ooh, time to get stuck in :-
Ian Banks - Never read any sci fi of his, but Espedair Street is so damn funny! Some of it is even better because i live roughly where it was set (also 2 streets away from Crow Road).
Robin Hobb - Recently finished Forest Mage for the 2nd time, it really grows on you and I cant wait for the 3rd book to appear, hopefully sometime this year. Still by far my favourite author.
David Gemmell - Recently read some of his stuff that i had only sort of glanced at in passing, Winter Warriors and Dark Moon, still excellent reading even if not quite Legend or Waylander.
Raymond E Feist - hated Magician, little character development, poor plot, people just finding magical suits of armour etc etc, i have glanced at some of his other work though and it appears to have improved drastically, I will have to give Riftwars a try.
Terry Goodkind - going downhill lately, not read phantom yet, spose i will at some point, but not exactly champing at the bit for it.
Robert Jordan - His first 3-4 books were superb, especially the 3rd, but his seeming directionless last few books have left me rather disillusioned, about the only thing that will keep me reading is to see if he ever actually gets all 3 into bed at the same time (yes, yes, i'm a perv)
George R R Martin - Absolutely superb, intriguing and twisting, ruthless and heartwarming at the same time. His style of writing is gripping, even when talking of mundane matters and providing us with filler (as per the last book) material he keeps you reading. I cannot reccommend A Song of Ice and Fire enough. I managed to get a copy of The Hedge Knight about 6 months ago, its kept me wanting more of this epic series, if not quite filling the gap between books.
Bob Salvatore - Went back to read the Drizzt books again, can't believe I ever really liked this stuff tbh, how we change. Scared to read the original Dragonlance books now, in case it ruins my warm happy feelings.
John Grisham - An Innocent Man - I really quite like Grisham, this however is not a work of fiction, but a disturbing retelling of an horrific travesty of justice that leaves you disgusted at the legal system in America. Not his finest writing, but definitely a tragic tale.
Ian Rankin - The Rebus novels are all damn good. Dark, gritty and definitely worth reading, the TV series with John Hannah was poor really, but Ken Stott takes the role to heart and plays it exactly as the books.
David Eddings - Loved these when i was younger, am reading The Redemption of Althalus at the moment, but it feels rushed and the characters are a pale comparison (and rip off) of the original 2 series. It is pretty much as if Eddings only ever had one story to tell, but wants to tell it in 8 different ways.
anyways, thats my critique for today