Another Tolkien Fan I'm afraid
I think I was about ten. I was recovering at home from having my appendix out. I was uncomfortable, fidgety, moaning and generally driving my mother batshit.
My Father, at my mothers insistence, went out to get me something to do. He returned with a rather nice hardback, large print, illustrated version of 'The Hobbit'.
He then proceeded to sit on the edge of the bed and tell me how's he'd read this book at my age...blah, blah, blah. I wasn't paying any attention whatsoever- I was just pissed off he didn't bring me a beano. But he left the book on my bed and eventually, out of boredom I eventually picked it up. From the end of the first chapter I was hooked, completely and utterly.

I was instantly enchanted, a whole new world had opened up to me, orcs, dragons, trolls, wizards and swords - the vividness and thoroughness that he wove his tale was, in my mind, amazing. I'd never been transported 'into' a story before and this was a whole new experience for me. This was the first time I'd ever been led to 'read under the covers' by torchlight after my parents calling bedtime.

Since then I 've read pretty much all of his books - The Silmarillion, Lord of the rings, Father Christmas stories and Father Giles to name but a few. Unfortunately 'The hobbit' kick started what's turned out to be a pretty good book collection - Fantasy wise, pretty much everything from Weiss and Hickmanns' Drangonlance series, to David Gemmells' Waylander, Drenai and Rigante series, Louise Cooper, Terry Brooks's Shannara, magic kingdom and running with the demon series and David Eddings Sorcerer stuff.

From my humble beginnings I've also branched into quite a bit of the horror fantasy stuff as well, which has led to shelves full of stuff from the likes of Brian Lumley, Stephen King, Dean R Koontz, Lovecraft and James Herbert

I'm also quite partial to Tom Clancy's older stuff, Red Storm Rising blows me away every time I read it. I'm not ashamed to have most of Wilbur Smiths collection and a few of Clive Cusslers 'Dirk Pitt' novels lurking in the depths of my bookcases.

Pretty much anyone (in my mind anyway) who can weave a decent tale I've picked up and read at some point. I love a good novel, I love being taken out of my armchair or bed and thrown into Mordor, or into a vampire world, or perhaps even into the middle of a third world war.

I like to think It was 'The Hobbit' that launched my rather avaricious reading hobby, prior to that I'd thought books were something you grudgingly opened to learn maths / geography from.

*All of this drives my missus mental. I still have most of my books. I never throw any of them out unless they fall to bits - then I replace them. We have at this point 4 large book cases full of stuff and quite a few box fulls sequestered under the bed. And yes, they will be moving with me when we move in a few months time...
(uk_viper stopped lurking on, Thu 15 May 2008, 22:01, 2 replies)

I'm holding back
on my Tolkien answer until tomorrow :P I absolutely love the LOTR books and the silmarillion, the history and the world he created are just awe inspiring.
( baw__bag contains traces of nuts on, Thu 15 May 2008, 22:09, closed)

hehe from your list
looks like you are reading from my bookshelves

recently i picked up a book by Kelley Armstrong
(Broken) and cannae wait till i buy the rest of them.

just in case you had not read them yet am thinking you will like them.

fishy
(Patfish, Wed 21 May 2008, 22:18, closed)