Disciple of the Dog by R. Scott Bakker
R. Scott Bakker may be best known for his Prince of Nothing and Aspect-Emperor fantasy novels, but as he demonstrated with the thought-provoking crime thriller, Neuropath, this author is no one trick pony. So I was pretty interested to see what R. Scott Bakker would do with his second non-fantasy book, Disciple of the Dog… Thanks to his unique ability of remembering everything, Disciple Manning is instantly different from other fictional private investigators, and, in my opinion, much more interesting… Of course, Disciple Manning would not be nearly as interesting if not for R. Scott Bakker’s writing, which is just superb in this book… readers should expect a skillfully written novel brimming with sharp dialogue and humor, vivid prose, and convincing characterization… Read the rest.
I think its always interesting to see an author who associated with a particular genre to write a book in a different genre.
I could be wrong but it seems like to me that fantasy authors usually stay within that realm more so then authors of other genres. Or maybe more of them are using pseudonyms?
I feel the same way you do Greg. In fact, I wish more authors would write outside of the genres they are known for. I think it makes them better writers :) As far as pseudonyms, I’m sure some authors use them when trying out new stuff. Daniel Abraham immediately comes to mind…
Well I know that James Clemens who wrote The Banned and the Banished and also The Godslayer Chronicles is also James Rollins the author of the bestselling thriller series Sigma Force.
But Stephen King’s Eye of the Dragon is one of my all time favorite stand-alone fantasy books. In fact, I think Stephine King’s best books are not his horror books.
I could be wrong, but I think it used to be a lot more common place for authors to just write whatever they felt like instead if sticking to one genre.
Ah, I can’t believe I didn’t think about James Rollins/James Clemens! Rollins is one of my favorite authors, and I’ve read all of the Clemens novels. Funny enough, James Rollins is a pen name as well ;) I also forgot about Robin Hobb and Kate Elliott which are both pseudonyms. And then there’s Robert Jordan…
I’ve never read Stephen King’s Eye of the Dragon, but I agree that his best stuff is non-horror. I personally love the Dark Tower novels and The Green Mile…
I think anymore, when authors are published in a certain genre such as fantasy, science fiction or horror, they are immediately branded as a ‘genre’ writer, and to branch out into other genres, publishers feel it would be better if they do so with a different name, so audiences don’t automatically make assumptions. Or so I’m speculating ;)