Favorite Authors
Peg Sandkam’s Favorite Authors
James Rollins/Clemens
James Czajkowski has written over forty books, but you won’t find any of them under his birth name.
In 1998, he published the first book in his “Banned and the Banished” fantasy series under the pen name James Clemens. The following year, he released his first thriller/adventure book, Subterranean, under the pen name James Rollins. To differentiate the genres for publishers and readers, over the next two decades he published seven fantasy books under James Clemens and twenty‑seven thriller/adventure books under James Rollins. By 2022, having achieved commercial success and recognition from his “Sigma” series, he began publishing both fantasy and adventure/thriller under the Rollins name.
Overall, Clemens’ two fantasy series, “The Godslayer Chronicles” and “The Banned and the Banished,” explore themes of power and corruption, destiny and prophecy, and coming‑of‑age journeys. Rollins’ thrillers, including multiple series and standalone novels, weave together history, cutting‑edge science, and global intrigue, often with fast‑paced adventure and complex conspiracies.
Trudi Canavan
Trudi Canavan is an Australian fantasy author celebrated for her immersive world‑building and emotionally rich storytelling. Across fourteen novels, she has created layered societies that explore power, morality, and the consequences of choice.
Her Black Magician trilogy and its prequel, The Magician’s Apprentice, each follow a young woman’s rise from poverty to powerful magician, weaving together themes of social inequality, friendship, and ethical use of magic. The Traitor Spy trilogy continues that saga with deeper political tension and cultural complexity, highlighting Canavan’s talent for combining character-driven drama with intricate magical and social systems.
Zoe Bernard’s Favorite Authors
Nick Harkaway (British novelist and commentator, 1972– )
o The Gone‑Away World (pub. 2008): After a war‑driven apocalypse, a group of ex‑special ops misfits is hired to help save the world after the new way of life is threatened again by what destroyed the planet the first time.
o Angelmaker (pub. 2012): A quiet horologist, the son of an infamous London mobster, accidentally triggers a clockwork doomsday machine. Now he not only has to stop the machine, but also stay one step ahead of everyone who’s out to kill him—including his own government.
Mo Hayder (British novelist, 1962–2021)
o The Jack Caffery Series (pub. 2000–2014): Follows Detective Inspector Jack Caffery as he investigates disturbing crimes and tries to deal with his past trauma.
o Tokyo/The Devil of Nanking (pub. 2004): A young woman obsessed with the 1937 Japanese invasion of the Chinese city of Nanking travels to Japan to speak to a professor said to have the only evidence of something that happened during the massacre. The professor, however, will only show it to her if she brings him an ingredient used in Chinese medicine from a yakuza group.
Eoin Colfer (Irish author, 1965– )
o The Artemis Fowl Series (pub. 2001–2012): Doesn’t everyone know what these books are about by now?
Davis Chung’s Favorite Author
Jim Butcher
The Dresden Files
Storm Front, book one of the series.
Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden is the only wizard/private detective in the Chicago phone book. In this series of 18 books (number 18 is due in January 2026) author Jim Butcher guides the reader through our modern world where magic as well as the folk creatures of every culture and our nightmares are real.
Butcher describes the use of magic in a way that makes sense. It is subject to laws of physics such as the conservation of energy: when Harry uses a shield spell to ward off an attack, his shield will heat up in proportion to the power of the attack.
The characters, even the supernatural ones, become familiar and grow in depth as more is revealed about their pasts. Harry is also a world‑class smart‑ass, which often leads to some wild comic relief.
Codex Alera
Furies of Calderon, book one in the series.
This series was written on a bet that Butcher could not create a good story based on two terrible ideas: the person challenged him with combining the Lost Roman Legion and Pokémon.
In this series, Butcher weaves a story out of these disparate themes with a main character who is Harry Dresden’s opposite—Dresden is a powerful wizard, but Tavi is the one person in Alera born without the ability to control any of the elemental furies (earth, air, fire, water, wood, or metal). Plenty of Latin names and Roman echoes complete the original challenge.
There are only six books in the series, but they seemed denser to me. This is probably because Alera is an unknown world. Even the supernatural side of “The Dreden Files” was somewhat familiar, but almost everything in “The Codex Alera” was new and Butcher kept supplying more nuances with every page.
Keith Estes’ Favorite Author
Barbara W. Tuchman
A Distant Mirror
In the early 1980s, I read A Distant Mirror, a narrative history by American historian Barbara Tuchman, first published in 1978. Sadly, I don’t recall much about the book besides the fact that it left quite an impression on me. In fact, while researching for this post, I couldn’t remember the title. I asked AI, “I read a book by Barbara Tuchman in the 1980s. It was about the 1400s. I don’t recall much about it except that I loved the way she wrote. Can you tell me more about it?” When it began describing the book it thought I was citing, the memories started coming back. I quickly followed a link to a Wikipedia article about the book. Once I saw the picture of the cover, I knew that was it—I could never forget it.
What I do recall is that Ms. Tuchman’s writing brought the story to life. I have a vivid imagination, so I could picture what she was describing. From the horrors of Black Death to the intrigues of the Papal Schism and the deprivations of the Little Ice Age, she helped me to envision what life was like in Europe during a time I knew little about. Even though the book is about 700 pages long, I recall devouring it in every bit of spare time I had. Thinking about the book now makes me want to find another book by Ms. Tuchman.
Care to share your favorite author(s)? Comment below.
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