The main list is twenty authors I’ve read and again who I would consider my top twenty. The second smaller list consists of authors I think are amazing but I’ve only read one of their books. As with all lists, this is just a glimpse of the authors I consider my favorites. I’m also adding Horror to the mix and excluding YA authors (that will be a different list).
Top 20 Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror Authors (no particular order)
1. Philip K. Dick
2. Octavia Butler
3. Margaret Atwood
4. Stephen King
4. J.R.R. Tolkien
5. Charlie Huston
6. Frank Herbert
7. Iain M. Banks
8. John Ajvide Lindqvist
9. Neil Gaiman
10.George R. R. Martin
11. Kim Stanley Robinson
12. Piers Anthony
13. Greg Bear
14. Alice Hoffman
15. Charles de Lint
16. David Wellington
17. Richard Matheson
18. Ray Bradbury
19. Kat Richardson
20. Jeffrey Overstreet
Possible Contenders
1. China Mieville
2. Alden Bell
3. Cormac McCarthy
4. Laura Bynum
5. Justin Cronin
6. Caitlin R. Kiernan
7. Patrick Rothfuss
Amanda Makepeace's Imagination Run Amok 