Top 5 Authors

#1: Jim Butcher

Series: The Dresden Files, Codex Alera, The Cinder Spires

Butcher is a great author with a very diverse style of writing. Each series he writes has such a different style and approach that it seems almost like a different author. He knows the best way to convey his story in his choice of point of view, when to reveal information, building tension, and breath-taking characters. He writes both urban fantasy and high fantasy and has even started a steampunk series, so he has a little of everything. I would definitely recommend this author if you like characters you’ll fall in love with and unique detailed worlds and magic systems.

Butcher is also a master at plot lines and conflict. He has complicated events that all work together to get the main character(s) from the beginning of the story to the end with plenty of surprises. At times, he even gets his characters into situations that makes you wonder, as a reader, how he will get them out of it again. Yet, he does get them out of every situation in a believable way that you didn’t know existed.

#2: Patricia Briggs

Series: Mercy Thompson, Alpha & Omega, Raven, Hurog, The Hob, Sianim

Briggs is a master of characters. She truly makes you love the people in her pages. Her writing style is simple, but expressive. She writes both urban fantasy and high fantasy though her two main series are urban. I would recommend her books if you like werewolf-oriented stories or really strong, independent female main characters. Briggs gives a lot of unique qualities to her lore on all kinds of supernatural creatures. This extends even further than just werewolves. She spins her own rules around vampires, walkers, fae, and witches.

Briggs’s plot lines are simple and straight forward, but she keeps you wondering how things will work out by revealing small bits at a time. She also puts in surprises, dangers, and obstacles that the reader can’t wait to see how her characters overcome them.

#3: Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

Series: Dragonlance, Dragonships, The Dark Sword Trilogy, The Death Gate Cycle, and more

Weis and Hickman are an amazing writing duo of high fantasy series. Some of their series correlate to the game D&D, but that doesn’t mean you have to play the game in order to love their stories. Their writing is smooth, detailed and textured. They really know how to vividly show the reader what is happening and what their fantasy realm looks like. Every world they create is complex and full of culture and societies. I would recommend this author if you love creative plots and world building. Though their characters are also amazing, what really stands out is the uniqueness of the places they build with plenty of unknown creatures.

The plots are winding paths that send the characters on great adventures often with large big picture goals. The good guys may seem small with the odds stacked against them, but Weis and Hickman know what they are doing when they select the people they deem heroes destined for great things.

#4: Lisa Shearin

Series: Raine Benares, SPI Files

Shearin is an amazing writer with both a high fantasy and an urban fantasy series. She is an expert at simple clear writing that is very close to her main characters. Like Briggs, she has strong, snarky, and independent woman protagonists. Her world building is natural and subtle but doesn’t leave the reader confused or feeling lost. Reading her stories is natural and fun with a closeness with the character’s thoughts and motivations and relationships. I also find her stories to be unique with different types of conflicts and obstacles than in a lot of other stories. I would recommend this author if you are interested in characters, relationships, and an exciting adventure.

Shearin’s plot lines are well thought out to last over multiple books with clearly defined goals. Her characters have really great arcs of progression over the span of the entire story, and with that growth, the story becomes more complex to match. As a reader, you feel like you’re riding a rollercoaster of events and feelings that could lead you anywhere.

#5: Dianne Duvall

Series: The Immortal Guardians, The Gifted Ones, Aldebarian Alliance

Duvall is an excellent paranormal romance author. Each novel has a different couple that falls in love but an overarching long-term conflict that spans the series. Duvall keeps her story fresh by having great characters that are lovable and distinct despite the many romance tropes that are the same in each book. I would recommend this author for anyone who loves a good romance with strong compassionate men and strong women who won’t let themselves be anything but an equal. Duvall puts her own spin on the supernatural creatures of urban fantasy stories making her world interesting and unique. I believe that readers who don’t normally gravitate towards romance could still enjoy this author with all of the complexities that her stories have behind the basic plot of two people falling in love.