I have been sf & fantasy fan since I was small, since my father read “Tarzan of the Apes” by Edgar Rice Burroughs to me as a bedtime story when i was about 6 or so years old. Then as soon as I could manage to read it my self I did. As I recall I was in the 4th grade at that point.
When I was in the 5th grade I was at that point reading the Mars books by ERB.
As I was growing up I also was reading E. E. Smith and A. Merrit and Thorne Smith since my father also read those authors as well.
I don’t recall exactly how long it took me to read a book when I was 11 or so, but I do recall that I would take one book to school in the morning and by the end of the day I would have finished reading it.
Now When I read a book I am finished with a 300 page mass market paperback in 5 hours.
When I was 11 there weren’t that many choices in reading in SF & Fantasy, so my favourite writers were a small group consisting if I recall correctly of Andre Norton, A. Merrit, Edgar Rice Burroughs, E. E. Smith, Thorne Smith, and Dr Seuss who has been a favourite of mine since early childhood.
I am not sure if I had discovered writers like Asimov and Fred Pohl, Poul Anderson, Jack Williamson and Jack Vace when I was 11, I know that I did discover them later and I am a fan of their writing even now.
At this point in time these are my Favourite writers in alphabetical order: Douglas Adams, Poul Anderson, Asimov, Robert Asprin, Clark Aston Smith, Margaret Ball, Ambrose Bierce, Ray Bradbury, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Patricia Briggs, Steven Brust, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Avram Davidson, Charles De Lint, L. Sprauge DeCamp, August Derleth, Lord Dunsany, David Eddings, Harlan Ellison, Philip Jose Farmer, Alan Dean Foster, Esther M. Friesner, Tara K. Harper, Harry Harrison, Kim Harrison, William Hope Hodgson, Robert Jordan, Katherine Kerr, Mercedes Lackey, Ursula K. LeGuin, Fritz Leiber, Holly Lisle, Anne McCaffrey, Patricia McKillip, A. Merritt, Elizabeth Moon, William Morris, Andre Norton, Edgar Allan Poe, Frederick K. Pohl, Terry Pratchett, Fletcher Pratt, Kat Richardson, Spider Robinson, Fred Saberhagen, Elizabeth Anne Scarbourgh, Robert Silverberg, Clifford D. Simak, E. E. “Doc” Smith, Thorne Smith, Mark Twain, William Tenn, J. R. R. Tolkein, Jack Vance, Lawrence Watt-Evans, Jack Williamson, Roger Zelazny.
Most recently I have been reading books by Kim Harrison <http://www.kimharrison.net> who I think is a really excellent writer and I highly recommend her.
lordtyger9