[Cadfael]

Not True... Not True... as long as they don't start spouting that Eddings is the best author of all time and all other opinions to the contrary suck... we shall allow them live in preace... hell... I am a Goodkind fan, I need to be careful myself http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

[TripPoinT]

When I was a teenager Eddings' books really opened me up to the world of fantasy. If my Mom hadn't of brought that first book home to me I might not have ever become so gratefully addicted to fantasy books. I don't consider Eddings to be the same calibur of the authors I have read as an adult. But, Eddings, and Belgarion will always hold a special place in my heart. I think they are perfect books for a teenager...sort of a grown-up Harry Potter.

[estranghero]

(de-lurks)

True enough TripPoint.

The first books on fantasy I started on included Eddings' stuff. Great work if you're just checking the waters but if you're a little bit older, wiser... then you'll find his stories... too simple.

Nowadays, I find great joy in looking for the old stuff like Eddison, Peake, etc. and cutting-edge material like Mielville and Gaiman but that doesn't mean you turn your back to what you were before.

Now Goodkind, I NEVER really liked. Don't know why, actually. For me, he's kinda like Eddings but made into a fat fantasy. (Just an opinion!)

(returns to lurking)

[Dragon Reborn]

estranghero, you'll have to teach me how to cloak myself like that, it could come in handy!!!
http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/smile.gif

[Raislin]

Just like the Mike who started this post I am from Calgary, Alberta, Canada but I am living and working as an electrical engineer in Munich, Bavaria, Germany.

I think somewhere in the beginning I read C.S. Lewis's "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe" and I have also been in love with knights, dragons, castles, etc. but I think the book that really got me hooked was Pier Anthony's first Xanth novel "A Spell for Chamelon".

I only read the Hobbit and LOTR in the last 2 years or so but I really don't like Tolkien and I can't understand why so many other people do. My absolute favorite is (guess, guess) Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman's Dragonlance Chronicles and Dragonlance Legends!

[Erebus]

A new year..some new members perhaps...

[Llama]

Didn't realize there was an intro board, sorry. I'm male, 33, an attorney, married, living in NYC. As for my likes and dislikes I've alread posted on various threads, so people are probably already getting an idea....

[Lamanai]

Interesting... Like the idea of an introduction post... My name's Adam, and I live in Colorado. I'm 24, I think... Yep. 24.

Early in elementary school, I picked up a copy of Alice's Adventures in Wondrland, and was hooked. What a wonderful way to escape the world. I immediately picked up Through the Looking Glass, and I spent the next seven or eight years avoiding the real world...

[kyria]

Hi. I'm from Manila, Philippines, mid-20s, freelancer anything (writer, web designer, web content writer, marketing and management consultant, project manager, entrepreneur) AND fantasy reader http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/smile.gif

I didn't enjoy an excerpt of The Hobbit I had to read for school (but I like LOTR now), and so lived on a steady diet of Nancy Drew in 4th grade (1 a day from the school library) til I got hooked on romance novels (from Sweet Dreams to Judith McNaught).

Then in college, about 8 years ago a newfound friend was reading a yellow and battered copy of the Dragonlance trilogies, and so bored little me who had nothing else to read asked to borrow them. Immediately after that came the 10 Eddings books (Belgariad and Malloreon). My friend had nothing else but I was getting addicted to fantasy (I need the escape into another world) so I went over to the local bookstore chain (my personal hangout) and bought myself the only book I thought that gave more value for money - translation: thicker book for about the same price = more bang for the buck. I hadn't even heard anything about it, but it looked nice and thick, and I hoped I was making a wise investment - I left it all to chance. If this book sucked I doubt that I would have ventured to buy another book. Thank god that book was The Eye of the World.

So, there you have it, either by chance or by destiny I got into WOT and the rest is history.. http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/wink.gif

[Corwwyn]

As near as I can remember, in my first years of school I read the Illiad by Homer, as well as other Greek Mythos books (talk about classic fantasy), and some "young-fantasy" books.

Two who's titles I remember are: Spook by Jane Little, and Black and Blue Magic by Zilpha Keatley Snyder.