Authors from A-Z!
I can’t remember where I saw this prompt – I really should have written it down right when I started drafting this post. Oh well. But anyway it was about listing your favorite authors from A-Z! A lot of my favs have names that begin with the same letter so it was fun to go through the books I’ve read and remember authors that I love but don’t talk about much, or ones whose books I read long ago. I’ll list their names and a little bit about which books of theirs I love!
A – Ilona Andrews
I’ve mentioned them before a few times! This is actually a pen name for a husband and wife writing duo – how fun is that? They’ve written a bunch of urban fantasy novels. I’ve only read part of their Kate Daniels series, but it’s definitely one of my favorite series. I’m excited to try more of their books.
B – Pierce Brown
I mean, no surprise here. The Red Rising series is one of my all time favorite book series. It’s an epic dystopian space opera and it’s brutal and incredible. I will probably read anything Pierce writes lol. Literally, I have five different copies of the books lol. I’m obsessed.
C – Cinda Williams Chima
She’s written a few different young adult fantasy series. My favorite is the Seven Realms series. That one probably is in my top 15 series, if not top 10. She then wrote a follow up series that occurs roughly 20 years after the first series, this one is called the Shattered Realms series. Ominous, right? Those are both high fantasy, but she has another one that I guess would be classed as urban fantasy since it takes place in the modern world. I loved this one as well, I think it’s really underrated. It’s called The Heir Chronicles!
D – Sarah Beth Durst
From looking at her Goodreads page, she has actually written quite a lot of books that I didn’t know about! But I chose her for this because I love her Queens of Renthia trilogy. It’s really creative and has cities that are in trees – like treehouses but cities!!! And the second book features a main character who is a mom – we need more of that in fantasy.
E – Kate Elliott
I neeeed to read more of her books. She’s a great adult fantasy author, but I’ve only read one of her adult fantasy series! It’s the Spiritwalker trilogy, and I loved it. She actually also has a young adult fantasy series called the Court of Fives trilogy. I only read the first book I think? I can’t remember. But I did really enjoy it. BUT ALSO!!!!!! Her most recent is described on Goodreads as: “GENDER-SWAPPED ALEXANDER THE GREAT ON AN INTERSTELLAR SCALE”. I’m screaming!! It sounds amazing!! It’s called Unconquerable Sun and I can’t believe I haven’t gotten myself a copy yet.
F – Nancy Farmer
When I was in elementary school, my favorite book was The House of the Scorpion. Which is really weird for a 9 year old…since it’s a book about a boy who is actually a clone of an olddd drug lord, and he exists to be an organ donor for the drug lord. Dark AF!! But idk I loved it haha. I still think it’s a really incredible premise and book. I should reread it soon!
G – Neil Gaiman
I mean, probably most fantasy fans know Neil Gaiman right? He’s pretty famous. My favorite book by him is for sure Neverwhere, which is about a magical dark place that is hidden beneath London. A wonderful urban fantasy novel! My second favorite is The Graveyard Book, an utterly charming young adult/middle grade novel. The best thing about Gaiman is that he writes so many different types of books, and in so many different age groups, that I think everyone can find something they’d enjoy!
H – Heidi Heilig
Heidi is a master of diverse YA fantasy books. Her first duology starts with The Girl From Everywhere, which features a mixed race (Chinese and Caucasian) MC! Just like me!!! So I was super thrilled about that. Also it’s about time travel so heck yes. Her other series (starting with For a Muse of Fire) features a MC who has bipolar disorder! Of course there is much more diversity in both than just the main characters but I just mention them so you get a taste.
I – Eva Ibbotson
Oh man, “i” was hard! There are not many authors I’ve read with last names starting with “i”. But yay for this post because it made me rediscover Eva Ibbotson! I read her in like, middle school? So around age 12ish. I remember her books being super cute, fun, and magical. I’d definitely recommend them for any fans of middle grade fantasy! My favorites were Which Witch, The Secret of Platform 13, and Island of the Aunts.
J – Norton Juster
THE PHANTOM TOLLBOTH Y’ALL!!!! I love this book so much. The wordplay and cleverness was so GOOD. And at a perfect level for both kids and adults to enjoy. Man, I need to reread this. WHY CAN’T I JUST BE READING ALL THE TIME.
K – Kazu Kibuishi
Graphic novels!!! I think Kazu Kibuishi is most well known for the Amulet series of graphic novels (beginning with The Stonekeeper). I first learned about him from my brother, who introduced me to the Flight graphic novel anthologies. His art style is so colorful and happy, and the stories he creates are beautiful. The anthology is also wonderfully put together, and has a ton of great artists.
L – Katrina Leno
I’ve only read two of Katrina Leno’s books (Everything All at Once and Summer of Salt), but those two convinced me that I need to read ALL of her books. A while ago I wrote a post (here) about those two books and how much I loved them. I’m really looking forward to reading her latest novel Horrid, which is a contemporary YA horror novel!
M – Seanan McGuire
I know, surprise right? Haha. Just kidding. You should know this. You want a masterpiece? A mind blowing standalone scifi fantasy mix? Middlegame. You want amazing urban fantasy? October Daye series. You want portal fantasy? Wayward Children series. AND MORE. See my post here for more gushing.
N – Garth Nix
After Tamora Pierce and Seanan McGuire, Garth Nix is probably my third favorite author. His Old Kingdom series is one of my FAVORITE series of all time. Necromancer ladies and creepy dead monsters and a sassy cat that isn’t actually a cat! He also has a few middle grade series (Keys to the Kingdom and The Seventh Tower) which are CRIMINALLY underrated. Please read them, I have no one to talk with about them!!
O – Tochi Onyebuchi
I have only read one book by Tochi, but wow. Did it pack a PUNCH. Riot Baby was full of Black girl magic and powerful writing, and I truly think everyone should read it. You can find my review for it here! I’m excited to read his YA series War Girls, it sounds incredible.
P – Tamora Pierce
Honestly if you couldn’t guess this, then I’m disappointed. Literally everything she’s written is my fav. Pls check out my post here if you haven’t already haha. Also feel free to check out and join the readalong my friends and I are doing!
Q – 🙁
Help me out here guys!
R – Rebecca Roanhorse
Okay so I’m finding that for a lot of the authors on this list, I’ve only read one or two of their books. But I figure that is just MORE of an indicator of how great they are. The one book I read made me include them as a fav! So yes, I’ve only read Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse (review here) but daaaaang it was a masterpiece.
S – V.E. Schwab
Ohhhh V. E. Schwab (aka Victoria Schwab). How I love you. I’ve read almost everything that she has published, and loved it all. My ultimate favorite book of hers is Vicious. Found family, X-men style powers, morally gray characters – all the good stuff. Of course there’s also her adult fantasy trilogy (Shades of Magic), a couple YA fantasy series (The Archived and Monsters of Verity), a middle grade series (Cassidy Blake), and so much more. PHEW. That’s a lot haha.
T – Sabaa Tahir
Sabaa Tahir is the brilliant author behind the An Ember in the Ashes series. This series is concluding VERY SOON and I am scared. But excited of course. These books are brutal and epic and in my opinion, very underrated in the YA fantasy scene.
U – Anne Ursu
Well apparently Anne Ursu is literally the ONLY author that I have read with a last name that starts with U. How is that possible?? I don’t know. ANYway, I think I’ve only read one book of hers, and it was a million years ago. It was The Shadow Thieves, and to be honest I don’t remember much since I was very young when I read it. But I remember it having a lot to do with Greek mythology, which I still love to this day!
V – Nghi Vo
Nghi Vo has some of the most beautiful prose I have ever read. I’ve read two novellas by her (The Empress of Salt and Fortune, and When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain). I reviewed the first here, and my review for the second is coming up soon! They are both beautiful and I just want MORE. I’m also super excited for her upcoming novel The Chosen and the Beautiful, which is a retelling of The Great Gatsby, with a queer Asian-American MC!!!!!!!! Please. GIVE IT TO ME.
W – Alex White
Alex White has written one of my favorite science fiction trilogies of all time – The Salvagers series! The best part about it is that it’s a mix of science fiction and fantasy, my two favorite genres. It’s the best mashup honestly. This is a little bit from my review: “If you’re looking for great scifi, this is IT. There is MAGIC. There are SPACESHIPS. And there are creepy terrifying villains. There’s a great ragtag crew of people. There is DIVERSITY. And let me just make this point again – there’s MAGIC in SPACE. It’s like my two favorite things basically.”
X – 🙁
Another place where I need some help…
Y – Adrienne Young
Again, there’s not many authors I’ve read with “y” last names! Sooo I guess I’m gonna have to go find some more. I very much enjoyed Adrienne Young’s novel Sky in the Deep – Viking inspired fantasy! I have another one of hers (Fable) which I’m also super excited about since it involves a pirate/sailing story!
Z – Francesca Zappia
What a big shock! “z” is not a very common last name letter either haha. Francesca Zappia wrote Eliza and Her Monsters, which is one of my favorite contemporary YA novels. It’s got romance and webcomics and fanfiction and discussions about depression and anxiety! It’s wonderful.
I hope you enjoyed reading about all these authors! Hopefully some of them are new to you and you can check them out. Also, as you can see, I’m missing authors with last names starting with Q and X. Do you have any recommendations for me?
What a fun post!
it reminded me of the titles version you’re doing on instagram! 🙂
Can’t help you with X, but for Q – Kate Quinn!
ooooo thank you!! i’ll def check them out 🙂