originally posted by Cheryl Detmer
lol Derek, that is how I am with books but sometimes, I do manage to stretch the spine more than I want to and make a mark in it. I do try to be careful with the paperbacks. The hardbacks are good that they don't get those marks in them to show you've read them and stretched it. When I get a tear on the side, I cringe and then go oh well, I tried to keep from it. lol I don't drink coffee so I don't have that worry of spilling it on the books. haha Good for your daughter to be so careful with precious books. That's how I think of them. Hi Jane, lucky you to eat lunch with Julie and Ann. They both seem like very nice people and authors are very nice. For someone that has been to celebrity boards and mingled with a few, I prefer authors and they are the nicest to be around and most fun.
originally posted by Sandtiger
Jane,
::laugh:: That just made my day, you realise?
And yes - I have yet to meet an Author who wasn't nice. Perhaps because those ones don't go to conventions…
originally posted by Cheryl Detmer
I think I know Marie Brennan too, Jane. I'll have to look for that book. Thanks and sounds good. Now to buy another book after already having a good day at the bookstore. I'm glad my birthday is coming. lol By the way, I just got Raymond E. Feist's new book Flight of the Nighthawks. They didn't mention Jimmy The Hand that I saw in the back description but I'm hoping this is the one about him. Nighthawks makes me think Jimmy the hand though. Can't wait to read this one. I didn't even expect a new one from him yet. It was great surprise.
originally posted by Trys
quote:Switch two letters in the first name and you have the lead singer for Clannad (Maire Brennan). When I first saw this name I thought, 'hug, she's writing SF/F now too!' <grin>Marie Brennan
originally posted by Derek Coventry
I've now re-read books 1 & 2 of Midori Snyder's Oran trilogy and though I located and ordered book 3, it is yet to arrive. Which means I'm now three quarters through 'A Sorcerer's Treason' which I'm enjoying immensely. Thank you Janny for the recommendation.
Now a thought for all. Can you remember the Author (or book) which first fired your enthusiasm and at what age? I have racked my memory and can remember the first full size books I was given as a child. The first was a leather bound copy of Kipling's Jungle Book which went missing many years ago (probably one of my younger sisters sold it!) and the second was an adventure 'boy's own' type called Petsamo Patrol. (set in Finland during the Russian invasion). But I always remember a large black book of my mother's that I'd sneak from the bookshelf for bedtime reading. It was called the Mammoth book of Horror Stories. However it was years later when I reached my teens that I got hooked on SF and it was Burroughs who was responsible.
originally posted by Cheryl Detmer
LOL Trys, I don't know that group but that's funny. Marie Brennan is a cool name for an author. lol
originally posted by Trys
Derek,
Tough one there. The first book in the genre I read that hooked me for ever more was Robert Silverberg's Revolt on Alpha C bought through the 'bookclub' in fourth grade. It was definitely a short YA book. I suppose the author who first captured my attention for Fantasy was Andre Norton. I'd been reading her SF for years when Dread Companion came out. It was an SF story with Fantasy elements.
I was also a big reader of mythology in grade school.
Cheryl,
Maire Brennan is Enya's sister. Enya used to be the lead singer for Clannad until she went out on her own. Most of the people in Clannad are related to one another. The music has its roots in Celtic music.
originally posted by Mari
The fantasy series I got hooked on was by Tad Williams. I remember seeing the massive "To Green Angel Tower" at my library and immediately picking up the first in the trilogy. I was about 12 or 13 at the time and had a certain obsession with finding extremely long, but interesting books. It was a good read and had complexity without a lot of romance–a good set-up at the time :D.
originally posted by Derek Coventry
Trys,
I went through a Andre Norton phase many decades ago though I can't see any on my bookshelves at present; the Witchworld series is probably hidden away in a box in my attic. I went through so many authors that I can only remember a few (from Aldiss & Asimov to Zimmer Bradley & Zucker Reichert) with breaks at times for Lamour's westerns and Bernard Cornwall's Historical sets. It's probably living in a village that's helped as most of my life has been spent commuting by train and there's nothing like a good book to make each trip enjoyable.
originally posted by Cheryl Detmer
I loved To Green Angel Tower. I wasn't as young as you, Marie when I bought it and read it but I loved it. Simon is a great hero. The books are so thick, I can hardly hold them in my smaller hands. Tad Williams books are the thickest I've ever had to read. His paperbacks are thick too. lol That is a good read. I didn't really get into his virtual reality story. I wanted to but I prefer mostly fantasy over sci fi fantasy blended together. Thanks for telling me who Clannad is Trys. I would probably like Celtic music if I heard it more. I do like it when I do hear it though.
originally posted by Trys
Derek,
At one point I had every Andre Norton that had been published in, at least, paperback. I've not kept up with everything she co-authored over the last decade or so but have tried to get the ones she wrote by herself. She was my all time favorite author. Of course I've had a new fave author since a few years back. 
originally posted by Auna
Trumpet of the Swan, Stuart Little, Charlotte's Web, White Fang, and then The Jungle Book are the ones I remember fondly that I read so often I knew the entire first chapter word for word. This would be somewhere in grades 1-4. I remember getting frustrated with the grade restrictions on which books I could check out from the school library, but I did manage to read everything about animals (horses, dogs), then everything about the native americans (was a huge Crazy Horse fan) before I left that school. My third grade teacher also read to us A Wrinkle in Time which I absolutely loved but I remember thinking the ending was predictable. That was probably my first fantasy/sci fi book. I later got deeply into sci fi with Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov.
I don't remember when I started reading fantasy. I do remember not liking Lord of the Rings (gasp!) the first time a friend showed me their book when I was in high school. I think it was the tales of Gord the Rogue that sparked my interest in fantasy, starting with Dungeons and Dragons related stories and branching out. I've been unstoppable at devouring fantasy authors' works ever since 
originally posted by Trys
Auna,
Walden Media, the people who made The Chronicles of Narnia movie are working on a live action version of Charlotte's Web. I think it's due in the theaters at the end of the year.
Trys
originally posted by Cheryl Detmer
Auna, I didn't like Lord of the Rings either when I first tried to read it in college. I think it was over my head or something. Too slow moving. LOL I feel silly now but I still haven't read the books but I love the movies. Great movies I'll watch several times. His writing was just a little too difficult for me at that time when I was just beginning to discover fantasy. I was reading Raymone E. Feists Riftwar saga at that time too. Loved it. lol
originally posted by Auna
Trumpet of the Swan was actually my favorite of the three. It's cool to see Charlotte's Web being redone, but nobody has done Trumpet yet *cries*.
For LoTR, it was all the names and terminology thrown around that made it hard to get my head around it. I later read the books and enjoyed them for the most part. Of course after seeing the movies, I'm having a hard time getting into reading the books again.
originally posted by Iris
It's interesting to see how we all became involved in the genre…I recall reading stories of Raggedy Ann when i was really young…then at about 13 I read the Hobbit and I was hooked. I read the LOTR before i went into High School and loved it although I also found it disconcerting that there were so many hints at a history that I knew nothing about. To me that just created a sense of mystery. I was very young and didn't know much anyway! I also loved Ursula LeGuin's Earthsea Trilogy and the Left Hand of Darkness!
After that, I read a lot of science fiction. Loved Star Wars, was a huge fan of Star Trek…the next series I read was Thomas Covenant. And Terry Brooks-Sword of Shannara. There are so many since. I was so thrilled that there was actually a literature course in college on science fiction…that's where I was introduced to Heinlien and Dune! Wow. We are so lucky to have such a rich collection of creative authors. I read the COTM in 1996 during Christmas vacation. JW has been on the top of the list since!
originally posted by Cheryl Detmer
Iris, Sword of Shannara was my first thick fantasy book to read and I loved it. I base all of my reading on that book now and try to find series like that one was that I loved so much. I was amazed at how thick that paperback was. lol I'd read thin books before it. I just marveled at the size of it. lol I discovered Raymond E. Feist shortly after. I read COTM when it first came out on the shelves. I was drawn to it like a magnet. lol I loved it and Janny's work since. We are lucky to have such great authors in this field we love.
originally posted by Auna
Actually Shogun was the first huge book I ever read, and I read it in like five evenings.
originally posted by Derek Coventry
Another couple of series I found hard to put down are the prehistory novels by Jean M Auel and the 'People books by Kathleen O'Neil Gear & W Michael Gear;
And like some of you I've never wanted to give Tolkien a second reading, though I did enjoy the films.
originally posted by StarGazer72
That's so funny, I'm the opposite … I didn't read Tolkien until I think my first year of college and the Sword of Shannara in my second or third, and I loved LOTR but could barely get through Shannara. But then, I have always loved mythology and the traditions of the middle ages, and Tolkien is SO steeped in the voice and progression of both that it just struck a good chord with me.
I don't know whether she's been mentioned here or not, but a good author I've recently found is Lynn Flewelling. Her Tamir series are the first books I've read in a long time that actually made me nervous to be alone at night! Good, eerie fantasy, and very interesting issues about gender and identity.