Some of my fondest high school memories involve Lord of the Rings marathons with my Dungeons & Dragons group, so I guess one could say I’m a fantasy fan. Growing up, I frequently read L. Frank Baum’s Oz books (after The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, there are several more in the original series, as well as subsequent titles) and Tony Abbott’s Secrets of Droonseries. My copy of Christopher Paolini’s Eragon has a cracked spine and a few missing pages from being read over and over. As for sci-fi, I’m a huge fan of Patrick Ness’s Chaos Walking trilogy and have (somewhat shamefully) read my fair share of the Star Wars extended universe titles. In addition to my own interest, it turns out PSG has more than its fair share of sci-fi and fantasy fans.
Eileen’s been reading mostly young adult (YA) sci-fi lately. Some of her favorite authors are James Dashner, author of The Maze Runner, and Rick Yancey, known for The 5th Wave. Annette and Amanda both expressed their love of Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game, a military sci-fi novel where the people of Earth battle insect-like aliens. Amanda also recommends the Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey.
When it comes to the fantasy genre, Colleen could go on all day. She was introduced to fantasy in middle school with Terry Brooks’s Shannara series. Marion Zimmer Bradley’s The Mists of Avalon, the King Arthur legend told from Morgan le Fay’s point of view, is another favorite. She’s also been reading George R. R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire series since the books first came out. (One of her dog-eared paperbacks has an old-school fantasy cover depicting Jon Snow on a horse along with his dire wolf companion, Ghost.) Kate also likes Martin’s famous series, but says that she reads for the characters and could do without certain fantastical (i.e., ice zombies) elements.
Don’s a fan of Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One and is excited for the upcoming Spielberg-directed movie. He also tried reading Stephen King’s Dark Towerseries as a teenager and wasn’t a huge fan, but recently gave it a second chance and loved all of the books. Alyssa is a long-time fantasy fan, enjoying the works of C. S. Lewis, Terry Pratchett, Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, Neil Gaiman, Sarah J. Maas and—of course—J. K. Rowling. She also loves Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go and Stephen King’s 11/22/63.
Although not all staff members are fans of sci-fi or fantasy, it’s good to see that everyone in the office has different tastes. And now I know where to turn for my next book recommendation!
Did You Know?
J. K. Rowling earns more than $13 million, much of it thanks to her wildly successful Harry Potter series. Print sales, movie rights and the Pottermore website contribute to this amount. Pottermore is the only place a consumer can buy Harry Potter ebooks, and as Rowling owns the ebook rights, she keeps the majority of the profits.
Image credit: Michael D Beckwith
