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I started reading science fiction around 7. I was 9 when I read The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. I knew was "delta vee" was before I was all that sure I understood exactly what French kissing entailed.
But as an adult I've mostly grown out of reading it. I still do so I have books to read on the train when interruptions are frequent but it isn't a passion any more.
Heinlein, Asimov, and Clarke were my childhood heroes and when Asimov died in 1992 it was the first (and remains the only) time I actually mourned for a person I didn't personally know. Sheri S. Tepper and David Brin are probably my favorite among authors I discovered as an adult.
I had a less intense relationship with fantasy, especially since it seemed like everything had to be an epic fantasy spanning multiple volumes and never coming to an end. I love The Sword of Shannara when that was the only book in the series (I read it before Tolkein so I must admit that I've always kind of thought of Tolkein as a Terry Brooks wannabe). The first three entries in Raymond E. Feist's Magician books. My all time top fantasy remains Stephen R. Donaldson's The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant (the first trilogy, though the second is still good; I'm still trying to decide if I'll give the third one he's currently doing a chance).
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