Who remembers their first exposure to science fiction?
I have always been a voracious reader. When I was a little girl, my local library had a special exception for me. Children under 12 could only check out 5 books at a time. They let me have 15, so I wouldn't have to come in every couple of days (I was lucky, my grandmother worked there!). By the time I was 9 or 10 I had read most all of the books in the "little kids" section and began to look in the adolescent section. There, I found the book that set my main reading interests for life.
Who else could it be but Robert Heinlein?!! "Have Spacesuit Will Travel", to be precise! I was in love. From then on, every time I went to the library, his name was the first one I looked for.
When I was old enough to buy my own books, for many years I never bought anything other than SciFi (or Fantasy, once I came across Andre Norton). I waited with breath held for each new Heinlein book. I've read them all, many times, and cried like an idiot when he died. I wish I could have met him.
Now that I'm all grown up (hey, who says???) I'll read just about anything that looks interesting, except westerns and romance, but SciFi and Fantasy are still my favorites, and the first aisle I head to at the book store. I also have quite a few other favorite authors by now , but I'll never forget that dear Robert was my first love. There will never be another quite like him!
I enjoy reading a lot of science fiction and fantasy books. I think the first book I remember if War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells. I usually had a 45 minute bus ride home everyday. I would read a book every night. I would finish books within a couple of days. Dune took be three days. I don't read books as much now. I have read over 600+ books. You learn about about many topics when reading books. It is also true that some of the books are no longer science fiction. I miss Robert Heinlein too. I wish that H. Beam Piper had written more books also.
For me, it was that rascal Isaac Asimov. While the details are fuzzy, at first, he teased me with a few short stories...no harm done...Then we moved to the Robot Saga, but we didn't go "all the way" until Foundation....I was left gasping for breath. I was just a kid, maybe 12 or 13, but I'll never forget.
Next I turned to Fantasy, with Tolkien obviously my first. (and still in the top 3)
As I got older, I experimented more...Harlan Ellison, Samuel Delaney and the like. I still have a dog eared copy of "Alone Against Tomorrow" collection of Ellison's short stories...
Jeez, it was so long ago! For me, Heinlein, Clarke and Asimov are the "Big Three" but I can remember reading Cordwainer Smith (Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger (July 11, 1913–August 6, 1966) at an early age. He couldn't have been my first because I can remember thinking how different he was from the others. While other stories employed bigger ray guns to win the day, his used organic solutions. The term 'genetic engineering' hadn't been coined yet but selective breeding or mutation was well understood.
While technically not Sci-fi, my first foray to "strange new worlds" would have to be Tolkien, and then I believe I read wells. Soon after I joined the science fiction book club, and read anything and everything Sci-Fi. Working in an occasional Fantasy novel.That was about 30 years ago, at this time I've been awaiting each new release in the "Legacy of the force" series. By far, in my opinion, the best literary works to date inside the Star Wars universe.
Edgar Rice Burroughs, -Pirates of Venus . . . It's been a wild ride ever since. After reading the Amtorian series, I moved on to Pellucidar and Barsoom. I'm still hung up on early to mid 20th century Sci-Fi - Fantasy. I go back and forth these days. I try to keep up with what's current as well. I am about to begin the above mentioned LOTF series. Deathstar looks good too. I like Steve Perry's writing style. :)
I can not remember the author of the first science fiction book I read but the title was "There is bomb in Gilead" maybe Murray Leister - but my favorite authors are Larry Niven, Robert Anson Heinlein, James Hogan - I have to admit I am more interested in multiple book series since there can be more character developement. My favorite Niven is "A Mote in God's Eye" series, Heinlein's "Methusela's Children" series with "Time enough for Love" and last but not least is Hogan's Ganymede series. Look forward to some interesting feedback and other issues Respectfully; Svetlovidov
First sci fi I ever read was Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke, followed closely by Splinter of a Mind's Eye. Soon I picked up I Robot and Illustrated Man...oddly enough, all purchased through Scholastic Books when I was in elementary school. They had a much more diverse selection in those days...now its all Animorphs and Harry Potter. First sci fi book I ever got as a gift was a boxed set of the first four Dune books. Twenty-five years later, I still have my original yellowed paperback copies of each of them!
The first scifi book that really caught my attention was Ray Bradbury's Martian Chronicles. I actually wrote a report on "There Will Come Soft Rainis".
I remember three authors that brought me to the other side. Douglas Adams, Ray Bradbury and Madeline L'Engle. After all these years and countless books and authors I still love those three and their works!
Before I could read it was Twilight Zone, my dad is a HUGE Sci-Fi junkie, and me too. The first book I read that really got me interested was NEVERNEVER by Will Shetterly. I'm pretty sure it's not a well known book, and his other book Elsewhere, well....I've never heard anyone mention it. I was already an avid reader of anything I could get my hands on before this book; but after it nothing else was really all that interesting. Then I moved on to Koontz, Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Wells. I ended up working my way backward, but it just worked for me I guess. :-)
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