Recognized authors, with style similar to Kings'?

[Balor01]

Hey guys,

There are a few authors I really like and top of them is, well, the King. Besides him I like John Crichton, James Ellroy and Thomas Harris. I just love their vivid style and would ask for some more suggestions of writers of similar writing style.

When mentioning Stephen King, everyone is pushing me in the dictation of horror writers, but that is not what I am necessarily looking for. I am interested in this type of writing that makes in-book world so alive.

thanks

[Mr.Bookworm]

Have you read King's non-fiction books? IIRC, he cites most of influences in there.

Anyway, assuming I am properly grokking the question, here are some names in no particular order: Clive Barker, Ray Bradbury, Peter Straub, Dan Simmons (his horror stuff, at least), Shirley Jackson, Robert Bloch, Charles L. Grant, Joe Hill, Ramsey Campbell, Dean Koontz (who is very hit-and-miss, so beware), Tom Tryon, Fritz Leiber (mostly his short horror stories) and, of course, H.P. Lovecraft.

Honestly, most of those are horror or horror-like, but I'm having a hard time thinking of anything with a similar style that doesn't fall close to the horror genre.

[Mordar]

Try Robert Howard (he's got a lot of not-Conan stuff...not to say there is anything wrong with Conan!)...Hemingway comes to mind as well...

Oh, and I know King really likes Peter Straub, so maybe there's something there.

Regardless, read "On Writing" even if you're not interested in writing books...it is among the best Stephen King material I've read (and I love King!).

- M

[Kindablue]

Joe Hill has some similarities to him, though I've only read Heart Shaped Box.

[Zaydos]

Don't read much King (Salem's Lot, the Stand, the Shining, and I think I've read one other book of his) but maybe try Poul Anderson. He's got good world-building and I was thinking about how he reminded me of Howard, Leiber, and Moorcock except his worlds felt a little more alive just earlier today.

Other than that I'd say Howard and Leiber because those are King's influences I can remember other than Lovecraft and they're both quite good authors. Leiber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser series is pretty vivid and alive, at least in the early and middle parts (I'll actually second the short stories part) and Howard gets a lot of good hits even if he has the occasional miss (mostly things published posthumously after editing/finishing by DeCamp).

This reminds me I need to try and get my hand on a copy of "On Writing".

[warty goblin]

Try early George RR Martin, particularly Fevre Dream and The Armageddon Rag. The Armageddon Rag is extremely Kingesque in tone and conception, and Fevre Dream is just a flat out excellent piece of fiction.

[Gnoman]

You could try Robert Jordan. Although much denser, his writing does have similarities to King's.

[Bastian Weaver]

The great Fritz Leiber was already mentioned twice. So I'll just add F. Paul Wilson - Midnight Mass, The Keep, The Tomb, Nightworld. AND the Repairman Jack series.

[Surfing HalfOrc]

Richard Bachman? :smallwink:

Before I ever read Steven King, I stumbled across The Long Walk by Stephen King's alter-ego. I like the book, and it wasn't until King released The Bachman Books that I learned the two authors were the same man.

As for writing, check out King's Danse Macabre' as well as On Writing.

[thubby]

it's been my experience that king is really inconsistent. the guy writes more than any other author im aware of, what were some books you like in particular?

would definitely help narrow the field.

[dehro]

I remember reading Dean Koontz back in the day I was reading Stephen King, on account of getting the same sort of vibe from them..but this is some years ago, it may well be that the genre and subjects just were similar enough for me to "be into that" at the time (Chuck Palahniuk, anyone??).
I do remember though that I finally got fed up with the endings of most of Dean Koontz's books I happened to read.

[BWR]

It's been years since I read any King, and I was never too impressed with him. And what do you mean by 'recognized'? Big name? How big? Are they published or not?

But if you are looking for vivd, engaging writers I can only mention some of my favorites. M. John Harrison, John Crowley and Gene Wolfe.
Harrison's Viriconium stories are perhaps his most famous but his more recent Kefahuchi trilogy (Light, Nova Swing and Empty Space) are probably easier to get hold of. He is kind of bleak in many ways, but his prose is far more poetic and evocative than just about any poetry. I would start with "The Pastel City" (or a collection of all the Viriconium stories). It's earlier work and a tad more mainstream than his later stuff. "Light" is also very good, and you can do far worse as an introduction to his style.

Crowley is probably most famous for "Little, Big" which is probably a bit unfair because his other stuff is pretty amazing too, but it's a good place to start.

Gene Wolfe is probably the most SF/F of the three, though Harrison is solidly there, and is also the most prolific. I'd start with "The Book of the New Sun". If this doesn't catch your fancy, nothing of his will.