I was a lurker here several years ago before under a different user name, then lost my way...err i mean login info and had to re-register last year. Still mostly a lurker but an avid TC fan!
I was a big comic book reader until I was about 14 but then quit reading much of anything. Then when I was in the Marines and in Okanawa were there isn't a lot to do started reading a roommates comic books again. One of the comics was Conan. Another friend saw me reading them and said "Hey, why don't you try the real thing." and loaned me his Robert Howard books. From that instant I was hooked on reading scifi. [Sorry I still lump fantasy, sf and sometimes horror into the category scifi.]
I went to the local bookstore on the base and the first book that caught my eye was Lord Foul's Bane. I loved the cover art, the bright colors, the depiction of the Word of Warning, and kept thinking, I shouldn't pick a book just because I like the cover art but I did. It was the Darrell Sweet cover. I've always been a fan of the Sweet covers because everytime I bought one, I would study the cover for clues to the story and couldn't wait til I got to that part of the story to find out exactly what was happening. I haven't liked any of the "bland" covers I've seen since.
At the time (1980/1) the series was up to The Wounded Land. It was a short wait until The One Tree but then a very long wait for White Gold Wielder. I passed the books around amongst my Marine buddies and we all died waiting for the end of the series.
I also enjoyed the Mordant's need series, but gave up on the Gap series about halfway through the third book. Not that I think it is bad, it just wasn't grabbing me.
I rank the TC series right up at the top of my alltime favorite list along with The Riddlemaster of Hed series by Patrica McKillup and the first two Hyperion books by Dan Simmons. I can't really decide on a ranking between these three series as I like them equally.
Look forward to conversing with fellow SRD fans.
