I've never really gotten into fantasy myself. Speaking as someone that only considers themself a "dabbler" in nerdery, then I can say that its far easier to get into sci-fi than fantasy. Firstly, probably because most fantasy is very influenced by Tolkein, very few fantasy authors seem to be able to write a book thats less than 500 pages (and are generally part of a trilogy at the very least). Furthermore, whenever I look at the back of a fantasy book and see words like "dragonmaster" or "fulfill his destiny" I feel like I'm going to be reading the cliff notes to some fat nerd's D&D campaign.
Sci fi on the other hand has far more breakout success. Appart from Lord of the Rings, I can't think of many fantasy books that have become "classics" in the same way that Frankenstein, Neuromancer, Dune, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, 1984 or Brave New World have become. Personally, I find sci-fi feels far more "relevant" than fantasy, mainly because it explores the realm of possibility, rather than impossibility.