Witches, Weres, and Vamps, Oh MY! discussion

The main character in The Demon's Librarian is a librarian (as the title might suggest) She pointed out some of her and her sister's favorite authors at one point in the book.

TOLKIEN J. R. R.
Peter S. Beagle
Tanith Lee
Robert Heinlein
Asimov Isaac
Neil Gaiman

I've read Tolkien and Gaiman but haven't heard much about the other authors. I was wondering if anyone out there liked their works and could recommend a good book to start with.

Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov both are classic Sci-Fi authors. Peter S Beagle writes fantasy. Probably the best known of his stories is The Last Unicorn. The only thing by Tanith Lee I've read is Sabella - it's an interesting twist on vampires involving aliens.

I read and enjoyed Asimov when I was in high school but couldn't really get into it when I tried one of his books again a few years ago. I've re-read Stranger in a Strange Land by Heinlein a number of times over the years and still enjoy it. And I always enjoy Peter Beagles' work.

I love everything Heinlein. My favorites are the books featuring Lazarus Long, but if you want a stand-alone to start, Stranger is wonderful. It's truly a classic, and many of the ideas were really ground-breaking for it's time. There are themes about free love, religion and equality, among others. I also like Friday; its not nearly as philosophical, but it's good fun with a bit of thoughtfulness thrown in.

As for Asimov, I'd probably go for his Foundation trilogy or I, Robot as his most famous. I've been wanting to read more of his books, so if anyone else has suggestions, bring 'em on!

I'm a huge Peter Beagle fan. The Last Unicorn is to die for, but also check out his more recent Tamsin.

Yuck Yuck Yuck. Stranger in a Strange Land is one of the most awful books ever written. It starts out good but then turns inot a hustler magazine story. It has a firm place on many worst book lists.

Tanith Lee is a fantasy author. I read some of her stuff, long ago. It seems to me she writes both standard fanatasy and YA. I think that would be a good place to start. Closest to the stuff we read here. Asimov is a standard so I would go there. More hardcore science based fiction. Real Science fiction.