouch for sci-fi, thrillers or something a little different.

And finally I’ve enjoyed Richard Morgan’s sci-fi and fantasy work. Particularly his Takeshi Kovacs trilogy.

Which fiction authors are STW enjoying on these long dark nights?

Anything by Nick Harkaway. Currently looking forward to reading his latest, ‘Gnomon’, but really want to give myself time to properly enjoy it.

I always like anything by Charles Stross and Neal Stephenson.

Second Richard Morgan, though I thought the Kovacs stuff could have done without the rather lurid sex scenes! I really enjoyed Market Forces though, but very dated!

Simon Morden is similar – his Metrozone series are great, and I’ve just finished Down Station.

Mike/ M C Carey – Girl with All the Gifts etc.

Yeah, the sex scenes were a tad embarrassing, but his world building and plotting are brilliant. I’ll check out Simon Morden and the others 🙂

Iain M Banks for sci-fi. The Iain Banks fiction stuff isn’t all to my taste, but all the Culture books are excellent.

Magnus Mills

Stuart McBride for crime, I found Winslow a bit meh after reading The Cartel

I’ve just read/re-read Laurie Lee’s biogs and have just finished Evelyn Waugh’s Sword of Honour trilogy which was very good.

Craig Alansons Expeditionary force books if you like a bit of the lighter side of sci fi

Ben Aranovitch if you want to read something that just has to be televised soon, just brilliant.

Having a re-read of Gene Wolfe’s The Book of the New Sun atm – Goddamn that is some book, esp vol 1. Not read many books at that level, in any genre, tbh.

I’m a big fan of Wolfe but don’t necessarily recommend his recent stuff – all his books have hidden narratives and meanings that in his prime were embedded in very rich storytelling. In his latter years [he’s in his 80s now] he’s lost interest in the outer story and writes deliberately flat prose that is basically a vehicle for an elaborate puzzle. You might be knocked out by them but equally they could leave you cold.

Ben McIntyre. Brilliant series of books around the second World War, mostly focused on espionage. All true stories, such as deception behind D-day. I think my favourite was Operation Mincemeat.

Ben Aranovitch

great series, although the overarching plot seems to have stalled a bit over the last couple of books. Need more Nightingale.

all the Culture books are excellent.

completely agree. Player of Games s is my favourite.

Lots of Authors to check out so far.

You’re right, it’s book reading season..

Andy Weir has a new book out called Artemis, a follow on from The Martian in some ways, yet so far it’s more about a colony on Mars and how the social network interacts.

Worth a punt.

Most people probably know about Chuck Palahnuik, but the short story book “Make Something Up” is just the funniest book I’ve ever read.
Steven Sherrill is superbly original.
Jeff Klima books are good, quite trashy pulp, with a twist.
Jay Stringer – recent discovery, like hard boiled crime, but Scottish.

Robert Macfarlaine has written a number of books about nature where language plays an important part, stunning books highly readable but you learn lots as well.
He’s got a new book coming next year, and he’s done one with artist/illustrator Jackie Morris called The Lost Words, which is just beautiful.

Not new as in contemporary, but Ray Bradbury, if you haven’t already.

I recommend his short story collections, such as

The October Country
Golden Apples Of The Sun
I Sing The Body Electric

+1 The Book of the New Sun
I re-read it this year for the first time in twenty years and it was as good as I remembered.

I would recommend George McDonald Fraser (Flashman and others) and Jack Vance as my long term favourites. Bernard Cornwell’s Arthurian trilogy is also a great read.

I am currently enjoying The March Violets by Philip Kerr which is about a private detective in Germany a few years before WW2 – enjoying it at the moment.

Cletus – Member

+1 The Book of the New Sun
I re-read it this year for the first time in twenty years and it was as good as I remembered.Same here in that it’s been over 20 years since I read it last – was a bit worried that it wouldn’t hold up but it is indeed a special book.

I don’t know it you read Wolfe’s latter stuff but the writing is absolute night and day different. It seems quite unusual, that someone with such an obvious love of [and skill with] words and prose would retreat from that level of writing. Most writers spend their careers trying to get there.

I am currently enjoying The March Violets by Philip Kerr which is about a private detective in Germany a few years before WW2 – enjoying it at the moment.

+1 from me. The whole “Bernie Guther” series is really good (better that Kerr’s contemporary stuff IMO). It’s very much in the Raymond Chandler vein, but in the context of pre/post war Germany and Europe.

Don Winslow blows hot and cold for me, Power of the Dog is an all time favourite but then Savages was a bit meh. The Force felt like he hadn’t watched The Shield, Vic Mackey a far better corrupt cop. No doubt I’ll buy his next book as I loved his take on Satori.

Enjoyed the Justin Cronin vampire series.

Thomas Mullen, Darktown was good, looking forward to reading his next one.

James Ellroy is my favourite crime writer just wish he’d crack on and get his next novel published…

Philip K Dick

In particular Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (the book on which Bladerunner is based), The Man In The High Castle and the Total Recall collection of short stories (I particularly liked “Your appointment will be yesterday”)

I liked the couple of Wallander books I read but Depths by the same author (Henning Mankell) was better in a creepy / wrong kind of way so some non Wallander stuff by him.

I quite like R.J Ellroy’s style of crime writing – bit noir but not overdone.

He’s got a new book coming next year, and he’s done one with artist/illustrator Jackie Morris called The Lost Words, which is just beautiful.

Yes! I think you and I would get on.

Annie Proulx

Alan Warner

(they’re friends, I love that)

Jonathan Franzen

A L Kennedy

brant – Member
Magnus Mills

– another vote from me.

Also really like pretty much everything Murakami’s written, though it’s not to everyone’s taste. It can be a bit weird sometimes, like a modern Japanese take on Magical Realism, and I can’t articulate (or even pinpoint) why I like him, but he’s worth trying. You’ll either love his stuff in the first few pages or you can move on to someone else. 1Q84 and Wild Sheep Chase are good gateway Murakamis

Not contemporary, but I love the way Italo Calvino writes (wrote), though I sometimes have to stop after every paragraph to process… it can make me realise how linguistically limited I am.

If you like your dystopian future fiction I can recommend the Maddaddam trilogy by Margaret Attwood: scarily prescient and believable (but a bit bleak/dark at times). In a similar vein – though somehow less satisfying – is Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel.

It’s all so personal though – hope this doesn’t waste your time looking out things which aren’t for you.

I’ve just finished Murakami’s Wind Up Bird Chronicle, good read but no idea what it was actually about. I’ve read 1Q84 as well so it’s not like I didn’t know what I was letting myself in for!

He’s a bit like that, eh? I really enjoyed Norwegian Wood, still not entirely sure what it was actually about.

If you like US crime then, the following past writers are all worth digging out:

Dashiel Hammett – the doyen
Ed McBain – the inventor of the the Police Procedural
George V Higgins – fantastic dialogue

A 3rd for Murakami. Love everything by him. Definitely magical realism, but you can tell by his prose that he was influenced by the economical style of writers like Chandler.

I would add Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Bernhard Schlink, Khaled Hosseini and Gil Scott Heron for starters. All have written some great books.

Gil Scott Heron the musician?

Bernard Cornwell for historical fiction. Read about 4 of his series and a couple of the one offs. Very readable.

Bernard Cornwell for historical fiction. Read about 4 of his series and a couple of the one offs. Very readable.

I like some of his work (Warlord trilogy, Starbuck, early Sharpe) but some of the others leave me cold (Harlequin) or just go on too long (Uthred, Sharpe).

I enjoyed the early Uthred novels but feel he should have wrapped up the series in a maximum of five books.

razorrazoo which are your favourites?

Paul Sussman.

If you are into archeological adventure then he could be worth looking up, I’ve read all his books and enjoyed everyone.
Quote “Paul Nicholas Sussman was a best-selling English author, archaeologist and journalist. His novels have been described as “the intelligent reader’s answer to The Da Vinci Code” by The Independent.“

Some really good recommendations here, I shall be checking some more books out soon!

Can’t believe I didn’t mention Adam Roberts – he’s prolific and seems to adopt a new genre each book. Recent stand-outs for me have been the Real-Town Murders, Bete, and The Thing Itself.

Paul McCauley is good if you like hard sci-fi as well.

Michael Moorcock – Enough back catalogue to keep you busy for a while
Neil Gaiman – Enjoyed pretty much everything I’ve read of his
Ben Aranovitch – Fantastic series
China Mieville – Most of his stuff is awesome although I didn’t love Iron Council
Hugh Howey – Wool trilogy well worth a read

Thanks Coyote. I read the first book in the Wool trilogy and then forgot about the rest. Adding the other two to the list now

Coyote – Member
Neil Gaiman – Enjoyed pretty much everything I’ve read of his
Ben Aranovitch – Fantastic series
China Mieville – Most of his stuff is awesome although I didn’t love Iron Council

Agreed, and interestingly the same views on Iron Council.

The City and the City is one of my favourite books ever.

John Steinbeck, I really can’t put into words what an incredible writer he was. Over 30 years ago I read Grapes of Wrath and it left an impression on me that will be with me my whole life. I’m currently re reading it for a book group I’m part of, I would not have chosen to re read it as I didn’t want to be disappointed, I was worried that it couldn’t possibly have the same impact on me as it did when I was much younger. I needn’t have worried, it’s power to move me has not diminished one iota, it remains for me a book that is far more than a novel and it’s message is as relevant in today’s world as it was in the depression.

Anyway this is supposed to be about authors and not one book so I’ll add that when I read East of Eden a few years ago I suddenly was no longer sure that Grapes of Wrath was the best book I’d ever read. Everything I’ve read of his has been very special and he’d always the first author I’d recommend to anyone.

Harold Coyle for fictional modern(ish) war stuff, Team Yankee being a good place to start.

I’ll second John Steinbeck, though for me there is not enough emphasis on his more humorous novels or non-fiction work. Though East of Eden is my favourite book, I would start with something else first. Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday (sequel) would be my choice, although Tortilla Flat is hilarious. Travels with Charley, which describes a trip across the states he takes with his dog, would be my favourite of his non-fiction.