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pwalker8 · 10-05-2018, 12:53 PM

Something Apache said in the Apocalypse thread triggered a reaction and a thought. For me, the only thing that is better than finding a new author is finding a new author who has a lot of backlist, especially now that with ebooks, that means that the backlist is usually instantly available.

Way back in the late 70's and early 80's when I first had money to spend and bookstores were starting to pop up everywhere and there was a big SF&F boom, I discovered a lot of writers who had been around for a long time that weren't in the kids' section of the library. Heinlein, Asimov and Moorcock just to name a few whose backlist were being re-issued. Sometimes one was lucky and found a stash in one of the used book stores, but frequently, it took a long time for that backlist to hit the bookstore one by one over the space of several years. Over the past 40 years (dang, has it been that long?) I've probably read the vast majority of the major SF&F writers and a whole lot of the mid-tier writers. I won't say that I'm familiar with them all, but it's been a while since someone mentioned an author from prior to 2007 and the indie movement that I haven't at least heard of.

These days, it's pretty rare to find such a treat. Mostly, it's when I switch genres. For example, I didn't find Vince Flynn until after he had died. But sometimes, it's an author who for some reason, I had never heard of, then picked up one book, really liked it and started buying more. Sometimes I find an author, read a couple and then lose interest. Most of the time, I run across a new author within the first couple of books simply from work of mouth.

My most recent discovery is a fellow named Glynn Stewart, who writes a fairly interesting SF/magic series and has written over 30 books. I picked up Intersellar Mage, the first book in the Red Falcon series. I really liked it, but it turned out that the Red Falcon series was a side series to the Starship Mage series. Right now, I've read the first two in the Red Falcon series and the first of the Starship Mage series. So far so good, as they say. I don't know that I would call him a NY Times best seller writer, but very solid and keeps my interest. I would say that he's well worth trying if you like SF&F and haven't read him yet.

So anyone else have a similar binge reading worthy discovery? It doesn't have to be SF&F, just an author with say more than 10 books before you discovered him or her.

10-05-2018, 12:53 PM	#1
pwalker8 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,196 Karma: 70314280 Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Atlanta, GA Device: iPad Pro, iPad mini, Kobo Aura, Amazon paperwhite, Sony PRS-T2	Binge Reading Something Apache said in the Apocalypse thread triggered a reaction and a thought. For me, the only thing that is better than finding a new author is finding a new author who has a lot of backlist, especially now that with ebooks, that means that the backlist is usually instantly available. Way back in the late 70's and early 80's when I first had money to spend and bookstores were starting to pop up everywhere and there was a big SF&F boom, I discovered a lot of writers who had been around for a long time that weren't in the kids' section of the library. Heinlein, Asimov and Moorcock just to name a few whose backlist were being re-issued. Sometimes one was lucky and found a stash in one of the used book stores, but frequently, it took a long time for that backlist to hit the bookstore one by one over the space of several years. Over the past 40 years (dang, has it been that long?) I've probably read the vast majority of the major SF&F writers and a whole lot of the mid-tier writers. I won't say that I'm familiar with them all, but it's been a while since someone mentioned an author from prior to 2007 and the indie movement that I haven't at least heard of. These days, it's pretty rare to find such a treat. Mostly, it's when I switch genres. For example, I didn't find Vince Flynn until after he had died. But sometimes, it's an author who for some reason, I had never heard of, then picked up one book, really liked it and started buying more. Sometimes I find an author, read a couple and then lose interest. Most of the time, I run across a new author within the first couple of books simply from work of mouth. My most recent discovery is a fellow named Glynn Stewart, who writes a fairly interesting SF/magic series and has written over 30 books. I picked up Intersellar Mage, the first book in the Red Falcon series. I really liked it, but it turned out that the Red Falcon series was a side series to the Starship Mage series. Right now, I've read the first two in the Red Falcon series and the first of the Starship Mage series. So far so good, as they say. I don't know that I would call him a NY Times best seller writer, but very solid and keeps my interest. I would say that he's well worth trying if you like SF&F and haven't read him yet. So anyone else have a similar binge reading worthy discovery? It doesn't have to be SF&F, just an author with say more than 10 books before you discovered him or her.