Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday! This is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, where a new top ten list hits the web every week!

This week our topic is …

TOP TEN NEW-TO-ME AUTHORS I READ FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 2016

Fairly straight forward topic EXCEPT I had to narrow down the list to just ten authors.  I really hating having to cut out several really good writers out there, but I had no choice.  So here is my top ten.

10. ROBERT BROCKWAY

Clever, darkly humorous and always horrifying, Mr. Brockway’s books I read this year were real surprises to me, instantly turning me into a fan of his writing.

9. ANDRZEJ SAPKOWSKI

An amazing sword and sorcery series focusing on a man hunting monsters for a living.  Most people probably have already tried this series out due to the popular video game, but 2016 was my first experience with Mr. Sapkowski’s hero, but it certainly won’t be my last.

8. ADA PALMER

This book and its author’s writing style is stylish, complex and dazzling in its delivery.  It does take a bit of getting use to, but once you adjust to the flow of Ada Palmer’s delivery, her writing is a pleasure to follow along behind.

7. BEN PEEK

Mr. Peek is another author who delivers complex, slowly developing yet intrinsically dazzling stories.  His The Children Trilogy one of the more diverse, serious fantasy tales which I have ever had the pleasure to try.  Just like Ada Palmer, a reader must make a commitment to putting in the time to understand Mr. Peek’s world and its characters, but if you do, the payoff is more than worth the investment.

6. VICTOR MILAN 

Okay, I will admit I read these books due to the dinosaur knights, because, well, who could resist dinosaur knights.  But once I got past that I found Mr. Milan’s writing style an enjoyable experience, and I fully intend to follow him for some time to come.

5. PETER NEWMAN

It took a lot of encouraging by my friends for me to give Mr. Newman’s novel a try, but once I finally took the plunge, I found this weird, post-apocalyptic world to my liking.  Especially memorable was Mr. Newman’s writing style and vivid imagination, which turned this one a tale for the ages.  And, yeah, the goat was my favorite character too.

4. GUY HALEY

Mr. Haley’s Dreaming Cities novella series was among the best stories I read this year.  The author effortlessly capturing the atmosphere and mood of the world his cast of characters is passing through.  Yeah, it is another post-apocalyptic tale with similarities to other works along the same lines, but Mr. Newman turned this journey into something all his own and succeeded in turning me into a frequent reader.

3. PETER ORULLIAN

I know a lot of people were turned off by the first volume of this epic fantasy series, but I really enjoyed Mr. Orullian’s revised version and have found the second book a superior story to the first.  What I especially find myself enjoying is Mr. Orullian’s prose and the lyrical nature of his magic system, both huge positives for this series.

2. DANIEL POLANSKY

Sure, I had heard lots of praise regarding Mr. Polansky, but I never felt a need to run out and buy any of his books.  All that changed after I read a few reviews of this genre blender novella however, and I have to admit being stunned by the amazing storytelling in The Builders.   This simple story of revenge turning into one of the highlights of my reading in 2016.  And, yes, I am now running out to get those Polansky books.

1. MARK GELINEAU & JOE KING 

This writing duo extraordinaire really took me by surprise and kept me dying for more in 2016.  Specifically they kept me dying to read more of their amazing novella series An Echo of the Ascended, which followed along by different characters in the same fantasy world.  Quickly, I found myself checking every month to see if it was time for the next Gelineau/King novella to be released.  And when the monthly features finally came to an end, I was sad, but it was okay, because these guys soon announced they were busy writing their first novel in this world, which instantly made it all better.