The Sword and Laser discussion

What was the first book or books in the genre that you read that completely just made you go, "that's for me."

I started reading when I was very young, and I spent lots of summers in summer reading programs. I remember reading a whole series of Tarzan novels, and for the life of me, I can't remember if they were actual Edgar Rice Burroughs tales or licensed stuff written by someone else. I consumed those and all the Fafhrd and The Gray Mouser books. I was already a huge reader, I decided then and there what genre was for me.

Well, it was Pern and A Wrinkle in Time that got me hooked on the genre (and the former started my love of dragons). A Wrinkle in Time actually kept me piqued in science, the idea of a 4th dimension and then learning about mitochondria in one of the sequels.

When I graduated high school, one of my favorite teachers, one of my English teachers, gave me a copy of The Sheep Look Up. At the time, it was very hard to find, and he'd had to fix the binding and he added a beautiful bookplate for me. In addition to being a touching gift, the book itself was the first of its kind, the apocalyptic sci fi, that I had read. I was super-impresses/struck by the idea of using real newspaper articles from the time as chapter "headers" and it made the moral more real. It was one of the first times I'd felt that strong an emotion when reading a book.

I started reading at a very young age too. The two genres of fantasy and science fiction grabbed my attention at different times. Of course, fantasy was my first love along with dragons (and unicorns).

The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede, was the first major push into the fantasy genre and the first book that I read in the series was Dealing with Dragons.

For science fiction, my first influence into the genre was Animorphs by Katherine Applegate. It combined my love of animals, aliens and adventure all in one swoop!

I've been reading books since I was 10. Before that it was mythology, mostly. i read a lot of stuff, fantasy is my favorite.

Horror, Sci-fi & Gothic- Frankenstein

Fantasy- Wizard's First Rule (age 13)
Romance- Gone With the Wind (age 15)
Horror- Stephen King's It (age 13)
Historical fiction- War And Peace (age 17)
Alternate History- Time's Tapestry (a few months ago)

Comedy- Life, The Universe & Everything (age 14) blew my mind as a comedy, not as a sci-fi novel. The humor here is pure genius.

Mind-blowing books I don't know where to put:
The Instructions by Adam Levin
His Dark Materials

Kevan wrote: "SF - Asimov's Caves of Steel
Fantasy - LOTR"

Sticking to the classics, love it. I had picked up this copy of Caves of Steel and The Naked Sun on the recommendation of a friend, it was a couple bucks at a thrift sore but I haven't gotten to read them yet. I'm excited to find out what the big deal is because I just know I'm going to love them.

Rocket Ship Galileo for science fiction when I was 11 and The Lord of the Rings for fantasy when I was 12. Those were the ones that really stuck me on the genres although I also remember loving things like The Gammage Cup and The Secret World of Og when I was younger.

The Stars My Destination

Kevan wrote:Reading them now may not feel the same as reading them in the 70s ..."

Not a problem, I am pretty good at putting myself into a proper, self-imagined atmosphere appropriate to such circumstances, haha. I'm pretty good at keeping in mind the conditions and times they were written in and the thought process used to do so. I tend to enjoy a lot of things because of it. :) I'm excited to see what the deal is with these. I read The Complete Robot, which was full of great stories. I was going to read Foundation, but I figured, "nah, go big or go home - I'm doing the whole thing in order".

Foundation and Caves of Steel for Sci-Fi
The Elfstones Of Shannara for fantasy.

I grew up reading a lot of sci-fi but not fantasy at all. I thought it was just Tolkien over and over again. It was not until someone convinced me to read The Name of the Wind that I reevaluated fantasy and now I love the genre.

I was just ready for a change I guess.

I've started with Lem's stories The Cyberiad - part of a school read, I think that was the first SF book I really liked.
But what really got me was Tolkien - Hobbit and LotR, soon after that - Mercedes Lackey's companion series and Pratchett. I might not be much of a SF lover, but Fantasy books keep me going ;)

Dune and LoTR

Is it wrong of me that Tolkien never did a thing for me?

For me the gateway drugs were the Heinlein juveniles I read when I was 10, especially Red Planet and Have Space Suit—Will Travel. On the fantasy side it was The Chronicles of Narnia.

Kdawg91, you must be a servant of Sauron.

I got really into fantasy kind of late. I read Harry Potter a ton when it came out but I didn't really into SFF until I read ASOIAF. Since then (about 3 years ago or so) I haven't been able to stop.

In 7th grade I read the first book in The Belgariad series and after that I was hooked on fantasy.

I've read a few mind-blowing sci-fi books, Startide Rising being one of the first sci-fi books I've read and probably one of my all-time favourites. But I liked sci-fi long before I started reading it. What made me like sci-fi was probably an anime series called Starzinger which I watched when I was five. That series was probably the foundation that everything else was built upon.

Tamahome wrote: "Kdawg91, you must be a servant of Sauron.

"
that is entirely possible, I recognize that it is a legendary piece of work, just never cared that much about it, even the movies bored me a bit

Probably Triplanetary by E. E. 'Doc' Smith at about age 10 or 11. Spaceships, aliens, things blowing up woohoo. (Would be a good book for Michael Bay to shoot.)

Kdawg91 wrote: "Is it wrong of me that Tolkien never did a thing for me?"

Nah, to each is their own. He certainly revolutionized the genre, but after the last 30 years, he isn't even remotely close to the best anymore. Got guys like Rothfuss, Sanderson. I would even say I like Gormenghast more and that was around the same time. But no, there's nothing wrong with that. He was good, I thank him for what we have now, but there are better things now.

Fantasy - LOTR blew my mind.
SF - Robinson's Mars Trilogy

This being the *first* sort of mindblowing I received.

They were all subsequently vaporized by Gene Wolfe, who ruined everything for me with his awesome writing.

Dragonsong by Anne McCaffery (1st in the Harper Hall trilogy) was the first really fantastical book I read aside from fairytales and Disney stuff. I'd mostly been reading Nancy Drew and teen historical romances before I found it in the library's paperback mishmash shelves.

After that I was hooked completely and forever.

I'd have to say Heinlein's Friday opened my mind though. I was a fantasy snob who ignored scifi completely, but the cover and the blurb made me think it might have some good sexytimes in it (it didn't, since Heinlein is never really explicit - hey, I was maybe 14) but the futuristic setting had none of the clichés that I expected (spaceship battles, weirdo aliens) and really opened my eyes to scifi as a genre about more than spaceships and laser pistols for guys.

I have to say Dune is the only book that's ever really blown my mind though. The sheer complexity of the world, it's history, the political and religious themes, the various unique cultures, the complex characters (I still want to be a Bene Gesserit witch) and families - action, revenge, intrigue, tragedy, love, triumph - I can go on and on about how much I love Dune.

For me, the series that really got me interested in fantasy was David & Leigh Eddings Belgariad series. I had read fantasy prior (Hobbit, LoTR and some of the Narnia books) but none of them had the impact on me that the Eddings' novels did. The Belgariad, Malloreon, Elenium and Tamuli are series I re-read frenquently and remain some of my favorites.

Heinlein's Space Cadet when I was in first grade.
McCaffrey's Dragonsong after we moved to Manhattan when I was 11.
Zelzany's Lord of Light when I was in junior high or high school.

Those books really imprinted on me even though I will [grudgingly] admit now that Space Cadet is not an objectively great book.

I first read LoTR when I was too young to really understand it so I never got the full effect of it.

I also remember some Tom Swift book about Atlantis. Maybe it was this one?



http://www.tomswift.info/homepage/sel...

For me, it was my dad reading The Hobbit to my sister and I. He was reading too slow, so I stole the book and read ahead on my own time.

For Sci-Fi, it was 5th grade, I was sooo bored with waiting for the rest of the class to get done with their work, so my teacher sent me to the reading section of the classroom and I picked up Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn off the shelf and I was hooked.

im 45 been reading from 8. done every genre except romance. I started with the "edge" westerns by George g gillman. Thrillers were Jack Higgins. Horror The Rats by Steven King scared the heck out of me when I was 10 (I was totally convinced the rats were under my bed at night) Sci fi was Asimov back then and comedy was the myth series by Robert Asprin. I was and still am nuts for the destroyer series by warren murphy. But the first book too blow my mind was Legend by David Gemmel. I still read all genres but after Legend I was really hooked by fantasy fiction. since then there has been quite a few mind blowing books in fantasy. all but two david gemmel books for a start. I love the dresden files and the iron druid series and the night angel trilogy. im crazy for the first two sandman slim books they are awesome. In truth there are loads of awesome books now and lots of truly brilliant authors. Too many to just choose a few

Thanks, everyone, for all the suggestions of books I haven't read yet! I have already requested "Legend" by David Gemmel and "Caves of Steel" by Isaac Asimov. I was blown away early on by the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but I think the book that got me most excited was "Stranger in A Strange Land" by Robert A. Heinlein. Beyond that, I love Dresden Files, the Night Angel Trilogy, and The Kingkiller Chronicles...

Ctgt wrote: "Dune and LoTR"

I totally agree. I read both (for the first time) in the same year (1979). Both just blew me away.

Lord of the Rings started my love of fantasy and Dune took sci-fi to another level for me.

It was The Neverending Story... my very first and true love with the genre... It sparked such a lifelong affair between me and SF&F

Hmmmmm.... I think I have always been sort of into sci-fi and fantasy. As a young child I read a lot of Bruce Coville, Patricia C. Wrede, and Pamela F. Service. The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife were also early genre favorites. When I was eleven, my mom brought home Alanna: The First Adventure from the library, and I read through all of Pierce's works as quickly as I could (much easier at the time than it would be now - she has been quite prolific!). But the book that completely cemented my undying love for the fantasy genre was The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan. I started that series when I was in middle school and fell in love with the characters and the world. Even though I have read a lot of great fantasy and sci-fi since then, I think The Wheel of Time series is always going to be the first thing that comes to mind when I think about why I like to read these types of stories.

Ray Bradbury's S is for Space and R is for Rocket. Both are collections of short stories, and I can't remember which one I read first. However, I stumbled across them in my Jr. High library and my life had never been the same since.

I recently bought (from eBay) a vintage hardback copy of R is for Rocket and a reprint hardback copy of S is for Space for my bookshelves. It felt like reuniting with a long-lost friend. :-)

Fantasy: " The Neverending Story" by Michael Ende. It was my first "thick" book. I think it made me surrender myself to fantasy for the rest of my life.
Sci-fi: The Foundation original trilogy by Asimov, specially "Second Foundation".

Agree with Michele, Tassie Dave and others - in terms of scope and ambition both LOTR and Dune completely blew me away in a way that very few other books have come close to since (honourable mentions though to Hyperion in SF and ASOIAF in fantasy)

ASOIAF just seemed like historical fiction to me. But I've only read the first 2 volumes.

Fantasy for me was The Elfstones Of Shannara (lets hope the new MTV series doesn't suck - but I don't hold out much hope of that!)

Sci-fi was The Last Legends of Earth

When I was in 3rd grade, my teacher Mrs Brandon stayed reading is the first Harry Potter book. After the first day, I had my mom buy me a copy so I could follow along in class. Then I finished the first and when right to the second one. I've been an avid reader ever since. The first sci-fi book that really got its hooks into me was Ender's Game

For me it has to be His Dark Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman. At age 11, that series got me completely hooked on the fantasy genre and I've yet to read anything quite like it.

I have such fond and vivid memories of my first read through, and it'll always have a place on my favourites-of-all-time list.

Actually I started both with movies.
I loved Buck Rogers and then a few years later I read The Maze of Peril which got me playing D & D.

Fantasy also started with tv did anyone see the cartoon version of the Hobbit - anyway I loved the movie so my mom brought me the book.

Dawn wrote: "Actually I started both with movies.
I loved Buck Rogers and then a few years later I read The Maze of Peril which got me playing D & D.

Fantasy also started with tv did anyone see ..."

If we're going to go the visual route, i'd probably say the first thing of sci-fi that blew me away was Fringe. I had watched a good bit of sci-fi, but Fringe really did just blow me away. For fantasy, I still haven't seen anything that really did blow me away. Unless we want to talk video games. Then Final Fantasy wins. That's the thing that got me hooked on reading in general; it made me seek out mythology due to it's heavy influence on the series.

And yes, that Hobbit cartoon movie was pretty great :)

Killian wrote: "Although the first proper fantasy books that I read were the Belgariad series and the Inheritance Cylce (both of which I enjoyed and now look back at with disgust)..."

Yeah, I could not get into Belgariad. The beginning makes me grind my teeth. I'm happy other people like it, though. I liked Eragon but I cannot get through the 2nd novel. So I say I like Eragon, but not Inheritance Cycle.

Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina at around age 9 started me religiously on Star Wars novels that really got me into reading.

The Eye of the World at age 12 was the first epic fantasy that I read. I've since read many that are better but still have a soft spot for it.

As a teen, Brave New World really opened my eyes that scifi/fantasy can be more than just spaceships and robots and swords.

For me it always be the The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny I read it in grade 7 and it was the first time I was ever disappointed that a series was finished. Because I wanted to carry on reading about Corwin of Amber.

Fantasy - Lord of the Rings. I read this so many times as a kid.

Sci Fi - Hyperion by Dan Simmons. Until this book I was strictly fantasy and horror but Hyperion amazed me and got me to start trying other sci fi.

Martin the Warrior for fantasy

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy for science fiction

While I was introduced the Tolkien early on by my mother, it wasn't until Junior High and High School that I started to notice fantasy as something I wanted to spend a lot of time with. I read a Gemmel book that I really liked, a McKiernan book I wasn't that thrilled with, and then a friend introduced me to D&D and lent me R.A. Salvatore's Dark Elf Trilogy.

It was all over from there. I think I burned through the first ten or so books in that series in a year. Those, more than the ones that came before, were the books that made me a voracious fantasy fan.

For sci-fi, I really only appreciated sci-fi as a film genre for a long time, and was afraid to read the books because I worried they would bore me with the "science" part.

It took Halo: The Fall of Reach to make me check out Ender's Game, and it took Ender's Game to make me check out Old Man's War, and then Leviathan Wakes, and now I'm game for the broader spectrum of sci-fi... but I still haven't read a lot.

BUT, probably the first "sciency-fiction" book I ever read was Jurassic Park. That was the first time science in fiction interested me.

The first fantasy series that I ever got fully into was The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever - Stephen R. Donaldson. Just something about the character, how flawed he was, how angry he was, how defeatist, just struck a chord with me. And I thought The Land was a very rich setting with some great supporting characters. Saltheart Foamfollower and Bannor are still two of my favorite literary characters.

Having said all that, that series didn't cement a love for fantasy. In fact, it was the only fantasy series I read for a long, long time. The one that did it for me was very recent and was The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss. That book just blew down walls built up in my brain about what fantasy was or was "supposed" to be. I loved that the story is revolved around this legend and he's telling the true story of this legend, which doesn't always make him out to be as great a legend as he's made out to be. Loved every minute of it and can't wait till the final in the series comes out.

Since then, I've been trying to make up for lost time in the fantasy genre. Seems I all of a sudden can't get enough!

Hobbit!

I don't know if you can count it as FSF, but Go, Dog. Go! seriously messed with my head when I was 4 (and again as an adult when I read it to my son)! In any case, that and Katy and the Big Snow are the two books that get all the credit for my love of reading.

For fantasy, my sister gave me A Spell for Chameleon for Christmas when I was 10 or 11 (that series is good for 5 or 6 books then kind of plays itself out, but it was a good intro into the genre). Also LOTR and Prydain, of course!

Not sure I can point to any SF that grabbed me when I was a kid. I tried to read The Foundation Trilogy when I was too young to grasp it, but I sensed something that I liked in there. I guess I'd have to go with Stalking the Nightmare, which I grabbed almost at random at an airport bookstore when I was a teen. For my money, Harlan Ellison is the king of mindblowing fiction.

Foundation, no contest. The first three books - the collected short stories - were great and then the second trilogy (Forward the Foundation, etc) were just mindblowing to me. So grand a scale, such a heavily realized universe, such interesting characters (the Mule was a personal favorite). Good stuff when I was a kid. Still good stuff now.