Time for another Fantasy with Friends discussion post! As ever, the prompts are hosted at Pages Unbound, and this week’s is about what got you interested in the genre:
Is there a particular fantasy that got you interested in the genre? Do you remember any of the earliest fantasy books you read?
Given that my mother’s a fantasy reader as well, I think fantasy stories were just stories to me, rather than thinking in terms of genre. Lots of the books I had as a kid were fantastical in some way, some more so than others; I read a lot of Enid Blyton’s work, for instance, where the Famous Five books are not fantasy, but she also wrote The Magic Faraway Tree. I know I had a box set of the Narnia books, too, with cover art that I personally prefer to all the others I’ve seen, but which hasn’t been reused (alas).
That said, I know that after I read The Hobbit, I pestered Mum for more like it, by which I think I meant fantasy (and she certainly took it to be so). She didn’t let me read The Lord of the Rings until I was a bit older, to make sure I would understand and properly appreciate it, but I have vivid memories of many of the fantasy books she lent me from her shelves. Raymond E. Feist’s Magician was definitely a major early player, along with David Eddings’ work. There’s a lot of nostalgia there, though I doubt I’d revisit David Eddings’ work now, being aware of his extensive child abuse directed at his adopted children. I can’t remember quite when I got A Wizard of Earthsea for Christmas, but probably somewhere around 10-11 years old.
I can’t quite picture where I started seeking out and choosing fantasy books of my own, either — probably in a small way I was doing that all along, but often following Mum’s suggestions and recommendations to help me choose. I know that by the time I was in my mid-teens, Mum and I were both reading Robin Hobb’s Farseer books, and visiting the Waterstones in town for their SF/F section (and to attend a reading and Q&A session by Robin Hobb). At the same time I was reading Neil Gaiman for myself for sure (sadly he’s also tainted his own legacy), Tad Williams, Sarah Zettel…
I can definitely remember when it started becoming more the other way round, too, which was probably most marked from when I was 18 or so: I’d discover the authors and get Mum interested, in my turn. I borrowed Scott Lynch’s The Lies of Locke Lamora from the library when I was at university, and persuaded her to read it. (No, I still haven’t read Republic of Thieves, though. Someday. If people don’t nag me.)
Overall, definitely heavily influenced by Mum’s taste in books, especially until I went off to university and spent more time browsing in bookshops on my own, exploring via library books and second-hand sales, etc.
I love this story! My mom read romance, and she did influence me eventually, but I discovered fantasy on my own, probably at the library. I do remember picking out books and a librarian telling me I was too young to read them. That stuck out and I never forgot it.
I think I really didn’t think of fantasy as a separate genre for a looong time because it was just normal to me, growing up with so many fantasy books around! I also experienced a librarian claiming I was too young; my mother just borrowed those books for me. I remember her doing that with Isaac Asimov’s books, and I loved one of them so much I had trouble letting her return it…
That’s so fun you and your mom shared reading recommendations! My parents don’t read at all, so I mostly got books by wandering vaguely around the library waiting for something to pop out at me!
Briana @ Pages Unbound recently posted…What Fantasy Books Got You Interested in the Genre? (Fantasy with Friends)
I was lucky, I guess! Oddly enough I’ve got more like my dad over time, reading more non-fiction. We don’t share taste in books/topics very closely, though, other than both of us being curious about all kinds of topics that don’t overtly relate to our day-to-day lives, it’s more that I’ve inherited his general ability to be interested in anything.
I love this as I can really relate to it. My mum was really into crime fiction and I’ve inherited that from her. However my daughter has picked up my love of fantasy and a lot of our phone calls are spent discussing our latest fantasy reads.
My interest in classic crime was definitely nurtured by my mum too — we share a love of Dorothy L. Sayers’ work!
I totally relate. I read a lot of Enid Blyton as a child too, and loved all the fairy tales, which are usually fantasy to be fair. I didn’t really start reading high fantasy until later though. I love that you share this with your mom. I got my love of reading from my dad who read mostly historical fiction, which I enjoy as well, but I tend to read a lot more fantasy.
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I vividly remember reading Enid Blyton’s Tales of Brave Adventure, of which I actually had two copies: one my mum’s, one my dad’s! That was the Robin Hood and King Arthur retellings. Definitely influential on me, ahaha, and though they aren’t entirely fantasy (since they sit on the history/legend divide) they were definitely a gateway.
I love that you get to share books with your family! But I also know what you mean by not perhaps intentionally thinking in terms of genre while growing up. I read across genres–just whatever happened to look interesting at the library! Though I probably did read mostly fantasy, in the end.
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I know I read a lot of fantasy as a kid, but I think often it’s not shelved differently for children, everything’s all mixed up… in the UK when I was a kid, at least, I haven’t noticed so much now. So it’s hard to be sure looking back how conscious I was of it!