What got you hooked on the fantasy genre?
- Thread starter Eternalknight
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Duncan Haldane
Explorer
For me it was reading The Faraway tree by Enid Blyton.
I was about 6 at the time, and I'd had difficulty learning to read. Then I found that book, and read it and the rest in the series many times.
I was also influenced by H.R. Puffinstuff.
I didn't read Lord of the Rings till I was 12 (about the time I started playing D&D), but I did read Roots when I was 9/10
I also read plenty of choose your own adventures, then lone wolf and any other adventure game books I could get my hands on.
Duncan
I was about 6 at the time, and I'd had difficulty learning to read. Then I found that book, and read it and the rest in the series many times.
I was also influenced by H.R. Puffinstuff.
I didn't read Lord of the Rings till I was 12 (about the time I started playing D&D), but I did read Roots when I was 9/10
I also read plenty of choose your own adventures, then lone wolf and any other adventure game books I could get my hands on.
Duncan
Grand Admiral Reese
First Post
I suppose that I always had something of an interest in fantasy and sci-fi. The SF aspect got a jumpstart about ten years ago when I got completely and totally hooked on Star Trek. That eventually broadened into Star Wars and Babylon 5. What really got me into fantasy reading was reading The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings about two and a half years ago. Since then I've read more fantasy than sci-fi, I think(lots of Forgotten Realms books, George Martin's Song of Ice and Fire, Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time, etc).
caudor
Adventurer
Hey, I remember H.R. Puffinstuff
What really hooked me initially was the Sinbad movies (i.e. Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger, etc.)
I remember I loved watching the Godzilla movies when they would show on TV. I also remember watching War of the Gargantuas...thought it was utterly cool.
Then when I was high school, a friend of mine came running down the hall saying he killed a giant tick. I was thinking...what?? He invited me to stop by after school and play D&D. I think that was 1980 (I graduated in '81).
My first memorable character was a paladin named 'Van Halen' and he looked just like David Lee Roth in platemail. Spooky, eh? Oh well, that was me back then...
Ever since then, D&D has been a passion.
What really hooked me initially was the Sinbad movies (i.e. Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger, etc.)
I remember I loved watching the Godzilla movies when they would show on TV. I also remember watching War of the Gargantuas...thought it was utterly cool.
Then when I was high school, a friend of mine came running down the hall saying he killed a giant tick. I was thinking...what?? He invited me to stop by after school and play D&D. I think that was 1980 (I graduated in '81).
My first memorable character was a paladin named 'Van Halen' and he looked just like David Lee Roth in platemail. Spooky, eh? Oh well, that was me back then...
Ever since then, D&D has been a passion.
Buttercup
Princess of Florin
When I was a hostile, jaded, stoned senior in high school, I saw one of my classmates reading a book with an interesting looking cover. It was The Hobbit. I asked her what it was about, and she said it was too hard to explain, but that it was the best book she had ever read. That evening, I went and bought a paperback copy. The next day I skipped school so I could continue reading. 
Next, I read LotR, The Silmarillion, and everything else by Tolkien that was available. Next, I had to know about runes, and Norse sagas, so I found some excerpts from the Elder Edda at the local library. I read all the fantasy I could put my hands on (except Terry Brooks, who I tried immediately after reading LotR, and despised), branched out into SF, mythology, linguistics, paganism and so forth. Because I was so interested, I cleaned up my act and went to college, then grad school.
It really isn't exaggerating to say that LotR changed my life.
Next, I read LotR, The Silmarillion, and everything else by Tolkien that was available. Next, I had to know about runes, and Norse sagas, so I found some excerpts from the Elder Edda at the local library. I read all the fantasy I could put my hands on (except Terry Brooks, who I tried immediately after reading LotR, and despised), branched out into SF, mythology, linguistics, paganism and so forth. Because I was so interested, I cleaned up my act and went to college, then grad school.It really isn't exaggerating to say that LotR changed my life.
I was going to say Piers Anthony's Xanth series when I was about 8, but as I read through the posts I realized that I'd read the Hobbit (a copy with color illustrations taken from the animated film, anyone else have this edition?) at about 6. Then I read further down and realized that I'd seen masters of the universe and been hooked on that when I was so small I can't even really remember. (Probably 3?) I dunno.
For me it was The Chronicles of Narnia. I read the entire series one weekend when I was stuck in a hospital. From there I started reading anything Arthurian which lead to my favorite book series Katherine Kurtz's deryni series. To this day I devour fantasy novels. I just started a rather intresting one by Kate Forsyth The witches of Eilannerrran (sp?) It is about a land where witchcraft has been outlawed so all the witches are in hiding, magical creatires are being hunted. The dragons are angry over all this and are thinking about breaking the pact with humans. This author knows a lot about Wicca so the rituals ring true in the book.
I read the Hobbit in high school but did not read any LOTR until after I saw the movie. I am starting two towers soon, I don't want to read Return of the King until after I see the movie. I like not knowing what is going to happen next.
I first played DnD at a con in the early 80's I loved it. But at the time I was single parent with a small child and did not have the time to play. But i kept buying gaming books nad got my chance to play 5 years ago and have been playing since. RPGs have become my primary obsession
I read the Hobbit in high school but did not read any LOTR until after I saw the movie. I am starting two towers soon, I don't want to read Return of the King until after I see the movie. I like not knowing what is going to happen next.
I first played DnD at a con in the early 80's I loved it. But at the time I was single parent with a small child and did not have the time to play. But i kept buying gaming books nad got my chance to play 5 years ago and have been playing since. RPGs have become my primary obsession
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