Favourite Books

Please feel free to email me to suggest others, but these are the ones who have stolen afternoons out of my life, who have kept me up till dawn reading their words. These are my favourite authors and I owe them more than they will ever know.

1. James Clavell’s ‘Tai-Pan’ [right]
Possibly the greatest rattling tale of them all in a single book.

2. Bernard Cornwell
Including the new series : ‘Harlequin’, ‘Vagabond’ and ‘Heretic’.

3. George MacDonald Fraser
The Flashman books. One of the few series I can read again and again and never tire of them.

4. Patrick O’Brian
None better…

5. David Gemmell
Anything he’s ever written. Genius. I could put him higher up the list.

6. CS Forester’s ‘Hornblower’ Books
What a fascinating character! With Flashman, these are the ones that made me want to write historical fiction.

7. Wilbur Smith’s ‘Courtney Series’ [When The Lions Feed: right]
Ten wonderful books, every one different. A master.

8. Peter F. Hamilton
The grandest of science fiction. Hamilton sets up a horrific problem for himself in the first two - one I thought he could never end satisfactorily. He managed it, though. Superb.

9. Stephen King’s ‘Cujo’ and ‘The Dead Zone’
You’ll be pressed to find more fascinating characters from any author.

10. David Feintuch’s ‘Challenger’ series
Hornblower in space and I loved every minute of it. I read most of these on a tall ship in the Pacific and still remember the creaking bunk and sails whenever I open them.