My Guilty Pleasure…Sci-Fi & Fantasy

My name is Steve and I am the manager of Killay Library.

I enjoy reading most types of fiction but my guilty pleasure is most definitely sci-fi and fantasy.

My secret love affair with this genre began at 12.15pm on the 5th of March 1977 when I began reading the second ever issue of the 2000AD comic which my nan had bought me.

She had actually given it to me at 11.30am but for the first 45 minutes I was preoccupied with removing and putting on the Six Million Dollar Man “bionic arm” sticker, which came with the issue.

Diolch Nan- Thanks Nan

Soon after, I discovered H.G Wells and found myself devouring, the titles, “The First Men in the Moon”, “The Time Machine” and “War of the Worlds” ( the latter, while singing along to Jeff Wayne’s, “The Chances of Anything Coming From Mars” of course).

In my early teens, I found a copy of Asimov’s “Foundation” in Brynhyfryd Library. I was completely blown away by it, though I’m not entirely sure that I fully understood it.

Nevertheless, I now felt as though I had completed some kind of graduation and could consider myself to be a PROPER sci-fi reader!

For the next few years I read every sci-fi book I could get my hands on. However, at the age of 18 I experienced a marked and sudden regression in my reading. Yes, you’ve guessed it, I had entered the strange and abstract world of university student life.

Indeed, apart from my textbooks, the reading of which was obligatory of course, the only other material I can actually recall reading during this period is the comic, VIZ and a hugely impressive amount of Indian restaurant menus . Neither of which had any connection to Fantasy and Science Fiction, apart from one particular restaurant just outside Manchester which claimed it did the best chicken korma in the north west of England, which I can confirm, was complete FANTASY.

After university, my reading recovered but with a new focus on Fantasy authors.

Over the years, I have read The Lord of the Rings three times, although my pathway to this book was not altogether conventional. I was sitting at home one Christmas, when the 1978 animated film of Lord of the Rings came on the TV. Now anyone who is familiar with this film will be aware that it has one major drawback – it only covers part of the story. When, I say, only covers part of the story, I don’t mean, it is Part 1 of a film series, I mean that it only covers part of the story…

The film stops suddenly in the middle of the story and they never got around to making the follow up. Nevertheless, it must have done a job because I couldn’t wait to find out what had happened next and as soon as my local library reopened, I checked out a complete volume of Lord of the Rings and read it within a week.

If I had to choose an all-time favourite Fantasy fiction author, it would have to be David Gemmell.

Action packed, and filled with heroes, which make Game of Throne’s star, John Snow, look like Philip (I’m a very nice man) Schofield, every novel really is, a hold on to your pants epic.

I would particularly recommend his “Drenai” novels, the first of which is Legend.

So, what am I reading today? Well, I have actually just finished the Jack Campbell, Lost Fleet series.

This is one of the best military sci-fi series written in years and has proved extremely popular with every borrower who has taken it out from Killay Library.

Filled with strong characters, engaging story lines and authentic battle descriptions, I believe that this is a must read for any sci-fi fan. And the best part is, we have the full series available through Swansea Libraries.

So, that is my guilty pleasure. What is yours?