The LL&L Rumpus Room

I don't know if I should even answer this one. I spent several years reading only what teachers made me read, so I'm in the middle of discovering the SF&F genre. I'm sure I've said before that I've been mostly disappointed with what I've read, so I'm taking note of this conversation carefully for recommendations.

No one author made me want to start writing, and I haven't been exposed to enough that's made me go, "Wow." The last author to make me do that was Gregory Maguire, who wrote Wicked. The way he twisted the classic Cinderalla tale in Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister was vastly entertaining, and more than a little sad.

Before that, it was Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series, which is so many genres it usually ends up in the "General Fiction" area of any bookstore. I find her narration witty and rhythmic, and so much happens to the characters that you really feel like you get to know them--hell, after five 1,000 page books, you better! In that way, the emotional impacts of the plot are very strong... strong enough that I forget the time travel device (which I've never really liked unless it was tongue-in-cheek) and the old romance-novel-esque cover that adorns the copies on my shelf.

The only other author I can really recommend as having any kind of impact on my ambitions is Avi. His book The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle is a young adult high-seas tale that I've always remembered because it was historically accurate and didn't pull any punches. (Dude, people really bleed from the mouth when they're shot in the lung? Ew!) No words were wasted and the story moved so quickly that it was a shock to reach the last page. I still read it now and again for pure fun.