One of the things I've always enjoyed about books, regardless of the type of book, is that they stretch the imagination in some fashion and give one a sense of pleasure. Science fiction & fantasy is certainly a genre that does this, but the manner in which I first came into reading sf & fantasy is a story all on its own.
While my father was Austrian and my mother was English, both of my parents encouaged me to read from an early age. When I turned eight years old, and was reading precociously on my own, my father asked me, "Why don't you read this?" He gave me a copy of a book that I didn't recognize, something called The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. I looked askance at my father, but gave him the benefit of the doubt; after all, he and my mother had encouraged me to read, and hadn't steered me wrong yet. Reading The Hobbit was an experience unto itself, and propelled me into a realm of imaginative fiction that I hadn't ever seen before that, although there is still something to be said about children's fiction. <l;g>
I went on to other things for the rest of that year, but never forgot about the Tolkien book, and early in my ninth year, my father gave me The Lord of the Rings to read, a book that to this day I have read at least twenty times. The old softbound, one-volume edition that he gave me to read back then has gone the way of all old, well-read books, but I've got my own hardcover version of it now...one that I've had for quite some time. Shortly after finishing Lord of the Rings, my father recommended that I read some science fiction, a concept that I wasn't overly familiar with at that time, and said that the book had been written three years before I had been born. (Something for me to associate with, I suppose.) The book was, of course, Isaac Asimov's Foundation and I was hooked on a totally different genre of writing than the Tolkien, but one that had an oddly similar appeal. I haven't looked back on my reading of sf & fantasy since then, much to the derision that I suffered under for my early years of reading that genre literature, and I don't regret it to this day.
Over the years, I've read quite a good share of fantasy and science fiction, and discovered other such pursuits as well. For the most part, there are the books and the like that I've enjoyed, and the rest of this section will deal with that side of the sf and fantasy interests on my part. You can start by checking out the SF literature page in this regard. However, there is a whole other side to the science fiction and fantasy field, and that is the media-oriented side of the sf and fantasy field. I am a big fan of various tv series, such as Blake's 7, Star Cops, Doctor Who, The Prisoner, UFO, and of course, Babylon 5 , which has become a hobby of mine in a lot of ways. You'll find a set of pages about one of my favourite series, Space Island One. My other favourite British sf tv series is, of course, Star Cops . There's some interesting stuff ahead of you on these pages, trust me! And you can start with a look at the media SF page that is relevant here.
But there is so much more to the science fiction and fantasy field than just this, of course. I provide here a rather nice little SF & F Resources list, one that will hopefully show you the many facets of the sf and fantasy field, and take you to a few sites on the Web that I think are interesting. My interests are much more varied than this, mind you, but one does have a limit on how much information one can place on one's web pages, so...
When it comes to literary science fiction and fantasy, not to mention the horror genre, there is so much to choose from, so many authors whose works are appealing, that it's difficult at times to sort through the melange of authors, books, and publications out there. I offer a link to an SF/F Authors page, which will take you to some author- and fan-maintained web pages. The SF & F Resources page is loaded with some decent links to other science fiction and fantasy sites, and has a few surprises on it as well. I've also decided to share with you book reviews that I've written about books that I've read recently (and not so recently), and will update this listing as time goes by, assuming anyone cares enough to read them. <g>
There are quite a few authors out there, whose works I very much appreciate and have grown fond of over the years. I've provided a link to separate pages about some of my favourite authors, so that you can get an idea of whose works I enjoy. In addition, I'm sure that you'll find several other pages here in the SF & Fantasy section that you'll derive some interest and pleasure out of. So enjoy!
Please note that I fully expect that there will be errors and typos of all sorts throughout these pages. After all, I've written all these pages and I'm only human. Any comments, thoughts, corrections or suggestions about these pages are welcome at my e-mail address of jkahane@comnet.ca.