My first time

[wordspren]

These stories are so touching. 

[Raisen]

It's kind of a funny story. I was looking through a bookstore for any book and found the book Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan. It had just come out and looked interesting, so I bought it. After spending three days constantly reading that terrific debut novel, I noticed that he had been taught by a man named Brandon Sanderson. Obviously someone who can write like that must have a great teacher. So, I bought Mistborn, Way of Kings, and Elantris, and I've been reading him ever since.

[xland44]

I began with WoT, then WoK (Which I adore)... Then when the next book of WoT came out saying "By Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson" the name was super familiar... Took me about a week to figure out why.... Then I was surprised because I loved his writing so I read Mistborn then Rithmatist then Alloy of Law and finally Elantris

[Shadowspren]

Connor the Shardholder gave me Mistborn and told me to read it... I wasn't a reader at the time. But I am now  

I then continued to read pretty much all of his books except Alcatraz and Legion and I am now hooked and am the unofficial leader of the Sanderfan club at my school. But I am the only Sharder at our school so... 

[Gavin Micheals]

I am an avid reader have been all my life. I fell in love with fantasy when reading authors like salvatore. From the I moved into lotr and Dragonlance. My brother introduced me to Sanderson by way of the Mist born series. After 10 pages I was completely hooked read the whole series in three days. I then move to wheel of time. This was epic as any who have read it can attest. I loved Jordans style of writing, so complex and intricate. When I found out that Sanderson was completing the series I got very excited. He had already proven to me that he could tell as complex a plot as Jordan. He didn't let me the feel for the characters remained the same. He really stepped in and completed the story with the epicness that Jordan began.i was so impressed. I have since read warbreaker, and just finished both of the storm light books. I can say without a doubt that Sanderson is my favorite author and the person I look to in my own writing.

[Shardcellist]

 

 

Connor the Shardholder gave me Mistborn and told me to read it... I wasn't a reader at the time. But I am now   

Dirty conners. (no offense intended...  ) 

My first was Mistborn, a recommendation from an uncle. From there I found Alloy of Law, Elantris, the Rithmatist, and the Way of Kings.

The rest, well, is history.

[Steel]

I purchased the Infinity Blade books, since I was addicted to the games. I read Mistborn first, read some others, don't remember which, then googled Brandon Sanderson, found this, and had my mind blown. Since then I've read everything.

[Redbird]

Well i had some friends who recommended Steelheart, since mistborn was checked out, I read Steelheart first. Then after reading Steelheart, they told me Mistborn was even better and I was like,"How is that even possible!?" And after reading The Final empre I definitely agreed, and now i've read all the mistborn, mitosis and I am on the last 50 pages WoK.

[Jeremy]

I first came to Brandon's work through the Wheel of Time.

 

I had started the series relatively late - Knife of Dreams (book 11) was out by the time I finished Crossroads of Twilight (book 10). When I finished reading KoD, I started regularly checking dragonmount.com for status updates on the next book.

 

It wasn't until then that I realized that Mr. Jordan was struggling with health concerns, and I was even more impressed with him for continuing to struggle through disease while still putting together one of the greatest stories I had ever read. When he passed away, the homepage of Dragonmount was converted to a stark black page announcing the sad fact. I felt some measure of sympathy for his family, but on a more selfish level, I was saddened to realize that the epic tale that I'd become invested in might never be completed.

 

I continued to check Dragonmount regularly in the following months, hoping that somehow the story would be finished, that they would pick someone to write the rest of it. Fortunately, for me and the rest of the WoT fandom, they did. When it was announced that Brandon had been selected by Harriet to pick up where Jordan left off, I felt a sense of relief, but also some measure of apprehension - how could I know that this guy, who I'd never heard of before, would do a good job?

 

When I got home from university that day, around 3 or 4 in the afternoon, I checked out Brandon's website, where I was pleasantly surprised to discover that he had posted an entire novel (Warbreaker) for free. I sat down at the computer and began to read. By the time I looked up, bleary-eyed, from my computer at the end of Warbreaker around 2 or 3 in the morning, I was convinced that the Wheel of Time was in good hands.

 

Since then, he has obviously finished the Wheel of Time, and I have to say that it was a satisfying conclusion. I've also had the pleasure of jumping into his solo work. I've read everything in the Cosmere multiple times, and most of his other work as well. It's unfortunate that it took the tragedy of Robert Jordan's death to bring Brandon to my attention, but I am thrilled to have discovered such an absolutely brilliant author. Getting to meet him in person this summer provided an even greater privilege - discovering firsthand that in addition to being a terrific writer, Brandon is also a genuinely nice and good and decent human being. I love how involved he is with his fanbase, how freely he gives of his time at conventions, and how much of the process he allows us to see and be involved with. I intend to be reading his work for as long as he continues writing.

[PrncRny]

As with many of you, I first heard the name of Brandon Sanderson after the death of Robert Jordan. I watched an interview on YouTube with him and miss Harriet explaining the decision and his reaction to it.

 

At that point, I knew I had to read some of his stuff to see if he was worthy of the mantle he was picking up.

 

I started with Elantris and thought it was just OK. Then i read Mistborn and i was hooked. I flew through the rest of his works (which at that point didnt' include much) but when The Way fo Kings was finally released, I knew I had found something truly special.

 

I now have joined the rest of you down this rabbit hole that is the fandom of Sharders. And a helluva ride it's going to be.

 

 

[gjustice99]

I started with Mistborn. My brother gave me the first one for Christmas 3 years ago and I loved it and I quickly finished the other two and moved on to his other works. 

[Orlion Blight]

The first time I had heard of Sanderson, it was a pitch for Mistborn that included the phrase: "...imagine if the Dark Lord won...something that I don't think has been done before." Hearing that, I snobbily avoided it since in the Silmarillion we have an instance where the Dark Lord "won" and was in control for a while. I would have none of that.

 

A couple years passed and it was announced that Sanderson would be finishing the Wheel of Time. I decided that if he did a good job, I would give his precious Mistborn a chance. 

 

I still haven't read Wheel of Time 11-14. 

 

Then, a year arrived when part of my literary world was turned upside down. Writers who I had loathed for years (specifically Ernest Hemingway and Allen Ginsberg) ended up being some of my favourite writers. I had a gift card, Mazalan was complete, there was still a year before the final Thomas Covenant book came out, so I bought the Mistborn trilogy... determined to critique any and all plot points.

 

The first book turned out good. The second book kept me interested. The third surprised me at the end. All in all, they were very enjoyable books. 

 

So now, I look forward to Sanderson books. I still have a few I haven't read yet (I'm pacing myself!), but it is nice to know that there will be some enjoyable books coming out with some regularity. 

Edited December 31, 2014 by Orlion

[taveren]

i was a fan of the wheel of time books and after he was made the writer i saw way of kings on display at hastings and thought it looked interesting

[CHOUTAGOD]

I was in school at the time. I was very depressed. Loved to read books. Mostly about war and history. I saw a new book in the Library where my mother worked. " The Way of Kings" it read. Never had I seen a book with such a title ( and I read a LOT ). The art on the cover was alien but beautiful. I rented and read it. I saw much of myself in Kaladin and related to him strongly. The way he felt he had no reason to go on, but finally GAVE HIMSELF a purpose. Sounds corny I know but its true. Been following Mr. Sanderson ever since.

Kings to you my friends!!

[Twenty@20]

I spent the last half hour reading the replies on this topic. Got pretty emotional reading so many experiences and liberally sprinkled upvotes. The first 3-4 pages which had of the earliest sharders talking about Brandon and his books were pretty awesome. I also could not help noticing the lot of the oldest members of the forums are not quite active. So it is my humble request to them to share more, to enrich the forum with their passion about all things Brandon.

WOT, Mistborn and Elantris seem to be the first Sanderson book for most of the people here. In that respect, I differ as my first Sanderson book was Steelheart. I was going through a Young Adult phase in the fall of '13 and got hooked up on Steelheart after reading the blurb on Goodreads. Then i gobbled up Mistborn 1,2,3 and 4, followed it up with Way of Kings, found this forum and its never been the same again.

Edited January 10, 2015 by Twenty@20

[Kipper]

My first book was actually Way of Kings. I'm in the minority there. I finished reading WoK maybe a year ago, had some questions, and turned to Google. Most reasonably popular books have someone on-line talking about them, after all....Coppermind ambushed me out of nowhere!

After spending two or three days in the rabbit-hole, I read the Mistborn series, Elantris, and Warbreaker, in that order.

Then I read WoK again, rinsed, and repeated. It wasn't until I read Alloy of Law again that I got interested in all the theories and discussion.

I was also lucky in that Words of Radiance was out right when I wanted it.

I found my daily fix with 17s, lurked for a while here and then joined a couple days ago.

[Bort]

I first heard of Brandon Sanderson as the person finishing off Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time, and I remember thinking 'Oh, no,' mostly because I believed that no-one could do the end of that saga justice.

 

Boy, was I wrong.

 

By the time Jordan died, his WoT books were getting a little stale. I loved the characters, thought the main plot was great, and really wanted to know how it all ended, but getting through some of the later books was more like a chore than any real fun. Then along came Brandon Sanderson, and all that changed. While directed by Jordan's notes, Sanderson took this epic saga and made it his own, while still remaining loyal enough to Robert Jordan that it didn't annoy his fans.

 

Suddenly, the Wheel of Time was like a Returned (it had new life Breathed into it  ). I eagerly devoured books 12, 13, and 14. Even going so far as to join the library because it had a copy of A Memory of Light and I didn't yet. Damnation, I have one of the world's worst memories, but there are several scenes from A Memory of Light that are implanted into my brain, thanks to Brandon's writing.

 

As soon as I finished A Memory of Light, I went looking for more. A charity shop sold me my first copies of the Mistborn trilogy. After reading that, I actually went so far as to send an email to Brandon via his website, asking which books came before Mistborn, I was that impressed with the characters and their interactions, I wanted to see how Kelsier's team originally came together, and fully believed there was a book or series of books out there that explained it. It wasn't until later that I discovered that these were the first books with Kelsier, Breeze, and the others in.

 

Since then, I've become slightly addicted to Stormlight Archives, and have expanded my collection to now include all of the Cosmere novels. Later on, I'll pick up his other works, but for now I want to know more about how the Cosmere works, and what is going on.

 

Sorry for the wall of text 

 

 

[mistwannabeborn]

Hello my first experience of Mr. Sandersons work was the book Steelheart.  I was bringing a bunch of boys to a retreat in Ohio and it was a 7 hour drive and I looked on Audible for a young adult novel that would entertain the boys.  Wow was I ever exposed to what a story could be!

 

The 7 hours on the way out went in what seemed a flash.  Now we had to wait for the retreat to end so we could pack our bags head home and listen to the rest.  Suffice it to say we barely completed it in time and the boys loved it.  It was the first experience I had with Brandon and not my last.  

 

My family listened to the Rithmatist when we went on vacation this past summer and again was not disappointed.  

 

I have just completed the first two books of Mistborn and I'm in the middle of the last of the first trilogy now.  

 

I am looking forward to delving into the Stormlight Archive series and Firefight next.  Keep up the great writing as you have me as a faithful reader from this point on...

 

[Nisana]

Before Wheel of Time, no books from Mr. Sanderson were published in Italy. Shortly after the announcement of his work on Wheel of Time, the Last Empire was translated. I loved it so much that I read the other two books in English. After that, Warbreaker was also translated and finally The Way of Kings and Elantris. I don't usually love short stories, but The Emperour's Soul is nice, and I've just seen in the forum that Sixth of the Dusk has appeared as an e-book (just bought it!). I prefer the Cosmere books (Steelheart is a good story, but I don't like it very much). Now, I'm reading the Rithmatist (even if, maybe, I will read Sixth before, because it is Comer!).

[Pestis the Spider]

Well, I have an account on another "book-focused" forum, and my friend posted there something along the lines "Did you read The Way of Kings? It's some super-thick book that just came out (I mean Polish translation here), and everone seems to talk about it, and I just really do not know what it is. Is it even worth reading?". So I answered "I've never heard about this book, or even this author but after reading some descriptions and reviews, I'm definitely going to read it." And then I did. : D

 

I finished SA books, read all Elantris and TES, then all Mistborn books, and currently I'm reading Warbreaker.

[Bronzeheart]

I ran into Mistborn when I was attending BYU (shortly before Well of Ascension came out) and got instantly hooked. I am now working my way through all of Brandon's books and am eagerly awaiting his next releases.

[Mestiv]

For me, the first remote contact with Brandon books was couple years ago. Me and my GF were in a train, going on holidays. She was reading some magazine, I was chewing on a sandwich, then she gave me the magazine and pointed to a small book advertisement at the bottom of the page. It was simply cover art of the Elantris book + short description, talking about city of immortal semi-gods that fell sick and lost their power, about someone that has to go into this city and uncover the reason of this fall. We were both very intrigued by that short description and agreed, that it would be nice to read the book if we ever have the chance. After that I went back to my sandwich, and we went on with our vacations.

 

Couple months later, while visiting local bookstore I noticed the familiar cover art on one of the shelves. By this time we already have forgotten about the Elantris ad we saw in that magazine, but luckily the book itself found us We bought it and went home. Usually when we both want to read the same book I let my GF read it first, and so it was this time. For couple of days she was reading it bit by bit, till she was hit by Sanderson Avalanche She stayed up till I think 3 a.m. till she finished the book and instantly told me to read it.

 

So I did... And and a couple of days later I finished the book and noticed that it's 2 a.m. I'd like to notice, that I just love to sleep I rarely stay up this late. I think it was the first book that kept me reading so deep into the night.

 

With Elantris finished, I went back to our bookstore to look for other Sanderson books. Unfortunately, there weren't any.

 

For few months I kept looking around in different bookstores for Sanderson books but with no luck. Finally I managed to get Warbreaker in a store with some extremely cheap books. I was impressed by the colourful magic system, but somehow this book lacked the WOW element I remembered from Elantris. Still it was very good.

 

Anyway, two books away and I still wasn't that much of a fan. I enjoyed the stories and remembered authors name, but that was all. Until I saw "The Way of Kings"....
 

 

First thing that hit me was the AWESOME cover! That made me immediately pick it up. The second thing I noticed was the size... About 20% wider and higher than any other book around it and it had ~1 thousand storming pages. I have never read a book with so many pages And finally, I read authors name. Eyes wide as I remembered the awesomnes of Elantris, unique magic systems of Warbreaker and Elantris plus those terrific endings... This was an instant decision, I didn't even look at the price

 

And here I started to be real Sanderson fan. I read WoK in couple of days, reading it in every spare moment of time. Then I found that there is already part two WoR, but not yet in my language, so I went for the English version. Then I found out about the Mistborn trillogy (pretty late, I know. Plus, I was really surprised I didn't know it earlier, because it was available in my language), then Alloy of Law, Emperor's Soul, Steelheart, WoR in Polish this time, Firefight and now I'm reading Alcatraz stories...

 

So yeah, I took me some time to become a true fan, but now I'm totally hooked

[Bort]

While that cover is pretty cool, I do wish that cover artists would read the novels they are drawing for.

[Mestiv]

Yeah, after reading descriptions of shardplates I noticed that too. Neither sword nor the armour looks like those from the book. But well, at least it makes people pick it up

[Pestis the Spider]

While that cover is pretty cool, I do wish that cover artists would read the novels they are drawing for.

Well, actually I don't really like it. The yellow font totally doesn't match it. And yeah, the picture itself is cool. But the Polish version of WoR doesn't even have a cool picture in the cover, and it's just totally meh. I believe that all they did was picking some picture of pseudo-medieval knights, putting some random colour enormous title, and didn't even pay attention if the font and picture matches or if the picture has anything to do with the plot of the book. I find it really dissapointing.

 

Eaither way. @Mestiv, I've got a question, that only you can answer: I know that in Polish the Stormlight Archive is translated into Archiwum Burzowego Światła. Does it actually mean that every word "stormlight" was translated into "burzowe światło" and this is the form used by characters in dialogues etc., or do they use some other translation? Because "burzowe światło" is just soooo long phrase.

 

Oh, and could you also tell me how "Shardblade", "spren" and "soulcasting" were translated? I would be reeeeaaaally grateful. The reason I'm asking is that I didn't have a chance to read these books in Polish, but I'm just really curious how the publisher managed the translation, and I don't really know anybody else to ask.