Kevin's Watch

The first science fiction or fantasy I remember reading is Day of the Starwind by Douglas Hill. Not sure how old I was, but I know I was an established fan of the series by the time I was ten. At ten or eleven, I read The Hobbit. At about twelve, I read Knights of Dark Renown by David Gemmell. Shortly thereafter came The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Farm Ur-Ted wrote:The way I remember it, the first book that I bought myself (well, I made my Mom pay for it) was Deryni Rising, and that book (as well as the rest by Katherine Kurtz) sent me over the edge for good.

I'd also read other stuff like 1000 Leagues (boring!), The House with a Clock in its Walls, The War of the Worlds and The Day of the Ness (Andre Norton), but I'm pretty sure it was KK that got me going. Well, and maybe Piers Anthony.

Very similiar story here. . . I read all of my middle school library by the time I began 7th grade, and had my older brother check out books from the high school for me. The first ones he brought me were Piers Anthony, and after that it was Katherine Kurtz. Those books are an integral part of my childhood. I was literally obsessed with them, and have read each one countless times. I've long dreamed of being able to mindspeak, truth-read, and use transfer portals. Right on the heels of KK I read The 1st and 2nd Chronicles of TC, and I've never looked back.

After the aforementioned books, I trundled along with a bit of Pratchett and Gemmell until Covenant at 16. Took me almost a year to read the first and second chronicles back to back. I've slowed down since then (I'm a chapter into Fatal Revenant, and I've been reading it since early October...)

Wyldewode wrote:The first ones he brought me were Piers Anthony, and after that it was Katherine Kurtz. Those books are an integral part of my childhood. I was literally obsessed with them, and have read each one countless times. I've long dreamed of being able to mindspeak, truth-read, and use transfer portals. Right on the heels of KK I read The 1st and 2nd Chronicles of TC, and I've never looked back.

I'd sit in church, bored out of my gourd, and wish I had a ring to stare out so I could go into a deryni mind-trance. Hell, I've got a couple rings now, and still do it when I'm bored and trapped somewhere.

If it ever works, let me know.

Her name was Linda. She...

Oops! Sorry. Thread's not about that, is it...


I grew up watching Trek with my dad.

As for books...

DukkhaWaynhim wrote:Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH

Might well have been my first, too. 5th grade. Not sure when I read A Wrinkle in Time, though. A Wizard of Earthsea was in there somewhere, too.

DukkhaWaynhim wrote:The Elfstones of Shannara (Terry Brooks)

How can you not love the Dagda Mor, Reaper, and Changeling??

I saw Star Wars when I was around 5 (1977)....what else does a small boys mind need to fuel the fires of Sci-Fi?

I also collected a British sci fi comic called 2000AD for a decade or so...it boasted that it was "the galaxy's greatest" comic on the covers, they weren't lying.

As for actual books, I bought a cheap book when I was about 13 out of sheer curiosity...it was called "Pirates of Venus", by Edgar Rice Burroughs, I knew it would be a bit old fashioned (having a perfectly habitable Venus was a clue), but it didn't matter, I devoured it, and started buying all the ERB books I could find, I then found others, like Michael Moorcock, Lin Carter and indulged myself on a diet of "golden age" style herioc fiction....I gradually moved onto pure "fantasy" like Fiest, Donaldson etc....this is the stuff what really floats my boat, not read much real sci-fi for years.

Well, I got into Star Trek when I was about 9, and I think Heinlein's Tunnel In The Sky was the first Sci-Fi book I read. I was about 10 then. After that I got into Michael Moorcock, Fritz Leiber, Piers Anthony, Anne McCaffrey... oooh.. and a bunch of others that won't come to mind right now.

the Chronicles of Narnia ..

Well, I have 3 different answers. The first fantasy book I ever read on my own was Redwall.

The first books ever read to me...probably something Arthurian. I believe it was one of the following:
-St George and the Dragon
-Gawain and the Green Knight
-Arthur, High King of Britain
-Or it could have also been Lloyd Alexander's the Book of Three, which is more Celtic than French Romance versions of Arthur.

I realize that some might argue about whether Arthur is fantasy, but so be it.

I believe my first exposure to science fiction was Foundation, which my dad read aloud to me and my bro.

My parents sometimes told us stories, and my mom made up some about me and my brother as little kid knights of sorts. We had a dragon and stuff, but I don't remember whether there were any villains.

Was The Hobbit/i] for me. I read it when I was 8 years old or so, and I suspect I'd had it read to me when I was younger still.

Never looked back.

--A

When I was in kindergarten I found the Lost Princess of Oz stuffed in the bottom cushion of a chair. Undoubtedly one of my older siblings cast offs. I remember reading the whole first chapter (it took me forever, then, I could do it in a minute and a half now), and I was sooooooo proud of myself.

Good times, good times.

Ive never read any of the Oz stories but Im curious about the feel it would have without being a big musical production, if it would have the same underlying creepiness as Alice In Wonderland.

The Fellowship of the Ring was my first 'real' fantasy book.
I think I was 11 when I read it.

Mr. Broken wrote:Ive never read any of the Oz stories but Im curious about the feel it would have without being a big musical production, if it would have the same underlying creepiness as Alice In Wonderland.

I am completely creeped out by the original Wizard of Oz movie, and that made me avoid any of the books. However, I recently watched the SciFi channel's Tin Man (a new vision of the story), and really liked it.

Tin Man was pretty cool, imo.

It's also the title of a great Star Trek: The Next Generation episode.

I always seemed to get into series..

The Elfstones of Shannara
The Dragonriders of Pern
The Myth Adventures
The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant

It all started when I was in about 7th grade and I read as much as I could and would read the same books over and over (and over...and over...)

Fist and Faith wrote: I grew up watching Trek with my dad.

As for books...

Not sure when I read A Wrinkle in Time, though. A Wizard of Earthsea was in there somewhere, too.

Amazing how familiar different peoples experiences are!

I grew up watching Trek with my Parents. My older brother was right there with me.

And Im fairly certain my first Sci-fi book was A Wrinkle in Time.

I watched Star Trek when I was young. Reading, it was Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles.