Dimitra's List

 So, here's the list compiled from the poll run by Dimitra Fimi, listing folk's favorite fantasy author. On the entirely reasonable grounds that including Tolkien wd dramatically skew the results (as it has in so many past polls of this sort, such as the 1987 LOCUS poll and its later follow-up) he was omitted from the poll. Nevertheless it's striking how this 2020 poll reproduced the basic pattern of Tolkien in a league of his own, Le Guin clearly the most popular non-Tolkien choice, followed by a definite gap before the number three position (in this case Pratchett, the first person knighted for writing fantasy.

My thanks to Dimitra for letting me re-post her findings:

Dimitra's List

            [Tolkien]

171      Le Guin

111      Pratchett

 

53        CSL

50        Gaiman

45        Hobb

45        Wynne Jones

 

31        Pullman

28        R. R. Martin

26        Rowling

23        Sanderson

 

20        Cooper

18        Garner

17        Kay

17        Peake

16        Dunsany

15        Jemisin

15        Jordan

15        McKillip

14        S. Clarke

14        Moorcock

 

remainder of the top thirty-three: Feist (12), L'Engle (11), Wolfe (10), Eddings (8), Ende (8), Howard (8), Leiber (8), McCaffrey (8), Novik (8), Rothfuss (8), White (8), Gemmell (8), Pierce (8). 

 

 As for me, I've read all but five of the authors listed, but only four of those named were among the eighteen writers I devoted chapters to in my 'Classics of Fantasy' column --though I wd have included more had the series run longer.

--John R.

--current reading: Woodward's RAGE, Lindsay's DEVIL'S TOR