The Liaden Universe Congruent Authors List
These are the authors you'll find on the shelves of the Friends of Liad
This is the somewhat edited version of the "Congruent authors list" created by Steve Miller from email and liad@io.com posted listings of favorite and suggested authors. We placed no limits on the number or type of authors people could mention.
Methodology: I decided that a single-mention author was not congruent enough - -that is was not all that likely to be found on other Friends of Liad shelves or be "must reads". After reviewing the list I decided that a method must be found to bring some order and sense to the list. So I went to a quasi-mathematical approach and came up with the following information and procedure. Note that in general contributors did not rank author mentions and the ranks generated here are by number of mentions only.
The original list of 306 total authors yielded 988 total mentions, for an average of approximately 3.25 mentions per author. Using this average as a baseline, I removed from the list any author with less than 3 mentions. This resulted in a list of 134 authors with a total of 800 mentions, for an average mention per author of approximately 5.9.
We cannot guarantee that any particular book by any of these authors will satisfy, but the fact is that a significant number of the readers and fans of Liaden Universe books felt that these authors offer a good read. This is not to say that authors who received a single mention are not good authors but rather that the authors here -- listed first in a top 30 format and then alphabetically -- are very likely to provide a good read for you if you like the Liaden Universe.
Since this list was culled from messages and email from the Friends of Liad list, a self- selected group of readers of the works of Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, we decided that Lee & Miller were on each list of favorite authors.
Please feel free to draw your own conclusions about the meaning of this list. If I get time I'll add mine at the bottom sometime Real Soon Now. The number following each name is the number of times the name was mentioned in a "top" list.
Top Authors According to the Friends of Liad
- Anne McCaffrey 24
- David Weber 24
- C. J. Cherryh 23
- Mercedes Lackey 23
- Lois McMaster Bujold 22
- Andre Norton 22
- Robert Heinlein 15
- Steven Brust 13
- Robin McKinley 12
- Elizabeth Moon 12
- Lisanne Norman 11
- PC Hodgell 11
- Debra Doyle
- & James Macdonald 10
- Dick Francis 10
- Janet Kagan 10
- Diane Duane 9
- David Eddings 9
- Patricia McKillip 9
- H. Beam Piper 9
- Terry Pratchett 9
- Patricia C. Wrede 9
- Marion Zimmer Bradley 8
- David Brin 8
- Rosemary Edghill/
- eluki bes shahar 8
- Barbara Hambly 8
- Georgette Heyer 8
- E.E. "Doc" Smith 8
- Roger Zelazny 8
- Lloyd Alexander 5
- Chester Anderson 5
- Poul Anderson 7
- Piers Anthony 5
- Isaac Asimov 5
- Lloyd Biggle, Jr. 5
- James Blish 4
- Marion Zimmer Bradley 8
- David Brin 8
- Fredric Brown 3
- Mary Brown 3
- John Brunner 3
- Steven Brust 13
- Lois McMaster Bujold 22
- Emma Bull 7
- F.M.Busby 5
- Orson Scott Card 4
- Jack Chalker 4
- C. J. Cherryh 23
- Chris Claremont 3
- Jo Clayton 4
- Alan Cole & Chris Bunch 6
- Glen Cook 3
- Julie Czerneda 3
- Charles DeLint 5
- Susan Dexter 5
- Debra Doyle &
- James Macdonald 10
- Gordon Dickson 5
- David Drake 7
- Diane Duane 9
- Dorothy Dunnet 3
- David Eddings 9
- Rosemary Edghill 8
- George Alec Effinger 3
- Doris Egan/Jane Emerson, 4
- Ru Emerson 4
- Sylvia Engdahl 3
- Janet Evanovich 3
- Raymond E. Feist 5
- Lynn Flewelling 3
- C. S. Forrester 5
- Allan Dean Foster 7
- Dick Francis 10
- Neil Gaiman 3
- Randall Garrett 4
- Sue Grafton 4
- Roland Green 3
- Barbara Hambly 8
- Linda K Hamilton 3
- Harry Harrison 5
- Robert Heinlein 15
- Zenna Henderson 5
- Georgette Heyer 8
- Tony Hillerman 3
- PC Hodgell 11
- Tanya Huff 8
- Robert Jordan 6
- Janet Kagan 10
- Colin Kapp 3
- Guy Gavriel Kay 3
- Lee Killough 5
- C.M. Kornbluth 3
- Michael Kurland 5
- Katherine Kurtz 7
- Mercedes Lackey 23
- Tanith Lee 3
- C.S. Lewis 4
- Madeleine L'Engle 3
- Jacqueline Lichtenberg 3
- Elizabeth Lowell 3
- Ann Maxwell 5
- Ardath Mayhar 3
- Anne McCaffrey 24
- John D.MacDonald 5
- Jack McDevitt 3
- Patricia McKillip 9
- Robin McKinley 12
- Melisa Michaels 5
- L.E. Modesitt 4
- Elizabeth Moon 12
- C.L. Moore 5
- Daniel Keyes Moran 3
- Peter Morwood 4
- Larry Niven 3
- Lisanne Norman 11
- Andre Norton 22
- Alexi Panshin 3
- Steve Perry 4
- Ellis Peters 6
- Elizabeth Peters 5
- Tamora Pierce 3
- H. Beam Piper 9
- Jerry Pournelle 7
- Terry Pratchett 9
- Alis Rasmussen/Kate Elliott 5
- Nora Roberts 3
- Spider Robinson 4
- Eric Frank Russell 6
- Fred Saberhagen 6
- Dorothy Sayers 6
- James Schmitz 8
- Melissa Scott 3
- Cifford Simak 6
- E.E. "Doc" Smith 8
- George O. Smith 3
- Sherwood Smith &
- DaveTrowbridge 4
- Dana Stabenow 3
- Christopher Stasheff 8
- Allen Steele 5
- S. M. Stirling 7
- Theodore Sturgeon 3
- Judith Tarr 3
- J.R.R.Tolkien 3
- Harry Turtledove 4
- Kathy Tyers 4
- Patricia Veryan 3
- Joan D. Vinge 4
- Vernor Vinge 4
- Lawrence Watt-Evans 3
- David Weber 24
- James White 6
- Stephen White 3
- Ted White 3
- Tad Williams 5
- Elizabeth Willey 3
- Connie Willis 4
- P.G.Wodehouse 4
- Patricia C. Wrede 9
- M. K. Wren 5
- Janny Wurts 3
- Chelsea Quinn Yarbro 3
- Timothy Zahn 3
- Roger Zelazny 8
- Paul Edwin Zimmer 3
Comments:
We never intended to create a "best writers in science fiction" list and by the look of the list, we haven't -- at least not if you compare this list to the lists that put Benford, Bova, Sheffield and other such writers of hard SF at the top. It looks to us as if we've found a niche within that group of readers who want fun out of a book, who like characters more than hardware, and who appreciate an occassional understated pun or a twist of quiet irony. Action and characterization seem to be the strong points of most of the writers on the list -- and from Alexander to Zelazny, from Taran to Shadowjack, there's a lot of good reading represented here.
