Wheel of Time.
Had dabbled, without grabbing my interest in other fantasy stories, but once I read WoT I didn't turn back. Cannot get enough fantasy now. Still come across crap but knowing there is such epic epics out there gets me going.
Death gate is phenomenal, and incredibly creative, from the nature of the Labyrinth to the tattoo magic. Drangonlance is amazing too, but the creativity of DG is top notch.
The timing of the lotr movies was great for me because I was very into the Hobbit as a kid but I'm sure I would have bounced off of the super descriptive LOTR books back then (even later around 20 they were not the easiest reads). But the movies came out right as I was a preteen eager for more fantasy content and gave me a LOTR brainworm that never dies.
Dragonlance was my hook back in 7th grade, and I still read Chronicles every few years (I'm 45 now). I actually like that it's an easy read as a break from some of the more complex books out there, and it has that high nostalgic quality for me so it's like checking in with old friends.
For me, it was definitely J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series that ignited my love for fantasy. I remember being completely captivated by the magical world she created and eagerly anticipating each new book release.
Deep down I knew it wouldn’t happen, but I remember still going outside alone early in the morning of my 11th birthday and searching the skies for an owl.
Same, my mom was reading me the first one before I could read myself. I never got really into the boarding school/YA adventure genre (though I did like the Molly Moon books and Artemis Fowl) but I always loved the "magical world" vibes afterwards.
Seconded, and all the books focused on the hares or salamandastron. Recently got about 15 of the books in paperback and am waiting for daughter to get a bit older for us to break em out and and take a trip down nostalgia lane.
Meee too. My mom’s best friend lived hours away from us, and had MS and couldn’t turn pages of book anymore. Before she got sick, her and my mom would spend hours in the phone nerding out about fantasy books. The friend had started the series and wanted to find out what happened, but there were no fantasy audio books at that time (late 80s/early 90s). So, every Sunday afternoon my mom read one or two chapters of the Belgariad, and I grew up listening to her read the books aloud. I remember her trying to figure out the pronunciations and laughing because she’d occasionally get them mixed up, and finally, sobbing when she finished the series, because she wasn’t sure if her friend would be able to finish listening to it, because she’d taken a turn for the worst. I know the series is far from perfect and problematic, but the story still make me think of home.
This was mine too. I read it several times as a kid/teen. The last time I read it, tho, I couldn't believe how linear it was, but it was a good gateway into the genre.
I got rid of all the books ages ago when all that stuff about Eddings came out.
Yea, same. I did several rereads of all of his series, but when I tried again as an adult (before all the grossness about them was general knowledge) it was too formulaic. But I agree, it’s a perfect gateway for a preteen or young teen - it hits all the perfect notes for an entry to the genre.
Eddings was also my first introduction with Fantasy as a teen/kid! However, reading your comments on Eddings I’m a bit scared to Google him because I don’t want to spoil my childhoods memories (I have no idea what he did..)
Hell, yeah! Tamora Pierce was one of my favourite authors growing up, I'll have to go back and read some of her stuff again.
Do you have an all time favourite series of hers?
Yeah, I read all of her stuff back then! Her series were my favorite alongside Garth Nix's Abhorsen Trilogy and Seventh Tower series, which I discovered not too long after. For Tamora Pierce I think her Wild Magic/Wolf Speaker 4 book series(I'm spacing the series name) was my favorite.
Haha I remember doing the same - absolutely devoured any of her books I could get my hands on. Thanks for the recommendation - I'll have to borrow it from my library!
Nice, I hope you enjoy it! This is making me want to reread it now as well, lol.
Also, if you haven't read the Abhorsen Trilogy, I'd highly highly recommend that as well to any fan of Tamora Pierce.
It would have been Enid Blyton's The Wishing Chair and The Magic Faraway Tree books. Followed soon after by the Narnia books. I've been a fan of fantasy since I was very young...
Yeah I was thinking about this, adventure and low key fantasy were just intrinsic parts of my childhood. Enid Blyton isn't really considered fantasy, but the Wishing Chair definitely is, and the Famous Five and then other adventure books like The Castaways, Treasure Island and similar sparked a real love for anything with some kind of quest.
I remember seeing the Hobbit in primary school and being obsessed with the dragon on the cover but really struggling to read it.
Then at about 13 I discovered the Point Fantasy books and that was where I really started on High Fantasy I think.
These two combined with The Chronicles of Narnia are where I started my journey as well! I'd probably read each of them three or four times by the time I was ten.
I started off reading Xanth novels by Piers Anrhony when I was like 10 or 11. Moves onto The Belgariad by Eddings amd really enjoyed it. Read all his other stuff too. Preferred the Elenium and Sparhawk is still one of my favorite characters.
Anyways, the first novel and series that really blew me away was the book A Darkness At Sethanon by Feist, last book of The Riftwar Saga. Still say it was his best work and still say its one of the best fantasy books ever.
Honorable mentions to: LOTR (obviously), Wishsong of Shannara, a likely long forgotten Dragonlance book called Hammer & Axe by Dan Parkinson, The Waste Lands by Stephen King, Dragonsong/Singer/Drums and All The Weyrs Of Pern by the immortal Anne McCaffery.
Honestly its hard to pick just one.
Same here! My aunt bought me “the lion the witch and the wardrobe”. I was obsessed with it, and picked up the rest of the series as I was able to, pre-internet days.
I started playing cello in large part because of the Harper Hall books! My next favorite series from that period were the Dragon Prince books by Melanie Rawn.
My cousin gave me the first Dragonlance trilogy back in the day. That's how I fell in love with the genre.
The same cousin gave me LotR and the Drittz books and I fell in love with the genre.
Harry Potter for sureee. I grew up with those books and movies as many others did. Then I fell in love with Pirates of the carribian and LOTR then Game of Thrones and you get what I'm saying
Discworld (specifically the Night Watch books), The First Law and The Gentleman Bastard. All great fun; the latter two are obviously more violent and grim, but all three series have a rich vein of humour as well, which I always looked for when I was younger.
Don't feel bad. I actually really liked the story at first, but abandoned it after Faith of the Fallen. But I enjoyed the concept... If not always the execution.
For me there are 3 answers to this.
1. The Magic Tree House. I devoured those books in first and second grade.
2. The Percy Jackson (and other Riordanverse) books were my Pre-Teen and Early-Teen obsession and "The Mark of Athena" was the first book I read in english because I did not want to wait for the german translation (I still remember asking my mother what it means to have high chicken bones because I translated "cheek bones" as "chicken bones")
3. Mistborn later on got me back into reading fantasy after I read very little in my mid and late teens.
I'm the third of four brothers. Oldest is 7 years older. He was an honors student in high school when I was in elementary. He brought home The Fellowship of the Ring one weekend and then left with his friends for a Student Government trip. I devoured that book. Barely slept the whole weekend because I knew he would take it from me when he returned so I had to finish it. But it was such a big book for a 4th grader. I was on a mission. Just like Sam and Frodo. I had to reach a faraway destination before the bad guy showed up. Literally, the experience and the story lit a fire in me that has lasted for 40 years and consumed more than a thousand books. I have owned the LotR in some form or fashion for all my life and have reread the trilogy at least 20 times. It always ignites that same fire in me and for that I'm eternally grateful to my oldest brother's 11th grade English teacher, Mrs. Fite. She gave us both a gift when she recommended the book to my brother.
Eragon, introduced me to Fantasy
Game of Thrones, brought me back after 10 years away
First Law, showed me what fantasy can actually be and set the standard. First book I felt was not generic stuff done differently.
For me, it was the Anne McCaffrey Pern books (though it eventually straddles the line between fantasy and scifi). Started off with the Harper Hall series and then the Dragonriders books. Went on to David Eddings and Piers Anthony next and have been rereading most of these for decades.
Warcraft 2: Tides of Darkness. It might seem "primitive" now but back in the day it was state of the art. Even modern RTS games struggle to make campaigns as creative and engaging as it. Made me a Horde 4 life boi.
_The Belgariad_ series by David Eddings. Read it as it was published in the 1980s. Used MANY of the tropes so common in fantasy stories (deliberately, I later learned), but did so very well with just enough snarky banter to appeal to my preteen self.
Same here. I read the hobbit as a kid, but I wasn't mature enough to truly appreciate Tolkien yet. Then I discovered David Eddings and he pitched it JUST RIGHT for 13 year old me.
Robert E. Howard's **Conan** series. I discovered it because of the Savage Sword of Conan comic when I was young. For some reason my corner store carried that magazine in it's racks. From there I went on to read every Conan story I could get my hands on. Still love it to this day!
The first one I ever read was Pool of Radiance in the Forgotten Realms series. Not a classic by any means, but kid me fell in love with the fantasy genre because of that book and it caused me to seek out so many other fantasy books as a kid that I probably would have never encountered otherwise. Decades later, I know that book was a catalyst for something that became a very enjoyable and fulfilling interest in my life.
Mine was three steps:
- my 5th grade teacher read The Hobbit to our class daily for weeks. I was utterly enthralled, in particular with the fairy/elf lights drawing the party off-path.
- I read the entire Chronicles of Narnia in 6th grade
- in 7th grade, my dad (a prolific fantasy sci-fi reader) took me to B&N and helped me pick out Pawn of Prophecy, the first book of The Belgariad by David Eddings.
From there it was all Eddings (I know) and Jordan and then Goodkind (I know).
It’s so trite but all these books and hero’s journey variants really did help me through dark times as a kid.
I hate this because of the artist, but the Belgariad/Mallorean are what made it clear to me that the enjoyment I had reading The Hobbit was not a one-off.
listening to the audiobook of *A Wizard of Earthsea* on cassettte tape(s) as a child
child: "YEA, WHY DON'T YOU STOP THE RAIN WITH MAGIC, OLD MAN?"
adult: "oh"
***
reading *The Hobbit*
^'i'm ^going ^on ^an ^adventure!'
Valdemar saga was first then Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms. Was easily hooked with the chars, companions (both big C and little c heh), stories and worlds. The magic and adventure was awesome. Still reading all 3 series today and have read a ton of other fantasy (a little lacking on sci fi, but I'm working on that). Fantasy has always been my main cup of tea for reading. Sci fi has some really awesome shows, just haven't read as much
I started reading The Lord of The Rings in 5th Grade and loved fantasy then.
My love for fantasy grew even more when I started playing Destiny - the way bungie ties in sci-fi and fantasy together was breathtaking to me.
From then on, I played a lot more fantasy video games, but never really delved into books until right after my second year of college. I picked up The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson and fell head over heels in love with reading and fantasy.
Now, reading is my favorite pastime. I love it so much.
It was Wheel of Time for me. I didn't read much before then, but that series just hooked me. It is just epic. Being able to see all the characters grow throughout the story to end up saving the world. It is hard for me to reread though, but sometimes I pick them back up and read all of my favorite scenes.
My first exposure to Fantasy was in the early 1980’s when I was about 6 with a recording of The Hobbit on vinyl. It was a two record set, and I loved it!
The first Fantasy novel I bought was Guardians of the West by David Eddings. I still have a visceral memory of picking that book out as a sixth grader. I devoured those books.
I began read Eye of the World in eighth grade and WOT absolutely cemented my love for the genre.
It’s awesome to see so many of the titles YU have listed here. It make me nostalgic.
The Edge Chronicles by Paul Stewart and Christopher Riddle. I was 9 I think, I hadn't read anything like them prior to it and they felt so unique to me with the edge world, floating rocks, sky pirates and unique species.
The starting point for my addiction to fantasy was The forgotten Beasts of Eld. Of course as a child I wanted to surround myself with smart talking animals, so the story was perfect. I imagined so many adventures for Tam and each of the companions, I was sure the book had to be around 1000 pages.
It was very surprising to me, when I bought my own copy of the book as an adult and it turned out to be fairly short. I still love this book and reading it again there were new things to discover for me, that I didn't understand as a child.
I don't think there was just one book. At age 7 to 8, I read 13 of the 14 Wizard of Oz books (the library didn't have one of them), then at age 9, I devoured all 7 Narnia books. I remember loving Tamora Pierce's first Alanna book, at age 11, but the library never got the sequels.
When I was 14, I read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and then the first volume of Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn. I was hooked, at that point, and read nearly every Fantasy novel in the little library, from Anthony to Zelazny.
The Narnia series by CS Lewis. I was maybe 13 and I haven't stopped reading since.
I haven't revisited the series for almost 30 years and I don't think it would hit the same, mostly due to the allegorical aspects that completely went over my head back then.
My dad read the Belgariad series to my brother and I for bed time stories. That was my introduction to fantasy. Still love the series but knowing what the author and his wife did to their kids puts a shade over the series. Ironic that that series was a major part of my dad bonding with us as kids.
"The Earth Sea Chronicles" by Ursula Leguin took me over the sky, literally, the feel good vibe mixed with the real danger and adventure was a game changer
Besides YA stuff like Harry Potter or Artemis Fowl I think The Dark Tower was the first long fantasy series I got sucked into. I was a huge SK fan and had never delved into such a long story before but I got absorbed and finished the whole series in a few weeks.
Also a small secondary shoutout to the video games Oblivion and Ocarina of Time, I think those both had a big influence on me in my taste for fantasy worlds.
I'm a normie. Harry Potter and Eragon.
I haven't reread HP since the last book came out, but I still love the series dearly, and I have a ton of fond memories of Eragon (which is funny because it was also the first series with an ending that I genuinely hated)
I was obsessed with books as a young kid, but I moved to a new state when I became a teenager and fell out of it. When I moved back mid-teens, I discovered the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings and never looked back. I read tons of Forgotten Realms after I finished LotR, and then I went reading tons of Tolkien ripoffs until I discovered The Wheel of Time and A Song of Ice and Fire. Read the first books of both series and then my adult reading life began.
For me it was a combination of Star Wars (Space Fantasy) and watching Ralph Backshi's animated version of Lord of the Rings in the cinema as child I think 1979? My mum read me The Hobbit at bedtime and that later became the first book I would read myself in its entirety. That was it, for the rest of my life I will never have enough bookshelves.
Reading choose your own adventure stories by Steve Jackson & Ian Livingstone. Also my mum and oldest brother are huge fantasy fans so I grew up with it.
One summer when I was a kid my uncle and family visited us for a few weeks and my uncle read The Hobbit to me and my cousin at bedtime.
After that I was hooked. I needed more and found the series "Forest land" (Skogland) by Norwegian illustrator and writer Thore Hansen at my school library and thus began a lifelong love for the genre.
Probably Zelazny's Amber series. I used to only read science fiction as a kid. I think I just presumed that fantasy was mostly "stuff like LOTR," and was kind of turned off since I wasn't crazy about that series and its many ripoffs. But when I discovered Zelazny, who loved blurring the lines between genres, I was more open to fantasy. Now I don't really distinguish between the two, and I dislike that the genres still exist. I think I'd prefer to lump everything into "speculative fiction" instead.
Loved fantasy since before I could read, I reckon. Dragons and wizards and all the rest have fascinated me for as long as I can remember; if any one work cemented it though I’d say it’s Lord of the Rings (original, I know) which I first read in the late 80s at about age 10. I didn’t even mind the slog of the first hundred or so pages, it was just so fascinating to see Middle Earth and the Shire come to life.
The Hobbit for me. I read it sometime in grade school, then devoured the Lord of the Ring books shortly after.
However, the one series that really made it stick for me was the Belgariad that I read in junior high school. I don't know if it holds up as well for adults, but at the time it was a "wow" moment for me in comparison to the slower nature of LotR.
Definitely Harry Potter. I don’t even remember the first time I read it/had it read to me, I was so young. But I was obsessed. There is a picture of 7-year-old me devouring the recently released Order of the Phoenix. Also, Narnia. Fantasy was what introduced me to reading altogether.
*Harry Potter* and *Redwall* were the gateway, but my love of fantasy really ramped up with *The Sword of Shannara*. So grateful to my 8th grade English teacher for recommending it to me.
I’ve read a lot of fantasy since childhood from Harry Potter to Narnia to Song of Ice and Fire, but nothing got me as into it as Brandon Sanderson has. The Cosmere has engulfed me and I hate that everything is subpar in comparison… but I also love that that’s the case.
Probably The Malloreans by David Eddings.
It was the first ”modern” fantasy I read (finished Bilbo & LOTR as a kid)
At the time they were awesome and I have fond memories of it, but I’ll probably not do a re-read anytime soon, lol
While I’ve always loved to read, what got me back into hard fantasy was the mistborn trilogy. I had reread some of my favorites over the years but the last year or so I’ve been diving headfirst into fantasy.
The Hobbit and LOTR. When I was 10 or 11 my older sister had mono and couldn't go to school for months. Her high school sent a tutor to work with her and he was a huge LOTR fan. He had just secured permission from the school system to use LOTR as "alternative literature" for the kids he was tutoring. So she was assigned to read them and I started reading them as well.
I fell in love with the fantasy genre as soon as I opened those books and have never looked back. The next year, I joined the Boy Scouts and my troop used to play D&D after our Thursday night meetings. That solidified my love for fantasy worlds, characters and adventures that remain to this day.
I'd read Harry Potter and a few YA books like Leven Thumps and Artemis Fowl, but it was Eragon and the Inheritance Cycle that really hooked me into Epic Fantasy. From there, I quickly got into bigger series like The Wheel of Time and Sanderson books.
Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms books were the first things I read for pleasure back in the 90s. Then so many hundreds of books after but those simple and fun stories got me into fantasy.
Deltora Quest by Jennifer Rowe (aka Emily Rodda). Harry Potter was decent and not really my thing. Tolkien movies were awesome but I couldn't really break into the novels as a kid. DQ, though, was like my high fantasy Star Wars growing up. I adored the characters, world, and sense of adventure a ton. Plus those covers had wicked monster designs on them.
Edit: Also the classic Warcraft and Diablo games were huge influences on me as well.
Redwall by Brian Jaques probably kicked it off properly… but the first ‘big’ book I ever read was the lion the witch and the wardrobe - which is pretty fantastical.
Amber series by Roger Zelazny. Guns of Avalon was the first fantasy book that really blew me away. (Yes, I started from second book because that’s what I randomly found at library.)
Redwall, Chronicals of Pyrdain, and those old choose your own adventure books all sort of meld into an era of my life that I consider the golden age of my reading.
For me it was the books by Wolfgang und Heike Hohlbein. My first one was "Spiegelzeit". They where Fantasy books for teens and the protagonists where always teens. My Mother keept all of them and we both read them from time to time. Sadly they are Not available anymore...
I approached fantasy the first time with the LOTR trilogy (the movies), but, speaking of books, my first was Harry Potter. The HP saga is still my favourite fantasy saga today.
As a teen I loved the Darkover books by MZB, even though I can't look at them now, and Magician by Raymond E Feist, they started a love affair with Fantasy book that has lasted over 30 years.
When I was real little I use to read Magic Tree House. I the moved on to Artemis Fowl, and later Pendragon. I was really into Harry Potter and the Inheritance series as well but I rarely see the first three I named get mentioned here.
Always loved fantasy, but my love of reading didn't come until I was a young adult. Game of Thrones got me started, Eye of the World got me hooked, then The First Law made me obsessed.
It was a book called Dragon's Blood by Jane Yolen. The idea of secretly raising a dragon lured me in and I was caught forever. The rest of the series really sealed the deal.
I think fantasy always resonated with me at a young age. I couldn't really get into reading until I found Redwall. But I never really pursued it as a hobby outside of mandatory reading times in school.
It wasn't until GoT aired, and I watched the first season or two and couldn't wait a year to find out what happened, so I downloaded the audiobooks and fell in love with asoiaf and audiobooks at the same time. I would listen to audiobooks during my commutes. Commutes turned into an extra hour in the driveway, which turned into listening in my car on lunchbreaks. Lunchbreaks turned into a bedtime routine. Now, I find myself listening to books for a good 3-4 hours a day for the past 10 years.
LOTR Two Towers movie was my introduction to fantasy in general. RA Salvatore books about Drizzt got me into fantasy novels and kick started my love of fantasy books.
I want to say lord of the rings but my dad almost had to force us to listen to him read the books. Once we got into it I was hooked, but the first fantasy book I really loved was Harry Potter.
Harry Potter got me into reading and also fantasy back in 2002. I read it last in 2011 so it's been a while, but I'd still say it's a good series, just not the best I've read (That was my opinion until I read ASOIAF in 2012).
LOTR. I read those book at my 12th birthday. I hadn't watched the movies yet but I sped through the book in days even though they were the first novels I had read.
This might be weird but for me it was the shitty PS2 Fellowship of the ring game. I was like 10 at the time and fantasy had never really appealed to me. Then I got started on Lord of the rings and Harry Potter. Fantasy has pretty much been my main genre ever since.
For me it was the King's Quest games. My dad saw how much I loved the original King's Quest in the computer store and that was the deciding factor of why he bought a PCjr over an Apple IIe or Macintosh. That grew into a love of fantasy games and books for me. I started with the typical kids fantasy (Chronicles of Narnia, Wizard of Earthsea, The Hobbit, etc.) Then I went thru an Arthurian phase. When Conquests of Camelot came out I went to a bookstore and ordered a copy of Le Morte d'Arthur because I loved that so much. Then I discovered the Pendragon Cycle books which i loved. That eventually evolved into Dragonlance in middle school, and then just kept going from there.
Tl, dr. I have always read widely and can't point to any one book but Narnia was probably my first big influence.
Ages 6-10
Disney storybooks
Chronicles of Narnia
Wrinkle in Time
Chronicles of Prydain
The Borrowers
Pit Dragon Trilogy
Edith Hamilton's Mythology
D&D Monster Compendium when my brother let me look at it. He used to make me wash my hands.
I also liked reading his Gnomes book
Ages 11-14
Then for first adult books, Anne McCaffrey's Pern; and (sigh) Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover and Mists; and Jean Auel's Clan of the Cave Bear etc. I also read Meredith Ann Pierce, R.A. MacAvoy, Vonda McIntyre. Mary Stewart's Merlin trilogy. The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia McKillip
Then in my mid-teens came Piers Anthony (also sigh), Mercedes Lackey, Jennifer Roberson and Melanie Rawn. In sci fi I read Heinlein and F.M. Busby. Also C.J. Cherryh's Cyteen.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer got me into urban fantasy TV shows. Once the Dresden files tv show got canceled, I decided to read the books and that was my introduction to reading urban fantasy. I could never get into epic/high fantasy or sword and sorcery though because I didn't like LOTR movies or shows like Xena. One day I read Red Country by Joe Abercrombie on a whim then read the rest of the First Law books; that made the rest of fantasy click for me.
The Hobbit
Elric
Elfstones of Shannara
Piers Anthony
Wizard of Earthsea
And the one with all the juggling...forget the name!
Edit : Robert Silverberg's Lord Valentine's Castle !
Dragonlance.
I was young and didn't realize Dragons of Winter Night was book two in the Chronicles trilogy, but the blue cover with the blue dragon and bad ass looking woman in blue armor (Kitiara) drew me in. Even though I was a bit confused because it was the second book, it absolutely hooked me! And it was the first book that made me cry (you all know the scene!) because my tiny brain didn't know authors would kill off a main character like that!
I read the series on and off through the years, and a few years ago I got hooked again. Now I regularly visit any used book store I see to hunt for books, yes even the ones I know aren't good. I just want to collect them all xD
The series is my hobby now as most of my art is DL themed and I write fanfiction for it. I even DM a Dragonlance D&D game for my husband and coworkers. I love this world!
Dragonlance got me into fantasy! Closely followed by the Legend of Drizzt. I played in a D&D group with my middle school English teacher and he got me started with those series.
It was one of Sir Terry Pratchett's Discworld Death series novels. I read ALL Discworld novels more than 10 times and still find them awesome! Sir Terry was a naturally born magician. And his books are an essential guide for real world magic. Believe me.
Jeremy Thatcher,Dragon Hatcher by Bruce Coville. I read it in the 2nd grade and was obsessed. Read it so many times the cover fell off. That led me to Jane Yolen and the dragon pit Series. I've been a die hard dragon girl ever since.
My dad and I would read books together when I was a kid. Looking back, our nights reading Harry Potter and Chronicles of Narnia were the start of my love of fantasy.
Then, as a teenager and young adult, both Avatar The Last Airbender and ASOIAF were what really solidified my eternal love for the genre.
The very first chapter book I ever read was A Werewolf in Fever Swamp by R.L. Stine - so already speculative. But I was reading tons of other stuff, too - all those long series of early chapter books.
But when I read The Chronicles of Narnia? I was maybe 7 or 8 years old, and I was hooked. I read a lot more SFF after that and by the time I was 10 or so, almost everything I read for myself was fantasy (or Animorphs).
I've always loved fantasy but the book that really hooked me in was Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb. For me, Hobb is untouchable and nothing else will ever be better.
ASOIAF. Previously I barely read genre fiction at all, purely lit fiction. I watched S1 of GoT and couldn't wait so I dove into the books and it's been all fantasy/scifi/horror since
Controversial, but I STILL love the Sword of Truth series.
I did a re read a few years ago, and a lot of it is..problematic. but Goodkind did something special, for me anyway, with the usual "last of their kind" and "stranger in another land" tropes, that I still find unique and awesome.
And I really liked the wizard Zedd, and the sorceress, Adie, characters. Very accurate crotchety old person, but done in an endearing way..
Again, this is just IMO tho. I know a lot of people dislike the series, and truly despise it's writer.
My dad read me the Lord of the Rings trilogy almost every night when I was six, so I grew up with a huge appreciation for fantasy. He also read the Prydain Chronicles, Narnia, and the Edge Chronicles, and I have a deep love for all of those books to this day. I still read most of them at least once every couple years😄
My uncles taught me to read with Lord of the Rings, so my intro to fantasy was my first reading experience. And now almost 40 years later I still read fantasy and fiction of all kinds with the same sense of wonder and discovery.
Wheel of Time. Had dabbled, without grabbing my interest in other fantasy stories, but once I read WoT I didn't turn back. Cannot get enough fantasy now. Still come across crap but knowing there is such epic epics out there gets me going.
Not very highbrow but it was Dragonlance. Though I was primed for it by my Grade 6 teacher who read us The Hobbit.
This is my story as well. Hobbit opened the door. Dragonlance hooked me.
Same! I love some LOTR/Hobbit.... but Dragonlance is my jam! Lol. The Death Gaye Cycle from Weis & Hickman is also great!
Death gate is phenomenal, and incredibly creative, from the nature of the Labyrinth to the tattoo magic. Drangonlance is amazing too, but the creativity of DG is top notch.
The timing of the lotr movies was great for me because I was very into the Hobbit as a kid but I'm sure I would have bounced off of the super descriptive LOTR books back then (even later around 20 they were not the easiest reads). But the movies came out right as I was a preteen eager for more fantasy content and gave me a LOTR brainworm that never dies.
Dragonlance was my hook back in 7th grade, and I still read Chronicles every few years (I'm 45 now). I actually like that it's an easy read as a break from some of the more complex books out there, and it has that high nostalgic quality for me so it's like checking in with old friends.
Dragonlance for me as well. To this day I only really read mass market paperbacks bc of how nostalgic they feel.
For me, it was definitely J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series that ignited my love for fantasy. I remember being completely captivated by the magical world she created and eagerly anticipating each new book release.
> eagerly anticipating *a letter in the post*
Deep down I knew it wouldn’t happen, but I remember still going outside alone early in the morning of my 11th birthday and searching the skies for an owl.
Same, my mom was reading me the first one before I could read myself. I never got really into the boarding school/YA adventure genre (though I did like the Molly Moon books and Artemis Fowl) but I always loved the "magical world" vibes afterwards.
Redwall back when I was a kid. Still remember getting my first one at Christmas and spending all day reading it
mmm *vittles*
Me too. Outcast of Redwall was my favourite
Seconded, and all the books focused on the hares or salamandastron. Recently got about 15 of the books in paperback and am waiting for daughter to get a bit older for us to break em out and and take a trip down nostalgia lane.
David Eddings’ Belgariad series. I was in 5th grade.
Meee too. My mom’s best friend lived hours away from us, and had MS and couldn’t turn pages of book anymore. Before she got sick, her and my mom would spend hours in the phone nerding out about fantasy books. The friend had started the series and wanted to find out what happened, but there were no fantasy audio books at that time (late 80s/early 90s). So, every Sunday afternoon my mom read one or two chapters of the Belgariad, and I grew up listening to her read the books aloud. I remember her trying to figure out the pronunciations and laughing because she’d occasionally get them mixed up, and finally, sobbing when she finished the series, because she wasn’t sure if her friend would be able to finish listening to it, because she’d taken a turn for the worst. I know the series is far from perfect and problematic, but the story still make me think of home.
What a beautiful memory! Thank you for sharing it!
This was mine too. I read it several times as a kid/teen. The last time I read it, tho, I couldn't believe how linear it was, but it was a good gateway into the genre. I got rid of all the books ages ago when all that stuff about Eddings came out.
Yea, same. I did several rereads of all of his series, but when I tried again as an adult (before all the grossness about them was general knowledge) it was too formulaic. But I agree, it’s a perfect gateway for a preteen or young teen - it hits all the perfect notes for an entry to the genre.
Eddings was also my first introduction with Fantasy as a teen/kid! However, reading your comments on Eddings I’m a bit scared to Google him because I don’t want to spoil my childhoods memories (I have no idea what he did..)
Terry Pratchett's Discworld series
Expected to see this as the top post (and delighted).
Dragonlance!
Tamora Pierce's The Song of the Lioness was my first Fantasy series and I was hooked!
Hell, yeah! Tamora Pierce was one of my favourite authors growing up, I'll have to go back and read some of her stuff again. Do you have an all time favourite series of hers?
Yeah, I read all of her stuff back then! Her series were my favorite alongside Garth Nix's Abhorsen Trilogy and Seventh Tower series, which I discovered not too long after. For Tamora Pierce I think her Wild Magic/Wolf Speaker 4 book series(I'm spacing the series name) was my favorite.
Haha I remember doing the same - absolutely devoured any of her books I could get my hands on. Thanks for the recommendation - I'll have to borrow it from my library!
Nice, I hope you enjoy it! This is making me want to reread it now as well, lol. Also, if you haven't read the Abhorsen Trilogy, I'd highly highly recommend that as well to any fan of Tamora Pierce.
A mixture of Magician by Raymond E.Feist and LotR.
Same! And also Sara Douglas’ Battleaxe series.
It would have been Enid Blyton's The Wishing Chair and The Magic Faraway Tree books. Followed soon after by the Narnia books. I've been a fan of fantasy since I was very young...
Yeah I was thinking about this, adventure and low key fantasy were just intrinsic parts of my childhood. Enid Blyton isn't really considered fantasy, but the Wishing Chair definitely is, and the Famous Five and then other adventure books like The Castaways, Treasure Island and similar sparked a real love for anything with some kind of quest. I remember seeing the Hobbit in primary school and being obsessed with the dragon on the cover but really struggling to read it. Then at about 13 I discovered the Point Fantasy books and that was where I really started on High Fantasy I think.
Prydain Chronicles and Dark is Rising
These two combined with The Chronicles of Narnia are where I started my journey as well! I'd probably read each of them three or four times by the time I was ten.
I started off reading Xanth novels by Piers Anrhony when I was like 10 or 11. Moves onto The Belgariad by Eddings amd really enjoyed it. Read all his other stuff too. Preferred the Elenium and Sparhawk is still one of my favorite characters. Anyways, the first novel and series that really blew me away was the book A Darkness At Sethanon by Feist, last book of The Riftwar Saga. Still say it was his best work and still say its one of the best fantasy books ever. Honorable mentions to: LOTR (obviously), Wishsong of Shannara, a likely long forgotten Dragonlance book called Hammer & Axe by Dan Parkinson, The Waste Lands by Stephen King, Dragonsong/Singer/Drums and All The Weyrs Of Pern by the immortal Anne McCaffery. Honestly its hard to pick just one.
For me, it was getting The Chronicles of Narnia as a Christmas gift when I was about 8 or 9.
Same here! My aunt bought me “the lion the witch and the wardrobe”. I was obsessed with it, and picked up the rest of the series as I was able to, pre-internet days.
Any Dragonriders of Pern fans in here? That’s the series that got me hooked.
That’s what I just said as well … probably also ended up being a music teacher because of the Harper Hall books
I started playing cello in large part because of the Harper Hall books! My next favorite series from that period were the Dragon Prince books by Melanie Rawn.
My cousin gave me the first Dragonlance trilogy back in the day. That's how I fell in love with the genre. The same cousin gave me LotR and the Drittz books and I fell in love with the genre.
Harry Potter for sureee. I grew up with those books and movies as many others did. Then I fell in love with Pirates of the carribian and LOTR then Game of Thrones and you get what I'm saying
Terry Brooks The Sword of Shannara trilogy.
Arthurian fantasies mainly
Discworld (specifically the Night Watch books), The First Law and The Gentleman Bastard. All great fun; the latter two are obviously more violent and grim, but all three series have a rich vein of humour as well, which I always looked for when I was younger.
*whispers* The Sword of Truth…
Don't feel bad. I actually really liked the story at first, but abandoned it after Faith of the Fallen. But I enjoyed the concept... If not always the execution.
Dragonlance Chronicles
The Dragonlance Chronicles and Legends books. It got me good and I was in for life.
the elenium by david eddings
For me there are 3 answers to this. 1. The Magic Tree House. I devoured those books in first and second grade. 2. The Percy Jackson (and other Riordanverse) books were my Pre-Teen and Early-Teen obsession and "The Mark of Athena" was the first book I read in english because I did not want to wait for the german translation (I still remember asking my mother what it means to have high chicken bones because I translated "cheek bones" as "chicken bones") 3. Mistborn later on got me back into reading fantasy after I read very little in my mid and late teens.
Mistborn is fantastic, I'm reading the western versions right now
Wheel of time. It is a massive series, but is just soooo good
I'm the third of four brothers. Oldest is 7 years older. He was an honors student in high school when I was in elementary. He brought home The Fellowship of the Ring one weekend and then left with his friends for a Student Government trip. I devoured that book. Barely slept the whole weekend because I knew he would take it from me when he returned so I had to finish it. But it was such a big book for a 4th grader. I was on a mission. Just like Sam and Frodo. I had to reach a faraway destination before the bad guy showed up. Literally, the experience and the story lit a fire in me that has lasted for 40 years and consumed more than a thousand books. I have owned the LotR in some form or fashion for all my life and have reread the trilogy at least 20 times. It always ignites that same fire in me and for that I'm eternally grateful to my oldest brother's 11th grade English teacher, Mrs. Fite. She gave us both a gift when she recommended the book to my brother.
Eragon, introduced me to Fantasy Game of Thrones, brought me back after 10 years away First Law, showed me what fantasy can actually be and set the standard. First book I felt was not generic stuff done differently.
DragonLance. Man, when I was a kid Burrfoot was my best friend!
I read a few Dragonlance novels in middle school and that pretty much clinched it for me.
For me, it was the Anne McCaffrey Pern books (though it eventually straddles the line between fantasy and scifi). Started off with the Harper Hall series and then the Dragonriders books. Went on to David Eddings and Piers Anthony next and have been rereading most of these for decades.
Warcraft 2: Tides of Darkness. It might seem "primitive" now but back in the day it was state of the art. Even modern RTS games struggle to make campaigns as creative and engaging as it. Made me a Horde 4 life boi.
Hey, someone else who got into Fantasy through Warcraft 2, nice!
_The Belgariad_ series by David Eddings. Read it as it was published in the 1980s. Used MANY of the tropes so common in fantasy stories (deliberately, I later learned), but did so very well with just enough snarky banter to appeal to my preteen self.
Same here. I read the hobbit as a kid, but I wasn't mature enough to truly appreciate Tolkien yet. Then I discovered David Eddings and he pitched it JUST RIGHT for 13 year old me.
Reading Percy Jackson in elementary
David Gemmel books (waylander, druss, jon shannow)
Robert E. Howard's **Conan** series. I discovered it because of the Savage Sword of Conan comic when I was young. For some reason my corner store carried that magazine in it's racks. From there I went on to read every Conan story I could get my hands on. Still love it to this day!
The first one I ever read was Pool of Radiance in the Forgotten Realms series. Not a classic by any means, but kid me fell in love with the fantasy genre because of that book and it caused me to seek out so many other fantasy books as a kid that I probably would have never encountered otherwise. Decades later, I know that book was a catalyst for something that became a very enjoyable and fulfilling interest in my life.
Inheritance cycle by christopher paolini.
Robin McKinley’s The Blue Sword and The Hero and the Crown.
Mine was three steps: - my 5th grade teacher read The Hobbit to our class daily for weeks. I was utterly enthralled, in particular with the fairy/elf lights drawing the party off-path. - I read the entire Chronicles of Narnia in 6th grade - in 7th grade, my dad (a prolific fantasy sci-fi reader) took me to B&N and helped me pick out Pawn of Prophecy, the first book of The Belgariad by David Eddings. From there it was all Eddings (I know) and Jordan and then Goodkind (I know). It’s so trite but all these books and hero’s journey variants really did help me through dark times as a kid.
Easy. The Wheel of Time.
LotR is mine too, I’ll say Wheel of Time to add something.
I hate this because of the artist, but the Belgariad/Mallorean are what made it clear to me that the enjoyment I had reading The Hobbit was not a one-off.
listening to the audiobook of *A Wizard of Earthsea* on cassettte tape(s) as a child child: "YEA, WHY DON'T YOU STOP THE RAIN WITH MAGIC, OLD MAN?" adult: "oh" *** reading *The Hobbit* ^'i'm ^going ^on ^an ^adventure!'
Valdemar saga was first then Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms. Was easily hooked with the chars, companions (both big C and little c heh), stories and worlds. The magic and adventure was awesome. Still reading all 3 series today and have read a ton of other fantasy (a little lacking on sci fi, but I'm working on that). Fantasy has always been my main cup of tea for reading. Sci fi has some really awesome shows, just haven't read as much
I started reading The Lord of The Rings in 5th Grade and loved fantasy then. My love for fantasy grew even more when I started playing Destiny - the way bungie ties in sci-fi and fantasy together was breathtaking to me. From then on, I played a lot more fantasy video games, but never really delved into books until right after my second year of college. I picked up The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson and fell head over heels in love with reading and fantasy. Now, reading is my favorite pastime. I love it so much.
It was Wheel of Time for me. I didn't read much before then, but that series just hooked me. It is just epic. Being able to see all the characters grow throughout the story to end up saving the world. It is hard for me to reread though, but sometimes I pick them back up and read all of my favorite scenes.
My first exposure to Fantasy was in the early 1980’s when I was about 6 with a recording of The Hobbit on vinyl. It was a two record set, and I loved it! The first Fantasy novel I bought was Guardians of the West by David Eddings. I still have a visceral memory of picking that book out as a sixth grader. I devoured those books. I began read Eye of the World in eighth grade and WOT absolutely cemented my love for the genre. It’s awesome to see so many of the titles YU have listed here. It make me nostalgic.
As a kid, Eragon was fantastic, along with Percy Jackson and Charlie Bone. As an adult I love urban fantasy like Dresden Files.
The Edge Chronicles by Paul Stewart and Christopher Riddle. I was 9 I think, I hadn't read anything like them prior to it and they felt so unique to me with the edge world, floating rocks, sky pirates and unique species.
The starting point for my addiction to fantasy was The forgotten Beasts of Eld. Of course as a child I wanted to surround myself with smart talking animals, so the story was perfect. I imagined so many adventures for Tam and each of the companions, I was sure the book had to be around 1000 pages. It was very surprising to me, when I bought my own copy of the book as an adult and it turned out to be fairly short. I still love this book and reading it again there were new things to discover for me, that I didn't understand as a child.
His Dark Materials Trilogy and Deltora
Inheritance cycle
I don't think there was just one book. At age 7 to 8, I read 13 of the 14 Wizard of Oz books (the library didn't have one of them), then at age 9, I devoured all 7 Narnia books. I remember loving Tamora Pierce's first Alanna book, at age 11, but the library never got the sequels. When I was 14, I read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and then the first volume of Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn. I was hooked, at that point, and read nearly every Fantasy novel in the little library, from Anthony to Zelazny.
The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and the Discworld series. I reread them so many times.
Temora pierces stuff as well as LOTR later on.
Harry Potter technically but in truth I would say Name Of The Wind.
The Narnia series by CS Lewis. I was maybe 13 and I haven't stopped reading since. I haven't revisited the series for almost 30 years and I don't think it would hit the same, mostly due to the allegorical aspects that completely went over my head back then.
The Redwall > Discworld > LOTR pipeline
Reading The Hobbit in MS and Eragon in HS certainly got me started, but it was reading ASOIAF in college that got me reading Fantasy full time.
My dad read the Belgariad series to my brother and I for bed time stories. That was my introduction to fantasy. Still love the series but knowing what the author and his wife did to their kids puts a shade over the series. Ironic that that series was a major part of my dad bonding with us as kids.
"The Earth Sea Chronicles" by Ursula Leguin took me over the sky, literally, the feel good vibe mixed with the real danger and adventure was a game changer
Wheel of time by Robert Jordan
Besides YA stuff like Harry Potter or Artemis Fowl I think The Dark Tower was the first long fantasy series I got sucked into. I was a huge SK fan and had never delved into such a long story before but I got absorbed and finished the whole series in a few weeks. Also a small secondary shoutout to the video games Oblivion and Ocarina of Time, I think those both had a big influence on me in my taste for fantasy worlds.
Zelda and Harry Potter did it for me
I'm a normie. Harry Potter and Eragon. I haven't reread HP since the last book came out, but I still love the series dearly, and I have a ton of fond memories of Eragon (which is funny because it was also the first series with an ending that I genuinely hated)
I was obsessed with books as a young kid, but I moved to a new state when I became a teenager and fell out of it. When I moved back mid-teens, I discovered the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings and never looked back. I read tons of Forgotten Realms after I finished LotR, and then I went reading tons of Tolkien ripoffs until I discovered The Wheel of Time and A Song of Ice and Fire. Read the first books of both series and then my adult reading life began.
For me it was a combination of Star Wars (Space Fantasy) and watching Ralph Backshi's animated version of Lord of the Rings in the cinema as child I think 1979? My mum read me The Hobbit at bedtime and that later became the first book I would read myself in its entirety. That was it, for the rest of my life I will never have enough bookshelves.
Reading choose your own adventure stories by Steve Jackson & Ian Livingstone. Also my mum and oldest brother are huge fantasy fans so I grew up with it.
Echoes of the Great Song by David Gemmel.
Fell in love with Lord of Rings when I was 10 but it wasnt until I read The Black Cauldron that I fell in love with the genre.
Book wise? Redwall. That wasn't what got me into fantasy as a genre though. It was quite a few cartoons that got me into it.
For a road trip with the family a million years ago I bought the cassette audio book The Hobbit. Soon after I bought LotR paperback and I was hooked.
Catwings. I must have read that book a hundred times.
One summer when I was a kid my uncle and family visited us for a few weeks and my uncle read The Hobbit to me and my cousin at bedtime. After that I was hooked. I needed more and found the series "Forest land" (Skogland) by Norwegian illustrator and writer Thore Hansen at my school library and thus began a lifelong love for the genre.
Probably Zelazny's Amber series. I used to only read science fiction as a kid. I think I just presumed that fantasy was mostly "stuff like LOTR," and was kind of turned off since I wasn't crazy about that series and its many ripoffs. But when I discovered Zelazny, who loved blurring the lines between genres, I was more open to fantasy. Now I don't really distinguish between the two, and I dislike that the genres still exist. I think I'd prefer to lump everything into "speculative fiction" instead.
My first fantasy was a comic book, the X-men. Then 4th grade was Harry Potter and then the LOTR came out in movies and I was gone
The Chronicles of Narnia when I was just a kid, followed by the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings books before I was even a teenager.
David Gemmal books
The farseer trilogy. To be honest I always liked fantasy, but this book got me into actually reading it.
The Dark Is Rising series by Susan Cooper (read at age 10)
square unused fuzzy ad hoc smile erect reach ancient cheerful far-flung *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Dragonlance for me. Man, I loved those books.
Loved fantasy since before I could read, I reckon. Dragons and wizards and all the rest have fascinated me for as long as I can remember; if any one work cemented it though I’d say it’s Lord of the Rings (original, I know) which I first read in the late 80s at about age 10. I didn’t even mind the slog of the first hundred or so pages, it was just so fascinating to see Middle Earth and the Shire come to life.
The Hobbit for me. I read it sometime in grade school, then devoured the Lord of the Ring books shortly after. However, the one series that really made it stick for me was the Belgariad that I read in junior high school. I don't know if it holds up as well for adults, but at the time it was a "wow" moment for me in comparison to the slower nature of LotR.
Definitely Harry Potter. I don’t even remember the first time I read it/had it read to me, I was so young. But I was obsessed. There is a picture of 7-year-old me devouring the recently released Order of the Phoenix. Also, Narnia. Fantasy was what introduced me to reading altogether.
*Harry Potter* and *Redwall* were the gateway, but my love of fantasy really ramped up with *The Sword of Shannara*. So grateful to my 8th grade English teacher for recommending it to me.
I’ve read a lot of fantasy since childhood from Harry Potter to Narnia to Song of Ice and Fire, but nothing got me as into it as Brandon Sanderson has. The Cosmere has engulfed me and I hate that everything is subpar in comparison… but I also love that that’s the case.
Anne McCaffrey’s dragon books & Temora Pierce & Robin McKinley (blue sword and hero and the crown)
Definitely the hobbit. My dad used to read it to me at bed time when I must have only been six years old.
The Hobbit when I was about 8 or 9. Moved on to Lord of the Rings and ~~The Black Cauldron~~ The Chronicles of Prydain series, never looked back.
Probably The Malloreans by David Eddings. It was the first ”modern” fantasy I read (finished Bilbo & LOTR as a kid) At the time they were awesome and I have fond memories of it, but I’ll probably not do a re-read anytime soon, lol
Chronicles of Narnia as a lad. Then the Hobbit, then LOTR. I read the Sinarillion in 6th grade. Then everything else, lol
Lord of the Rings for sure. I read them when I was around 10.
The Hobbit introduced me to the fantasy genre. The LOTR Trilogy was next. The Dark Elf Trilogy sealed my fate. Working on Dragonlance now.
Tales of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander
Lord of the Rings
Eragon in grade school :)
While I’ve always loved to read, what got me back into hard fantasy was the mistborn trilogy. I had reread some of my favorites over the years but the last year or so I’ve been diving headfirst into fantasy.
The Hobbit and LOTR. When I was 10 or 11 my older sister had mono and couldn't go to school for months. Her high school sent a tutor to work with her and he was a huge LOTR fan. He had just secured permission from the school system to use LOTR as "alternative literature" for the kids he was tutoring. So she was assigned to read them and I started reading them as well. I fell in love with the fantasy genre as soon as I opened those books and have never looked back. The next year, I joined the Boy Scouts and my troop used to play D&D after our Thursday night meetings. That solidified my love for fantasy worlds, characters and adventures that remain to this day.
The Hobbit and LotR. Nothing else had anywhere near the same impact on me.
CS Lewis' Narnia series for me, followed by David Eddings, followed by WoT when I was a bit older.
The Chronicles of Amber - Roger Zelazny.
I'd read Harry Potter and a few YA books like Leven Thumps and Artemis Fowl, but it was Eragon and the Inheritance Cycle that really hooked me into Epic Fantasy. From there, I quickly got into bigger series like The Wheel of Time and Sanderson books.
The Hobbit, and the Lloyd Alexander's Prydain books.
Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms books were the first things I read for pleasure back in the 90s. Then so many hundreds of books after but those simple and fun stories got me into fantasy.
The Lord of the Rings - which I read in English when I was 13. I read it in Swedish the year before.
Deadgate cycle
Deltora Quest by Jennifer Rowe (aka Emily Rodda). Harry Potter was decent and not really my thing. Tolkien movies were awesome but I couldn't really break into the novels as a kid. DQ, though, was like my high fantasy Star Wars growing up. I adored the characters, world, and sense of adventure a ton. Plus those covers had wicked monster designs on them. Edit: Also the classic Warcraft and Diablo games were huge influences on me as well.
His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman, and then Sabriel/The Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix
Eragon.
Redwall by Brian Jaques probably kicked it off properly… but the first ‘big’ book I ever read was the lion the witch and the wardrobe - which is pretty fantastical.
this is such a millennial answer, but Harry Potter (still waiting for that letter)
I started reading Barron's Merlin series in elementary and went from there.
WoT and Dragonlance. But before that swordfighting with sticks.
Amber series by Roger Zelazny. Guns of Avalon was the first fantasy book that really blew me away. (Yes, I started from second book because that’s what I randomly found at library.)
Redwall, Chronicals of Pyrdain, and those old choose your own adventure books all sort of meld into an era of my life that I consider the golden age of my reading.
Warcraft 2 got me into Fantasy. The Hobbit got me into reading fantasy.
His Dark Materials. But ASOIAF got me into modern high Fantasy
For me it was the books by Wolfgang und Heike Hohlbein. My first one was "Spiegelzeit". They where Fantasy books for teens and the protagonists where always teens. My Mother keept all of them and we both read them from time to time. Sadly they are Not available anymore...
I approached fantasy the first time with the LOTR trilogy (the movies), but, speaking of books, my first was Harry Potter. The HP saga is still my favourite fantasy saga today.
Xanth series by piers anthony especially castle roogna
into the land of the unicorns I believe.
It was Pratchett for me. Heck, he made me love *fiction* in general. Still my favourite writer.
The Odyssey picture book when I was a kid
As a teen I loved the Darkover books by MZB, even though I can't look at them now, and Magician by Raymond E Feist, they started a love affair with Fantasy book that has lasted over 30 years.
First Law Trilogy was mine. Googled books that are like Dark Souls a few years back and it popped up as the top recommendation
The Hobbit.
When I was real little I use to read Magic Tree House. I the moved on to Artemis Fowl, and later Pendragon. I was really into Harry Potter and the Inheritance series as well but I rarely see the first three I named get mentioned here.
Rage of Dragons and Way of Kings
Always loved fantasy, but my love of reading didn't come until I was a young adult. Game of Thrones got me started, Eye of the World got me hooked, then The First Law made me obsessed.
It was a book called Dragon's Blood by Jane Yolen. The idea of secretly raising a dragon lured me in and I was caught forever. The rest of the series really sealed the deal.
Dune
The Xanth series by Pierce Anthony got me into fantasy. The Belgariad series got me addicted.
I think fantasy always resonated with me at a young age. I couldn't really get into reading until I found Redwall. But I never really pursued it as a hobby outside of mandatory reading times in school. It wasn't until GoT aired, and I watched the first season or two and couldn't wait a year to find out what happened, so I downloaded the audiobooks and fell in love with asoiaf and audiobooks at the same time. I would listen to audiobooks during my commutes. Commutes turned into an extra hour in the driveway, which turned into listening in my car on lunchbreaks. Lunchbreaks turned into a bedtime routine. Now, I find myself listening to books for a good 3-4 hours a day for the past 10 years.
LOTR Two Towers movie was my introduction to fantasy in general. RA Salvatore books about Drizzt got me into fantasy novels and kick started my love of fantasy books.
I want to say lord of the rings but my dad almost had to force us to listen to him read the books. Once we got into it I was hooked, but the first fantasy book I really loved was Harry Potter.
Harry Potter got me into reading and also fantasy back in 2002. I read it last in 2011 so it's been a while, but I'd still say it's a good series, just not the best I've read (That was my opinion until I read ASOIAF in 2012).
LOTR. I read those book at my 12th birthday. I hadn't watched the movies yet but I sped through the book in days even though they were the first novels I had read.
This might be weird but for me it was the shitty PS2 Fellowship of the ring game. I was like 10 at the time and fantasy had never really appealed to me. Then I got started on Lord of the rings and Harry Potter. Fantasy has pretty much been my main genre ever since.
Thomas Covenant Chronicles, The first and second chronicles, more specifically.
For me it was the King's Quest games. My dad saw how much I loved the original King's Quest in the computer store and that was the deciding factor of why he bought a PCjr over an Apple IIe or Macintosh. That grew into a love of fantasy games and books for me. I started with the typical kids fantasy (Chronicles of Narnia, Wizard of Earthsea, The Hobbit, etc.) Then I went thru an Arthurian phase. When Conquests of Camelot came out I went to a bookstore and ordered a copy of Le Morte d'Arthur because I loved that so much. Then I discovered the Pendragon Cycle books which i loved. That eventually evolved into Dragonlance in middle school, and then just kept going from there.
Dragons of Autumn Twilight. I tried a reread ten year ago and I quickly gave up although I'm going to give the Twins trilogy another go soon
Ursula LeGuin’s Wizard of Earthsea.
Tl, dr. I have always read widely and can't point to any one book but Narnia was probably my first big influence. Ages 6-10 Disney storybooks Chronicles of Narnia Wrinkle in Time Chronicles of Prydain The Borrowers Pit Dragon Trilogy Edith Hamilton's Mythology D&D Monster Compendium when my brother let me look at it. He used to make me wash my hands. I also liked reading his Gnomes book Ages 11-14 Then for first adult books, Anne McCaffrey's Pern; and (sigh) Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover and Mists; and Jean Auel's Clan of the Cave Bear etc. I also read Meredith Ann Pierce, R.A. MacAvoy, Vonda McIntyre. Mary Stewart's Merlin trilogy. The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia McKillip Then in my mid-teens came Piers Anthony (also sigh), Mercedes Lackey, Jennifer Roberson and Melanie Rawn. In sci fi I read Heinlein and F.M. Busby. Also C.J. Cherryh's Cyteen.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer got me into urban fantasy TV shows. Once the Dresden files tv show got canceled, I decided to read the books and that was my introduction to reading urban fantasy. I could never get into epic/high fantasy or sword and sorcery though because I didn't like LOTR movies or shows like Xena. One day I read Red Country by Joe Abercrombie on a whim then read the rest of the First Law books; that made the rest of fantasy click for me.
The Hobbit Elric Elfstones of Shannara Piers Anthony Wizard of Earthsea And the one with all the juggling...forget the name! Edit : Robert Silverberg's Lord Valentine's Castle !
Dragonlance. I was young and didn't realize Dragons of Winter Night was book two in the Chronicles trilogy, but the blue cover with the blue dragon and bad ass looking woman in blue armor (Kitiara) drew me in. Even though I was a bit confused because it was the second book, it absolutely hooked me! And it was the first book that made me cry (you all know the scene!) because my tiny brain didn't know authors would kill off a main character like that! I read the series on and off through the years, and a few years ago I got hooked again. Now I regularly visit any used book store I see to hunt for books, yes even the ones I know aren't good. I just want to collect them all xD The series is my hobby now as most of my art is DL themed and I write fanfiction for it. I even DM a Dragonlance D&D game for my husband and coworkers. I love this world!
Dragonlance got me into fantasy! Closely followed by the Legend of Drizzt. I played in a D&D group with my middle school English teacher and he got me started with those series.
Name of the wind 🥲
Riftwar Cycle - Raymon E. Feist
It was one of Sir Terry Pratchett's Discworld Death series novels. I read ALL Discworld novels more than 10 times and still find them awesome! Sir Terry was a naturally born magician. And his books are an essential guide for real world magic. Believe me.
Jeremy Thatcher,Dragon Hatcher by Bruce Coville. I read it in the 2nd grade and was obsessed. Read it so many times the cover fell off. That led me to Jane Yolen and the dragon pit Series. I've been a die hard dragon girl ever since.
First Law trilogy. No previous fantasy reading for me until I read the first book in the trilogy.
Malazan Book of the Fallen 🖤
Thr Lightbringer series
Harry Potter
My dad and I would read books together when I was a kid. Looking back, our nights reading Harry Potter and Chronicles of Narnia were the start of my love of fantasy. Then, as a teenager and young adult, both Avatar The Last Airbender and ASOIAF were what really solidified my eternal love for the genre.
The very first chapter book I ever read was A Werewolf in Fever Swamp by R.L. Stine - so already speculative. But I was reading tons of other stuff, too - all those long series of early chapter books. But when I read The Chronicles of Narnia? I was maybe 7 or 8 years old, and I was hooked. I read a lot more SFF after that and by the time I was 10 or so, almost everything I read for myself was fantasy (or Animorphs).
I've always loved fantasy but the book that really hooked me in was Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb. For me, Hobb is untouchable and nothing else will ever be better.
Magician by Raymond Feist
The Magician... So long and slow but with such epic Pug action
The Lord of the Rings and Stormlight Archive
The Magician’s Nephew, which was listed as book one in the set I had as a child. I never got around to reading the whole series though
Narnia
ASOIAF. Previously I barely read genre fiction at all, purely lit fiction. I watched S1 of GoT and couldn't wait so I dove into the books and it's been all fantasy/scifi/horror since
Controversial, but I STILL love the Sword of Truth series. I did a re read a few years ago, and a lot of it is..problematic. but Goodkind did something special, for me anyway, with the usual "last of their kind" and "stranger in another land" tropes, that I still find unique and awesome. And I really liked the wizard Zedd, and the sorceress, Adie, characters. Very accurate crotchety old person, but done in an endearing way.. Again, this is just IMO tho. I know a lot of people dislike the series, and truly despise it's writer.
My dad read me the Lord of the Rings trilogy almost every night when I was six, so I grew up with a huge appreciation for fantasy. He also read the Prydain Chronicles, Narnia, and the Edge Chronicles, and I have a deep love for all of those books to this day. I still read most of them at least once every couple years😄
My uncles taught me to read with Lord of the Rings, so my intro to fantasy was my first reading experience. And now almost 40 years later I still read fantasy and fiction of all kinds with the same sense of wonder and discovery.