The Mists of Dawn

[Zombie]

This book has stuck in my mind ever since reading it, aged about 12, at school during lunchtimes. I'd sit in a secluded corner of the school library, munching my sandwiches out of sight of the "No Food Allowed" notice, while my mind was transported back to neolithic times and the adventures of the time-traveling adolescent boy from 1950s America.

 

I know it wasn't great literature but it made a big impression on me. The fact that, aged 12, I was experiencing certain feelings towards other boys, reading about this boy making friends with a big, muscley and protective Cro-Magnon may have had something to do with this ...

 

Sadly the book is now out of print and copies I have seen for sale are very expensive. Maybe I shouldn't re-read it, but just remember the lunchtime pleasure I had in that school library (not that sort of pleasure Y_B! )

 

So what books do you remember that had a big impression on you?

Edited May 2, 2012 by Zombie

[Andy78]

Probably the biggest from when I was child would have been The Heartstone Odyssey. It had only just been published when we read it in school (late 1980s) and was a really moving story.

[Bill W]

I'm a little older than most of you, but for me it was 'The Lord of the Flies." That's what taught me that we're all capable of turning into savages and helped me deal others who were torturing their own 'Piggy.' Bullying isn't a new phenomena and when you didn't have a girlfriend or show that kind of interest, you quickly became a target, but that book helped me to ralize that I wasn't alone or the only one the creeps were focusing on.

[Daddydavek]

So what books do you remember that had a big impression on you?

 

Too many but if I had to pick a series of books it would be the Hornblower series by C.S. Forester

[Palantir]

The image of H Rider Haggard's Ayesha (She Who Must Be Obeyed) commanding a terrible storm to aid her in battle lives in my mind from over fifty years ago.

 

Thorne Smith's 'The Twilight Of The Gods' and other of his titles read in my mid teens, cemented in place a healthy disrespect for conformity.

 

Jules Verne's 'Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea', read when I was seven or eight years old, was the start of a lifelong love of SciFi.

 

The greatest impression I've had from any book occurred when I opened the pages of 'Lord Of The Rings'.

[Myr]

The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart. The story of Merlin as a boy. I read it a couple times a year when I was 12ish.

[Mikelaing74]

I've read so many books over the years it's hard to pick one that made a big impression on me.

 

The I Inside by Alan Dean Foster awakened my love of SciFi

The White Dragon/All the weyrs of Pern by Anne McCaffrey just further deepened my love of fantasy and dragons in general

The Belgariad/Mallorean by David Eddings, I don't know where to start with them I tend to read them once a year.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens helped me understand that there is a possibility for change

[Celethiel]

The problem with me is that I pretty much remember every book I ever read, thusly can not say any particular book changed my life or placed a huge impression on me...

The First Real book I ever read was Snow Dog by Jim Kjelgaard

I also read the My teacher is an Alien Series and a series of books having something to do with Aliens having taken over the Earth, and us rebelling against them... It ended with us expelling them then breaking up angrily on old geopolitical thoughts. Germany verses England and so on...

However there was the two best friends, One a German boy and one English boy... No i don't remember the name... It may of instilled my displeasure with governmental and partisan views. >_> The Aliens were still a threat and everyone was arguing over old outdated politics...litterally old and outdated politics in the books.

 

I also read the Ellenium by David Eddings, Mister Eddings is one of my favorite Authors... notice many times the Gods are active characters if not main characters in his stories... After him was Raymond E. Fiest, followed by Clive Cussler...Raise the Titanic was the first book of his i read... not surprisingly, in Eight Grade....All three i started Reading in 7th and 8th Grades...

 

Speaking of the White Dragon and Anne McCaffery I read some of her books as well, specifically about the Bards, and the Rohan Series.... I read a small story that was in my English Book about a Dragon hatching... never could find it afterwards.... it was like the Smallest Dragon rider or something like that...

 

I have also read the Crystal Cave as well Myr... I might even still have the book around here somewhere... >_> *goes looking*

Btw Zombie, what was this book called...?

[sat8997]

The Nancy Drew mystery series. I had almost the entire set. These books started my love of the mystery genre; it’s still the first type of book I’ll pick up when I want to read. I passed the set on to one of my nieces when I was in my early 20s. She eventually passed them on to one of her younger cousins, who, in turn, passed them on to my own daughter. They once again live on my bookshelf. Books are magical creatures.

[Zombie]

Btw Zombie, what was this book called...?

 

Err. Hmmmm *scratches head* What was it called? Tricky one *plays with pencil for a bit*. I need to think about that.

*has sudden flash of inspiration and looks at thread title for clue* That's it! "Mists of Dawn". By Chad Oliver. It's a great children's sci-fi novel. I recommend it. If you can find a copy !

Edited May 4, 2012 by Zombie

[Anya]

Twilight? LOLOL

 

[Celethiel]

Err. Hmmmm *scratches head* What was it called? Tricky one *plays with pencil for a bit*. I need to think about that.

*has sudden flash of inspiration and looks at thread title for clue* That's it! "Mists of Dawn". By Chad Oliver. It's a great children's sci-fi novel. I recommend it. If you can find a copy !

 

well i forgot....

[W_L]

Hmmm...The first book that made an impression, the illustrated history of tanks. Yes, it really was the first book that I read as a 8 year old kid sneaking into the young adult section, I can still remember the vivid picture of guns protruding from the turret. It was also the first time I heard about the King Tiger German Tank, which is still the coolest tank ever made. It was that book that made me interested in history.

 

As for the first non-picture book, it has to be the Science of Star Trek. I didn't know what all the math meant and still do not completely understand it either..It was the first book that made got me into science that fascinated me.

 

As for novels, It was the survival story the Hatchet by Gary Paulson, I love the vivid detail of wilderness survival and the strength of Brian in the story. I bought the entire series for my own reading and probably devoured every detail like a hunter cleaning out a deer. I also tend to agree with Brian's philosophy in my early tween (11-12), it's strange to think of myself in those days now. People and Civilization were more trouble than they were worth in my childhood mindset. It also didn't helped that my parents were going through their own separation at that point, so I found Brian's disassociation with his own internal family issues through the wild something to want.

 

(Personally, books are one thing, my experience camping is run of the mill: tents, fishing bait from cans, and marshmallows.)