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

[Citadel]

As a child of the 80's, I was ever placed before the TV when Conan was great, Heman fought Skeletor, Red Sonya fought and killed everyman she came to, and I owned every action figure. The Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books were a dime a dozen, and allowed you to plunder into the Mountain of Mirrors and fight dog-packs in the City of Thieves. My dad and myself use to set down and write little stories and make up our own sketches of monsters.
In the fourth grade, the creators of the cartoon/film LOTR came to our little school in Fort Ashby WVa and said that we were a test school for the new art of mixing cartoon graphics with real film. I was in love and the bug grew ever so....

[Manarion]

Ah, the days of Choose your own Adventure...I remember those ones well.

I'd say I've always been into fantasy. I've had a good imagination my whole life-my early childhood didn't have a computer-and I spent a lot of my time reading. These days, I really can't remember what kind of stuff I read, but it was always at least good fiction, if not totally fantasy, and when I dreamed worlds would be created in my-if you'll pardon the expression-wake.

[Lady of Winterfell]

Wow...I had almost forgotten about those Choose your own Adventure books. Are they still around?

[Manarion]

No idea, unfortunately...I remember the first one I ever read was one where you find a cloak of invisibility while visiting your grandparent's farm for your birthday...

Has anyone ever read the Transall Saga, by-of all people-Gary Paulson?

[george c]

my 10th grade english teacher had us read tolklein and cs lewis then didnt read at all for 30 yrs(books) then my son found swan wars by sean russell.
last couple of yrs have been reading a book every 2 weeks or so.

[Ramoth's Rider]

My Brother! He had to Read Lord of the rings and being a younger sister i stole it as you do and then started reading it! It got me hooked and then he discovered Harry Harrison and that was it! Sci FI Fest!!!

[Sassee]

I was drawing things like winged horses and dragons long before I picked up my thirst for the otherwordly Later, I was also fascinated by the idea that everything might not be as it seemed.

[GOLLUM]

Just the magic it brings and the freedom it gives you to dream. As one gifted author once said it gives me 'cranial summersaults of pleasure' or words somewhat similar. Being a bit of a loner when growing up also meant I could burrow myself into some fantastic world for a few hours. It also helped that my mother and sister were heavily into literature and we had a pretty extensive library of the classics at home (you see folks the term 'library' was even making an impression upon me at such an early age there was never any hope of escape... ) Of course the spark was solidified with LeGuin's Wizard Of Earthsea and to a lesser extent Alan Garner's Weird Stone Of Brisingamen. As they say in the classics, 'never looked back since'.

[Lith]

I never had a chance. I was steeped in SF and fantasy since day one, thanks to my family. Oddly though, Narnia escaped me, because my mother made us think it was something we ought to read, to become good Christians, and having a perverse streak, I wouldn't read it (being that reading is for fun, first and foremost, and moralizing is what Sunday School is for).

I also didn't read LOTR until I was in college, because I hated the cartoon version with a passion. Only my enduring love of elves and a desire to finally acquaint myself with some modern Christian writers overcame that.

And I hated Star Trek. Certain aspects of DS9 aside, I still hate it. And yet I've seen almost every episode of all of them save Enterprise, thanks to other family members.

All that, coupled with loathing for the Dark Crystal, and the wonder is that I'm still reading and watching SF&F. (The positives are actually too numerous to mention or remember. Star Wars is somewhat above all the others.) I like wild ideas, and other genres are too much like real life to invest a terrible amount of interest in. Might as well go out and live that life, if it could really be lived.

And I'm guilty of the cover art thing too. Not so much these days, but I still browse the shelves for things that catch the eye. The ONLY book in years to pass the other tests after the cover test (namely, reading the synopsis, first paragraph, and random page) was Angel with the Sword, by uh, Cherryh. And it was okay. I've mostly switched to word of mouth for my reading material now. Ironically an eye-grabbing cover on an unknown book now makes me suspicious, as it's a mark of mediocrity. But I still like pretty pictures for their own sake.

[AE35Unit]

I think it must have been my sister buying me a picture book version of Journey to the Centre of the Earth when I was 10. Still got it somewhere!
(Gawd,31 years ago!)

[Manarion]

Originally Posted by Sassee

I was drawing things like winged horses and dragons long before I picked up my thirst for the otherwordly Later, I was also fascinated by the idea that everything might not be as it seemed.

"Winged horses" what a term. PEGASUS, sassee, pegasus. I'm a Greek mythology buff and terms like "winged horse" just offends me for some reason....

[Lith]

I thought Pegasus was a proper noun? I.E. the name of the creature Pegasus, not a general term, which could be argued to have been misappropriated...


(Why no, I don't have more important things to do today, why do you ask?)

[Overread]

Originally Posted by Ramoth's Rider

My Brother! He had to Read Lord of the rings and being a younger sister i stole it as you do and then started reading it! It got me hooked and then he discovered Harry Harrison and that was it! Sci FI Fest!!!

I think I have done this to my younger brother - but I had to push the book into his hands the first time -- and it was a new copy -- nobody gets thier grubby mitts on my precious ones!

[Woodfoot]

I have watched Star Trek and programs like Lost in space since the 70's ....god i feel old!!

First Sci fantasy book i remember reading (there may have been others) i picked up from the local library it was The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant by Stephen Donaldson i really enjoyed and from there on it was all downhill!!

My late auntie was a sci fi nut and had lots of bookcases full so from the library it was the obvious choice to ransack her collection.

I also remember getting hold of a copy of the War of the worlds on vinyl!!

[Sassee]

Originally Posted by Manarion

"Winged horses" what a term. PEGASUS, sassee, pegasus. I'm a Greek mythology buff and terms like "winged horse" just offends me for some reason....

Not all winged horses are Pegusi (is that a word or did I just make that up?). Most of the ones I drew had bat wings, not bird wings.