[Myshkin]

Werthead;223534 said:

From the 1980s, the fantasy author to emerge with the greatest impact on the genre was Pratchett, absolutely no question.

I would question it. I say Donaldson.

[ShadowOwl]

Me too, but I say Anne McCaffrey.

[paladin]

Werthead;223534 said:

From the 1980s, the fantasy author to emerge with the greatest impact on the genre was Pratchett, absolutely no question.

I would question it because there is no way to determine that since there are a million kinds of fantasy. Cook had a humungous impact in certain areas, Kay did, Pratchett surely did, Donaldson, etc. And every one of those works in a different set of parameters inside the fantasy genre.

[Werthead]

Quote

I would question it. I say Donaldson.

Who rose to prominence with his first novel, Lord Foul's Bane, which was published in 1977.

Quote

Me too, but I say Anne McCaffrey.

Who rose to prominence with her first novel, Dragonflight, which was published in 1968.

Whilst Pratchett had two books published in the 1970s (The Carpet People in 1971 and The Dark Side of the Sun in 1978), he didn't really appear on the radar until The Colour of Magic (1983), although Mort (1987), Wyrd Sisters (1988) and Guards! Guards! (1989) are when people really sat up and took notice of the Discworld books.

Actually, I just checked the OP and noted that the question isn't whom the best author to emerge from the 1980s was but which author you read in the 1980s who had the biggest impact. In which case none of the above. My answer would be Arthur C. Clarke (whose 2010 was the first adult SF novel I read, in 1988 or thereabouts) or Isaac Asimov, from around the same time. Fantasy-wise, it would probably be CS Lewis. But then I'm puzzled why Lewis or Tolkien aren't on the list. This question/poll is seriously vague (scratches head).

I don't think Guy Gavriel Kay really be on the list because The Fionavar Tapestry is not a good representation of his work. That didn't come until Tigana (1990). I'm also pondering how Andre Norton got on the list when her first book was published in the 1930s.

[ShadowOwl]

Well the McCaffrey books I read in the 80's were published in the 80's and influenced me the most to start reading more like them. Perhaps the 1968 version was a first edition printing in the UK and it took that long to make it across the pond.....??

[Myshkin]

Werthead;223613 said:

Who rose to prominence with his first novel, Lord Foul's Bane, which was published in 1977.

Alright, you got me there. You're right about the premise of this poll being vague, so I've decided just to pick the best author listed. And since Donaldson is on the list regardless of the pub date of LFB, I'm still picking him.

[tickhill43]

Vengeance;223220 said:

Yes but did you read them in the 80's

I read them in the 80's but as Stone Monkey pointed most of Le Guin's best work was actually published in the 70's.

I still think Donaldson is the standout author of that era, its foolish to disqualify him because Lord Fouls bane was published in 70's. By that logic Erikson is a 90's author!

[stone monkey]

ShadowOwl;223575 said:

Me too, but I say Anne McCaffrey.

Dragonflight was first published in 1968 in the US iirc, and she had been writing and getting published in the magazines since at least the late 50s. If you liked her Dragon Books (technically sf, but there you go), you could also have a go at her sf novels (although they're mostly collections of connected short stories, to be precise) The Ship Who Sang, To Ride Pegasus, The Rowan etc. I personally don't read her any more - her early stuff was interesting but since then she's tended to devolve into writing airport romances with sf/fantasy set dressing.