First Fantasy Novel/Series You Read?

[Zuoken]

In the interest of getting our minds away from all our family/significant others going on shopping trips, I decided to post something that might hearken back to the earlier days.

What was the first Fantasy genre novel/series that you ever read? What can you remember about it and what impact has it had on you and your games? I imagine that we're going to get a lot of Hobbits and LoTRs here, but hey, that's still some classic stuff.

For me, it was the Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander. I still remember bits and pieces of it; but the parts that I remember most vividly are those dealing with Arawn. Ever since then I've tried to hoard as much information as I could about the Cloaked God, but unfortunately there seems to be very little. That series is the whole reason that I use the extended Celtic and Welsh pantheon in my D&D homebrew.

I'll also sometimes mumble "Crunchings and munchings..." when I get ravenously hungry. Unconsciously of course ...

 

[Dagger75]

Mine was the Legend of Huma. That was the first real fantasy novel I ever read.

 

[Starman]

The first fantasy novel I read was Terry Brooks' The Scions of Shannara. That was back in junior high. I was always a big reader, but it was first foray into fantasy. I fell in love and haven't looked back since. This probably explains the nostalgic feelings I get from his stuff, despite my later realizing his writing is less than stellar.

Starman

 

[Guillaume]

I started with the Hobbit when I was seven, then read LoTR when I was nine. If you want non-Tolkien stuff, I think it was the Dragonlance series, but I'm unsure.

 

[Galethorn]

-The Hobbit when I was 8
-LOTR when I was 8
-the Redwall series over the following few years
-Lloyd Alexanders books in 6th grade (our english teacher actually assigned them; that class was fun)
-Salvatore's lesser-known Demon-war trilogy in early 8th grade
-The Dark Elf Trilogy in 8th grade
-George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series this last fall (I'm 17 now).

The Hobbit/LOTR got me into fantasy. Redwall strengthened my connection to fantasy. The Book of Three (et al.) helped too. The demon-war books (along with having started to play CRPGs) inspired me to start thinking up characters and places. After that, things took off in two directions; writing foremost, but gaming as well.

At first, neither were terribly connected. Then, as I got sick of FR, I realized that the places I had been coming up with for my stories would work great as a setting for a campaign. Ultimately, my first attempt fizzled, but I reworked my setting and have an ongoing campaign in the same setting my writing takes place.

As for how my setting has been influenced...

LOTR gave me a LOT of the basics (elves, dwarves, orcs, etc.),

Lloyd Alexander's welsh/celtic influence is obvious in the nation of Tyrnia,

After reading ASoIF, I reworked the politics between the nations until the 'epic struggle between [good] and [evil]' became all the more epic by virtue of [good] being divided within itself by new and old grudges and open hostility. Oh, and I've made the world much more believable, in terms of demographics, sociopolitics, and logistics.

 

[Greylock]

Anything Andre' Norton and Mark Twain from about third grade until 6th, 7th grade. Ian Fleming and Isaac Asimov from about then 'til 10th. Then I finally got a hold of Tolkein and Heinlein. Piers Anthony helped me out in the early college years until I discovered Salman Rushdie and Stanislav Lem.

That's my fantasy evolution.

 

[devilish]

The Chronicles of Amber after seeing the recommendation in the
back of the original DMG.

 

[Undead Pete]

I think it was the Xanth series by Piers Anthony. It could also be The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks, or the Thieves' World series.

Believe it or not, I didn't read LOTR until just before the movies came out.

 

[Celtavian]

re

The Chronicles of Narnia when I was very young.

 

[The_lurkeR]

I think the first fantasy novel/series I read was the Dragonlance series back when it first came out in '84. (I think I read the Hobbit around the same time.)