Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics.  For this week’s Top Ten Tuesday, participants are tasked with listing the top 10 authors that they haven’t read but which they really want to.  This was a pretty interesting topic as there are actually quite a few authors out there that I want to read, but I haven’t had a chance to.  As such, I had a bit of fun looking at some of the big authors I have been meaning to read for some time and coming up with the absolute top authors I have neglected from my reading this.  This resulted in a very interesting list with some great names on it (including my usual honourable mentions section), all of whom have produced some brilliant novels I really want to read.  So, let us see who made the cut.

Honourable Mentions:

James Rollins

Ok, so I am technically cheating with this first honourable mention, James Rollins, as I have read a couple of his books before.  However, that was a fairly long time ago when I was pretty young, so I decided to include him as an honourable mention.  I really do want to go back and check out all his Sigma Force novels though, which sound like bonkers fun, and I have been meaning to read his latest fantasy release, The Starless Crown, for a couple of months now.

Julian Stockwin

An acclaimed historical fiction author, I have been trying to read one of Stockwin’s Thomas Kydd novels for years but just never get the chance to.  Set during the Napoleonic Wars, the Thomas Kydd books are awesome sounding naval historical fiction books that sound so very cool

Daniel Abraham

While I have enjoyed Abraham’s writing with Ty Franck as the due behind The Expanse novels, I have never had the opportunity to read any of his solo fantasy works.  Not only do I want to check out his most recent book, Age of Ash, but several of his existing series, such as The Dagger and the Coin and The Long Price Quartet, sound particularly awesome.

Neil Gaiman

A major author whose works I have somehow failed to read for a while, I need to check out some of the quirky Neil Gaiman books, as well as the cool Sandman comics (or their recent audiobook adaptations).

Top Ten List:

Glen Cook

First on this list is acclaimed fantasy author Glen Cook, who I have been meaning to read for years.  Known for various series, including his Garrett P. I. novels, I mostly want to read Cook’s The Black Company novels, which are I have heard are pretty exceptional pieces of dark epic fantasy.  Following an elite group of mercenaries as they fight for and against a legendary evil sorceress, this series sounds so cool and I really hope I get a chance to read it at some point.

Gav Thorpe

Next up we have one of the leading voices of the Warhammer extended universe, Gav Thorpe.  A talented author and game designer, Gav Thorpe has written multiple intriguing novels in the Warhammer universe, which I have been really getting into lately.  There are multiple Thorpe books I want to check out, although the one I will probably try first is the Last Chancers series, which is essentially The Dirty Dozen in space.  I cannot wait to read some of Thorpe’s awesome Warhammer novels and I know I am going to have an amazing time doing so.

Victor Milán

Another talented fantasy author I want to try and get into is the late Victor Milán, who has written some fantastic sounding stuff over the years.  Also know by the pen names Richard Austin, Robert Baron, S. L. Hunter and Alex Archer, Milán wrote multiple intriguing series, including the Rogue Angel, Guardians and Stormrider series.  However, I mostly want to read his last trilogy, The Dinosaur Lords series, which is set in a world where knights fight atop the back of dinosaurs.  This sounds so freaking awesome to me, and I am very excited to see what sort of whacky and epic story Milán wrote around these dinosaur knights.

Sandy Mitchell

Another great author known for their Warhammer novels, Sandy Mitchell (real name Alex Stewart), is a fantastic sounding writer who has added several key entries into the wider Warhammer 40,000 universe.  While I really want to read all of Mitchell’s Warhammer novels at some point, I mostly want to check out his iconic Ciaphas Cain books.  Following a reluctant war hero whose attempts to avoid combat always lead him to the most danger, the Ciaphas Cain books are widely considered on of the best pieces of Warhammer 40,000 fiction out there and I am very excited to try them out.

Pierce Brown

I must admit that science fiction is a genre I have only really started getting into in recent years, so there are some serious gaps in my reading knowledge.  However, the one science fiction author I most regretting not checking out is Pierce Brown.  Best known for his iconic Red Rising novels, Brown is an exceedingly talented author and I really need to try to check out his epic main series.

John Connolly

There are so many impressive crime fiction authors whose works I have yet to experience out there, but the one that intrigues me the most is probably John Connolly.  A major crime fiction veteran, Connolly is best known for his long-running Charlie Parker series, which follows a tortured private investigator as he dives into a series of disturbing and shocking cases.  I have been hearing some impressive things about Connolly for years, especially from one of my more crime-fiction savvy review colleagues, and I think I will have to try and read some of his stuff when I get a chance.

James Swallow

While this list seems to be getting full of authors of tie-in fiction, I had to include the talented James Swallow as well.  While Swallow has written some great original work, including the recent Marc Dane thrillers, most people will be familiar with his fantastic novels that tie into many different fandoms, including Stargate, 2000AD, 24 and Doctor Who.  However, his most significant work has been in the Warhammer 40,000 and Star Trek fandoms, where he has contributed multiple novels.  I love the sound of several of his fantastic books and I will be reading several of them soon.

Peter V. Brett

I have heard some brilliant things about Peter V. Brett’s Demon Cycle series over the years and I think I need to make a real effort to check them out soon, especially with the follow-up Nightfall Saga series currently doing so well.

Guy Haley

I had to slip in another tie-in fiction author here with Guy Haley, who has been writing some truly awesome sounding books lately.  While he has some other cool series out, I am deeply intrigued by some of the cool and unique Warhammer books he has come up with.  Not only did he devise the major Dark Imperium trilogy and contribute to the massive Horus Heresy series, but he has also written some intriguing Warhammer crime fiction novels, such as the fascinating sounding Flesh and Steel.  I have several of his books currently queued up to listen to and I will probably start enjoying this interesting author by the end of 2022.  

Jenn Lyons

The final author on this list is the wildly talented Jenn Lyons, who has produced some impressive fantasy novels over the years.  Lyons has written some excellent stuff over the years, although the main reason I want to check her out is because of her current epic fantasy series, the A Chorus of Dragons books.  Following a prophesied destroyer as he gets dragged into world shattering events, I have been trying to get into the A Chorus of Dragons series since 2019.  I have most of this series currently sitting on my shelf at the moment, and I really need to make an effort to try and read them.

That’s the end of this latest list.  As you can see, there are some excellent and talented authors out there that I really want to start reading.  While this list may be a little heavy with Warhammer fiction authors (its one of my current obsessions), I am pretty happy with how it turned out and I think it reflects the current authors I would love to become a fan of.  Let me know what you think about my entries in the comments below, and also let me know which author you really want to try and start reading.