Who is Susan Douglas? I looked on Amazon and it's coming up with womens studies stuff, nursing things, or Linux. Um.....

OK, anyway, why I'm here - my adopted Marine reads Susan Douglas and has asked for books. I don't know what he's read and what he hasn't, so I was thinking I'd get something LIKE Susan Douglas, expand the playing field, you know? Amazon recommends Merceds Lackey - what do Buffistas recommend if you like Susan Douglas?

Do you mean the fantasy writer Sara Douglas? If so, I recommend Robin Hobb and Fiona McIntosh.

I second Robin Hobb!

Oops, yeah, Sara Douglas. Anything in particular by Robin Hobb?

Anything in particular by Robin Hobb?

There are three interlocking sets: The Farseer Trilogy, the Liveship Traders, and the Tawny Man series.

If this is the type of person who likes to start at the beginning of a series, Assassin's Apprentice is technically first.

However, I think that the Liveship series is the best, and it's a trilogy that stands alone from the other two, which feature the same main character.

The first book in that one is...oh damn. Hold on...(googles) Ship of Magic. The second is Mad Ship, and the third is Ship of Destiny.

Very good fantasy.

Tawney Man was my favorite of the triologies. But my tastes tend to vary from Buffista norm, so KristenTs suggestion is probably your best bet.

One of my gifts was Pelecanos' "The Sweet Forever" which I stayed up really late reading. I think I am in love right now, actually. If I write something half that good, I'll know I have something. I love his spin on the hard-boiled thing because it doesn't tempt me to suicide like Lehane.

I keep meaning to read Pelecanos. What's a good one to start with?

Most people tell me it is The Big Blowdown, which is the begiinning of the series about the Greeks. I am reading it right now, AIFG! He has two series going at once, I think, The Karras/Clay books and the Strange books(Derek Strange) I've read a few of both. The Greek books are more....nostalgic, The Stranges more modern.(Strange is really a "Who's on First ?" kind of name, isn't it? Makes a change from Stefanos though.) And I have to like any writer who says in the same interview: Q: What's the secret of your appeal in the UK? Pelecanos: My swarthy good looks?(followed by some more serious stuff about universal themes) Q: What are your thoughts about the writing life? Pelecanos: I get paid all right and my back doesn't hurt at the end of the day. And I have to say, Angus, feeling a little like Xander being asked for advice by Giles that you would want my opinion. I'm kind of chuffed and unworthy, both. Bonus is, he's got the grit like Lehane, but he is funny and less inclined to dismember people. Which I like. Lehane's good, too, but he has kind of a "kill every motherfucker in the room" approach to body counts that fluctuates from "My God, how disturbing!" to "blah, blah, another hollow chest cavity," because he goes there so much. I can't believe I posted that word in Literary...that's kind of horrible. I don't know how you feel about pop references in mysteries either...Pelecanos loves them. You probably aren't horrified by them, being a Buffista, but I never know.

No, I love pop references in mysteries! Didn't Pelecanos also write a piece in Hec's new book, or something?

The only Lehane I've read was Shutter Island, which I thought was good although there were a couple of pretty glaring anachronisms, eg someone using the term "anger management" in the late 1940s (or whenever it was supposed to be)!

I got Alan Hollinghurst's The Line of Beauty for Christmas and I'm really enjoying it so far. I was slightly worried, it's a bit disconcerting to see an author I absolutely love win the Booker Prize (which I've always been snooty about)!