Has a great (fiction) book ever been co-authored?

[Contentious C]

I don't know about the rest of you, but basically anytime I see two authors on a book cover, a corner of my brain laughs maniacally and then ignores the book altogether.  In fact, it tends to color the output of nearly anything else the author does (with exactly 2 exceptions).

And, before anyone says Good Omens - let's just all agree that it's a delightful book with the literary equivalent of a Dusty Finish. I don't think you can have an ending that's as non-commital as that and still be "great". 

But, Ace posted about Spider Robinson in the other thread, and Spider's Wikipedia page said he and his wife had written a whole trilogy together, so it got me wondering.  So whatcha got?

(No, GNs aren't under consideration; thus the title saying 'co-authored'...though Abnett & Lanning could make themselves a case)

[Bustronaut]

The Weis/Hickman team created a cottage industry for TSR and has done more for that genre than anyone besides Tolkien himself.

[J.T.]

My answers would be The Talisman and its sequel, Black House, by Peter Straub and Stephen King.  Arguably the most genre bending stuff that King and Straub ever worked on.

No one expected either of those guys to collab on two novels straight in the dark fantasy genre, much less pen a dark fantasy novel on their own and there are quite a few horror scholars that despise these books because the content is so out of character for both authors.

I am happy that King said "fuck you" to those people who though he should only write horror novels, kept pushing his boundaries as an author, and used The Talisman / Black House as the foundation for The Dark Tower series. 

I used to think that either IT!, The Stand, or The Shining / Doctor Sleep would go down in history as King's magnum opus, but its clear that The Dark Tower will take that slot and we have The Talisman / Black House to thank for that.

[Matt D]

Not quite the same thing, but I have a friend who swears by Tremontaine.

[Zimbra]

I don't know about great but The Expanse series is co-authored and is pretty darn good.

[OSJ]

9 hours ago, Contentious C said:

I don't know about the rest of you, but basically anytime I see two authors on a book cover, a corner of my brain laughs maniacally and then ignores the book altogether.  In fact, it tends to color the output of nearly anything else the author does (with exactly 2 exceptions).

And, before anyone says Good Omens - let's just all agree that it's a delightful book with the literary equivalent of a Dusty Finish. I don't think you can have an ending that's as non-commital as that and still be "great". 

But, Ace posted about Spider Robinson in the other thread, and Spider's Wikipedia page said he and his wife had written a whole trilogy together, so it got me wondering.  So whatcha got?

(No, GNs aren't under consideration; thus the title saying 'co-authored'...though Abnett & Lanning could make themselves a case)

Well, since you brought up the Robinsons, let's go ahead and stick to the genre that I'm the most knowledgeable about, that of fantastic fiction... Let's start with the collaborative team of Fred Pohl and C.M. Kornbluth, who gave us The Space Merchants among others. As a send up of the advertising industry, it holds up remarkably well for a book that came  out before I was born! 

Moving along, we have the team of Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, while their stuff may not be to my particular taste, there's no disputing the overall popularity of their work.

J.T. brought up King & Straub and while both guys are tremendous on their own, there's an interesting synthesis that takes place when the two are working together wherein the end product is really a third voice, very distinct from either of them separately. I also hear tell that Edward Lee and John Pelan are pretty awesome together. Anyone that likes the horror genre and hangs out on a fucking pro-wrestling message board needs to have read Goon.  

[odessasteps]

The Difference Engine ?

Probably not as good as much of their individual works, but I remember it being good. 

[Control]

OSJ didn’t bring up C.L. Moore and Henry Kuttner, so I guess I have to.

[Brian Fowler]

I'm still digesting the idea that we should reject one of my ten favorite novels of all-time out of hand without discussion in the first post.

[J.T.]

Also, I am an idiot for forgetting all of the Conan stories co-written by Robert Howard and L. Sprague de Camp.

I've never read any of the Harold Shea materiel penned by de Camp and Fletcher Pratt although I have been meaning to buy the copy of The Incomplete Enchanter that is currently on the shelf at the Goodwill near my folk's house.

I hit the thrift stores once a month to see which books people dumped when they either moved away or cleared their attics and occasionally I hit paydirt.  

Four years ago, I found a slightly battered but readable copy of The Enchanted Pilgrimage by Clifford D. Simak.