# Who's your favorite novelist? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 19, 2009, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-novelist/510674 "2009-09-19T01:22:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2009, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-novelist/510674/21 "2009-09-19T06:52:45Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Nabokov and Fitzgerald. I flip flop on who’s first and who’s second, but Nabokov’s skill and artistry and command are second to none. Doh! Add Nabokov to my list too. ---
**Author:** ![Walpurgis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Walpurgis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walpurgis)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2009, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-novelist/510674/22 "2009-09-19T08:12:59Z")
China Miéville. Amazing ideas and a virtuoso with language. Plus he’s hot enough to make your eyes water. ---
**Author:** ![Busy\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@Busy\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Busy_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2009, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-novelist/510674/23 "2009-09-19T08:49:35Z")
Gene Wolfe and Cormac McCarthy would probably be my favourites. Read just about everything they’ve written. Wolfe in particular is a special writer for me because I started reading him when I was young, so have grown up reading him. He’s written some bona fide masterpiece novels, but it’s probably his short stories that are the most impressive, particularly in recent years. He’s an absolute master of short fiction. ---
**Author:** ![bytheway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/df705f/32.png) [@bytheway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bytheway)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2009, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-novelist/510674/24 "2009-09-19T08:57:45Z")
Larry Niven - I love most of his early stuff; after 1990 or so he became hit or miss for me Anne Tyler - I love almost all of her books ---
**Author:** ![Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ian_D.Bergkamp)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2009, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-novelist/510674/25 "2009-09-19T13:32:08Z")
In no particular order: Stephen King J.R.R. Tolkien Dashiell Hammett Umberto Eco Arturo Perez-Reverte Nick Hornby John Irving Raymond Chandler ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2009, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-novelist/510674/26 "2009-09-19T13:59:21Z")
John Steinbeck and Anne Tyler. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2009, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-novelist/510674/27 "2009-09-19T13:59:27Z")
Edith Wharton and Sheri Tepper. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2009, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-novelist/510674/28 "2009-09-19T14:21:57Z")
I don’t know that I have a favorite. Like with music, where I like songs rather than bands/singers, I like particular books but not usually particular authors. I like some of SM Stirling, some of John Ringo’s stuff, some of Walter Jon Williams’ work, but not all of any of theirs. I love Heinlein’s juveniles and some of his other, older books, but didn’t care for his later work. I like reading the action thrillers of Vince Flynn, Brad Thor and Lee Child, but I wouldn’t call them my favorites…just bubblegum. I love a lot of Dean Koontz’s early novels, but not his later ones. I don’t much care for what’s considered mainstream “literature,” so I don’t follow the big names in that. ---
**Author:** ![Ring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Ring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ring)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2009, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-novelist/510674/29 "2009-09-19T14:45:12Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Oh, yeah that was a couple three books back, wasn’t it? I don’t remember much on the list, but I do remember not being terribly impressed. But I liked that other characters would throw in suggestions and Lucas kept having these “D’oh, why didn’t I think of that one?” moments. > > This might be worth it’s own thread – can you remind me which book it’s > in? Sorry, but I can’t remember either. I do remember that the comedic subplot ran through the whole book and he finally printed his list on the last page, but that’s about it. I do remember that he and all his buddies agreed that absolutely no Beetle’s tunes were to be included. I also remember that the book started out with a very nasty argument between him and some lawyers that I thought was about some criminal case, but turned out to be about whether some song should be included. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2009, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-novelist/510674/30 "2009-09-19T14:48:37Z")
Robert Crais C.J. Sansom Elizabeth George Kathy Reichs John Sanford Denise Mina ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2009, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-novelist/510674/31 "2009-09-19T14:58:16Z")
Terry Pratchett Patrick O’Brien Christine McCullough C.S. Forester Robert Graves ---
**Author:** ![Ring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Ring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ring)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2009, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-novelist/510674/32 "2009-09-19T15:00:01Z")
> [@Ring](#): > > Sorry, but I can’t remember either. I do remember that the comedic subplot ran through the whole book and he finally printed his list on the last page, but that’s about it. > > I do remember that he and all his buddies agreed that absolutely no Beetle’s tunes were to be included. > > I also remember that the book started out with a very nasty argument between him and some lawyers that I thought was about some criminal case, but turned out to be about whether some song should be included. 🙂 Also, all his early books were great, but after he got married they weren’t as good. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2009, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-novelist/510674/33 "2009-09-19T15:20:04Z")
James Lee Burke Nick Hornby Ernest Hemingway Jonathan Carroll Bill Bryson Dave Eggers John Steinbeck George Orwell Phillip Roth Dashiell Hammett John Fowles I would eagerly read a new book by any of them. There have been others at various times but most I eventually lost interest in. I have read several works by some of the writers mentioned in this thread but would not pay any attention to a new release. ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2009, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-novelist/510674/34 "2009-09-19T18:01:11Z")
> [@Ring](#): > > I do remember that he and all his buddies agreed that absolutely no Beetle’s tunes were to be included. I might have to buy whatever book you’re talking about just because of this. Because I’m sick and tired of the adoration of The Beatles. I mean, a Beatles addition for Rock Band? It’s 2009, half of those guys are worm food, time to move on. And don’t even get me started on _Rolling Stone’s_ “100 Best Albums Of All Time”. ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2009, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-novelist/510674/35 "2009-09-19T18:03:23Z")
Lorrie Moore Anthony Bourdain Chretien de Troyes (I’m pretty eclectic…) ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2009, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-novelist/510674/36 "2009-09-19T19:03:34Z")
> [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](#): > > I might have to buy whatever book you’re talking about just because of this. Because I’m sick and tired of the adoration of The Beatles. I mean, a Beatles addition for Rock Band? It’s 2009, half of those guys are worm food, time to move on. And don’t even get me started on _Rolling Stone’s_ “100 Best Albums Of All Time”. A little Googling and I found that the book is _Broken Prey_, and [here is the list.](http://www.cyberspicecafe.com/music/john-sandford-broken-prey-list-of-top-100-rock-songs-for-lucas-davenports-ipod/) Apparently it’s the “Best 100 Songs of the Rock Era”, presumably to avoid debate over whether any particular song is actually a rock song. And some clearly aren’t. Looking at the list now, it is better than I thought it was at the time. The best rock song of all time is on it. For those of you who didn’t get the memo – it is _Won’t Get Fooled Again_ by The Who. If I were to make my own list, probably a good 50% of these would be on it. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2009, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-novelist/510674/37 "2009-09-19T19:12:06Z")
Valerie Martin, author of the brilliant A Recent Martyr, the less brilliant but still incredible The Great Divorce, the awesome and terrifying Property, and the horribly slandered Mary Reilly. I don’t consider Tolkien my favorite novelist become neither Lord of the Rings nor The Silmarillion is a novel, and while The Hobbitis, it is not atour de force in the league of the other two. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2009, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-novelist/510674/38 "2009-09-19T19:13:55Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > Thomas Harris. Although we’ll forget all about _ **Hannibal Rising** _. I thought we agreed that you’d never mention that book again. You promised. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2009, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-novelist/510674/39 "2009-09-19T19:24:08Z")
T.C. Boyle and Neal Stephenson are about the only authors that I will automatically spring for the hard-cover of their latest novels. Don DeLillo is another favorite, but I generally consult reviews before wading in there. I skipped Cosmopolis because it was so widely panned. He often seems to care not one whit if his reader’s can follow his books. I always feel like I need a Reader’s Guide written by a university professor whenever I read him. I’m slowly working my way through Philip Roth’s work. Got a long way to go there. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2009, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-novelist/510674/40 "2009-09-19T19:26:36Z")
The first name that popped into my head was Salman Rushdie, so I’ll go with that. I don’t love all his books equally, but the best are really amazing, and there’s only one (_The Ground Beneath Her Feet_) that I didn’t like much. Okay, and I’m not sure what _The Satanic Verses_ was on about a lot of the time, but I get the feeling that’s a pretty widespread commentary on that book. (I’m amazed that the Ayatollah understood whatever the hell the point of the book was enough to issue fatwahs regarding it. Although maybe he just didn’t like that he’s actually a character in the book.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-novelist/510674.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-novelist/510674.md?page=3)