I need a new genre author

[Alinestra Covelia]

to LeCarré. I'm currently trying to corrupt my roommate into liking the BBC series of Tinker and Smiley's People. We're up to episode 4 of Smiley's People.

[Lord Avalon]

Terry Pratchett.
... (except Douglas Adams, but he hardly wrote any books)

Only a trilogy, IIRC.

Dennis Lehane

[Imran Siddiqui]

Gaiman

[Imran Siddiqui]

one author I haven't seen mentioned above is George R. R. Martin. His Song of Ice and Fire series is quite good.

Aside from the fact he may never finish it. I don't want to subject good ole Rufus to the same maddening feelings about Martin that legions of his Song of Ice and Fire fans feel.

[Jon Miller]

While Martin is good at SF/F, I think that the SoIaF is mostly geared towards SF/F lovers and might be less interesting to Rufus?

Besides, while being good, his skill as a writer doesn't approach Bujold or Wolfe.

JM

[Supr49er]

You might like Michael Marshall's series:

• The Straw Men
• The Upright Man
• Blood of Angels

Also Neil Gaiman.

[Blaupanzer]

If you are looking for off-beat humor, then Christopher Moore is infinitely better than Pratchett. Both know they are doing humor, but Moore's is a part of the story in a dry, almost English way, a byproduct of the (admittedly) fantasy being told. Pratchett introduces characters and situations solely for the humor, doing send-ups of how we do things here in exagerrated form. I've never seen anyone praise him for his turn-of-phrase, or indicate any surprising turn of events within a book. On Moore, start with Practical Demon Keeping or other early book. His book about Jesus's friend, Biff, is a bit of a stretch for many people and not the best example of his writing. I enjoyed it immensely, but I am a skeptical soul.

[Blaupanzer]

Douglas Adams wrote a five-book trilogy, plus a pair of books about a supernatural detective agency. He is an excellent author with an interesting theme.

Likewise Charles de Lint, who creates some of the best surrounds in his writing is a delight, but he sticks to "urban fantasy." If you do try DeLint, watch out for his children's stuff which wouldn't be in your expressed constraints on any level. The titles give away the children, junior adult, and adult writings. If you are interested, I can recommend. Another good auther is Charles Stoss, but he is mostly fantasy with a bit of sci-fi so not necessarily your cup of tea.

Speaking of tea, Pat Cadigan is a cyberpunk author who can write circles around Gibson.

[Jon Miller]

Yeah, I also think that for a mainstream person Moore is better then Pratchett. I think that Pratchett can be deeper, and is much much better for the SF/F fan.

But for someone who wants that type of humour but is not a SF/F fan, excluding a few books (Small Gods/etc), Moore is better than Pratchett. If you liked SF/F then I would heavily recommend Pratchett and say start with Guards Guards (what I started with, and still possibly my favorite).

JM

[Guynemer]

Ahh, I see Blaupanzer has already beaten me to the punch regarding Christopher Moore. A very, very, VERY funny author, I think his "genre" would be "magical realism" (I think?), fantastical stories that take place in our world, happening to regular folks.

Really, you could start with any of his books, as there is only one (You Suck) that is a direct sequel to any of his others (Bloodsucking Fiends, which is infinitely superior to the former). My personal favorite is A Dirty Job; it has a handful of recurring minor characters from previous books, but you needn't know anything about them.

His just put out a new novel in the past couple weeks, Fool, a retelling of King Lear from the perspective of the Fool (natch). It twists and changes the story a lot, but even as a devout Shakespeare nerd, I loved it.

[Blaupanzer]

If you are a Shakespeare nerd, I am surprised you liked it. SS was all about alluding things, this tale is all about explicit, but I laughed a lot, as usual.

[Zkribbler]

Not sure Pratchett's my thing, though he certainly would have been 15 years ago. Still, if I want to give him a go, where in his enormous bibliography should I start?

His first few books were somewhat weak...The Color of Magic etc. I wandering into the middle of his stuff: Thief of Time and Feet of Clay which were wonderful. He doesn't have a main character you follow all the way through but does use many recurring characters. Guards! Guards! begins the Sam Vimes books, which are probably his best.

I also recommend the historical fiction of Bernard Cornwell. The Sharpe series, starting with Sharpe's Eagle and the Warlord's Chronicles, starting with Winter King are his best.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Christopher Moore

LOVED "Lamb" (ie, the book about Jesus' childhood friend, Biff)

[Alinestra Covelia]

Iain Banks is good too. The sci fi stuff is a bit hit and miss, but he writes good mainstream novels as well. "The Wasp Factory" and "The Crow Road" are my favorites.

[Jon Miller]

If you are up to more litarary stuff, I would recommand Faulker's Fable. It was very good, and not one traditionally read.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Fable_(novel)

JM