When I was a child, I was a voracious reader, and sometime around second grade, my mother introduced me to a trilogy that would change my life, setting me on the path to become a writer.
It was the Lord of the Rings, and I devoured the three books.
I still remember when Boromir died after an orc attack on a hillside surrounded by his friends – I cried over that for days.
I remember spending a fleeting few days in Lothlorien, my little heart beating happily with the thought that such a beautiful, forlorn, and doomed place could possibly exist. It still haunts my dreams.
And I remember the thrill of discovery when Eowyn killed the Witch-king of Angmar, of whom it was said that “no man could kill.”
And OMG, the maps… I would pore over them for hours.
To me, these books are still the epitome of their genre, some 60 years after their first publication.
So what’s your LOTR? What book or books, read at a young age, set you off on the path of sci fi, fantasy, or paranormal fiction love?