What initially inspired you to get into Fantasy or Science fiction??

[Robert T. Knight]

I suppose the first series I ever read was Dragonlance. After reading the first set I moved into all the spin-off storylines. Soon after I was hooked on Terry Brooks's Shannara series, and I think that's really what did it.

Then I couldn't get enough. David Eddings, Piers Anthony, RA Salvatore, anything by Weiss & Hickman, and, of course, Tolkein...it got to the point that I had read every book in our local library--I kid you not. I actually had to go searching through other genres. Oh, the horror!

[Teresa Edgerton]

Originally Posted by SWfan

When I was approximately five, a childrens' magazine named "Jack And Jill" published serial short stories about Baba Yaga the witch but told from the point of view of her familiar, a wiseacre black cat. The stories were not the classic Russian fables but new (circa 1955) fiction.

I remember those stories! But I don't know if I read those before or after my mother read The Wizard of Oz to me. I don't think I can pinpoint when I first became interested in Fantasy. Maybe from the first time someone read me a fairy tale.

[j. d. worthington]

I remember them, as well... my first encounter with Baba Yaga, who (along with her hut) has remained a part of my mental landscape ever since.... And, like you, I recall the stories as being rather well-written....

[Lobolover]

nothing special-just got around to it naturaly-sort of an ofshoot form things like Gullivers travells,which has roots of both.

[Shadowmancer]

I was initially inspired to get into sci-fi by my dad. He has quite the extensive collection and I was always intrigued by them. As for fantasy, I wanted to read the books before LOTR came out in theatre's and then, about a year ago, I was introduced to Dragonlance and fell in love with it. That's basically how the sci-fi & fantasy bugs bit me

[Marky Lazer]

What inspired me? One word: Tolkien.

[Highlander II]

bad 80's TV and my dad's obsession with Star Trek.

It all stems off that.

[Ehkzu]

I grew up in new suburbs of Los Angeles in the late 40s and early 50s, and it was blank. Boring architecture, boring big flat valley, boring schools, boring kids (I was the one of the few college-bound kids), nothing at home (drunk mom, emotionally absent dad). So scifi was an escape--gave me the futile hope that I'd been left here by accident & my real parents would come & get me. They had science fiction theater on AM radio at the time--maybe that gave me the first inspiration. And some truly cheesy sci fi shows on TV where the "special effect" was a paralyzing ray gun. Aim, fire, and the guy you shoot freezes. The first CGI I can recall was the id monster in Forbidden Planet--you only saw it when it was illuminated by the humans' rayguns. Apparently Disney's aimators did the monster. Oh, and it had the first electronic music score of any movie. The music would be innovative even today--and really stand out amid all the thundering John Williams and Williams wannabe soundtracks.

For books, a mix of Dr. Doolittle's Adventures and Heinlein's kid stuff, followed by Asimov, Clarke etc.--people with great ideas whose limited writing skills were invisible to the excited kid I was. I especially loved the exobiological stuff like Hal Clement's Mission of Gravity.

[Memnoch]

Originally Posted by Ehkzu

, people with great ideas whose limited writing skills were invisible to the excited kid I was.

As a kid isn't being oblivious and innocent to the world the sweetest memory! I must admit I can still overlook bad writing if the plot and characters are intriguing enough sometimes. Although it
can be a serious distraction.

[Celeritas]

Albert Einstein. And my grandfather who told me about him and his thought experiments. picturing einstein riding around on a beam of light was the spark that kindled my imagination and my passion for all things science fiction.

[kuriosity]

I used to read everything when I was little, and I guess I realized I liked the fantasy books a bit more. I didn't start actually picking up more fantasy books than other books until after Harry Potter.

[Grymalkyn]

I began with Zelazny's "Creatures of Light and Darkness", probably in the year it first came out. I loved the world, the characters - really felt akin to them! - and the fuge completely grabbed me. I know his fugue is quite controversial but it feels just like home to me ... just shows you what theinside of my head's like

From there I went on to "Left Hand of Darkness" ... and never looked back. Zelazny, Le Guin and Windling are probably the books I would try to rescue after the cats if the house was on fire.

I love Terri Windling's "The Wood Wife", wish she'd write some more ...

[Engage Books]

It's one of the only genre's where you can look at the way things are going, and show a possible outcome to current events/issues/technology. Farenheight 451 is a prime example of a possible outcome, if we follow a certain path.