Looking for new authors

[meeera]

If you're looking for FSF from indie presses, I recommend pretty much anything and everything from Twelfth Planet Press.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by Darqref

Since you're specifically looking for new stuff including independents, here's a couple I like:

Elliot Kay has two series, one SF starts with "Poor Man's Fight". The other is fantasy sorta NSFW starting with "Good Intentions" (he describes it as "smutty"). I think I've purchased everything he's published, and talked to him at NorWesCon a couple of times.

Pam Uphoff writes a long running series of cross dimensional almost fantasy SF she calls The Wine of the Gods. The first one is "Outcasts and Gods", but I think I'd start with either "The Black Goats" or one of her newer sort of spinoffs at "Directorate School" to see if you like them. She has a smattering of other works, and got her start by reading the slush pile at Baen. Think I've bought almost everything she's published, running into over 30 books.

Lindsay Buroker has several different series, most are fantasy. I've read all of two different series, and didn't really like a third. I liked "Encrypted" and "Balanced on the Blade's Edge". Also starting a new SF series which I found as one of nine books in "Star Heroes: 9 Novels of Space Exporation, Aliens, and Adventure" which was cheap at amazon last year.

Nathan Lowell writes SF in the Solar Clipper series starting at "Quarter Share". No real combat, some crime, but still tension, so its different. I've bought all his SF. There's some fantasy that hasn't grabbed me yet.

And one sorta maybe: Mark Wayne McGinnis has a series that started out as comic SF, but got mostly beyond me - haven't finished the later books in the series. First one is "Scrapyard Ship"

Thanks for the suggestions. I have Kay's Poor Man's War series and really liked it. Bought the first couple of books of his other series and didn't really care for it. I actually point to Poor Man's War as an example of how I wish Robert Jordan had handled the Wheel of Time series with it's many side trips that did little to move the main story along. The first three books cover the main story line from start to finish. Book four covers side characters experiences which are mentioned in passing in the first three books.

[pwalker8]

One series that I picked up is Craig Alanson's Expeditionary Force. I originally bought the first book in the series after seeing someone mention it here. It had been sitting in my to read pile since then. I think I tried a few pages and then moved to another book. I sat down with it this week. It started slow, and initially reminded me of some guy telling a NSTIW (no s*, there I was) story to his buddies in a bar. But a eventually, the story settled down and became quite entertaining. Not exactly great literature, but I liked it enough that I went ahead and bought the 4 book bundle.

One of the things that I've noticed with some of the Indies is that I'll try an author, the first book I read is ok, so I get the next book and soon get bored with it. It's not so much that the stories are repetitive. Some of my favorite authors, such as David Gemmell and David Eddings, write stories that have plots that are very, very similar. It's how the stories are told. It's a talent that hard to quantify, but easy to see.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

One series that I picked up is Craig Alanson's Expeditionary Force. I originally bought the first book in the series after seeing someone mention it here. It had been sitting in my to read pile since then. I think I tried a few pages and then moved to another book. I sat down with it this week. It started slow, and initially reminded me of some guy telling a NSTIW (no s*, there I was) story to his buddies in a bar. But a eventually, the story settled down and became quite entertaining. Not exactly great literature, but I liked it enough that I went ahead and bought the 4 book bundle.

One of the things that I've noticed with some of the Indies is that I'll try an author, the first book I read is ok, so I get the next book and soon get bored with it. It's not so much that the stories are repetitive. Some of my favorite authors, such as David Gemmell and David Eddings, write stories that have plots that are very, very similar. It's how the stories are told. It's a talent that hard to quantify, but easy to see.

I understand this post completely.
Is it some start actually repeating parts of the first book so any new readers don't miss a thing.
Like Joe did this and Sam did that. Rick tells Sam to play it again. Then Jojo says no, he did that earlier . Jeremiah decides to start singing.

[pwalker8]

It's possible. I suspect that it's more a combination of lack of craft and talent. Craft is how the mid list authors make a living. When I say craft, I mean a combination of how the writing process works, and knowing what works in a story and what doesn't.

A classic example of this is the sentence "The smith stood under the tree". A perfectly reasonable sentence, but it's kind of dull. The sentence "The village smith stood under the spreading chestnut tree" engages the reader's imagination more. This is the sort of thing that a quality editor provides.

Talent is the obvious. Some people are just good at telling fun, engaging stories. They intuitively know how to tell a story for maximum effect. It's not really all that different than comedy. Some people are simply gifted comedians and can make an average joke funner than I ever could.

[GlenBarrington]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

Thanks for the suggestions. I have Kay's Poor Man's War series and really liked it. Bought the first couple of books of his other series and didn't really care for it. I actually point to Poor Man's War as an example of how I wish Robert Jordan had handled the Wheel of Time series with it's many side trips that did little to move the main story along. The first three books cover the main story line from start to finish. Book four covers side characters experiences which are mentioned in passing in the first three books.

I've just finished the first three books of "Poor Man's War" and frankly, I was getting a little tired of the main character. I felt he was becoming a self absorbed whiny butt. But I AM interested in some of the supporting characters! maybe I'll start V4 before I move on to something else.

I like how Christoper Nuttall handles his various series, particularly the "Empire Corps" series. He writes not only novels that pursue the main story arc, but other novels set in that same universe, some are prequels, and some are standalone novels with new characters that don't contradict the universe as he has set it up. If he wanted, the characters in those standalone novels could be integrated into the main story arc.