So, when it comes to fantasy novels I am always asked: “Who is your favourite author?” I guess it is generally by fantasy fans looking for that ‘ultimate’ novel and that single best piece of work. They ask ‘me’ I presume because I’ve read quite a few books in the genre over the years and people expect me to be able to say: “Why Mr X writes the very best fantasy.”
In fact though I always answer by asking: “Well what in your opinion makes a good book?” I ask this because the original question is far too difficult to answer on it’s own. I mean “Who is the most talented writer in Fantasy?” is similar to saying “Who is the most talented football player/soccer player.” How do you judge them? You could look at their dribbling ability, passing ability, ability to score goals, ability to stop goals, their speed, their endurance and much more besides.
Similarly with fantasy authors there is a lot you need to consider before answering the question of who is best. Mostly importantly though, before you even begin to try you need to consider the question “What makes a good writer?”
- Is a good writer someone who can keep you gripped to a book through beautiful use of prose?
- Is a good writer someone who creates a world so real you can almost see / feel it?
- Is a good writer someone who can make you emotionally respond to their story?
- Is a good writer someone who creates a story so wonderful you literally wish you were there?
It’s a tough one and you have a lot to consider before you answer it.
Certainly if I was to be asked each of the above in the following fashion:
- Which writer can keep you gripped to a book through beautiful use of prose?
- Which writer creates a world so real you can almost see / feel it?
- Which writer can make you emotionally respond to their story?
- Which writer creates a story so wonderful you literally wish you were there?
I’d have four different answers (the names of four different people).
I have been asked though for my ‘favourite’ author and I doubt my uneducated fantasy friends would appriciate a long winded answer. Therefore there is something more we need to consider here. Firstly, what in my mind makes an author great? Is it beautiful description, is it evoking emotional response, is it realism, is in a unique story?
I would need to pick my single most important factor of what makes an author talented and which author is best at this and then consider how important the other elements are and how that authors work grade in these. Maybe they are AMAZING at creating a story but completely suck at involving me emotionally. Perhaps they are great at writing and evoking emotions but the story just sucks. Worst of all though is when a writer has a good story and good characters but they just can’t write. It’s sad, but it happens.
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Interlude
Wanna give it a shot? Who is your favourite author and why?
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My Attempt
So…I need to pick an author that caters to my needs and is a ‘best fit’ for my demands of a book. It’s not an easy thing to do!
To start with I broke down the questions and answered them individually.
For me Patrick Rothfuss or Mark Lawrence are probably the most talented writers in terms of ‘skill’. I don’t think that it is any coincidence that both have strong roots in poetry. Rothfuss is of course himself an English lecturer (says a lot!).
Sanderson is probably the best writer in terms of world building and creating that world you can literally imagine living within. He lacks though in being able to get me to react emotionally to his work. His writing is good, but there is almost a young adult feeling to it, which turns me off it slightly. I feel almost condescended at times.
Best story writers? Brett is very good. G.R.R. Martin is probably the Godfather here though. He weaves stories together seamlessly. I think Brett lacks slightly in his ability to write emotion and G.R.R. Martin perhaps in his world building, slightly. Maybe because G.R.R. Martin’s world is just so big, I lose track of how each place is meant to appear. I actually think Brett’s writing skill in terms of prose is better than Martin’s – but that is MY opinion and I know the majority will disagree there. I like shorter, snappier, more involved writing and Brett offers that.
Brent Weeks writes emotion very well. Anyone who has read ‘Night Angel Trilogy’ would probably have felt fear…terror even, frustration and love. It’s all there. Rothfuss is actually relatively good at emotion although he has the (unfair?) advantage in this debate as he does his writing predominately in first person.
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So there we have already a list of six authors, all who have claim to being ‘the best’ (in my opinion obviously). All write in very different styles and all have their strengths and weaknesses as I have briefly tried to identify. I guess to find my favourite I need to decide what is most important to me.
I always enjoy a great story and being immersed in a World that feels real. Sanderson and Brett especially do this for me. But then I guess I can’t live without some emotion. Weeks’ work really works well for me. I felt as though I knew Kylar and Durzo in his works. As a literature student I get frustrated with poor writing so reading the beautiful work of Lawrence or Rothfuss is really a great experience for me. You can see now that my original question of ‘who is the most talented fantasy author’ completely hinges on what I grade as being the most worthy talent and simply put this is unfair to both the person asking the question and the author themselves.
By saying I think Brett is the most talented writer because of his ability to create a story, for example, I am saying that I discard the pure beauty of Rothfuss’ or Lawrence’s work. And that Sanderson’s ability to create a world I could practically live in is not as good as having a great story. I am writing off Weeks’ accomplishments of having created characters that I can literally see in my mind as living, breathing people that have almost made me cry at times. How could I do that?
At the end of the day, the reason we all argue and debate about who is the best author and our opinion on what is the best novel in the universe is down to the fact we are all different. We all want something different from a novel. Be it enjoyment of an art, an escape from reality, the ability to relate to a character, an emotional response, a story. There may also be things that you don’t want from a novel. You have your own equation in your mind to judge and author and that equation is is unique. The way you weigh up one element of a writer’s work and balance it against another aspect is your own. Others may have a similar equation, but no one will have the same. Your judgement is yours.
In order for you to take something away from this article I am going to ask you a question: “Who is the most talented Fantasy Author?” I am now going pause, listen to your answer, take a breath and ask you: “Why?” By answering the ‘why’ you should be able to work out a big part of that unique equation locked within your mind that decides ‘what’ makes an author great for you and why perhaps you didn’t enjoy authors that your friends recommended. Once you have done it, come give us your opinions in the forum:
http://fantasy-faction.com/forum/fantasy-book-discussion/who-is-the-most-talented-fantasy-writer/
Anyway… I will conclude this article now and answer my original question. The most talented author in Fantasy Literature is… [word count expired]
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