If you enjoy reading YA, Fantasy and Horror (and I'm guessing you probably do if you're following me), I have a list of the top 5 writers in those 3 genres/age categories.
My favorite kinds of lists are always the ones that involve some lesser-known writers. These writers I've included are exactly that. So don't expect to see Stephen King on this list.
I've also included some of my favorites as well as some that you might not have heard of before (maybe). Anyway, here you go!
YA
1. Shaunta Grimes - So far Shaunta has published 3 books and two of them were sci-fi, I don't personally write Sci-fi but they are both YA books so I thought it would be a good idea to include them. Her debut novel was "Viral Nation." You can find out more about Shaunta at http://www.whatisaplot.com
More about Viral Nation:
After a virus claimed nearly the entire global population, the world changed. The United States splintered into fifty walled cities where the surviving citizens clustered to start over. The Company, which ended the plague by bringing a life-saving vaccine back from the future, controls everything. They ration the scant food and supplies through a lottery system, mandate daily doses of virus suppressant, and even monitor future timelines to stop crimes before they can be committed.
Brilliant, autistic, sixteen-year-old Clover Donovan has always dreamed of studying at the Waverly-Stead Academy. Her brother and caretaker, West, has done everything in his power to make her dream a reality. But Clover’s refusal to part with her beloved service dog denies her entry into the school. Instead, she is drafted into the Time Mariners, a team of Company operatives who travel through time to gather news about the future.
When one of Clover’s missions reveals that West’s life is in danger, the Donovans are shattered. To change West’s fate, they’ll have to take on the mysterious Company. But as its secrets are revealed, they realize that the Company’s rule may not be as benevolent as it seems. In saving her brother, Clover will face a more powerful force than she ever imagined and will team up with a band of fellow misfits and outsiders to incite a revolution that will change their destinies forever.
2. Hannah Moskowitz - She is a YA and MG author with several books under her belt. Her award winning novel was called "Teeth."
Find out more about Hannah here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannah_Moskowitz
Rudy’s life is flipped upside-down when his family moves to a remote island in a last attempt to save his sick younger brother. With nothing to do but worry, Rudy sinks deeper and deeper into loneliness and lies awake at night listening to the screams of the ocean beneath his family’s rickety house. Then he meets Diana, who makes him wonder what he even knows about love, and Teeth, who makes him question what he knows about anything. Rudy can’t remember the last time he felt so connected to someone, but being friends with Teeth is more than a little bit complicated. He soon learns that Teeth has terrible secrets. Violent secrets. Secrets that will force Rudy to choose between his own happiness and his brother’s life.
3. Lauren Oliver- When I first read "Before I fall" I was in love with Lauren's work. I ended up reading "Panic" right after giving birth to my son. She's been in my life during significant moments. She might not be lesser known at this point but I'll tell you about her other novel "Panic." You can find out more about Lauren here: http://www.laurenoliverbooks.com/biography.php
Panic: Panic began as so many things do in Carp, a dead-end town of 12,000 people in the middle of nowhere: because it was summer, and there was nothing else to do. Heather never thought she would compete in Panic, a legendary game played by graduating seniors, where the stakes are high and the payoff is even higher. She’d never thought of herself as fearless, the kind of person who would fight to stand out. But when she finds something, and someone, to fight for, she will discover that she is braver than she ever thought. Dodge has never been afraid of Panic. His secret will fuel him, and get him all the way through the game, he’s sure of it. But what he doesn't know is that he’s not the only one with a secret. Everyone has something to play for. For Heather and Dodge, the game will bring new alliances, unexpected revelations, and the possibility of first love for each of them—and the knowledge that sometimes the very things we fear are those we need the most.
4. Maggie Ann Martin - Maggie Ann Martin has 2 books under her belt so far but both flew under the radar.
If you'd like to know more about Maggie, find her website here: https://www.maggieannmartin.com/
Here's the summary of your debut novel "The Big F"
Danielle's plans for the future were all figured out... until she failed senior English and her single college acceptance was rescinded. Determined to get her life back on track, Danielle enrolls in her hometown community college with a plan: pass English and get back into Ohio State―and her mother’s good graces. Romance isn't on her radar... until she reconnects with her childhood crush and golden boy next door, Luke.
Between family drama, first love and finding her own way, Danielle can't help but feel a little overwhelmed. Thankfully she has her friendship with the snarky and frustratingly attractive Porter, her coworker at the campus bookstore, to push her to experience new things and help keep her afloat. One thing's for sure: This time, failure's not an option.
5. Claire Kann- Claire has 2 books under her belt with a 3rd one on the way.
If you'd like to know more about Claire, find her website here: https://www.clairekann.com/
Here's a summary of her debut novel "Let's Talk About Love"
Alice had her whole summer planned. Nonstop all-you-can-eat buffets while marathoning her favorite TV shows (best friends totally included) with the smallest dash of adulting―working at the library to pay her share of the rent. The only thing missing from her perfect plan? Her girlfriend (who ended things when Alice confessed she's asexual). Alice is done with dating―no thank you, do not pass go, stick a fork in her, done.
But then Alice meets Takumi and she can’t stop thinking about him or the rom-com-grade romance feels she did not ask for (uncertainty, butterflies, and swoons, oh my!).
When her blissful summer takes an unexpected turn and Takumi becomes her knight with a shiny library-employee badge (close enough), Alice has to decide if she’s willing to risk their friendship for a love that might not be reciprocated―or understood.
Fantasy
1. Ali Shaw - Ali Shaw won the Desmond Elliott Prize for first novels with his debut book "The Girl with Glass Feet."
If you'd like to know more about Ali, go to his website at: https://www.alishaw.co.uk/
The Girl with Glass Feet Summary:
A mysterious and frightening metamorphosis has befallen Ida – she is slowly turning into glass, from the feet up. She returns to St Hauda’s Land, where she believes the glass first took hold, in search of a cure.
Midas Crook is a young loner, who has lived on the islands his entire life. When he meets Ida, something about her sad, defiant spirit pierces his emotional defences. As Midas helps Ida come to terms with her affliction, she gradually unpicks the knots of his heart, and they begin to fall in love…
2. Barry Hughart - I think Barry Hughart is the only one on this list who has passed away. He was born in 1934, but didn't publish a book until 1984. His debut novel "Bridge of Birds" was published in 1984 and was the first of a trilogy that ended in 1990.
Read more about Barry on his Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BarryHughart#TheChroniclesofMasterLiandNumberTen_Ox
"Bridge of Birds" is as follows:
When the children of his village were struck with a mysterious illness, Number Ten Ox sought a wiseman to save them. He found master Li Kao, a scholar with a slight flaw in his character. Together they set out to find the Great Root of Power, the only possible cure.The quest led them to a host of truly memorable characters, multiple wonders, incredible adventures—and strange coincidences which were really not coincidences at all. And it involved them in an ancient crime that still perturbed the serenity of Heaven.
3. Janny Wurts - Janny is the author of nineteen novels and thirty-six short stories and novellas, including the internationally best selling Empire trilogy, co-authored with Raymond E. Feist. Her debut novel "Sorcerer's Legacy" was published in 1981.
Read more about her on her website: https://www.paravia.com/JannyWurts/index.php
Summary of "Sorcerer's Legacy":
Widowed by a violent conquest, imprisoned as a spoil of war, spirited Lady Elienne encounters a formidable visitation inside her locked cell. A powerful, unknown sorcerer promises her a reprieve in trade for a precarious fate: safe transfer from her ruined duchy to another world, there to become chosen bride for the Prince of Pendaire. But the perilous bargain depends on her late husband's unborn child, with the defenseless infant born as a threatened centerpiece in a deadly struggle to upset the succession.
Alone with bare wits, Elienne faces entanglement in vicious intrigue, herself the target for ambitious usurpers already plotting Prince Darion's downfall through dark magic.
4. Brent Weeks - Apparently some people have heard of Brent Weeks since he holds the record for the fastest selling fantasy novel of all time. That's crazy considering how well books like Harry Potter did. Brent is the author of 2 different trilogies.
You can read more about him on his website: https://www.brentweeks.com/
Debut novel (The Way of Shadows) summary:
For Durzo Blint, assassination is an art. And he is the city’s most accomplished artist, his talents required from alleyway to courtly boudoir.
For Azoth, survival is precarious. Something you never take for granted. As a guild rat, he’s grown up in the slums, and learned the hard way to judge people quickly — and to take risks. Risks like apprenticing himself to Durzo Blint.
But to be accepted, Azoth must turn his back on his old life and embrace a new identity and name. As Kylar Stern, he must learn to navigate the assassins’ world of dangerous politics and strange magics — and cultivate a flair for death.
5. Josiah Bancroft - Before becoming an author Josiah was a poet, college instructor, rock musician, and aspiring comic book artist. His debut novel, Senlin Ascends, is the first book in a series known as "THE BOOKS OF BABEL".
You can learn more about him and his books at his website: http://www.thebooksofbabel.com
Senlin Ascends Summary:
The Tower of Babel is the greatest marvel in the world. Immense as a mountain, the ancient Tower holds unnumbered ringdoms, warring and peaceful, stacked one on the other like the layers of a cake. It is a world of geniuses and tyrants, of airships and steam engines, of unusual animals and mysterious machines.
Soon after arriving for his honeymoon at the Tower, the mild-mannered headmaster of a small village school, Thomas Senlin, gets separated from his wife, Marya, in the overwhelming swarm of tourists, residents, and miscreants.
Senlin is determined to find Marya, but to do so he'll have to navigate madhouses, ballrooms, and burlesque theaters. He must survive betrayal, assassins, and the long guns of a flying fortress. But if he hopes to find his wife, he will have to do more than just endure.
This quiet man of letters must become a man of action.
Horror
1. Scott Smith - Scott Smith is more of a thriller novelist but the line between horror and thriller is so small, I decided they would be one in the same. Scott has 2 books under his belt and managed to get both of them reviewed by Stephen King!
Read more about him on his Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ScottSmith(author)
Summary of his debut novel "A Simple Plan"
Three men find an airplane crashed in a rural Northern Ohio forest. The pilot is dead and the cockpit contains a gym bag with $4.4 million in one-hundred-dollar notes. They decide to keep the money, dividing it equally, but their plans go wrong when others come close to discovering their secret, resulting in multiple murders.
2. Richard Matheson - Famously known for "I am Legend", this horror writer was known for far more than that (even if people didn't realize). Hes written 20+ horror novels and the same number of short stories (many being adopted into "Twilight Zone" episodes and even used for the "Trilogy of Terror" movies. Also, I lied about only having one person on this list who was dead. Sorry about that.
Read more about him on his Wikipepedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Matheson
Summary of his debut novel "Someone is Bleeding" (1953):
Young novelist Dave Newton is instantly smitten when he meets blonde, beautiful Peggy. But Peggy has a past full of abuse and terror—and she’s involved with Jerry, a lawyer with mob connections and an old rival from Dave’s college days. Soon, Dave finds himself caught in a love triangle with Peggy and Jerry, desperate to win her affections. But when corpses begin to pile up in Peggy’s wake, Dave must face the truth that either Jerry is a mass murderer—or Peggy is.
3. Elizabeth Jane Howard- I doubled lied about only having one person on this list who was dead. Elizabeth Jane Howard isn't a strict horror writer, but when she does write horror, it makes Stephen King look like a children's author.
Read more about her on her Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ElizabethJaneHoward
Summary of her debut Novel "The Beautiful Visit":
On the eve of an unusual voyage, a young woman reviews her life. Her story begins with a 'beautiful visit' to friends in the country which serves as an awakening experience. What follows is an account of her struggle to retain the mood of her visit.
4. Robert Masello - Again, this isn't a strict horror writer but I included him for one of his books. It's not his debut (in fact it came out 6 years ago). It's called "Private Demons".
Find more about him on his website: https://robertmasello.com/
Here's a summary:
Everyone hides a secret from the past . . . but Lucien’s secret is inescapable. A living thing that has followed him across the world, from the horrors of Southeast Asia to the penthouse suites of the rich and famous. Everyone craves money, power, and sex . . . but Lucien can satisfy his every urge, every decadent impulse, every erotic whim—for a price. Everyone has private demons . . . but Lucien’s demon is all too real. All too powerful. All too hungry . . . for human souls.
5. Robert Jackson Bennett - Robert Jackson Bennett is the author of American Elsewhere, The Troupe, The Company Man, Mr. Shivers, as well as The Divine Cities trilogy and The Founders Trilogy.
Find out more at https://www.robertjacksonbennett.com/
Summary of his debut novel "Mr. Shivers":
Marcus Connelly, a man whose marriage deteriorated after his beloved daughter is murdered by a man known only as the "Shiver Man". Intent on finding him and making him pay for his crimes, Connelly sets out on the rails and travels from location to location in search of work and clues. While he faces several setbacks – as well as several warnings to leave the killer alone – Connelly finds support via other travelers who are also looking to bring about the Shiver Man's death. Along the way it becomes apparent that the Shiver Man is more than he seems, as he is capable of escaping any prison cell and other feats that would be impossible for normal human beings.
So, this is my list. You might have heard of these authors and you might hate some of these authors. But this is my list and i'm sticking to it. If you have other authors you love that aren't getting enough attention, you can let me know by commenting on this, emailing me or commenting on social media.
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