What got you in to reading fantasy books?

[binaryfaerie]

My mom read The Chronicles of Narnia series to my brother and I multiple times when we were little. The Enchanted Forest Chronicles were a big hit with us as well. When I was in fifth grade, I discovered Lloyd Alexander's Chronicles of Prydain. From there, I was hooked, and for about five years I read nothing but fantasy books. I started reading Harry Potter in sixth grade, then Tamora Pierce... I devoured every fantasy book I get get ahold of. Now I read a healthy mix of books, but fantasy remains my favorite genre.  

[Permanent_Insanity]

For me it started when I was 6. My mom read Harry Potter 1 to and I've been hooked.  

[Sileny]

I've been reading them for as long as I can remember. I used to love to make up stories, and my parents used to read me stories at bedtime--like The Hobbit. Now I think they probably wish they had diversified a bit. xd  

[catz_rocks]

For me, my parents bought me the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe when I was 6 and I loved it. I kind of made my own way from there. What did it after that were the Edge Chronicles by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell. They are some of my favourite books of all time.  

[Shanti~dragongirl]

well i can't exactly remember my first fantasy but the one that got me hooked was Dragonflight by anne McCaffrey, i had no other books to read and was going nuts so my dad suggested it and i said what the heck. and since then i now have the entire series and have started expanding into other fantasy books.  

[Pretty Little Muffin]

My mom got me into fantasy because when I was born my mom read fantasy books to me and told me that I would soon be able to do magic which inspired me to read more about fantasy. I've been practicing and reading ever since.  

[moonjinx]

I owe everything to Redwall.  

[Harbone]

I've always had kind of an escapist personality, prone to daydreaming and wondering when I ought to be concentrating on the job in hand.

I read WIZARD of EARTHSEA and the CHRONICLES OF NARNIA way back when (my parents got me the set for Christmas.) And the HOBBIT and FARMER GILES of HAMM came the next year. They were great places to escape, some of them even had maps.

As for why some fantasy books stink? Well, that's harder to say. I think it might be a combination of perspective and poor presentation. For instance, at one time I really liked MAGIC KINGDOM: FOR SALE (SOLD!) by Terry Brooks. This was back in Junior High, High School. But when I picked it up to re-read it again years later, I couldn't stand the main character anymore. Where as once I was interested in his plight, I kept saying to myself: "Who cares what happens to this whiny rich guy?"

Did the story suddenly become lousy? No, it just lost its appeal. On the other hand, sometimes the writing style just doesn't grab me. People can rave about a book and then I pick it up and just can't get past the author's sentences.

And then, sometimes, both problems mix together and combine with a really, really poor sense of timing and that puts me right off as well.  

[thymeast22]

One reason I love fantasy is because i was practicaly raised with it. We've always had a ton of fantasy books, and when i was little my dad would play D&D, Diablo, Bauldur's Gate, and tons of other RP fantasy games. I'd always want to watch. Maybe it was the violence that attracted me... sweatdrop It amazes me how all these books can mention each other. In the Forgotten Realms books, a lot of them have references to each other. Maybe they're just by the same author, but a lot of them mention something in another book.
Books are probably bad because authors either have to make their own world, without copying another author, or use a pre-made one. But they have to follow guidelines and actually put themselves in that world, which could be hard if you didn't make the world.  

[Lady_Altheia]

My first book was Magician Apprentice by Raymond E Fiest. My friend got me into reading fantasy. I look for all of his books. I usually go by what type of fantasy I like or I go by reccomemendations by friends.  

[KR0NiiCALLY KRiiSTEN]

I got into fantacy the summer of 4th grade. The book that got me started was Inkspell by Cornilia Funke, I don't think I spelled that right, oh well. The book was given to me by my sister 'cause she's a addict too.  

[VirmarIanosian]

My dad always read fantasy but that's was why I avoided them as a child. What really got me into it was my best friend/girl friend in 9th grade. She got me to read Harry Potter and from there I evolved to others.  

[lavenvi05]

I don't know how I got into fantasy books. I guess it was just my thing for as long as I can remember.  

[Hiitachin Kaoru]

I really have no idea how I got hooked on fantasy.
I guess my first book was probably...The Chronicles of Narnia...maybe...or A wrinkle in Time?  

[Shiama]

Well if I think back I think I got into reading about the second grade. I remember reading my library dry of fantasy books and having hundreds of reading points...I think what got me into reading was when my grandmother read the first harry potter book to me when I was younger, back before it was extremely popular.