How many of these bestselling SF/F authors have you read?

[Onyx]

Not strange, but most readers of SF also like at least some fantasy. The two genres seem closely related, since they both offer something other than a simulation of what is supposed to be "reality."

I've always thought they were odd bedfellows,

 

[Parson]

Dunno. It's been slow going. But am I really the only one here that just reads SF?? That seems strange.

That almost describes me. Since I've been a part of this forum I have broadened my horizons and now read a small smattering of Fantasy. I had read the Hobbit and did not enjoy it before becoming part of these boards.

 

[The Bluestocking]

21. Looking at my Google Play library and my bookshelf, it would seem that even though many of the authors I read are famous in their own right and genre, they don't sell as much as the ones in the top-seller list.

2 specific authors included on the list appear to be proof that somehow, rubbish writing sometimes sells very well *coughcough*

 

[Cathbad]

30

 

[Alan Aspie]

@Werthead listing bestselling science fiction and fantasy authors by sales.

1) J.K Rowling (c. 450 million)
2) Stephen King (c. 350 million)
3) JRR Tolkien (c. 300 million)
4) CS Lewis (120 million+)
5) Stephanie Meyer (116 million)
6) Anne Rice (100 million)
7) Robert Jordan (80 million+)
8) Sir Terry Pratchett (65 million+)
9) Richard Adams (50 million+)
10) Suzanne Collins (50 million+)
11) Christopher Paolini (33 million)
12) R.A. Salvatore (30 million+)
13) Kaoru Kurimoto (28 million)
14) George Orwell (25 million+)
15) Terry Goodkind (25 million)
16) Cassandra Clare (24 million)
17) Terry Brooks (21 million+)
18) Eoin Colfer (21 million)
19) George R.R. Martin (20 million+)
20) Isaac Asimov (20 million+)
21) Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman (c. 20 million)
22) Brian Jacquies (c. 20 million)
23) Kazumasa Hirai (c. 20 million)
24) Charlaine Harris (c. 20 million)
25) Frank Herbert (18 million)
26) Hideyuki Kikuchi (18 million)
27) Diana Gabaldon (17 million)
28) Douglas Adams (16 million)
29) Kevin J. Anderson (16 million)
30) Raymond E. Feist (15 million+)
31) Rick Riordan (15 million)
32) Philip Pullman (15 million)
33) Yoshiki Tanaka (15 million)
34) Stephen Donaldson (10 million)
35) Neil Gaiman (10 million + )
36) Alice Sebold (10 million+)
37) Madeline L'Engle (10 million+)
38) Timothy Zahn (8 million)
39) Laurell K. Hamilton (6 million+)
40) Frank L. Baum (5 million+)
41) Guy Gavriel Kay (3 million)
42) John Ringo (3 million)
43) Joe Abercrombie (3 million)
44) Harry Turtledove (2.5 million)
45) Peter F. Hamilton (2 million+)
46) Dan Abnett (1.2 million+)
47) Robin Hobb (1 million+)
48) David Gemmell (1 million+)
49) Steven Erikson (1 million+)
50) Trudi Canavant (1 million+)
51) Chris Wooding (450,000+)
52) R. Scott Bakker (125,000+)

So did these sell less than 125 000?

Stanislaw Lem?
Edgar Rice Burroughs?
Arthur C. Clarce?
Jules Verne?
Mikhail Bulgakov?
Michael Crichton?
Orson Scott Card?
William Gibson?
Ursula K. Le Guin?

And...

 

[Brian G Turner]

So did these sell less than 125 000?

The original post is based on an old and incomplete list - I believe a more updated list is linked to elsewhere in this thread - but I thought it would be useful for illustrative purposes.

 

[psikeyhackr]

1) J.K Rowling (c. 450 million)
3) JRR Tolkien (c. 300 million)
6) Anne Rice (100 million)
7) Robert Jordan (80 million+)
10) Suzanne Collins (50 million+)
14) George Orwell (25 million+)
20) Isaac Asimov (20 million+)
25) Frank Herbert (18 million)
28) Douglas Adams (16 million)
37) Madeline L'Engle (10 million+)
38) Timothy Zahn (8 million)
42) John Ringo (3 million)
44) Harry Turtledove (2.5 million)
45) Peter F. Hamilton (2 million+)

 

[dwndrgn]

37

 

[Parson]

37

Wow!

 

[dwndrgn]

I've been reading for a long time! See the other post where we discuss how many books we've read over the course of our lives, I believe I estimated around 4,900, give or take...so those 37 authors are just a drop in the bucket.

 

[Parson]

I've got you in years of reading, but clearly not in speed, nor in unrelenting commitment to reading above nearly everything else. --- I stand in awe.

 

[biodroid]

14 for me

 

[Keldaris]

1) J.K Rowling (c. 450 million)-Read all the original Harry Potter books
2) Stephen King (c. 350 million)- Finished The Dark Tower, The Green Mile, The Shining,Pet Semetary and The Running Man. Started but DNF Carrie,Cujo, It, and the Tommy knockers
3) JRR Tolkien (c. 300 million)-Read it ALL, yes even the letters...
4) CS Lewis (120 million+)-Read all of Narnia
5) Robert Jordan (80 million+)-Tried about five times to get into wheel of time still only half way through Eye of the World
6) Sir Terry Pratchett (65 million+)-I've only read the Color of Magic
7) Richard Adams (50 million+)-Watership Down
8) R.A. Salvatore (30 million+)-Yeah....teenage me was a Drizzt fanboy....
9) George Orwell (25 million+)-1984 and Animal Farm
10) Terry Goodkind (25 million)-Read the entire Sword of truth series, haven't bothered with the sequel series
11) Terry Brooks (21 million+)-Once again I've read parts of Shannarah but it's in the DNF category
12) George R.R. Martin (20 million+)- ASIOF and Tuf Voyaging
13) Isaac Asimov (20 million+)-Finished I,Robot but DNF Foundation
14) Brian Jacquies (c. 20 million)-Redwall has always been one of my favorites!!
15) Frank Herbert (18 million)-Read it all!
16) Douglas Adams (16 million)-Read the entire five part trilogy
17) Kevin J. Anderson (16 million)-Read a bunch of his Star Wars and some of his Dune books
18) Raymond E. Feist (15 million+)-Read the entire Riftwar cycle....All 30ish of them
19) Neil Gaiman (10 million + )- Sandman and American Gods
20) Dan Abnett (1.2 million+)-I've only read some of his comics, none of his novels

So twenty off this list!

Kinda surprised it didn't include Piers Anthony, Orson Scott Card, William Gibson, Neal Stephenson, Jules Verne, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Michael Moorcock, Arthur C Clarke, Robert Heinlein, Edgar Rice Burroughs and several others

 

[The Ace]

38.