What got you in to reading fantasy books?

[unmastered]

Marlaina

knowing me... the pretty covers... i was probably in a book store and walked past the fantasy section, saw the cover, picked it up, read the back, decided to read it and the rest is history... no i don't always judge a book by it's cover but if the publishers take the time to get really good artwork on it i know they like it so i'll check it out faster then i will one that has bad artwork

or it could be because my dad has a shelf full of the stuff and i've grown up with him reading it... and friends that like it so it just rubbed off

I have to say that some of the best art I have ever seen is on fantasy books. Have you ever looked up the artists that do the covers? I have a HUGE fantasy catalog of pictures that I adore from artists of fantasy books. I love looking at pictures and thinking of stories for them. (yeah...so what....I'm never going to grow up!)  

[Black Rose 613]

i got into Fantasy probably when i was really young and my aunt read me stories like Rapunzel and The Princess and the Pea. Fantasy keeps you amazed because its allways changing and theres always something new and magical happening! its a great way to escape from the awfull reality of this world! biggrin  

[godhi]

I started reading fantasy in the fourth grade courtesy of the wonderful teachers at Walt Disney Elementary School, who read us such classics of fantasy as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang by Ian Fleming, and of course, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'engel.
Wanting to read these books on my own, I checked them out of the school library and thanks to some generous donations by both the parents and the school district I was introduced to the works of Jules Verne, Ray Bradbury, and other sci-fi and fantasy authors, while my life was changed completely at the age of eleven when I found the Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien at the public library.
Another author who changed my life at that time was H.P. Lovecraft, whose morbid fantasies were introduced to me through the Ballantine paperbacks edition of The Tomb and Other Tales as well as a delightful anthology of horror stories entitled Horror Times Ten, which introduced me to the nightmare fiction of Robert Bloch, Robert E. Howard, and other Weird Tales writers. I believe that Lovecraft seriously warped my brain, and it took me years to recover from the experience of reading his macabre fantasies.  

[Eoinda]

The reason I started reading fantasy was that my dad was a big fan and I love to read I allways borrow his books and one day I read one I really liked (of David Eddings) and I just went on. Now I learn others to like fantasy under with a knife. A big knife. twisted  

[Starry Phoenix]

it was lord of the rings that reay started my huge reading stread. then i just couldnt stop! i read 3 to 4 books a week now!  

[storylistener]

If I had to think back... I'd have to say it was when I was seven. My little sister and I shared a room and every night my dad would tuck us in and read to us. Sounds normal so far, right? rolleyes Well, what he was reading to us ( me age seven, sister age four) was The Hobbit, then when he finished that, The Lord of the Rings. I would go to sleep and dream of hobbits and dwarves running around. From then on I was hooked.  

[chessiejo]

in the fifth grade i was given an absolutely fantastic book, by Edward Eager, called "Half Magic".

the premise is that this family of 5 kids gets a magic amulet but it is broken in half and only answers half their wishes.

so when they wish to go to a desert island, they end up in a desert.

or when they ask that their cat can speak, it starts jabbering ersatz yiddish jibberish and pig latin, and calls the kids "idgwitz", which has become one of my favorite words.

from there, the author himself led me to E. Nesbit and George MacDonald, and fromthose delightful authors i went on to C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkein, and William Morris.  

[Silver.-.Bullet]

Up until sixth grade or so I'd never been too into fantasy. I mostly read non-fiction *gasp* I know it would seem weird now, because fantasy is all I ever read. Well, I was bored of my ususal books, and Decided to pick up Harry Potter - again. The first time I tried in 4th or 5th grade, it didn't interest me too much. Then I tried again. I was hooked - And Still am! Within a time of just a few months I became a complete Harry Potter fanatic and of course - still am. But I found that when I read the books so fast, I had noting until the next book. By now my old non-fiction was boring and I was on other fantasys/epic type stories. My current obsession is vampire/werewolf stories!  

[ninja_lord76]

When I was in elementary school is when I first picked up a fantasy book.I dident like reading at all until one fatefull day we went to the library and I picked up a Harry Potter book.I was hooked on reading ever sence.I read mostly fantasys.With the ocasional nonfantacy here and there.  

[ninja_lord76]

Eoinda

The reason I started reading fantasy was that my dad was a big fan and I love to read I allways borrow his books and one day I read one I really liked (of David Eddings) and I just went on. Now I learn others to like fantasy under with a knife. A big knife. twisted

I love David Eddings.I have the 5 books of the belgariad.They are awsome!The first book is a bit slow in the begining though,but the rest is awsome.  

[MyLadyMandy]

What got me into my love for fantasy is probably my unnatural obsession with fairy tales and princes. It's almost pathetic, really. Knights are my love, and castles make me swoon. 3nodding  

[music_of_shadows]

I 've always read fantasy, never anything else. The only time I will ouch a non-fiction book is for a project and even then reluctantly. mrgreen  

[bookfanatic1991]

All the pretty cover and the dragons and unicorns'  

[astrum202]

Black Rose 613

i got into Fantasy probably when i was really young and my aunt read me stories like Rapunzel and The Princess and the Pea. Fantasy keeps you amazed because its allways changing and theres always something new and magical happening! its a great way to escape from the awfull reality of this world! biggrin

Yes I so agree with you. Fantasy is an escape because their is still harshness, but the people who feel things are wrong actually have the guts to stand up 4 what they believe in.