The Skillful And The Awed

Tonight, I'm reading Deanna Raybourn's Silent on the Moor and thinking about mastery. I love it when an author's technique and quality of writing match her ideas. So many times, a book's premise is wonderful, but it falls flat under voiceless writing or clumsy technique. Needless to say, Ms. Raybourn is not having this problem. As with the previous Lady Julia Grey mysteries (or novels or romances, depending on your local bookstore's shelving whims), Silent on the Moor is intriguing, darkly atmospheric, and well...superbly written. It's one of those books you dread putting down, even to reheat your cup of Bombay Breakfast.

And yet I did, because it was becoming too hard not to come gush in that nerdy, way too observant way we aspiring authors often have. Now, Deanna Raybourn does a lot of thing splendidly - creating deeply layered characterization, using setting to manipulate tone, and seamlessly weaving the threads of a well-plotted mystery are just a few examples, but like all great writers, she has one thing she does better than anyone else: suspense. Oye ve, the woman can leave a reader wanting more. A scene is drawing to a close and you're ready; you can finally grab a cup of tea or take that long-delayed shower, but just as you reach to dog ear the page (or click the off switch on your Kindle), she hits you with a final sentence like this:

And I could not have imagined then, that I would be packing my trunk the very next evening, determined never to see him again.

How can one not read on? Now, imagine a book filled with such tension, such a sense of foreboding that even a five minute break from its pages becomes an act akin to climbing Kilimanjaro in four-inch heels. Torturous.

Such skill is exactly what sets Ms. Raybourn apart, what catapults her onto auto-buy lists around the world and makes her one of my personal favorite authors. Many of my other favorite authors have nothing in common, other than this skill. Julia Quinn doesn't write dark, neo-gothic stories like Silent on the Moor, but there is no one better at quirky family interactions. Christopher Moore, meanwhile, is off the charts when it comes to writing the ironic situation or the bitingly outrageous. They are all masters. I feel lucky each time I read their books and the next never seems to be published soon enough to satisfy.

Who are your top authors? What is it about their writing or storytelling that sets them apart from the crowd?