My forays into SFF
Until I joined college, I was never really entranced by fantasy or science fiction. I’d read the requisite Arthur C Clarke, Isaac Asimov, J R R Tolkien, C S Lewis, et al; I really liked them, but that was it. I was more interested in Salman Rushdie, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, John Keats, et al. Did I mention that my reading habits are indiscriminate? Hell, I would read a Hardy Boys or a Nancy Drew with the same enthusiasm as I would read Rajaji’s Ramayana or Mahabharata!
But things began to change when I joined college in 2004. I had bought the first two parts of a retelling of the Ramayana by an author named Ashok K. Banker that had received rave reviews. And I was hooked right from page one. I liked them so much I bought the sequels and joined his online community Epic India. There, I met lots of like minded people who shared a common fascination for science fiction and fantasy novels. I began buying the books which were highly recommended- and thats when my journey truly began.
Over the last two years, I have read quite a lot of books that would be termed SFF. I’ve travelled through galaxies at speeds faster than light, jousted with knights, killed Greek gods [!], and made love to many a woman [:~)]. I’ve discussed the relative merits of Shakespeare vis-à-vis Proust [in an SF novel!], cast magic spells more devious than the 3 Unspeakable Curses of HP lore, fought numerous battles and dodged more characters than I could imagine. Ah! The vicarious thrills of reading… Such is the magic of SFF- it broadens our horizons, its beauty both inspires and reflects nature, it offers a large canvas on which the quirks of humanity are dealt with unconventionally [perhaps, even ironically!]
In the west, SFF has managed to create a niche of its own, but it’s the stupendous success of the Harry Potter books that allowed it to enter the mainstream. All of a sudden, YA fantasy [or, young adult fantasy] has become the most successful genre in the publishing industry. Just consider the sheer number of fantasy or SF movies that come out nowadays, and you will realize that SFF has come a long way…
So, if you are interested in skinny dipping in the realms of fantasy and science fiction, here are some of my picks. Trust me- most of these books have either defined or redefined the genre. Hope you go ahead and try them out!
Fantasy :-
1] George R R Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire
2] Steven Erikson’s A Tale of the Malazan Books of the Fallen
3] Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series
4] Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series
5] Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy
6] Jonathan Stroud’s Bartemius trilogy
7] Terry Prattchett’s Discworld series
Science Fiction :-
1] Dan Simmons’s Hyperion Cantos
2] Frank Herbert’s Dune series
3] Peter F. Hamilton’s Night’s Dawn trilogy
4] Alastair Reynolds's Revelation Space series
5] Dan Simmons’ Ilium and Olympos
6] Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide series
7] Peter F. Hamilton's Commonwealth Saga
