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My Top 15 Favorite Author Debuts

December 10, 2020 by David S Leave a Comment

Sam at The Book in Hand book blog and I were talking about some of our favorite books. We were amazed that they were the author’s debut book because of how good they are. We got to like 5 or 6 authors before Sam suggested I should do a blog post about it. Thank you for the idea Sam!

To do anything extremely well the first time you do it is amazing and all of these authors deserve a ton of respect and acknowledgement for absolutely killing their debut novels. I had planned on only doing a top 5, but as I kept thinking about it and going through my “Read” shelf on Goodreads it ended up being a top 15….reader problems. This list is not based on the series as a whole, but rather how each individual book stands up on its own. I think the best books, at least for me, are those that you can’t quite put into words why you love them. With that in mind, I won’t be adding any thoughts about each one like I usually do. These are all books I abolutely love and highly recommend for any fan of SFF. In no particular order, here is the list of the debut books that I enjoyed the most.

Theft of Swords (Riyria Revelations #1-2) by Michael J Sullivan

โ€œArenโ€™t you going to say, I told you so?โ€ Hadrian whispered.
โ€œWhat would be the point in that?โ€
โ€œOh, so youโ€™re saying that youโ€™re going to hang on to this and throw it at me at some future, more personally beneficial moment?โ€
โ€œI donโ€™t see the point in wasting it now, do you?โ€

Age of Assassins (The Wounded Kingdom #1) by RJ Barker (Review)

โ€œBad friends are worse than no friends,โ€

We Are The Dead (The Last War #1) by Mike Shackle (Review)

โ€œWe are the dead who stand in the light.
We are the dead who face the night.
We are the dead whom evil fears.
We are the Shulka and we are the dead.โ€

Promise of Blood (Powder Mage trilogy #1) by Brian McClellan (Review)

โ€œThe age of kings is dead, Adamat, and I have killed it.โ€

Red Rising (Red Rising #1) by Pierce Brown

โ€œI would have lived in peace. But my enemies brought me war.โ€

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Harry Potter #1) by J.K. Rowling

โ€œIt takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.โ€

The Blade Itself (First Law Trilogy #1) by Joe Abercrombie (Review)

โ€œEvery man has his excuses, and the more vile the man becomes, the more touching the story has to be. What is my story now, I wonder?โ€

Blood Song (Raven’s Shadow #1) by Anthony Ryan

โ€œWar is always an adventure to those who’ve never seen it.โ€

The Forgetting Moon (The Five Warrior Angels #1) by Brian Lee Durfee

โ€œTrust is fleeting, while betrayal is timeless. Alas, life is crowded with lies. So be bloody, be brave, be happy. For at the end of every tale, nobody is who they seem to be…”

Malice (Faithful and the Fallen #1) by John Gwynne

โ€œI shall stay and tell my tale, hope that it may serve some purpose, that eyes shall see it and learn, that the future will not repeat the mistakes of the past. That is my prayer, but what use is prayer to a god that has abandoned all things…โ€

The Rage of Dragons (The Burning #1) by Evan Winter (Review)

โ€œAnd, like that, there was no going back. A Dragon had been called and someone would have to die.โ€

The Warded Man (The Demon Cycle #1) by Peter V Brett

โ€œThere’s a wide world out there, for those willing to brave the dark.โ€

The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentlemen Bastards #1) by Scott Lynch (Review)

โ€œSomeday, Locke Lamora,โ€ he said, โ€œsomeday, youโ€™re going to fuck up so magnificently, so ambitiously, so overwhelmingly that the sky will light up and the moons will spin and the gods themselves will shit comets with glee. And I just hope Iโ€™m still around to see it.โ€

Ender’s Game (Ender Quartet #1) by Orson Scott Card

โ€œIn the moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then in that very moment I also love him. I think itโ€™s impossible to really understand somebody, what they want, what they believe, and not love them the way they love themselves. And then, in that very moment when I love them…I destroy them.โ€

The Name of the Wind (Kingkiller Chronicles #1) by Patrick Rothfuss (Review)

โ€œWords are pale shadows of forgotten names. As names have power, words have power. Words can light fires in the minds of men. Words can wring tears from the hardest hearts. There are seven words that will make a person love you. There are ten words that will break a strong man’s will. But a word is nothing but a painting of a fire. A name is the fire itself.โ€

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: Anthony Ryan, Brian Lee Durfee, Brian McClellan, Evan Winter, JK Rowling, Joe Abercrombie, John Gwynne, Michael J Sullivan, Michael McClung, Orson Scott Card, Patrick Rothfuss, Peter V Brett, Pierce Brown, RJ Barker, Scott Lynch

About David S

David S. loves fantasy and Sci Fi books and enjoys hiking, spending time with friends, and eating too much pizza. On the weekend you can find him visiting family, going to church, and most of all at home under a blanket while reading books, watching anime/tv shows, or playing video games with friends.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. roroisreading says

    December 10, 2020 at 9:38 am

    ๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿ’–๐Ÿ’–๐Ÿ’–

    Reply
  2. wittysarcasticbookclub says

    December 10, 2020 at 9:47 am

    I love this and your answers are dead- on! I can’t believe Red Rising was a debut! Can I borrow this idea (credit and link to you, of course)?

    Reply
    • David S says

      December 10, 2020 at 10:13 am

      Isn’t it crazy?! Red Rising is so good! As I was going through these I just kept getting shocked at how good each of these debuts are.

      Feel free to use the idea as a post!:)

      Reply
  3. Mada says

    December 10, 2020 at 9:54 am

    All excellent debuts
    I wonder if I’ll ever have my novel featured on this site one day haha

    Reply
    • David S says

      December 10, 2020 at 10:13 am

      Hey you never know man! Keep up the writing!

      Reply
      • Mada says

        December 10, 2020 at 3:57 pm

        will do!

        Reply
  4. Realms of My Mind says

    December 13, 2020 at 12:48 pm

    Ugh, SO MANY of these are still on my TBR! But I guess that just means more things to look forward to, right? I adore Locke Lamora and am always happy to see it get some love. Fantastic list!

    Reply
    • David S says

      December 13, 2020 at 1:23 pm

      You definitely have some awesome ones to look forward to! I didn’t know you love Lies of Locke Lamora! Gah, it’s so good!

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. My Fav Top 3 Authors & Their Debuts – Martian Chronicle says:
    December 14, 2020 at 8:30 am

    […] thanks to both Sam from over at The Book In Hand and, of course, David S, who hides out at FanFiAddict website, I’m stealing their idea to do a post on 3 favourite debut authors. Authors whose […]

    Reply
  2. My Top 15 Favorite Author Debuts – Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub says:
    December 15, 2020 at 10:00 am

    […] recently read a truly fantastic post on FanFiAddict about authors who absolutely killed it with their debut novels. I had so much fun reading the post […]

    Reply

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