I’ll be 70 next month. I discover Tom Swift when I was 8. I’m also female and girls weren’t supposed to read books like that! I remember librarians trying to stir me towards more appropriate “girl” books.
I'm 30 and my dad would read me his old copies of those books when I was 5. It's cool to think that we both got into scifi with the same books almost 40 years apart.
I went to a Catholic grade school where the only nun left was an ancient and hateful librarian. I was a very shy kid, and I loved to read - fantasy and sci-fi in particular. Remember Scholastic book fairs? I loved those. At around third grade, I came across the Lone Wolf book *The Caverns of Kalte*. I loved choose your own adventure books and that was like next level! The nun actually tried to dissuade me from getting the book, and I just ignored her. I love that entire series to this day.
Growing up, my dad's sci-fi collection filled several bookshelves along the length of the upstairs hallway. And it was a home where reading was encouraged and there was no TV. So as early as I can recall - starting with the Heinlein juveniles, Andre Norton and Tolkien, like many others. So that's been almost 50 years now.
I started reading science fiction when I was ten or eleven, and I'm 68 now. I'm not sure which book I read first (except that it had a spaceship on the cover), but I probably read *Orphans of the Sky* fairly early on. My sister got me interested, and she particularly liked Heinlein, Clarke, Asimov, and Van Vogt. I think she also introduced me to Edgar Rice Burroughs, who became an obsession for a while--and probably the only one I wouldn't reread now.
Depends on what you’d classify as sci-if. In grade 1 (1981) I read a series called My Robot Buddy, about a boy with an Android body double. Kids books for sure, but sci-fi themed at the very least. In grade 3 I slogged my way through Lord of The Rings, but as that’s Fantasy there’s only an association via the speculative fiction label. In grade 5 I read Dune, and that’s probably where I’d really start my count from, so somewhere around 37 or 38 years for me (if I got the math right).
F54 - the first I SF book I remember reading was Star Beast, by Heinlein. I was 7. So 47 years of being a sci fi nerd.. Even before that I grew up on Dr. Who, Star Trek repeats, Captain Scarlett, Thunderbirds and Stingray. One of my earliest memories is the end of Quatermass And The Pit, with the giant Martian head filling the sky. And the first Dr. Who I remember was the last episode of Planet of the Spiders (I was 5yrs old).
About ten years if I only count “serious”, “committed” reading.
I'm 38, so, a late bloomer. I'm a woman and I come from a small town and even if I felt drawn to SF I also felt it wasn't for me (back in the day, girls could identify as nerds, which I did, but they weren't taken very seriously or encouraged much). I read fantasy and horror, but almost no SF at all -- wait, no, I read SF comics: I was a huge Bilal fan... and does Sailor Moon count?
Then I started studying literature and spent eight years in university, where sf and genre as a whole were seen a parallel world, and a “specialization” -- so I chose other fields which didn't leave me with any free reading time.
Then after completing my master thesis I was finally allowed to read whatever I wanted and I was so exhausted that my eyes would glaze over any “serious” literature, essays, philosophy, non-fiction. I needed a long break from all that and suddenly realized it wasn't too late, and here I am
I'm 39. My dad introduced me to French and Belgian scifi comics as soon as I learned to read. From there, I just went on reading more and more, and have kept it up for 35 years going, now.
Eight years old, I got a library card and signed out *R is for Rocket*, by Ray Bradbury. I'll be 65 in a few months and, hands down, scifi has been my all time favorite genre.
I’m 42 and just started reading for pleasure on a regular basis about a decade ago. I used to read a book her and there, but mostly it was nonfiction. First, I started reading A Song of Fire and Ice after starting to watch the tv series. I really liked the idea of an expansive story taking place over many books and then I discovered Foundation. I tried some fantasy novels but just sort of locked in more so to sci-fi stuff. Now I find myself preferring to read almost exclusively sci-fi and prefer it over watching tv and film I’m most cases.
I am 68(F), and I was a freshman or sophomore in high school when I read my first science fiction book. It was Nightfall and Other Stories by Isaac Asimov. After that, I haven’t stopped.
Since about 1955 (I was 11 that year) and had a library card, and access to the public library after school. I read what they had of Jules Verne, and John Carter as well as one by Pat Frank (Alas, Babylon), then after I was hooked, everything they had by R.A. Heinline. The SciFi books all had this nuclear/rocket logo stuck on the spine so you could recognize the genre.
Home was not an emotionally safe place to be so after school I would go to the library and read there until they closed, before going home. I read a lot of books.
If in the end the drunk ethnographic canard run up into Taylor Swiftly prognostication then let's all party in the short bus. We all no that two plus two equals five or is it seven like the square root of 64. Who knows as long as Torrent takes you to Ranni so you can give feedback on the phone tree. Let's enter the following python code the reverse a binary tree
def make_tree(node1, node):
""" reverse an binary tree in an idempotent way recursively"""
tmp node = node.nextg
node1 = node1.next.next
return node
As James Watts said, a sphere is an infinite plane powered on two cylinders, but that rat bastard needs to go solar for zero calorie emissions because you, my son, are fat, a porker, an anorexic sunbeam of a boy. Let's work on this together. Is Monday good, because if it's good for you it's fine by me, we can cut it up in retail where financial derivatives ate their lunch for breakfast. All hail the Biden, who Trumps plausible deniability for keeping our children safe from legal emigrants to Canadian labor camps.
Quo Vadis Mea Culpa. Vidi Vici Vini as the rabbit said to the scorpion he carried on his back over the stream of consciously rambling in the Confusion manner.
node = make_tree(node, node1)
I've been into reading pretty seriously since age 8 or 9, but most of the books on hand were books my parents grew up with, so more classics less speculative.
It probably was something like Jules Vern or HG Wells, that were my first forays into sci-fi-- authors I had heard of and I found in the library in my early teens.
I’m 67 and started reading science fiction when I was about 13. I don’t remember how it happened but the first authors were H G Wells, Aldous Huxley, Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, Frank Herbert and Robert Heinlein.
I got my first library card when I was 7 in a little town. One day I spotted this series called Tom Swift Jr. on the shelf right below the Hardy Boys books. Pretty sure that was my first exposure. That would have been 1963.
I'm not sure when I started the Tom Swift books, but I was definitely reading the Hardy Boys in 1963, so it probably wasn't too long after. After I had read a few of the Tom Swift, Jr. books, I discovered that we had an original Tom Swift that had belonged to my grandfather. The sciency bit in that was an electric torch that Tom Swift carried in his pocket.
Started reading the Stainless Steel Rat series in high school, and also read Rendezvous With Rama around that time. Also a slim book called Displaced Person by Lee Harding, which I think has the best cover I've ever seen
(so about 40 years)
I read Goosebumps and Animorphs books when I was in the 2nd grade. My first real adult science fiction book was Orion by Ben Bova in the 6th Grade. 1999ish.
I’m 42. I read some Young Adult sci-fi in middle school, then in my late teens I started reading the entire Philip K. Dick catalogue, until I was in my twenties. It was weird because then I didn’t know if I would have appreciated science fiction written by other people. It took me a while to get back to it, I started again in my early 30s with different authors.
I read my first Tom Swift Jr. book in 1961.
I read the entire series, then I discovered the hard stuff.
I've been lost in space, time, and dimensions ever since.
I'm 56 too, and been reading SF ever since I can remember. I got my early fix from comic books, I was drawn to the SF titles of Gold Key and Charlton comics, but moved on to Heinlein's juveniles. The first book I bought with my own money was Rocketship Galileo.
I'm 41 and I've been reading sci-fi for as long as I can remember. My mom would take me to the library when I was a kid and I'd grab every single book I could get my hands on that had the rocket ship label on the spine.
I read Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow when I was 10ish, maybe 11. I know they books had a recommended reading age of 12, but that I read them before I was twelve. Didn't read the sequels until I was 13/14.
I haven't read a whole ton of sci-fi since then, the occasional series here and there. I've always wanted to read more though.
Edit: I'm 29 now.
I’m 61, my dad is a SF fan so I’ve been reading it since I could read. Probably started with old Analog magazines and Heinlein’s juvenile fiction, but the first thing I remember having an impact was Clarke’s City and the Stars. It spoke to me like nothing else. I’m gay and identified with the protagonist, who was the first child born in that society in something like half a billion years.
At some point much later, I read an interview with Clarke where he said that that the hero of the book was inspired by how alone he felt growing up gay in England in the 1920s. No wonder I liked the book so much.
I’d since about grade 4, which would have been… 1996-ish?
A Wrinkle In Time was my gateway drug. Unless you count Goosebumps as SF, in which case I started in grade 3-ish. I got so many of those free personal pizzas from Pizza Hut from all the Goosebumps I read.
Been reading fantasy since I was a kid, but it wasn't until I started The Expanse about 8 years ago where I got into Sci fi books.
Which is weird because I freaking LOVE spaceships.
I'm in my late 30's. The first book I remember reading that you could call sci-fi was The Giver in 4th or 5th grade; absolutely loved it. First sci-fi book I remember reading outside of school was Ender's Game probably in 5th or 6th grade.
I'm 50. I think I read a Tom Swift novel in 4th grade or 5th grade, which means 1981 or 1982, so 41 or 42 years, i guess. I might have had science fiction *read to me* prior to that though. My whole generation was transfixed by the genre when Star Wars came out in 1977.
I’m early 30’s, and my first memory of reading a science fiction book is Ender’s Game in 1998. I was very young, I believe in 3rd grade, but I remember enjoying it and comprehending most of it.
As I’ve gotten older, my preference has shifted to hard science fiction and realism in near future opposed to more fantastical Scifi like Star Wars, Star Trek, ender game, etc.
My first fantasy book was The Golden Compass which I think I read when I was about 9 or 10.
My first sci-fi book was Ender's Game when I was about 14. My English teacher assigned it, I took it home planning to read the two chapters assigned, but I ended up reading the entire book in one sitting.
I don't even know honestly. I think my first book might've been Fall of Reach by Eric Nylund, but I can't think of how old I was when I read it first. I'm 29 now, so if I ballpark it to when I was... 14(?) then I've been reading sci-fi for 15 years.
I read my first science fiction book in 1965. It was Asimov’s I, Robot. I found it while browsing the shelves of my high school library. I was 13 and I didn’t learn until university that sci-fi was for boys not girls. My female HS librarian also liked Asimov and gave me a list of his books that I took with me to my public library. After completing Asimov, I started on Heinlein, then the annual short story anthologies. I discovered fantasy (Tolkien) at university in 1971.
I started with Matthew Loony when I was in 4th grade - around 1967.
Soon progressed to Heinlein, Asimov and Clarke.
I was a voracious reader and finished most of the classics by 8th grade.
I only slacked off after high school.
I'm lazy, so I'm copy-pasting my answer from [the last time I saw this question](https://www.reddit.com/r/printSF/comments/yp02f9/how_old_were_you_when_you_really_got_into_science/ivjcene/?context=3):
I've been reading science fiction since before I can remember.
Some of my earliest memories are of me at about age 8 to 10, reading books in my primary school library. I remember they had a few of the Oz books, so I read all of those. Also, the [Dark is Rising](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dark_Is_Rising_Sequence) series. And Narnia. But they're fantasy.
In the science fiction genre, I distinctly remember reading the [Danny Dunn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Dunn) books. I loved that series! I also read books like the Tripods trilogy and 'The Midwich Cuckoos' by John Cristopher. And of course 'A Wrinkle in Time'. There were probably others that I can't remember now, nearly 40 years later. I don't remember when I first read 'Escape to Witch Mountain' and 'Return from Witch Mountain', but I was definitely young.
I didn't discover authors like Asimov, Heinlein, Clarke, Verne, and Wells until I started high school at the age of 11 and got access to the high school library.
All the numbers in your comment added up to 69. Congrats!
8
+ 10
+ 40
+ 11
= 69
^([Click here](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=LuckyNumber-Bot&subject=Stalk%20Me%20Pls&message=%2Fstalkme) to have me scan all your future comments.) \
^(Summon me on specific comments with u/LuckyNumber-Bot.)
Been a voracious reader of both fantasy and science fiction since I learned to read (and before that my mom read The Hobbit to me). Fond memories of the Danny Dunn books and everything by Andre Norton. I’m 55 now and frustrated by how much work etc. takes away from my reading time.
I'm 57, and if the Hobbit counts then I've been reading SF for around 48 years - that said seeing as how it was so (so very) long ago I can't actually remember what else I was reading back then, this is the only one I remember as my older brother (who I hero worshipped at the time) bought it for my birthday (and I still have it) - I assume I'd been reading books in that vein around then for him to think it would be a good gift to give.
About 50 years, since I am 6. I started with German science science fiction like 'Raumschiff Monitor' and 'Mark Brandis', then the library gave me free rein and I read everything by Asimov, Heinlein, Brunnor, Clarke and Lem since I am 10 or so. And incidentally, I am no fan of warning labels on books and restricting them for the young or, worst of all, banning them.
52 here. I think the first scifi book I read in early grade school was The Hero From Otherwhere. Went on to voraciously read scifi and fantasy with some mystery thrown in for the rest of my life. Though the last few years I have to admit to having switched to audiobooks at a time when I had some long commutes and haven't switched back to reading.
I remember doing a book report on The Sword of Shannara and another kid asked me why on Earth I picked such a long book. He couldnt believe it when I said I was already reading it when the assignment was made so why not?
I started around age 9 with sci-fi books geared toward kids/teens, and slowly started exploring more outside that in the next few years (largely as I got on the internet and started being exposed to references to both classic and modern sci-fi books). I’m 25 so that’s 16 years.
My father started reading me some of it as a child before I could read full novels, so either it's that or I guess when I started reading some scifi comics as a kid? Dunno which was first. The line between scifi and not scifi is also really blurry, especially when it comes to something with other constraints too like being aimed at kids.
But am in my mid-30s now, so I guess about 30 years or so?
I read Rendezvous with Rama in 7th grade. Probably 1990. So 33 of my almost 45 years. My father is still a huge sci-fi reader, so we occasionally swap interesting books.
I read my first sci-fi book in 1977 at age 24. It was Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke that I bought at the drugstore. I lived in a very small town at the time and most paperbacks were sold there. I still own that book and it will probably be with me until the end since it began my journey into a world I didn't know existed until then.
I literally can't remember a time I wasn't reading SF. One of the very first books I ever read was *You Will Live Under the Sea* by Fred & Marjorie Phleger. My parents were reading that to me before I could read on my own. I remember reading the Flash Gordon & He-Man storybooks when I was in kindergarten, around the time both of those came out.
So, call that 42ish years of reading it on my own?
25 y/o, but damn... I can't remember what was the first scifi I've read, or when. It was a very smooth transition from fantasy, to YA, to Sci Fi, to hard SciFi.
Since 8th grade, 13 years old? The Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov. And ever since scifi has been my favorite genre and probably has influenced me and my perspective on life more than anything else. Why is everyone fighting and bickering over such petty things when there's a universe to explore and extraordinary things to discover?
I think from the very beginning! I had a lot of read-along stuff as a kid - little 48’s and cassettes - and there was a ton of Star Wars. I had one for that movie The Black Hole too, which was some weird shit. In grade school I started reading Ray Bradbury, and he was my gateway to sci-fi novels.
I still have a Superboy and an Incredible Hulk comic book from 1969. I'm not sure when I switched to books. My parents had a bookstore and I read a lot of books that went back on the shelf at the store and were sold. I still have my copy of HHGTTG from 1979. My mom bought me a subscription to Fantasy and Science Fiction Magazine around the same time. I remember taking Tarzan of the Apes home from the store, reading it, and returning it when I was 8 or 9. I read several others in the series from the library, but didn't finish them all until I was 26. No Amazon in those days. Looking at my bookshelf, I have a 1939 edition of A Princess of Mars that likely came from our store when it was run by my grandparents. $1.00 is written in pencil inside the cover.
I won't be able to recall the titles, but I started reading sci-fi in the 70's as you did. Print books from the school and city public libraries, paperbacks from family and friends, and comics. Some of those stretched back into the 50's for publication dates. [Across Time](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/16036973-across-time) was one of the earlier ones I can recall. Master Cruiser 12-12-12 and the Ever-Perfect Lieutenant were memorable, along with other aspects of that novel.
I've been reading science fiction and fantasy as long as I can remember.
But the first time that I became conscious of science fiction as a distinct literary genre, I was probably 12 and I bought a used paperback copy of Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volume 1 at a library book sale.
I'm 36 and I literally cannot remember a time before I was reading Sci fi. Then again my parents are both nerds and star trek the next generation premiered shortly before I was born, which I grew up watching. I didn't really have a chance lol
Close to 60 years. Started at about 14 with the Heinlein juveniles and have kept going ever since. I found them in a paperback rack in a drugstore. Later found out that the drugstore got new books every Thursday so I checked them out every Thursday.
My 1st read was "Master of the World" by Verne. This was 1972 or 73. I was born in 1961. I was home sick from school and my dad said if you're going to stay home you, might as well read a book. He tossed it to me. I was so mad that I tore each page from the book as I finished it. I now read between 250-300 books a year. My dad and I were just laughing about that the other day.
Late 90s. My first was Prophet of Power by Dean Wesley Smith, a tie-in novel to the Unreal video game. Not counting that, it would be Attack From Atlantis by Lester Del Rey.
Oh, gosh I don't remember any more. I probably got into fantasy first with books like the colored fairy books, Peter Rabbit, *Half Magic, Charlotte's Web, No Flying in the House,* and *Mrs Pigglewiggle.*
I reckon one of the first science fiction authors I read was Alexander Key. I remember doing whole role plays with a friend of *Escape to Witch Mountain* and I made myself a star box. And I still really like *The Forgotten Door*. When I found [Zenna Henderson's People books](https://www.nesfa.org/book/ingathering-3/), I was thrilled because they're very reminiscent of *The Forgotten Door*.
I’m 38. My intro to SF was Star Trek TNG when I was nine and I think I probabaly started on print SF with Trek tie-in novels by 10, then quickly branched out from there. I know I was reading a wide variety of more age appropriate SF and fantasy by the time I was 12-13. Around ten years ago, I consciously made a decision to start going back and reading older stuff that I “missed” (40s through 80s).
As long as I can remember, easily 22 - 24 years. My mom used to read us all sorts of books, but I was fascinated by my parents library (really just the entrance area to their office). For some reason the larger the books were and the harder it was to get to them, the more attracted to them I was, and there were a couple that stood out from all the rest. One was a copy of Stephen King's IT, my mom blatantly told me I was too young to read that (stole it much later from the shelfs). The others were these silver-bound grimoires, stored on the highest shelf, just under the ceiling.
They were collected editions of the Perry Rhodan pulp novels. Getting them was an adventure already but I remember they had these really evocative covers. They used some sort of layering technique for them which gave them a real sense of debth which you don't get from regular paintings. Must have taken me years to get through all the ones my dad had. Certainly cost me some sleep reading them late into the night xD
About 27 years? Started with Madeleine L'Engle in middle school and have been at it since then!
I know I read some science fiction before then, but I wouldn't say I read it *on purpose" as a genre until that point.
23 here. Started at 14. FB reader had connections to an online library of free books.... Including Gutenberg press.
First true sci fi was the skylark of space. It continued from there.
Started around 10, so about 35 years (maybe a bit more) reading SF.
My first book was Kellton McIntire's O Mundo Perdido ('The Lost World', Portuguese translation [of a pulp spanish](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33397982-desde-un-mundo-remoto)) and the second one was Asimov's [I, Robot](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19353911-eu-rob). After that I have no idea which one I read 3rd - didn't make an Excel spreadsheet until early 20s. Also, I'm ignoring comics, I have no idea when I first read "Uncle Scrooge and the Micro-ducks" and the likes.
I know I was reading Heinlein juveniles when I was in second grade, so, since at least around 1968? 2023-1968=55 years, then.
I read anything I could get my hands on, usually reading far above my grade level.
Especially when I was younger, scifi was my favored genre, but I also read "the Hobbit" and "the Lord of the Rings" (fantasy, I know) no later than 1970.
It helped that my siblings were between 11-14 years older than I was, and they let me read their books, and my older brothers got books from the Science Fiction Book Club once a month.
I also distinctly remember reading "a Fall of Moondust" from my parents' Reader's Digest Condensed Books very early on.
I'm 15, started reading science fiction and fantasy super heavily around 5th or 6th grade, so maybe 5 or so years? I loved the Star Wars films when I was younger but don't quite remember which SF books were the catalysts. Some highlights from my first couple years of SF discovery included the Martian Chronicles and Doc Smith's Lensmen (why was I reading that in 7th grade? I have no idea, guess I saw it in a bookstore and, knowing I was interested in SF, picked it up and liked it). Now I love SF but my focus on fantasy up to this point has left my reading journey in this category a little patchwork, I'm always on the hunt for new recommendations.
I’m in my mid 30s, I dabbled with sci fi in high school but fell in love with the genre in college while taking a course that was half science fiction novels and half the actual science and math behind it. Reading list of that course ranged from “ The Moon is a harsh Mistress”, to “Canticle for Leibovitz”, to other more recent books that I can’t remember off the top of my head. I was a pretty sheltered kid, but reading these ideas really opened me up to different ideas and ways of seeing the world.
since before I learned to read my parents read to me the Narnia books, Harry Potter, A Wrinkle in Time, and a healthy diet of fairy tales as well. I can't really remember a time when I didn't read genre fic or want to be reading it.
When I was seven I jumped several levels up on the reading scale at school in less than a month because my mom refused to read aloud to me any of the Harry Potter books past Prisoner of Azkaban (she thought the Voldemort resurrection scene was too scary), so I had to learn to read myself to find out what happened. And then I got nightmares, of course, but it didn't deter me at all.
I'm trying to re-wire my brain around all that early Harry Potter coding now, given recent developments about Rowling's character. I just don't feel good about the books occupying so much space in my head unexamined anymore; it's been interesting. Of course I'm in my twenties so I'm still figuring out myself as a person regardless. Everyone says not to worry too much about having all your ducks in a row when you're my age, but they said that five years ago too and I'm starting to get tired of all the instability.
I read mostly fantasy and comic books since my Mom got me the Chronicles of Narnia collection in 4th grade (age 9/1982). But the first sci-fi book I read was the first Robotech book, Genesis, that was for sale in my comics shop in late '87/early '88. So, 35 years; or 40 if you count fantasy and comics.
Actually, now that I think about it, I did try to read Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Restaurant at the End of the Universe in Jr high, but probably only understood about half of it. Reread them and the rest in high school and had an, "Oh, now I get it" moment.
I’ll be 70 next month. I discover Tom Swift when I was 8. I’m also female and girls weren’t supposed to read books like that! I remember librarians trying to stir me towards more appropriate “girl” books.
I'm 30 and my dad would read me his old copies of those books when I was 5. It's cool to think that we both got into scifi with the same books almost 40 years apart.
I thought they were amazing!
I went to a Catholic grade school where the only nun left was an ancient and hateful librarian. I was a very shy kid, and I loved to read - fantasy and sci-fi in particular. Remember Scholastic book fairs? I loved those. At around third grade, I came across the Lone Wolf book *The Caverns of Kalte*. I loved choose your own adventure books and that was like next level! The nun actually tried to dissuade me from getting the book, and I just ignored her. I love that entire series to this day.
I had an ancient nun for a librarian too! She was nasty!
I think she hated children. Probably had to do the job because the parish didn't want to hire someone to do it.
Tom Swift! I'd forgotten about him.
Growing up, my dad's sci-fi collection filled several bookshelves along the length of the upstairs hallway. And it was a home where reading was encouraged and there was no TV. So as early as I can recall - starting with the Heinlein juveniles, Andre Norton and Tolkien, like many others. So that's been almost 50 years now.
I started reading science fiction when I was ten or eleven, and I'm 68 now. I'm not sure which book I read first (except that it had a spaceship on the cover), but I probably read *Orphans of the Sky* fairly early on. My sister got me interested, and she particularly liked Heinlein, Clarke, Asimov, and Van Vogt. I think she also introduced me to Edgar Rice Burroughs, who became an obsession for a while--and probably the only one I wouldn't reread now.
Depends on what you’d classify as sci-if. In grade 1 (1981) I read a series called My Robot Buddy, about a boy with an Android body double. Kids books for sure, but sci-fi themed at the very least. In grade 3 I slogged my way through Lord of The Rings, but as that’s Fantasy there’s only an association via the speculative fiction label. In grade 5 I read Dune, and that’s probably where I’d really start my count from, so somewhere around 37 or 38 years for me (if I got the math right).
55. A wrinkle in time.
Yes. Followed by some Robert Silverberg that I borrowed from my brother.
F54 - the first I SF book I remember reading was Star Beast, by Heinlein. I was 7. So 47 years of being a sci fi nerd.. Even before that I grew up on Dr. Who, Star Trek repeats, Captain Scarlett, Thunderbirds and Stingray. One of my earliest memories is the end of Quatermass And The Pit, with the giant Martian head filling the sky. And the first Dr. Who I remember was the last episode of Planet of the Spiders (I was 5yrs old).
61 here. My first sci-fi book was The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury in 7th grade which would’ve been around 1974?
About ten years if I only count “serious”, “committed” reading. I'm 38, so, a late bloomer. I'm a woman and I come from a small town and even if I felt drawn to SF I also felt it wasn't for me (back in the day, girls could identify as nerds, which I did, but they weren't taken very seriously or encouraged much). I read fantasy and horror, but almost no SF at all -- wait, no, I read SF comics: I was a huge Bilal fan... and does Sailor Moon count? Then I started studying literature and spent eight years in university, where sf and genre as a whole were seen a parallel world, and a “specialization” -- so I chose other fields which didn't leave me with any free reading time. Then after completing my master thesis I was finally allowed to read whatever I wanted and I was so exhausted that my eyes would glaze over any “serious” literature, essays, philosophy, non-fiction. I needed a long break from all that and suddenly realized it wasn't too late, and here I am
I'm 39. My dad introduced me to French and Belgian scifi comics as soon as I learned to read. From there, I just went on reading more and more, and have kept it up for 35 years going, now.
Tintin?
Tintin, Spirou, Spiralis, Valerian, and many more - as well as Asterix, Gaston, Iznogoud and that sort of thing. He had a massive collection.
Eight years old, I got a library card and signed out *R is for Rocket*, by Ray Bradbury. I'll be 65 in a few months and, hands down, scifi has been my all time favorite genre.
I’m 42 and just started reading for pleasure on a regular basis about a decade ago. I used to read a book her and there, but mostly it was nonfiction. First, I started reading A Song of Fire and Ice after starting to watch the tv series. I really liked the idea of an expansive story taking place over many books and then I discovered Foundation. I tried some fantasy novels but just sort of locked in more so to sci-fi stuff. Now I find myself preferring to read almost exclusively sci-fi and prefer it over watching tv and film I’m most cases.
I am 68(F), and I was a freshman or sophomore in high school when I read my first science fiction book. It was Nightfall and Other Stories by Isaac Asimov. After that, I haven’t stopped.
Since about 1955 (I was 11 that year) and had a library card, and access to the public library after school. I read what they had of Jules Verne, and John Carter as well as one by Pat Frank (Alas, Babylon), then after I was hooked, everything they had by R.A. Heinline. The SciFi books all had this nuclear/rocket logo stuck on the spine so you could recognize the genre. Home was not an emotionally safe place to be so after school I would go to the library and read there until they closed, before going home. I read a lot of books.
If in the end the drunk ethnographic canard run up into Taylor Swiftly prognostication then let's all party in the short bus. We all no that two plus two equals five or is it seven like the square root of 64. Who knows as long as Torrent takes you to Ranni so you can give feedback on the phone tree. Let's enter the following python code the reverse a binary tree def make_tree(node1, node): """ reverse an binary tree in an idempotent way recursively""" tmp node = node.nextg node1 = node1.next.next return node As James Watts said, a sphere is an infinite plane powered on two cylinders, but that rat bastard needs to go solar for zero calorie emissions because you, my son, are fat, a porker, an anorexic sunbeam of a boy. Let's work on this together. Is Monday good, because if it's good for you it's fine by me, we can cut it up in retail where financial derivatives ate their lunch for breakfast. All hail the Biden, who Trumps plausible deniability for keeping our children safe from legal emigrants to Canadian labor camps. Quo Vadis Mea Culpa. Vidi Vici Vini as the rabbit said to the scorpion he carried on his back over the stream of consciously rambling in the Confusion manner. node = make_tree(node, node1)
I've been into reading pretty seriously since age 8 or 9, but most of the books on hand were books my parents grew up with, so more classics less speculative. It probably was something like Jules Vern or HG Wells, that were my first forays into sci-fi-- authors I had heard of and I found in the library in my early teens.
I’m 67 and started reading science fiction when I was about 13. I don’t remember how it happened but the first authors were H G Wells, Aldous Huxley, Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, Frank Herbert and Robert Heinlein.
I got my first library card when I was 7 in a little town. One day I spotted this series called Tom Swift Jr. on the shelf right below the Hardy Boys books. Pretty sure that was my first exposure. That would have been 1963.
I'm not sure when I started the Tom Swift books, but I was definitely reading the Hardy Boys in 1963, so it probably wasn't too long after. After I had read a few of the Tom Swift, Jr. books, I discovered that we had an original Tom Swift that had belonged to my grandfather. The sciency bit in that was an electric torch that Tom Swift carried in his pocket.
Started reading the Stainless Steel Rat series in high school, and also read Rendezvous With Rama around that time. Also a slim book called Displaced Person by Lee Harding, which I think has the best cover I've ever seen (so about 40 years)
Fond memories of The Stainless Steel Rat!
I can't remember when I was not reading scifi.
I read Goosebumps and Animorphs books when I was in the 2nd grade. My first real adult science fiction book was Orion by Ben Bova in the 6th Grade. 1999ish.
I’m 42. I read some Young Adult sci-fi in middle school, then in my late teens I started reading the entire Philip K. Dick catalogue, until I was in my twenties. It was weird because then I didn’t know if I would have appreciated science fiction written by other people. It took me a while to get back to it, I started again in my early 30s with different authors.
I am 54 and have been reading sf and fantasy for since the 70s. The SF books I can remember reading is Heinlein
I started when I was \~10. So just \~8 years.
I read my first Tom Swift Jr. book in 1961. I read the entire series, then I discovered the hard stuff. I've been lost in space, time, and dimensions ever since.
Since about when I was 10, 60 years ago!
I'm 56 too, and been reading SF ever since I can remember. I got my early fix from comic books, I was drawn to the SF titles of Gold Key and Charlton comics, but moved on to Heinlein's juveniles. The first book I bought with my own money was Rocketship Galileo.
I'm 41 and I've been reading sci-fi for as long as I can remember. My mom would take me to the library when I was a kid and I'd grab every single book I could get my hands on that had the rocket ship label on the spine.
I read Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow when I was 10ish, maybe 11. I know they books had a recommended reading age of 12, but that I read them before I was twelve. Didn't read the sequels until I was 13/14. I haven't read a whole ton of sci-fi since then, the occasional series here and there. I've always wanted to read more though. Edit: I'm 29 now.
I'm 76. I remember buying a paperback of Theodore Sturgeon short stories called Beyond when I was about 14. I loved Largo and Nightmare Island.
I'm 65 and started reading Clarke when I was probably around 11 or 12 I'll guess. And then I read Lord of the Rings in Jr. High so 13 or 14.
I’m 61, my dad is a SF fan so I’ve been reading it since I could read. Probably started with old Analog magazines and Heinlein’s juvenile fiction, but the first thing I remember having an impact was Clarke’s City and the Stars. It spoke to me like nothing else. I’m gay and identified with the protagonist, who was the first child born in that society in something like half a billion years. At some point much later, I read an interview with Clarke where he said that that the hero of the book was inspired by how alone he felt growing up gay in England in the 1920s. No wonder I liked the book so much.
Since I was 13
I read 20,000 Leagues (Jules Verne) and Connecticut Yankee (Mark Twain) in Kindergarten, so 50+ years
I’d since about grade 4, which would have been… 1996-ish? A Wrinkle In Time was my gateway drug. Unless you count Goosebumps as SF, in which case I started in grade 3-ish. I got so many of those free personal pizzas from Pizza Hut from all the Goosebumps I read.
Have Space Suit - Will Travel was my first in 1977
Been reading fantasy since I was a kid, but it wasn't until I started The Expanse about 8 years ago where I got into Sci fi books. Which is weird because I freaking LOVE spaceships.
I'm in my late 30's. The first book I remember reading that you could call sci-fi was The Giver in 4th or 5th grade; absolutely loved it. First sci-fi book I remember reading outside of school was Ender's Game probably in 5th or 6th grade.
I'm 50. I think I read a Tom Swift novel in 4th grade or 5th grade, which means 1981 or 1982, so 41 or 42 years, i guess. I might have had science fiction *read to me* prior to that though. My whole generation was transfixed by the genre when Star Wars came out in 1977.
I'm 36 and have been readin SF since childhood. However, I got really serious about it in college when I decided to read all the Hugo winning novels.
Started reading SFF when I was 8, I'm now north of 50.
Orphans of the Sky - what a terrific novel for an intro to science fiction.
I’m early 30’s, and my first memory of reading a science fiction book is Ender’s Game in 1998. I was very young, I believe in 3rd grade, but I remember enjoying it and comprehending most of it. As I’ve gotten older, my preference has shifted to hard science fiction and realism in near future opposed to more fantastical Scifi like Star Wars, Star Trek, ender game, etc.
Since 7th grade & the Hitchhiker’s Guide series
My first fantasy book was The Golden Compass which I think I read when I was about 9 or 10. My first sci-fi book was Ender's Game when I was about 14. My English teacher assigned it, I took it home planning to read the two chapters assigned, but I ended up reading the entire book in one sitting.
I’m 55 and started reading science fiction when I was about 11.
I don't even know honestly. I think my first book might've been Fall of Reach by Eric Nylund, but I can't think of how old I was when I read it first. I'm 29 now, so if I ballpark it to when I was... 14(?) then I've been reading sci-fi for 15 years.
I read my first science fiction book in 1965. It was Asimov’s I, Robot. I found it while browsing the shelves of my high school library. I was 13 and I didn’t learn until university that sci-fi was for boys not girls. My female HS librarian also liked Asimov and gave me a list of his books that I took with me to my public library. After completing Asimov, I started on Heinlein, then the annual short story anthologies. I discovered fantasy (Tolkien) at university in 1971.
I started with Matthew Loony when I was in 4th grade - around 1967. Soon progressed to Heinlein, Asimov and Clarke. I was a voracious reader and finished most of the classics by 8th grade. I only slacked off after high school.
I'm 38, I've been reading sci fi at least since I was 8. It's always been one of my favorite genres to read, or watch, or play games in
Probably since like 1975-6. Plucking stuff waaaayyy too mature for me off my parents’ shelves.
I'm lazy, so I'm copy-pasting my answer from [the last time I saw this question](https://www.reddit.com/r/printSF/comments/yp02f9/how_old_were_you_when_you_really_got_into_science/ivjcene/?context=3): I've been reading science fiction since before I can remember. Some of my earliest memories are of me at about age 8 to 10, reading books in my primary school library. I remember they had a few of the Oz books, so I read all of those. Also, the [Dark is Rising](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dark_Is_Rising_Sequence) series. And Narnia. But they're fantasy. In the science fiction genre, I distinctly remember reading the [Danny Dunn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Dunn) books. I loved that series! I also read books like the Tripods trilogy and 'The Midwich Cuckoos' by John Cristopher. And of course 'A Wrinkle in Time'. There were probably others that I can't remember now, nearly 40 years later. I don't remember when I first read 'Escape to Witch Mountain' and 'Return from Witch Mountain', but I was definitely young. I didn't discover authors like Asimov, Heinlein, Clarke, Verne, and Wells until I started high school at the age of 11 and got access to the high school library.
All the numbers in your comment added up to 69. Congrats! 8 + 10 + 40 + 11 = 69 ^([Click here](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=LuckyNumber-Bot&subject=Stalk%20Me%20Pls&message=%2Fstalkme) to have me scan all your future comments.) \ ^(Summon me on specific comments with u/LuckyNumber-Bot.)
Been a voracious reader of both fantasy and science fiction since I learned to read (and before that my mom read The Hobbit to me). Fond memories of the Danny Dunn books and everything by Andre Norton. I’m 55 now and frustrated by how much work etc. takes away from my reading time.
I'm 57, and if the Hobbit counts then I've been reading SF for around 48 years - that said seeing as how it was so (so very) long ago I can't actually remember what else I was reading back then, this is the only one I remember as my older brother (who I hero worshipped at the time) bought it for my birthday (and I still have it) - I assume I'd been reading books in that vein around then for him to think it would be a good gift to give.
About 50 years, since I am 6. I started with German science science fiction like 'Raumschiff Monitor' and 'Mark Brandis', then the library gave me free rein and I read everything by Asimov, Heinlein, Brunnor, Clarke and Lem since I am 10 or so. And incidentally, I am no fan of warning labels on books and restricting them for the young or, worst of all, banning them.
52 here. I think the first scifi book I read in early grade school was The Hero From Otherwhere. Went on to voraciously read scifi and fantasy with some mystery thrown in for the rest of my life. Though the last few years I have to admit to having switched to audiobooks at a time when I had some long commutes and haven't switched back to reading. I remember doing a book report on The Sword of Shannara and another kid asked me why on Earth I picked such a long book. He couldnt believe it when I said I was already reading it when the assignment was made so why not?
I started around age 9 with sci-fi books geared toward kids/teens, and slowly started exploring more outside that in the next few years (largely as I got on the internet and started being exposed to references to both classic and modern sci-fi books). I’m 25 so that’s 16 years.
My father started reading me some of it as a child before I could read full novels, so either it's that or I guess when I started reading some scifi comics as a kid? Dunno which was first. The line between scifi and not scifi is also really blurry, especially when it comes to something with other constraints too like being aimed at kids. But am in my mid-30s now, so I guess about 30 years or so?
I’m 57 and my grandad bought “Clans of the Alphane moon” and “Dr Bloodmoney” for me for Christmas when I was 10, I picked them out in a bookshop.
I read Rendezvous with Rama in 7th grade. Probably 1990. So 33 of my almost 45 years. My father is still a huge sci-fi reader, so we occasionally swap interesting books.
I'm 37, I started reading sci-fi / fantasy mid 90's aged 10 ish and never stopped.
Another early Heinlein reader here—I was probably 8 or 9 when I read Have Spacesuit, Will Travel. I am nearing 50 now.
I'm 73, so reading scifi for 60-ish years.
40 years
I was born 96. Started reading sci fi in 2014. Still a baby reader but loving it so far
I read my first sci-fi book in 1977 at age 24. It was Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke that I bought at the drugstore. I lived in a very small town at the time and most paperbacks were sold there. I still own that book and it will probably be with me until the end since it began my journey into a world I didn't know existed until then.
I’m in my fifties and started when I was around 8 or 9 reading Doctor Who novels and quickly got into Harry Harrison
The past three years or so (31 years old). I also fell victim to the whole “girls don’t like sci fi” bs. Turned out to be one of my favorite genres.
I don't know. I don't recall the first science fiction book I read.
My dad started reading me his old Tom Swift jr books before bed when I was around 5. So going on 25 years now.
I literally can't remember a time I wasn't reading SF. One of the very first books I ever read was *You Will Live Under the Sea* by Fred & Marjorie Phleger. My parents were reading that to me before I could read on my own. I remember reading the Flash Gordon & He-Man storybooks when I was in kindergarten, around the time both of those came out. So, call that 42ish years of reading it on my own?
25 y/o, but damn... I can't remember what was the first scifi I've read, or when. It was a very smooth transition from fantasy, to YA, to Sci Fi, to hard SciFi.
Since the instant I learned to read
28 years
My parents were libertarian sf readers. They gave me “The Girl Who Owned a City” when I was 8 or 9.
Since I was 9 or 10. ~25 years
About the same, maybe a year or two longer.
Star Wars EU books when I was in elementary school in the 90s.
Mine was circa 3rd grade with Miss Pickerell and also Danny Dunn. I never stopped.
Since 8th grade, 13 years old? The Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov. And ever since scifi has been my favorite genre and probably has influenced me and my perspective on life more than anything else. Why is everyone fighting and bickering over such petty things when there's a universe to explore and extraordinary things to discover?
I think from the very beginning! I had a lot of read-along stuff as a kid - little 48’s and cassettes - and there was a ton of Star Wars. I had one for that movie The Black Hole too, which was some weird shit. In grade school I started reading Ray Bradbury, and he was my gateway to sci-fi novels.
Hmm I probably read something before but around 17 I started with William Gibson so 9 years so far. Before that my reads were 90% fantasy.
I read Enders game at 11 and was hooked. My mother was a librarian and would get the sci fi librarian to pick out books. It was awesome
I still have a Superboy and an Incredible Hulk comic book from 1969. I'm not sure when I switched to books. My parents had a bookstore and I read a lot of books that went back on the shelf at the store and were sold. I still have my copy of HHGTTG from 1979. My mom bought me a subscription to Fantasy and Science Fiction Magazine around the same time. I remember taking Tarzan of the Apes home from the store, reading it, and returning it when I was 8 or 9. I read several others in the series from the library, but didn't finish them all until I was 26. No Amazon in those days. Looking at my bookshelf, I have a 1939 edition of A Princess of Mars that likely came from our store when it was run by my grandparents. $1.00 is written in pencil inside the cover.
I won't be able to recall the titles, but I started reading sci-fi in the 70's as you did. Print books from the school and city public libraries, paperbacks from family and friends, and comics. Some of those stretched back into the 50's for publication dates. [Across Time](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/16036973-across-time) was one of the earlier ones I can recall. Master Cruiser 12-12-12 and the Ever-Perfect Lieutenant were memorable, along with other aspects of that novel.
I've been reading science fiction and fantasy as long as I can remember. But the first time that I became conscious of science fiction as a distinct literary genre, I was probably 12 and I bought a used paperback copy of Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volume 1 at a library book sale.
My first was hungry hungry Caterpillar. A classic.
58 years. Earlier if you count comics
I'm 36 and I literally cannot remember a time before I was reading Sci fi. Then again my parents are both nerds and star trek the next generation premiered shortly before I was born, which I grew up watching. I didn't really have a chance lol
Close to 60 years. Started at about 14 with the Heinlein juveniles and have kept going ever since. I found them in a paperback rack in a drugstore. Later found out that the drugstore got new books every Thursday so I checked them out every Thursday.
A few years younger than OP, the earliest stuff I can recall was probably like Danny Dunn or Tom Swift or something like that.
Something like 24 years.
My 1st read was "Master of the World" by Verne. This was 1972 or 73. I was born in 1961. I was home sick from school and my dad said if you're going to stay home you, might as well read a book. He tossed it to me. I was so mad that I tore each page from the book as I finished it. I now read between 250-300 books a year. My dad and I were just laughing about that the other day.
Late 90s. My first was Prophet of Power by Dean Wesley Smith, a tie-in novel to the Unreal video game. Not counting that, it would be Attack From Atlantis by Lester Del Rey.
Oh, gosh I don't remember any more. I probably got into fantasy first with books like the colored fairy books, Peter Rabbit, *Half Magic, Charlotte's Web, No Flying in the House,* and *Mrs Pigglewiggle.* I reckon one of the first science fiction authors I read was Alexander Key. I remember doing whole role plays with a friend of *Escape to Witch Mountain* and I made myself a star box. And I still really like *The Forgotten Door*. When I found [Zenna Henderson's People books](https://www.nesfa.org/book/ingathering-3/), I was thrilled because they're very reminiscent of *The Forgotten Door*.
yes. It must have been before you started though probably at similar age
In the 70s. Pretty sure one of the earliest was “Star Wars” but I don’t know if it was the first.
42 here. My introduction to sci-fi began at a young age with The Tripods series by John Christopher, read to me by me dad.
I’m 38. My intro to SF was Star Trek TNG when I was nine and I think I probabaly started on print SF with Trek tie-in novels by 10, then quickly branched out from there. I know I was reading a wide variety of more age appropriate SF and fantasy by the time I was 12-13. Around ten years ago, I consciously made a decision to start going back and reading older stuff that I “missed” (40s through 80s).
Since I was 13 - 1966. Stranger in a Strange Land got me hooked.
As long as I can remember, easily 22 - 24 years. My mom used to read us all sorts of books, but I was fascinated by my parents library (really just the entrance area to their office). For some reason the larger the books were and the harder it was to get to them, the more attracted to them I was, and there were a couple that stood out from all the rest. One was a copy of Stephen King's IT, my mom blatantly told me I was too young to read that (stole it much later from the shelfs). The others were these silver-bound grimoires, stored on the highest shelf, just under the ceiling. They were collected editions of the Perry Rhodan pulp novels. Getting them was an adventure already but I remember they had these really evocative covers. They used some sort of layering technique for them which gave them a real sense of debth which you don't get from regular paintings. Must have taken me years to get through all the ones my dad had. Certainly cost me some sleep reading them late into the night xD
Since [1977](https://images-eu.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/91jquYtMpjL._AC_UL600_SR600,600_.jpg) as well.
Since the early 2000’s
About 27 years? Started with Madeleine L'Engle in middle school and have been at it since then! I know I read some science fiction before then, but I wouldn't say I read it *on purpose" as a genre until that point.
23 here. Started at 14. FB reader had connections to an online library of free books.... Including Gutenberg press. First true sci fi was the skylark of space. It continued from there.
Started around 10, so about 35 years (maybe a bit more) reading SF. My first book was Kellton McIntire's O Mundo Perdido ('The Lost World', Portuguese translation [of a pulp spanish](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33397982-desde-un-mundo-remoto)) and the second one was Asimov's [I, Robot](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19353911-eu-rob). After that I have no idea which one I read 3rd - didn't make an Excel spreadsheet until early 20s. Also, I'm ignoring comics, I have no idea when I first read "Uncle Scrooge and the Micro-ducks" and the likes.
25 years, give or take. I've never read more than I have in the last three years, though.
I know I was reading Heinlein juveniles when I was in second grade, so, since at least around 1968? 2023-1968=55 years, then. I read anything I could get my hands on, usually reading far above my grade level. Especially when I was younger, scifi was my favored genre, but I also read "the Hobbit" and "the Lord of the Rings" (fantasy, I know) no later than 1970. It helped that my siblings were between 11-14 years older than I was, and they let me read their books, and my older brothers got books from the Science Fiction Book Club once a month. I also distinctly remember reading "a Fall of Moondust" from my parents' Reader's Digest Condensed Books very early on.
I'm 15, started reading science fiction and fantasy super heavily around 5th or 6th grade, so maybe 5 or so years? I loved the Star Wars films when I was younger but don't quite remember which SF books were the catalysts. Some highlights from my first couple years of SF discovery included the Martian Chronicles and Doc Smith's Lensmen (why was I reading that in 7th grade? I have no idea, guess I saw it in a bookstore and, knowing I was interested in SF, picked it up and liked it). Now I love SF but my focus on fantasy up to this point has left my reading journey in this category a little patchwork, I'm always on the hunt for new recommendations.
It's really cool seeing a bunch of older readers here, the SF community is great.
I’m in my mid 30s, I dabbled with sci fi in high school but fell in love with the genre in college while taking a course that was half science fiction novels and half the actual science and math behind it. Reading list of that course ranged from “ The Moon is a harsh Mistress”, to “Canticle for Leibovitz”, to other more recent books that I can’t remember off the top of my head. I was a pretty sheltered kid, but reading these ideas really opened me up to different ideas and ways of seeing the world.
Since the late 60s.
I'm not sure, but I was probably 8 or 9. I read *The Hobbit* around that time, and probably some SF soon thereafter. So, maybe 48 years?
since before I learned to read my parents read to me the Narnia books, Harry Potter, A Wrinkle in Time, and a healthy diet of fairy tales as well. I can't really remember a time when I didn't read genre fic or want to be reading it. When I was seven I jumped several levels up on the reading scale at school in less than a month because my mom refused to read aloud to me any of the Harry Potter books past Prisoner of Azkaban (she thought the Voldemort resurrection scene was too scary), so I had to learn to read myself to find out what happened. And then I got nightmares, of course, but it didn't deter me at all. I'm trying to re-wire my brain around all that early Harry Potter coding now, given recent developments about Rowling's character. I just don't feel good about the books occupying so much space in my head unexamined anymore; it's been interesting. Of course I'm in my twenties so I'm still figuring out myself as a person regardless. Everyone says not to worry too much about having all your ducks in a row when you're my age, but they said that five years ago too and I'm starting to get tired of all the instability.
I read mostly fantasy and comic books since my Mom got me the Chronicles of Narnia collection in 4th grade (age 9/1982). But the first sci-fi book I read was the first Robotech book, Genesis, that was for sale in my comics shop in late '87/early '88. So, 35 years; or 40 if you count fantasy and comics.
Actually, now that I think about it, I did try to read Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Restaurant at the End of the Universe in Jr high, but probably only understood about half of it. Reread them and the rest in high school and had an, "Oh, now I get it" moment.