poll: What has most influenced your conception of fantasy?

[Terraism]

Hate to admit it...

Well, I'd like to say that Tolkien was the writer who influenced my views of fantasy - as in, established them. However, that's not the case. Though I've loved the fantastic and magical as far back as I can remember, I'd have to say that a few certain things influenced me to become a fierce advocate... and they are, in no particular order, as follows...

• The Last Unicorn (The movie)
• Hero's Quest (The Sierra game, later renamed "Quest for Glory"
• The Pyrdain Chronicles (The Book of Three, et al. Lloyd Alexander)

I remember watching the Last Unicorn for perhaps a half-dozen times in one weekend, and then two weeks later (when next I visited my dad,) doing it again. I just watched it again a couple of days ago - it still hasn't lost it.

Now, the game Hero's Quest (Quest for Glory) is another obsession with me. Now, the King's Quest games debuted in 1984 - I was one. By the time I was three, KQ2 was out, and couple of years later, so was Hero's Quest. When I wasn't watching The Last Unicorn I was banging on the computer keys and watching the screen to see what the funny colors would do next... I 'cut my teeth,' so to speak, when I was four, and computers have been mine ever since. But as much as I loved King's Quest, Hero's Quest was much more than that - it was true magic. As far as I was concerned - and still am - Hero's Quest I, EGA, was and is the best game ever made for a computer. Things have come a long way since then, but nostalgia never changes - I taught myself to read by playing that game over and over again and climbing out of the big comfy chair to make someone read me a line every time I saw something new. I'm told that they only had to tell me what a certain configuration of letters was once before I had it down. I just remember, vaguely, the wonders of that game. I've still got it, actually, in a place of honor on the shelf above me, in four different forms - the original on 5 1/4's, one on 3 1/2's, the VGA version, and the CD compilation.

Lastly, as a natural extension of my love of the computer screen and that great thing called 'reading,' I demanded something to read when I wasn't at Dad's house - which, as far as I was concerened, wasn't often enough... Mom didn't have a computer! (Gee, can you see my priorities? ) Inspired by the computer game (again by Sierra), The Black Cauldron, I coerced my mom to buy me The Book of Three when I was in kindergarten. Every two days we made another trip to the bookstore to pick up the next one. No matter what I've read since then, to me those books will always be very special.

You know, I haven't thought about this before - and really didn't even until after I started writing. I'm going to ammend my statement at the beginning of this post... I don't hate to say that Tolkien didn't set my view of fantasy - I'm just fine with what DID.

 

[Daniel Knight]

Everything Evenly

I’d have to say that everything mentioned has effected me an even amount. I’m the sort of person that needs to steal as many cool ideas as possible from as many sources as possible.

Oh, and please change American Cinema to Western Cinema or English Speaking Cinema. Harry Potter was filmed in England based on an English author’s book, and from memory didn’t have a single American actor in it. Fellowship of the Ring was filmed in New Zealand with a New Zealand director, New Zealand FX, New Zealand extras, New Zealand script writers, and also based on an English authors book… the only thing American about it was a couple of the actors and the money source. And Excalibur was… okay, if any one can link this to American Cinema in anyway (other then seeing it in one), they win a prize.

 

[Sir Hawkeye]

Tolkien.
I'm the only person I know that's managed to use tengwar quenya (elven letters) in a school project.

 

[grodog]

Moorock would be my greatest influence, although I came to MM, HPL, Leiber, and others through the old 1e DMG's Recommended Reading appendix. I had already been hooked on mythology, Star Wars, and Tolkien, by the time I got into D&D.

 

[mattcolville]

Art!

There has yet to be a campaign setting that captures my notion of what Fantasy should be. You'd call it High Fantasy, but that notion has been most influenced by art! Not games or movies or books, but fantastic art which often explodes beyond anything in any book.

 

[Turlogh]

I voted other but that's because all of these and more influence fantasy to a greater or lesser extent. Movies, books (new, old, epic, pulp), comics, myths,legends, rpg's, etc. It's hard to say what in the end is the biggest influence.

 

[Trevalon Moonleirion]

Before i read the obvious classic, LOTR, my first real fantasy novels were RPG books. Namely the Dragonlance Chronicles by Weis and Hickman. Those books were amazing (and still are today...I've read the original trilogy twice completely, and several times have read the first book) I love the DL books--I'm pumped about getting a chance to read Dragons of a Lost Star soon.

 

[Grayswandir]

I grew up on Tolkien, and also the Prydain chronicles. I got into mythology early too, but it wasn't as formative. Most of the rest came later, after I already played D&D.

 

[EOL]

I think the genius of D&D is that it seems to have taken the best of all of the elements and combined them into a playable game. I mean somehow Gygax managed to combine LoTR and Leiber, something which on it's face does not seem very straight foward.

This might lead one to believe that RPG novels would define my concept of fantasy, but they are actually just poor shadows of the actual game.

 

[GuardianLurker]

So many choices

Gaa!... Can... only... pick... one........

Also, I'd be tempted to split the "Modern Fantasy" category in two, since some of the authors mentioned have a much longer publishing history than others.

Overall rankings :
1. The "Old Masters" (Kurtz, Norton, etc.)
--- More specifically, The Deryni Chronicles and the Camber Trilogy, along with spots from others.

2. Arthurian Myths
--- T.H. White's "Once and Future King" and Mallory's "L'Morte D'Arthur". What more is there, really?

3. Tolkien
--- But mainly through his indirect (but extensive) influence on the fantasy genre as a whole.

4. Weekday afternoon cartoons
--- Erm, uh,... [real quiet]He-Man & Thundercats. Some great ideas for constructing adventures in there...