What book/author brought you into the Fantasy Genre?

[Sethanel]

I have been surfing through the forums of late and have noticed that a lot of people seem to have read RA Salvatore at one point. I have also read Mr. Salvatore's work (Drizzt moreso than the others) but no longer do.

So here is my question: What author or series brought you full heartedly into the Fantasy Genre?

For me it was a mixture of Anne McCaffrey, Terry Brooks and RA Salvatore. Who are yours?

[COMBS!!!]

Margaret Wies and Tracy Hickman
I read the Chronicles, Legends and war of souls back in grade 8
I read The Hobbit first but that is not what sparked my interest in Fantasy

[Evergreen]

i started reading redwall in third grade and that was my gateway series. then i began reading dragonlance and fantasy had me forever in its grip.

[Motti]

The Deltora Quest series by Emily Rodda. Brilliant series, I think there's even an anime of it.

[Miluiel]

Feel really pathetc is saying it, but Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling got me into reading. J.R.R.Tolkein did as well.. But now I'm a major fantasy reader, as well as other genres... But mostly fantasy stuff!

[QuintEssence401]

I have always been into fantasy and my first video game was final fantasy 7. But book wise i had been reading a bunch of detective/suspense books and i kinda got tired of that. So i picked up The Way of The Shadows off the barnes&noble website and it was awesome, so i bought the rest of the trilogy. I guess i have to say Brent Weeks got me into fantasy reading. But otherwise I have always loved Fantasy movies and games.

[Dray Belle]

this is going to sound terribly cliche but the first fantasy books i wasa really into were harry potter. after that i found the inheritence cycle by christopher paolini and i was immediately hooked. im also a big stereotypical nerd so the world of warcraft d&d thing really intrestd me.

[Sethanel]

Don't listen to Evergreen. I am an avid fan of Paolini and Harry Potter. It may take me a day or two but I am going to request that the two comments be removed from this discussion.

ttyl

[Brynweir]

I can't say that I am a fan of Paolini or Harry Potter, but I do see why some people would like them. I even encourage other people to give them a try despite not enjoying them all that much. There are things about each that serve a purpose and have their place.

I also think that some people on here need to learn the word tact. Not that I'm not one of them, but we are here to DISCUSS literature not bash each others' opinions or make fun of the other person's interests. There's no reason we can't keep it civil people.

[Evergreen]

sorry sethanel and dray belle, i must have been in a bad mood that day, i'm not normally that big a ... jerk. anyways, hope you can forgive me and we can go back to having productive discussions. my bad.

[HardcoreLittleChick]

Call me lame, but:

The Series Of Unfortunate Events - Lemony Snickett
The Chronicles of Narnia - C.S. Lewis
The Magic Tree House - Mary Pope Osbourne

and most of all:


Rob Thurman; the author of the Cal Leandros Series:

Nightlife
Moonshine
Madhouse
Deathwish

She's really what gave me the big shove.

I've yet to read R.A. Salvatore, but my boyfriend is a huge fan of the Legend of Drizzt. I really wanna read them! xD

[Daniel Frederick]

I was born a hard core SciFi reader....then one day while in an airport waiting to fly to Marine boot camp I bought:

Waylander by David Gemmell.

Read the whole book before showing up at boot camp. I was hooked on Gemmell books after that and fantasy too.

[neal reagan]

hmm.. I would have to say Tolien and Salvatore at the same time. My senior year in high school, i had a helluva lot of free time and ended up reading all of my schools fantasy books. I read mostly Salvatore, Weis and Hickman, with an especially close look at their books that didn't follow mainstream fantasy (aka the dnd role model. I love Tolkien's world better... sorry. and yes, there IS a difference). There was one series by Weis/Hickman that was all about a magical society living in solace, and i can't seem to remember the name of the series. Oh well... I read the silmarillion believe it or not. And i lovingly pay homage to Illuvitar, out of respect for the deceased father of fantasy. I mean, seriously, he started it all. Him, and Lewis of course. If not for his vivid imagination, fantasy wouldn't be where it is. And of course, I love my new favorite author, Brent Weeks (wink wink) for finally straying from the straight and narrow. Too few do so these days.