I read a lot, and yet I'm constantly delighted to find an author who has been writing forever and yet somehow they've managed to stay under my radar.

The two more recent examples of this, for me, are Jo Walton and K.J. Parker. They couldn't be more different from on another but they share a gift for writing.

Tell me, who do you wish more people would read?

I was turned on to Scott Sigler a few years ago and read all of his books in the "infected" series, plus Earth Core. He's one hell of a sci-fi writer.

I also jumped on a good deal on Amazon on Nightfall by Stephen Leather and finished it in a few days and loved it, so I got Midnight as soon as it came out and I'm reading through it now.

I think either of them are worthy of a read if you're looking for something interesting and neither author (as far as I know) is a wildly successful popular author.

Jo Walton seconded. And Paolo Bacigalupi. That guy is really, really good. He's won awards, sure, but I still feel like not enough people have heard of him.

I try to make a habit of finding the lesser-known authors that don't get the attention of the NYT lists. Usually, they're tucked away on a forgotten shelf in the local library.

That being said, I stumbled across three books by an author named Sam Eastland, in his "Inspector Pekkala" series. Having an interest in Soviet-era Russia, the first book, "The Eye of the Red Tsar" drew my attention by title alone, and I consumed it, and the two books that followed it so fast that I felt like a kid who just inhaled a vat of ice cream: I knew that I should have slowed down and enjoyed it more, but damned if I could help but keep powering through.

Deborah Harkness is getting a lot of hype now but she is a masterful fiction writer with a real knack for bringing in history in a compelling way. Her first book did not receive as much attention.

Carol Rifka Brunt is wonderful.

Maggie Shipstead, Deborah Copaken Kogan and Clyde Edgerton are underrated as well.

Continuing along the lines of the initial question: if you were to suggest one piece of work by these authors you all have mentioned, what would you suggest? What book best exemplifies the body of work of the author, and validates your opinion that they are under-appreciated?

Everyone should read William Goldman's adaptation of S. Morgenstern's classic!

I've become a big fan of Gordon Dahlquist, and his retro-sci-fi 'The Glass Books of the Dream-Eaters.' Great read. I'd also suggest Mark Danielewski, Carlos Ruiz-Zafón, and Marisha Pessl. Thoughts?

Erik, you can't go wrong starting with Jo Walton's "Among Others." Fantastic book, and it has been nominated for a bunch of awards (which I suppose makes it appreciated, but I still feel like more people should be reading Walton).

K.J. Parker is a tougher nut to crack. I really enjoy his (or her, it is a pen name) style, but I am pretty certain not everyone will enjoy it. Since I've only read 4 of his books (The Engineer Trilogy and Sharps) I would suggest people try Sharps. If you don't like that one, you won't like the rest of her work (she returns to the same themes over and over again... which is fine for me since I think they're rather interesting themes).

David Eddings, with the Belgariad and Mallorean. This is a ten book fantasy series, broken into 2 sets of 5. I think the character development and world building is incredible.

I liked the Belgariad and Mallorean myself, but then Eddings continued to write new series... sadly he told the same exact story over and over again.

Also, news to me, David Eddings is dead. :(

Erik, for Bacigalupi I'd recommend Ship Breaker, which is a YA novel but it's also his best. The Windup Girl is also excellent, but darker and for adults.

Ash Maurya, author of Running Lean, a real Lean Startup manual for Entrepeneurs. You want to be a tech entrepreneur you MUST read this book. Despite the fact that Eric Ries is the one who invented the Lean Startup term, and is him the one who takes all the credit, Ash is the one to read if you want to know how to become an entrepreneur.

Matthew Stover (Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor) and Timothy Zahn's (Thrawn books) work on the Star Wars mythos. Made me love Star Wars beyond the movies.

@Scott - I can't argue with that, but I like his style enough to have enjoyed the following series anyway.

My picks are old series.

The laconic author, Glen Cook. Specifically The Black Company, Shadows Linger, The White Rose, and The Silver Spike. This series continues after that but those four are great. I'd describe them as dark fantasy.

For Sci-fi, I still love Julian May's Saga of Pliocene Exile. Again, the first four books are the best, IMO, but if you want the story to go full circle, read her Galactic Milieu series as well.

Raymond Carver and Hunter S. Thompson. Pretty familiar names, I know, but you don't always hear them alongside the heavyweights like Hemingway and Faulkner.

Jeff Noon. The relative rarity of his work goes far to show how underappriciated his work is. Visionary, colorful, engaging.. Vurt, Pollen, Automated Alice. In science fiction it is rare to find that kind of author whose gimmicks you absolutely love.. For me Jeff Noon is just such an author.

This took me a while to respond to, but I really enjoyed Vurt. I should read more Noon.