CANDLELIT CHRONICLES: HISTORIC HAUNTS

Entry 12/30

Blog about my favourite authors? That might require a succession of volumes akin to Gibbons' The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.





Seriously, today I'll just mention three authors whose ability has changed my viewpoint on writing, authors whose work I admire so much-as authorship-that I wish only to grow up and write that well! (half that well, a quarter as well ).





Authors whom I admire greatly but even more so for particular books:





Terry Goodkind, author of the fantastic and extensive The Sword of Truth Series, at 11 volumes, has this year published the first novel in a completely new series. Moving from epic fantasy to contemporary urban fantasy, his newest, The Law of Nines, is a heart-stopping, jaw-dropping thrill-a-minute. I read it literally in awe of Mr. Goodkind's immense writing talent.





Then we have the immensely prolific Stephen King, who of course is noted for so very many novels, short stories, and screenplays, as well as other creative endeavours. However, for me Mr. King's best is encapsulated in these three novels:





         Duma Key,





         Lisey's Story,


         


         Bag of Bones.





To my perspective these are what I call “the literary Stephen King,” books which I reread periodically for the simple glorious pleasure of Mr. King's total command of the language, of character delineation, of plotting and suspense. Stephen King rocks!





Lastly, but far from least and ranking right up there in the pantheon of the greatest, is a lesser-known but equally valuable fantasy author, P. C. Hodgell. Author of the incredibly rich world-building of the fantasy series The Godstalk Chronicles, this author leaves me speechless at the magnitude of her skill. If you want to know how to write fantasy-or science fiction-or historical fiction-or any kind of “speculative” fiction which involves extensive world-building in a fashion which immediately captivates, and keeps, readers' attention, never beleaguering and never boring, then run-do not stroll-to your nearest bookselling outlet and grab up all her books!





Links of Use:


http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/g/terry-goodkind/


http://www.terrygoodkind.com/





http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/k/stephen-king/


http://www.stephenking.com/index.html





http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/h/p-c-hodgell/


http://www.pchodgell.com/site/index.php?module=htmlpages&func=display&pid=1