Kevin's Watch

Hi guys!
I just discovered this community, so I thought that you might want to join in the fun. Along with the members of wotmania.com (Robert Jordan), shadowmarch.com (Tad Williams), robinhobb.com (Robin Hobb) and hallofworlds.net (Raymond Feist), we are voting for our Top 5 All-Time, Pound for Pound, Fantasy Authors.

Feel free to vote! It's funny how the votes differ from one community to the next. You are welcome to check things out. The results will be announced on www.fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com early next week. So I will be tallying the votes on Sunday night, most probably. You can vote here or on the weblog...

Have a good one!

Patrick

Wolfe (even if you count New Sun as strictly SF, there's still The Wizard Knight and Latro).

And if you can vote for 4 others- Donaldson (so close to Wolfe that it doesn't even matter), McKillip, Martin, and Erikson.

Welcome, pat! Top 5, huh? Based on the authors I get cravings for and re-read nearly religiously, in no particular order:

Patricia A. McKillip
Stephen R. Donaldson
J. R. R. Tolkien
Robin McKinley
George R. R. Martin

i dont care what anybody says, Jordan must be included in this list...although i think it should be expanded to top 10...

For me it's:

1) SRD
2) Tolkien
3) Martin

In fact, that's the only fantasy I've read. Beyond those three, I have little care. SRD's spoiled me on the rest of the fantasy genre, as you can see.

Of all time? That covers a lot more than the 20th century, and fantasy has arguably got a longer known history than any other form of literature. My list is therefore somewhat idiosyncratic, as I have been around long enough to distinctly remember the invention of dirt:

1. Homer
2. J.R.R. Tolkien
3. P. Vergilius Naso (Vergil)
4. Sir Thomas Malory
5. Dante Alighieri

My nominees for the five best fantasy authors of the last 100 years:

1. J.R.R. Tolkien
2. Stephen R. Donaldson
3. C.S. Lewis
4. Mervyn Peake
5. Neil Gaiman (edging out four or five other brilliant authors because of his groundbreaking work in graphic media)

If you want to tally my votes, it's probably wise to use the second set.

I will be interested to see the results, generally because surveys like this are often miscontrued by participants as who their favorite fantasy authors are and not who the best were. Also the terms best is debateable even beyond that. That said, who I think the top 5 best fantasy (not sci-fi) authors are taking into account influence, both on authors and publishing, quality of work, prose etc. As Variol Farseer, notes limiting the chocies to more or less modern writers:

Of all Time:

Mervyn Peake
JRR Tolkien
Fritz Leiber
Michael Moorcock
Robert Howard

Currently:

China Mieville
Jeff VanderMeer
George R.R. Martin
Neil Gaiman
? I can think of a lot of people here equally deserving

(Moorcock not included due to I am more of fan of his straight fiction stuff recently like Mother London, London Bone, and Pyat Quartet etc)

Well, I finally came up with my list, but there's still a bunch of new stuff I need to read,

Donaldson
Tolkien
Martin
Wolfe
LeGuin

Eddison
Lieber
McKillip
Erikson
Zelazny

Zindell
Moorcock
Hogston (yes I'm one of the few Nightland fans )
Kay
Bok

Peake
Lewis
Williams
Howard
Dunsany

Stoddard (The High House is so cool! The Bobby rules!)
Morris
Lovecraft (simply for Dreamquest of the Unknown Kadath)
Mirless (especially for Lud in the Mist)
Braham (for the wonderful Kai Lung stories)

CS Lewis
George MacDonald
JRR Tolkien
Stephen R Donaldson
Tad Williams

Danlo, regarding Eddison, besides The Worm Ouroboros (the only Eddison I have read) do you recommend anything else by him? I have been thinking to taking a look at the Zimiamvian Trilogy if I can find some early prints in good conditon.

By all means read the Zimiamvian Trilogy: A Fish Dinner at Memison, Mistress of Mistresses & The Mezantian Gate--the language is rather archaic but it will rock your world!

Hi guys!
I've decided that I'll wait till Sunday evening to tally the votes. I've been receiving a lot more replies than I ever thought, which makes tallying everything a pain in the ass! But heck, I'll see this done!

Wotmania.com, Shadowmarch.com, Robinhobb.com, Hallofworlds.net and Kevinswatch.com are all participating.

So far, I have to say that the results are a bit surprising. It will be interesting to see how things go...

There is still time for everyone to vote, though!

On a different note, Tad Williams just sent me the answers to the interview I forwarded to him. A sneak peak on the interview will be put on my weblog shortly, while the entire Q/A will be available online on gryphonwoodpress.com this spring. I will keep you posted!

Have a great weekend!

Patrick
www.fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com

Roger Zelazny
Stephen Donaldson
C.S. Lewis
Steven Erikson
George R.R. Martin

By all means read the Zimiamvian Trilogy: A Fish Dinner at Memison, Mistress of Mistresses & The Mezantian Gate--the language is rather archaic but it will rock your world!

Thanks:) I'm going to look for some chocie prints today online:)

pat5150

Just a recomendation, post the poll at teh Nightshade forum, may get some differing opinions.

Well I've got four favorites....

Tolkien
Donaldson
McKillip
C.S. Lewis

After that I don't know. Piers Anthony is one of my favorites... if I'm in a mood for a light, humorous read... but he's not on that list.

Oh I know!

Adele Sessler. If you don't know who she is, she was just recently published. Her website is meadowhaven.net. She's good.[/url]