# Childhood favourites?



## Jess A (Dec 21, 2011)

What got you into fantasy? What were your childhood favourites? What/who inspired you to write?

I loved Robin Jarvis and Brian Jacques when I was quite young, although I read a lot of classics and such as well. In my early teens I was a huge fan of Robin Hobb, Raymond Feist, Katharine Kerr, Maggie Furey, Sara Douglass and countless others. I also loved anything to do with animals, such as Gabriel King's '_The Wild Road_', and William Horwood's '_The Wolves of Time_'. 

There are a lot of other books which I know I have forgotten. I kept most of the series that I loved and they are still in my bookshelves. My Sara Douglass books are falling apart  - I did get them second-hand in the first place, but I have read and re-read them over the years.


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## myrddin173 (Dec 21, 2011)

The three most important to getting me into fantasy are The Hobbit, The Sword of Shannara, and Castle in the Attic (At least I think that's its name...).  Afterward I read a lot of Brian Jacques, The Chronicles of Narnia, and LotR.  When I first tried to read it I was so young that I couldn't finish the Fellowship my first time.  Not because it was too difficult, but because the Black Riders scared the bejeezers out of me.  Then I somehow got the visual image of them being pigs in black trench-coats... It's hard to get that image out of my mind and its even harder to not laugh at the Nazgul.


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## Jess A (Dec 22, 2011)

The Castle in the Attic...that rings a serious bell. I loved Narnia as a child too. So many books! For some reason, I did not really enjoy Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit. It didn't grip me at all. It wasn't due to the language - I read a lot of classics when I was young. Terry Brooks is someone I ought to read, I know. There are so many good books out there.


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## Steerpike (Dec 22, 2011)

The most important ones for me growing up were The Hobbit, the Narnia books, Moorcock's Elric books, Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and Gray Mouser stories, and Robert E. Howard's Conan stories.


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## MichaelSullivan (Dec 28, 2011)

I'm with Steerpike about The Hobbit and Narnia. I'll also throw in Watership Down and A Wrinkle in Time.


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## Jess A (Dec 29, 2011)

Watership Down was another favourite. I adore that story.


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## Butterfly (Jan 2, 2012)

I read and reread The Chronicles of Narnia until the books fell apart. LOTR, The Hobbit, a couple of times. 

I also read a lot of Rosemary Sutcliff's books, particularly enjoyed her Arthurian Trilogy; The Eagle of the Ninth series; and the Shield Ring. She wrote around ancient stories and myth, which I found very interesting. 

Ursula Le Guiinn's Earthsea.

I also read a lot of the point fantasy books and point horror books.

I remember discovering quite late the D&D books, and reading straight through Katherine Kerr's Deverry series. But that was probably some time in my mid teens if I remember rightly.


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## mythique890 (Jan 2, 2012)

When I was in grade school I loved the Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede, Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine, The Hobbit, Narnia, and A Wrinkle in Time (though my favorites were actually Many Waters and A Wind in the Door).  I also read my first Pern book sometime in 7th or 8th grade and continue to devour anything by Anne McAffery to this day (though not anything co-authored by her son, ick).  In high school I read a lot of Dragonlance (anything by Weiss and Hickman), The Wheel of Time, Sevenwaters (and anything else) by Juliet Marillier,  and Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn by Tad Williams.

In the interest of full disclosure, some of my other childhood favorites that had a fantasy angle were Goosebumps and Animorphs.


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## sashamerideth (Jan 2, 2012)

I cannot remember the name of the series, it was fantasy, and involved some kids that found medallions of different materials. I remember distinctly that they were able to travel in between dimensions, seeing people that were flat, living in 2 dimensions, and creatures with three eyes that lived in a four dimensional world. Moving from three to four dimensions and back again made the mover... backwards. They wrote with the opposite hand, hair was parted on the other side of the head, that sort of thing. 

I never finished the series, and now I can't remember what it was called.

Sent from my Blade using Forum Runner


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## Jess A (Jan 2, 2012)

Sashamerideth - I have not heard of that one either! You'll have to let us know if you find it.

And yes - Animorphs was an early childhood favourite. I read Goosebumps as well.

I read most of Kerr's Deverry series in a week, if I recall. I was so trapped in those novels that I couldn't put them down! And that was during school. I must have read them at lunch as well.


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## Butterfly (Jan 3, 2012)

Little Storm Cloud said:


> I read most of Kerr's Deverry series in a week, if I recall. I was so trapped in those novels that I couldn't put them down! And that was during school. I must have read them at lunch as well.



I found her homepage at deverry.com. It has some useful links for writers, and info about her books. If you haven't seen it, it's worth a visit.


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## Jess A (Jan 4, 2012)

Butterfly said:


> I found her homepage at deverry.com. It has some useful links for writers, and info about her books. If you haven't seen it, it's worth a visit.



Thank you! Much appreciated. It is always important to get tips from the best. Robin Hobb gave me some tips a few years ago. One was to write a little every day.


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## Ice Spider (Jan 5, 2012)

The Hobbit, which I read when I was 10 or 11, was definitely the book that really got me into fantasy. Don't get me wrong, I had read and loved other fantasy books/series as a kid like Narnia, The NeverEnding Story, The Odyssey (a kids adaptation probably) and The Last Unicorn, and was an avid reader in general (mostly mystery back then), but The Hobbit was the first book to truly enchant me. At the time, I thought it was the perfect story; I just couldn't find fault with it. It moved at a fast pace and was full of imagination, mystery, adventure, excitement, suspense, magic, and wonder. It was also written in a really charming style. All you could hope for in a fantasy story. I don't _love_ it in the same way I did as a kid now, but it was my initiation into the genre.


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## aderyn (Jan 8, 2012)

@ Butterfly and Little Storm Cloud - I also am a great fan of the Katherine Kerr Deverry series.  Did you know that she only finished that series in relatively recent times? (2009)  I first read those books in my mid-late teens, I recently reread them and enjoyed them even more than the first time!

As a child the first fantasy novel I read was Susan Cooper's 'The Dark is Rising'.  It really awakened a love for fantasy.  After that, like many of you I read 'The Hobbit' and 'Lord of the Rings' and loved them.  

Interestingly, in my twenties and early-mid thirties I went 'off' fantasy.  But now I've returned and I'm loving it


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## Jess A (Jan 9, 2012)

aderyn said:


> @ Butterfly and Little Storm Cloud - I also am a great fan of the Katherine Kerr Deverry series.  Did you know that she only finished that series in relatively recent times? (2009)  I first read those books in my mid-late teens, I recently reread them and enjoyed them even more than the first time!
> 
> As a child the first fantasy novel I read was Susan Cooper's 'The Dark is Rising'.  It really awakened a love for fantasy.  After that, like many of you I read 'The Hobbit' and 'Lord of the Rings' and loved them.
> 
> Interestingly, in my twenties and early-mid thirties I went 'off' fantasy.  But now I've returned and I'm loving it



Your username is the Aderyn from the Kerr series, yes?  

I did know that she continued to write them - I read a lot of the earlier ones when I was about fourteen, but I only noticed that she had written plenty more much later on. I have not kept up - I will go back and reread them.

I also stopped reading fantasy for some time, but I have also recently returned to some new ones and some old favourites.


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## MichaelSullivan (Jan 9, 2012)

Can't recall if I mentioned it or not...and technically not a children's story I would think - but Watership down is still one of my favorites at any age.


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## aderyn (Jan 9, 2012)

Little Storm Cloud said:


> Your username is the Aderyn from the Kerr series, yes?
> 
> I did know that she continued to write them - I read a lot of the earlier ones when I was about fourteen, but I only noticed that she had written plenty more much later on. I have not kept up - I will go back and reread them.
> 
> I also stopped reading fantasy for some time, but I have also recently returned to some new ones and some old favourites.



My name is not actually from that series, it's just coincidence, one that I didn't realize until I reread them, lol!  Yes you should go back and read them  so what new ones are you reading?


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## Jess A (Jan 9, 2012)

Michael - Watership Down is brilliant. I think you did mention it! 

Aderyn - Really? I have seen the name 'Aderyn' elsewhere too, I must admit. I shamelessly stole my username from a book, although it was a nickname of mine from a long time ago and it used to annoy me.

As for new books, I read K. J. Taylor's Griffin series, and Rachel Neumeier. Also a griffin series. I want to read the George R. R. Martin books and have purchased the first in the series. I just don't get as much time to read as I used to. Robin Hobb's newest series was quite intriguing and kept me hooked. I've just been fussy of late and I can't seem to get into many books.


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## aderyn (Jan 11, 2012)

Little Storm Cloud said:


> Aderyn - Really? I have seen the name 'Aderyn' elsewhere too, I must admit. I shamelessly stole my username from a book, although it was a nickname of mine from a long time ago and it used to annoy me.
> 
> As for new books, I read K. J. Taylor's Griffin series, and Rachel Neumeier. Also a griffin series. I want to read the George R. R. Martin books and have purchased the first in the series. I just don't get as much time to read as I used to. Robin Hobb's newest series was quite intriguing and kept me hooked. I've just been fussy of late and I can't seem to get into many books.



Aderyn is actually a female name, or so I've always been told, I just assumed Kerr bent the rules a bit when she used it.  I haven't read those.  I'm finishing off 'the clan of the cave bear'series at the moment.  Then I want to get into 'game of thrones' a friend recommended it.


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## Butterfly (Jan 11, 2012)

aderyn said:


> Aderyn is actually a female name, or so I've always been told, I just assumed Kerr bent the rules a bit when she used it.  I haven't read those.  I'm finishing off 'the clan of the cave bear'series at the moment.  Then I want to get into 'game of thrones' a friend recommended it.



Aderyn is a Welsh name and it means bird - thought you might be interested in knowing.


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## Jess A (Jan 11, 2012)

I knew it was Welsh, but I did not know it meant 'bird' or that it was a female name. Interesting!

Aderyn - how did you find Auel's books? I got bored after the third one, but I must admit, that was also a series which influenced me when I was a teenager, although I must have been 16 or 17 when I read them. The first two (_Clan of the Cave Bear_ and _Valley of the Horses_) were my favourite. Then the character became too 'perfect'!


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## aderyn (Jan 12, 2012)

Little Storm Cloud said:


> Aderyn - how did you find Auel's books? I got bored after the third one, but I must admit, that was also a series which influenced me when I was a teenager, although I must have been 16 or 17 when I read them. The first two (_Clan of the Cave Bear_ and _Valley of the Horses_) were my favourite. Then the character became too 'perfect'!



I'm reading the third book, 'the mammoth hunters' now.  I agree the first two are the best.  I'm still finding it interesting, and I'll finish the series as I have an interest in how Auel wraps it all up.


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## Anders Ã„mting (Jan 16, 2012)

Childhood? I guess that would be the Oz books - I read the entire original series by L Frank Baum as a kid. The Neverending Story by Michael Ende also had a _huge _impact on me, and to this day I consider it one of the greatest books ever written.

And to think that today, most people only know them by the vastly inferior movies. *sigh* 

On the other hand, I was never that fond of Tolkien. I liked to Hobbit, but I never got through the actual Lord of the Rings trilogy. I had to wait for the movies to find out how it actually ended.

...In retrospect, I guess all this might explain a few things about how my style developed.


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## Jess A (Jan 17, 2012)

I was not a fan of LOTR either. The books did not grip me as a kid or an adult and the films bored me quite a bit. They were visually beautiful, and that was all that I got from them. That's not to say that I think they are crap. I just didn't enjoy them!


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## Anders Ã„mting (Jan 17, 2012)

Little Storm Cloud said:


> I was not a fan of LOTR either. The books did not grip me as a kid or an adult and the films bored me quite a bit. They were visually beautiful, and that was all that I got from them. That's not to say that I think they are crap. I just didn't enjoy them!



Oh, I _liked_ the movies. I just didn't have the patience to plow through the books. 

I ended up reading David Eddings instead. He was easy to like, though I found his books got progressively less inspired as they went along. Might just have been me getting older, though.


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## Evilyn (Jan 18, 2012)

Glad to see a few have listed Brian Jacques, when I was a child he was my favourite author and still to this day I can pick up one of his worn books from my shelf and read a few pages if I am feeling low and they always cheer me up, especially when he starts describing all the lovely food the characters eat.

I also read a lot of Terry Pratchett but I have to admit I found some of his books a little hard to get into..

I had this book that I found preowned in the library called Summer of fear - Can't recall who wrote it now but I read that quite a few times, it was about a girl that this family take in but she is a witch and tries to take the mothers position in the family..was quite good.

I am also a late starter with the Terry Goodkind series having only just started reading them, I am over halfway through Sword of Truth and am really enjoying it.


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## Jess A (Jan 18, 2012)

Evilyn said:


> Glad to see a few have listed Brian Jacques, when I was a child he was my favourite author and still to this day I can pick up one of his worn books from my shelf and read a few pages if I am feeling low and they always cheer me up, especially when he starts describing all the lovely food the characters eat.



I have a Redwall cookbook. Somebody made one many years ago and posted it online - I printed it off. I have made the sugar crumpet things (I forgot what they were called in the books) many times. They are very delicious. They are simply plain biscuits/cookies with melted butter/margarine, sugar and cinnamon on top. Some of it looks simply disgusting! I was always intrigued by the otters' hot-pot stew (?) or hot shrimp stew. I am not sure that I agreed with the recipe.


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## aderyn (Jan 30, 2012)

Anders Ã„mting said:


> Oh, I _liked_ the movies. I just didn't have the patience to plow through the books.
> 
> I ended up reading David Eddings instead. He was easy to like, though I found his books got progressively less inspired as they went along. Might just have been me getting older, though.



I loved David Eddings books as a teenager.  Recently I tried reading them again - the 'Elenium' series.  I found it predictable and tedious.  And I HATE the way he writes women! Talk about Madonna-whore complex!


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## gerald.parson (Jan 30, 2012)

The Hobbit, Wayside School is Falling Down, Lampters of Clayborne,  The Lion, witch, and the wardrobe.


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## Jess A (Jan 31, 2012)

Hmm ... not sure if I put these in. Gabriel King's books - '_The Wild Road_'. About cats. William Horwood's _Wolves of Time_ series. I also liked Garry Kilworth's books about animals.


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## Arkius (Jan 31, 2012)

For me probably rangers apprentice :3


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