Top Ten Tuesday: New-to-Me Authors I Discovered in 2022

JCM Berne

In my initial post about the book, I said I wanted to be Berne’s new friend. I still do. Wistful Ascending ticked just about every box I have—and created a couple of new ones. Space Opera, Superheroes, comedy, drama, a dash of romance, and some characters I could not get enough of would be enough to make me a fan. But more than anything…his voice, I couldn’t get enough of it.

In case you’re curious about what I said about the book that put him on this list, click here.

Eli Cranor

I’d been hearing raves for Cranor’s novel for months before I got my hands on it—and it took very little time to realize that raves were justified. As great as the story and the characters were, it was Cranor’s lean prose that hooked me. There’s not a wasted syllable in those pages—the writing is beautiful, visceral, empathetic, and honest. I’m counting the days until his next novel.

In case you’re curious about what I said about the book that put him on this list, click here

Sean Gibson

I don’t think one author made me laugh more than Sean Gibson did last year. Some of his humor was subtle—but a lot of it wasn’t. And no matter where they fell on the spectrum, his jokes landed successfully. His comedic take on fantasy adventurers in general and the various adventurers (and those they interacted with) in this novel in particular are just the right mixture of mockery of the genre and tribute to it. All in all, it made for a very satisfying read.

In case you’re curious about what I said about the book that put him on this list, click here

Peter Hartog

Oh, man, Hartog’s mix of SF, Urban Fantasy, and Police Procedural hit the spot. I’d like little more than to sit down with him for a couple of hours and have him explain some of his choices in the design of this world/series. That’s not to suggest that the plots and characters of the first two novels in his series aren’t equally (if not more) interesting—but the setting of the novel is just so well done that I want to know more about it.

In case you’re curious about what I said about the book that put him on this list, click here

Mur Lafferty

I could repeat a lot of what I said about Hartog here—but I won’t. I read Lafferty’s most recent book this year, and listened to a fairly recent novella (or something shorter, it’s hard to tell). Both were breaths of fresh air—whether it was a murder mystery on a sentient space station populated primarily by aliens or a novel about a dystopian America, organized dissenters, and a children’s TV mascot—Lafferty combined stories, genres, and tropes in a reliably entertaining fashion that kept the surprises coming. These were funny books—without being comedies—but that was never the focus (but if you can ramp up the tension while giving the reader a laugh, why not do it?). Lafferty’s a name I’ve seen a time or six before, but it wasn’t until last year that I’d done more than glance at the name. That’s over, and I’ll be pouncing on anything I see her name on.

In case you’re curious about what I said about the works that put her on this list, click here and here

Gigi Pandian

Pandian’s Under Lock & Skeleton Key might be the most charming book I encountered last year. Sure, there’s a murder mystery, some personal tragedy, and other hardships to deal with. But Pandian infuses the whole work with a warmth—both in her characters, their relationships, and the narrative—that makes the book reassuring and comfortable. The food she describes goes a long way to establishing that, too (warning: can lead to you ordering too much—disable DoorDash, etc. before picking it up).

In case you’re curious about what I said about the book that put her on this list, click here

Kate Racculia

It was Racculia’s eccentric characters and the way they interacted with each other that stuck with me more than anything else (but most of the rest was worthy of note). The conversations, the very strange wit, and the unusual outlooks on life were just great, like I said in my initial post, they were “characters I want to spend more time with—I really don’t need a story, maybe just see them sitting around a table talking about what’s going on in their lives.” Anytime someone gives me that, I’m very glad to have discovered them.

In case you’re curious about what I said about the book that put her on this list, click here

Peng Shepherd

The Cartographers is one of the most atypical thrillers I can think of—and one of the most compelling. Shepherd’s approach to plot, worldbuilding, character, and tone worked so well—and seemed to be swimming against the stream for the kind of book it was. This just means that the result was unconventional and all the more striking. Definitely an author I’m going to return to.

In case you’re curious about what I said about the book that put her on this list, click here

Dennis E. Taylor

Taylor writes like a lifelong SF fan who finally figured out a way to let it all loose for fun and (hopefully) profit. He’s not afraid to be funny or to let other emotions flow freely, either. His first series is a semi-ridiculous concept that ends up seeming plausible and makes for a much better series than you’d expect (see also Butcher’s Codex Alera). I’ve already got a stockpile of his works to go through—I just need to catch up on my writing stack so I can let myself listen to them.

In case you’re curious about what I said about the books that put him on this list, click here

Matt Witten

My first exposure to Witten came in a short story anthology where he provided something I described as “exactly what I wanted to read today.” His second novel was a murder mystery with a reporter protagonist that broke all of my preconceptions about what those novels would be and ended up saying a lot about the state of journalism, those who can make it in the profession, and the cost for everyone involved (those who make the news, are subjects of the news, read/watch the news, and possibly the idea of Truth). Without being pretentious or preachy. Not bad, not bad at all.

In case you’re curious about what I said about his work that put him on this list, click here and here (this is just a line or two)