I’m finding that some of the classic seminal & gateway fantasy stuff from my youth — Wind in the Willows, The Hobbit, even the Pooh books — is definitely viewed as too slow and dry these days. Humph. Kids…

Moving into teen years, nothing quite blew me out of my socks the way the Amber series did. Definitely seminal, and gateway for adolescents. Earthsea as well, though I found it less captivating.

However, a separate paragraph must be added for Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser. S & G imho.

Is Vance’s Lyonesse trilogy seminal? Gormenghast? McCaffrey’s first Pern book?

Though I had “gatewayed” before hand, having read L’Engle’s Wrinkle in Time, Bradbury’s Sound of Thunder, etc. And about the same time as the Xanth novels I read Lloyd Alexander’s The Chronicles of Prydain and Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea trilogy — that is, I think that was the order (it all kind of blends together).

I also remember preferring television shows as a child like Star Trek and Outer Limits, and movies like Robin Hood, the old Eroll Flynn swashbuckler films, Three Musketeers, the animated Hobbit, the Last Unicorn, etcetera that I think helped lay the neural pathways for my fantasy-scifi reading preferences.

And I seem to remember being exposed repeatedly as a child to hero fables with names like “David and Goliath” or “Samson” (a Hercules rip off, if I recall), or the wise old wizard Noah and his magical boat (though I think that was a Gilgamesh knockoff), and some other similarly derivative but imagination-stirring tales with magical elements. Though I’m afraid I can’t remember the author…

Then I jumped pretty quickly into Lord of the Rings, and Thomas Covenant, but I would NOT recommend those to fantasy newbies – they are not light reading.

Feist’s first Riftwar saga remains one of my favorites and I think is a not-too-bad choice for newbies.

McCaffrey’s Harper Hall trilogy, and Mercedes Lackey’s Arrows of the Queen or Vows and Honor books are good choices for newbie readers who would enjoy female protagonists, as they are fairly short novels and entertaining, though both contain a bit of mature material.

Finally, I’d say as a recommend for newbies (in addition to any recommended by others above) perhaps Roger Zelazny’s first Chronicles of Amber series, for a couple of reasons. First, the books are very small, and therefore appealing as “give it a try” reading. Second, they are written in first person and action-oriented, and start off with a classic hook (man wakes up with no memory and with people apparently out to get him) that sucks the reader in. So, all in all, pretty easy reads, and pretty good stories.

Smaller and straight forward boy friendly fantasy can be found in R. A. Salvatore. It’s D&D based, easy reading that can be finished quickly. A good gateway fantasy book. (not ones that I’m all that into though, personally)

For girls, I’d say Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel books. Take the obsession with the ‘Twilight’ series with its romance and then make it really good, well written, and give the heroine some guts- and in the simplest form that would be the appeal of Carey’s novels on readers. The narrator is a woman who was raised in a society that celebrates love in all forms. She just so happens to be chosen by a god to feel pain as pleasure which makes her the perfect spy. Men like these books too, of course.

There are a lot of authors out there now doing new things with the genre that makes it really exciting. Not so much the boring, epics of old school fantasy which I loved as a child. I compare reading to wine tasting and that after much time and exploration, you begin to acquire a more well rounded taste and better appreciate the variations and techniques. My absolute favorite is literary fantasy. Fantasy that isn’t about magic, war, heroes but also about the art of writing. Literary eye candy. I also really enjoy cross genre creations like fantasy with a dollop of horror or sci-fi. I think going to the borders of the genre can attract new readers. Readers who brush off fantasy because they think of a hobbit named Frodo and just don’t have much interest in little dudes with big hairy feet.

Todd Vandemark @ 17
Little, Big just doesn’t do it for me. It was OK, but I spent so long waiting for somthing to happen that I just lost interest.

I can’t remember if I read Lloyd Alexander’s Westmark Trilogy before Lord of the Rings or not, but both trilogies hooked me into fantasy in grade school. But I’m a bit odd…

Not sure if anyone’s mentioned Charles de Lint’s books, but he does an amazing job of mixing the fantastic with the mundane and inviting the reader into his worlds.

(B) I think it’s easier sometimes to get into fantasy if the main characters are human. It can be easier to relate to someone that is like you or someone you know than say, a Moon Man. When I was first reading fantasy, I liked reading books with characters I could relate to. Some of my first favorites were “A Wrinkle in Time” (Meg Murry), “Dealing with Dragons” (Cimorene), and “The Neverending Story” (Bastian Bux). So if I were to try and pick out a book for a new fantasy reader, I would look for something with a character they could relate to. Also, I would try and gauge by their other reading interests if they were character or plot oriented in their reading and try to find a book that fit that. It’s like figuring out if a person listens to a song for the lyrics or the music :0)