The Sword and Laser discussion

Hi there! I'm new to the forum and was wondering if anyone has any recommendations for British authors?

I have already worked my way through Maggie Furey, Anne McCaffrey, Julia Gray, Tolkien, Lewis and the like! But wanted to know of any others to add to my list!

Thanks,
Dave

I'm amazed at how many SF&F authors are from the UK. Some of my favorites:

Ian McDonald
Alastair Reynolds
Peter F. Hamilton
Charles Stross

I tried to come up with some British female SF&F authors, but I drew a blanck. (I'm pretty sure Anne McCaffrey was American.)

Simon Scarrow (i think)

Iain M. Banks
Terry Pratchett
Robert Rankin
Tom Holt
Stephen Baxter
Andrew Cartmel
Paul Cornell
Ben Aaronovitch

Neil Gaiman

Nick Harkaway
Ned Beauman

How has no one mentioned Joe Abercrombie!!!!!

Terry Pratchett
Douglas Adams
Richard Adams
Susanna Clarke
Ben Aaronovitch

Wow I didn't realize how many good authors have come out of England, go England!

Will add one more to the list if it hasn't been already

Iain m banks.

Lucy wrote: "Wow I didn't realize how many good authors have come out of England, go England!

Will add one more to the list if it hasn't been already

Iain m banks."

Some of them are Scottish (including Banksie) ;)

James Barclay
David Gemmell

Sandi wrote: "I tried to come up with some British female SF&F authors, but I drew a blanck. (I'm pretty sure Anne McCaffrey was American.) "

Apart from Susanna Clarke (and ignoring JK Rowling), the only ones that I can think of are Mary Gentle and Diana Wynne Jones. Oh, and Tanith Lee.

Alan Garner is a classic British fantasy writer, who actually put out a new book this year.

Sandi wrote: "I tried to come up with some British female SF&F authors, but I drew a blank. (I'm pretty sure Anne McCaffrey was American.)"

Anne McCaffrey was American born, but she moved to Ireland in the 70's and became a citizen I think.

How has nobody mentioned Dan Abnett? His SF is amazing.

Jasper Fforde

Peter F. Hamilton. Pandora's Star is like the British Old Man's War (except it's 10x as long and is continued in a second book)!

Alastair Reynolds's books contain some pretty cool sci-fi ideas, imo. But there are lots of good fantasy and sci-fi authors out of the UK... I love what I've read of China Mieville's work so far, for example ("The Scar" in particular). Mieville's stuff is sometimes a blend of fantasy and sci-fi ideas. A bit steampunk I guess, too. I dunno; I'm still trying to learn the names of all the subgenres....

Try John Wyndham author of 'Day of the Triffids', 'Midwich Cuckoos' (Children of the Damned) and many other great Novels or David Wingrove author of the 'Chung Kuo' series.

Tamahome wrote: "Peter F. Hamilton. Pandora's Star is like the British Old Man's War (except it's 10x as long and is continued in a second book)!"

I'm on that second book now. Its veeeeryyyy loooong. But I'm loving it. Wouldn't have thought to compare it with Old Man's war, but I suppose the universe sounds somewhat similar and both have aliens and modified humans. But Hamilton I think gives a lot more to sink your teeth into - not just in number of pages, but in concepts.

Off the top of my head, excellent UK authors not yet mentioned:

Liz Williams
Hal Duncan
Gwyneth Jones
Jo Walton
Mike Carey
Graham Joyce

+1 to nick harkaway!

Conn Iggulden is always a fantastic read! :)

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...

Joseph wrote: "How has no one mentioned Joe Abercrombie!!!!!"


I know! Crazy! Glad you did! :)

Unfortunatley I don't have much to offer here, but if you are looking for high-quality humour, Douglas Adams is your man!

Many good British authors listed here, but everyone seems to overlook the classics.

Jane Austen
George Orwell
Charles Dickens
William Shakespeare
Mary Shelley
William Golding
Aldous Huxley
Oscar Wilde
Philip Pullman
CS Lewis
JK Rowling
John Wyndham
Roald Dahl
Ken Follett
AA Milne
Beatrix Potter
Jack Whyte

Since my favorites Neil Gaiman, Jasper Fforde and Nick Harkaway were mentioned, I have nothing to add.

And of course, there's always Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett.

Funny thing I just noticed. When I add the authors via the little widget, you can see numbers after the name. I can only guess that this is some kind of ID that is issued to each newly added author sequentially. Douglas Adams ID would then be 4. I wonder who's number 1 to 3, if my theory is correct, of course.

This thread reminds me of the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympics.
The Brits might have lost their empire but they are still superior when it comes to pop music and (SF) authors. ;)

And making royal babies.

Tamahome wrote: "And making royal babies."
Nobody cares about royal babies, go away and listen to some more Gangnam Style. ;)

Tamahome wrote: "And making royal babies."

Its going to be all about babies the next nine months.

Michael wrote: "This thread reminds me of the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympics.
The Brits might have lost their empire but they are still superior when it comes to pop music and (SF) authors. ;)"

Pssh, we didn't 'lose' our Empire; we were just cool enough to know we didn't need it any more. Empires are SO last century. ;P

Michael wrote: "Tamahome wrote: "And making royal babies."
Nobody cares about royal babies, go away and listen to some more Gangnam Style. ;)"

Meh. The entire country is officially pregnant.

The Technician by Neal Asher is currently 99p in the Kindle store... http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Technicia...

Ruth wrote: "Empires at so last century ..."

Lol

Mapleson wrote: "Many good British authors listed here, but everyone seems to overlook the classics.

... JK Rowling..."

Is JK Rowling a classic now? One would think a little bit of time would have to pass before it qualified.