I need a new genre author

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Okay, here's the deal: mostly, when it comes to fiction, I read what might be called "serious modern fiction," and that's mostly what I like. But when I'm working on something that leaves me pretty brain-dead -- like, say, trying to achieve basic competence in a language as beastly as Dari -- I like to unwind with genre fiction. Way too much liberal arts education along with a steady diet of Man-Booker winners, however, has left me with pretty high standards for things like use of language, structure, complexity of themes and characters, etc., and that's where most genre fiction falls down.

As far as I'm concerned, the God of quality genre fiction is John LeCarre, but I've pretty much exhausted his stuff. Ditto crime writers -- my favorite genre -- like Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, James M. Cain, Jim Thompson, Chester Himes, Walter Mosely, James Ellroy, and Elmore Leonard. I generally can't abide scifi (that'll make me a bunch of friends here, I'm sure ), but I have run through William Gibson and as much Neal Stephenson as I could stand (basically, up though Cryptonomicon, which I loved; Baroque cycle, not so much). I don't know if that helps triangulate my tastes any, but there it is.

I have an extremely smart friend whose taste I generally trust pushing Anne Rice, but I'm dubious. Instead I'm reading Tony Hillerman, who's okay but a bit "light" for my tastes.

Help!

Thanks.

[Kuciwalker]

You might like Neil Gaiman.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

You know, by wild coincidence he showed up on Colbert (the 8.30 pm rerun) while I was typing the OP. Is American Gods the best place to start?

[Kuciwalker]

Honestly, I'd say the Sandman comics are the best place to start, but American Gods is also very good.

[snoopy369]

Hmmmm. Donna Leone is a good crime writer (Inspector Brunetti series); main character is a police inspector in Venice, very good at writing his character and about things other than JUST the crime, as well as interactions with his superiors and the bureaucracy.

[snoopy369]

You know, by wild coincidence he showed up on Colbert (the 8.30 pm rerun) while I was typing the OP. Is American Gods the best place to start?

For someone more used to traditional literature, probably. It's his best "traditional literature" by far. It's also fairly serious, though.

[Kuciwalker]

For someone more used to traditional literature, probably. It's his best "traditional literature" by far. It's also fairly serious, though.

Second this. His other novels are a lot more conventional urban fantasy.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Hmmmm. Donna Leone is a good crime writer (Inspector Brunetti series); main character is a police inspector in Venice, very good at writing his character and about things other than JUST the crime, as well as interactions with his superiors and the bureaucracy.

Sounds interesting. Thanks for the suggestion, and for chiming in on Gaiman.

[Guynemer]

Another vote for Gaiman in general, and American Gods in particular.

You also mentioned Stephenson in your first post. I quite enjoyed his most recent book, Anathem. Quite a bit denser than, say, Snow Crash, but still an excellent novel.

[Jon Miller]

Bujold amd Ian Banks both write sf but also other types of genre fiction. Both are also some of the best writers in sf at least.

I think for Ian Banks they are generally different books, for Bujold some of her sci fi is also mystery/etc.

Both are much better, I think, than Ann Rice.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lois_McMaster_Bujold (sci fi, fantasy, romance, mystery)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iain_Banks (Sci fi and mainstream)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Simmons (Horror and sci fi)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Wolfe (sci fi and fantasy - I know, not your genres but still maybe the best living in those genres so I think I will include him)

JM

[snoopy369]

Anathem probably isn't particularly relaxing, particularly if you didn't enjoy

Of Jon's list, for someone with your taste in SF/F I would only consider Simmons or perhaps Banks of that list (of excellent authors); both tend towards literary, while Bujold and Wolfe are more traditional SF/F. Simmons' stuff usually has some interesting philosophy in it; particularly Hyperion. Banks' books are also quite literary (in fact, he writes quite a lot of literary non-SF as well as SF). Also quite philosophical (see a trend...)

[Jon Miller]

While I agree that the Book of the Long Sun/etc has its roots in Dying Earth, it is far better and arguably one of the best sci fi books out there. Wolfe is a very deep writer I feel dealing with philosophy, memory, the nature of identity/etc. And you can't classify Peace as traditional SF/F...

Bujold I will agree has books that are more traditional SF/F, however, many of her books are SF/F and romance or SF/F and mystery or other such things.

Hyperion is in my opinion the best of Simmons books and the main reason I recommend him.

JM

[snoopy369]

Actually, if you don't mind another SF recommend, Kristine Kathryn Rusch's Retrieval Artists series is an interesting SF/detective novel adventure combination as well, and rather short reads.

Also, if you like history, have you considered Alan Furst? He writes some very good WWII spy novels.

[snoopy369]

While I agree that the Book of the Long Sun/etc has its roots in Dying Earth, it is far better and arguably one of the best sci fi books out there. Wolfe is a very deep writer I feel. And you can't classify Peace as traditional SF/F...

Bujold I will agree has books that are more traditional SF/F, however, many of her books are SF/F and romance or SF/F and mystery or other such things.

JM

You have to think like a bookseller in threads like this, and fortunately there I have experience Gene Wolfe is an excellent SF/F writer (both), one of the best I've read. He's also a very traditional SF/F writer, and does not generally have cross-genre appeal, and to someone who doesn't like SF/F, isn't really the right recommend. Not that he might not enjoy Wolfe, but the odds are against it.

Recommending books - and accepting recommendations - is a very tricky business. There's a reason that there are so many genres and sub-genres, and so many books in the bookstore; everyone has different ideas of what they like. The key in both, is identifying what else the recmomendee has read and enjoyed, and finding books that fit that profile.

[-Jrabbit]

My wife is a serious reader who seemed to "get" your OP. She suggests that, since you agree with her on LeCarre, maybe you'd like Len Deighton .
-She says yes to Gaiman ("the man can write").
She hates Ann Rice.
She suggests Orson Scott Card if you are considering a scifi attempt.

Me, I know brain-dead, and prefer a side of twisted. I would suggest Terry Pratchett, a master wordsmith and brilliant satirist who is funny as hell. The series is Discworld. If braindead-with-quality is required, he's your guy. (He's also co-written with Gaiman a bit.)