The Way of Kings

I love to read.
Its kind of weird to think, when I was younger, elementary age that I struggled to read. I had been given goals of reading w/ my parents every night for 15 mins.
But I don't think any of the books really interested me.
Isn't that the way of things? If it doesn't interest us we struggle at it?
Then something changes.
I have no idea what changed my mind about learning to read.....I had actually thought I loved it since I was little, but the grade school papers tell a different story.
Was it establishing the AR program? Having a goal to read a certain amount of books, get a certain amount of points before the term was over?
This might have been the reason why I learned to read fast, but not why I learned to enjoy even love reading.
I think it was a mystery that got me into reading.
Perhaps it was the Boxcar children.
A mystery.
I remember my earliest readings, besides Miss Piggle Wiggle....were of Mysteries.
I finished the boxcar children, and went to find other mysteries. Nancy Drew, and The Hardy boys. You could say I crushed on those Hardy Boys. lol. I would beg my parents to go to the library so I could find more Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys to read that I hadn't read yet.
Once that supply was exhausted I read the Cat Who books...another mystery series about Cats solving crimes.
The redwall series was read somewhere in that time period as well when my mystery genre was getting....thin.
Slowly I moved from Mystery to other stories.....about animals....but those ones fell short too.
But I had by that point established a love of reading.
And thanks to the AR system and wanting to get high goals in that, I learned to read fast.
I would read a book a day, sometimes two in a day in order to get my AR points as fast as possible. Coinciededly my goal rose higher and higher until I needed to get over 100pts each term.
But my source of readings was running thin.
I scoured the Elementary books looking for anything entertaining.
Summers were more fun, I had a bigger option. Starting in the kids sections downstairs I eventually moved my way upwards into the young adult series.
I remember summers where I would check out 30 books at a time and have them read by the end of the two weeks and due again.
I had by this time moved myself further into the 'adventure' field. but not into the 'fantasy' field as of yet.
But I feel one thing changed that.
Harry Potter.
I mentioned before that I was stubborn, unwilling to follow the crowd.
Well in 6th grade....I had a scare, where I thought term was ending sooner then it actually was. (midterms...) but I hadn't reached my AR goal yet! So I looked up the books with the highest points.
Yep. Harry Potter. The fourth book had just recently come out if I remember correctly. The first movie was out in theatres.
My Mom had bought the series already. So I went home....and started reading.....and yah I loved the books lol :)
I finished book 1 the day we went to see the first movie. I finished it on our way to go see the movie.....so needless to say I was like "THEY SKIPPED THAT PART! THEY DIDN'T SAY THAT!" but it was an awesome read. I read quickly, liking what I read.

I half consider this, reading Harry Potter, that got me fully into fantasy....but I'm not sure....I wish I could go through library records and find out which books I read during what years of my life....but that's not possible.
Yet I got more into 'Fantasy' after that point.

.....perhaps I lied.....my memory isn't perfect.
I was getting into fantasy.
Like Diana Wynne Jones. (Dogsbody is my favorite single book)
but when I actually did, i don't know.
Perhaps HP was a 'climax' a....'get me further in' point. Who knows. *shrugs*

Yet I must believe by the time I was on my way to Junior High I had read hundreds of books. maybe even a thousand. I had most likely read at least 300 books a year it seemed like.

But I have found what I like, what I don't like.
And I must admit....besides books with dragons...
I love to read books about the underdogs.
The people who start out low in society and rise up to become a star.
( I LOVE <3 <3 books dealing with thiefs, and serfs/slaves/the unthanked for some reason)

If you look at a list of my favorite books you can see that.
The Wheel of Time. -A farm boy becoming the most powerful figure in the world
The Homelander series- a boy waking up tied to a chair, not knowing where he is or how he got there.
The dragon jouster series- a serf who ends up raising and training a dragon.
The Stravaganza series- a boy with a cancer killing him, traveling to a different world where he is strong.
The Ranger Apprentice series- a 'small' boy, being trained to be a Ranger.
The Chronicles of Fiarah- a group of young adults, going out to save the world from tyrants.

The list can go on and on.
But almost every book that makes it to my 'favorites list' has that theme. An underdog...who doesn't do something for the glory, prestige, to rise above his rank, actually rises and becomes successful.

Those types of stories captivate me.
To make me think.... I can be better. I can succeed.

Another factor in me liking stories......is how they are written.
Do they captivate you from the first page? Harry Potter, Wheel of Time, Twilight, the Tennis Shoes Series, The Dragon Jouster series.....they all did that.
I was captivated. Drawn in. I wanted to read more.
Does the book give me a complete picture of the world. Do the characters seem real? Is the description just the right amount?

The most important part is; You have to draw me in. Captivate me, want me to read more. You need to make me think. Wonder, huh, what if the world really was like this? Give me something to consider after I've finished. The idea that...I'm done with the book...what does that mean, consider things....
Those books, where I have to keep reading, where i NEED to know what happens next.
*shivers* oh man....its the bets feeling in the world! The excitement. The restlessness at night where you go to sleep wondering "what happens next" the inability to concentrate during school because you want to know if the character survived or not.
I love those books.....
But unfortunately....as I've grown older.....my tastes....have become more picky. It gets harder and harder to find books that give me that thrill....so often times I have to resort to rereading favorite books of mine that I know are good, because I need a 'pick me up' after reading 'crappy books.'
Perhaps that is why I've begun to resort to writing. Because it seems more often then not...I think to myself "I can write better then that!"

Oh....but there was a light on the horizon.
Brandon Sanderson.
A man I must say I'm jealous of. His idea, the way his story flows (though more often then not my favorite characters end up kicking the bucket) I wish I had thought of the ideas first.
Brandon Sanderson.
I hadn't really considered reading him....until Robert Jordan died.....
Now this unknown author from my state....he was finishing the WoT series. And like any devoted fan....well almost any....I wanted to find out more about this unknown author.
First I read Elantris, then his Mistborn Trilogy, Alcatraz came next, then Warbreaker.
He's awesome. His way of thinking.....I'm amazed at how good he is at creating worlds. Each story (w/ unrelated books) he writes is different, each world unique, with their different cultures, magic systems, and heroes. 
 Like Robert Jordan. He makes the world believable. That everything makes sense, its possible.
And I must say I'm glad he's finishing the wheel of time series. :D
But we're not talking about those.....(okay so we were but we're changing the subject)
And reading his other books I've come to expect that each new book that he writes and publishes will be good, that is hard to say for most authors....but not so for Brandon Sanderson. You know it will be worth your time reading (if you have tastes similar to mine) when you pick up a book with his name on the cover, Like:

The Way of Kings.
It was....in the over used word "Epic"
I admit it took me longer to get into this book then usual.....mostly because I knew it was the first book of a ten book series. (yikes!) You have to wonder.....why do you need so many books to tell a story?
Most other series I find them in they're relatively 'young' stage where there are only one or two books out...(I think WoT was the longest of the series I started knowing there were alot of books)
Then the first book comes out and its....1,000 pages long.
*blinks*
yes a thousand.
And again I have to wonder.....why do you need 10 books to tell a story?
But I was eager as well. I love reading thick books. And reading them faster then most people, while still being able to tell you details. (I DON'T SKIM!)
(to give you an idea of how fast I read.....I read all 7 HP books in 5 days....I started the 3rd book on the first day. Twilight I read all four books in 3 days.....one time I timed myself in High school....I read a 300page book in 5-6hrs. *shrugs* I read fast. ;) basically if i have time I can read 1,000 pages in a day.)

Anyway....back to not bragging....
The Way of Kings.
It took me longer to get into it.
Yet, this story ended up captivating me.
Of course my favorite character....is the underdog. The one who has to watch people die why they themselves survive.
I loved it.
And the best (and most annoying part) is that by switching between points of view, often times the author had me saying 'oh! I need to find out what happens! Just two more chapters to find out!' then...having something happen to another character that gives you the same thrill of "What happens next?!" so I read chapter after chapter....until....i have to stop before I fall behind on what else needed to get done that day. (often times I push things back) (Tennis Shoes did that too me too....ending without an ending >.< grrr)
Now that I've finished the book. :) I must say.....I can understand why he can't tell the story all in one book....perhaps it won't take 10 books to finish the series, perhaps it will....
(Wot was originally meant to be a trilogy....now 13 books later...)
All i can say is that, this book kept me up at night, considering the implications of this and that, imagining my own scenes. Which means. Its AWESOME! :D I only wish that there was more for me to read. :D

Books i love.....they encourage me to create my own worlds, take my own spins on stories already told.
I'm just sad that the awesome 'magic' system used in this book especially dealing with the currency....hadn't been my own idea.

Clever clever author.
I mentally applaud thee
I eagerly await to read the next book that comes out. (Towers of Midnight the 2nd to last book in the Wheel of Time series)

Until you next see these words;
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi