The Sword and Laser discussion
Sword and Laser Video Show
>
First book you ever read??? Two part question
Vietnamese horror comics. I remember a segment in which a butcher turned his wife into chinese sausage after she gambled their money away. A customer purchased wife sausage, and the sausages hopped on the pan in pain. She eventually had her revenge on murdering hubby as a ghost. I must have been around 5 then. That explained my reading taste.
What was the first book you remember reading?
It was back in the 60's. Probably Winnie the Pooh :-?
What was the book that got you hooked on sword and laser novels?
I picked up "Lord of the Rings" when I was 15 and have been hooked on fantasy books ever since.
I was always a sci-fi buff. I read Asimov, H.G.Wells and Jules Verne in Primary School.
It was back in the 60's. Probably Winnie the Pooh :-?
What was the book that got you hooked on sword and laser novels?
I picked up "Lord of the Rings" when I was 15 and have been hooked on fantasy books ever since.
I was always a sci-fi buff. I read Asimov, H.G.Wells and Jules Verne in Primary School.
The first book I remember reading was Curious George when I was about 6. Then it was the Redwall series when I was 10 espeically with Marin the Warrior back when I was 12 got me into sword and laser novels.
I honestly don't remember my first book. My introduction to sci-fi would have been similar to Tassie Dave - Jules Vernes, Isaac Asimov, H.G. Wells. We had lots of Readers Digest collections that always had those authors. Not sure about fantasy. Maybe The Hobbit, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, or something by Roald Dahl.
I think the first book I fully read by myself (not counting 'read it yourself' fairy tales and the like, which I read by myself under protest anyway because it was far too much effort and I wanted someone to just read to me instead :P) was The Owl who was Afraid of the Dark. I loved that book, though I remember finding it hard at the time. I forget how old I was, but I was slow to learn how to read, so perhaps 8 or 9? After that, I read little other than 'animal' books (is there a better term for that?) such as the Farthing Wood books, and later Duncton Wood, which is pretty heavy reading for a book about moles. This could have led easily into fantasy, but for some reason I rejected that genre, got into horror, and refused to read fantasy until my mum, desperate to get me reading her favourites, started reading 'The Elenium' by David Eddings out loud to the whole family one holiday. After that, I was hooked. :D
Well, I think the first book I remember reading was The Butter Battle BookThen as an elementary school student, I think is where I really started getting into sci-fi mostly with the many books by Bruce Coville.
As far as novel sized book I guess the one that got me was The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
first book I remember reading would probably be The Stinky Cheese Man: And Other Fairly Stupid TalesSword and Laser books? Probably Ready Player One
Cattfish wrote: "Well, I think the first book I remember reading was The Butter Battle BookThen as an elementary school student, I think is where I really started getting into sci-fi mostly with the many books by..."
Forgot that both the books of Bruce Coville and Douglas Adams were my first trip into science fiction back in thrid grade. I read all of Bruce Coville his alien books, but never touched any of his fantasy books, and I was given a copy of The Restuant at the End of the Universe, too young to understand all the words Adam made up.
Jason wrote: "The first book I rememeber reading was Stuart Little when I was 8 or 9."This was the first chapter book I remember ever owning and reading, given to me by my second grade teacher as she gave everyone in the class a chapter book as a going away summer gift, but my dad throw the book out along with all my other chapter books.
What was the first book you remember reading?For me it was- The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
What was the book that got you hooked on sword and laser novels?
It had to be an Arthur C. Clarke novel. Probably- The Songs of Distant Earth. Even though I had previously read other SF novels, namely his "Space Odyssey" series, but it was this title that 'hooked' me. Some other Clarke titles that I read about the same time that furthered my interest in SF- The Light of Other Days | The City and the Stars.
The first book I remember reading myself was Mog and Bunny - it's mostly pictures with maybe four lines of writing on each page. But I remember being so proud that I could read it myself at a very early age.What got me hooked on Sword was a German fantasy book:
by Wolfgang HohlbeinI started hating his writing pretty soon (very unoriginal) but it was the first proper fantasy novel I'd ever read and I've been in love with the genre ever since.
As for Laser, I've only discovered how much I like sci-fi recently. And it started with Heinlein's Starship Troopers
No idea what the first book I ever read was, my parent's house was full of books and I learned to read on my own when I was pretty young so I have no clear memories of what the 'first' book might have been.What got me into Sword and Laser? My best friend leant me The first Wheel of Time book when I was 11 and I was hooked.
My first book that I can remember (since I still own it) is Happy Birthday to You!. As far as sword and laser novels go I cannot specifically remember since my father had a grand collection that I filtered through -- Tolkien, Asimov, Heinlein. I branched away myself to MZB, Norton, Jordan, and Lackey. I adored MZB's Fantasy magazines since I was introduced to more fantasy writers. I suppose my largest novel that completely absorbed me would have to be The Mists of Avalon.
Oh god... That's like asking me when was the first time I breathed...I had a LOT of books growing up, had a whole collection on famous people meant for kids, and a few custom ones for a few birthdays... Berenstain Bears come to mind... A lot of Schoolastic books... a lot of Sesame Street or Golden Books...
I can't really remember my first actual book... so let's just go with first books without picture in it at all...
I really got into the Goosebumps series when I was a kid and starting to read longer books... I became so obsessed I became a member of the Goosebumps club where I kept getting a Goosebumps book and a few others in a monthly kit!
I read a lot! It is actually the fact that I have not been reading as much that I chose to join S&L!
I wasn't ever really into reading Sword, but Laser I have to say was Robots and Murder by Isaac Asimov!
I distinctly remember that Doctor Dolittle was the first "chapter book" I read entirely by myself. It was on a Sunday afternoon in the summer, probably before I was in school and I was very proud. Redwall, The Hobbit, and the Timothy Zahn Star Wars novels really cemented my sword and laser tastes.
I didn't specifically point out the fantasy and scifi books.First fantasy: It would be Grimm's Fairy tales
First SciFi: Really, the root went back to my love of the oddities of science. I loved books on abnormal genetics and other odd things. That was in grade school. As far as fiction, I guess Dune would be my first SciFi book that got me hooked.
@Aloha, Dune got you hooked? Really?I remember always being upset as a kid that I could never finish the movie in one sitting, I don't think I ever did, and everyone I know has said Dune was really rough to get through...
Gives me hope I may finally get into it!
@Nimrod, Dune is really worth checking out. It's one of those books that is so well done that it transcends its genre. Almost every character has his or her own motivations for doing what they do and it makes for an interesting interplay between factions.
I loved Dune, NImrod. I think it's because my leaning was toward Eastern philosophy and a martial arts warrior's mind discipline. I loved the disciplines of the Mentat and the Bene Gesserit. The complication of the political intrigue and discussions regarding economics of the planets was fascinating. That book has a lot of layers to ponder on.
I don't remember the first book I read. The book that got me turned on to the fantasy genre was David & Leigh Eddings Belgariad series.
I honestly don't remember, but for the sake of argument I'll say The White Mountains is probably the answer to both questions. I read the Tripods trilogy about six million times when I was in elementary school. I also remember when I was in, I think, second grade, spending one summer afternoon sitting out on the porch and reading Dad's copy of Red Planet pretty much cover-to-cover, which pretty much sealed it for me.
Dharmakirti wrote: "I don't remember the first book I read. The book that got me turned on to the fantasy genre was David & Leigh Eddings Belgariad series."
I loved that series! :D
The first book I can remember reading is Dracula. I'm sure I read a number of children's books before that, but I don't have memories about them besides Richard Scarry's "Best Word Book Ever", which you don't really "read" per se. (Where the Wild Things are has got to be in there though.)The first Sword & Laser book was maybe "The City of Gold and Lead" (the second of the Tripods trilogy. I read them out of order.)
I don't know what my first book was. Probably Make Way For Ducklings or something at that level.I'm pretty sure that my first fantasy book was The Hobbit when I was about 8. I started gradually moving over to sci-fi in middle school with Dune and Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy. My dad also had (still has, somewhere) a huge collection of fantastically pulpy cyberpunk that I just devoured. I wish I could remember the specific authors and titles.
Oh, and another one I read over and over again around that age was The Cyberiad by the here-infamous Stanislaw Lem. Still one of my favorite short story collections. (With pi and mu and neutrinos too!)
Jess wrote: "My dad also had (still has, somewhere) a huge collection of fantastically pulpy cyberpunk that I just devoured. I wish I could remember the specific authors and titles."My dad doesn't read SF any more, but his shelf full of mostly Heinlein paperbacks, plus a copy of Dune, were pretty instrumental. Plus that Rankin-Bass Hobbit cartoon, which when I was in 5th grade or whatever was the coolest thing I'd ever seen. (With the possible exception of Star Wars.)
My dad read Heinlein's Have Space Suit-Will Travel to me over the course of several weeks when I was really little. Yeah, we were that kind of family. :) I'm pretty sure the first chapter book I read was Dragonsong by Anne McCaffrey. Either that or The Hobbit, can't recall which came first now.
First book I specifically remember having read to me was Little House in the Big Woods. My mom read us the whole Little House series when we were growing up.First chapter book I specifically remember reading on my own was Matilda.
Books that got me into reading Sword is tough. Lots of children's/YA books have fantastical elements that I enjoyed. I've read everything Roald Dahl wrote. Numerous times. I loved (still love) The Phantom Tollbooth.
First real "adult" fantasy I remember really enjoying is probably The Mists of Avalon when I was in 7th grade. I went from that quickly on to The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
I'm very new to the whole "Laser" aspect of the Sword and Laser. I generally avoided sci fi when I was younger. Mostly because reading about science scared me :-P
The first book I ever read was Little Bear. The Birthday Soup story was my favorite and my parents had read it to me so many times that they thought I'd memorized it and didn't believe I was actually reading.As far as Sci-Fi/Fantasy, it had to be something like The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe or A Wrinkle in Time. I don't remember exactly - I don't remember ever NOT being into Sci-Fi/Fantasy! ::smiles::
The first book was an old Dick and Jane book my grandma had. I caught my mom skipping words while reading the funny pages to me, so I told grandma I had to learn to read myself. First she told me I would learn to read when I went to school, but I insisted I had to learn now. She handed me the book and said, "Here, learn to read then."Hello Rock is one of the very few I remember being read to me, then I read myself. I still have the book, too. I always read fantasy. Dad started taking me to the comic shop as soon as I could read. I loved Black Beauty and still have my copy. As for science fiction, maybe Matthew Looney's Voyage To The Earth: A Space Story.
The first book I distinctly remember reading was George Lucas' Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker, but I know I'd read plenty of others before that. It's just my earliest clear memory. I'd been into all kinds of stuff before that like The Hardy Boys and Bobbsey Twins and Jonathan Swift, etc.
The books I first remember reading were by Bruce Coville. The book that got me hooked on Fantasy/Scifi was Dragons of Winter Night Which was a stranger's book report book in sixth grade. It sounded cool so I asked to borrow it. We're still friends
This was more read to me but I did look over my mom's shoulder. It's a book called Wooden Willy and it is by the same author as Raggedy Ann.
First book I read was probably something like the Very Hungry Caterpillar! I remember reading Roald Dahl and the Just So Stories. I was reading a lot really early so it's hard to tell.As for the second part to the question, I was hooked on Sci-fi and Fantasy even outside of reading. I don't ever remember not being hooked.
I'm guessing it was something by Beverly Cleary, but I can't be sure at this point! The first SF book I read was surely Frank Herbert's Dune, which was unaccountably at my elementary school's book air when I was in 3rd grade.
The first book I have a distinct memory of reading was from a series of books that I do not recall at all, but it was a about a penguin having a party. The series ended each book with a handful of questions about the content of the book, like "Was this fiction or non-fiction?" -- I really wish I could remember what the series was called.
I know this is my first memory of reading because I literally could not remember how to pronounce "the" by reading it.. it was always "tuh-heh"
--and I'm new to Swords and Lasers, but the first book I really was deeply invested in (that was fantasy or sci-fi) was Redwall, Brian Jacques.
I know this is my first memory of reading because I literally could not remember how to pronounce "the" by reading it.. it was always "tuh-heh"
--and I'm new to Swords and Lasers, but the first book I really was deeply invested in (that was fantasy or sci-fi) was Redwall, Brian Jacques.
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle. Which was also one of my dad's first books, but he read it in Polish.
I've always read so it's difficult to say what my first was, but I do know by the time I was six I had memorised half the Dr Seuss series, Fox in Sox was my favourite. After that I read the generic kids books like Baby Sitter Little Sister and Goosebumps, but my first real look at fantasy was when mum bought me Harry Potter for my tenth birthday. I turned my nose up at it, didn't think it would be interesting, but to keep her happy I read it, within two months I had her buy and had read the first four books and didn't look back since then.
I've never really been into sci-fi, much more a fan of fantasy, however I have been wanting to give it a try more recently. Admittedly because my boyfriend is a major gamer and Star Trek nerd, but I can tell I'd get a lot out of it.
First book that I remember reading would be Curious George. I was a big fan of those books.Earliest sword / laser book would be either books by Jules Verne or Edgar Rice Burroughs.
I really enjoyed the whole alternate reality kind of stories. Great stuff.
First book I remember reading was either The Hobbit (when I was 10! I have a bad memory.) or Chronicles of Narnia. Both of which answer the first and second question :)
First book I remember reading was either The Hobbit (when I was 10! I have a bad memory.) or Chronicles of Narnia. Both of which answer the first and second question :)
Usually I have a really good memory, so it really bothers me that I can't remember the first book I ever read! The first I can place in time was called The Hair Book, which my friend and I used to read over and over in kindergarten. Both of us already knew how to read and I guess it was our favorite! About a year later I must have read The Cricket in Times Square since I did a book report on it. It was over a decade later that I got into sci fi and fantasy - I read Ender's Game and The Sparrow for a college class and around the same time read The Lord of the Rings before watching the movies. I've integrated both genres into my reading ever since. Don't know why I avoided it for so long :)
My first book I remember reading was The Once and Future King. followed by (surprise surprise) The Hobbit. My first Sci fi book was Dune.
After a lapse when school books got in the way I was pulled back in by Snow Crash and haven't looked back since.
I don't remember the first book I read, but it was probably Noddy or something similar. Certainly the Noddy books (and toys) featured big in my early childhood. Then on to Ladybird books and I-Spy. I returned to Enid Blyton with the Famous Five and Secret Seven serieseseses - just couldn't get enough. And that was all before I was ten.First SF was E.E. Doc Smith's Lensman series. That had me hooked and I'd buy the next book just as soon as pocket money allowed. To this day, I still adore Space Opera over any other sub-genre. From there I went on to Niven & Pournelle (loved Ringworld), Asimov, Heinlein, Aldiss etc. In fact, if there was a picture of a spaceship on the cover, I'd buy it.
Actually, no. I think my first contact with SF was even before that. And I wonder who else remembers them: Bleep and Booster. They appeared as static cartoon images on Blue Peter in the 1960s, and also in print in the Blue Peter annuals. Disappeared off the face of the earth now, sadly.
First fantasy was LOTR, which I lemmed at an early age (it took me four years to get past Rivendell...)
The first book I read was either The Great Gilly Hopkins or The Lion, The Witch andthr Wardrobe which sounds pretty standard in this group. :)The first books that got me into fantasy were The Dragonlance books by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman.
Books mentioned in this topic
Riverwind the Plainsman (other topics)Songs of Earth and Power (other topics)
The Girl Who Owned a City (other topics)
Eon (other topics)
Eternity (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Greg Bear (other topics)Stephen King (other topics)
Piers Anthony (other topics)
Robert A. Heinlein (other topics)
Horatio Alger Jr. (other topics)
More...






But it was a little bit later that I read Around the World in Eighty Days and the works of Jules Verne that my love of books and science and fantasy started.
What was the first book you remember reading?
What was the book that got you hooked on sword and laser novels?