Authors you actually like.

[velcthulhu]

P.C. Hodgell, H.P. Lovecraft, Dianna Wynne Jones, lots of others.

 

[Geamo]

Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman, H.P. Lovecraft, Stephen King, Orson Scott Card, Frank Herbert, Eoin Colfer, Dan Abnett, Garth Nix, Max Brooks, Joseph Heller, J.R.R. Tolkien.

 

[similar.squirrel]

Um..Kathleen Ann Goonan comes to mind, as I think she's relatively obscure.
Pioneered a sci-fi subgenre called nanopunk, which is awesome in every way.

Here's an annoying list of others.

Richard Matheson. Ray Bradbury. Franz Kafka. P.G Wodehouse.Alan Moore.Kurt Vonnegut. Philip Pullman. George Orwell. Frank Mc.Court. Szerb Antal. J.R.R Tolkien. Edgar Allan Poe. Isaac Asimov. Algernon Blackwood. Neil Gaiman. Terry Deary. Stephen King. Oscar Wilde. Terry Pratchett.H.G Wells. Malachy Mc.Court.Roald Dahl. Arthur C. Clarke. H.P Lovecraft.

 

[DuplicateValue]

J.R.R. Tolkien and Markus Zuzack. =]

I mean, seriously, The Book Thief is amazing.

 

[A random person]

George Orwell, because Animal Farm was great.

Also, this will probably get me flamed, but J.K. Rowling. Damn it I like Harry Potter.

 

[Spaceman_Spiff]

Trudi Canavan. Some great books there, Age of the Five is my favorite!

She's great I thought the Age of Five books were much better than the Magician ones.

OT: Alison Croggan and Paul Shipton.

 

[nativebelle]

Irvine Welsh and Hunter S Thompson.
I rarely read anything written by anyone else.

Props to this man. Trainspotting is perfect, I love reading it out loud.

 

[Leesee]

Jane Austin is one of the many I like.

 

[HardEight]

Alan Dean Foster

Dennis L. McKiernan

H.P. Lovecraft

Greg Bear

Orson Scott Card

Phillip Jose Farmer

Micheal Moorcock

Roger Zelazany

Hell... too many to list

 

[the_duke_CC]

If we are talking about books i have the usual supects

Tolkien, King, Orwel,

among with some lesser known

Dylan Thomas, Dan Abbnet

 

[Darth Pope]

Stephenie Meyer. Her interpretation of the Nosferatu mythos easily surpasses even Bram Stoker himself. Her characters are so wonderfully shaped and detailed that you can relate to easily and her plots are thick and detailed, they just suck you in and take you on a blind rollercoaster ride, with no announced stops. She deserves a slew of literary awards for her works and I hope that she continues the series for a long time to come.

I'll just pretend your being sarcastic.

Daniel Handler, George R.R. Martin,and Steven King are probably my three favorite authors.

 

[ClockworkAngel]

John Steinbeck, Wally Lamb, Alexandre Dumas, and Ryu Murakami are a few of my favourites.

 

[LuntiX]

Joe Abercrombie, Chris Bunch, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman (Duo), and Max Brooks. That should pretty much cover it.

 

[Jark212]

Clive Cussler My personal hero.
The Oregon Files rule...

 

[Firia]

Neal Stephenson and Micheal Crichton are awesome writers.

I was panning through and thinking to myself, "surely SOMEone will mention Neal Stephenson! Surely!! If nothing else simply because of Snow Crash...." I'm glad to see that all is right in the world again.

Neal Stephenson +1

 

[Wilfy]

Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams, Stephen King and Neil Gaimen.

Also, Darren Shan. Does no-one else here read Darren Shan?

I do, I do, I do.
And Stephen Leather, Micheael Crichton, Simon Kernick, Simon Beckett and Robert Crais.

 

[Epifols]

Neal Stephenson and Micheal Crichton are awesome writers.

I was panning through and thinking to myself, "surely SOMEone will mention Neal Stephenson! Surely!! If nothing else simply because of Snow Crash...." I'm glad to see that all is right in the world again.

Neal Stephenson +1

Snow Crash was the first one by him I read. I've since then gotten several other people to read it as well.

But he also wrote my all time favorite book, The Diamond Age.

 

[Iampringles]

Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams, Stephen King and Neil Gaimen.

Also, Darren Shan. Does no-one else here read Darren Shan?

Yes, I have read one of his books, Lord Loss.