1] L.Sprague deCamp: I’ve read his entire output except for “On the Evolution of Navel Weapons”, and he advised me not to bother with that one. He is one of the underrated authors and has never won a Hugo award, but he was the first recipient of the Gandolf award. This making him the first Grandmaster of Fantasy.

2] Brian Daley: The only author I’ve ever read, of whom I can say I like everything he’s ever written.

3] Byron Farwell: Author of many books on british victorian military history. A great read if you are interested in the subject.

4] George MacDonald Fraser: Author of The Flashman Papers a very Tongue-in-cheek look at british mores during the victorian era. He has written other books as well, including “The Steel Bonnets" a history of the English-Scottish border.

5] James Branch Cabell: The american fantasy author whose works are very erotic and are about the only high fantasy which can be considered literature.

6] Lois McMaster Bujold: Lois may be the best science fiction writer since Robert Heinlein. If you havn’t read her you are missing a treat.

7] Robert Anson Heinlein: Nothing I can say can add to the luster on his name.

8] Christopher Stasheff: Some of the best light science fiction around. Another author overlooked by the awards committees.

9] Louis Lamour: One of my favorite reads. He is a great storyteller and ranks high in readability.

10] Sven Hassel: The best war stories ever written.Hassel was a Danish conscript into the nazi army.He successfully translated his expeirences in a nazi penal battalion into a great series of novels.

11] Robert E. Howard: Probably the best of the old time pulp writers. While not technically a great writer, he was a great storyteller. Try his westerns, which are very funny. Or his horror especially “Pigeons From Hell” which is said by critics to be the best short horror piece ever written.

12] Lots of other authors in here From Kipling to Weber to Silverberg but there wouldn’t be enough room to list all of them.