Elfquest. I have spent the most cumulative hours pretending to be a wolfrider than any other fantasy of my childhood. I devoured the entire series at the tender young age of approximately 8. This series is probably buried more deeply in my psyche than any other literature. My first childhood crush was on Skywise and I created dozens of characters based on this series.
Dragon Prince. A multi-generational story about the different types power and the struggles of justice and fairness. I never realized how brutal the first book is and how deep the characters are made to be. Re-reading now, Melanie Rawn's world is still very vibrant and beautiful. It's nice when your childhood favorites turn out to still be good when you read them as an adult. I loved the proud and arrogant Andry as a child and was personally wounded when he was rejected by Alasen. Now I see him as a power-hungry jerk who abuses his status. Second in influence only to Elfquest.
I have a wolvie action figure that I still keep in my bedroom. This was my high-school crush. I loved his invincibility and I was attracted to his rage. When Hugh Jackman portrayed him, exactly as I had imagined many years later, I swooned.
Tom Robbins speaks to the poet and urban mystic in me. I started with Half-asleep in Frog Pajamas in high-school and finished with Jitterbug Perfume in college. I noticed the trend of dirty old men sleeping with much younger women, and that grossed me out. However, something philosophically clicks between my worldview and his. The answer could be contained on a pack of Camels.
The Weetzie Bat series broke my heart and mended it over and over and over. Discovered in a Hastings Sale bin for 25 cents. I still have the original copy I found in 1999. Achingly beautiful and hauntingly whimsical. I think my own writing has been heavily influenced by Francesca Lia Block.
Special mention to Mercedes Lackey before she teamed up with Larry Dixon, Charles DeLint, and Jean Auel's first 3-4 books in the Clan of the Cave Bear series.
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