My favourite authors are ***J.R.R. Tolkien***, J.K. Rowling, Lian Hearn and Isobelle Carmody.

Darren Shan
JRR Tolkien
Keith Gray
Lian Hearn

I know there's more, but...I don't really want to climb all the way upstairs to see what books I have on my bookshelf...

Shakespeare, Jane Austen, George Eliot and P.G Wodehouse. I've loved everything I've ever read by these four.

Lupetta, I agree totally about Jane Austen, Shakespeare and PG Wodehouse. I'm not a fan of Eliot though. I'm finding it hard to pick only a few favourites, but Austen and Wodehouse are definitely there, along with Tolkien, AA Milne, Rosemary Sutcliffe and Shakespeare.

My current new find though is Tracy Chevalier - anybody else enjoyed her books recently? I've just read Girl With a Pearl Earring (simply wonderful) and Falling Angels (remarkable) and I'm dying to start The Lady and the Unicorn.

Pearldust (and follow up by Ironik) there's nothing wrong with Fantasy, if you look back through the previous posts in the thread you will find quite a few "Fantasy" authors mentioned.
There's also an age thing!
To me Fantasy is Witches, goblins, elves and fairy tales
to my oldest son it's Star Wars and Terry Pratchett.
As a matter of interest - does anyone know what category Harry Potter , Star Wars or Discworld fall into in the "Library"

I am a fantasy fan myself, but I one of my favourite authors will always be Enid Blyton. I guess I'm really childish. But what can I do ? I still love reading about hot tempered George in the Famous Five, brainy Fatty in the Five Find Outers etc.

Here are my favourite authors by rank.

1. J.K Rowling
2. Enid Blyton
3. C.S Lewis
4. Agatha Christie
5. Arthur Conan Doyle

The newest in the list is C.S Lewis. I just read a few of the Narnia and books and I'm already hooked.

I also love Stephen King. I just can't get enough of his novels. My other two favorites are Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (his book always make me laugh out loud0 and Ayn Rand.

I would have to say that my favorite author would be Jane Yolen. I absolutely love her fantasy books!

J.K. Rowling, J.R.R. Tolkein, Jane Austen, Louisa May Alcott, C.S. Lewis are a few of my favorite authors.

Some of my favorite authors are: Shakespeare, Henry James, Norman Mailer, Charlotte Bronte, James Joyce, Edgar Allan Poe, Bram Stoker, Saul Bellow...

My favourite authors would have to be (in no particular order):
Tolkien
George R.R. Martin
Raymond E. Feist
J.K. Rowling
Terry Pratchett

My favourite authors include:
John Irving
Stephen King
Karl May
John Steinbeck

In case you haven't heard about Karl May yet:
he is a German author from the late 19th century, who mainly wrote adventure stories which take place in the US (Wild West) or Arabia. Although some people believe that his books are only for children, I say that anybody can (and should) read it.
His books were translated into many languages, but I heard that the English translation is really bad and that the publishers are thinking about writing a better one.

Tracy Chevalier for me... I adore her work.