| Gael Baudino | Gossamer Axe | When I first examined this book in a bookstore, I read the back cover, snorted "you've got to be kidding me", and put it back on the shelf. Some last minute impulse prompted me to buy it anyway, and I loved it -- enough to make this list. |
| Marion Zimmer Bradley | "Darkover" novels | |
| Tom Clancy | The Hunt for Red October | Don't knock Clancy until you've read him. This book is excellent, even better than the movie, which I thought was pretty good, too. |
| Rick Cook | Wizard's Bane | Programming meets magic. Light, sweet, amusing. |
| Stephen R. Donaldson | The Mirror of Her Dreams and A Man Rides Through | If you hated the Thomas Covenant novels (as I did), give these a try. Delightful! |
| Sir Arthur Conan Doyle | Sherlock Holmes stories | Need I explain? |
| Ru Emerson | "Nightthreads" series | A fantasy series of the "people from our world get transported to another" ilk, with good characters and storytelling. |
| Philip Jose Farmer | "Riverworld" series | A "must read" for any SF lover. |
| Raymond E. Feist | the "Riftwar" tetrology: Magician: Apprentice Magician: Master Silverthorn A Darkness at Sethanon | These first four books were excellent, though the sequels that followed after did not meet the same level of quality. |
| Ian Fleming | James Bond novels | The literary Bond is very, very different from the cinematic Bond -- and just as entertaining, in my opinion. |
| Terry Goodkind | Wizard's First Rule | I also liked the first couple of sequels, but I felt that the quality didn't hold up after the first few. |
| Robert A. Heinlein | "Future History" series: The Past Through Tomorrow (short stories) and Time Enough for Love | I confess: Lazarus Long is my #1 favorite fictional character. |
| Zenna Henderson | "The People" stories | |
| James P. Hogan | Voyage from Yesteryear | |
| Tanya Huff | Summon the Keeper | |
| Robert Jordan | Wheel of Time series | Okay, laugh if you will. Book #1 was lying around, so I read it. I enjoyed it enough to get the next book, and the next, expecting to get bored after three or four. I didn't. This is good, serviceable storytelling with 3-dimensional characters you can sympathize with (well, some of them), and I'm amazed that Jordan can keep holding my interest through that many pages. |
| Michael P. Kube-McDowell | Trigger | What would happen if all guns everywhere could be disabled? Fascinating premise, excellent book. |
| Katherine Kurtz | Deryni saga | |
| Ursula K. Leguin | the Earthsea trilogy:
A Wizard of Earthsea The Tombs of Atuan The Farthest Shore | Quite possibly my #1 favorite fantasy series of all time. |
| C. S. Lewis | Chronicles of Narnia | |
| Elizabeth A. Lynn | the Chronicles of Tornor:
The Dancers of Arun Watchtower The Northern Girl | |
| Anne McCaffrey | the Pern novels, especially Dragonsong | Pern is at or near the top of my list of fantasy worlds I'd most like to visit. |
| Ayn Rand | Atlas Shrugged | |
| J. K. Rowling | the Harry Potter books | I resisted the fad because it was a fad, until I read the first book at my daughter's insistence. Now I'm a convert. |
| Elizabeth Ann Scarborough | Tales from the Seashell Archives | |
| L. Neil Smith | Probability Broach | An extremely amusing Libertarian fairy tale. |
| Sherri S. Tepper | The Family Tree | |
| Sherri S. Tepper | The Gate to Women's Country | |
| J. R. R. Tolkien | The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings | |
| Harry Turtledove | The Guns of the South | |
| John Varley | Titan Wizard Demon | Another "must read" for any SF lover. |
| Joan D. Vinge | Snow Queen and The Summer Queen | |
| T. H. White | The Once and Future King and The Book of Merlin | |
| Connie Willis | To Say Nothing of the Dog |