Thread by @melisscaru

Thinking more about this article and the idea of fantasy gateway books in general...Thread!

One of the article's suggestions is basically (paraphrasing) to try to match your recs to the potential reader rather than throwing your fave classic at them, which I heartily agree with.

https://twitter.com/TheFantasyInn/status/1234457378055213056

I know I'm someone who loved fantasy from the very start and deliberately sought it out, despite having no friends or family who were really into it.

So my entry path is VERY DIFFERENT than someone for whom "it's fantasy!" is not a recommendation in and of itself. 😂

I also wonder if there's something of a generational divide. My experience in general has been that people below a certain age have grown up with fantasy in the mainstream. Fantasy video games, Harry Potter, anime, Marvel movies, Rick Riordan, Twilight, etc—all mainstream now.

The MG & YA sections of my bookstore are like literally half fantasy. I had to go seek this stuff out, but kids now are growing up immersed in it. They may not HAVE an "entry point," or it may be the same as their entry point into reading.

So we have old guard who grew up on Tolkein & Narnia and have nostalgia tied up in the old tomes. We have a younger crowd growing up immersed in fantasy up to their eyeballs. And we have people who aren't either but see all this fantasy around them & might like to dip a toe in.

Those last people are a pretty big group, and the ones you're most likely to actually NEED to rec an entry point fantasy book for! BUT chances are good you belong to one of the other 2 groups, and the books that hooked you in probably won't be good fits, almost by definition.

The classics the nerds of my generation grew up loving are, and I say this with deep and abiding love, often semi-impenetrable bricks that have...not always aged well. 😬 They're wonderful, but as the data in the article shows, also easy to bounce off of.

If you grew up in a post-Harry-Potter world, your entry point books were probably kids' books, which won't work as adult SFF entry point recs for most adult readers. But thinking of the first adult SFF you read may not help, either.

When I was a young teen, I'd go hang out in the SFF section of the bookstore and just soak it all in. Read the backs, stare at the covers. I'd hang out for like half an hour and eventually carefully choose a book.

Inevitably, some 30 year old dude would see me hanging out there and give me a heartfelt recommendation for Piers Anthony.

I...uh...Let's just say that Piers Anthony is not a good entry point into SFF for a 15 year old girl, and it's a good thing I already loved fantasy. 😬🤢

I think we can all do better than that, and not be That Guy.

Books that are my faves as a dedicated fantasy fan already immersed in the tropes and conventions may not be the best for a new fantasy fan. Fat tomes may not be the best for a more casual reader. Etc.

As the article suggests, there are a lot of newer books that are GREAT bridge books, and newer books (past 10 years) are probably your best bet for pulling in a new reader, because they won't feel weirdly dated and your opinion of them isn't tangled up in your own nostalgia.

Some of my own recs for new(er)-to-fantasy readers:

Like romance? EMPIRE OF SAND
Literary fic? THE TEN THOUSAND DOORS OF JANUARY
Gaming (video or tabletop)? KINGS OF THE WYLD
Heists? SIX OF CROWS
Creepiness & action? A DARKER SHADE OF MAGIC
Martial arts & family drama? JADE CITY

Some of my favorite recent reads are not necessarily ones I'd rec to new fantasy readers, though. Like, I LOVE The Invisible Library series so much, but I think you get more out of it if you're already a SFF fan. Other amazing books are too dark for the shallow end of the pool.

I'd also tend to veer away from super complex worldbuilding for recs to new fantasy readers. Like, if you need a spreadsheet to understand the magic system, that appeals A LOT to a specific type of reader, but maybe not everyone. 😂 Good characters and story are universal!