Petrik- your review (and other booktuber) of John Gwynne books spark the fire to start reading again. Now I have a mix of fantasy and scifi on my TBR. Currently reading book #2 of Remembrace of Earth Past. Thank you !!!
I actually didn't finish reading the Narnia series until adulthood, but I loved them even then. CS Lewis believed that truly great children's stories would be enjoyable by adults as well, and I think he achieved that with Narnia. They're packed with philosophy and theology (they're unabashedly Christian), most of which I don't think I would have picked up as a kid. They're still pretty unique among fantasy novels even today imo, and I think they remain well worth reading. My personal favorite in the series is The Silver Chair.
"CS Lewis believed that truly great children's stories would be enjoyable by adults as well" this is very well said. I think the best kind of children story can totally be revisited when you're an adult, and be enjoyable. I'm still not sure when I'm going to try Narnia, but never say never! glad you enjoyed the series! :)
I never liked Narnia. The world felt more like a mish mash of different elements that never really worked for me. Though as an unabashed atheist, Lewis is probably the best apologetics author I have read. The great divorce was one of the most interesting takes on the afterlife I have read
Hi Petrik! I read Percy Jackson for the first time when I was 19 and I really loved it! It is a funny, light read 🤗 It does not compare to something like Game of Thrones or First Law, but it is a great palate cleanser between the heavier books! And if you like Greek mythology you’ll definitely enjoy it! I compare it to Harry Potter, in the fact that adults are not the target audience, but can still enjoy it. With the TV show coming out in December and being more faithful to the book, you can check it out and see if it’s your cup of tea 😉 As for Dragonlance, I read the first three books and DNF’ed… Great video as always!
Thank you so much! I think I will still try Percy Jackson someday. I won't expect it to be like Game of Thrones or The First Law, of course, but as long that I'm in the right reading mood... I think i can see myself enjoying Percy Jackson. The possibility is there! :)
Such a great video. I’m amazed how Mistborn was the series that sparked your love for reading fantasy. It was the same for me and one of the reasons I decided to read it was precisely because of your Goodreads review! So I have to say: thank you very much Petrik for helping me spark my love for reading fantasy!!
Hello Petrik, my most relatable BookTuber. I'm somewhat the same age as you and started reading books back in school. Though not my mother tongue, I had an affinity for English and so started out reading abridged versions of classics like Oliver Twist, Treasure Island, Great Expectations, Peter Pan, etc. Harry Potter as you said was a cultural phenomenon during my time in middle school. There was no escaping it. We used to mock battle in class among friends, slinging imaginary spells at each other. The movies were dubbed in Hindi and our school took us to the viewing for the 2nd and 3rd movie. Like you, I had no money back then and my parents discouraged me wasting time reading story books (they still do at 30), I borrowed the books from my friends and read them out of order the first time around. Back then, the Narnia movies also started airing and I loved them, though didn't end up reading the books at all till date. Eragon, as you mentioned, was one of my favorite series back then, more so as my "girlfriend" had gifted me the final book on my birthday on release day. 😅 We drifted apart in life later, but I still cherish the series. Other notable childhood favorite fantasy series were Ranger's Apprentice by John Flanagan, Young Samurai by Chris Bradford, Garth Nix's Keys to the Kingdom, Pendragon by D. J. MacHale. Percy Jackson and the other Riordan books as well were what got me further immersed in fantasy. You can definitely read them now as an adult. My wife had never read them (she hadn't read much fantasy during childhood), so I listened to the series, immersion-reading at times (reading while listening to the audiobook) and only listening during evening walks. My wife enjoyed them very much. The comedy and humor of the series is accentuated by the performance of Jesse Bernstein who adds distinct voices to every character (even non-human ones like monsters and horses) and the voice acting is the aspect which made my second read-through much more enjoyable. I would recommend listening/immersion reading to specific audiobooks with excellent narrators as even though the process is much slower than reading at the pace of my own thoughts, it did help us to read in sync while sitting side by side as well as over phone when we were in different cities, and the excellent voice acting is definitely commendable and increases the enjoyment multifold. Thus, we end up trading reading speed for these other benefits. I'm lucky that I ended up with my life partner sharing similar tastes as mine. ❤️ Now we're reading/listening to Ranger's Apprentice another of my favorite middle-grade series and she likes it well enough to continue. I look forward to vicariously enjoying my other favorite childhood fantasy books like Eragon and Young Samurai, introducing my wife to them for the first time. I'll let you know if she likes them or not. My journey in the adult fantasy genre began as I searched for books similar to Harry Potter and Eragon on Goodreads and chanced upon a series I'd never heard of: Mistborn. Ash fell from the sky. I can still recall my emotions experiencing this masterpiece for the first time, and I still felt the same re-reading with my wife, this time the same mass marked paperback boxset you held up with the same scratches and dents. 😊 It made me extremely nostalgic, and I loved geeking out with my wife again. Following closely on the heels of Mistborn trilogy, Assassin's Apprentice cemented my love for adult fantasy with prose and character work far beyond anything I'd experienced till then. Still felt the same re-reading them with my wife again. These two adult fantasy series were the point of no return. And the reason why three-quarters of our bookshelves are currently filled with SFF books (though most of them are trade paperbacks I can afford to buy in India, couple of hardcovers, and no special editions at all), and rapidly growing every month as I have to contantly worry where I'll shelve the newest SFF books I just bought. Thank you for reminiscing with us regarding these beloved fantasy series we loved as children.
Thank you so much for sharing your story, Dash! Not really similar, but I can kinda understand, too, as it is Mistborn that sparked my love for reading novels. "Ash fell from the sky." What an amazing and vivid first line, imo. It feels nostalgic even just typing that sentence. My partner, thankfully, is a reader, too, so she definitely understand my passion for reading, and book buying. xD I would say the two adult fantasy series marking the point of no return for me is Mistborn and First Law trilogy, which I read closely after I finished reading Mistborn. Definitely two series I will read over and over again! Again, thank you for sharing your story. It was great reading that! :)
I, too, started with reading manga and comic books. And for me, that is still my main go-to. I will always pick up a manga or comic book before a fantasy book. But thanks to your channel, I am reading more fantasy and Sci-fi novels.
I just found your channel, and I'm really enjoying the content. I've always preferred The Hobbit over LOTR but I guess it just depends on where and when your Tolkien entry point was. The Hobbit was the first book I remember reading on my own and we used to listen to the audio cassettes as a family
Thank you so much! I hope my channel brings you joy always hahaha. And you're kinda right. I think that's one of the reason why Children of Hurin is my favorite book by Tolkien! :)
Great video. Having been a big mystery & historical novel and Sci-Fi reader, I probably didn't discover fantasy until the 1980's, picking up Donaldson's Thomas Covenant, McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern and Terry Brooks, then LOTR, and reading GOT when it was released. As far as most influential for me were, Covenant, LOTR, Tad Williams, The Magician by Feist, and of course WOT, all earlier 1980's and 1990's. I have read some Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms. All the others came much later in my fantasy reading journey, and have given so much depth to the genre.
Thank you so much! You still discover fantasy novels earlier than me hahaha. I'm glad to know you, and to hear the genre continue to bless you with amazing fantasy books! :)
You have given me so many these past several years, and enjoy re reading as well. Especially, Memory Sorrow and Thorn, which was like going home again for me. I'm now reading Mother of Learning, another one I would have never heard of if it wasn't for your channel.@@PetrikLeo
Petrik! You should try Percy Jackson, they still hold up very very well, the final book still makes me cry. They are short enough as well you can blaze through all 5 books very quickly.
That is such an amazing list! I was, however, surprised to see that Dune wasn't there, but that one is quite crossgenre, so I can see why. In any case, all of those are classics and fundamentals for the genre nowadays. Loved the video! Can you do another one for SF?
Dude Dragonlance has some of the best characters of all time. I read many of those books as a teenager and early 20s, I still think of many of those characters like old friends.
I remember reading the series back in the late 80s. Im trying to find another series popular then it was something like MAGIC Inc. But that's not right since I can't find it. M.A.G.I.C. Inc maybe something like that.
it’s the way of kings! read it this june and i’ve been down an epic fantasy hole ever since. always wished i could read as much as i do now so stormlight will be forever dear to me i could tell
When I first read the Lord of the Rings back in 93, I was already a reader. I was a kid sure, but I read voraciously. Anything that fell in my hands really, though I was a huge fan of Jules Verne. I read anything from kids books to Dostoevsky and Tolstoy. And then I read the Lord of the Rings, and my mind exploded. I loved every single thing inside it so much it hurt. Every little whimsical detail, every little peculiar Tolkienism and turn of phrase, every little vignette. I feel deeply attuned to the perspective of the author. The gentleness he handles his characters with. The subtlety he employs in conveying events. His sheer unconstrained love for nature trees and animals. I loved the stark contrast of the whimsical nature of the Hobbits and Bombadil with the darkness and horrors of the Black riders. I loved the grimness and harshness of the world, the tragedy of the Noldor and of Turin Turambar and Hurin. The epic scale and scope of the events in middle earth. I loved the languages he invented and how beautiful they sounded. I ABSOLUTELY loved how he closed the lord of the rings. It gave me an immense sense of realism reading about the events AFTER the point many think the books should have ended, the fall of Sauron. I loved how Tolkien gently eased us out of the most epic think I had ever experienced and gently brought us back from the journey of our lives. Life doesn't miraculously end after we destroy the Dark Lord or win a fight. It goes on, and the consequences of the struggles echo on for years to come. Maybe forever. Frodo was never able to find peace, until he left middle earth. In short, I loved everything about Lotr and the entire middle earth saga. I loved Tolkien for his quote: "Every tree has its enemy, few have an advocate. In all my works I take the part of trees against all their enemies". Or this quote: “Fantasy is escapist, and that is its glory. If a soldier is imprisioned by the enemy, don't we consider it his duty to escape?. . .If we value the freedom of mind and soul, if we're partisans of liberty, then it's our plain duty to escape, and to take as many people with us as we can!” Few things have had an impact on me that the Lord of the Rings and the wider middle earth saga had. And I am not limiting this to just books or anything. It had a massive impact in my life and in many ways made me who I am. I have read LOTR upwards of 15 times since the early 90ies, the last time being 3-4 years ago. It is a part of me, and follows me along. I met a lot of friends from the Greek Tolkien IRC channel, I organised meetings all over Greece, met wonderful people, fell in love and had 2 major relationships with girls I met from that channel. It goes way beyond being just a simple book to me. That said, I know for a fact that you can understand me Petrik, I know what circumstances mistborn helped you get out of, and I can fully understand myself. It is not just a book or books. It permeates through all of our lives. Just knowing there are people out there who read the things I read and experience the things I do is such a wonderful feeling, knowing I can share my excitement with people that understand is so great. Anyway I'll end this novel of a comment by thanking you once more for your videos. You do such a great job on these I am finding it progressively harder to watch other people's videos. Cheers friend!
Thank you so much! That was WONDERFULLY said. Loved reading your comment. Although I can't agree on Tom Bombadil, I definitely was surprised and impressed by Turin Turambar's story. I think I used to think Lord of the Rings and the world of Middle-Earth feels less darker compare to many other epic fantasy series I read. I was proven wrong after reading The Silmarillion and the Children of Hurin. Thank you for sharing your story, my friend. I definitely understand that feeling of books and stories saving us! :)
Great video, Petrik! I wish there could be a generational study about this. I think we'd likely find Gen X and older to pick Lord of the Rings and Narnia, Millennials to pick Harry Potter and Mistborn, and Gen Z to pick Percy Jackson.
Not many surprises but I actually kinda like that readers from all across the world share so much love for the same stories! I'm with you on falling in love with Westeros, Middle Earth and the HP universe through the movies and I prefer every single adaptation of those over the books, lol. We can be bad readers together 🤣 Great video, really loved this!!
Thank you so much!! Hahaha, I think for Westeros, I'll say there are some things the books and show does better. Same for Middle Earth too. But for Middle Earth, I certainly prefer LotR movies over the books. 😂
For me it's The First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. It's not necessarily changed my life, it's just changed the way I saw the world and people. You could say I found my moral compass after reading these books. It "open" my eyes to the way of the world and people really work. Before reading these books, I experienced something that should "open" my eyes, but naively, I held on to my faith that "ah, it's just something that I shouldn't worried about". I'm really grateful for Joe Abercrombie for his magnificent work
Joe Abercrombie is a master. I understand where you're coming from. I first read Mistborn trilogy and it made me want to continue reading fantasy novels. Well, as it turns out, I picked First Law trilogy after that. Mindblown and now I can't stop reading fantasy novels. Just talking about it makes me want to reread First Law again! :)
Definitly changed my life. I was having a hard time when i read First Law, and i learned so much by reading it. I learned about grey morals and standing up for myself. This Series (for me) belongs in this list :)
It was Narnia for me too when I was 7, and I re-read some of the books every couple of years. I don't know if I'd love reading it for the first time now though. I rarely read books for that young an audience. I own all of the Harry Potter books but until this year I'd never read the last three or watched the last three+ movies. I'm finally getting around to them now.
Mistborn was also the series that sparked my love for the genre. I used to read maybe 3-4 books a year, but after I finished The final empire I read everything in the Cosmere in a few months. I just ordered Yumi and the nightmare painter yesterday, can't wait to read it since Kimi no na wa is my favourite animated movie!
I just started Book 8 of The Wheel Of Time and I cannot fathom how anybody could not like the series. Truly, it is the best thing I have ever read and occupies my thoughts every single day. Crazy how some works can click with some people and just not hit with others. (for example, I just could not read LOTR and gave up after the first page of The Two Towers.)
Same. I could not finish LoTRs. I gave up in the middle of book 2. It was the talking trees (Ents?) That were the last straw. I was bored to tears. Meanwhile TWoT is my favorite fantasy series of all time and I didn't think any book I. The series was a "slog". To each their own...
Dragonlance was my gateway into reading. I binged Chronicles through Legends somewhere around 1989. From then on I was a “reader.” Though I read many genres, Fantasy has always been my favorite and Dragonlance still stands tall among all I’ve read since.
Berserk unconsciously began my love for fantasy. When GoT ended, the “bad ending” motivated me to eventually read the books for the true source material (I haven’t yet). It also motivates to seek out other fantasy series around the level of GoT, because without the show I would’ve never known about the books. I ended up starting my fantasy reading journey with Mistborn :)
Berserk is utterly incredible! Haha, we have quite a similar experience. Because of the GoT show we end up reading fantasy books, starting with Mistborn! :)
Petrik, The Gathering Storm, finished by Sanderson, is my favorite WOT, especially the chapter titled , Hinderstap! WOT led me to booktube for the first time, Daniel Greene then Mike, which lead me to you! Booktube has given me a lifetime TBR.
The book that got me into fantasy initially was Rangers Apprentice. I read the original 12 and some of a spin-off series. At some point I tried to go back and read the first book recently and it felt too young for me. I do still want to try, maybe listen to it on audiobook. After that would’ve been Percy Jackson.
Oh I've seen Rangers Apprentice many times. Never tried it, though. But yeah, I strongly believe there are some books more suitable to be read when we're younger than when we're an adult. :)
I read DragonLance as a kid and reread the first two series recently. I loved the second series, but felt the first series was very formulaic and felt like its origins as a D&D campaign. But I still really enjoyed it for nostalgia reasons.
I just bought a bind up of the first series to reread. It's such a nostalgic series for me. A comfortable read that reminds me of my childhood and learning to love fantasy. Also Fizban is my favorite character.
Made me want to sit down a rewatch all my extended editions of LOTR! The series that sparked my love of fantasy when I was younger was by Lloyd Alexander, The Chronicles of Prydain.
Great video Petrik. Definitely, LOTR and Harry Potter influenced my reading...And then ASOIAF, of which A Storm of Swords is my all time favorite fantasy book and probably will never be surpassed. Another series not mentioned here that really got me reading fantasy is the Drizzt series by RA Salvatore. A side note - So, I was reading the Harry Potter books when they were being released so after I finished one, I'd have to wait for the next one to be released, then go up to my local Barnes N Noble to purchase the newest HP book. The parking lot was full, overflowing even into the lots left and right of it and there were people waiting in long lines, waiting to go in and buy the newly released Harry Potter book. It was amazing, and I've never experienced anything like that for any other books and probably never will...It was so cool to see so many people so excited about getting the next book in a series..That really got me into reading more fantasy. Take care!
Thank you! A Storm of Swords is truly a masterpiece. And hey, what you said regarding Harry Potter is what I meant. It's very rare now to see people lining up like that being that immensely excited for a book release. Back then, online shipping wasn't as powerful as now, too. Now, we all just order books online, which is great, but yeah that kind of visible hype is something I miss seeing! :)
I read Harry Potter as an adult and that sparked my love for fantasy and how i was imagining fantasy creatures and worlds, it felt fantastic!! You should read HP books movies didn't do justice imo except final two movies.
Yay Narnia!! This series is good for anyone of any age that wants to recapture the sense of wonder that should exist for all of us but is unfortunately only observed by the younger.
@@PetrikLeo Sorry, the Percy Jackson series, one of my favorites. The Chronicles of Narnia is great as well, but they get more geared toward children the further into the series you get.
The series that got me into fantasy was Shannara. I read the Sword of Shannara when I was 12, and it got me hooked on fantasy. I’ve since read better fantasy series, but this one holds a special place for me because it started it all.
LOTR is still king, as it should be. I have lost track of how many times I have read that series, and this video reminded me that I am due for another reread.
I can understand you find reading wheel of times a little slow but the last book the memory of light is totally worth it. Hang in there and the final is really rewarding. Glad you have not decided to DNF it. Wheel of times has changed certain issues n my life . Helped me with an issue I was going through when I was reading it for the first time. P.S. thank you for the recommendation of the passing of the dragon by Ken liu as an artist I totally understood and a much needs one for me right now. It was as if it was written just for me. Thank you so much
Oh I definitely will continue! I will read Winter's Heart in December or January. Getting closer to finishing the slog portions! Glad you loved Passing of the Dragon, too! 😊
Personally I am very fond of Dragonlance. Its got a cozy reading vibe, and is light and swift to read. I personally rate the first three trilogies by Weis and Hickman very highly for nostalgic reads. They are a good time. But I am also a huge Shannara fan, so I know that I have a soft spot for the cheesy older classics. They are of their time. I get a Dragonlance vibe from Cahill, actually a bit more than I do Eragon which people compare him to a lot. Dragonlance is easy reading, and fun. If you do read it, go in with the mindset of just having a giggle that gets surprisingly dark and moving at times.
I haven't tried Shannara and Dragonlance, and I might end up trying them someday. Definitely not dismissing the idea of reading them, especially when I'm in the mood for trying some classics for cozy vibes! :)
Mistborn saved the fantasy series for me back in 2012-2013 so I would say that was the only one that had a real impact. I was pretty much giving up on fantasy at that point and it revived it for me.
I wasn't a reader as a kid, but Final Fantasy VI (III in the US) on the Super Nintendo turned me on to the fantasy genre and I still love fantasy RPGs. So when I got into reading a few years ago, fantasy was a natural interest. One thing I loved about the HP series is JKR put in so much foreshadowing and introduced important plot elements that were throwaway lines in early books that become relevant in later books in satisfying ways. I feel like Sanderson also does this incredibly well, especially in Mistborn. I would love to find more fantasy (or sci-fi) series that has that level of setup and payoff.
That's the thing! Final Fantasy is one of my favorite video game franchises. I was so much more into video games and manga than reading novels back then. I enjoyed Harry Potter, but it did not give me that sense of enjoyment and satisfaction I got from video games. But who knows if I try reading it now? Maybe I'll end up enjoying it more because I'm more fluent in English now! :)
I started to love reading as a 6 y.o. kid because of Guardians of Ga'hoole, a book about magical owls(?). But kinda stopped reading til high school and the one book that respark it was Sanderson's Steelheart hhhhh
My intro to fantasy as a kid in the early 90s were The Hobbit and Narnia. I read all of those books over and over. The first Harry Potter book came out when I was in high school. I read them of course, but I was hooked on fantasy long before that. I read Percy Jackson as an adult. They were fine, better than the movie for sure. I don't think it's a waste of time to try them out.
Thanks for the information! I think I will try Percy Jackson when I'm in the right mood for it. Glad to hear Hobbit and Narnia made you love the genre!
For me it started with a German speaking author as a child, then in my teens the love grew with Harry Potter and LOTR. The Mists of Avalon and the other books from the author also helped. Then I changed genres and read lots of thrillers until The Faithful And The Fallen series by John Gwynne... this catapulted me back into the fantasy genre 😊
Dragonlance is such a titan in the genre. The only qualifier I have for it is that it really only clicks with people who played Dungeons and Dragons, and less so with regular fiction readers.
I bought the first 6 Dragonlance books recently, althuogh I have't read them yet. Completely get what you mean about the Hobbit. I also just read it and wasn't keen at all. Very narrated. Lord of the Rings was fantastic though :)
The Memory, Sorrow and Thorn series by Tad Williams was the first one that got me hooked on fantasy books and though it’s not ranked as my personal all time favorite it sits comfortably in my top 5 fantasy series of All Time…😊
I just finished the trilogy for the first time last month, and I'm not surprised by how many people love the series. Looking forward to reading The Last King of Osten Ard! :)
however! the book that got me into the fantasy genre was "Dealing with Dragons" There was something charming about how all the characters were aware that they live in a fairy tale world, but treated it as a normal, everyday thing LOL If you haven't read it, but you want that quick, cozy, action speckled, humor read : 10/10 recommend!
I don't think i heard of that book before. I just checked the cover art, and it has a cute cover art! I will keep it in my mind to check out, too, someday! :D
You must do your LOTR re-read by Serkis’s audio narration, since he is mimicking the voices of his fellow actors, it is like if Peter Jackson had the opportunity to film every single page!!
First Started reading novels for actual enjoyment ( and not because it was required at school) was when I was 14/15 & in hospital- it helped me escape. I read Harry Potter. I became addicted to reading and audiobooks from that point. (Have health issues and been hospitalised many times) . Ever since the first admission, I always must have a book (or listen to an audiobook) - I’m now 38. Harry Potter definitely sparked my love for reading! Now I primarily read fantasy, sci-fi, dystopian and horror thrown in.
I can kinda understand that. Not to your extent. But I was hospitalized once, and books literally saved my boredom and negative energy. Definitely a must to have books at all times!
I have always loved Romantasy growing up, but I didn't really get into High/ Epic Fantasy until last year. The Faithful and the Fallen Series by John Gwynne sparked my passion for high fantasy and the next series I will be starting very soon is The Way of Kings by B Sanderson. P.S. I loved Game of Thrones Tv series too!
I am now re-reading Dragonlance but I do find it not as interesting as when I was reading it as teenager. If you really want to try to read Dragonlance, try out the core Trilogy by Margaret Wise & Tracy Hickman first
Petrik, please, please PLEASE give Percy Jackson a read! I was 12 (in middle school) when they first came out/read them- currently 26 and I still have the entire series haha. And boy did they ignite my love for not only reading, but Greek Mythology as well! I'd say the Lost Hero series (the next set after Percy Jackson) is more YA and may capture your interest more..? Also, if you enjoy PJ, if I can make a suggestion, by the same author, he's made a Egyptian Mythology trilogy called The Kane Chronicles! Please check them out as well. I feel like almost no one talks about them compared to Percy Jackson and the Norse mythology series that Rick also wrote, but I swear it won't disappoint! I would love to hear your thoughts on it.
I'm a fan of Greek, Norse, and Japanese mythology. So yes, I will try Percy Jackson someday. If I end up liking that, well I will continue reading the other books in the world! :)
Hi Petrik! Love your channel! I love Percy Jackson! My kids picked it up first, I got curious, and read it myself. I'm also a teacher, so I use it for my curriculum. If you love mythology, you should pick up Rick Riordan. It's more philosophical than Harry Potter, but also more light-hearted. Characterizations are really good, plot lines are excellent, a bit complex for most of my kids, but very action-packed and entertaining! Dialogue is first-rate! It's not babyish at all. It's about a person finding out that reality is very different from what he thought it was, trying to prove their own worth by accomplishing the impossible, discovering friendships that turn what was impossible into something possible, and finally understanding that his personal worth doesn't depend on accomplishing the glorious task at hand, (although, of course, he does that too) but on honoring those relationships. Marvelous, in a G-rated way, especially if you have a young person in your life to share it with.
Thank you so much! I love mythologies so that bodes well with me. I have thought about it, and who knows, I might read it to my kids someday! That way the both of us can enjoy the story of Percy Jackson together! :)
I read the Dragonlance books (the first 3) when I was like 15 or 17 years old (so, over 20 years ago). I liked the books quite a lot at the time, 1 of them I read it in 1 day, but comparing with Lord of the Rings, Wheel of Time or Malazan, the world building is more simple and the scope is not as global. But I think is worth the reading.
Thank you for sharing your opinion! At the moment, I'm still not sure when I will read the series, but I will at least try the first book and find out how I feel about it someday! :)
If I had read Percy Jackson when it first came out (I was in middle school at the time), then I probably would be a huge fan of it, but unfortunately I started it at the age of 26 so not really the target audience 😔
This is what I'm afraid of. I feel like some series, like Eragon or Hobbit, are books that should experienced for the first time when we're younger. :)
@@PetrikLeo that is definitely true. I had the exact same experience with eragon as well. It had such a solid beginning but the third book just ended up being a gigantic filler book and inheritance was a very predictable conclusion
I think I am one of those who said The Lord of The Rings and your video now is making me want to read the trilogy again. The problem is that I have read it many many times and I have so many unread books that... well, you know the feeling, right?
The series that created my love for fantasy was Narnia aged about 7 or 8. The adult series that changed my life was The Book Of Words by J.V. Jones. Her trilogy is maybe a less polished work than ASOIAF, but she grew as a writer immensely over just three volumes and I still love it. I'd recommend Jones to you. Her sequel series Sword Of Shadows is an unfinished masterpiece, and I've been waiting for book five longer than ASOIAF fans have Winds of Winter! She is nearly finished writing the next book though, she told me it should be written early next year. I've only been waiting since...I dunno...2010!!!!
J.V. Jones is certainly on my list of books to read. Maybe not Book of Words, but her Swords of Shadows series. I have wanted to read it for a long time but well... I heard Endlords is being written at the moment. Once I hear the book has a release date, I will start reading the series immediately! :)
@@PetrikLeo I'd recommend Book Of Words, it's a really fun read. It came out before Hobbs first Farseer or GoT, and has a grimdark flavour with lots of warmth and humour, as well as brilliant heroes and villains you can't help but LOVE to read about. Baralis opens the book killing a man. He's one of my fave villains ever. I recommend it because you dislike some older fantasy, but Jones is the transition from, say, Memory, Sorrow And Thorn to A Song Of Ice And Fire. Book one is lovely but it really grows in the next two. Sword Of Shadows is a sort of sequel with crossover elements. Won't say what though
I always struggle with these kinds of questions (in line with 'what's your favorite book?') because I was a voracious reader when I was young and I read whatever I could get my hands on. We couldn't always afford brand new books, I was lucky to have classmates/friends/cousins that I could borrow from. At that age, I didn't think about favorites and I didn't even know about genres. I was reading harlequin romances around 4th/5th grade (some were definitely not age appropriate lol but my parents never restricted us), which was also the same time I read Harry Potter and The Hobbit. I think The Hobbit was just something that I read, it didn't stick with me much (which is probably why I enjoyed the movies more than some people). While I loved Harry Potter, I still didn't think of them as different, they were just stories that I enjoyed, same as the other genres that I was reading. The only series that I've never encountered in this list is Dragonlance. I'm lucky to have read most of these books at the right age (I was as excited by the next Eragon books as I was with the next Harry Potter). But even though I read Narnia as a kid, I remember being pretty meh about it. Same with Percy Jackson, I read the first book when I was a bit older but still in my teens. I think it was ok, but didn't really make me want to read the rest of the series so I didn't. I have a Tolkien shelf now, but it actually took me years to finish the books. I was stuck for a very long time in book 1, but once it clicked I devoured them. I actually had a better time with The Silmarillion, I have never felt that overwhelming feeling of 'whoah' that I got from the first few chapters of The Silmarillion from any other book that I've read since. But yeah, if I were to choose the media to experience Lord of the Rings again, I'd watch the movies and then I'd watch the movie-length behind the scenes (which are as enjoyable). Going off-tangent since I'm already writing an essay, what is the quality like for those illumicrate greenbone books? I see marked-up sets for sale and I'm tempted, but I couldn't find anyone talking about the build quality. Specifically, what is the texture of the covers? I have a mold problem for cloth-like hardcovers whenever the rainy season comes.
Thank you so much for sharing your story! No worries about the essay. It's joyful hearing how someone finds their joy for reading. I will most likely reread Silmarillion again. The book keeps calling me to reread it lately. As for the quality of Green Bone Saga Illumicrate edition. They're basically standard hardcover. Don't expect better binding and paper. They're just standard hardcover with new and better hardcover. And signed. If you want a premium edition of the series, wait for Jade City subterranean Press edition next year! :)
Great video to wake up and watch first thing! Firstly most of the books on this list weren’t even published when I started reading fantasy. I’m 56 so of course Tolkien, Narnia were, but Dragonlance was first published when I was a teenager. I read The Hobbit and some of Narnia as a child. The books that sealed my love of fantasy were the first 3 Dragonrider’s of Pern novels. I read them the summer I turned 11. Dragons as companions? I’m all in! Then in later books fire lizards (tiny dragons) that anyone can bond with? Yes please! Then when I was working at B Dalton Bookseller as a teen my boss introduced me to The Belgiariad. I’d already started the Shannara series. Yes I read LOTR knockoffs before LOTR. I loved and still reread The Belgariad and Malloreon. My husband, then boyfriend, read me LOTR when we were both stationed in Korea in the Army in the 80s. How could I not marry him after that? Fortunately I got to experience Harry Potter, Eragon and Percy Jackson as an elementary school teacher reading them to and with kids. The Hobbit was the first book I read aloud each year I taught. I started Wheel of Time only reading it during SSR, Silent Sustained Reading (or as the kids said Shut Up, Sit Down & Read) to show them it was possible to read a huge book in just 20-30 minutes a day. It was torture to not be able to read it in the evenings! I’m 9 hours from finishing the series on Audible, woohoo! This was while teaching 3rd grade. When I moved to 5th grade I ran WoT reading groups. I even had some students read every book published up to then in 2005. Also did LOTR groups. Many students opted for both! My TBR stack could probably reach the moon. But at least I know I’ll never run out of fantastic stuff to read.
Reading aloud is such an important part of this conversation. My parents reading the hobbit and the Lord of the Rings to me as a little kid is a huge reason why I love fantasy now.
Thank you so much! Glad to hear your story. It's wonderful to hear you share your passion for reading with your husband, and you went through the phases of epic fantasy! It's so cool. I hope to achieve that as I continue reading and reading! You're right, though. We will never run out of fantastic stuff to read! :)
I can totally relate (regarding classic fantasy) with you who had started reading books very late as compared to other readers who had started reading novels pretty early in the school. LOTR books were ruined for me (yes, the pacing!) because of Peter Jackson's masterful movies.
The first book that really got me into reading was the The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks. I remember loving all of the original Shannara trilogy: Sword, Elfstones, and Wishsong. But I think Terry Brooks added to many more books to his universe. It's been awhile since I have looked at it but he has kinda changed a lot of the original lore. But the original premise was WW3 happened and nuked the world, after a thousand years medieval civilization started to appear along with other races that were mutated humans: these being OG Humans, Orcs, Gnomes, and Dwarves. One last race appeared, Elves, who weren't humans, but had been hiding from them for thousands of years in the forests. I remember being as a teenager not being able to put the books down.
Ah, that's wonderful! I haven't read Shannara yet, but I know Terry Brooks is a kind author who has helped many young authors achieve greater things in their career. One among them is Pierce Brown, the author of Red Rising Saga! I might try reading Shannara someday! :)
I grew up on Dragonlance, Middle Earth and Narnia and I always want to return and am always rewarded when I do (though Dragonlance can vary with the author). Harry Potter and Wheel of Time came later and their pull is lesser, but I do love them - I think the barrier to entry of something read really young is pretty well non-existent, and the prestige of being your first-time is powerful - that said my earlier first reads were Roald Dahl and Goosebumps, and while I respect them, I can see they're not going on anywhere near the same journey and am not too pulled to return.
The pull of Middle Earth is no joke. I thought when I finished reading it, even though I really enjoyed them, I thought I wouldn't go back to it. But now... it seems to be calling me to it again. Magical, really.
Haven't read much of this list but LOTR/everything Tolkien is amazing - luckily I read teh books several times before the movies came out (which are great in their own right but I do prefer the books). Harry Potter I initially dismissed as children's books but I was very positively surprised as the world created there is very coherent and imaginative. I started with the movies and the read all the books between movie 6 and 7 (again the books are much richer and superior). ASOIAF is fantastic but who knows whether we will ever see it completed. I May try Wheel of Time next.
I still need to read The Wheel of Time to its completion, too/ Glad you loved Lord of the Rings! I think it's just a matter of which one was your gateway, the books or the movies. The first one you try will most likely become your preference! :)
Harry Potter had the most influence.. and after that Midkemia books and Dragonlance ❤😊but the last one is really classic yes..my feel good place. Love percy jackson too😀
I read the Chronicles of Narnia when I was 16 and really loved it and I tried to do a reread this year (at 23) and I could not get past Prince Caspian. The negative language that C.S. Lewis uses when describing characters and places that seem to depict middle eastern culture is hard to ignore.
Many have mentioned Narnia is no longer good to read when they're an adult. In a way, I think that's kinda similar to the content. The children have moved on! :D
Long before the sorting hat, we had another proven key to encouraging boys and young men to become pleasure readers. 1)The Icewind Dale Trilogy & 2)The Darkelf Trilogy. Both of which stand the test of time.
@@PetrikLeo Telling you about them made me think of when I gave them to my three sons and started them as readers long ago. I also started thinking that my granddaughters (ages 9 & 12) would probably enjoy them, maybe kickstarted by Pop (me) reading them as bedtime stories. I started reading non-picture books at six when at the end of Kindergarten I was offered my pick of "any book" on the shelf of books in disrepair that my school library was letting go. The librarian intended for me to pick Curious George or the like. Instead, I selected The Landmark history book "Great American Fighter Pilots of WWII" by Robert D. Loomis. I still have that battered old tome that sparked the next seven thousand-plus books I read.
I originally read the first Dragonlance trilogy as it was being published (I was 23 or 24 at the time). I thought it was brilliant. I read it again with my son when he was young, and he loved it. That said, I ... was no longer 24. I would not recommend it for anyone who has a lot of fantasy reading experience. My formative fantasy books were LotR and the Chronicles of Amber. I read both repeatedly (and they both still hold up decades later).
Harry Potter definitely sparked my love for reading but I wouldn't say they are the best books ever written. I re-read them all last year to see if they held up to adult scutiny and mostly yes except for some of the more YA bits that annoyed me but it is still very close to my heart and I will probably re-read the series again sometime in the future.
Yeah! That's how I feel about Mistborn, too. I mean, I still REALLY love the series. But I totally understand and acknowledge there are plenty of superior series! That doesn't change the fact I still consider Mistborn to be incredibly important to me, though. And I will reread it again! :)
i think the dragon lance books are pinnacle classic-modern (80-90s style) fantasy. It's not bad. But if you don't click with that style, this is going to drag out. Narnia, i would say is the birthing of modern/urban fantasy (or western isekai), and told in a very cozy way (because kids), so if you like simpler, cozy prose, then you might like it. I liked it as a kid because of how easy it was to manage and i could fall into the story. It wasn't the one to get me into fantasy though lol Ironically, i never got to Harry Potter books until i was an adult. I'd seen the first four films before i ever read the first book. Kind of like Narnia, it's written in a very cozy and emotional way, which is something i love
Thanks for your input! Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of for Dragonlance. But I will still try it someday just to at least know the content of it, to find out why many readers fell in love with the genre thanks to you! :)
I can't believe the video starts with Percy Jackson! It was the book that made me a reader! Edit: HP really is worth reading. In my opinion the first and second books are not bad, but from the third onwards it's amazing
ASOIAF is so memorable. Agree it’s better than WOT. It’s better than 1st Law but not by that much. Tied for 1st is Hobb’s Realm of the Elderlings. Anew series is Cahill’s Bound and Broken which is outstanding so far. Just My 2 cents. Thanks for your videos. They make me think. And enjoy
The video is about the series that transform readers into becoming fans of the genre, but I think that doesn't necessarily means they're the best. Although I do definitely agree ASOIAF is better than WoT. 😃
Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter, and Eragon were the fantasy books of my childhood! I think Harry Potter is still worth it to read, even as an adult. For Narnia, I don't really like them anymore because of the religious stuff. I tried reading Percy Jackson as an adult and I thought Book 1 was fine, but don't think it's worth reading the rest of the series. I'm currently reading Mistborn for the first time and loving it!
I hope the video gives you some sense of nostalgia then! And enjoy Mistborn. I might try Percy Jackson someday to see how I feel about it. At least it's short! :)
If you don't like classic fantasy I'd stay away from Dragonlance. I read it as a child, and loved it but I can't image going back and reading it again. It's very cliche and the characters feel very one note and paint by numbers. Nothing against the series, like I said I read the entire mainline series as a child and loved it. I would only read it if you really love classic fantasy or you're interested in getting perspective how on how introduced so many young adults to fantasy. P.S. Thank you for introducing me to the Sun Eater series. I just started and I'm absolutely in love. If the series continues the quality and writing style of book one then it will have earned a spot with my all time favourite: Malazan. P.P.S. What song starts playing when you talk about Mistborn?
Yeah, that's my expectation of Dragonlance. I will probably read it someday to gain some perspective. You're so welcome, on the Sun Eater series. I'm in the middle of going through the series, too, at the moment. Just started Howling Dark! :) The song is Stinson - Reed Mathis. You can look it up on UA-cam!
I read the first Percy Jackson as an adult. I'm not a fan of the prose style, but since you like Sanderson l think that will be ok for you 😂 it's a similar type. The story itself is good, the characters and myths etc so definitely give it a try! I actually enjoyed the Trials of Apollo, a later series, more as it had a more distinctive voice. Probably the author also got more confident as time went on. Narnia is an easy read and l do hope you give it a try. There's a wry humour and thought provoking lines that you can only appreciate in the books. I was surprised with the top two rankings - l thought it would be the other way round in terms of sheer popularity, but l guess we're talking about fantasy fans here😅. Indeed, LOTR is eminently re-readable - l reread it a lot as as kid, and when l went back as an adult it was even better, because l finally understood and could appreciate things l didn't understand before. Great video! Was very interesting to see what everyone said.
Thank you! Haha, I really thought Harry Potter was going to be at the number 1 spot, but again... as you said, my audience consists of mostly adult fantasy readers, so not a surprise, too, Lord of the Rings is at the number 1 spot. Haha, I certainly don't mind Sanderson's style of writing, so I'll pick up Rick Riordan's books when I'm in the mood for a lighter read someday! :)
Absolutely should read Dragonlance. The language is not as “classic” as you might think. It focuses on the character. Read the original trilogy and the twins trilogy.
I don't have Twitter so I will post my choice in the chat. My favorite book of all time that got me into fantasy was the night angel trilogy back in 2012
Wheel of Time seems to be popular only in US, I never met anyone in EU who read it a while back. Eye of the World is almost impossible to get through, boring copy of LoTR.
@@PetrikLeoI guess it would be similar to Witcher - popular here in central/east Europe for 30-35 years or so, but only really known elsewhere after games/tv series got popular.
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Petrik- your review (and other booktuber) of John Gwynne books spark the fire to start reading again. Now I have a mix of fantasy and scifi on my TBR. Currently reading book #2 of Remembrace of Earth Past. Thank you !!!
Aww that's so good to hear. Truth and Courage! And Dark Forest is an incredible sci-fi. Enjoy!
Another fantastic video! Thank you Petrik!!!
Thank you, too, Dino! :)
I actually didn't finish reading the Narnia series until adulthood, but I loved them even then. CS Lewis believed that truly great children's stories would be enjoyable by adults as well, and I think he achieved that with Narnia. They're packed with philosophy and theology (they're unabashedly Christian), most of which I don't think I would have picked up as a kid. They're still pretty unique among fantasy novels even today imo, and I think they remain well worth reading. My personal favorite in the series is The Silver Chair.
"CS Lewis believed that truly great children's stories would be enjoyable by adults as well" this is very well said. I think the best kind of children story can totally be revisited when you're an adult, and be enjoyable. I'm still not sure when I'm going to try Narnia, but never say never! glad you enjoyed the series! :)
I never liked Narnia. The world felt more like a mish mash of different elements that never really worked for me. Though as an unabashed atheist, Lewis is probably the best apologetics author I have read. The great divorce was one of the most interesting takes on the afterlife I have read
Hi Petrik! I read Percy Jackson for the first time when I was 19 and I really loved it! It is a funny, light read 🤗
It does not compare to something like Game of Thrones or First Law, but it is a great palate cleanser between the heavier books! And if you like Greek mythology you’ll definitely enjoy it! I compare it to Harry Potter, in the fact that adults are not the target audience, but can still enjoy it. With the TV show coming out in December and being more faithful to the book, you can check it out and see if it’s your cup of tea 😉
As for Dragonlance, I read the first three books and DNF’ed…
Great video as always!
Thank you so much! I think I will still try Percy Jackson someday. I won't expect it to be like Game of Thrones or The First Law, of course, but as long that I'm in the right reading mood... I think i can see myself enjoying Percy Jackson. The possibility is there! :)
Narnia and Lord of the Rings are absolutely life changing. Completely agree with the list!
Glad you liked the video! :)
That’s enough of a reason for me to go rewatch the Lord of The Rings.
Yeah, dammit. I want to watch it again. xD
Such a great video. I’m amazed how Mistborn was the series that sparked your love for reading fantasy. It was the same for me and one of the reasons I decided to read it was precisely because of your Goodreads review! So I have to say: thank you very much Petrik for helping me spark my love for reading fantasy!!
Awww, you're welcome, and thank you so much! I'm so pleased to hear Mistborn sparked both of our love's passions for reading fantasy novels! :)
Every book I have read this year I have given a 5/5. A lot of the books on my reading list have come from watching your videos. Thanks!
That's so wonderful to hear. Always makes reviewing worthwhile! :)
Dragonlance sparked my love for fantasy! I was in high school in the late '90s.
Whoaa, that's so cool! :)
Very cool poll!
Glad you think so, Dyrk!
Hello Petrik, my most relatable BookTuber. I'm somewhat the same age as you and started reading books back in school. Though not my mother tongue, I had an affinity for English and so started out reading abridged versions of classics like Oliver Twist, Treasure Island, Great Expectations, Peter Pan, etc.
Harry Potter as you said was a cultural phenomenon during my time in middle school. There was no escaping it. We used to mock battle in class among friends, slinging imaginary spells at each other. The movies were dubbed in Hindi and our school took us to the viewing for the 2nd and 3rd movie. Like you, I had no money back then and my parents discouraged me wasting time reading story books (they still do at 30), I borrowed the books from my friends and read them out of order the first time around. Back then, the Narnia movies also started airing and I loved them, though didn't end up reading the books at all till date. Eragon, as you mentioned, was one of my favorite series back then, more so as my "girlfriend" had gifted me the final book on my birthday on release day. 😅 We drifted apart in life later, but I still cherish the series.
Other notable childhood favorite fantasy series were Ranger's Apprentice by John Flanagan, Young Samurai by Chris Bradford, Garth Nix's Keys to the Kingdom, Pendragon by D. J. MacHale.
Percy Jackson and the other Riordan books as well were what got me further immersed in fantasy. You can definitely read them now as an adult. My wife had never read them (she hadn't read much fantasy during childhood), so I listened to the series, immersion-reading at times (reading while listening to the audiobook) and only listening during evening walks. My wife enjoyed them very much. The comedy and humor of the series is accentuated by the performance of Jesse Bernstein who adds distinct voices to every character (even non-human ones like monsters and horses) and the voice acting is the aspect which made my second read-through much more enjoyable. I would recommend listening/immersion reading to specific audiobooks with excellent narrators as even though the process is much slower than reading at the pace of my own thoughts, it did help us to read in sync while sitting side by side as well as over phone when we were in different cities, and the excellent voice acting is definitely commendable and increases the enjoyment multifold. Thus, we end up trading reading speed for these other benefits.
I'm lucky that I ended up with my life partner sharing similar tastes as mine. ❤️ Now we're reading/listening to Ranger's Apprentice another of my favorite middle-grade series and she likes it well enough to continue. I look forward to vicariously enjoying my other favorite childhood fantasy books like Eragon and Young Samurai, introducing my wife to them for the first time. I'll let you know if she likes them or not.
My journey in the adult fantasy genre began as I searched for books similar to Harry Potter and Eragon on Goodreads and chanced upon a series I'd never heard of: Mistborn.
Ash fell from the sky. I can still recall my emotions experiencing this masterpiece for the first time, and I still felt the same re-reading with my wife, this time the same mass marked paperback boxset you held up with the same scratches and dents. 😊 It made me extremely nostalgic, and I loved geeking out with my wife again.
Following closely on the heels of Mistborn trilogy, Assassin's Apprentice cemented my love for adult fantasy with prose and character work far beyond anything I'd experienced till then. Still felt the same re-reading them with my wife again.
These two adult fantasy series were the point of no return. And the reason why three-quarters of our bookshelves are currently filled with SFF books (though most of them are trade paperbacks I can afford to buy in India, couple of hardcovers, and no special editions at all), and rapidly growing every month as I have to contantly worry where I'll shelve the newest SFF books I just bought.
Thank you for reminiscing with us regarding these beloved fantasy series we loved as children.
Thank you so much for sharing your story, Dash! Not really similar, but I can kinda understand, too, as it is Mistborn that sparked my love for reading novels. "Ash fell from the sky." What an amazing and vivid first line, imo. It feels nostalgic even just typing that sentence. My partner, thankfully, is a reader, too, so she definitely understand my passion for reading, and book buying. xD
I would say the two adult fantasy series marking the point of no return for me is Mistborn and First Law trilogy, which I read closely after I finished reading Mistborn. Definitely two series I will read over and over again! Again, thank you for sharing your story. It was great reading that! :)
I, too, started with reading manga and comic books. And for me, that is still my main go-to. I will always pick up a manga or comic book before a fantasy book. But thanks to your channel, I am reading more fantasy and Sci-fi novels.
I love reading both of them! I think readers would benefit a lot from reading both SFF manga and novels! :)
This was a great video and list! I probably should do another re-read and watch of LOTR
Thank you! Me too! 😊😊
I just found your channel, and I'm really enjoying the content. I've always preferred The Hobbit over LOTR but I guess it just depends on where and when your Tolkien entry point was. The Hobbit was the first book I remember reading on my own and we used to listen to the audio cassettes as a family
Thank you so much! I hope my channel brings you joy always hahaha. And you're kinda right. I think that's one of the reason why Children of Hurin is my favorite book by Tolkien! :)
Great video.
Having been a big mystery & historical novel and Sci-Fi reader, I probably didn't discover fantasy until the 1980's, picking up Donaldson's Thomas Covenant, McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern and Terry Brooks, then LOTR, and reading GOT when it was released. As far as most influential for me were, Covenant, LOTR, Tad Williams, The Magician by Feist, and of course WOT, all earlier 1980's and 1990's. I have read some Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms. All the others came much later in my fantasy reading journey, and have given so much depth to the genre.
Thank you so much! You still discover fantasy novels earlier than me hahaha. I'm glad to know you, and to hear the genre continue to bless you with amazing fantasy books! :)
You have given me so many these past several years, and enjoy re reading as well. Especially, Memory Sorrow and Thorn, which was like going home again for me. I'm now reading Mother of Learning, another one I would have never heard of if it wasn't for your channel.@@PetrikLeo
Petrik! You should try Percy Jackson, they still hold up very very well, the final book still makes me cry. They are short enough as well you can blaze through all 5 books very quickly.
Thank you for the encouragement! I think I will still try the books eventually. We'll see how it goes! :)
So many underrated authors in the new generation of readers minds. CS Lewis, Rick Riordan and even Brian Jacques of the Redwall series. Great video!
Thank you so much! Redwall got many votes too!
@@PetrikLeo I read so many of the Redwall books as a kid. I'm super excited to start reading them with my kids here pretty soon!
That is such an amazing list! I was, however, surprised to see that Dune wasn't there, but that one is quite crossgenre, so I can see why. In any case, all of those are classics and fundamentals for the genre nowadays. Loved the video! Can you do another one for SF?
Thank you so much! Maybe I will in the future make another video on SF. Not soon, though! 😁 These survey vidoes takes a lot of time.
@@PetrikLeo I can imagine they take time! But it was so much fun to watch!
Thank you for a great video 🎥🎥🎉happy reading to you 🍂🍁
Happy reading ot you, too! :)
Dude Dragonlance has some of the best characters of all time. I read many of those books as a teenager and early 20s, I still think of many of those characters like old friends.
That's cool! I'll try the first series someday. Not sure when, though! :)
I remember reading the series back in the late 80s. Im trying to find another series popular then it was something like MAGIC Inc. But that's not right since I can't find it. M.A.G.I.C. Inc maybe something like that.
it’s the way of kings! read it this june and i’ve been down an epic fantasy hole ever since. always wished i could read as much as i do now so stormlight will be forever dear to me i could tell
That's wonderful. Journey before destination. Stormlight Archive is storming incredible! 😊
LOTR is a fantastic read and I actually re read it every year in January. It’s an amazing series.
I definitely need to reread Tolkien's books! 😊
When I first read the Lord of the Rings back in 93, I was already a reader. I was a kid sure, but I read voraciously. Anything that fell in my hands really, though I was a huge fan of Jules Verne. I read anything from kids books to Dostoevsky and Tolstoy. And then I read the Lord of the Rings, and my mind exploded. I loved every single thing inside it so much it hurt. Every little whimsical detail, every little peculiar Tolkienism and turn of phrase, every little vignette. I feel deeply attuned to the perspective of the author. The gentleness he handles his characters with. The subtlety he employs in conveying events. His sheer unconstrained love for nature trees and animals. I loved the stark contrast of the whimsical nature of the Hobbits and Bombadil with the darkness and horrors of the Black riders. I loved the grimness and harshness of the world, the tragedy of the Noldor and of Turin Turambar and Hurin. The epic scale and scope of the events in middle earth. I loved the languages he invented and how beautiful they sounded. I ABSOLUTELY loved how he closed the lord of the rings. It gave me an immense sense of realism reading about the events AFTER the point many think the books should have ended, the fall of Sauron. I loved how Tolkien gently eased us out of the most epic think I had ever experienced and gently brought us back from the journey of our lives. Life doesn't miraculously end after we destroy the Dark Lord or win a fight. It goes on, and the consequences of the struggles echo on for years to come. Maybe forever. Frodo was never able to find peace, until he left middle earth. In short, I loved everything about Lotr and the entire middle earth saga.
I loved Tolkien for his quote: "Every tree has its enemy, few have an advocate. In all my works I take the part of trees against all their enemies".
Or this quote: “Fantasy is escapist, and that is its glory. If a soldier is imprisioned by the enemy, don't we consider it his duty to escape?. . .If we value the freedom of mind and soul, if we're partisans of liberty, then it's our plain duty to escape, and to take as many people with us as we can!”
Few things have had an impact on me that the Lord of the Rings and the wider middle earth saga had. And I am not limiting this to just books or anything. It had a massive impact in my life and in many ways made me who I am. I have read LOTR upwards of 15 times since the early 90ies, the last time being 3-4 years ago. It is a part of me, and follows me along. I met a lot of friends from the Greek Tolkien IRC channel, I organised meetings all over Greece, met wonderful people, fell in love and had 2 major relationships with girls I met from that channel. It goes way beyond being just a simple book to me.
That said, I know for a fact that you can understand me Petrik, I know what circumstances mistborn helped you get out of, and I can fully understand myself. It is not just a book or books. It permeates through all of our lives. Just knowing there are people out there who read the things I read and experience the things I do is such a wonderful feeling, knowing I can share my excitement with people that understand is so great.
Anyway I'll end this novel of a comment by thanking you once more for your videos. You do such a great job on these I am finding it progressively harder to watch other people's videos. Cheers friend!
Thank you so much! That was WONDERFULLY said. Loved reading your comment. Although I can't agree on Tom Bombadil, I definitely was surprised and impressed by Turin Turambar's story. I think I used to think Lord of the Rings and the world of Middle-Earth feels less darker compare to many other epic fantasy series I read. I was proven wrong after reading The Silmarillion and the Children of Hurin. Thank you for sharing your story, my friend. I definitely understand that feeling of books and stories saving us! :)
Great video, Petrik! I wish there could be a generational study about this. I think we'd likely find Gen X and older to pick Lord of the Rings and Narnia, Millennials to pick Harry Potter and Mistborn, and Gen Z to pick Percy Jackson.
Thank you! I know right?? It would be so interesting to see the result if we can divide them by age. :)
As a millennial I'd pick lotr out of those. 😂Never was interested in HP and haven't read Mistborn yet. Only seen the Percy Jackson movie adaptation.
@@Zivilin Hooray for LotR! Definitely my favorite of all of those (though I also haven't read Percy Jackson).
Not many surprises but I actually kinda like that readers from all across the world share so much love for the same stories! I'm with you on falling in love with Westeros, Middle Earth and the HP universe through the movies and I prefer every single adaptation of those over the books, lol. We can be bad readers together 🤣
Great video, really loved this!!
Thank you so much!! Hahaha, I think for Westeros, I'll say there are some things the books and show does better. Same for Middle Earth too. But for Middle Earth, I certainly prefer LotR movies over the books. 😂
Excellent taste.
The Mistborn series was an excellent read with a very thought-out and developed magic system.
Thank you! Well, thank the readers who voted for these! :)
For me it's The First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. It's not necessarily changed my life, it's just changed the way I saw the world and people.
You could say I found my moral compass after reading these books. It "open" my eyes to the way of the world and people really work. Before reading these books, I experienced something that should "open" my eyes, but naively, I held on to my faith that "ah, it's just something that I shouldn't worried about".
I'm really grateful for Joe Abercrombie for his magnificent work
Joe Abercrombie is a master. I understand where you're coming from. I first read Mistborn trilogy and it made me want to continue reading fantasy novels. Well, as it turns out, I picked First Law trilogy after that. Mindblown and now I can't stop reading fantasy novels. Just talking about it makes me want to reread First Law again! :)
Definitly changed my life. I was having a hard time when i read First Law, and i learned so much by reading it. I learned about grey morals and standing up for myself. This Series (for me) belongs in this list :)
It was Narnia for me too when I was 7, and I re-read some of the books every couple of years. I don't know if I'd love reading it for the first time now though. I rarely read books for that young an audience.
I own all of the Harry Potter books but until this year I'd never read the last three or watched the last three+ movies. I'm finally getting around to them now.
Yeah, I very rarely read books for young audiences now. I hope you'll enjoy the last three books of Harry Potter! :)
Mistborn was also the series that sparked my love for the genre. I used to read maybe 3-4 books a year, but after I finished The final empire I read everything in the Cosmere in a few months. I just ordered Yumi and the nightmare painter yesterday, can't wait to read it since Kimi no na wa is my favourite animated movie!
Woohoo! That's so great to hear. And if you love Kimi no Nawa, you will LOVE Yumi and the Nightmare Painter! :)
@elodin5102 anything by Makoto Shinkai is a masterpiece!
@@mormengil do you perhaps know when his new movie is coming out? I can only find cam versions online
I just started Book 8 of The Wheel Of Time and I cannot fathom how anybody could not like the series. Truly, it is the best thing I have ever read and occupies my thoughts every single day.
Crazy how some works can click with some people and just not hit with others. (for example, I just could not read LOTR and gave up after the first page of The Two Towers.)
Hahaha, that's how it is. Taste and experience always differ! I liked Lord of the Rings, but I can understand why people won't get with the books! :)
Same. I could not finish LoTRs. I gave up in the middle of book 2. It was the talking trees (Ents?) That were the last straw. I was bored to tears. Meanwhile TWoT is my favorite fantasy series of all time and I didn't think any book I. The series was a "slog". To each their own...
Dragonlance was my gateway into reading. I binged Chronicles through Legends somewhere around 1989. From then on I was a “reader.” Though I read many genres, Fantasy has always been my favorite and Dragonlance still stands tall among all I’ve read since.
Wonderful to hear that! Glad Dragonlance means that much to you! 😃
Berserk unconsciously began my love for fantasy. When GoT ended, the “bad ending” motivated me to eventually read the books for the true source material (I haven’t yet). It also motivates to seek out other fantasy series around the level of GoT, because without the show I would’ve never known about the books.
I ended up starting my fantasy reading journey with Mistborn :)
Berserk is utterly incredible! Haha, we have quite a similar experience. Because of the GoT show we end up reading fantasy books, starting with Mistborn! :)
Petrik, The Gathering Storm, finished by Sanderson, is my favorite WOT, especially the chapter titled , Hinderstap! WOT led me to booktube for the first time, Daniel Greene then Mike, which lead me to you! Booktube has given me a lifetime TBR.
I will get there! Most likely next year!
The book that got me into fantasy initially was Rangers Apprentice. I read the original 12 and some of a spin-off series. At some point I tried to go back and read the first book recently and it felt too young for me. I do still want to try, maybe listen to it on audiobook. After that would’ve been Percy Jackson.
Oh I've seen Rangers Apprentice many times. Never tried it, though. But yeah, I strongly believe there are some books more suitable to be read when we're younger than when we're an adult. :)
I read DragonLance as a kid and reread the first two series recently. I loved the second series, but felt the first series was very formulaic and felt like its origins as a D&D campaign. But I still really enjoyed it for nostalgia reasons.
I heard that a lot, too! I will try the first book at least someday! 😊
I just bought a bind up of the first series to reread. It's such a nostalgic series for me. A comfortable read that reminds me of my childhood and learning to love fantasy. Also Fizban is my favorite character.
Made me want to sit down a rewatch all my extended editions of LOTR!
The series that sparked my love of fantasy when I was younger was by Lloyd Alexander, The Chronicles of Prydain.
Yeah! It's been a while since I rewatch LotR, maybe I should do it again soon! 😁
I've read WoT more than a half dozen times. I started reading them in high school.
I'm still slogging my way through it. Book 9 is next. :)
@@PetrikLeoI fully admit it probably wouldn’t be my favorite fantasy series if I had started reading them as an adult.
Great video Petrik. Definitely, LOTR and Harry Potter influenced my reading...And then ASOIAF, of which A Storm of Swords is my all time favorite fantasy book and probably will never be surpassed. Another series not mentioned here that really got me reading fantasy is the Drizzt series by RA Salvatore. A side note - So, I was reading the Harry Potter books when they were being released so after I finished one, I'd have to wait for the next one to be released, then go up to my local Barnes N Noble to purchase the newest HP book. The parking lot was full, overflowing even into the lots left and right of it and there were people waiting in long lines, waiting to go in and buy the newly released Harry Potter book. It was amazing, and I've never experienced anything like that for any other books and probably never will...It was so cool to see so many people so excited about getting the next book in a series..That really got me into reading more fantasy. Take care!
Thank you! A Storm of Swords is truly a masterpiece. And hey, what you said regarding Harry Potter is what I meant. It's very rare now to see people lining up like that being that immensely excited for a book release. Back then, online shipping wasn't as powerful as now, too. Now, we all just order books online, which is great, but yeah that kind of visible hype is something I miss seeing! :)
I read Harry Potter as an adult and that sparked my love for fantasy and how i was imagining fantasy creatures and worlds, it felt fantastic!! You should read HP books movies didn't do justice imo except final two movies.
I need to read the first three books someday. I loved the final two movies very much! :)
Yay Narnia!! This series is good for anyone of any age that wants to recapture the sense of wonder that should exist for all of us but is unfortunately only observed by the younger.
I have to try it someday. Or maybe read it to my kids. 😂
I didn't read this series until I was an adult and I am obsessed with the series. My mom also loves them :)
Which series do you mean? 😄
@@PetrikLeo Sorry, the Percy Jackson series, one of my favorites. The Chronicles of Narnia is great as well, but they get more geared toward children the further into the series you get.
The series that got me into fantasy was Shannara. I read the Sword of Shannara when I was 12, and it got me hooked on fantasy. I’ve since read better fantasy series, but this one holds a special place for me because it started it all.
Yesss! We can certainly recognize how special a series can be while acknowledging there are better series out there. :)
LOTR is still king, as it should be. I have lost track of how many times I have read that series, and this video reminded me that I am due for another reread.
Making this videos made me excited to rewatch and reread Lord of the Rings and the other books in Middle-Earth! :)
LOTR, Narnia, Earthsea Trilogy, Dragonriders of Pern, Memory, Sorrow and Thorn, anything by Andre Norton, Chronicles of Amber.
I have read LotR and Memory Sorrow and Thorn! Highly enjoyed them both! :)
I can understand you find reading wheel of times a little slow but the last book the memory of light is totally worth it. Hang in there and the final is really rewarding. Glad you have not decided to DNF it. Wheel of times has changed certain issues n my life . Helped me with an issue I was going through when I was reading it for the first time.
P.S. thank you for the recommendation of the passing of the dragon by Ken liu as an artist I totally understood and a much needs one for me right now. It was as if it was written just for me. Thank you so much
Oh I definitely will continue! I will read Winter's Heart in December or January. Getting closer to finishing the slog portions!
Glad you loved Passing of the Dragon, too! 😊
Personally I am very fond of Dragonlance. Its got a cozy reading vibe, and is light and swift to read. I personally rate the first three trilogies by Weis and Hickman very highly for nostalgic reads. They are a good time.
But I am also a huge Shannara fan, so I know that I have a soft spot for the cheesy older classics.
They are of their time. I get a Dragonlance vibe from Cahill, actually a bit more than I do Eragon which people compare him to a lot.
Dragonlance is easy reading, and fun. If you do read it, go in with the mindset of just having a giggle that gets surprisingly dark and moving at times.
I haven't tried Shannara and Dragonlance, and I might end up trying them someday. Definitely not dismissing the idea of reading them, especially when I'm in the mood for trying some classics for cozy vibes! :)
Mistborn saved the fantasy series for me back in 2012-2013 so I would say that was the only one that had a real impact. I was pretty much giving up on fantasy at that point and it revived it for me.
So glad to hear that! Mistborn certainly made me love reading fantasy novels. Then I read First Law and well can't stop reading since then. 😊
I wasn't a reader as a kid, but Final Fantasy VI (III in the US) on the Super Nintendo turned me on to the fantasy genre and I still love fantasy RPGs. So when I got into reading a few years ago, fantasy was a natural interest. One thing I loved about the HP series is JKR put in so much foreshadowing and introduced important plot elements that were throwaway lines in early books that become relevant in later books in satisfying ways. I feel like Sanderson also does this incredibly well, especially in Mistborn. I would love to find more fantasy (or sci-fi) series that has that level of setup and payoff.
That's the thing! Final Fantasy is one of my favorite video game franchises. I was so much more into video games and manga than reading novels back then. I enjoyed Harry Potter, but it did not give me that sense of enjoyment and satisfaction I got from video games. But who knows if I try reading it now? Maybe I'll end up enjoying it more because I'm more fluent in English now! :)
I started to love reading as a 6 y.o. kid because of Guardians of Ga'hoole, a book about magical owls(?). But kinda stopped reading til high school and the one book that respark it was Sanderson's Steelheart hhhhh
Sanderson's books to the rescue! :)
My intro to fantasy as a kid in the early 90s were The Hobbit and Narnia. I read all of those books over and over. The first Harry Potter book came out when I was in high school. I read them of course, but I was hooked on fantasy long before that.
I read Percy Jackson as an adult. They were fine, better than the movie for sure. I don't think it's a waste of time to try them out.
Thanks for the information! I think I will try Percy Jackson when I'm in the right mood for it. Glad to hear Hobbit and Narnia made you love the genre!
For me it started with a German speaking author as a child, then in my teens the love grew with Harry Potter and LOTR. The Mists of Avalon and the other books from the author also helped.
Then I changed genres and read lots of thrillers until The Faithful And The Fallen series by John Gwynne... this catapulted me back into the fantasy genre 😊
Nice! The Faithful and the Fallen by John Gwynne is amazing. Glad it helped you get back to the fantasy genre! :)
Dragonlance is such a titan in the genre. The only qualifier I have for it is that it really only clicks with people who played Dungeons and Dragons, and less so with regular fiction readers.
A fact: I have never played Dungeons and Dungeons in real life... xD
I've never played D&D and loved those books!
I bought the first 6 Dragonlance books recently, althuogh I have't read them yet. Completely get what you mean about the Hobbit. I also just read it and wasn't keen at all. Very narrated. Lord of the Rings was fantastic though :)
Yeah! Definitely prefer Lord of the Rings over The Hobbit. By far. I hope you will enjoy Dragonlance! :)
The Memory, Sorrow and Thorn series by Tad Williams was the first one that got me hooked on fantasy books and though it’s not ranked as my personal all time favorite it sits comfortably in my top 5 fantasy series of All Time…😊
I just finished the trilogy for the first time last month, and I'm not surprised by how many people love the series. Looking forward to reading The Last King of Osten Ard! :)
however! the book that got me into the fantasy genre was "Dealing with Dragons"
There was something charming about how all the characters were aware that they live in a fairy tale world, but treated it as a normal, everyday thing LOL
If you haven't read it, but you want that quick, cozy, action speckled, humor read : 10/10 recommend!
I don't think i heard of that book before. I just checked the cover art, and it has a cute cover art! I will keep it in my mind to check out, too, someday! :D
You must do your LOTR re-read by Serkis’s audio narration, since he is mimicking the voices of his fellow actors, it is like if Peter Jackson had the opportunity to film every single page!!
That's the plan! Haha, you knew my plan already 😊😊
For some reason I have never been interested on Sanderson books, I might someday give him a try. Any recommendation on where to start?
The final empire!
Definitely Final Empire if you're in the mood for a trilogy! If you want a short standalone to try from him, read Emperor's Soul! :)
First Started reading novels for actual enjoyment ( and not because it was required at school) was when I was 14/15 & in hospital- it helped me escape. I read Harry Potter.
I became addicted to reading and audiobooks from that point. (Have health issues and been hospitalised many times) .
Ever since the first admission, I always must have a book (or listen to an audiobook) - I’m now 38. Harry Potter definitely sparked my love for reading! Now I primarily read fantasy, sci-fi, dystopian and horror thrown in.
I can kinda understand that. Not to your extent. But I was hospitalized once, and books literally saved my boredom and negative energy. Definitely a must to have books at all times!
I have always loved Romantasy growing up, but I didn't really get into High/ Epic Fantasy until last year. The Faithful and the Fallen Series by John Gwynne sparked my passion for high fantasy and the next series I will be starting very soon is The Way of Kings by B Sanderson. P.S. I loved Game of Thrones Tv series too!
Woohoo! That's wonderful to hear. I'm glad Faithful and the Fallen sparked your passion. Enjoy The Way of Kings. It's incredible, imo! :)
I am now re-reading Dragonlance but I do find it not as interesting as when I was reading it as teenager. If you really want to try to read Dragonlance, try out the core Trilogy by Margaret Wise & Tracy Hickman first
Yeah, I heard this a LOT for Dragonlance. I might still try it, though, someday. But I will make sure to remember this in mind. :)
Petrik, please, please PLEASE give Percy Jackson a read! I was 12 (in middle school) when they first came out/read them- currently 26 and I still have the entire series haha. And boy did they ignite my love for not only reading, but Greek Mythology as well! I'd say the Lost Hero series (the next set after Percy Jackson) is more YA and may capture your interest more..?
Also, if you enjoy PJ, if I can make a suggestion, by the same author, he's made a Egyptian Mythology trilogy called The Kane Chronicles! Please check them out as well. I feel like almost no one talks about them compared to Percy Jackson and the Norse mythology series that Rick also wrote, but I swear it won't disappoint! I would love to hear your thoughts on it.
I'm a fan of Greek, Norse, and Japanese mythology. So yes, I will try Percy Jackson someday. If I end up liking that, well I will continue reading the other books in the world! :)
Hi Petrik! Love your channel! I love Percy Jackson! My kids picked it up first, I got curious, and read it myself. I'm also a teacher, so I use it for my curriculum. If you love mythology, you should pick up Rick Riordan. It's more philosophical than Harry Potter, but also more light-hearted. Characterizations are really good, plot lines are excellent, a bit complex for most of my kids, but very action-packed and entertaining! Dialogue is first-rate! It's not babyish at all. It's about a person finding out that reality is very different from what he thought it was, trying to prove their own worth by accomplishing the impossible, discovering friendships that turn what was impossible into something possible, and finally understanding that his personal worth doesn't depend on accomplishing the glorious task at hand, (although, of course, he does that too) but on honoring those relationships. Marvelous, in a G-rated way, especially if you have a young person in your life to share it with.
Thank you so much! I love mythologies so that bodes well with me. I have thought about it, and who knows, I might read it to my kids someday! That way the both of us can enjoy the story of Percy Jackson together! :)
I read the Dragonlance books (the first 3) when I was like 15 or 17 years old (so, over 20 years ago). I liked the books quite a lot at the time, 1 of them I read it in 1 day, but comparing with Lord of the Rings, Wheel of Time or Malazan, the world building is more simple and the scope is not as global. But I think is worth the reading.
Thank you for sharing your opinion! At the moment, I'm still not sure when I will read the series, but I will at least try the first book and find out how I feel about it someday! :)
If I had read Percy Jackson when it first came out (I was in middle school at the time), then I probably would be a huge fan of it, but unfortunately I started it at the age of 26 so not really the target audience 😔
This is what I'm afraid of. I feel like some series, like Eragon or Hobbit, are books that should experienced for the first time when we're younger. :)
@@PetrikLeo that is definitely true. I had the exact same experience with eragon as well. It had such a solid beginning but the third book just ended up being a gigantic filler book and inheritance was a very predictable conclusion
Thomas Covenant Chronicles by Stephen R. Donaldson and Dragon Riders of Pern would be on my list.
Heard great things, but I haven't read both of them! :)
@@PetrikLeoI read them all so long ago, I wonder if I would still like them now. Sometimes books come along at the right moment in your life.
Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay is life changing for how epic and beautiful a standalone can be.
Amazing standalone book!
I think I am one of those who said The Lord of The Rings and your video now is making me want to read the trilogy again. The problem is that I have read it many many times and I have so many unread books that... well, you know the feeling, right?
Totally understand the feeling. I want to reread many books and still need to read many new books. 😅
The series that created my love for fantasy was Narnia aged about 7 or 8.
The adult series that changed my life was The Book Of Words by J.V. Jones. Her trilogy is maybe a less polished work than ASOIAF, but she grew as a writer immensely over just three volumes and I still love it.
I'd recommend Jones to you. Her sequel series Sword Of Shadows is an unfinished masterpiece, and I've been waiting for book five longer than ASOIAF fans have Winds of Winter! She is nearly finished writing the next book though, she told me it should be written early next year. I've only been waiting since...I dunno...2010!!!!
J.V. Jones is certainly on my list of books to read. Maybe not Book of Words, but her Swords of Shadows series. I have wanted to read it for a long time but well... I heard Endlords is being written at the moment. Once I hear the book has a release date, I will start reading the series immediately! :)
@@PetrikLeo I'd recommend Book Of Words, it's a really fun read. It came out before Hobbs first Farseer or GoT, and has a grimdark flavour with lots of warmth and humour, as well as brilliant heroes and villains you can't help but LOVE to read about.
Baralis opens the book killing a man. He's one of my fave villains ever.
I recommend it because you dislike some older fantasy, but Jones is the transition from, say, Memory, Sorrow And Thorn to A Song Of Ice And Fire.
Book one is lovely but it really grows in the next two. Sword Of Shadows is a sort of sequel with crossover elements. Won't say what though
Read Narnia to your kids when/if you have them! You'll love it and so will they!
That and Percy Jackson are on consideration! :)
I always struggle with these kinds of questions (in line with 'what's your favorite book?') because I was a voracious reader when I was young and I read whatever I could get my hands on. We couldn't always afford brand new books, I was lucky to have classmates/friends/cousins that I could borrow from. At that age, I didn't think about favorites and I didn't even know about genres. I was reading harlequin romances around 4th/5th grade (some were definitely not age appropriate lol but my parents never restricted us), which was also the same time I read Harry Potter and The Hobbit. I think The Hobbit was just something that I read, it didn't stick with me much (which is probably why I enjoyed the movies more than some people). While I loved Harry Potter, I still didn't think of them as different, they were just stories that I enjoyed, same as the other genres that I was reading.
The only series that I've never encountered in this list is Dragonlance. I'm lucky to have read most of these books at the right age (I was as excited by the next Eragon books as I was with the next Harry Potter). But even though I read Narnia as a kid, I remember being pretty meh about it. Same with Percy Jackson, I read the first book when I was a bit older but still in my teens. I think it was ok, but didn't really make me want to read the rest of the series so I didn't.
I have a Tolkien shelf now, but it actually took me years to finish the books. I was stuck for a very long time in book 1, but once it clicked I devoured them. I actually had a better time with The Silmarillion, I have never felt that overwhelming feeling of 'whoah' that I got from the first few chapters of The Silmarillion from any other book that I've read since. But yeah, if I were to choose the media to experience Lord of the Rings again, I'd watch the movies and then I'd watch the movie-length behind the scenes (which are as enjoyable).
Going off-tangent since I'm already writing an essay, what is the quality like for those illumicrate greenbone books? I see marked-up sets for sale and I'm tempted, but I couldn't find anyone talking about the build quality. Specifically, what is the texture of the covers? I have a mold problem for cloth-like hardcovers whenever the rainy season comes.
Thank you so much for sharing your story! No worries about the essay. It's joyful hearing how someone finds their joy for reading. I will most likely reread Silmarillion again. The book keeps calling me to reread it lately.
As for the quality of Green Bone Saga Illumicrate edition. They're basically standard hardcover. Don't expect better binding and paper. They're just standard hardcover with new and better hardcover. And signed. If you want a premium edition of the series, wait for Jade City subterranean Press edition next year! :)
Great video to wake up and watch first thing! Firstly most of the books on this list weren’t even published when I started reading fantasy. I’m 56 so of course Tolkien, Narnia were, but Dragonlance was first published when I was a teenager. I read The Hobbit and some of Narnia as a child. The books that sealed my love of fantasy were the first 3 Dragonrider’s of Pern novels. I read them the summer I turned 11. Dragons as companions? I’m all in! Then in later books fire lizards (tiny dragons) that anyone can bond with? Yes please! Then when I was working at B Dalton Bookseller as a teen my boss introduced me to The Belgiariad. I’d already started the Shannara series. Yes I read LOTR knockoffs before LOTR. I loved and still reread The Belgariad and Malloreon. My husband, then boyfriend, read me LOTR when we were both stationed in Korea in the Army in the 80s. How could I not marry him after that? Fortunately I got to experience Harry Potter, Eragon and Percy Jackson as an elementary school teacher reading them to and with kids. The Hobbit was the first book I read aloud each year I taught. I started Wheel of Time only reading it during SSR, Silent Sustained Reading (or as the kids said Shut Up, Sit Down & Read) to show them it was possible to read a huge book in just 20-30 minutes a day. It was torture to not be able to read it in the evenings! I’m 9 hours from finishing the series on Audible, woohoo! This was while teaching 3rd grade. When I moved to 5th grade I ran WoT reading groups. I even had some students read every book published up to then in 2005. Also did LOTR groups. Many students opted for both! My TBR stack could probably reach the moon. But at least I know I’ll never run out of fantastic stuff to read.
Reading aloud is such an important part of this conversation. My parents reading the hobbit and the Lord of the Rings to me as a little kid is a huge reason why I love fantasy now.
Also it is the best way to experience LOTR by far in my opinion. It is still great to read alone but there is something special about sharing it.
Thank you so much! Glad to hear your story. It's wonderful to hear you share your passion for reading with your husband, and you went through the phases of epic fantasy! It's so cool. I hope to achieve that as I continue reading and reading! You're right, though. We will never run out of fantastic stuff to read! :)
I can totally relate (regarding classic fantasy) with you who had started reading books very late as compared to other readers who had started reading novels pretty early in the school. LOTR books were ruined for me (yes, the pacing!) because of Peter Jackson's masterful movies.
Exactly! It was so difficult reading the books for the first time after being so used to the movies. 😂
The first book that really got me into reading was the The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks. I remember loving all of the original Shannara trilogy: Sword, Elfstones, and Wishsong. But I think Terry Brooks added to many more books to his universe. It's been awhile since I have looked at it but he has kinda changed a lot of the original lore. But the original premise was WW3 happened and nuked the world, after a thousand years medieval civilization started to appear along with other races that were mutated humans: these being OG Humans, Orcs, Gnomes, and Dwarves. One last race appeared, Elves, who weren't humans, but had been hiding from them for thousands of years in the forests.
I remember being as a teenager not being able to put the books down.
Ah, that's wonderful! I haven't read Shannara yet, but I know Terry Brooks is a kind author who has helped many young authors achieve greater things in their career. One among them is Pierce Brown, the author of Red Rising Saga! I might try reading Shannara someday! :)
I grew up on Dragonlance, Middle Earth and Narnia and I always want to return and am always rewarded when I do (though Dragonlance can vary with the author). Harry Potter and Wheel of Time came later and their pull is lesser, but I do love them - I think the barrier to entry of something read really young is pretty well non-existent, and the prestige of being your first-time is powerful - that said my earlier first reads were Roald Dahl and Goosebumps, and while I respect them, I can see they're not going on anywhere near the same journey and am not too pulled to return.
The pull of Middle Earth is no joke. I thought when I finished reading it, even though I really enjoyed them, I thought I wouldn't go back to it. But now... it seems to be calling me to it again. Magical, really.
Haven't read much of this list but LOTR/everything Tolkien is amazing - luckily I read teh books several times before the movies came out (which are great in their own right but I do prefer the books). Harry Potter I initially dismissed as children's books but I was very positively surprised as the world created there is very coherent and imaginative. I started with the movies and the read all the books between movie 6 and 7 (again the books are much richer and superior). ASOIAF is fantastic but who knows whether we will ever see it completed. I May try Wheel of Time next.
I still need to read The Wheel of Time to its completion, too/ Glad you loved Lord of the Rings! I think it's just a matter of which one was your gateway, the books or the movies. The first one you try will most likely become your preference! :)
Harry Potter had the most influence.. and after that Midkemia books and Dragonlance ❤😊but the last one is really classic yes..my feel good place. Love percy jackson too😀
Good to know! :)
I read the Chronicles of Narnia when I was 16 and really loved it and I tried to do a reread this year (at 23) and I could not get past Prince Caspian. The negative language that C.S. Lewis uses when describing characters and places that seem to depict middle eastern culture is hard to ignore.
Many have mentioned Narnia is no longer good to read when they're an adult. In a way, I think that's kinda similar to the content. The children have moved on! :D
Long before the sorting hat,
we had another proven key to encouraging boys and young men to become pleasure readers.
1)The Icewind Dale Trilogy & 2)The Darkelf Trilogy. Both of which stand the test of time.
True that. I wish I read that when I was younger!
@@PetrikLeo Telling you about them made me think of when I gave them to my three sons and started them as readers long ago. I also started thinking that my granddaughters (ages 9 & 12) would probably enjoy them, maybe kickstarted by Pop (me) reading them as bedtime stories.
I started reading non-picture books at six when at the end of Kindergarten I was offered my pick of "any book" on the shelf of books in disrepair that my school library was letting go. The librarian intended for me to pick Curious George or the like. Instead, I selected The Landmark history book "Great American Fighter Pilots of WWII" by Robert D. Loomis. I still have that battered old tome that sparked the next seven thousand-plus books I read.
Hey, may I ask what the book on the bottom left in the thumbnail is? Thank you
That's A Game of Thrones! Folio Society edition. 😊
@@PetrikLeo Thank you very much! Love all your videos
Thumb's up Number 10
Well done!
I originally read the first Dragonlance trilogy as it was being published (I was 23 or 24 at the time). I thought it was brilliant.
I read it again with my son when he was young, and he loved it. That said, I ... was no longer 24. I would not recommend it for anyone who has a lot of fantasy reading experience.
My formative fantasy books were LotR and the Chronicles of Amber. I read both repeatedly (and they both still hold up decades later).
Thanks for letting me know! And Chronicles of Amber is another one that I really have to read! Heard about its importance from many authors! :)
Harry Potter definitely sparked my love for reading but I wouldn't say they are the best books ever written. I re-read them all last year to see if they held up to adult scutiny and mostly yes except for some of the more YA bits that annoyed me but it is still very close to my heart and I will probably re-read the series again sometime in the future.
Yeah! That's how I feel about Mistborn, too. I mean, I still REALLY love the series. But I totally understand and acknowledge there are plenty of superior series! That doesn't change the fact I still consider Mistborn to be incredibly important to me, though. And I will reread it again! :)
@@PetrikLeo I love Mistborn era 1 so much, it's my fave by Brando Sando, so I definitely understand where you're coming from :)
i think the dragon lance books are pinnacle classic-modern (80-90s style) fantasy. It's not bad. But if you don't click with that style, this is going to drag out.
Narnia, i would say is the birthing of modern/urban fantasy (or western isekai), and told in a very cozy way (because kids), so if you like simpler, cozy prose, then you might like it. I liked it as a kid because of how easy it was to manage and i could fall into the story. It wasn't the one to get me into fantasy though lol
Ironically, i never got to Harry Potter books until i was an adult. I'd seen the first four films before i ever read the first book. Kind of like Narnia, it's written in a very cozy and emotional way, which is something i love
Thanks for your input! Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of for Dragonlance. But I will still try it someday just to at least know the content of it, to find out why many readers fell in love with the genre thanks to you! :)
I can't believe the video starts with Percy Jackson! It was the book that made me a reader!
Edit: HP really is worth reading. In my opinion the first and second books are not bad, but from the third onwards it's amazing
Aww that's so cool! 😊
ASOIAF is so memorable. Agree it’s better than WOT. It’s better than 1st Law but not by that much. Tied for 1st is Hobb’s Realm of the Elderlings. Anew series is Cahill’s Bound and Broken which is outstanding so far. Just My 2 cents.
Thanks for your videos. They make me think. And enjoy
The video is about the series that transform readers into becoming fans of the genre, but I think that doesn't necessarily means they're the best. Although I do definitely agree ASOIAF is better than WoT. 😃
ASOIAF definitely got me into fantasy. It was so different than what I had been reading. Grabbed me. How could he behead my fav character
Petrik tryna change our life!!
Become a reader!!
@@PetrikLeo 😅
Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter, and Eragon were the fantasy books of my childhood! I think Harry Potter is still worth it to read, even as an adult. For Narnia, I don't really like them anymore because of the religious stuff. I tried reading Percy Jackson as an adult and I thought Book 1 was fine, but don't think it's worth reading the rest of the series. I'm currently reading Mistborn for the first time and loving it!
I hope the video gives you some sense of nostalgia then! And enjoy Mistborn. I might try Percy Jackson someday to see how I feel about it. At least it's short! :)
If you don't like classic fantasy I'd stay away from Dragonlance. I read it as a child, and loved it but I can't image going back and reading it again. It's very cliche and the characters feel very one note and paint by numbers.
Nothing against the series, like I said I read the entire mainline series as a child and loved it. I would only read it if you really love classic fantasy or you're interested in getting perspective how on how introduced so many young adults to fantasy.
P.S. Thank you for introducing me to the Sun Eater series. I just started and I'm absolutely in love. If the series continues the quality and writing style of book one then it will have earned a spot with my all time favourite: Malazan.
P.P.S. What song starts playing when you talk about Mistborn?
Yeah, that's my expectation of Dragonlance. I will probably read it someday to gain some perspective. You're so welcome, on the Sun Eater series. I'm in the middle of going through the series, too, at the moment. Just started Howling Dark! :)
The song is Stinson - Reed Mathis. You can look it up on UA-cam!
I read the first Percy Jackson as an adult. I'm not a fan of the prose style, but since you like Sanderson l think that will be ok for you 😂 it's a similar type. The story itself is good, the characters and myths etc so definitely give it a try! I actually enjoyed the Trials of Apollo, a later series, more as it had a more distinctive voice. Probably the author also got more confident as time went on.
Narnia is an easy read and l do hope you give it a try. There's a wry humour and thought provoking lines that you can only appreciate in the books.
I was surprised with the top two rankings - l thought it would be the other way round in terms of sheer popularity, but l guess we're talking about fantasy fans here😅. Indeed, LOTR is eminently re-readable - l reread it a lot as as kid, and when l went back as an adult it was even better, because l finally understood and could appreciate things l didn't understand before.
Great video! Was very interesting to see what everyone said.
Thank you! Haha, I really thought Harry Potter was going to be at the number 1 spot, but again... as you said, my audience consists of mostly adult fantasy readers, so not a surprise, too, Lord of the Rings is at the number 1 spot. Haha, I certainly don't mind Sanderson's style of writing, so I'll pick up Rick Riordan's books when I'm in the mood for a lighter read someday! :)
Absolutely should read Dragonlance. The language is not as “classic” as you might think. It focuses on the character. Read the original trilogy and the twins trilogy.
Not sure when, but I definitely plan to read at least the first trilogy!
I don't have Twitter so I will post my choice in the chat. My favorite book of all time that got me into fantasy was the night angel trilogy back in 2012
That's a trilogy that I still have to read! I've read Lightbringer by Brent Weeks. :)
Wheel of Time seems to be popular only in US, I never met anyone in EU who read it a while back. Eye of the World is almost impossible to get through, boring copy of LoTR.
Oh really? I didn't know that. Though I guess it would be more popular in the US because the main publisher Tor Books. 😀
@@PetrikLeoI guess it would be similar to Witcher - popular here in central/east Europe for 30-35 years or so, but only really known elsewhere after games/tv series got popular.
Anything by Robin Hobb, Joe Abercrombie or John Gwynne for me!
Love them all!!
No Witcher saga?
Only 2 people voted for it. 😶
@@PetrikLeo seriously?? I mean it makes sense I guess. It's a lot less popular than these series so doesn't quite surprise me
I would love to hear your review on Harry Potter series once they somehow manage to defeat the unrelenting TBR pile of yours.
Will do! Not sure when yet, but if I do read them, I will have a review up!
If you like character driven fantasy then you need to read The Wandering Inn! You’ll be crying over side characters.
I plan to start reading the series (NOT finish it) next year. :D
A game of thrones did it for me.
Wheel of Time. Wheel of Time, and Wheel of Time
The Wheel weaves as the wheel wills!
Alternate petrik!
Hahahaha! 😆
Oh noooo you forgot to mention Twilight :/ haha
Only a few people mentioned Twilight! 😅