What was your first exposure to science fiction?

POSTED BY: TrainBandit
UPDATED: Friday, September 25, 2009 16:01
VIEWED: 15180
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TRAINBANDIT

Wednesday, July 1, 2009 6:06 AM

Hey all,

What was your first book, movie, tv show, cartoon strip, or even real world event that first got you interested in space and science? What IS it about this sub-culture we inhabit that is so compelling?

For me it was two things: one, the first moon landing in 1969. I was twelve, in camp fire girls camp, and we were called to an all-camp meeting in the courtyard where we had the flag raising and lowering ceremonies every day, right outside of the mess hall. We all crowded around a tiny black and white set they ran outside on an extension cord to watch these little figures actually walk on the moon. It was beyond description, we were so excited, it was so amazing.

The second thing was, my dad went through most of Robert A. Heinlein's adult books that fall, right after the moon landing. I read them all, and then went to my school library and burned through his juvenile books. For those of you who don't know Heinlein, he was (RIP Robert) one of the Grandmasters of science ficion, that is, one of the first, a trailblazer, along with other greats like Arthur C. Clark and Philip K. Dick and many, many more. He is one of the best, most prolific, and possibly the most perverted authors of sci-fi I've ever read. However, I was so enamored of his genius story-telling ability that I forgave him his weirdness completely. I owe him a debt: his books saved my life during 7th grade, and if you've ever been in 7th grade, or are there now, you know what I mean!

After that summer and fall, I was hooked like a little guppy on a line.

LINCOLNZ

Wednesday, July 1, 2009 6:28 AM

Heinlein was a true master. Note my quote... I didn't just do that for this post.

My first exposure to scifi? I don't really know for sure. I've been a fan of the genre as long as I can remember. My dad is a Trek fan and I remember watching TNG and Seaquest DSV with him in the evenings. The first scifi I remember being truly hooked on was Star Wars, the original trilogy. I loved it and couldn't get enough of the franchise until the prequels came out. They soured me on the whole thing for a long time, as the recent Indy revisit did for that great film series. Ok not letting myself get sidetracked, I apologize to anyone who liked those films. The first Trek I ever remember really enjoying was the episode 'The Inner Light' of TNG.

I didn't get into reading science fiction until I was older(20's). I discovered Orson Scott Card and after that Heinlein and Douglas Adams and most recently Robert Charles Wilson. Clarke is next on my list.

So I suppose it was Trek and Star Wars that got me into the genre. Not a very unusual introduction, I'm sure.

<----<<{-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-}>>---->
"Progress doesn't come from early risers — progress is made by lazy men looking for easier ways to do things." Robert A. Heinlein

PHOENIXROSE

Wednesday, July 1, 2009 7:08 AM

My grandfather worked on the Apollo missions, and my mom was a fan of Star Trek, so I guess I was 'exposed' from the day I came cryin' until... well, now. I have hazy memories of Klingons, floaty blood, Kirk, and whales, but my first super-clear memory of sci-fi I could actually put an accurate name to is, unsurprisingly, Star Wars. Whenever I was home sick from school I would watch the trilogy, and when I discovered there were books I started to devour them. Then the horrific prequels happened and I haven't been much into that particular universe since. Fortunately, I found a better one

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SHINYGOODGUY

Wednesday, July 1, 2009 7:12 AM

Ooohh boy, my first experience with sci-fi. Let's see. My mom used to give my older sister and I $5 bucks to go to the matinee in the summertime (to get out of her hair and to keep cool) and we'd be gone for hours (usually 12:00 to 3:00 or 4:00 p.m.).

As far as I can remember it was Flash Gordon and Commander Cody movie serials. That's what first got me hooked on sci-fi. I liked the adventure and action. 2001: Space Odyssey sealed the deal, as did Star Trek, Star Wars, Aliens. I read Clarke's 2001 after seeing the movie. BTW, I was more into film than books (still that way i guess).

FYI: Here are Clarke's list of All-Time Fav Sci-fi films. He gave a Top 12 list. He wrote, "Here's the rough-cut of my best: I may change my mind on some, but not many..."
He went on to say, "No way can I make it ten... I'm still brooding over Jedi, Khan, E.T. Actually it would make more sense to have two lists: Most important, and Best."

1. Metropolis (1927)
2. Things to Come (1936)
3. Frankenstein (1931)
4. King Kong (original version) (1933)
5. Forbidden Planet (1956)
6. The Thing from Another World (original version) (1951)
7. The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
8. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
9. Star Wars (1977)
10. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1980)
11. Alien (1979)
12. Blade Runner (1982)

Which category would FF/Serenity fall under? Most important or Best!
--------------------------------------------

SGG

Tawabawho?

TUJIAOZUO

Wednesday, July 1, 2009 7:34 AM

I really can't say when because it happened between these two periods of my life....

Before I turned 3 my dad was taking me to comic book stores. Also around this time I saw the first Batman movie (Michael Keaton).

Before I turned five my dad taught me the vulcan salute and I had seen the Star Wars trilogy as well as all of the Star Trek movies.

He started his baby girl young.

Your Indian Pirate Lord,
Ash

JONGSSTRAW

Wednesday, July 1, 2009 11:24 AM

My first exposure to sci-fi was when I was seven years old and saw The Time Machine (1960) in the movie theater. I remember being there for a Saturday matinee with my friend and we were both awed and scared to death during the movie. Not even realizing what sci-fi was, I just knew there was something about the movie that was different, something magical. Sci-fi became permanently etched in my brain however, after watching Forbidden Planet on Channel 9's (NY) Million Dollar Movie for a week straight. They used to show the same movie every day for a week in those days, and Forbidden Planet had everything you could hope for as a kid who fell in love with spaceships, and monsters, and pretty girls, and ray guns, and robots. Ah, those were the days!

KWICKO

Wednesday, July 1, 2009 12:02 PM

For me, it was kind of a "perfect storm" of events in my childhood that conspired to make me a sci-fi nut.

Star Trek, the original series, aired on TV.
2001: A Space Odyssey showed at the theatre.
The Apollo missions and the Moon landing.
I stumbled across Heinlein in the junior high library as a 7th-grader.

It was Heinlein's "Have Space Suit, Will Travel" and "Orphans of the Sky" that got me hooked. Then I came across Andre Norton's "Star Rangers", and the hook was set.

I've still got copies of those three books, by the way. I picked them up when a local school held a thrift sale. Shame they decided to kick them out of the library; who knows how many others they might have influenced?

Mike

Build a man a fire and he'll be warm for a day...
Set a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.

ECGORDON

Wednesday, July 1, 2009 1:43 PM

I suppose my first exposure (even though they are as much fantasy as SF) was the original Twilight Zone and Outer Limits, which I watched as a kid. TZ premiered about a week after my ninth birthday (yeah, I'm old). I read a lot back then too, although the only things remotely SF were Tom Swift, Danny Dunn, and things of that nature.

I tuned in to the original Lost in Space hoping for a thrilling space adventure, but was disappointed when it devolved into insipid juvenile crap. But the year after that came Star Trek, and I was in heaven.

However, I did not get into SF books until after that, when my best friend knew I was interested and he loaned me Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land. I know that is not the best place to start reading the Grand Master, or SF in general, but my friend deduced it was the right one for me at the time. I think Glory Road was the next one of his I found, then The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Starship Troopers, The Door Into Summer, and then I found the juveniles. Later I discovered Asimov and Clarke, Van Vogt and Simak, Pohl and Del Rey, Niven and Benford, and on and on. There was no turning back, and now I rarely read anything else but SF (and the occasional fantasy).

Almost all of my internet browsing is also related to SF books, movies and tv, and I was obsessed enough to create my own website to write about the stuff I love.

http://templetongate.net - I think that index page might look familiar.

Heinlein is the writer I have devoted the most space to on that site, and anyone interested should check out this page - http://templetongate.net/rahmain.htm

Bonus points for anyone who can identify the source of the name of my website.

wo men ren ran zai fei xing.

NEWOLDBROWNCOAT

Wednesday, July 1, 2009 1:54 PM

I remember ,from the year I was about 10, some bad sci-fi juveniles, the Danny Dunn series ( Danny Dunn and the Time Machine, Danny Dunn and the Rocket to the Moon, etc...); some British/ Australian SF by a guy named Wollheim, WaldHeim, Wollman, something like that; and Isaac Asimov's Lucky Star books. Heinlein's juveniles came later, and as soon as I graduated to the "grown-up" library upstairs, Heinlein's Glory Road.

I also remember Commando Cody and the Rocket Man serials at Saturday matinees at the movie theater.

SPACEANJL

Wednesday, July 1, 2009 1:56 PM

My first Heinlein was 'Citizen of the Galaxy' I think I was 8 or so. But my dad had a load of Asimov and Wyndham. And I love the debatably sci-fi/fantasy/horror crossover stuff - Lovecraft, C L Moore.

Media-wise - Doctor Who. (Tom Baker is 'my' Doctor.) And the original 'Star Trek'.

I diverted off into crime/thrillers for some years, but have returned to the fold with Neal Asher.

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