Well… some of them, anyway.

I’ve read a lot down through the years, and there are many authors who stand out in my mind. But even those who stand out don’t always rate a re-read for me. The names below are those whose stories I always enjoy, regardless of whether its the fifth time I’ve read one… or the fifteenth.

The first name that comes to mind… always and immediately… is David Eddings. I can re-read The Belgariad, The Malloreon, The Elenium, The Tamuli, and The Redemption of Althalus any time. Matter of fact, it’s been a year or two, so it’s probably time to go back and hit them again. Please, don’t ask me which is my favorite. I’m not sure I could pick. I will confess that I used Belgarath the Sorcerer as a piece of inspiration for how I’ve portrayed Valthon the Histories of Drakmoor, but there’s also more than a smidge of my grandfather in that portrayal, too.

It is because of both David Eddings and what I feel are the two core DragonLance trilogies that I started writing. You can read the full explanation of that here.

Eric Flint is another author I re-visit, also sadly no longer with us. His Joe’s World duology (The Philosophical Strangler and Forward the Mage) are incredible, and I always wished he’d written more of them.

His Ring of Fire shared world (some of which I think has kinda disappeared since his death) starts with 1632. The inciting incident takes place in Grantville, WV, which Flint based on Mannington. I’ve always thought his portrayal of West Virginians was a lot more accurate (not to mention respectful) than most media portral of my home state.

David Weber. Of course, his Honor Harrington novels… though I will say that he (or his publisher) made it rather difficult to tell which books in the Honorverse were true Honor Harrington novels versus stories involving what I considered at the time to be ancillary characters. I consider Uncompromising Honor to be kind of the capstone for the series, as I felt it tied several threads off and was a good ending for the Sphinxian naval officer’s story.

I also think he had a really good thing going with his War God series that starts with Oath of Swords. I can easily re-read these whenever I take the mood, and in my personal opinion, things were just starting to get really really good with War Maid’s Choice. Given that he hopped forward several years in this world’s history to write The Sword of the South, I doubt he’ll return to the core series.

His Dahak series is also good. It’s another quartet, starting with Mutineer’s Moon, but I discovered it through the omnibus edition, Empire from the Ashes. Damn good stories, there.

I haven’t re-read it lately, but In Fury Born is also good. I’m not even going to try to summarize what the story’s about, since it’s been so long since I read it. At this point, I just remember enjoying reading it.  🙂

I also like the Azarinth Healer series by Rhaegar and He Who Fights With Monsters by Shirtaloon. He Who Fights With Monsters is particularly enjoyable for me, and I always pre-order the next volume as soon as finish the latest release.

All right, then.

This is by no means a comprehensive list of my favorite authors, just those who immediately come to mind.

Hope you enjoy, and be safe out there.