[mybeaker]

Okay this might make for an interesting string.

What was the first fantasy book you read? How old were you? Did it impact you in anyway for the long-run or was it just something you read and moved along?

Myself, the fantasy book I read was the Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin. I was 12 years old and my English teacher used it for a group book. I think it changed my whole outlook on books really. Before that I'd been a Stephen King/Dean Koontz/John Grisham baby. But it introduced me into a whole new world.

Anyway, let me know what you all think

[Rob B]

This is discussed in another topic, try
How did you come into fantasy? (http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000127.html)

[Bob Gray]

I was always (and still am) a fan of horror, so it wasn't until a few years back that I decided to try fantasy and I figured if I'm going to read fantasy, why not start out with the cream of the crop, so I picked up LotR. I'm glad I did because I've come to enjoy it almost as much as horror. If Tolkien hadn't been so great, that probably would have been the end of my fantasy reading. Then I read WoT and The Belgariad and that sealed the deal, I'm a fan.

[Kazz Wylde]

This is discussed in another topic, try
How did you come into fantasy? (http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000127.html)

That link isnt working, Rob.

[Michigan]

Probably Narnia, read to me by my parents.

[PeteMC]

My mum read The Hobbit to me when I was about eight I think

[Randy M.]

I think Bob Gray and I could be the same person.

Seriously, in my pre-teens I gobbled up dozens of mysteries. Mystery/crime anthologies led me to horror stories by writers like Robert Bloch who straddled the genres, and that led me to Lovecraft which led me to fantasy and s.f. A friend I made in college pushed LOTR and Childhood's End on me and that sealed the deal.

Randy M.

[chris777]

I believe my colleague Rob meant to post this link
How did you come into fantasy (http://www.sffworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17755)

I personally did not start reading until I was about 23. I thought it was pointless. How can you enjoy staring at words on a page?! I got bored one day at work and someone handed me "Fereheit 451". It was only OK i thought, but made me realize. Eh, maybe reading isn't so bad. At that point I thought about what I wanted to read about, what genre. And a friend had Vlad Taltos Series by Steven Brust. Started reading that and was hooked on fantasy ever since. Full exposure...someone then recommended to me Death Gate Cycle by Weis and Hickman. I loved both, but I wanted more books like Death Gate. So I went and found Dragonvarld. I was very dissapointed. At that point in time I decided I would pay more attention to reviews and what other people think. I was guided by TOP 25 LIST (http://www.bestfantasybooks.com/top25-fantasy-books.php) quite a bit. But also some of my random searches which led me to Dark Tower Stephen King and Riftwar Saga Raymond E Feist. That about sums up my time before this forum, when I made most of my decisions based on things said here!

[Bob Gray]

I think Bob Gray and I could be the same person.

Seriously, in my pre-teens I gobbled up dozens of mysteries. Mystery/crime anthologies led me to horror stories by writers like Robert Bloch who straddled the genres, and that led me to Lovecraft which led me to fantasy and s.f. A friend I made in college pushed LOTR and Childhood's End on me and that sealed the deal.

Randy M.

Self, is that you? How did you get out?

[Chrysippus]

Sometime in middle school, I remember seeing the cool kids (i.e., the kids that passed for cool in my honors classes) reading things like The Hobbit and Ender's Game. So I started hanging out in the SFF section of my local Borders, and ended up reading The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Ender's Game, and Dragonlance: The War of Souls (not necessarily in that order). From there I went back and read most of Weis & Hickman's earlier Dragonlance stuff. The rest is hazy, but I remember reading Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in college, as well as some Terry Pratchett. But I guess I wasn't really hooked on fantasy until I read A Song of Ice and Fire the summer before my senior year of college some four and a half years ago.