One particular radio show that I listen to every week is the Radcliffe and Maconie show on BBC Radio 6 music. I’m a big fan of the station in general as it plays a great mix of new, more obscure, music, as well as classics from the 60s all the way through to the 90s. And it’s all commercial free (you can listen to it anywhere in the world through the BBC iPlayer app). One of the features they have on a Sunday is First, Last, Everything, where guests talk about the first record they ever bought, the last one they bought and a record that means something special to them. Well, I thought this would lend itself really well to books too!

 

So here is the first of what I hope to be an ongoing feature here on my blog. This is my First, Last, Everything, but I want to open it up to all, be you an author, blogger or reader. If you want to take part I’ll post your entry. Just drop me a line on Twitter or via email to dave@dpwoolliscroft.com and I’ll send you some simple instructions. 

There are a few different books I could consider as my fantasy firsts. The Hobbit or the Lord of the Rings of course. The Weirdstine of Brisingamen being my first foray into Arthurian legend and what would probably be now considered to be urban fantasy. Or with a bit of a stretch I could make it the Dragonlance books which were so much fun and really introduced me to D&D, and from there a love of world building and character creation. 

 

But instead I want to talk about the Belgariad. And it might be helpful to provide a little context of what was going on in my life. I was around eleven years old and my parents were going through a messy divorce. My sister, my mum and myself had moved in with the man who would become my stepdad (Keith) and his kids. I think the first copy of Lord of the Rings that I picked up was off his shelf and that got me intrigued to try more fantasy. And so it was that I found Pawn of Prophecy on a shelf of my school library. I saw it was the first in a series of five, about a young boy roughly my age and so I took it home, thinking I would be able to show it off to Keith. Turns out he had already read it but he gave it the thumbs up and I dived in. 

 

It’s a tired trope now; the farm boy with a destiny, bound to be king and savior, but for me it was new and fresh. Though I connected with Garion, it was the supporting cast that really made it sing. The caring aunt who you find out to be kick-ass on her own. The irascible grandfather who just happens to be a powerful wizard. The thief prince, stuffy knight and the barbarian who would become a bear. These characters grabbed me and it was probably this story that hooked me on the genre. I think I finished the series in just over a week, heading back to the school library every other day to get the next book, thankful that no one else had borrowed them.

 

There is a post script to this. Keith died about four years ago and when I was back home organizing the funeral and related admin, I found myself with a spare day. So I went into Nottingham and wandered around, lost in my rememberances of Keith. I found myself in the Waterstones there, in the fantasy section of course, and a new edition of Pawn of Prophecy was on a display table. It seemed the perfect way for how I should remember Keith, how he had started me off on this journey, so I picked up the book. It probably took me a little longer this time to read all five but it reminded me of reading it as a child and being able to talk to Keith about it. I found the memories to be comforting in a difficult time. 

The last book I finished was The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter.  A recent release, and one that made the change from self published to trad, it garnered a lot of buzz on Twitter. Also being African influenced and with a strong emphasis about class, it was always going to be appealing to me. I’m glad to say that I really enjoyed it. We have a protagonist who is initially extremely reluctant to go along with the system, to one who becomes fueled by vengeance against the ruling classes after being on the receiving end of extremely unfair justice, deciding to use the established system as his path to revenge. Much of the book is about his training and how he can become the best of the best even when he is not as physically strong as the nobles or similarly blessed with magic as them. In a way the book reminded me of Blood Song by Anthony Ryan, which is not a bad thing at all, as that was also great (and also started out self published too I think).

 

I’m interested to see where the series goes next after a truly massive climax. Recommended if you like world building that is a a little different than the norm, class struggles, training and a laser focused protagonist. 

This was a difficult choice. I thought about choosing the Harry Potter series here, mainly because it’s something that I enjoyed for the first time just a few years ago when reading it with my daughter. But that feels like potentially taking away her first time (yes, I’m hoping that one day she’ll take part in this, and yes, it may be some time). So the other major contender for me would be a Discworld novel. 

 

Those that know me would expect me to choose a City Watch novel as I love Vimes and the rest of the gang. But I’m actually going to choose Unseen Academicals and for a few reasons. It’s about football (or soccer), both playing but also being part of the crowd who lose their sense of self when they are with the other fans (the Shove), it’s about bad pies and it’s also about class and whether you can rise above the low expectations that others may have about you. 

 

You have Mr Nutt who everyone thinks is a goblin, but when they find out he is an orc they assume he is going to be a murderer, when the guy just wants to play football. And then you have Glenda, a kitchen worker at the Unseen University.  She is smart, and wants more to life but is held back by what others expect from her (and also her own expectations of herself). It’s these kinds of stories which is why I loved Sir Terry so much.  Insightful, challenging, satirical while still being funny and having a plot that works. That’s some kind of genius. I’m going to leave you with one of my most favorite passages of his—it may not be one of his funniest but it resonates with me.