10 Most Influential Fantasy Authors
Category: Best Of, Books, Opinion, Science Fiction
published October 8th, 2005
Let me start out by acknowledging that at least half of the people who read this list will disagree with one or more (maybe even all) of my choices. But thats really the point of lists like these isn't it? The criteria for entry on the list was fairly simple. Each of these authors has at some point played a significant role in the growth of fantasy literature.
While I've read at least something by every author in the list, their inclusion isn't necessarily an indicator of quality. This is a list of the most influential fantasy authors, not the best. They are listed in order of influence (as assigned by me) counting down from 10 to 1.
10) David Eddings - Eddings is the most marginal of all the authors on this list. He's here because back in the early 80s the fantasy market was much, much smaller than it is these days.
Eddings first fantasy series, The Belgariad took many of the common fantasy elements and combined them with an almost soap-opera like story structure. The result was a very popular series which promptly spawned an equally long sequel. Eddings books are the first instances I'm aware of of fantasy series where the story seems to be constantly extended. Prior to this, trilogies were the norm. Eddings also is one of the earlier authors to have established a template for his work and then to continue publishing that template again and again.
9) George R. R. Martin - Compared to the success of some of the other authors named on this list Martin might seem like small fry. His presence on the list comes down to one series. A Song of Ice and Fire is at the time of writing about half way through. Like many popular fantasy series in recent years, it started out as a 3 or 4 book series and has somehow morphed into an 8 book monster.
What sets A Song of Ice and Fire apart from other fantasy doorstops is that Martin is telling a much more adult tale. Many of the fantasy cliches are missing entirely (where is the brave fellowship for example?). The brutal nature of a medieval society which is frequently glossed over in fantasy stories, is to the fore here. His success in telling a story which evolves the fantasy genre rather than regurgitates it and achieving popular success in doing so justifies his presence on my list.
Raymond Feist - Feist has been a successful fantasy author for over 20 years. His popularity is build almost entirely around stories set in the land of Midkemia, a world he a group of friends came up with as a setting for role playing games. The link between fantasy books and role playing games is even stronger with my next choice, but it's not the reason I put Feist on the list.
The reason he's here is because I see Feist as the beginning of what remains a popular fantasy trend which is to set book after book in the same invented world. The technique which has been used by many fantasy authors since then re-uses familiar and popular characters or (once they are too old) their sons and daughters to tell further stories. It's not one of the healthier trends in fantasy writing, but it does seem to be lucrative.
7) Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman - Really there's only one reason to list Weis and Hickman and that's Dragonlance. Both writers have done other work, but none of it has come anywhere close to the success of the Dragonlance books.
While Dragonlance is a fun enough fantasy trilogy, that in itself wouldn't be enough to put Weis and Hickman on this list. The significance of Dragonlance has nothing to do with the story at all, but rather their origin. The original Dragonlance trilogy was a novelization of a Dungeons and Dragons campaign. Its success prompted TSR (then owners of Dungeons and Dragons) to enter the book market in a big way. Since then novelizations have become an increasing part of the fantasy book market.
6) Stephen R. Donaldson - Stephen Donaldson's contribution to fantasy novels is really quite sparse. Over the course of almost 30 years he has written about 9 fantasy novels (with 3 more to come). However this is about influence, not quantity.
At a time when about all that was available was Tolkien knockoffs, Donaldson presented us with a very different fantasy world and hero. Thomas Convenant was a reluctant anti-hero who hurt at least as much as he helped. Donaldson's Chronicles of Thomas Covenant did feature a Dark Lord and on the surface they had the same epic battles and magic of other fantasy works, but at their heart there was a much deeper story being told. Donaldson was tackling belief, self-worth and many other philosophical issues.
5) Terry Brooks - Terry Brooks early Shannarah books have been heavily criticized as being Tolkien rip offs. Certainly all the core cliches are there, from the Dark Lord to the brave band of heroes. There's even a mountain and a cloud of darkness in Sword of Shannarah. However, Brooks did achieve one very important thing for fantasy. He showed that it could be an extremely popular genre even if your name wasn't Tolkien. In many ways Brooks created the market for fantasy books and so he is number 5 on the list.
4) Terry Pratchett - I recently reviewed a couple of Terry Pratchett's books and my reviews were luke warm. But that is beside the point. Pratchett has written over 30 Discworld novels and sold an astonishing 40 million copies. Through a mixture of volume and success Pratchett pretty much defines the sub-genre of fantasy humor.
He wasn't the first author to write humorous fantasy nor has he been the last, but he is clearly far and away the most successful at doing so. A full time writer since 1987, Terry Pratchett shows the range which the fantasy genre can encompass.
3) Robert Jordan - You knew he had to be on this list somewhere right? Jordan is the king of modern epic fantasy. His apparently never ending Wheel of Time fantasy series currently spans 11 books plus one prequel (and there's more to come) since 1990. The series was originally acclaimed as exciting and imaginative epic fantasy but recent installments have been heavily criticized for perceived padding as the pace slows more and more.
Phenomenally popular Jordan has done much to shape the modern fantasy market. While previous authors toyed with longer series than the trilogy, Jordan's success with a never-ending series of books has inspired others to attempt the same.
2) J.K. Rowling - The Harry Potter books eschew most of the elements common to modern epic fantasy and instead play with common Halloween images to create their fantasy world. There are plenty of previous authors who have written fantasy books for children and many have chosen to set those fantasy books at least partly in the real world. However none of them have achieved this level of success.
Perhaps the most important thing about what Rowling has achieved is that she managed to cross out of the fantasy ghetto and into mainstream recognition. The result has been huge success for herself and also I think an influx of new readers for fantasy.
1) J.R.R. Tolkien - The easiest thing to decide when writing this list was who should be number 1. It had to be J.R.R. Tolkien. There were writers of fantasy before Tolkien but there wasn't a fantasy genre. Tolkien defines fantasy fiction. All writers are compared to Tolkien and much of what is written in the fantasy genre these days is based on archetypes that Tolkien created.
In truth though no one has ever come close to achieving what Tolkien did. Most writers write fantasy stories, Tolkien was a world builder. In many ways the story was just a vehicle to let readers explore the history, races and cultures which he had created. This unique approach to writing sets Tolkien apart from all his imitators and sets him atop a pinnacle that others merely aspire to climb.
So there you have it, my list of the 10 most influential fantasy authors. I'm sure many of you will disagree with my picks. Who did I leave out? Did I over-rate or under-rate anyone? Use the comments box below to let me know.
Eoghann Irving is amongst other things the creator and Editor of Solar Flare. He has a life long interest in all forms of science fiction and fantasy and a pressing need to share this interest with anyone who will listen. Find out more at his his website eoghann.com.| 2.9 |
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30 Comments ... Have Your Say!
October 10th, 2005 -
This is a great list. I’ve read all the authors on this list except for George R. R. Martin and order of the authors aside I tend agree with the list. Although I think that one author should have been included, RA Salvatore. He started off with the DnD books but now almost every book he publishes is a best seller both to scifi fans and the general public, he’s also one of the few scifi authors that also writes screen plays for a number of moves/TV shows.
PS. I’ll probably be burned in effigy for this but I think Tolkien based purely on his writings is overrated. Let me qualify this to say that yes I know he is the father of all fantasy generes, without him we would not have the concepts of elves and dwarfs and high fantasy. But as a 2nd generation fantasy reader (ie. I read E.Fiest and Enddings and many more before I did Tolkien) his books based solely on their own merit were rather dry. No flash, no pizzaz, more like a piece of literature (which I know it technically was since Tolkien was an English Lit Professor).
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October 11th, 2005 -
I think point 6 and point 4 seem to contradict each other with regards to “influence” via quantity. or am I reading it wrongly?
Also, I can’t believe C.S. Lewis is omitted.
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October 11th, 2005 -
I don’t think its a contradiction. You can achieve influence through many different routes. One is the sheer volume of output, another is to produce only a handful of books, but ones that have a significant impact.
I considered putting C. S. Lewis on this, but honestly I’m not sure he was really that influential. His fantasy works seems to have been largely categorized as children’s literature and his name doesn’t seem to come up nearly as often as it used to in discussions of fantasy.
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Brenda (Profile) October 12th, 2005 -
There are a few authors on this list I haven’t sampled yet. Maybe in a future article you could do rankings of their works or recommend specific books for the novice reader to begin with? For instance - I’ve read all the Shannara books and would HATE for someone to pick up Brooks’ far less compelling “Magic Kingdom of Landover” series and get turned off to Brooks’ work before getting to read the classic Sword of Shannara. Or read the later books in the Shannara series like the current “Voyage of the Jerle Shannara” run, without having started with the first books.
I’m particularly interested in sampling Stephen Donaldson - your review of his work makes him sound fascinating and I’d like to give him a read. If you could point myself and other first-time readers in the direction of where to start, I could avoid being exposed to his work out-of-order or in a way that would be predisposed to making me like him less.
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Brenda (Profile) October 12th, 2005 -
I’d like to see this list again in 5 years or so. I’m hoping Neil Gaiman will make an appearance!
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October 12th, 2005 -
Thanks for the comments Brenda. Its an interesting idea listing starting points for different authors. Right now the only one of those authors I’ve covered much on the blog is David Eddings because I recently re-read many of his books. I hope to re-read much of Donaldson’s output soon too (maybe I’ll finally get round to reading his Gap Into… science fiction series too)
As far as Donaldson goes, if you’re looking at the Thomas Covenant books, you really have to read them in order to get the most out of them and that means starting with Lord Foul’s Bane. But the Covenant books aren’t his most accessible works. He has some short story collections and on the fantasy side of things Mirror of Her Dreams is probably an easier read, though not as unique.
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Brenda (Profile) October 13th, 2005 -
Well that gives me some idea where to start on Donaldson. I’ll do some research and see what I can find. Next time I’m in a used bookstore I have some more authors to troll the shelves for.
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mercy (Profile) November 4th, 2005 -
I think the list is very well put togethr.I have herd of most of those arthurs, except Raymond
Feist (shame).
But I disagree with the 2nd: jk Rowling. She may have been really successful with Harry
potter and gotten all the main elements of fantasy in it. I dont deny that i read them and enjoy them
them, but they are a bit more for children and her fantasy characters are less of imagination
but rather just a pick up of the common believe of what fantasy creatures are like and build up
on. I dont think she is at all influencial in fantasy and although many people read it and are
turned to this type, after her books, they are still far away.
It takes more than just harry potter to be a fantasy.
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Wickerman (Profile) November 5th, 2005 -
Moorcock, R.E. Howard and fritz Lieber easily beat out some of the people on this list - unless you are looking to High Fantasy and high fantasy only - meaning Martin should not be on the list as well… None of the above three owe Tolkien their worlds, character or plot lines and essentially define Sword and Sorcery Fantasy - the omission of this very significant and all to oft ignored sub-genre is unfortunate. if not all three, at LEAST Howard belongs on a list ahead of ahead of Martin, Eddings and Donaldson.
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November 5th, 2005 -
This was a list of influential authors and quite frankly I just don’t see a significant influence on current fantasy from any of those authors. You said yourself that Sword and Sorcery is often ignored, maybe that’s because its just not a sub-genre that is really being written much any more?
If I’d written this list in the 80s or maybe even the early 90s it would have been a very different story. But look at what is on the fantasy shelves these days and tell me that these guys aren’t the influential authors.
As I said in the post, its not about who’s good and who’s bad.
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wickerman (Profile) November 6th, 2005 -
Given your introduction that points to authors that have “The criteria for entry on the list was fairly simple. Each of these authors has at some point played a significant role in the growth of fantasy literature.” To me, that said more than simply being aroun right now… Your list of course, so your call, but I really think given that criteria, the three I mentioned should have at least a shot over Martin for instance whose influence I have yet to see in the genre - his series is not yet even complete let alone inspiring a generation of authors…. Further, to say sword and sorcery does not influence the genre is a bit odd considering the syles of the likes of R A Salvatore who - in my opinion - borrows as much from the gritty action packed style of Howard as he does the epic style of Tolkien.
To each their own and no offense intended…
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November 6th, 2005 -
Well I haven’t read much of Salvatore’s work. To be honest what little I read didn’t impress me. I didn’t see much to compare it with Howard either. To me it read like Tolkien knock-off.
Martin’s inclusion is questionable, whichi s why he’s up at 9 and not any higher. My feeling is though that while he hasn’t inspired many new authors yet he has had a noticeable effect on the the fantasy market. Perhaps that’s just wishful thinking and it will remain dominated by Jordan, Goodkind and Brooks.
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wickerman (Profile) November 7th, 2005 -
Point taken, though I am not so sure that i personally want to seemore Martin style fantasy myself. While i - like so many others - think the genre would be better off with fewer tolkien clones, Martin strikes me as a soap opera writer shooting for gold in fantasy. He work strikes me as being violent, profane and erotic only for the sake of it. None of said material offends me overly much - if at all - I simply find it cheapens a work if it become more spectacle than substance. I also fear Martin will fall victim to Jordan-itis and SOI&F will end up being a neverending snooze fest. in truth I found a game of thrones dull for the most part, and while martin is quite ambitious and i can respect that, I am simply not impressed overly with it all.
Nonetheless a fair few others are rabid about him and I do not dismiss him out of hand, but then I am not an enormous fan of tolkiens work either - my preference for the styles of moorcock and howard is a bit obvious I suppose ;
) Regardless i regard niether as ‘overrated’ or otherwise lacking - there is plenty of material out there for all tastes and I certainly didn;t mean to start a Author vs Author debate - which i seemed to have quite well regardless! As I said before, i respect your opinion and hope my comments were not taken as being confrontational.
Regards…
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nathan (Profile) January 17th, 2006 -
Ive read the list and carnt see Terry Goodkind on ther!
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Joe (Profile) April 14th, 2006 -
Great list; have read and enjoyed all of these authors.
Just two more names which I think would have influenced even the authors
mentioned - Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) and H.G. Wells.
Of course they have had a considerably longer time to be influential.
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Ian (Profile) May 17th, 2006 -
Robert E. Howard created the archetypal rags to riches fighter that still holds
sway over much of fantasy and fiction. Pratchett parodies the character, other
authors on this list have written books including the character. The influence
of Howard’s verb-driven pulp fiction is all-pervasive in fantasy today. The use
of the mythology of Earth and the premise of good with an asterisk as a description
of a hero all have been driven by Howard’s short stories.
Eddings might be the most over-rated author on this list. A marginal writer with
the Stephen King-esque lack of originality or imagination prevalent in all books
after the first series compounded with horribly stunted dialogue, an inability to
flesh out characters that readers have been forced to live with for extended
period of time, and a shallow predisposition to overgeneralize female characters
as stereotypically conniving, over-emotional, and wholly fixated on bathing. This
author represents what is wrong with a whole segment of the fantasy genre.
More humorously than Eddings superceding Howard on the list is the fact that
Howard’s pulp fiction stereotypes are similar to Eddings yet are addressed in
a way that makes them far less disgusting. Also, a single short story written
by Howard includes philisophical tidbits that the long, drawn out 500-page
Eddings monstrosities could hope to espouse and, as a result, don’t. Martin isn’t
far behind Eddings in unreadability.
As for Rowling: She is writing for young adults and doing it well. J.K. Rowling
writes so well that millions upon millions of youths have gobbled up her work.
On top of that, the majority of the writing is very well written. Characters are
charming as well as being given age-appropriate emotions and mannerisms. She
has written a masterpiece to an age segment that gets stuck with moribund junk
most of the time. Even more disturbing is the reality that the Harry Potter series
gives its readers more credit than any of Eddings’ series.
Further, ignoring L. Sprague De Camp, Zelazny, and Gene Wolf over the bottom four
or five is silly. I’m guessing by impact you’ve totally ignored the actual
impact that the authors had on other authors which is a far better gauge. In that
vain, Terry Brooks’ original Sword of Shannara likely impacted more people within
generation X and the last of the Baby boomers than most others due to it being
required reading in many high schools in the early 80’s.
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Debra Gardner (Profile) July 4th, 2006 -
I’ve read several of your authors on thelist, and I’m still surprised that Terry Goodkind isn’t there, especially as Robert Jordan was mentioned. Granted the series is long (10 books so far), but they do not dance around some of the sex and violence that had to happen in some of these “nightly” times. I also noticed that suchpeople as Marion Zimmer Bradley and Ursula JK. LeGuin were absent.
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July 4th, 2006 -
[...] Solar Flare has a nice list of the ten most influential fantasy authors of all-time. If you have the time to read the whole article, check it out. If not, here’s the basics: 10) David Eddings - Eddings is the most marginal of all the authors on this list. He’s here because back in the early 80s the fantasy market was much, much smaller than it is these days. [...]
Jason (Profile) July 22nd, 2006 -
What about the Terry Goodkind books!
now that is a book!
Loved Tolken, and know Margaret Wise “lives down the road”
She writes great books! loved her Joust series
there are many new coming authors tho “Tamora Peirce”
but not all could be ranked as the top 10.
altho i do disagree C.S. Lewis had more of a impact on me
more so than tolken I read the tolken books in high school
but C.S. Lewis, i dunno theres just something about his books!
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san (Profile) August 15th, 2006 -
i agree with this list totally & also with the fact that it was so very easy to choose the most influential author of all times. Of course it had to be tolkien ,the man created a language of his own & that alone will land him in da 1st spot
i like rowling too yeah superb books but not near tolkien
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September 26th, 2006 -
I almost completely agree with you, with a small exception. I think that the name of Ursulla LeGuin also must be in that list. She has influenced the ganre of Fantasy in its early years, and together with Tolkin is one of the founders of my favourite kind of books.
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tag8833 (Profile) October 8th, 2006 -
I think that this list is very well done. I don’t enjoy some of the authors on the list but recognize their effect on the genre.
If I had written the list I would have included Glen Cook because his work has a focus very different from all of the other authors listed, and has drawn many new fans into the genre.
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*dirigible_plum* (Profile) November 8th, 2007 -
I personally think that J.K. Rowling is a much more influenticial and accomplished author than J.R.R. Tolkien, but that is simply my opinion. I don’t care for any debates to start over this, but I am merely expressing what I think. Otherwise, I believe this list is very good, but no up to date-quite.
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gypsy (Profile) January 18th, 2008 -
Hmmm…they say God is in the details and I think that probably applies to influence in Fantasy writting. Tolkien was exactly as you say a world builder. To build a world and then allow your charaters to thrive (or not) in it is most definatly an important aspect of fantasy writting, Anne McCaffery has done it well for instance, with her generations of dragon riders along with MANY other authors.
Harry Potter (I read these as an adult mind) is unique again in the details, the seamless mesh of Hogwarts and London, the detailed descriptions that were frankly so imaginative I was surprised there were people who could not bring themselves to enjoy her work. She also to my eye managed mystery well, the fouth book in particular comes to mind, her books had a certain “who done it” quality that I feel was refreashing and commanding.
Fiest, well if influence can be measured in monitary success I guess I agree, however if say I were a inspired reader who might choose to write one day…um no I can’t say as I would place him on a list of those to aspire to. I always finish his books wishing he had taken more time to develope…everything.
Eddings has great timming you have to admit, his books were exactly what was wanted and needed at a time when little else was available in the Epic catagory. I personally adored his charaters and good charater writting will always enthrawl.
Terry Goodkind is an author I would have considered, for this reason, he came out of nowhere a bit later in life than expected and opened an intricate realm of intensity and emotion. I’d have to have given him credit for tackling some more mature concepts, not for the young or innocent but also not the run of the mill.
I think it a little odd that you hale Tolkien for being a world builder (a term I am in complete agreement with) and then call Pratchetts practice of Disc World “not one of the healither” trends in Fantasy. I would have to say the building of a unique world is in fact what the genere is about, the building of a realm of fantasy inhabited by the unique and extrodinary. I don’t think disc world is all that compelling but the practice of keeping his charaters in the same “place” is not what I would call a trend.
One Last Author…or perhaps his family would be a more accurate term. Christopher Paolini has got to be considered for sheer determination. I think he and his very ambitious family are going to open huge doors that have been closed in the past to aspiring writters, he is a fantastic example that “it can indeed be done.”
When it is all said and done, what inspires and influences the reader most will be that which will influence the genere.
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S W J (Profile) April 9th, 2008 -
I agree with Robert Jordan being on the list but for a slightly different reason. I think that a lot of what makes a fantasy author succesful isn’t only what they think up, but how they make something of their own out of the things that have already been done. I would dare say that all of the important fantasy writers of the past have used some “type” of story as the inspiration for something of their own. I wouldn’t say that they base their world on something that already existed but they create their own world from scraps and peices (inspirations) of others. Tolkien didn’t just write a fantasy. Tolkien created a myth comparable to the old norse myths. It’s as detailed, as great, as heroic, and in almost every way as incredible as a thousand year old myth. But he didn’t just think it up. He used themes, hero types, and other things (like rings of power) from old norse mythology. C.S. Lewis did a similar thing with Greek mythology. Shakespear is important partly for his adaptations of Greek mythology into new plays and stories that people had heard thousands of times before but never with such feeling and passion in them.
Rober Jordan is important because he has also created a world entwined with past inspirations but with such a new twist on things, and such dynamic characters that you nearly don’t recognize them–at least until you do recognize them. For me recognizing the paralell between Matt and Odin was a great discovery and made me enjoy the book a whole lot more. Rand recovering the crystal sword from the Stone of Tear was another big discovery and parralled the story of King Arthur. On that note, where did Artur Paendrag come from? The list of parralells goes on and on. I don’t think anybody will ever find all of the inspirations Robert Jordan has put into his books and I don’t think that was ever his purpose for putting them in. His entwinement of the old with the new in a seamless story that is not interrupted to “follow the original” is incredible. And that is what separates Robert Jordan from the ordinary fantasy writer and puts him into a category with the greater writers of the century. I think his work, at least before he started adding a lot of unneccesary sideplots, goes right up there with C.S. Lewis and Tolkien. I do admit though that I wouldn’t mind seeing many of the later books abridged…somehow.
J.K. Rowling is definitely important in the fantasy genre and she will inspire a lot of authors but I would have to compare Harry Potter to books like Alice in Wonderland or Peter Pan. It’s a great story even if it started out child oriented, but I don’t think she will prove the test of time like Tolkien or Lewis did. I think when people look back in 50 years they will compare Harry to other popular books that were great entertainment but not a whole lot of lasting meaning. She will inspire other authors to write similar things but I can’t see many of the next generation Harry Potterish writers doing anything amazing. Mostly just knockoffs that sell and fade away.
I think Ursula K. LeGuin (The Earthsea Trilogy) should probably have been considered for the list. The story isn’t anything incredibly new, although it is definitely great. You could maybe argue that the wizard school somehow inspired J.K. Rowling somehow but it’s probably not true. The Earthsea trilogy is a great example of literary fantasy and seemed to be a decent seller (not that that’s important but it seems to have gotten at least a couple aurthors on the list). LeGuin moves the fantasy genre in a direction I would like to see more fantasy authors take. I liked her use of non-traditional dragons and admired the characterizations. The characters really seemed to be alive, they have feelings and emotions. I think that’s something a lot of authors seem to leave out of fantasy in a supposed exchange for world-building. Why not have both. LeGuin has done an excellent job at creating an extraodinary world filled with characters that feel, breathe, and have realistic emotions.
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John (Profile) April 17th, 2008 -
Uh… most influential? Since influence is generally passed forward in time, shouldn’t precedence be given to historically prior authors? In that light, the list should at least include:
E. R. R. Eddison (The Worm Ouroboros et al)
Mervyn Peake (Gormenghast et al)
And in this same historical context, but further in the past…
Shakespeare: The Tempest, Midsummer Night’s Dream
and still further back…
Apuleius: The Metamorphoses
Also, I don’t know about influential, but other “contemporary” candidates might include:
Andre Norton
Tanith Lee (The White Witch is extraordinary)
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Charles (Profile) April 22nd, 2008 -
I have read 8 of the 10 listed authors. I couldn’t read Rowlings (childish), Eddings work didn’t click for me, Donaldson’s work is sometimes brillant, but his characters seem to whine about their self doubt alot. I love the way Brooks has linked his Shannara & Word storylines. Fiest repeats alot of his storylines/plots, though his works are still enjoyable. Some authors I would place on the list are: Robert Adams: Horseclans series(hard to find now), Robin Hobb: The Farseer, Liveship Traders, Tawnyman & Soldier Son were all excellent reads. Julian May’s Saga of Pliocene Exile mixed Sf with fantasy & her Boreal Moon trilogy is also excellent.
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DUSty (Profile) April 24th, 2008 -
All I have to say about this is, w00t for Discworld! I’ve lived on that stuff all year.
Actually, don’t mind that. I’m not being helpful.
I didn’t read most of the list (so here’s something for me to do now that I’m done with those 36 books) but I certainly have heard of those authors, which just shows how good this list is.
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October 9th, 2005 -
SF Tidbits Part XVII
Welcome to another installment of SF Tidbits!David Langford’s posted the October issue of Ansible. [Link via Locus] Solar Flare offers a list (we likes the lists) of The 10 Most Influential Fantasy Authors. Star Wars Origins goes to great length…