Let's get the ball rolling. Who are your favorite authors?

[FloridaJudy]

4. I love Tepper!

Her stuff isn't to every taste, and it tends to be uneven, but when she hits her stride, she's phenomenal. I particularly liked the "Arbai" trilogy: "Grass", "Raising the Stones" and "Side Show". "The Family Tree" is also one of my favorites.

She's the grand-master of the unexpected plot twist. I remember getting one third of the way into "Grass" when she suddenly turned all my preconceptions on end. The aliens weren't what I thought. The "aristocrats" weren't what I thought. And the Hunt certainly wasn't what I thought!

But what she pulled in "The Family Tree" was a magic trick of monumental proportions. When the two time-lines meet it's an OMG! moment. All the clues were there from the very beginning, but I did not see that one coming. Anyone who gives it away is DTM.