Recommended Reading by Professionals... With Jim C. Hines

In this series, I ask various publishing professionals (including authors, bloggers, editors, agents etc.) to recommend two or three authors or books they feel haven't received the recognition they deserve. Today's recommendations are by Jim C. Hines.

Mr. Hines is the author of the Jig the Goblin series, the Princess series and several short story collections.  Libriomancer, the first book of his urban fantasy Magic ex Libris series, has just been released in mass market, and the second book, Codex Born is now out in hardcover.  He won the 2012 Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer due to his awesome blog.

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1. Marie Brennan is a fantasy author who writes flat-out gorgeous books. Her latest book is A Natural History of Dragons, which is a memoir-style novel about Lady Trent, who eventually went on to become the world’s greatest dragon naturalist. She’s like Jacques Cousteau of the fire-breathers. Brennan’s Onyx Court series is richly researched historical fantasy, exploring the London-based fairy court’s history over the centuries. The only downside to reading Brennan’s work is I always walk away feeling jealous of how smart she is...
2. Kelly McCullough’s books are just plain fun. I devoured his WebMage books, which blend magic and mythology and computer hacking. And there’s a goblin who’s also a laptop. I was skeptical when I picked them up – a magical system based on computer software? – but McCullough makes it work. Oh, and Kelly sometimes dressed up like a faun and tromps around in Neil Gaiman’s backyard, so there’s that too.

Stay tuned for the next post where we learn who James Knapp thinks we should be reading more of!