I signed up for Brad Jaeger’s blogfest, The First Novel That Moved Me, and almost forgot! Hey, a lot's happening this month for me! Fortunately, I did remember, and it takes me back a few years… (Okay, more than a few!)
Ever have one of those questions that took all your brainpower to plumb the depths of memory in search of a valid answer? That's not the case with this particular question. I was an avid reader as a kid (mostly Science Fiction) but most of it zipped by like scenery during a long car trip.
That is until I read the epic fantasy work "The Sword of Shannara" by Terry Brooks. It was the summer of 1977 and I was in search of something to occupy my brain when I ran across a book that had nothing to do with alien races and space battles. Instead, I was swept away to a world filled with elves, dwarves and magic. This was a classic high fantasy that helped re-ignite the genre. I had no idea that the novel was homage to "The Lord of the Rings" and even though I now see the book as slightly derivative, it doesn't lessen the impact that this novel had on a young boy.
I have re-read the book several times (one of the only books that I have ever re-read) and it always transports me back to the summer of ‘77. The storyline has been copied a billion times since its initial publishing but I hold this book as the pinnacle that all fantasy novels aspire to achieve.
So, what novel moved YOU?
BIG announcement tomorrow, too!
Ever have one of those questions that took all your brainpower to plumb the depths of memory in search of a valid answer? That's not the case with this particular question. I was an avid reader as a kid (mostly Science Fiction) but most of it zipped by like scenery during a long car trip.
That is until I read the epic fantasy work "The Sword of Shannara" by Terry Brooks. It was the summer of 1977 and I was in search of something to occupy my brain when I ran across a book that had nothing to do with alien races and space battles. Instead, I was swept away to a world filled with elves, dwarves and magic. This was a classic high fantasy that helped re-ignite the genre. I had no idea that the novel was homage to "The Lord of the Rings" and even though I now see the book as slightly derivative, it doesn't lessen the impact that this novel had on a young boy.
I have re-read the book several times (one of the only books that I have ever re-read) and it always transports me back to the summer of ‘77. The storyline has been copied a billion times since its initial publishing but I hold this book as the pinnacle that all fantasy novels aspire to achieve.
So, what novel moved YOU?
BIG announcement tomorrow, too!
