Overlooked authors

[wiggin]

I was recently perusing my personal library and came across a gem of a book from a relatively obscure author. I reread it, thoroughly enjoyed it, and realized that most of you probably didn't even know he exists - he only wrote a handful of books, and most (all?) of them are out of print.

So, I thought it would be nice for us to share authors and books that are relatively off the beaten path - overlooked but superb reading. What do you guys think?


The books I ran across were by Robert Frezza. He's an American author who wrote books in the late 80s and early-to-mid 90s. He comes from a military background and it shows very clearly in his writing. His main 'series' is a trilogy of three books: A Small Colonial War, Fire in a Faraway Place, and Cain's Land. They follow a colonial expeditionary unit that is quelling rebellions on planetary colonies of an empire run from Earth by Japan. While the stories can at times be challenging to fully appreciate on a single read, I've found that they possess a surprising depth and nuance when read carefully. Perhaps more importantly, they provide the best depictions of realistic military tactics and strategy in science fiction - or at least I am led to believe by people who know what they're talking about. It certainly seems more believable than the likes of Honor Harrington novels, or Scalzi's latest regurgitations of Heinlein... and the characters are much more colorful and less stereotypical than founds in most military novels. The books include digressions and ponderings on a variety of topics, and I find the discussions to be generally worth reading and contemplating.

I understand why these books never made it big - they're at times challenging to follow, and I don't think Frezza is the best writer (in the sense of prose, not his plotting, characters, etc.). They also sometimes get lost too much in the details without a broader perspective. Yet despite these shortcomings, there's a certain brilliance in his no-nonsense realism. Most of all, I enjoy how most of his characters (on all sides of a given conflict) are relatable.

Frezza also wrote two other books that I'm aware of - McLendon's Syndrome and The VMR Theory, both revolving around an entirely different set of characters in a different universe. They're far less serious than the colonial war trilogy; briefly, the main character gets infected with a disease that leads one to have roughly vampiric symptoms (sans the blood drinking), he gets tangled up with pirates et al, and hilarity ensues. It's a very different perspective from his other novels (though some of the pacing and military aspects remain the same), but I did enjoy them. I wouldn't say they were truly amazing, though - just entertaining.


So - anyone read Frezza, and does anyone have other suggestions for often overlooked authors? I've probably got a few more hiding in my library for later...

(As an addendum, should any of you wish to bring up overlooked books of more well-known authors, that's completely fine as well. Just how many people have actually read Stephenson's "The Big U"?)

[GGT]

Nope, never heard of Frezza. That 'military' type of fighting doesn't appeal to me, even set in entertaining futuristic science fiction. But I do enjoy a more 'militant' type of author that strikes deep into social structures and personal identities....like Margaret Atwood does. She's well-known now, but one of her earlier novels [Surfacing] (that I found by accident), led me to her other books. It was kind of neat to read her later works after reading her earliest writings, almost like the author and reader were on the same journey, years apart.

[Kazuha Vinland]

As for militant authors, I like Kurt Vonnegut the best. He is well-known however.

Conn Iggulden's books about Caesar and Djengis Khan have some fictional parts, but is one of the most exciting readings I've ever done.

For crime, you should check out Jo Nesbø who has gotten pretty popular in the U.K. lately.