Author Topic: Favorite author  (Read 14239 times)

Patriotic Kaz

  • Level 30
  • *
  • Posts: 1746
  • Fell Points: 0
  • Antagonist of the Ages
    • View Profile
Re: Favorite author
« Reply #15 on: May 03, 2009, 10:06:29 PM »
As in JK Rowling? Man I like her but she is only a b+ author...either she or Orson Scott Card is the most over-rated author in the genre...but hell everyone is entitled to their opinion, else we are living in chains
"Words are double edged blades. Only the great and the foolish play with knives." - Kaz the Buddah

"Take off your sandals, for you are posting on holy ground." -  Yahweh Kaz

"Chaos, go to your room!" - Momma Kaz

ErikHolmes

  • Level 10
  • *
  • Posts: 394
  • Fell Points: 0
    • View Profile
Re: Favorite author
« Reply #16 on: May 04, 2009, 01:47:43 AM »
Orson Scott Card is overrated?

Rowling I can understand, but damn, The Enders series is a classic.

It's funny, I actually read an article by Card where he tears into Rowling. Doesn't seem like he likes her.
Who the hell is interrupting my Kung Fu!

Keyn

  • Level 1
  • *
  • Posts: 6
  • Fell Points: 0
    • View Profile
Re: Favorite author
« Reply #17 on: May 04, 2009, 03:25:42 AM »
I like Tamora Pierce, Anne McCaffrey, C.S. Lewis, and Gerald Morris. I don't think Gerald Morris is very well-known, but I love his books.
"The love of a hero is more terrible than the hatred of a tyrant. The hatred of a hero is more generous than the love of a philanthropist." -G.K. Chesterton

Patriotic Kaz

  • Level 30
  • *
  • Posts: 1746
  • Fell Points: 0
  • Antagonist of the Ages
    • View Profile
Re: Favorite author
« Reply #18 on: May 04, 2009, 04:41:50 PM »
I didn't care for the Ender series and Orson Scott Card has like 4 Hugos and 2 Nebulas and Enders Game didn't deserve the Nebula it received...so yes he is well decorated but i don't think his writing is much better than a B rate... to me he is on par with Rowling no more...
"Words are double edged blades. Only the great and the foolish play with knives." - Kaz the Buddah

"Take off your sandals, for you are posting on holy ground." -  Yahweh Kaz

"Chaos, go to your room!" - Momma Kaz

Peter Ahlstrom

  • Administrator
  • Level 59
  • *****
  • Posts: 4902
  • Fell Points: 2
  • Assistant to Mr. Sanderson
    • View Profile
Re: Favorite author
« Reply #19 on: May 04, 2009, 06:05:52 PM »
Nebulas are voted on by the Science Fiction Writers of America. The writers all voted and decided Ender's Game deserved the Nebula. Therefore, it did deserve it. Maybe it doesn't deserve the Champion Kaz Award, but by definition it deserved the Nebula.
« Last Edit: May 04, 2009, 06:44:09 PM by Ookla The Mok »
All Saiyuki fans should check out Dazzle! Emotionally wrenching action-adventure and quirky humor! (At least read chapter 6 and tell me if you're not hooked.) Volume 10 out now!

maxonennis

  • Level 8
  • *
  • Posts: 273
  • Fell Points: 0
    • View Profile
Re: Favorite author
« Reply #20 on: May 04, 2009, 06:16:33 PM »
I didn't care for the Ender series and Orson Scott Card has like 4 Hugos and 2 Nebulas and Enders Game didn't deserve the Nebula it received...so yes he is well decorated but i don't think his writing is much better than a B rate... to me he is on par with Rowling no more...

Debating the merits of a Hugo is one thing, but debating a Nebula is a mute point.
"Don't argue with ignorance. And when you argue with me, that's all you get!" Mike

Maxonennis’ soliloquy on Frog relations: “How can I bake the hall in the candle of her brain?”

Patriotic Kaz

  • Level 30
  • *
  • Posts: 1746
  • Fell Points: 0
  • Antagonist of the Ages
    • View Profile
Re: Favorite author
« Reply #21 on: May 04, 2009, 08:33:27 PM »
Point taken...i have my moments...
"Words are double edged blades. Only the great and the foolish play with knives." - Kaz the Buddah

"Take off your sandals, for you are posting on holy ground." -  Yahweh Kaz

"Chaos, go to your room!" - Momma Kaz

Bookstore Guy

  • Level 21
  • *
  • Posts: 1089
  • Fell Points: 2
    • View Profile
Re: Favorite author
« Reply #22 on: May 04, 2009, 10:36:25 PM »
I dont care for Card at all, frankly. Ender's Game is a great novel, but after that I can't stomach the novels. Of course part of this might have to do with a meeting I had with him in which he treated me like I was stupid and verbally ripped to shreds a kid behind me. I was appalled and sold all my copies of his novels except my signed trade paperback of Ender's Game.
Check out our blog, Elitist Book Reviews at:
http://elitistbookreviews.blogspot.com/

SarahG

  • Level 13
  • *
  • Posts: 544
  • Fell Points: 0
    • View Profile
Re: Favorite author
« Reply #23 on: May 04, 2009, 10:40:04 PM »
Actually meeting famous people can be like that.  I lost a lot of respect for Elisabeth Elliott when I actually got to meet her and interact with her.  She was better on paper.

Of course, even famous people probably have bad days.
He ate my horse.

Patriotic Kaz

  • Level 30
  • *
  • Posts: 1746
  • Fell Points: 0
  • Antagonist of the Ages
    • View Profile
Re: Favorite author
« Reply #24 on: May 05, 2009, 12:07:49 AM »
Psssh...No they don't...stop being silly b/c everyone knows that if you are famous you are rich and Steven Colbert assures me that being rich makes everything better...now why would he lie? :P
"Words are double edged blades. Only the great and the foolish play with knives." - Kaz the Buddah

"Take off your sandals, for you are posting on holy ground." -  Yahweh Kaz

"Chaos, go to your room!" - Momma Kaz

The Jade Knight

  • Moderator
  • Level 39
  • *****
  • Posts: 2507
  • Fell Points: 1
  • Lord of the Absent-Minded
    • View Profile
    • Don't go here
Re: Favorite author
« Reply #25 on: May 05, 2009, 08:19:51 AM »
I hear that Card has a lot of bad days...

But I did like Ender's Game.
"Never argue with a fool; they'll bring you down to their level, and then beat you with experience."

Eerongal

  • Level 23
  • *
  • Posts: 1199
  • Fell Points: 0
  • That jaunty jackanapes with moxie and pizzazz
    • View Profile
    • Rockin' with the Erock
Re: Favorite author
« Reply #26 on: May 05, 2009, 05:52:18 PM »
Shouldn't a book be judged on how well it's written, and not how much of a jerk the writer is? :P
[shameless plug]
My site
[/shameless plug]

Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing.
-R. Howard

Pie is clearly the most trustworthy. Pie for president. - Me.

maxonennis

  • Level 8
  • *
  • Posts: 273
  • Fell Points: 0
    • View Profile
Re: Favorite author
« Reply #27 on: May 05, 2009, 06:04:01 PM »
Shouldn't a book be judged on how well it's written, and not how much of a jerk the writer is? :P

I can understand what Bookstore Guy is saying. There are people I know to be good workers, but because I also know that they're jerks I criticise their work unfairly. It's hard to seperate the person from their work.
"Don't argue with ignorance. And when you argue with me, that's all you get!" Mike

Maxonennis’ soliloquy on Frog relations: “How can I bake the hall in the candle of her brain?”

SarahG

  • Level 13
  • *
  • Posts: 544
  • Fell Points: 0
    • View Profile
Re: Favorite author
« Reply #28 on: May 05, 2009, 07:38:57 PM »
I agree with Eerongal that it should be the person's work that matters, not his/her attitude toward fans (or, for that matter, his/her lifestyle or moral decisions).  After all, I can appreciate Mozart's music while not admiring his personal choices.  But of course Maxonennis is right too; once we have a certain impression of a person's personality, that inevitably colors our judgment of their work.  It's possible that had I met Mozart at a party, I would thereafter find it hard to enjoy his music.

Maybe it's just one of the dangers of book tours and interactive websites and such: authors need to be likable as well as knowing how to write.  It might be wiser for some of the grouchier authors to cut back on the fan interaction, if it does their reputations more harm than good.
He ate my horse.

Bookstore Guy

  • Level 21
  • *
  • Posts: 1089
  • Fell Points: 2
    • View Profile
Re: Favorite author
« Reply #29 on: May 05, 2009, 08:42:22 PM »
i agree for the most part that it is the person's work that matters. however, when mr. author decides to yell at and then humiliate the 10 year-old behind me, i decide I dont want to support that author. it's the same thing with Goodkind - no matter how good his first novel, the only thing I can think of is him insulting his readers.

on the flip side, there are a number of authors who go out of their way to thank their fans for supporting them. their attitudes make me want to read their novels to support them regardless of whether their books are awesome or terrible. my first meeting with Brandon, for example, impressed me to the point of hard-core pushing his book in my bookstore. he'll be the first to tell you that the signings he had at my store helped his exposure tremendously. people like Kat Richardson, Lawrence Watt-Evans, Glen Cook, Neil Gaiman, John Scalzi, Brandon Sanderson, William Dietz, and Dave Farland make their fans appreciate them even more by not being jack-asses. These are the authors i will support even if sometimes their stuff isnt the greatest (though these authors ARE fabulous!).
Check out our blog, Elitist Book Reviews at:
http://elitistbookreviews.blogspot.com/