Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

When I was a kid, before Harry Potter and the recent influx of sf and fantasy for kids and young adults, I made my way into sf and fantasy from reading Susan Cooper, the Borrowers by Mary Norton and Madeleine L'Engle to Andre Norton and Anne McCaffrey. Nowadays there is quite a bit more fantasy and sf for children. But there are also a lot of movies and television sf programs. Which is more influential to how you started reading sf and fantasy -- was it books or other visual media that led you to the genre.

I think it was three "holiday" films that influenced me. They used to show up every year on TV when the holidays rolled around, and I was just enthralled with them:

-- The Wizard of Oz
-- Ben Hur
-- The Ten Commandments

Randy wrote: "I think it was three "holiday" films that influenced me. They used to show up every year on TV when the holidays rolled around, and I was just enthralled with them:"

Ah, a phenomenon of a bygone era. A lot of the younger members here don't know of a time before home video and 200 channel cable TV. In an age where you can stream or rent just about any movie whenever you want, it must seem quaint that there was a time that if NBC broadcast "The Wizard Of Oz", it was an event for which people gathered around the TV.

The recommendation of a friend got me into reading fantasy, well got me back into reading full stop, after reading not much at all during my teen years, with Piers Anthony's 'Incarnations of Immortality'.

Sadly, I too remember the days before home video. Regular sunday night viewing was 'planet of the apes' and 'Space 1999'.

I think my interest for fantasy as a literary genre was a result of gaming. Since I was around 10 years old, I've found enjoyment in games such as World of Warcraft, RuneScape , and the later The Elder Scrolls games. It only seemed natural to pursue my interest in fantasy through a second, more acclaimed, medium.

G33z3r wrote: In an age where you can stream or rent just about any movie whenever you want, it must seem quaint that there was a time that if NBC broadcast "The Wizard Of Oz", it was an event for which people gathered around the TV.

What got me into SF and fantasy was radio. (For you youngsters, that's like TV but without the pictures.) In the late 1950s, the BBC Home Service had a programme called Children's Hour at 5 o'clock, on which there was usually a reading from a children's book. One of the books was The Hobbit, and another was The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I was so taken with these that I hied me off to the children's section of the public library, where I not only found those two books, but more Narnia books, the 'Kings of Space' novels of Captain W.E.Johns, and many more delights. And so I became hopelessly addicted to what the critic and journalist Edmund Wilson described as 'juvenile trash' (delightful man).

Supercar and Fireball XL5 on TV, comics like Iron Man, and Challengers of the Unknown, and Edgar Rice Burroughs' Martian series plus Lobang Rampa's books on astral travel.

I read Rampa too. I think I started to doubt him when I read the one written by his cat.

Chris wrote: "I read Rampa too. I think I started to doubt him when I read the one written by his cat."

Me too :)

For me way back in the 60's it was reading my mom's Doc Savage books. Wish I kept them when she died,so I could re-read them. I loved that series!

My mum started reading Harry Potter to me when I was 5. As I became more and more obsessed with them, she decided to read Tolkien's works to me as well. Soon afterwards the BBC started producing Merlin, and I essentially became addicted to fantasy. I also started playing WoW years later at the times when there was no fantasy book to hand.

Unbroken Silence wrote: "My mum started reading Harry Potter to me when I was 5...."

You had a great mother. I bought the first HP at my daughter's book fair for me, read it & told her how great it was. She was in Special Ed for reading due to dyslexia & a learning recall disorder. She loved for us to read her stories but HATED reading herself. After getting sucked into a couple of HP books, she was reading above her grade level & still reads a lot just for pleasure.

I started out reading Conan, but there were a lot of others. Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time, The Forgotten Door, Lloyd Alexander's The Book of Three, Andre Norton, Robert A. Heinlein, & such. Pop always had pulp magazines around, too.

In Jr. High a Math teacher had some time left at the end of class near the last day before summer. He read us a short story. This was around 1959 so I don't remember the title or author. It was about aliens landing on a dead planet. As the story moved forward it became clear the planet was future Earth. I was enthralled.When I went to the library to get something to read for the summer and asked about Science Fiction. By the end of the summer I was hooked.

My Mom read me fantasy books when I was a little kid. I kind of drifted away from them until I got to high school. Then I saw that this hawt girl I had the scorching loins for was reading the Hobbit. I was more into sports and classics like Three Musketeers and Treasure Island at the time, but I thought if sh e saw me reading it, we might havesomething to talk about. She rejected any conversations I tried to strike up with that stuck up Iis-this-dork-actually-talking-to-me look. ButI loved the book and went on to read every fantasy Iin the school libray. Sci-fi came along later. I defriended an engineer after I got out of college, and he FORCED me to read The Foundation Trilogy. I was hooked after that.

My grandmother bought me Madeleine L'Engle's books and the Narnia series...and I progressed from there to the Hobbit, LOTR and Heinlein. A wonderful librarian introduced me to the Wheel of Time books when I was a teenager - and there was no turning back after that. I'll read all kinds of genres - but sf/fantasy are my first loves.

I grew up in the 70's watching re-runs of Star Trek:TOS, Space 1999 and Doctor who. These shows fascinated me, with the endless possibilities sci-fi stories can bring to the imagination.

The first sci-fi books I read were "The Tripods" trilogy, a series of young adult novels written by John Christopher, beginning in 1967.

I then read E.E. Doc Smith's Lensmen series, and haven't looked back.

Likewise the 70s influenced me as well. And it wasn't just fiction that played well. The space race was in full swing back then, the Space Shuttle program was brand new, and I wanted to be a pilot/astronaut.

Magazines like PopSci and Omni were part of my regular word diet too. Anything aero space just piled fuel on my desire. When I ran out of interesting stories that were real I dove into interesting stories that were made up.

I read my first SF book in 3rd grade. I can't remember what it was. I remember that the ships on the cover were shaped like barbels. Not too long thereafter, my family was out of the country for six years. The only thing I had to read were the Reader's Digest condensed books we had brought with us.
Once back in the U.S. I discovered Heinlein, Asimov, EE Doc Smith, and others, and I was hooked.
I fell in love with stories of Robin Hood and of King Arthur and the knights of the table round as a tween, so the jump to fantasy was a short one. I hit it hardest in college, after my first reading of LOTR.

I suppose my earliest introduction would have been the Enid Blyton books of my childhood such as The Faraway Tree. I was always a bookworm. Every time my mother went shopping I would beg her to bring me back a book. Then during school vacations she would keep me supplied with library books although she would sometimes look at me in bemusement when one day later I gave her 2 or 3 that I had already finished. Finally, somewhere around 13 or so, she brought The Lord of the Rings home from the library. All three books had been bound into one huge hard cover tome (I suspect she just hoped it would keep me occupied for few days longer than usual). I had read other sci-fi/fantasy along the way (Day of the Triffids and The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe among them), but this! I was a goner from that point on. Then someone gave me David Eddings' Belgariad - fantasy with sarcasm, a new combination of my favorite things - and there was no return after that.

I was an avid reader since childhood, often spending the evening with a good book while my brother went out to play football (soccer). I'm not sure what exactly attracted me to the sf or fantasy genres, but suspect it could have been a combination of the animated version of LOTR (from the 70s I think), a Narnia TV series, Doctor Who (there was actually a top ten smash hit song featuring the Daleks, I recall) and my obsession with Roald Dahl.

I had many friends who collected Warhammer figurines, though it was too much of an expensive hobby for my modest parents. The films Willow, Krull and Star Wars were my perennial favorites and my parents and brother would always frown when I put the video in the player.

Funnily enough, my reading habit was never really encouraged by my parents, though didn't disapprove either. I would often spend hours alone in my room, battling imaginary orcs or aliens, only to have my mother shout at me from downstairs to keep the noise down (I would jump around a lot). At one point, my mother actually got worried that I was spending so much time alone, either reading or in my own world and I suspect my brother also found me a bit of an oddball, a slightly embarrassing sibling when his friends came over. I totally got Matilda (though my parents were both highly educated, they were very 'realistic').

When I turned about eleven, I started really getting into Hong Kong films. Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, Yuen Biao, Sammo Hung became my heroes, perhaps since they had similar faces to mine. An 80s Hong Kong film called 'Zu Warriors' (I think) replaced Willow as my favorite and I may have watched it at least 10 times.

I don't know how turned out to be some sort of memoir. .. All this to say that I had so many influences (Wizard of Earthsea, Which Witch?, etc) that I can't really pinpoint one single reason.

I read A Wrinkle in Time when I was really young--maybe 8? Then the John Christopher Tripods series, and I was hooked. The Man who was Magic by Gallico was a fave, though maybe not quite in the sci-fi genre. Read Heinlein and Asimov in HS, and just kept going with it. Lord of the Rings, of course, and some McCaffrey, back when her books were actually written rather than outlined. I read occasional fantasy, but mostly stick with "real" sci-fi.

I love reading all these early read stories as they bring back a lot of memories. John Christopher was a favorite author of mine, too. He has a lot of great books.

I found the Lord of the Rings books on my dad's bookshelves aged about 8 or 9 and was fascinated by it. I was told it was too old for me, but I didn't want to believe it. Anyway, I read it when I was about 10. I loved it, but didn't realise there was other fantasy books out there. Then my brother in law (at the time he was just someone who spent years trying and failing to get my sister to go out with him) suggested I read David Eddings and lent me the first few books (he'd bring them one at a time just to have an excuse to come round). I was hooked. Later I borrowed 'Magician' by Raymond E. Feist off him and I was even more hooked. A friend at school later recommended Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series, and my trio of favourite authors as a teenager was complete.

Some years after I thought I should check out some science fiction too, as I really enjoyed Star Trek The Next Generation, Babylon 5 etc. I read a few Asimov, Clarke etc and now these days I much prefer science fiction to fantasy.

I read the Narnia books and a lot of horror when I was younger, Tripods, Day of the Triffids. I watched Star Wars and Star Trek. I like creative world building and heroes.
Used to read a lot of fairy tales (actually still do), myths and legends, Greek/Roman myths.

Oh and I remember seeing Voyage of the Dawn Treader and Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe as stage shows and I was mesmerised.

Matthew wrote: "Likewise the 70s influenced me as well. And it wasn't just fiction that played well. The space race was in full swing back then, the Space Shuttle program was brand new, and I wanted to be a pilot/..."

Wow, that's a blast from the past. I used to LOVE Omni. Always something cool and futuristic in there. The only ones that kinda come close to that as far as current rags I can find are Scientific American andDiscovery, and those are nowhere near as much fun.

@ A.L.

I loved the tripod trilogy I forgot all about those til you just mentioned them. Great books.

Yeah, went to buy those a few years ago and they were only available second hand for a fortune.

I think I first fell in love with fantasy with the Redwall series by Brian Jacques and the Chronicles of Narnia when I was in elementary/middle school. I wasn't too interested in sci fi until I found Anne McCaffrey. I already had a weakness for dragons and the scientific basis behind Pern just blew my mind. After that I wasn't interested in any other genre for a long time but I still haven't read anywhere near as much sci fi as I have fantasy.

My grandfather and my father. My mom told me she couldn't be one of those women who kept her beau waiting while she primped a bit more. If she didn't get down smartly, she'd find (my dad to be) and her father passionately discussing the latest issue of Astounding. That was the sort of material on the bookshelves of our home and I had no objection to devouring it.

Sitting in my jammies with Grandpa and Dad watching Mercury, Gemini and Apollo launches were happy bonding moments.

Raylion wrote: "@ A.L.

I loved the tripod trilogy I forgot all about those til you just mentioned them. Great books."

* Update. These are being re-released in the next couple of months. I have the preorder!

I think it was just my boundless imagination that brought me to sf/f. Why I'm then writing a sf book. I've always been intrigued by worlds and cultures and technologies so different from my own.

I was cutting my teath early on books like The Enormous Egg, Hugh Lofting's Doctor Dolittle books, and Greek and Roman myth....but what made me a life-long fan was the orginal Star Trek series...I discovered Mack Reynolds Star Trek novel in a dollar store (the one for kids), the James Blish books were next. I rember the Classics Illustrated The Time Machine, War of the Worlds, ect. One birthday I got $5 I spent on a copy of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (not a watered down kiddie version...spent a good chunk of the summer reading it)...got the measles and my mom brought me home a copy of The Blue Star (by Pratt I think) from the library...I don't rember the story, but I rember enjoying it. At some point a older cousin showed me his sf collection, we started trading books back and forth....thus a fan is born.

There's an extent to where I'm just hard-wired that way. I gravitated early to comic books, super-heroes, Godzilla and other monsters, so on and so forth. But I would definitely say it was Marvel Comics that paved the way.

Lee and Kirby could make you believe...use to love me some Legion of Super-Heros too...

I remember in like, Fantastic Four seventy something, they went to fight Psycho Man in the Microverse -- talk about science fiction. Jaw dropping work by Kirby.

My dad used to read fairytales and Dr. Seuss books to me as a kid. With that combo- is it any wonder that I love fantastic creatures and wondrous places?

fairytales and Dr. Seuss...when I was a tot my favorite days were when the mailman brought me a package from the I Can Read Bookclub...

Spooky1947 wrote: "fairytales and Dr. Seuss...when I was a tot my favorite days were when the mailman brought me a package from the I Can Read Bookclub..."

Oh man! You know what I used to dig? In school every couple of months, they'd bring in a catalogue of books. And I'd hit the peeps up for three or four that looked cool and would just be chomping at the bit until they arrived! And man, when they did come in, that would make my week at least!

I rember those...Encyclopedia Brown, an occasional dinosaur book....I LOVED those...and if the folks wouldn't front me the cash for all the ones I wanted, I'd skim from my recess and lunch money to but em. :D

Exactly! I forgot about Encyclopedia Brown. Yup! The Mad Scientists Club. The Black Pearl...

I had a hard time learning how to read when I was a kid. So naturally I hated anything to do with it. I'd say when I was around 10 or 11 a friend of mine let me borrow Terry Goodkinds Wizard's First Rule, and I devoured it, but I didn't really get that spark for reading until a little later. My dad took me to a used book store around the same time and I picked up Robins Hobbs Assassins Quest. The cover is what grabbed me. Fitz with his sword on his shoulder, Nighteyes howling, while the Fool is riding an Elderling in the background. 11 year old me couldn't not want to read it. I found out later that was the 3rd book in the series, but it didn't matter. I was hooked. That book is the most read in my entire collection, that pages are falling out. That's how I discovered fantasy.

My taste for Science Fiction has just been awoken. I just discovered Jack Vance about 3 months ago, and I can't get enough of him. I'm 28, and the books I've been reading are from the 60's and 70's but there is something timeless about them. I just read the 5 Demon Prince books, and I've started on the four Plant of Adventure books.

Bryce wrote: "I had a hard time learning how to read when I was a kid. So naturally I hated anything to do with it. I'd say when I was around 10 or 11 a friend of mine let me borrow Terry Goodkinds Wizard's Firs..."

I get that. I was the opposite. Loved reading, got to it early. But I loved guys from years before me as well. Bradbury, Asimov, Heinlein, Zelazny. All of which I recommend if you haven't gotten to them yet. Dune, The Martian Chronicles, Stranger in a Strange Land, The Foundation Trilogy...if you haven't gotten to them yet.

I discovered Doc Smith as a kid in the 70's. That did it.

My earliest sci-fi memory is watching Logan's Run on TV. I thought it was the coolest movie EVER and I wanted more and more sci-fi. But then again, I was a kid. I watched it again recently and it was totally cheesy. The moral here - never re-read or re-watch your favorite things from childhood!!

Some hold up! The Golden Voyage of Sinbad was my first favorite movie. I still dig it. (Maybe that says more about me than the movie. )

While Doc Smith really cemented my love of the genre back in the 70's, what really triggered my interest came earlier, when I was six years old: Apollo 13.

I still remember seeing the News and hearing how the Astronauts had to fly just the right course or they would either crash or miss the Earth entirely.

I rember seeing Armstrong on the moon when I was a tot (4 years old)

Spooky1947 wrote: "I rember seeing Armstrong on the moon when I was a tot (4 years old)"

I was five that summer. My problem is that I can't tell if my connection to the Moon landing is because of actual memories from the time, or because of memories of memories that formed later.

There's also the fact I was in the UK in the summer of 69, but in Canada in 1970, which makes a difference.

With Apollo 13, I've got a better memory of the event as opposed to a memory of a memory.

I got a "moon landing" birthday cake that year...it had a plastic astronaut on it and a plastic rocket (the whole saturn, not just a lem)...I kept that rocket for years....