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Archive-name: fantasy/recommended-authors/part1

        THE RECOMMENDED FANTASY AUTHORS LIST - ver. 2.2
                        Part 1 of 3

CONTENTS:
     Introduction                       Part 1
     THE LIST (A-J)                     Part 1
     THE LIST (K-Z)                     Part 2
     Changes Since Last Posting         Part 3
     Book News                          Part 3
     Recommended Authors                Part 3
     Finding These Books                Part 3
     Credits                            Part 3
     
INTRODUCTION
One question that arises with great frequency on alt.fan.eddings
is "What other fantasy authors do you like?" Following are
recommendations gathered from the assembled denizens of a.f.e.
and presented for your reading pleasure.

The list is alphabetic by author. Books that are part of limited
series (trilogies, tetralogies, quintets, and the like) are
listed with series name followed by all the titles in the
series. In the case of authors with multiple series, I've
attempted to list their works in order of publication. Note that
the operative word in the preceding sentence is "attempted."
Open-ended series that are still under 10 books will be listed
with series name followed by the titles. I will indicate in the
listing that the titles are part of an on-going series rather
than a limited series. If the series has gone beyond 10 books,
just the series name will be listed.

Speaking of open-ended series, they do have one major problem:
They tend to get weaker as they progress (Piers Anthony's
"Xanth" series is a good example of this.) Try to start with the
earlier books in the series, so you can get thoroughly hooked
and are compelled to keep reading even after the author just
starts hacking them out.

THIS LISTING DOES NOT PRETEND TO LIST EVERY WORK BY EVERY AUTHOR
LISTED, nor is it intended to do so. In several cases, only
specific books by an author are recommended (although that is
generally noted in the comments). Also, authors who write both
science fiction AND fantasy (or books in other genres) only have
their fantasy titles listed. This listing is only meant to give
the reader a overview of what else is out there that other
Eddings fans enjoyed.

You can find many _complete_ author lists, created by the
indomitable John Wenn, at the following ftp site: 
        sflovers.rutgers.edu
in the directory:   /pub/sf-lovers/bibliographies/authorlists

Listings are by author, series, then books within the series.
Comments, if any, follow the listing. Authors/series recommended
by 10% of the a.f.e. readers sending recommendations are marked
with an "*". Two "**" means that 20% or more have recommended
the author. Total recommendations per author follow the
listings.

THE LIST

Peter Ackroyd (b. 1949)
        Hawksmoor
            _A thriller set in 17th century & present-day
            London. An architect is rebuilding London after the
            Great Fire, but he's secretly performing satanic
            rituals in each of the rebuilt churches. These
            involve murders, which are also occurring our time.
            The chapters alternate between past and present.
            "It's weird" says Gaspode Wannabe_

Richard Adams (b. 1920)
        Watership Down
            _A group of rabbits set off in search of a new home.
            Some (mild) satiric allegory of human society, but
            basically it is a surprisingly good adventure story.
            Incredibly popular when it came out. You should have
            no trouble finding it in the library_
        Shardik; Maia
            _A major character in 'Shardik' is an enormous bear.
            This does include a human society of no identifable
            place or time. These take place in the same world,
            but are both stand-alones_
        The Plague Dogs
            _You'll join the Animal Rights movement after
            reading this one - the main characters are two dogs
            who have been used in medical experiments, and have
            escaped_

*Lloyd Alexander (b. 1924)
     "Prydain Chronicles" - The Book of Three; The Black
        Cauldron; The Castle of Llyr; Taran Wanderer; The High
        King
            _Who cares if you have to get them from the
            children's section of your library - it's a very
            enjoyable read. A young boy of unknown heritage
            becomes involved in a clash between the forces of
            good and evil. Loosely based on the Welsh Mabinogin.
            There are also two or three short story collections
            out featuring tales about the characters from the
            Chronicles. Classic series, the concluding volume
            won the Newbery medal_

Poul Anderson (b. 1926)
        The Broken Sword
            _One of Anderson's earliest novels, the story of a
            changeling stolen by an elven lord_
        Three Hearts and Three Lions
            _A modern man is swept back in time to take his
            place in a great combat between the gods_
        Hrolf Kraki's Saga
            _Retelling of one of the earliest surviving Norse
            sagas_
        The Merman's Children
            _Stand-alone that takes place in the thirteenth
            century, when magic is fading away. Four half-human,
            half-mer children seek their people, torn between
            their mortal and immortal heritages_
     "The Last Viking Trilogy" - The Golden Horn; The Road of
        the Sea Horse; The Sign of the Raven
            _Great SF writer. A member of the Society for
            Creative Anachronism, and his attention to
            historical detail comes through in his few fantasy
            offerings (try 'The High Crusade' - it's SF, but one
            I think even the most adamant fantasy fan would
            like). The major influence on his fantasy is Nordic
            myth and legend_

*Piers Anthony (b. 1934)
     "Kelvin of Rud" - Dragon's Gold; Serpent's Silver;
        Chimaera's Copper; Orc's Opal; Mouvar's Magic
            _Straight adventure-fantasy_
     "Xanth" - A Spell for Chameleon; The Source of Magic;
        Castle Roogna; etc. etc. etc.
            _Humorous. First couple of books are recommended,
            but it has descended into terminal cuteness...Series
            is nearing the 20-book mark_
     "Apprentice Adept" - Split Infinity; The Blue Adept;
        Juxtaposition
            _Takes place in two different universes, one magic
            and one not. Anthony returned to this world with a
            second trilogy that is NOT recommended_
     "Incarnations of Immortality" - On a Pale Horse; Bearing an
        Hourglass; With a Tangled Skein; Wielding a Red Sword;
        Being a Green Mother; For Love of Evil; And Eternity
            _There is a general, overall theme, but each book
            does stand on its own. NOT humorous. Recommenders
            agree that the first book, 'On a Pale Horse,' is the
            best (the usual state of affairs in series written
            by Piers Anthony)_

*Robert Asprin (b. 1946)
     "Myth" series - Another Fine Myth; Myth Conceptions; Hit or
        Myth; Myth-ing Persons; Little Myth Marker; M.Y.T.H.
        Inc. Link; Myth-nomers and Impervections; Myth
        Direction; M.Y.T.H. Inc. in Action; Sweet Myth-tery of
        Life; Something M.Y.T.H. Inc.
            _Humorous. Lotsa puns, lotsa slapstick. Like most
            long-running series, the recent offerings have been
            pretty weak. He also has an SF series "Phule's
            Company" which runs along the punny/humor line_
     "Thieves World"
            _Shared World series with various authors, Asprin is
            originator. Notable as the first series created
            specifically to be a Shared World. Most of the
            stories aim for a feeling of gritty realism
            (translation: dark and depressing)_

Gael Baudino
        Gossamer Axe
     "Dragonsword" series - Dragonsword; Duel of Dragons; Dragon
        Death
     "The Elven series" - Strands of Starlight; Maze of
        Moonlight; Shroud of Shadow; Strands of Sunlight
            _Most (if not all) of Baudino's work takes place in
            a modern world touched by magic. Note that her view
            of life is fairly grim - the humor quotient is flat
            at zero, and the general happiness quotient isn't
            much higher_

L. Frank Baum (1856-1919)
     "Oz"
            _"The Wizard of Oz" first saw print in 1900, and
            Baum wrote 13 more Oz stories before his death.
            There are currently more than 40 books about Oz, and
            the land is getting a bit overpopulated. I've only
            read Baum's novels, and they are fun. Dorothy is
            quite competent and tough-minded (far more so then
            Judy Garland was in the film version), and some of
            the ancillary characters are hilarious (I love Mr.
            H.M. Woggle-Bug T.E., and Scraps, and General
            Jinjur)_

Peter S. Beagle (b. 1939)
        A Fine and Private Place
            _An early work. It's a love story with (and between)
            ghosts. Jim says "it is well worth reading" and your
            FAQmaker agrees_
        The Last Unicorn
            _One of the top ten fantasies of all time. Read
            this. Bittersweet story of the last unicorn's quest
            to find out what happened to her fellow unicorns_
        The Innkeeper's Song
            _Beagle returns to fantasy after far too long an
            absence. Story told through multiple viewpoints,
            grittier and a bit darker than his early work_

Greg Bear (b. 1951)
        The Infinity Concerto; The Serpent Maze
            _Before Greg Bear went totally over to SF of the
            hardest variety, he wrote a pair of fantasies. This
            duology was recently released as a single volume
            under the title of 'Songs of Earth and Power' in
            both the U.S. and U.K._

Clare Bell
        The Jaguar Princess
            _The first fantasy offering from an author who is
            best known for her young adult SF. This novel
            features Aztecs and a South American setting_

John Bellairs (1938-1991)
        The Face in the Frost
            _Another one of your FAQmaker's personal favorites.
            The author also has quite a few children's fantasies
            in print. If you liked 'The Last Unicorn,' you'll
            like this_

James Blish (1921-1975)
     "After Such Knowledge" - Doctor Mirabilis; Black Easter;
        The Day After Judgement; A Case of Conscience
            _The famous SF author brings us the end of the
            world. 'Black Easter' and 'The Day After Judgement'
            form a separate magic/horror duology - 'Doctor
            Mirabilis' is a historical novel about Roger Bacon,
            and 'A Case of Conscience' is straight SF. As a
            whole, the series explores whether the search for
            secular knowledge is inherently evil. Great books_

Enid Blyton (1897-1968)
     "The Faraway Tree series" - The Magic Faraway Tree; The
        Enchanted Wood; The Folk of the Faraway Tree
            _Open-ended children's series that has various
            children meeting the people that live in the land
            that is located at the top of the Faraway Tree_
        The Wishing Chair; The Wishing Chair Again
            _Two children acquire a chair that can grow wings
            and whisk them off into adventure_

Elizabeth Boyer
     "The World of the Alfar series" - The Elves and the
        Otterskin; The Sword and the Satchel; The Wizard and the
        Warlord; The Thrall and the Dragon's Heart
            _The world in this series is heavily influenced by
            Nordic myth. I'm told that these are all stand-alone
            novels_
     "Wizard's War" - The Troll's Grindstone; The Curse of
        Slagfid; The Dragon's Carbuncle; Lord of Chaos
     "?? series" - The Clan of the Warlord; The Black Lynx
            _A new open-ended series (at least, that's what I
            gather from the back cover blurbs)_
        Keeper of Cats

Ray Bradbury (b. 1920)
        Something Wicked This Way Comes
            _Everything Bradbury writes is Wonderful (do we
            detect a teeny bit of bias on the part of our
            FAQmaker here?) Most of his fantasy is in short
            story form, but this novel features an unusual (and
            nasty) carnival that comes into town_

*Marion Z. Bradley (b. 1930)
        The Mists of Avalon
            _Turning Arthurian fantasy on its head..._
        The Forest House
            _Brand-new prequel to 'The Mists of Avalon'
        The Firebrand
            _Cassandra of Troy gets her turn in the spotlight_
     "Lythande" series
            _Title character originated in Asprin's "Thieves
            World" series_
     "Darkover" series
            _THIS IS SF, *NOT* FANTASY. But, hey, McCaffrey's
            Pern books made it onto the list, so why not MZB's
            Darkover? Generally, the books that take place after
            the lost colonists of Darkover has been rediscovered
            by Earth are more SF in tone, the ones that take
            place during Darkover's long isolation have a more
            'fantasy' feel_

Mayer Alan Brenner
     "Dance of the Gods" - Catastrophe's Spell; Spell of
        Intrigue; Spell of Fate; Spell of Apocalypse
            _Ya gotta love a series with a hero named
            'Maximillian the Vaguely Disreputable'. READ THIS
            SERIES, shouts your FAQmaker, it's fast and furious,
            and fun, and I want the author to make enough money
            that he keeps getting published_

David Brin
        The Practice Effect
            _A lone fantasy from an SF master. This is
            definitely Brin-lite, but even minor Brin is
            enjoyable. A light-hearted adventure in a parallel
            world where magic takes a strange form (the title
            pretty much gives it away). The book is a stand
            alone. It came out a while ago, and may be out of
            print_

C. Dale Brittain
     "Tales of Daimbert" - A Bad Spell in Yurt; The Wood Nymph
        and the Cranky Saint; Mage Quest; The Witch and the
        Cathedral
            _Open ended series featuring Daimbert, the Royal
            Wizard of Yurt. Basically light-hearted adventure_

**Terry Brooks (b. 1944)
     "Shannara" (first series) - Sword of Shannara; Elfstones of
        Shannara; Wishsong of Shannara
     "Heritage of Shannara" - Scions of Shannara; Druid of
        Shannara; Elf Queen of Shannara; Talismans of Shannara
            _This is an enjoyable group of books, although the
            Tolkienesque borrowings of the first trilogy are
            even more blatant than most. Straightforward fantasy
            quest/adventure_
     "Landover" series - Magic Kingdom For Sale-Sold; The Black
        Unicorn; Wizard At Large; The Tangle Box; Witches Brew 
            _Open-ended adventure/humor series_
     "Yet Another Shannara Series" - First King of Shannara
        (forthcoming March 1996)
            _From the title, I'd guess that this is going to a
            set of prequels to the previous series_

Stephen Brust (b. 1955)
     "Vlad Taltos" series - Jhereg; Yendi; Teckla; Taltos;
        Phoenix; Athyra; Orca (March 1996); Dragon (working
        title-won't be appearing for quite some time)
            _Featuring the assassin Vlad Taltos. Open-ended
            action/adventure series taking place in a well-
            defined, interesting world. Each book is a stand-
            alone, and the published order does NOT follow the
            internal chronology (despite that, you should try to
            read them in the above order)_
     "Khaavren Romances" - The Phoenix Guards; Five Hundred
        Years After; The Viscount of Andrilanka (Blast - I'm
        sure I misspelled this - coming sometime in 1996)
            _Set in the same world as the Vlad Taltos books,
            just earlier in its history. There are two more
            books coming in this series - working titles are
            'The Enchantress of Dzur Mountain,' and 'The Lord of
            Castle Black'. These are writen in the style of
            Dumas (remember 'The Three Musketeers'?) and are
            quite enjoyable_
        Brokedown Palace
        The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars
            _Part of the Ace 'Fairy Tale' series (now being
            published by Tor), which invited various authors to
            retell a fairy tale for a contemporary adult
            audience. Very well-regarded, books from the series
            by Wrede, de Lint & Dean are also on this list_

Emma Bull (b. 1954)
        The War For the Oaks
            _Stand-alone (gosh, it's nice to run into a recent
            book that doesn't have 900 sequels). Wars in the
            fairylands spilling over into our world. You can
            tell Bull is a musician - the band scenes feel
            *right*. Good book. She's also written some
            'Borderlands' books, which is yet another Shared
            World series_


_
                         

Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875-1950)
     "Barsoom" series
            _Join John Carter as he travels the wilds of the
            Martian landscape! The Tarzan books are lots of fun,
            too_

Octavia Butler (b. 1947)
        Wild Seed
            _Fantasy from the Nebula-award winning SF author.
            Steve says "It's an alternative history story, with
            magic thrown in"_

Orson Scott Card (b. 1951)
        Hart's Hope
            _Early stand-alone fantasy_
     "Alvin Maker" - Seventh Son; Red Prophet; Prentice Alvin;
        Alvin Journeyman
            _I believe this is meant to be a 7-book series. The
            majority of Card's writing falls firmly into SF, but
            this is an interesting alternate-history fantasy,
            taking place in the colonial period U.S._

Lewis Carroll (1832-1898)
        Alice in Wonderland; Alice Through the Looking Glass
            _Human from the "real world" crosses over into a
            fantasy land...Sound familiar? The first and still
            the best, you should read the Alice books as a fine
            source of sig quotes if nothing else_

Angela Carter (1940-1992)
        The Magic Toyshop
            _"Not exactly fantasy, but it's close enough,"
            reports Wardley the Wizzy_
        The Bloody Chamber
            _Collection of stories reworking familiar fairy
            tales. Definitely NOT for children. Maria describes
            Carter as "a fabulous stylist: lush without
            verbiage"_ 

Jack Chalker (b. 1944)
        And the Devil Will Drag You Under
            _Humorous. Stand-alone fantasy novel by a very
            prolific SF author. His other fantasy series (the
            "Dancing Gods") is NOT recommended_

C.J. Cherryh (b. 1942)
     "Morgaine" - Gate of Ivrel; Well of Shiun; Fires of
        Azeroth; Exile's Gate
            _Early work from Cherryh (except for 'Exile's Gate',
            which was published a decade after the others).
            Dark, moody science fantasy. Open-ended_
     "Ealdwood" - The Dreamstone; The Tree of Swords and Jewels
            _Out of print (although they still turn up in
            bookstores occasionally). Fantasy in the
            Celtic/Welsh vein_
     Rusalka; Chernevog; Yvgenie
            _Dark fairy tale using Russian traditions. Cherryh
            is a very highly regarded SF author_
        The Paladin
            _Good stand-alone story with a samurai flavor_
        The Goblin Mirror
            _Stand-alone fantasy with an Eastern European
            background_
        Fortress in the Eye of Time
            _Possibly the first book in a new series, this isn't
            one of Cherryh's best. Tristen's quest is governed
            far too heavily by happenstance (and goes on far too
            long), and the maneuverings that lead to the final
            battle are pretty routine. Still, even substandard
            Cherryh is worthwhile, just don't let this be the
            first of her books that you try_

Adrian Cole (b. 1949)
     "The Omaran Saga" - A Place Among the Fallen; Throne of
        Fools; The King of Light and Shadows; The Gods in Anger

Glen Cook (b. 1944)
     "The Chronicles of the Black Company" - The Black Company;
        Shadows Linger; The White Rose
            _Fantasy from the foot soldier's point of view.
            Gritty and hard-edged, these are not Fantasy Lite_
        The Silver Spike
            _Takes place in the world of the Black Company,
            although it's not about them_
     "Book of the South" - Shadow Games; Dreams of Steel
            _More of the chronicles of the Black Company_
     "The Glittering Stone Trilogy" - Bleak Seasons (forthcoming
        April 1996); 2 more
            _Continuing of the adventures of the Black Company_
     "Garrett, P.I." series - Sweet Silver Blues; Bitter Gold
        Hearts; Cold Copper Tears; Old Tin Sorrows; Dread Brass
        Shadows; Red Iron Nights; Deadly Quicksilver Lies; Petty
        Pewter Gods (forthcoming Nov '95)
            _The hard-boiled detective in a world full of elves,
            trolls, and magic. Raymond Chandler fans take note.
            Open-ended series. There is some slight reference to
            events that take place in previous books, but all
            books are basically stand-alone. Roc publishing
            recently bought 2 more from Cook_
     "The Dread Empire" series
            _Listed for completists - none of the a.f.e.
            recommenders mentioned this series. The darkest (and
            least commercially popular) of Cook's three
            continuing series_

Hugh Cook (b. 1956)
     "Chronicles of an Age of Darkness" - The Wizards and the
        Warriors; The Wordsmiths and Warguild; The Woman and the
        Warlords; The Walrus and the Warwolf; The Wicked and the
        Witless; The Wishstone and the Wonderworkers; The Wazir
        and the Witch; The Werewolf and the Wormlord; The
        Worshippers and Way; The Witchlord and the Weaponmaster
            _These are the titles from the English editions.
            Only the first couple have been published in the
            U.S., and they were released under different titles.
            Excellent series! Books vary radically in tone,
            ranging from your standard heroes on a fantasy quest
            to humor/adventure to great events seen through
            ordinary (or seemingly ordinary) eyes_

Louise Cooper (b. 1952)
     "Time Master Trilogy" - Initiate; Outcast; Master
     "Chaos Gate Trilogy" - The Pretender; The Deceiver; The
        Avenger
     "Indigo" series - Nemesis; Inferno; Infanta; Nocturne;
        Troika; Avatar; Revenant; Aisling
            _The recommender of the "Indigo" series would like
            to point out that the quality of the books in the
            series is uneven - some are much better than others_
     "Star Shadow series" - Star Ascendant (forthcoming Oct '95
        in U.S.); Eclipse (forthcoming)
            _Both of these are already out in the U.K._

*Susan Cooper (b. 1935)
     "The Dark is Rising" - Over Sea and Under Stone; The Dark
        is Rising; Greenwitch; The Grey King; Silver on the Tree
            _Another one that you'll find in the children's
            section. Arthurian elements, and very good. 'Grey
            King' took the Newbery Award_

Roberta Cray
        The Sword and the Lion
            _Cray is a pseudonym of Ru Emerson. See her listing
            for more details_

Brian Daley (b. 1947)
     "Coramonde" - The Doomfarers of Coramonde; The
        Starfollowers of Coramonde
            _US soldier in Vietnam is transported into a magical
            world. Good mix of modern military equipment in a
            fantasy world, says Jim Lahue_
        A Tapestry of Magics
            _A wandering minstrel is involved in a series of
            adventures. Most famous for his 'Han Solo' books,
            Daley is now co-writing 'Robotech' books under the
            pen-name Jack McKinney_

Peter David
        Howling Mad
            _A reverse werewolf story. Humorous_
        Knight Life
            _More humor as King Arthur returns...to New York
            City. Peter David is probably best known as a comic
            book writer. He also has numerous Star Trek (and
            other media) novelizations under his belt_

Pamela Dean
     "The Secret Country" - The Secret Country; The Hidden Land;
        The Whim of the Dragon
            _Another series usually found in the children's
            section of your library_
        The Dubious Hills
            _Set in the same world as "The Secret Country", but
            featuring different characters_
        Tam-Lin
            _The college setting of this one makes it quite
            popular with the academic crowd. Stand-alone
            contemporary retelling of the Tam-Lin legend. Part
            of the 'Fairy Tale' series_

L. Sprague de Camp (b. 1907)
     "The Reluctant King" - Goblin Tower; The Clocks of Iraz; 
        The Unbeheaded King; The Honorable Barbarian
            _Classic. Fast-paced heroic adventure with an added
            dash of humor_
     "Harold Shea stories" (co-author Fletcher Pratt)
            _Great series of novelets! Published in a variety of
            configurations, the most widely available titles in
            the U.S. are 'The Compleat Enchanter' (which isn't)
            and 'The Enchanter Compleated' (which gathers up the
            remaining stories). In the U.K., look for 'The
            Intrepid Enchanter', which contains ALL the stories_
        The Exotic Enchanter (co-author Christopher Stasheff)
            _de Camp continues Harold Shea's adventures with a
            new co-author_

Elisa DeCarlo
        Strong Spirits; The Devil You Say
            _Humorous, the overall tone of these books is
            reminiscent of P.G. Wodehouse. Aubrey Arbuthnot's
            new-found psychic abilities are a tremendous
            embarrassment to his wealthy, titled family, but
            that doesn't stop him from trying to use those
            abilities to earn some money...The two books can
            stand alone_

Tom Deitz
        The Gryphon King
            _Stand-alone set in Georgia and similar in style to
            the "David Sullivan" books (although it is NOT part
            of that series)_
     "David Sullivan" series - Windmaster's Bane; Fireshaper's
        Doom; Darkthunder's Way; Sunshaker's War; Stoneskin's
        Revenge; Ghostcountry's Wrath; Dreamseeker's Road
            _Open-ended series. Celtic myth in rural Georgia. I
            understand that the recent volumes have also thrown
            American Indian mysticism into the pot_
     "?" - Soulsmith; Dreamweaver; Wordwright
            _Trilogy_

Charles de Lint (b. 1951)
        Dreams Underfoot
            _Short story collection. Good introduction to the
            author_
        The Little Country
        Greenmantle
     "Jack of Kinrowen" - Jack the Giant Killer; Drink Down the
        Moon (Combined edition under JoK title available from
        Tor) 
            _He's written many books. Most are stand-alone
            (although related to each other), all are good.
            Probably the most productive author in the 'urban
            fantasy' sub-genre. Can be difficult to find in U.S.
            (although that is changing rapidly - Tor, his
            publisher, is showing their good taste and really
            pushing his work), readily available in Canada &
            U.K. 'Jack the Giant Killer' was originally
            published as part of the 'Fairy Tale' series_

Susan Dexter (b. 1955)
     "Winter King's War" - Ring of Allaire; The Sword Of
        Calandra; The Mountains of Channadran
     "The Warhorse of Esdragon" - The Prince of Ill-Luck; The
        Wind Witch; The True Knight (Jan '96)
            _Light-hearted adventure. The books are stand-
            alones, with the warhorse the connecting character_
        The Wizard's Shadow
            _Stand-alone (although the ending is left wide open
            for sequels) about a peddlar who makes a bargain
            with the shadow of murdered wizard. It appears to be
            set in the same world as the Winter King trilogy_

Gordon Dickson (b. 1923)
     "The Dragon and the George" - The Dragon and the George;
        Dragon Knight; The Dragon on the Border; The Dragon at
        War; The Dragon, the Earl, and the Troll
            _Open-ended humorous adventure series. If you like
            him, he also has a ton of SF available. The first
            book of the series is by far the best_

**Stephen Donaldson (b. 1947)
     "Thomas Covenant - First Chronicles" - Lord Foul's Bane;
        The Illearth War; The Power That Preserves
     "Thomas Covenant - Second Chronicles" - The Wounded Land;
        The One Tree; White Gold Wielder
            _Can be *quite* grim & depressing, but they are
            really well written. Those who love Donaldson's work
            describe Covenant as a flawed but decent human
            struggling to come to terms with both his illness
            and his power. Others with less charity in their
            souls consider Covenant to be whiny, self-pitying,
            and a poor excuse for a hero. Give the Chronicles a
            try & see which category you fall into_
     "Thomas Covenant - Third Chronicles" (forthcoming)
            _Yep, you read that right. According to _Publishers
            Weekly_ magazine, Donaldson is working on a third
            set of Thomas Covenant books that should see print
            in 1996. This is still very much in the 'rumored'
            category, so don't get your hopes up yet_
     "Mordant's Need" - The Mirror of Her Dreams; A Man Rides
        Through
            _Several people have remarked that, although the
            Covenant books weren't their cup of tea, *this*
            duology was very enjoyable, and nowhere near as
            gloomy as his usual (although the heroine has more
            than her share of self-image problems...)_ 

DragonLance Series
     "DragonLance" books by other authors
            _This listing is in the nature of a warning: The
            first two trilogies by Weis & Hickman are highly
            recommended and listed under the authors' names, but
            further books in the series by other authors dropped
            radically in quality. Locus Magazine (Oct. '94)
            reports that Weis & Hickman will be returning to TSR
            and the world of DragonLance_

David Drake (b. 1945)
     "World of Crystal Walls" - The Sea Hag
            _Although this was billed as the first book in a
            series, it does stand alone (which is just as well,
            since no other books have been forthcoming). Drake
            is best known for his military SF series about
            Hammer's Slammers_ 
        Dragon Lord
            _Well, what we've got here is Arthur as a paranoid
            megalomaniac, Lancelot a bully, and Merlin a second-
            rate magician...Mike sez this isn't a comedy, and
            Rich thinks its "an interesting look at King
            Arthur"_
        An Enchanted Bunny
            _I'm told this is an homage to De Camp (I haven't
            seen ANYTHING anywhere about this one. I don't think
            it's very widely available)_

Diane Duane (b. 1952)
     "The Tales of the Five" tetralogy - The Door Into Fire; The
        Door Into Shadow; The Door Into Sunset; The Door Into
        Starlight (forthcoming) 
     "Young Wizards" series - So You Want To Be a Wizard?; Deep
        Wizardry; High Wizardry; A Wizard Abroad (currently only
        out in U.K.)
            _Open-ended young adult series. Humorous and hard to
            find in the U.S. (the Science Fiction Book Club has
            the first 3 books in a combined edition if you can't
            find it in the stores)_

*Dave Duncan (b. 1933)
     "Seventh Sword" - The Reluctant Swordsman; The Coming of
        Wisdom; The Destiny of the Sword
            _His first work. Has some ragged edges, but moves
            right along_
     "A Man of His Word" - The Magic Casement; Faery Lands
        Forlorn; Perilous Seas; Emperor and Clown
     "A Handful of Men" - The Cutting Edge; Upland Outlaws; The
        Stricken Field; The Living God
            _Follows the same characters as 'A Man of His Word'
            series_
        West of January
            _stand-alone novel_
     "Omar the Storyteller" - The Reaver's Road; The Hunter's
        Haunt
            _Described as being 'a little lighter' than Duncan's
            epic fantasies, this on-going series features Omar
            the storyteller_
        The Cursed
            _Stand-alone about a land afflicted by changes
            brought about by the baleful influence of certain
            stars. Duncan also has a new book out under the
            pseudonym Ken Hood titled 'Demon Sword'_
     "The Great Game" - Past Imperative (forthcoming Oct. '95);
        Present Tense (forthcoming); Future Indefinite
        (forthcoming)

Lord Dunsany (1879-1957)
        The King of Elfland's Daughter
            _Early fantasy. Dunsany was very influential in the
            field. The above is probably his most accessible
            book for modern readers (although I like 'The
            Charwoman's Shadow' too, but then, I've got a
            definite fondness for early fantasy). It should be
            available at most larger libraries_

***David Eddings (b. 1931)
     "The Belgariad" - Pawn of Prophecy; Queen of Sorcery;
        Magician's Gambit; Castle of Wizardry; Enchanter's End
        Game
     "The Malloreon" - Guardians of the West; King of the
        Murgos; The Demon Lord of Karanda; The Sorceress of
        Darshiva; The Seeress of Kell
     "The Prequels" - Belgarath the Sorcerer; Polgara
        (forthcoming Fall 1996)
            _Yep, two more books about our favorite sorcerer and
            his daughter. These are both prequels to the events
            of the Belgariad, and should finally answer such
            burning questions as: Why did Poledra have to
            pretend she'd died? and How exactly DID the orb get
            onto the shield?_
     "The Elenium" - The Diamond Throne; The Ruby Knight; The
        Sapphire Rose
     "The Tamuli" - Domes of Fire; The Shining Ones; The Hidden
        City
            _The only author on the list to be recommended by
            all voters :-)  He's been added because I'm told the
            list has been migrating to other forums, and we
            certainly don't want a Recommended Author List
            appearing without Our Favorite Author_

E.R. Eddison (1882-1945)
        The Worm Ouroboros
            _I've hesitated to add this to the list, since it is
            an early work in the field (1922), and quite
            different from what most people expect from fantasy
            now, but since *Corinne* brought it up...Read it.
            It's different_
     "The Zimiamvian Trilogy" - The Mezentian Gate; A Fish
        Dinner in Memison; Mistress of Mistresses

Teresa Edgerton
     "The Green Lion Trilogy" - Child of Saturn; The Moon in
        Hiding; The Work of the Sun

_
                                            

            _Celtic-inspired fantasy in a complex, well-realized
            world_
     "Kingdom of Celydonn" series - The Castle of the Silver
        Wheel; The Grail and the Ring; The Moon and the Thorn
            _Series of stand-alone tales of the world of the
            "Green Lion" trilogy. Dwayne says the two books out
            so far are excellent, and I agree, although 'Castle'
            is a trifle slow-moving in spots. The final book was
            recently released, and it is a satisfying conclusion
            to the trilogy_
        Goblin Moon
        The Gnome's Engine
            _Jonathan says these are "just awesome - full of
            intrigue and suspense." Not part of the Celydonn
            series, the world of these books is built more along
            Victorian lines_

Phyllis Eisenstein (b. 1946)
        Sorcerer's Son; The Crystal Palace
            _Stand-alones about Cray, a sorcerer_
     "Tales of Alaric the Minstrel" - Born to Exile; In the Red
        Lord's Reach
            _2 books so far, the first is episodic and has the
            feel of a short story collection, second is a novel.
            Alaric is gifted with the magical ability of
            teleportation_

Ru Emerson (b. 1944)
        The Princess of Flames
            _Her first book, and by far her best. Out of print,
            and probably hard to find. She's currently doing
            Shared World stuff_
        The Sword and the Lion
            _Emerson recently published this fantasy under the
            pen name Roberta Cray. Lengthy stand-alone story
            taking place in an area reminiscent of the ancient
            Middle East (Babylon, Sumeria - you know, deserts
            and lion gods, and dusty walled cities baking under
            the hot sun). Lots of battles and a young heroine
            who grows into a great destiny_

Michael Ende (b. 1929)
        The Neverending Story
            _Don't judge it by the movies, please_

**Raymond Feist (b. 1945)
     "Riftwar Saga" - Magician: Apprentice; Magician: Master;
        Silverthorn; A Darkness at Sethanon
            _Fast-paced adventure, and full of action. The first
            two books were originally published in one volume
            under the title 'Magician'_
     "Midkemia" series - Prince of the Blood; The King's
        Buccaneer
            _Technically, these two are stand-alone books,
            although they feature characters and situations
            introduced in the Riftwar Saga_
     "The Serpentwar Saga" - Shadow of a Dark Queen; Rise of a
        Merchant Prince (forthcoming Oct '95 in U.K., Nov '95 in
        U.S.); Rage of a Demon King (forthcoming '96)
            _A new Midkemia trilogy begins_
        Faerie Tale
            _NOT a Midkemia book. A dark, modern fairy tale_ 
            _Feist is the most highly recommended author on this
            list-his work definitely strikes a chord with most
            Eddings fans_

**Raymond Feist/Janny Wurts
     "Daughter of the Empire" series - Daughter of the Empire;
        Servant of the Empire; Mistress of the Empire
            _Loosely related to Riftwar saga (they take place on
            the other side of the Rift)_

Bruce Fergusson
        The Shadow of His Wings
            _Jonathan writes that "[it] is just plain awesome.
            The author packs so much story and character
            development, and yet still sticks to the plot. It is
            one of the best stand-alone novels I have." It
            should be noted that this is VERY firmly in the
            'gritty realism' school of fantasy. The dungeon
            scenes in particular...well, let's just say that
            Marissa would approve of this one_ 
        The Mace of Souls
            _Fergusson has written some SF, too, and at least
            one Star Trek novel_

Richard Ford
        Quest for the Faradown
            _According to the Manchester Evening News 'A blend
            of Tolkien and "Watership Down" unfolded in a
            masterly style.' This came out in 1982, and probably
            is no longer in print, but my local library has it,
            and yours may, too_

Forgotten Realms series
     "Forgotten Realms" (various authors)
            _Like the Dragonlance series, this is a series of
            books published by TSR, written by various authors
            and based in the same world. Works by Elaine
            Cunningham and Ed Greenwood have been specifically
            recommended, as well as the "Moonshae Trilogy" by
            Douglas Niles. R.A. Salvatore has been recommended
            often enough to gain his own listing_

Alan Dean Foster (b. 1946)
     "Spellsinger" - Spellsinger; The Hour of the Gate
            _These are the initial duology. It has become an
            open-ended series, with titles including 'The Day of
            Dissonance' and 'The Moment of the Magician'. Foster
            is an entertaining and competent writer (I've
            enjoyed his SF books about Flinx and Humanx
            Commonwealth), however, I've received reports that
            the later books in this series have fallen off in
            quality_

C.S. Friedman
     "The Coldfire Trilogy" - Black Sun Rising; When True Night
        Falls; Crown of Shadows (forthcoming Oct 1995)
            _Sorta SF, but it takes place on a world where magic
            works, and it's not a really pleasant place for
            humans...."Extremely well written, interesting, and
            a lot different than the typical "sword & sorcery"
            type book...I would recommend this series to
            anyone." Her sf novel 'In Conquest Born' has also
            been mentioned by several recommenders. Doug would
            like to add the warning that Friedman makes Stephen
            Donaldson look like a comedy writer, and that
            depressed persons should avoid these books_

Esther Friesner (b. 1951)
        Druid's Blood
            _Alternate world Sherlock Holmes/fantasy pastiche.
            It gets a bit ragged in places, but on the whole is
            quite enjoyable. Came out 6 years ago and will
            probably be hard to find_
     "Demon" series - Here Be Demons; Demon Blues; Hooray for
        Hellywood
            _Open-ended humorous fantasy series. Relies less on
            horrendous puns then some of the other humorous
            fantasy authors. Her 'Majyk' series is NOT
            recommended_

Craig Shaw Gardner (b. 1949)
     "The Cineverse Cycle" - Slaves of the Volcano God; Bride of
        the Slime Monster; The Revenge of the Fluffy Bunnies
            _humorous (it's quite punny *ouch*) trilogy set in
            a parallel universe based on 'B' movies_
     "Ebenezum/Wuntvor" series - A Malady of Magicks; A
        Multitude of Monsters; A Night in the Netherhells; A
        Difficulty with Dwarves; An Excess of Enchantments; A
        Disagreement with Death
            _Standalone humor novels about an incompetent
            magician and his apprentice_
     "Arabian Nights" - The Other Sinbad; The Last Arabian
        Knight
            _More humor (do I sense a trend here?)_

Alan Garner (b. 1934)
        The Weirdstone of Brisingamen; The Moon of Gomrath
            _Marvelous author. These are his earliest work,
            you'll find them in the children's section of your
            library_
        Elidor
            _Four children must save an alternate world through
            the use of four symbols of power_
        The Owl Service
            _Echoes of the Mabinogion in a moody and intense
            novel that totally bewildered me when I was 12, but
            that I love now_

Randall Garrett (1927-1987)
     "Lord Darcy" stories - Murder and Magic; Too Many
        Magicians; Lord Darcy Investigates
            _Open-ended series of detective stories set in an
            alternate England where magic works. Michael Kurland
            has continued this series with the books 'Ten Little
            Wizards' and 'A Study in Sorcery'_

Randall Garrett/Vicky Heydron
     "The Gandalara Cycle" - The Steel of Raithskar; The Glass
        of Dyskornis; The Bronze of Eddarta; The Well of
        Darkness; The Search for Ka; Return to Eddarta; The
        River Wall
            _Randall developed this series with his wife Vicky,
            but he did not actually write any of the books due
            to the effects of his eventually fatal illness_

David Gemmell (b. 1948)
     "The Drenai" - Legend; King Beyond the Gate; Quest For Lost
        Heroes; Waylander (1st U.S. edition Nov. '95); Waylander
        II; The First Chronicles of Druss the Legend; Second
        Chronicles of Druss the Legend
     "The Lion of Macedon" - Lion of Macedon; Dark Prince
            _Fantasy version of the life of Alexander the Great.
            History purists be warned - Gemmell plays fast and
            loose with Greek history and mythology. Only
            available in trade paperback in the U.S._
     "The Sipstrassi" - Wolf in Shadow; Ghost King (1st U.S.
        edition Feb. '96); Last Sword of Power; The Last
        Guardian; Bloodstone
            _The second two books take place in a vaguely
            Arthurian past, and the others feature Jon Shannow,
            and take place in the far future. The connecting
            feature of the two eras are the Sipstrassi, the
            stones of power. They are being published in the
            U.S. in the order of the internal chronology_
        Knights of Dark Renown
            _A stand-alone. It is out in the U.S.
     "The Hawk Queen" - Ironhand's Daughter, Hawk Eternal (Oct.
        '95 in U.K.)
            _Gemmell's work has just started coming out in the
            U.S. He IS very much worth looking up - a solid,
            entertaining author who tells a fast-paced story.
            Fairly traditional fantasy, with heroic heros (who
            have flaws, but overcome them when the chips are
            down) and dastardly villains_

Mary Gentle (b. 1956)
        Rats and Gargoyles; The Architecture of Desire
            _Gothic fantasy. I haven't read these yet, and I
            should, because I really enjoy her SF. Thanks to Ray
            for suggesting these_
        Grunts! (Aug '95 in U.S.)
            _I've heard a lot about this one - I understand it
            has a lot of black humor. It's been out in Britain
            for a while_

William Goldman
        The Princess Bride
            _Boy, I'm embarrassed about this one. I thought I'd
            added this book MONTHS ago. A fast-paced, funny romp
            through every fantasy cliche you can think of (watch
            out for the rodents of unusual size). Written by an
            author best known for his screenplays, which may be
            why the movie actually does a good job of capturing
            the tone of the book_

Terry Goodkind
        Wizard's First Rule; Stone of Tears (forthcoming Oct
        '95)
            _Goodkind's debut novel made a big splash, and he'll
            be following it up in September. Mikey REALLY likes
            'First Rule' and highly recommends it. Goodkind
            recently sold 3 more books in the series to Tor, so
            it looks like he'll be around for awhile_

Simon Green (b. 1955)
        Blue Moon Rising
            _"my favorite new book this year....standard fantasy
            with enough of a twist to keep me interested,"
            reports Nathan. Your FAQMaster agrees - this is
            Green's second book, and he shows a LOT of promise.
            It moves quickly, the characters are standard types,
            but still manage to be interesting, and it kept me
            reading straight through to the end_
        Down Among the Dead Men
            _Set in the same world as "Blue Moon," but not
            really a sequel. It takes place years after, and
            features a totally different set of characters.
            Another action-packed adventure_

H. Rider Haggard (1856-1925)
     "Allan Quartermain" books
            _Allan Quartermain did a lot of traveling before he
            went to King Solomon's Mines. The novels range from
            straight adventure to outright fantasy_

*Barbara Hambly (b. 1951)
     "Darwath Trilogy" - The Time of the Dark; The Walls of Air;
        The Armies of Daylight
            _Another 'folks from our world cross into fantastic
            realm,' but quite well done (especially considering
            that this was Hambly's first published work) with
            intelligent characters and some interesting twists_
     "Windrose Chronicles" - The Silent Tower; The Silicon Mage;
        Dog Wizard
            _The first two are basically one book that got split
            in two due to size. 'Dog Wizard' continues the plot,
            and leaves a fair amount of dangling threads at the
            end. This may be turning into an open-ended series_
        Stranger at the Wedding (U.K. title - Sorcerer's Ward)
            _A stand-alone set in same world as "Windrose
            Chronicles," but featuring different characters. One
            of Hambly's weaker offerings, but still enjoyable_
     "Sun Cross" - Rainbow Abyss; The Magicians of Night
            _Wizards cross from their world into ours, and end
            up in Nazi Germany_
     "Sun Wolf/Starhawk" - The Ladies of Madrigyn; The Witches
        of Wenshar; The Dark Hand of Magic
            _Although each of these is a separate, self-
            contained story, they are best enjoyed in order, and
            'Dark Hand of Magic' does bring the series to a
            fairly definite close_
        Those Who Hunt the Night; Traveling With the Dead
        (forthcoming Oct '95)
            _Hambly does the vampire routine. And she does it
            quite well - in fact, TWHtN took the _Locus_ fantasy
            novel award the year it came out_
        Bride of the Rat God
            _Lots of fun - 1920's Hollywood and Chinese magic_

Elizabeth Hand (b. 1957)
        Waking the Moon
            _At the University of the Archangels and St. John
            the Divine in Washington, D.C., the Benandanti have
            guarded for millenia against the return of their
            ancient foe, the Moon Goddess Othiym Lunarsa. This
            Goddess is not the comforting mother figure found in
            so much fantasy, but a powerful destroyer. This is
            getting some great press. 'Hand has created a
            violently sensual fable helped by smart pacing and
            vibrant prose' sez one reviewer._

Lyndon Hardy
        The Master of Five Magics; The Secret of the Sixth
        Magic; The Riddle of the Seven Realms

Deborah Turner Harris
     "Mages of Garillon" series - The Burning Stone; The
        Gauntlet of Malice; Spiral of Fire
            _Appeared in the late eighties, and not easy to
            find. Dan says that 'The Burning Stone' is "one of
            the best fantasy world creations that I've come
            across."_
     "Caledon series" - Caledon of the Mists; Queen of Ashes
            _Co-author (with Katherine Kurtz) of the Adept
            series_

Harry Harrison (b. 1925)
     "The Hammer and the Cross" - The Hammer and the Cross; One
        King's Way
            _Mystical visions of Norse and Christian mythologies
            are combined with an alternative history of the
            ninth century in this new fantasy series by SF
            stalwart Harrison. It's getting very good press, and
            our very own Donal recommends it highly_

Simon Hawke (b. 1951)
     "Wizard of 4th Street" - Wizard of 4th Street; Wizard of
        Whitechaple; Wizard of Sunset Strip; Wizard of the Rue
        Morgue; Samuri Wizard; Wizard of Santa Fe; Wizard of
        Camelot; Wizard of Lovecraft's Cafe
            _Open-ended partly-humorous series of loosely
            related books. His other series, "The Reluctant
            Wizard," was noted as being 'humorous, but not so
            great' He also has a series set in the Dark Sun AD&D
            Campaign World_ 

P.C. Hodgell (b. 1951)
        God Stalk; Dark of the Moon; Seeker's Mask
            _First two were published in mass-market paperback.
            Current works are only available through Hypatia
            Press, a small press in Oregon (they also have the
            first two books available - call them at 1-800-738-
            2660). They also have several of her shorter stories
            (set in the same world) available as chapbooks.
            Hodgell is a cult favorite over on r.a.sf.w., and is
            reportedly at work on a fourth book_

Tom Holt (b. 1961)
        Expecting Someone Taller
        Flying Dutch
            _These two were specifically mentioned, but he's
            written a fair number of books now, all humorous,
            all taking a myth/legend and putting an odd spin on
            it. He's a lot more popular in England than he is in
            the U.S._

William Horwood (b. 1944)
     "The Duncton Chronicles" - Duncton Wood; Duncton Quest;
        Duncton Found; Duncton Tales
            _Well, it's about moles....but Stevie says "it's
            also about good vs. evil, religion and self-
            discovery." The first was published almost a decade
            before the final three, and general consensus is
            that it is the best of the lot_
        The Willows in Winter
            _His latest - it's a sequel to Kenneth Grahame's
            'Wind in the Willows'_

Robert E. Howard (1906-1936)
     "Conan the Barbarian"
            _Back from Cimmeria, the *Original* Barbarian
            Swordsman! Howard had only published 2 novels & a
            pile of short stories about Conan when he committed
            suicide at the age of 31, but he left a trunk full
            of material behind that has been compiled, combined,
            reconfigured, and added to by various authors and
            editors (including L. Sprague deCamp and Robert
            Jordan)_ 

Tanya Huff (b. 1957)
     "The Novels of Crystal" - Child of the Grove; The Last
        Wizard
            _Her earliest work, about the last wizard in a world
            that fears and despises her_
        The Fire's Stone
            _Competent stand-alone about a thief, a swordsman
            and a wizard. There's a love triangle that isn't
            resolved quite as you might expect_
        Sing the Four Quarters; Fifth Quarter

_
                                                                  

            _Krista really enjoyed this one, and is looking
            forward to 'Fifth Quarter'. Huff also has a horror/
            mystery series (I believe that the detective in the
            stories is a vampire), all with "Blood" in the
            title_

Barry Hughart (b. 1934)
     "Master Li and Number Ten Ox" series - The Bridge of Birds;
        The Story of the Stone; Eight Skilled Gentlemen
            _Open-ended series set in ancient China. HIGHLY
            recommended by your FAQ maker (especially the first
            one)_

Robert Don Hughes
     "Pelman the Powershaper" - Prophet of Lamath; The Wizard in
        Waiting; The Power and the Prophet
     "Wizard and Dragon" - The Forging of the Dragon; The
        Faithful Traitor; 1 more yet to come
            _Well, Jim's read these, too, and he liked them. 
            Ellen Harris, an editor at Del Rey who is on-line,
            says Hughes is back in the States, and is supposed
            to be working on the last book of "Wizard and
            Dragon" (he was in Africa doing missionary work)_

Brian Jacques (b. 1939)
     "Redwall" series - Redwall; Mossflower; Mattimeo; Mariel of
        Redwall; Salamandastron; Martin the Warrior; The
        Bellmaker; The Outcast of Redwall (forthcoming July '95
        in U.K.)
            _These are fun. I buy them for my niece, and always
            read them myself before I give them to her. Redwall
            is an Abbey run by a group of mice, and this series
            of standalone books details their adventures_

Michael Jeffries
     "Heirs to Gnarlsmyre" - Glitterspike Hall; Hall of Whispers
     "Loremasters of Elundium" - The Road to Underffall; Palace
        of Kings; Shadowlight; The Knights of Cawdor
            _The Loremasters series just started appearing in
            the U.S. (and it doesn't appear that Gnarlsmyre is
            here at all). I'll need some input from British and
            Australian fans in order to give Mr. Jeffries any
            type of blurb_

Diana Wynne Jones (b. 1934)
     "The Dalemark Sequence" - Drowned Ammet; Cart and Cwidder;
        The Spellcoats; The Crown of Dalemark
     "Crestomanci" books - The Lives of Christopher Chant;
        Charmed Life; Witch Week; The Magicians of Caprona
            _Stand-alones that all have the magician Crestomanci
            involved somehow_
        Howl's Moving Castle; Castle in the Air
        The Homeward Bounders
        Archer's Goon
        A Sudden Wild Magic
            _This is her most recent, and is being marketed as
            an adult book, making it the most widely available
            book of hers in the U.S. Alas, it is also one of her
            weakest offerings (IMHO), so look up any of her
            other books before you decide on her abilities_
        ...Lots of others
            _Most of Jones' work is geared toward the Young
            Adult market, but don't let that stop you. I
            particularly liked 'Archer's Goon', 'The Homeward
            Bounders' and 'Howl's Moving Castle', Eriond likes
            'Dogsbody' the best, but he reads everything of hers
            he can find (so do I)_

**Robert Jordan (b. 1948)
     "The Wheel of Time" - The Eye of the World; The Great Hunt;
        The Dragon Reborn; The Shadow Rising; The Fires of
        Heaven; Lord of Chaos; Crown of Swords (early '96); plus
        at least one more
            _Officially, this series will run eight books, but
            Jordan himself has stated he will continue the
            series for as many books as he thinks is necessary.
            Many a.f.e. regulars are passionately devoted to
            this series. Huge (all the books are 500+ pages),
            sprawling, madly complex, and engrossing_
        The Conan Chronicles
            _For the Joradanites who need a fix while awaiting
            the next volume of The Wheel of Time, this omnibus
            edition collects Jordan's Conan novels_




-- 
Amy I. Sheldon       "We cannot do without a view, and we
ais3@po.cwru.edu      put up with an illusion when we
                      cannot get a truth."
                          - Cardinal Newman


    

faqserv
            the alt.fan.eddings newsgroup. Contains descriptive
            listings, forthcoming titles, book news, and numbers
            of recommendations.


Archive-name: fantasy/recommended-authors/part2

        THE RECOMMENDED FANTASY AUTHORS LIST - ver. 2.2
                          Part 2 of 3

*Guy Gavriel Kay (b. 1954)
     "The Fionavar Tapestry" - The Summer Tree; The Wandering
        Fire; The Darkest Road
            _Bad Things Can Happen To Good People in Kay's
            books. Be forewarned, but read them anyway. This is
            yet another take on Arthurian legend_
        Tigana
            _A standalone about a land under a particularly
            nasty curse, and the inhabitants' fight to end it.
            Complex, very well written. Your FAQmaker tried it
            after receiving numerous glowing recommendations,
            and now adds her voice to the chorus_
        A Song for Arbonne
            _Another excellent standalone from Kay_
        The Lions of Al-Rassan
            _Kay's latest. It's getting good press, and I'm
            trying to convince myself that I want it badly
            enough to buy it in hardcover_

*Katharine Kerr
     "Deverry" - Daggerspell; Darkspell; The Bristling Wood
        ('Dawnspell' in the U.K.); The Dragon Revenant
        ('Dragonspell' in the U.K.)
            _'Daggerspell' has recently been re-released in the
            U.S. The new edition has been re-edited by the
            author, however this consisted mainly of tightening
            some passages and some grammatical cleanup. NO
            scenes were added or taken out. 'Darkspell' has also
            been reissued by Bantam Spectra, and it too has been
            re-edited by the author, and, according to Katharine
            Kerr, "...there are 5 or 6 changes to the action
            along the way..." Sarcyn's character undergoes the
            most significant changes. A *fine* author - her
            readers (and that includes the FAQmaster) recommend
            her highly_
     "The Westland Cycle" - A Time of Exile; A Time of Omens;
        Days of Blood and Fire ('A Time of War' in the U.K.);
        Days of Air and Darkness ('A Time of Justice' in the
        U.K.)
            _More about Deverry_
     "??" - The Red Wyvern (forthcoming late '96); The Black
        Raven (forthcoming); + 2 more
            _The final tetralogy that will complete the story of
            Deverry_

Stephen King (b. 1946)
        The Eyes of the Dragon
            _Good standalone fantasy (there are so few of those
            out there these days...) I enjoyed it, and I am
            *not* a Stephen King fan_
     "Dark Tower" series - The Gunslinger; The Drawing of the
        Three; The Waste Lands; 4th book forthcoming
            _Eriond says this is a great series that is
            improving as it goes along. "It's about a gunslinger
            who's seeking his father's murderer, picks up an
            "adopted" son and three companions, and is slowly
            losing his mind." Eriond also says to skip 'The
            Gunslinger' - "it's wretched! You don't really need
            to read it to understand [the series]"_

Richard Knaak (b. 1961)
     "The Dragonrealm" - Firedrake; Ice Dragon; Wolfhelm; Shadow
        Steed; Children of the Drake; Dragon Tome; The Crystal
        Dragon
            _Light reading of the 'Dragonlance' variety (in
            fact, Knaak has two DragonLance novels under his
            belt), but it is a totally separate series_

*Katherine Kurtz (b. 1944)
     "Deryni Chronicles" - Deryni Rising; Deryni Checkmate; High
        Deryni
     "Camber of Culdi" - Camber of Culdi; Saint Camber; Camber
        the Heretic
     "The Histories of King Kelson" - The Bishop's Heir; The
        King's Justice; The Quest for Saint Camber
     "Heirs of Saint Camber" - The Harrowing of Gwynedd; King
        Javan's Year; The Bastard Prince
            _Apparently, Bad Things *Regularly* Happen to Good
            People in the later books of Katherine Kurtz. Her
            fans are quite dedicated, and she has a newsgroup at
            alt.books.deryni. Next book in the series will be
            'King Kelson's Bride' due sometime in late '95
            (maybe)_

Katherine Kurtz and Deborah Turner-Harris
     "The Adept" series - The Adept; The Lodge of the Lynx; The
        Templar Treasure; Dagger Magic (forthcoming May '95)
            _Set in modern day Scotland, Kheldar says "I
            recommend them to everybody, not just readers of
            Sci-Fi/Fantasy." Turner-Harris also has several
            books of her own out_

Ellen Kushner
        Swordspoint
        Thomas the Rhymer
            _Both stand-alone, with the latter based on the
            Scottish ballad. Kushner also edited several
            excellent fantasy short story collections in the
            early 80's_

*Mercedes Lackey (b. 1950)
     "The Last Herald-Mage" - Magic's Pawn; Magic's Promise;
        Magic's Price
     "Vows and Honor" - The Oathbound; Oathbreakers
     "Queen's Own" - Arrows of the Queen; Arrow's Flight;
        Arrow's Fall
     "Mage Winds Trilogy" - Winds of Fate; Winds of Change;
        Winds of Fury
     "Gryphon Trilogy" (co-authored by Larry Dixon) - The Black
        Gryphon; The White Gryphon; The Silver Gryphon (March
        '96)
     "Mage Storm Trilogy" - Storm Warning; Storm Rising (Sept.
        '95); Storm Breaking (tentative Aug '96)
            _Each is a separate series, but they all take place
            at various points in the history of the world of
            Velgarth (which the country of Valdemar is a part
            of). There is also at least one stand-alone ('By the
            Sword') about Valdemar. Her fans are as dedicated as
            the Jordanites, but there aren't quite as many of
            them here in a.f.e. They have their own newsgroup at
            alt.books.m-lackey_
     "Bardic Voices" - The Lark and the Wren; The Robin and the
        Kestrel; The Eagle and the Nightingale
            _I believe (and I'm very possibly wrong in this
            belief) that each of these books do stand alone. NOT
            part of the Valdemar series_
     "Bardic Choices" - A Cast of Corbies (co-author Josepha
        Sherman)

Stephen Lawhead (b. 1950)
     "The Pendragon Cycle" - Taliesin; Merlin; Arthur; Pendragon
            _Once again, we return to Camelot..."The quality
            disintegrated after the first two books - 'Arthur'
            was disappointing..."_
     "The Dragon King Trilogy" - In the Hall of the Dragon King;
        The Warlords of Nin; The Sword and the Flame
     "The Paradise War" - The Song of Albion; The Silver Hand;
        The Endless Knot

Tanith Lee (b. 1947)
        Black Unicorn; Gold Unicorn
            _Young adult series. Entertaining, and lacking most
            of Lee's usual dark undercurrents_
        Kill the Dead
            _"Fantasy without superheroes - refreshing change"
            Lee is best known for her stories of Paradys, the
            'city of decadence and decay, of luxury and
            lasciviousness.' Based on the title, I'd guess this
            explores similar territory_

*Ursula K. Le Guin (b. 1929)
     "Earthsea" - A Wizard of Earthsea; The Tombs of Atuan; The
        Farthest Shore; Tehanu
            _Your FAQmaker says: Read these. 'Tehanu' was
            written 15 years after 'The Farthest Shore' - it's
            very different in tone from the first three_

Fritz Leiber (1910-1992)
     "Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser" series - Swords and Deviltry;
        Swords Against Death; Swords in the Mist; Swords Against
        Wizardry; Swords and Ice Magic; Knight and Knave of
        Swords
            _Ya wanna know who _invented_ the term 'Sword &
            Sorcery'? This is the guy. The series is made up of
            short stories, novellas, novelettes, and one novel
            (the final book). The above-listed 7 books contain
            all the stories, arranged in chronological order,
            with "Swords and Deviltry" featuring the Hugo-award
            winning "Ill Met in Lankhmar." Note that the final
            two books ("Swords & Ice Magic" & "Knight & Knave of
            Swords") show, IMHO of course, a real drop in
            quality_ 

Madelaine L'Engle (b. 1918)
     "The Time Trilogy" - A Wrinkle in Time; A Swiftly Tilting
        Planet; A Wind in the Door
            _The first book stands alone (and won all kinds of
            awards - it deserved them). L'Engle has added
            another book to the trilogy titled 'Many Waters' (it
            features the twins), and some of the characters have
            also made cameo appearances in her other books.
            They're in the young adult section of your library_

*C.S. Lewis (1898-1963)
     "Chronicles of Narnia" - The Lion, the Witch, and the
        Wardrobe; Prince Caspian; The Voyage of the Dawn
        Treader; The Horse and His Boy; The Silver Chair; The
        Magician's Nephew; The Last Battle
            _Classic! Look for them in the children's sections.
            Most bookstores will have boxed set available, too_
     "The Space Trilogy" - Out of the Silent Planet; Perelandra;
        That Hideous Strength
            _Lewis' adult version of a Christian-allegory
            fantasy_

R.A. MacAvoy (b. 1949)
        Tea With the Black Dragon
            _Out of print, but worth looking up. Her first book-
            the sequel ('Twisting the Rope') is nowhere near as
            good_
     "Damiano" trilogy - Damiano; Damiano's Lute; Raphael
            _Fantasy in Renaissance Italy_
     "Lens of the World" trilogy - Lens of the World; King of
        the Dead; Belly of the Wolf

*Julian May (b. 1931)
     "The Saga of the Pliocene Exiles" - The Many-Colored Land;
        The Golden Torc; The Nonborn King; The Adversary

**Anne McCaffrey (b. 1926)
     "Dragonriders of Pern" - Dragonflight; Dragonquest; The
        White Dragon
            _Yeah, they're SF, but they're included here by
            popular request. Lots more have been published since
            the first trilogy_
     "Harper's Hall" trilogy - Dragonsong; Dragonsinger;
        Dragondrums
            _Geared more toward the Young Adult market, your
            FAQmaker considers this trilogy to be the most
            fantasy-based of the Pern books_

Dan McGirt
     "Jason Cosmo" - Jason Cosmo; Royal Chaos; Dirty Work
            _Open-ended humorous adventure series featuring a
            woodcutter turned hero through a case of mistaken
            identity. Kalten really likes this series_

Nancy McKenzie
        The Child Queen; The High Queen
            _A new world's record! This first novel just showed
            up in bookstores in July '94, and *immediately* got
            2 recommendations (and a couple more rolled in
            since). Yeah, it's Guinevere and Arthur AGAIN, but
            it looks like it may be worth reading anyway_

Dennis McKiernan (b. 1932)
     "The Iron Tower Trilogy" - The Dark Tide; Shadows of Doom;
        The Darkest Day
            _Beat out Terry Brooks in the 'Most Shameless Copy
            of Tolkien' category. It seems he wanted to write a
            sequel to 'Lord of the Rings', but the Tolkien
            estate refused permission. So he recreated Middle
            Earth in "The Iron Tower Trilogy" with just enough
            differences to keep from violating copyright and
            continued from there. A decent writer, and his later
            books are much more original and quite enjoyable_
     "Silver Call" duology - Trek to Kraggen-Cor; The Brega Path
        Dragondoom
        The Eye of the Hunter
        Voyage of the Fox Rider
        Tales of Mithgar
        The Dragonstone (forthcoming 1996)
            _These books stand alone, but take place in the
            world of the "Iron Tower" trilogy. McKiernan's next
            book, 'The Caverns of Socrates,' is due in
            September, and it is SF_

Patricia McKillip (b. 1948)
        The Forgotten Beasts of Eld
            _Her first published work. Out of print and hard to
            find, unfortunately. However, it will be returned to
            print in the U.S. in the Spring of 1996 by Harcourt
            Brace. Hooray!_
     "The Riddlemaster of Hed" - The Riddlemaster of Hed; Heir
        of Sea and Fire; Harpist in the Wind
            _Excellent trilogy. Your FAQmaker sez: Get these and
            read them_
        The Changeling Sea
            _A young-adult stand-alone, with a young peasant
            girl saving a prince. Lyrical and moving_ 
        The Book of Atrix Wolfe
     "Cygnet" - Sorceress and Cygnet; Cygnet and Firebird

Robin McKinley (b. 1952)
        Beauty
            _Charming retelling of Beauty & the Beast. Her first
            novel-it's out of print now, but worth looking for. 
            Do NOT confuse it with Sherri Tepper's "Beauty" -
            they are VERY different books_
     "Damar" series - The Blue Sword; The Hero and the Crown
            _She only wrote two books set in Damar (and they are
            standalones), and has since gone on to other
            subjects_
        The Outlaws of Sherwood
            _Guess who this one's about_
        Deerskin
            _I like McKinley, but most of her work is fairly
            lightweight. This isn't. Based on the uncensored
            version of Perrault's classic fairytale
            'Donkeyskin'_
        A Knot in the Grain and Other Stories
            _Short story collection. Two of the five stories in
            the book mention Damar_

L.E. Modesitt (b. 1943)
     "Recluce" - The Magic of Recluce; The Towers of the Sunset;
        The Magic Engineer; The Order War; The Death of Chaos
        (forthcoming Sept. '95); The Anvil of Thor (forthcoming)
            _This is open-ended - books are listed above in the
            order they were published, and does NOT follow the
            internal chronology of the series. 'The Magic of
            Recluce' is, by most accounts, the best so far_
        Of Tangible Ghosts
            _Fantasy taking place in alternate universe that
            features ghosts and an East India Company that
            stayed the dominant economic power in the world_

Elizabeth Moon (b. 1945)
     "The Deed of Paksenarrion" - Sheepfarmer's Daughter;
        Divided Allegiance; Oath of Gold
            _Rousing adventure about the soldier and hero
            Paksenarrion. Moon has said that among the themes
            she worked on in the books was "the cost of courage,
            the cost of being a hero." She has written two
            prequels to the trilogy, 'Surrender None' and
            'Liar's Oath', which are quite a bit darker in tone,
            and several of the recommenders have advised against
            reading them_

*Michael Moorcock (b. 1939)
     "Elric" - Elric of Melnibone; The Fortress of the Pearl; A
        Sailor on the Seas of Fate; The Weird of the White Wolf;
        The Vanishing Tower; The Revenge of the Rose; The Bane
        of the Black Sword; Stormbringer
            _There is also at least one book of short stories
            about Elric (I'm taking the word of one
            correspondent about where the two later books -
            tFotP and tRotR - fit in the cycle. I've only read
            the original sextet)_
     "Runestaff" (Hawkmoon) - The Jewel in the Skull; The Mad
        God's Amulet; The Sword of the Dawn; The Runestaff
     "Count Brass" - Count Brass; Champion of Garathorn; The
        Quest for Tanelorn
     "Corum" - The Knight of Swords; The Queen of Swords; The
        King of Swords; The Bull and the Spear; The Oak and the
        Ram; The Sword and the Stallion
     "John Daker" (Erekose) - The Eternal Champion; Phoenix in
        Obsidian ('The Silver Warriors' in earlier U.S.
        editions); The Dragon in the Sword
            _All of these books -plus others- comprise the
            'Eternal Champion' cycle. Quality varies, and hard
            core fantasy fans won't like some of the liberties
            Moorcock takes with the genre, but if you like 'em,
            there sure are a LOT of 'em to keep you busy_
        The War Hound & The World's Pain
            _Takes place in the 30-Years War time frame. Jim
            considers it to Moorcock's best non-Eternal Champion
            book (although, if you ask Moorcock, he'll tell you
            that ALL of his books are part of the Eternal
            Champion cycle)_
            _Moorcock's entire (well, just about entire - there
            are a few bits & pieces that the rights weren't
            available) Eternal Champion cycle is being reprinted
            in 14 omnibus volumes by White Wolf Publishing_

C.L. Moore (b. 1911)
        Jirel of Joiry
            _Series of short stories from the 30's and 40's.
            Jirel was the first of the Barbarian Swordswomen.
            Moore's Northwest Smith stories are fun, too_

John Morressy (b. 1930)
        Greymantle; Ironbrand; Kingsbane; The Annihilator
            _Early work of his, can be hard to find. Eric says
            the Kedrigern books pale in comparison to these -
            they are much more in the epic fantasy vein. 'The
            Annihilator' is a prequel to the first three_
     "Kedrigern" - A Voice for Princess; The Questing of

_
                                          

        Kedrigern; Kedrigern in Wanderland; Kedrigern and the
        Charming Couple; A Remembrance for Kedrigern
            _Humorous series about the wizard Kedrigern and his
            wife Princess. The books do stand alone, but the
            story follows a definite progression, with the final
            book bringing the series to a close_

William Morris (1834-1896)
        Well at the World's End
        The Wood Beyond the World
        The Water of the Wondrous Isles
            _For the historically minded among you. VERY early
            fantasy (we're talking late 1800's here). None are
            currently in print, but the first two were reprinted
            as part of Ballantine's Adult Fantasy series in the
            70's, and so they do turn up at used book stores.
            You can also try the library_

Patricia Kenneally Morrison (b. 1946)
     "Keltiad"  series (a.k.a. "The Tale of Aeron") - The Silver
        Branch; The Copper Crown; The Throne of Scone
            _What would have happened if the Celts had escaped
            from Atlantis to Ireland, and then on to outer
            space?_
     "The Tale of Arthur" - The Hawk's Gray Feather; The Oak
        Above the Kings; The Hedge of Mist (forthcoming March
        '96)
            _Her earlier books were (and still are) published
            under the name "Patricia Kenneally". She is deeply
            interested in Celtic myth, and, yes, 'The Tale of
            Arthur' is about THAT Arthur_

H. Warner Munn (1903-1981)
     "The Merlin Family Saga" - Merlin's Ring (combined volume
        containing 'King of the World's Edge' and 'The Ship from
        Atlantis'); Merlin's Godson
            _Globe-and-time spanning adventures of Merlin and
            his godson Gwalchmai. Now out of print, they were
            part of Ballantine's Adult Fantasy series, so they
            shouldn't be too difficult to track down_

Andre Norton (b. 1912)
     "Simon Tregarth" - Witch World; Web of the Witch World
            _The duology that introduced the Witch World_
     "The Children of Simon Tregarth" - Three Against the Witch
        World; Warlock of the Witch World; Sorceress of the
        Witch World
            _Simon Tregarth's kids get a trilogy of their own,
            and the Witch World is thoroughly launched_
     "Witch World" series
            _It went from an Open-Ended Series to a Shared
            World, but the first 20 or so books are all Andre
            Norton's. And they're good, too. Particular
            favorites that were specifically mentioned are 'Year
            of the Unicorn' and 'The Crystal Gryphon'_

Pat O'Shea (b. 1931)
        The Hounds of the Morrigan
            _According to a blurb I found over in r.a.sf.w.,
            'Pidge and his little sister Brigit get chosen by
            the Dagda to thwart the Morrigan's plan to release
            the Olc-Glas and destroy the world.  Every major
            hero and deity makes an appearance'_

Meredith Ann Pierce (b. 1958)
     "The Darkangel Trilogy" - The Darkangel; A Gathering of
        Gargoyles; The Pearl of the Soul of the World
            _Excellent fantasy that is unfortunately hard to
            find. U.S. readers can purchase it as a single
            volume from the Science Fiction Book Club. Fans of
            Patricia McKillip may want to make a special effort
            to track this down_
        Firebringer; Darkmoon
            _Very good young adult series about unicorns. In
            'Firebringer' "...the unicorn society is well-
            developed for the length and reader-age of the
            books: they have their own mythology/historical
            songs, religion, enemies..." says Heather.

Richard (b. 1950) & Wendy (b. 1951) Pini
     "Elfquest"
            _Graphic novels (you know - comic books for adults
            who don't want to admit they still read comic
            books)_

Tim Powers (b. 1952)
        The Drawing of the Dark
            _out of print and hard to find, but worth it. A
            different look at the Arthur legend (in 16th century
            Vienna, of all places)_ 
        The Anubis Gate
            _All of Powers' books are great, but this is my
            favorite. The book that made his reputation. A wild
            romp through time with gypsies, Dog Faced Joe, a
            hideously evil clown, Egyptian gods, dopplegangers,
            a disguised heroine, Samuel Coleridge and oh so much
            more. Try it_
        On Stranger Tides
            _Blackbeard and voodoo - oh my!_
        The Stress of Her Regard
            _Those muses certainly are jealous mistresses..._
        Last Call
            _The Fisher King in Las Vegas_
        Expiration Date (Feb '95 in U.K.)
            _This will be showing up in the U.K. in February,
            but it'll be March, 1996 (yes, folks, 199*6*) before
            it's out in the U.S. from Tor *sigh*_

**Terry Pratchett (b. 1948)
     "Discworld"
            _Your FAQmaker loves these books, and so do enough
            other a.f.e. readers to make him an official Highly
            Recommended Author. Humorous series, over 15 books
            now, and recent books are as good as the first. The
            books divide up based on their main characters, but
            can all standalone (except the original Rincewind
            duology)_
     "Rincewind" - The Color of Magic; The Light Fantastic;
        Sourcery; Eric (1st U.S. edition due Sept '95);
        Interesting Times (out in U.K., heaven knows when it'll
        be out in the U.S.)
            _The first two are the duology that introduced
            Discworld. Rincewind is an incredibly incompetent
            wizard who gets mixed up with Discworld's first
            tourist_
     "Granny Weatherwax" - Equal Rites; Wyrd Sisters; Witches
        Abroad; Lords and Ladies (1st U.S. ed. Oct. '95)
            _Granny and her fellow witches are the favorites of
            many Pratchett fans. Unlike Rincewind, Granny is
            FRIGHTENINGLY competent_
     "Death" - Mort; Reaper Man; Soul Music
            _Yes, Death is a regularly appearing character, with
            a horse named Binky and taste for curry_
     "Carrot" - Guards, Guards; Men At Arms
            _And then there's Carrot, the six-foot-tall dwarf
            (he's adopted), who's come to Ankh-Morpork to make
            his fortune..._
        Moving Pictures; Pyramids; Small Gods
            _These are all standalones about Discworld, and all
            good_
        Good Omens (with Neil Gaiman)
            _NOT a Discworld book, this one is about the End Of
            The World_

*Melanie Rawn
     "The Dragon Prince Trilogy" - Dragon Prince; Star Scroll;
        Sunrunner's Fire
     "Dragon Star Trilogy" - Stronghold; The Dragon Token;
        Skybowl
            _Doug sez, "When I finished this series I felt a
            real sense of loss. Her description of some of the
            female characters in the series made me almost fall
            in love with them, and the use of magic as she
            describes it is new and innovative."_
     "Exiles Trilogy" - The Ruins of Ambrai; The Mageborn
        Traitor (forthcoming); The Captal's Tower (forthcoming)
            _New trilogy set in a different world from the
            "Dragon" books_

Mickey Zucker Reichert (b. 1962)
     "The Last of the Renshai" - The Last of the Renshai; The
        Western Wizard; Child of Thunder
     "The Bifrost Guardians" - Godslayer; Shadow Climber;
        Dragonrank Master; Shadow's Realm; By Chaos Cursed
            _Loosely based on Norse mythology_
        The Legend of Nightfall
            _Standalone fantasy. Sorcerers are a wicked bunch in
            this world, and they obtain more power in a
            particularly nasty way_
     "The Renshai Chronicles" - Beyond Ragnarok (August '95)
            _Start of a new trilogy that continues the Renshai
            story_

Anne Rice (b. 1941)
     "Chronicles of the Mayfair Family" - Witching Hour; Lasher;
        Taltos
     "Vampire Chronicles" - Interview with the Vampire; The
        Vampire Lestat; Queen of the Damned; Tale of the Body
        Thief; Memnoch the Devil
            _Horror/fantasy series. "Vampire" books are mainly
            about the bisexual vampire Lestat and his lover
            Louis who are struggling with their vampirism and
            their apparent immortality. Be warned - they're
            fairly graphic, both sexually and violently
            (although nowhere near the latest splatterpunk
            offerings from Poppy Z. Brite & her ilk.) Your
            FAQmaker isn't fond of horror, but these are popular
            enough that I'm forced to give them a mention on the
            list_

Jennifer Roberson (b. 1953)
     "Chronicles of the Cheysuli" - Shapechangers; The Song of
        Homona; Legacy of the Sword; Track of the White Wolf; A
        Pride of Princes; Daughter of the Lion; Flight of the
        Raven; A Tapestry of Lions
     "Tiger and Del" novels - Sword Dancer; Sword Singer; Sword
        Maker; Sword Breaker
            _These are all due to be reprinted in Jan. '96 by
            Daw Publishing, so if you're missing any of them,
            keep your eyes open_
        Lady of the Forest
            _Robin Hood, from Maid Marian's point of view_

Michael Scott Rohan
     "Winter of the World" - The Anvil of Ice; The Forge in the
        Forest; The Hammer of the Sun
     "Spiral" series - Chase the Morning; The Gates of Noon;
        Cloud Castles
        Lord of the Middle Air (forthcoming)
            _Stand-alone historical fantasy, taking place in the
            Scottish borderlands in the 13th century. It's out
            already in the U.K., but I don't have a date yet for
            the U.S. release_

Joel Rosenberg (b. 1954)
     "Guardians of the Flame (1st series)" - The Sleeping
        Dragon; The Sword and the Chain; The Silver Crown
            _One of the first of the 'Gamers jump for real into
            a fantasy world' series_
     "Guardians of the Flame (2nd series)" - The Heir Apparent;
        The Warrior Lives
            _Continuing the first series with a new generation_
        The Road to Ehvenor; The Road Home
            _Set in the world of "The Guardians of the Flame"
            and featuring many familiar characters - this story
            features Walter Slovotsky_
     "D'shai" - D'Shai; Hour of the Octopus
            _Open-ended fantasy/detective series. In the same
            vein as Glen Cook's 'Garrett' books, only more of an
            homage to Rex Stout rather than Raymond Chandler_
     "Keepers of the Hidden Ways" - The Fire Duke
            _A new series from Rosenberg, once again involving
            people from our world crossing over into another.
            This world is Norse-based, with lots of daring deeds
            and sword fighting_

Joanna Russ (b. 1937)
        Alyx (also published as 'The Adventures of Alyx')
            _Alyx is a thief and a vagabond, intelligent and
            witty, and very good with a knife. Alas, she only
            starred in a handful of short stories and the SF
            novel 'Picnic in Paradise,' all of which are in this
            collection. Maria and I both think you should read
            this one_

Fred Saberhagen (b. 1930)
     "The Books of the Swords" - The First Book of Swords; The
        Second Book of Swords; The Third Book of Swords
     "The Books of the Lost Swords" - Woundhealer's Story;
        Sightblinder's Story; Stonecutter's Story; Farslayer's
        Story; Coinspinner's Story; Mindsword's Story;
        Wayfinder's Story; Shieldbreaker's Story
            _Each of the "Lost Swords" titles is actually
            preceded by 'The First Book of Lost Swords:', 'The
            Second Book...' etc. I believe that most of the
            "swords" books can be read as stand-alones_
     "Empire of the East" - The Broken Lands; The Black
        Mountains; Changeling Earth
            _A prequel to the 'Swords' books, taking place in
            the same world_
     "Dracula" books
            _More tales of Dracula_
        Merlin's Bones

R.A. Salvatore (b. 1959)
     "Icewind Dale" - The Crystal Shard; Streams of Silver; The
        Halfling's Gem
     "Dark Elf Trilogy" - Homeward; Exile; Sojourn
     "Dark Elf Trilogy II" - Legacy; Starless Night; Siege of
        Darkness
            _"Icewind Dale" & "Dark Elf" and "Dark Elf II" take
            place in the TSR Forgotten Realms setting. I've had
            several people mention that 'Dark Elf II' shows a
            real drop in quality, although several others loved
            it as much as the first two trilogies_
        The Woods Out Back; The Dragon's Dagger
            _Part of the "Spearwielder's Tale" world of TSR_
     "The Cleric Quintet" - Canticle; In Sylvan Shadows; Night
        Masks; The Fallen Fortress; The Chaos Curse

Elizabeth Scarborough (b. 1947)
        Song of Sorcery; The Unicorn Creed; Bronwyn's Bane; The
        Christening Quest
            _More humor. I read these long ago, and I don't
            really remember much about them, but I *think* they
            are all standalones that take place in the same
            world with some of the same characters. These are
            all long out of print_
        The Godmother; The Godmother's Apprentice (forthcoming
        Dec. '95)
            _An overwhelmed social worker in modern Seattle gets
            a (slightly inept) fairy godmother_

Michael Shea (b. 1946)
        Nifft the Lean
            _Dark series of short stories. Republished in a
            limited hardcover edition by Darkside Press in
            November '94. Shea is reportedly working on a new
            book about Nifft. If you can find this, try it_

Josepha Sherman
        The Shining Falcon
            _Corinne says that if you like the Slavic influence
            of Stephen Brust and the heroines of Robin McKinley,
            try this book_
            _Other, more recent fantasies by Josepha Sherman
            include:_
        King's Son Magic's Son
        A Strange and Ancient Name
        The Shattered Oath

James Silke
     "Deathdealer" books - Prisoner of the Horned Helm; Plague
        of Knives; Tooth and Nail
            _Inspired by Frazetta's paintings of Death Dealer
            (that's the dude with the incredible muscles, HUGE
            axe, and rather impractical helmet). There are
            currently 4 books out_

Robert Silverberg (b. 1936)
     "Majipoor Chronicles" - Lord Valentine's Castle; Majipoor
        Chronicles: A Novel; Valentine Pontifex; The Mountains
        of Majipoor
            _This is another series that pushes the boundaries
            between SF and fantasy, but I enjoyed LVC quite a
            bit, so since *Nathan* brought them up, I'll list
            'em. 'Mountains' is the first new Majipoor book in
            more than a decade_

Julie Dean Smith
     "The Caithan Crusade" - Call of Madness; Mission of Magic;
        Sage of Sare; The Wizard King
            _Ongoing series. Tarja sez it 'is a rather typical
            fantasy, but [the author] has developed an
            interesting suggestion on how mage-powers develop'_

Midori Snyder
     "Oran" trilogy - New Moon; Sadar's Keep; Beldan's Fire
            _The land of Oran has been ruled by the tyrant Fire
            Queen Zorah for two hundred years. Her four
            granddaughters seek to come into their own powers
            and free the land. The recommender likes Snyder, and
            I've heard good things about her, too_

Zilpha Keatley Snyder (b. 1927)
     "Green Sky Trilogy" - Below the Root; And All Between;
        Until the Celebration
            _Peaceful world that is torn apart when their
            government is revealed as being a scam. Cyradis
            liked it a lot. You'll find it in the children's
            section of the library_
            _Snyder has written many stand-alone Young Adult
            books, including the fantasies 'Black and Blue
            Magic', 'The Witches of Worm', and 'The Changeling',
            as well as mysteries and novels. I have very fond
            memories of her from my long-ago adolescence, but I
            admit that I haven't tried re-reading her as an
            adult_ 

Christopher Stasheff (b. 1944)
     "Warlock" series
            _Open-ended humorous adventure series that is past
            the 10-book mark, and is now beginning to focus on
            descendents of the original hero_
     "A Wizard in Rhyme" series - Her Majesty's Wizard; The
        Oathbound Wizard; The Witch Doctor
            _Open-ended series. Matt Mantrell is transported
            into an alternate world where rhymes have magical
            powers_
     "Rogue Wizard" - A Wizard in Mind; A Wizard in War
        (forthcoming Nov '95)
            _New open-ended series. I believe this features
            characters from the "Warlock" series_
     "The Star Stone" - The Shaman (forthcoming Nov. '95); The
        Sage (forthcoming whenever)
            _Another new series. This apparently has no
            connection to his Wizard or Warlock series_

Carol Stevermer (b. 1955)
        Sorcery and Cecilia (with Patricia Wrede)
            _Amusing stand alone. A combination regency romance,
            adventure, and fantasy_
        A College of Magics
            _Takes place in an Edwardian-period world that has
            magic, too. Witty, amusing, and a very enjoyable
            little period piece. Plus, it stands alone, so
            you're not committing yourself to nine zillion
            sequels_

Thomas Burnett Swann (1928-1976)
        The Tournament of Thorns
            _Quirky and interesting author, who is characterized
            by his odd mixtures of fantasy and history. This
            book in particular was recommended, but if you like
            him, you'll probably enjoy all his work. His stuff
            is out of print now, but it was fairly popular in
            the 70's and early 80's_

Judith Tarr (b. 1955)
     "The Hound and the Falcon" - The Isle of Glass; The Golden
        Horn; The Hounds of God

_
                                                                               

            _Corinne describes this as "a truly billiant series
            set in Richard the Lion Heart's England bordered on
            the Elflands"_
        Alamut
        The Dagger and the Cross
            _Both set in the same world as "The Hound and the
            Falcon" trilogy_
        A Wind in Cairo
        Ars Magica
        Lord of the Two Lands
        Throne of Isis
     "Avaryan Rising" - The Hall of the Mountain King; The Lady
        of Han-Gilen; A Fall of Princes; Arrows of the Sun;
        Spear of Heaven

Roger Taylor
     "Chronicles of Hawklan" - The Call of the Sword; The Fall
        of Fyorlund; The Waking of Othlund; Into Narsindal
            _Not available in the U.S., this series has been
            described as "a pretty good read" and "highly
            recommended"_
        Dreamfinder
            _Set in the same world as Hawklan_
        Farnor
        Valderin

Sheri Tepper (b. 1929)
     "The Land of True Game" series - King's Blood Four;
        Wizard's Eleven; Necromancer Nine (1st series)
        Jinian Footseer; Dervish Daughter; Jinian Star-Eyed (2nd
        series)
        The Song of Mavin Manyshaped; The Flight of Mavin
        Manyshaped; The Search of Mavin Manyshaped (3rd series)
            _Series made up of several separate trilogies. Her
            earliest work - can be difficult to find (Ace plans
            to reprint this series in the U.S. in trade
            paperback format)_
     "The Marianne Trilogy" - Marianne, the Magus, and the
        Manticore; Marianne, the Madame, and the Momentary Gods;
        Marianne, the Matchbox, and the Malachite Mouse
            _I believe that the books in this rather light-
            hearted trilogy are actually fairly independent of
            each other_
        Beauty
            _Now primarily known as a SF author, Tepper returns
            to her roots and gives a very different slant on the
            fairy tale Sleeping Beauty. Sardonic and grim are
            descriptive terms I've heard about this one_

Patrick Tilley (b. 1928)
     "The Amtrack Wars" - Cloud Warrior; Sand Burrower; Iron
        Master; Blood River; Death Bringer; Earth Thunder
            _Donal says these are good, so *I'll* certainly be
            giving them a try. Its just that I can't seem to
            find them ANYWHERE...Apparently, only the first
            couple were published in the U.S. Going by
            commentary on the Net, these are about a post-
            apocalyptic society with magic and suchlike_

**J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973)
        The Hobbit
            _Prelude to "The Lord of the Rings" - should be read
            prior to starting them, but it isn't absolutely
            necessary. Written as a children's book, and some
            readers find it a little simplistic (not me!)_
     "The Lord of the Rings" - The Fellowship of the Ring; The
        Two Towers; The Return of the King
            _Oh, come on now - how can you claim to be a fantasy
            fan and haven't read this? If not for tLotR, Eddings
            would still be writing about deer hunting..._
        The Silmarillion
        The Tolkien Reader
            _Anthology of poetry and short stories_

Trillium series by Marion Zimmer Bradley, Julian May, and Andre
Norton
     "Trillium" - Black Trillium (by all three); Blood Trillium
        (by Julian May); Golden Trillium (by Andre Norton); Lady
        of the Trillium (by Marion Zimmer Bradley); Sky Trillium
        (by Julian May, forthcoming in '96)
            _An interesting mutation of the 'shared world' idea.
            The first book was written by all three, further
            books are to be written by the individual authors_

Harry Turtledove
     "Videssos Cycle" - The Misplaced Legion; An Emperor for the
        Legion; The Legion of Videssos; Swords of the Legion
            _Legion from Republican Rome meets Byzantine empire.
            "Highly recommended" sez Mark_
     "The Tale of Krispos" - Krispos Rising; Krispos of
        Videssos; Krispos the Emperor
            _Continuing the story of Videssos_
     "The Time of Troubles" - The Stolen Throne
            _Start of a new series, prequel to "The Tale of
            Krispos"_
        Agent of Byzantium
            _Basil Argyros, spy for an alternate-history
            Byzantine empire, in series of adventures that
            originally appeared as separate novelettes. There
            are some hints of magic, but this is basically
            alternate-history SF_
        The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump
            _Humor/adventure taking place in an alternate Los
            Angeles where magic works_

Jack Vance (b. 1916)
     "Lyonesse" trilogy - Suldrun's Garden; The Green Pearl;
        Madouc
            _Best known for his SF, Vance is an interesting
            writer in any genre_
     "Dying Earth" series - The Dying Earth; The Eyes of the
        Overworld; Cugel's Saga; Rhialto the Marvelous
            _The first two are genuine fantasy classics, and
            Cugel the Clever is a great character (hey, I *like*
            rogues). These are all stand-alones_

Paula Volsky
        The Luck of Relian Kru
            _"Almost as good as its title"_

Karl Edward Wagner (1945-1994)
     "Kane" series - Darkness Weaves with Many Shades; Death
        Angel's Shadow; Bloodstone; Dark Crusade; Night Winds;
        The Book of Kane
            _This open-ended series is from the mayhem and magic
            school of fantasy. Kane is for those who like their
            sword and sorcery "dark". Wagner is a very good
            writer, and Kane is an interesting creation. Karl
            Wagner died 10/14/94 at age 48, and will be missed
            by the fantasy community_

Evangeline Walton (b. 1907)
     "The Mabinogi" - The Prince of Annwm; The Children of Llyr;
        The Song of Rhiannon; The Island of the Mighty
            _This may be hard to find, but it's included for the
            more serious fantasy fan. Heavily researched,
            classic retelling of the Welsh folklore cycle known
            as the Mabinogin. Many fantasy authors have mined
            this for themes_

Lawrence Watt-Evans (b. 1954)
     "The Lords of Dus" - The Lure of the Basilisk; The Seven
        Altars of Dusarra; The Sword of Bheleu; The Book of
        Silence
     "Ethshar" series
        The Misenchanted Sword; With a Single Spell; The
        Unwilling Warlord; Blood of a Dragon; Taking Flight; The
        Spell of the Black Dagger
            _I understand that, in theory, the Ethshar books can
            be read in any order. The above is the order they
            were published in_

**Margaret Weis (b. 1948) & Tracy Hickman (b. 1955)
     "Dragonlance Chronicles" - Dragons of Autumn Twilight;
        Dragons of Winter Night; Dragons of Spring Dawning
     "Dragonlance Legends" - Time of the Twins; War of the
        Twins; Test of the Twins
            _EVERYONE who recommended these books included a
            warning that other Dragonlance books by other
            authors should be avoided. There is also a book of
            short stories called "Dragonlance: The Second
            Generation". All but two of the stories are reprints
            from other Dragonlance collections_
     "Dragonlance Chronicles IV" - Dragons of the Summer Flame
        (forthcoming Nov. 1995)
            _They're baaaaack. Weis & Hickman return to the
            world of Dragonlance with a new novel that takes the
            characters and stories from the novella collection
            "DragonLance: The Second Generation" and continues
            onward ever onward with them_
     "Darksword" - Forging the Darksword; Doom of the Darksword;
        Triumph of the Darksword
     "Rose of the Prophet" - The Will of the Wanderer; The
        Paladin of the Night; The Prophet of Akhran
     "Death Gate Cycle" - Dragon Wing; Elven Star; Fire Sea;
        Serpent Mage; The Hand of Chaos; Into the Labyrinth; 
        The Seventh Gate

Angus Wells
     "The Kingdoms" - Wrath of Ashar; The Usurper; The Way
        Beneath
     "Godwars" - Forbidden Magic; Dark Magic; Wild Magic
            _"Kingdoms" and "Godwars" are not related to each
            other or to his most recent novel. Richard likes
            "Godwars," but Michael prefers "The Kingdoms"
            trilogy (Richard asks me to point out that he hasn't
            read "The Kingdoms" yet, which makes it difficult
            for him to compare them)_
        Lords of the Sky
            _To quote Carolyn Cushman of 'Locus' magazine: "For
            once, a sprawling medieval fantasy epic that's self-
            contained!"_
        Exile's Children (forthcoming Oct. '95 in U.K., Jan. '96
        in U.S.)
            _Completists should note that Angus Wells published
            a series in the late '70's under the name 'Richard
            Kirk' about Raven, the Swordmistress of Chaos_

Martha Wells
        The Element of Fire
            _Excellent debut fantasy. A complex, fast-moving
            plot, intelligent characters, a well-thought-out
            world - this one's a keeper_
        City of Bones
            _Just out in hardcover, and it has been getting
            great reviews_

T.H. White (1906-1964)
        The Once and Future King
            _THE classic retelling of the Arthur legend. And,
            yeah, it's the source of both Disney's 'The Sword in
            the Stone' and Lerner & Lowe's 'Camelot.' The
            original quartet of novels are being reprinted in
            England_
        Mistress Masham's Repose
            _Did you ever wonder what happened to those
            Lilliputians followed Gulliver back to England?_

Jack Whyte  
     "A Dream of Eagles" trilogy - The Sky Stone; The Singing
        Sword; ?? 
            _setting is Arthurian - few fantasy elements,
            although Merlin is scheduled to appear in the
            forthcoming final book_

Elizabeth Willey
     "Kingdom of Argylle" series - The Well-Favored Man; A
        Sorcerer and a Gentleman (forthcoming Aug. '95) 
            _A kingdom created out of Chaos by the family
            patriarch, Prince Gwydion left as regent after his
            parents have debunked, a royal family made up of
            warriors and magicians all busily plotting and
            counter-plotting...Elizabeth calls this 'the best
            new author's book I've read in years' and recommends
            it very highly. I enjoyed it, although one Net-wit's
            comment that it should have been titled _Nice
            Princes in Amber_ is painfully close to the truth_

Charles Williams (1886-1945)
        Many Dimensions, War in Heaven, Descent Into Hell, The
        Greater Trumps, The Place of the Lion, Shadows of
        Ecstasy, All Hallows' Eve
            _Williams is the least known of the Inklings (C.S.
            Lewis & Tolkien are the best known). In his novels,
            a different aspect of the Power that underlies
            reality comes into the hands of ordinary people in
            30's/40's England. 'War in Heaven' has a quest for
            the Grail, 'Many Dimensions' has the Seal of Solomon
            falling into the hands of schemer who plans to use
            it to corner the transportation industry. Delightful
            books, their current obscurity is undeserved_

*Tad Williams (b. 1957)
        Tailchaser's Song
            _Williams' first fantasy novel - Tailchaser is a
            cat_
     "Memory, Sorrow & Thorn" - The Dragonbone Chair; Stone of
        Farewell; To Green Angel Tower
            _At first glance, very similiar to "The Belgariad"-
            immature-boy-grows-to-fill-heroic-role. Williams'
            vision is a bit darker, however, and the secondary
            characters get a lot more fleshing out. Slow moving
            at points, but worth your time. Paperback version of
            'To Green Angel Tower' is published in two volumes_
        Child of an Ancient City (with Nina Kiriki Hoffman)
            _Stand-alone young adult novel_
        Caliban's Hour
            _Takes up where Shakespeare left off_
            _Williams' next will be a 4-volume SF series with
            the overall title of "OTHERLAND." According to
            Katharine Kerr, he has 'sworn a mighty vow that
            he'll never write about Osten Ard [the world of
            "MS&T"] again'_

Patricia Wrede (b. 1953)
        Snow White and Rose Red
            _Retelling of the classic fairytale, set in
            Elizabethan England. Part of the very highly
            regarded 'Fairy Tale' series_
     "Lyra" series - Shadow Magic; Daughter of Witches; The Harp
        of Imach Thyssel; Caught in Crystal; The Seven Towers;
        The Raven Ring
            _Open-ended series (the books are stand-alone and
            can be read in any order) set in a world of many
            different cultures and religions, as well as three
            non-human races_
     "The Enchanted Forest Chronicles" - Dealing with Dragons;
        Searching for Dragons; Calling on Dragons; Talking to
        Dragons
            _Open-ended series that has a lot of fun with the
            usual fairytale conventions. You'll find it in the
            young adult section. I especially recommend this to
            anyone who is looking for books for adolescent girls
            (and then be sure to read it yourself)_
        Mairelon the Magician
            _Set in an alternate England where magic works, lots
            of intrigue. Frankly, it reminded me of a Georgette
            Heyer regency (which is a recommendation - Heyer is
            quite good)_

Janny Wurts
     "The Cycle of Fire" - Stormwarden; Keeper of the Keys;
        Shadowfane
        The Curse of the Mistwraith
     "The Wars of Light and Shadow" - The Master of the White
        Storm; The Ships of Merior; Warhost of Vastmark
        (forthcoming in U.K. August '95)(NOTE: U.S. edition of
        'The Ships of Merior' INCLUDES 'Warhost of Vastmark')
            _best known for her collaboration with Raymond Feist
            on the "Empire series" and her paintings, Wurts is
            a fine author in her own right_

Jonathan Wylie
     "Servants of the Ark" - The First Named; The Centre of the
        Circle; The Mage-Born Child
     "The Unbalanced Earth" - Dreams of Stone; The Lightless
        Kingdom; The Age of Chaos
            _"Servants" and "Unbalanced Earth" are loosely
            related, with the events of "Servants" coming first.
            These two trilogies were published in the U.S. by
            Bantam, but are currently out of print_
        Dreamweaver
            _Stand-alone. Wylie has written one other stand-
            alone ('Shadowmaze') which is NOT recommended_
     "Island and Empire" trilogy - Dark Fire; Echoes of Flame;
        The Last Augury
            _One recommender considers this trilogy the best of
            the three. It is the story of a tiny island's fight
            for independence from the cruel Xantic Empire. This
            work hasn't found a U.S. publisher yet (so far as I
            can find), so most of us are going to have to hunt
            for these. Thanks to Tarja for getting me the titles
            in this trilogy_
        Strange Lands
            _A new stand-alone. This came out in Britain in June
            '95, and isn't out in the U.S. My spies inform me
            that Wylie is really a pseudonym for Mark and Julie
            Smith (thanks stevie!)_

*Roger Zelazny (1937-1995)
     "Amber - 1st series" - Nine Princes in Amber; The Guns of
        Avalon; The Sign of the Unicorn; The Hand of Oberon; The
        Courts of Chaos
     "Amber - 2nd series" - Trumps of Doom; Blood of Amber; Sign
        of Chaos; Knight of Shadows; Prince of Chaos
            _Although the 2nd series is showing signs of
            exhaustion, the first series is quite enjoyable and
            very recommended_
        Roadmarks
     "Dilvish" stories - Dilvish the Damned; The Changing Land



-- 
Amy I. Sheldon       "We cannot do without a view, and we
ais3@po.cwru.edu      put up with an illusion when we
                      cannot get a truth."
                          - Cardinal Newman


                                            

faqserv
            the alt.fan.eddings newsgroup. Contains descriptive
            listings, forthcoming titles, book news, and numbers
            of recommendations.


Archive-name: fantasy/recommended-authors/part3

        THE RECOMMENDED FANTASY AUTHORS LIST - ver. 2.2
                          Part 3 of 3


ADDITIONS AND MAJOR CHANGES SINCE THE LAST POSTING

David Brin
        The Practice Effect
            _A lone fantasy from an SF master. This is
            definitely Brin-lite, but even minor Brin is
            enjoyable. A light-hearted adventure in a parallel
            world where magic takes a strange form (the title
            pretty much gives it away). The book is a stand
            alone. It came out a while ago, and may be out of
            print_

William Goldman
        The Princess Bride
            _Boy, I'm embarrassed about this one. I thought I'd
            added this book MONTHS ago. A fast-paced, funny romp
            through every fantasy cliche you can think of (watch
            out for the rodents of unusual size). Written by an
            author best known for his screenplays, which may be
            why the movie actually does a good job of capturing
            the tone of the book_

 
BOOK NEWS

PATRICIA MCKILLIP's fantasy, _The Forgotten Beasts of Eld_, 
will be out on the first list, Spring 1996, of the new paperback
imprint Magic Carpet Books from Harcourt Brace. If the editor
may be permitted a personal comment here, I would like to state
that this is a classic, and it is an absolute sin that the book
has been out of print for the last decade. Many thanks to Jane
Yolen, the editor of the Magic Carpet Books line, for bringing
this book back.

Moving from the sublime to the ridiculous, ANNE RICE launched a
thirty-city book tour for her latest Vampire blockbuster,
_Memnoch the Devil_, in New Orleans in early July. Laid out in
a vintage wedding gown, Rice was carried by pallbears in a
closed coffin in a mock jazz funeral procession that wound its
way through the streets of the city to the Garden District
Bookshop, where she emerged from her coffin and signed books for
five hours. _Memnoch_ immediately jumped to the number one
position on most of the fiction bestseller lists.

Columbia Museum in Wamego, Kansas just opened a new exhibit - "A
Century of Oz." Featuring thousands of items from the personal
collection of Tod Mackin, the show contains everything from
first editions of L. FRANK BAUM's books to dolls to games to
coathangers. And, naturally, it also includes a large selection
of memorabilia from the 1939 movie starring Judy Garland. Wamego
is hardly a tourist mecca, but the museum reports that they
attracted more than 3,000 visitors the first week. The exhibit
will open through Labor Day (that's September 4 for those of you
not familiar with U.S. holidays).

Speaking of Oz, the International Wizard of Oz Club is
sponsoring a contest for a new Oz book. The winner will receive
$5,000 upon publication, and an addition $1,000 each time the
book is reprinted. For detailed guidelines, send a stamped self-
addressed envelope to The International Wizard of Oz Club, P.O.
Box 2359, Times Square Station, NY 10108.

Fantasy authors are muscling their way into power over at the
Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA). BARBARA HAMBLY was
recently elected President, MICKEY ZUCKER REICHERT is Treasurer,
and ROBIN BAILEY is South/Central Regional Director. Other
officers are Michael Capobianco, Vice President; J.D. MacDonald,
Secretary; and Edo van Belkom, Canadian Regional Director. It
was noted in the announcement from SFWA that "since none of the
offices had more than one candidate running, the election was
not exactly a cliffhanger."

And USENET just keeps on growing....Fans of RAYMOND FEIST now
have a newsgroup to call their own; alt.books.raymond-feist has
started to turn up on terminals everywhere. If you can't find it
on yours, contact your system administrator to get it added.

SHORT TAKES
_Ansible_ reports that DIANA WYNNE JONES is recovering from
spinal surgery performed on May 29 ... TAD WILLIAMS and Deb
Beale have relocated from London to Palo Alto, California. They
will be spending six months there before returning to London.
They plan to continue rotating between the two locations every
six months ... _Locus_ reports that RICHARD KNAAK sold a new
novel titled _The Horse King_ to Warner Publishing. It is
related to the "Dragonrealm" series 


NOW APPEARING AT A BOOKSTORE NEAR YOU
The following books have a release date of August 1 in the U.S.
(which means they've probably been out on the shelves since mid-
July). "Paperback reprints" are, so far as I know, the first
paperback reprints of books that are already out in hardcover.
Last names of authors are in capitals, hopefully making them
easier to spot.

Hardcover originals: _Orion Among the Stars_ by Ben BOVA;
     _Belgarath the Sorcerer_ by David and Leigh EDDINGS;
     _Beyond Ragnarok_ by Micky Zucker REICHERT; _A Sorcerer and
     a Gentleman_ by Elizabeth WILLEY
Paperback originals: _Fifth Quarter_ by Tanya HUFF;
     _Dragonslayer's Return_ by R.A. SALVATORE; _Quicksilver's
     Knight_ by Christopher STASHEFF
Paperback reprints: _The Bastard Prince_ by Katherine KURTZ


RECOMMENDED AUTHORS
The List contains every fantasy author recommended by one or
more readers of a.f.e. Some authors turned up on enough lists to
gain special status as either "Highly Recommended" or
"Recommended."

Leading the pack of Highly Recommended authors (appears on 20%
or more of the recommendation lists) is:
     Raymond Feist
Joining him are: Terry Brooks, Stephen Donaldson, Robert Jordan,
Anne McCaffrey, Terry Pratchett, J.R.R. Tolkien, and the
Margaret Weis/Tracy Hickman combo.

Recommended authors (10% - 19%) are:
     Lloyd Alexander, Piers Anthony, Robert Asprin, Marion
     Zimmer Bradley, Susan Cooper, Dave Duncan, Barbara Hambly,
     Guy Gavriel Kay, Katherine Kerr, Katherine Kurtz, Mercedes
     Lackey, Ursula Le Guin, C.S. Lewis, Julian May, Michael
     Moorcock, Melanie Rawn, Tad Williams, and Roger Zelazny

Following are the authors with recommendations from 5% (6 votes)
or more of those sending in lists and their total number of
recommendations (as of 6/1/95)

     Feist, Raymond. . . . .49
     Jordan, Robert. . . . .42
     Tolkien, J.R.R. . . . .37
     Donaldson, Stephen. . .33
     Brooks, Terry . . . . .31
     Weis & Hickman. . . . .31
     McCaffrey, Anne . . . .26
     Pratchett, Terry. . . .26
     Kay, Guy Gavriel. . . .22
     Williams, Tad . . . . .21
     Anthony, Piers. . . . .19
     Lackey, Mercedes. . . .19
     Rawn, Melanie . . . . .19
     Kurtz, Katherine. . . .18
     Kerr, Katharine . . . .16
     Duncan, Dave. . . . . .14
     Lewis, C.S. . . . . . .14
     Alexander, Lloyd. . . .12
     Bradley, Marian Zimmer.12
     Cooper, Susan . . . . .12
     Le Guin, Ursula . . . .12
     Zelazny, Roger. . . . .12
     Asprin, Robert. . . . .11
     Hambly, Barbara . . . .11
     May, Julian . . . . . .11
     Moorcock, Michael . . .11
     Brust, Stephen. . . . .10
     Gemmell, David. . . . .10
     Salvatore, R.A. . . . .10
     Card, Orson Scott . . . 9
     McKillip, Patricia. . . 8
     Roberson, Jennifer. . . 8
     Tepper, Sheri . . . . . 8
     Lawhead, Stephen. . . . 7
     MacAvoy, R.A. . . . . . 7
     McKinley, Robin . . . . 7
     Saberhagen, Fred. . . . 7
     Cherryh, C.J. . . . . . 6
     Cook, Glen. . . . . . . 6
     Cooper, Louise. . . . . 6
     de Lint, Charles. . . . 6
     Edgerton, Teresa. . . . 6
     Eisenstein, Phyllis . . 6
     Jones, Diana Wynne. . . 6
     Moon, Elizabeth . . . . 6
     Vance, Jack . . . . . . 6
     Wells, Angus. . . . . . 6
     Wurts, Janny. . . . . . 6

All of the other authors currently on the list have 5
recommendations or less.

FINDING THESE BOOKS
Many of the books listed are currently in print (as of May,
1995), or were popular enough that you should be able to track
them down in a used-bookstore or at the library. I have
attempted to note those that will be particularly difficult to
find. This is written from a United States viewpoint - those of
you in Canada, Europe, Australia, and elsewhere may need to put
forth quite a bit more effort.

There are several bookstores specializing in SF/Fantasy can be
reached through the net. The ones I am familiar with are:
     Future Fantasy (3705 El Camino, Palo Alto, CA;
     futfan@netcom.com) Good selection of new SF/Fantasy. If you
     have access to a WWW client, it is accessible at
     http://www.commerce.digital.com./palo-alto/FutureFantasy/
     They ship worldwide.

     Other Change of Hobbit (202 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley, CA;
     danee@backdoor.com) New and used SF/fantasy. They accept
     want lists, and ship worldwide.

     Nebula (1452, St-Mathieu, Montreal, Quebec, Canada;
     nebula@cam.org) New SF/fantasy. They say they have every SF
     book currently in print in North America available.

For the *real* technophiles among us, BOOKS.COM is (at the
moment) the only telnettable mail order bookstore. To reach it,
telnet to books.com, then browse. It is supposed to have a
decent searchable database. They do ship worldwide, and I have
it by reliable report that shipping is reasonably priced and
fairly quick.


CREDITS
Many people made suggestions and offered aid and comfort in the
creation of this list. Many thanks to everyone who sent me lists
of their favorite Recommended Authors, and if you read any *new*
authors you want to recommend, let me know.

Three cheers for:
Anthony Chan - who started the Eddings FAQ, and,
Mike Loux - who took over from Anthony and is in the process of
     creating a truly comprehensive Eddings extravaganza (at
     least, we think he is)

Jani Joki - who has a cool homepage that includes this list
     (check it out at http://www.evitech.fi/~janijj/Books.html)

Jonathan Yen - who has almost as many books on his
     recommendation list as I do

Donal Fellows - ruler of the Eddings home page (as well as all
     that he surveys). View it at: 
       http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/~fellowsd/

Special thanks to all of the following, who helped to fill in
the blanks and/or suggested new authors to add to the list:
     Tim Abicht (Eriond), Henry Andrews, Corinne Aragaki, Krista
     Babstock, Zachary Mitch Binder, Elizabeth Blatt, Fredrik
     Blom, Doug Bowles, Jan Erik Breimo, Daphne Brinkerhoff,
     Edward Buckley, Andy Carlson, Steve Christensen, Cyradis,
     Amy Darke, Nathan Daniel, Jessika Diamond, Asher Dunn,
     Matthew Dworkin, Richard Faircloth, Donal Fellows, Michael
     Crist Ferguson, Maria Fox, the Gaspode Wannabe, Ngaire
     Genge, Clint Hauser, Glynne Jones, Mark Allen Jones, Derrek
     Kirk, Michael X. Koon, Jim Lahue, Glynis Long, Mike Loux,
     Dwayne MacKinnon, Beth Martin, Craig Meyer, Naomi, Ray
     Pugh, Tarja Rainio, Leigh Rooney, Kevin Roose, Steve Sams,
     Heather Sexauer, Joe "Uno" Shaw, Eric Siebert, one of the
     Simons, Martin Slade, Dean Smith, Lars H. Tombre, Garry
     Turkington, Luke Vaughn, B.J. van Look, Elaine Walker,
     Wardley the Wizzy, Brett Whinnen, Pamela Wolff

The listing was created and is maintained by Amy Sheldon. Any
corrections, comments or questions should be sent to:
     ais3@po.cwru.edu




-- 
Amy I. Sheldon       "We cannot do without a view, and we
ais3@po.cwru.edu      put up with an illusion when we
                      cannot get a truth."
                          - Cardinal Newman


                            
