Looking for new authors...suggestions?

[Alaskan Kilted Guy]

Well, I have noticed that several folks around here tend to have a paperback book in their sporran, or would like their sporran to be able to carry one. I have been reading alot lately, and am looking for suggestions on new authors. Any personal favorites, must-read classics, or other suggestions would be appreciated!

[Yaish]

What genre do you like? If you're into Sci-Fi, you can't go wrong checking out the Baen free library. Ebooks online for free. Even if you don't want to read ebooks (I love reading on my PDA) you can check out a few chapters and see if you like the author.
http://www.baen.com/library/

One recommendation I'll make right off the bat is "Dies the Fire" by S.M. Stirling. It follows the travails of several groups of people after a world changing event where suddenly electricity, gunpowder, or any sort of high energy device stop working. Basically life is forced back into the middle ages.
It's a great book (start of a series, in the fourth book now) and one group recreates the Scottish Clan system, right down to wearing kilts.

[haukehaien]

I'll keep this as short as I can, but I tend to measure my reading in linear feet of shelf space ...

Currently I really like:
F/SF:
Simon R. Green's Nightside series. A noir detective series set in the supernatural underworld of London.
Garth Nix's Abhorsen series. (Even if his Scotland cognate has no kilts )
Guy Gavriel Kay's Sarantium books, especially The Last Light of the Sun
Chris Wooding's The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray.
Kim Newman's Anno Dracula books.
S.M. Stirling's Nantucket series and I'll second Yaish's recommendation of Dies The Fire and following.
Robin Hobb's Assassin series.
George Martin's Game of Thrones series.

Interesting Non-Fiction:
Stephen Pinker's The Language Instinct
JP Mallory's In Search of the Proto-Indo-Europeans and The Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European World.

Classics:
Mark Twain's The Innocents Abroad. Twain at his best.
Theodor Storm's Der Schimmelreiter.
Rudyard Kipling's Kim, Puck of Pook's Hill, and

[ccga3359]

Harry Potter series.

[Keith A]

Three books I just read. The Late Great U.S.A. (The coming merger with Mexico and Canada, by Jerome R. Corsi PH.D. The new rulers of the World, by John Pilger and The End of America (Letter of warning to a young Patriot, by Naomi Wolf. Light reading on heavy topic's.

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

THE ADEPT
first in a series of five esoteric/paranormal detective novels set in modern day Scotland by acclaimed fantasy author Katherine Kurtz. Well written, well plotted, and very well researched.

[Streetcar]

Three words - George MacDonald Fraser. Look for the Flashman series.

I'm also a fan of Neal Stephenson and Steven Brust.



Oh, and I've admit that the "Dies the Fire" series is a guilty pleasure of mine. Although the premis seems to be "In what possible set of conditions could the SCA take over the world?"

[Bugbear]

Any of the James Heriot books.

[Arlen]

I'm going to go out on a limb here:
My wife got me into reading the 'Outlander' books by Diana Gabaldon.
They're marketed as romance and, the first novel at least needed more historical study... But they are actually really good books. Well written, exciting and adventurous stories.
The first book is called Outlander and is variously found in the Bestseller, Romance and Scottish fiction sections.

Give it a go.

[Arizona Scot]

Okay depending on what you like I don't think you can go wrong with Dean Koontz, John Grisom, or if you are more in to sci-fi how about Peirs Anthony.