My first time

[Wander89 he/him]

15 hours ago, Yolenlightweaver said:

I disliked the small book format of Mistborn and my brother kept trying to get me to read it but I wouldn't budge. At one point the audiobook for Steelheart was free and I gave it a go and got hooked.

Hopefully you've read it now! Love that series.

Edited June 8, 2019 by Wander89

[Yolenlightweaver]

On 6/7/2019 at 11:27 PM, Wander89 said:

Hopefully you've read it now! Love that series.

I have read it once but with my job I can listen to books so I have listened to it many times. Probably an excessive amount 

[Wander89 he/him]

55 minutes ago, Yolenlightweaver said:

I have read it once but with my job I can listen to books so I have listened to it many times. Probably an excessive amount 

There's never an excessive amount of the Cosmere!

[Lazarus_Rising he/him]

I already joined this forum a while back, but I’m not too active for fear of spoilers (currently reading Oathbringer and I haven’t read Mistborn).  I ran into some slight spoilers today but nothing too bad.

I owned a paperback copy of The Way of Kings as well as the box set Mistborn trilogy.  I had started Mistborn, and it was intriguing, but at the time it wasn’t striking a chord in me.  I still haven’t gone back (though I will).

The Way of Kings summary on the back always intrigued me.  I was also looking for a book to read concurrently with my father so we had something to talk about.  So, we started that.  I want to say that was Winter 2017?

He is a little obsessive/compulsive so he got ahead of me and read it super quick, but that’s part of the story of the “why” of me reading The Way of Kings.  I liked it so much I ordered a hardback copy of it, Words, and Oathbringer as well as paperbacks of most of Sanderson’s work.  Since starting Sanderson, I’ve also bought both Skyward series books (in the TBR pile).  He is an author I support by buying the new release hardbacks.

Before reading, I knew he had finished The Wheel of Time series as well.  That’s another TBR, lol.

Stormlight is great, and I find myself remembering how it started with the nearly endless battle in the prologue.  To think the current story will eventually advance to epic clashes like what wasn’t hinted at there is very exciting.  The current character development is more than satisfying right now.

My only gripe at all - and I won’t say names because I don’t want to be a spoiler for anyone - is characters coming back and or being resurrected when it’s not special circumstances like the prologue.  That really cuts into the subjective “cost” of the events the story.  This has now happened in the series at least once, and I’m not a huge fan of it.  I’ll have faith that Sanderson makes it all great though.

Sorry if that was rambling at all, I wanted to put a thorough response out.

Edited July 29, 2019 by Lazarus_Rising

[Kualo she/her]

I was a reckless pre-fan as I bought all the books at once, in a huge bag that arrived for me this summer. I sensed I will like them, it was the second time I risked that much, the other time was a whole bunch of Tad Williams books.

My first book was Elantris. I can say that after the first 50 pages, I knew that this is it. I read translation but I plan to read Elantris in original to check how everything sounds by Mr Brandon himself.

Nevertheless, I am fresh as a young carrot just peeking from the ground  I tried to realize why I didn't buy the books earlier. Probably my reading crisis stopped me from not only buying them but reading at all for a few years.

[Omikii]

I love reading and I carry my Kindle everywhere with me. I think by now I own thousands of books (some of which I've even read). There is a forest of books on Amazon with so many trilogies, quadrologies, quintologies... I just got out of a long-book relationship with multiple sequels and a not-quite-satisfying ending, and was looking for something to read over the weekend and not another series I'd have to devote months to. Today, it's extremely rare to find a good stand alone fantasy novel. I accidently picked Elantris, and... ended up reading everything Brandon Sanderson ever wrote.

I fell in love in Elantris after the first few pages. Like someone said before me, I read it, and then I re-read it right away. Elantris for me was like watching a good anime, and reminded me a bit of Fullmetal Alchemist, only much cooler and not as sad. Well. Almost not as sad.

Then I searched what else the man wrote, and started reading - first Warbreaker, then the first Mistborn trilogy, then Stormlight Archive, and so on. I read the young adult books when I was done with the more adult fiction, and when I ran out of YA books, I even read the childrens books.

Brilliant writer, such fantastic imagination, such different worlds, all very individual and well thought out, such brilliant stories with excellent character development... Fantastic. Can't wait for the next books. May he live long and finish all the stories he started.

[NONOGAMESTER he/him]

When my mom was trying TJED Homeschooling. Elantris was one of the required reading for the course. Loved the books ever since.

Edited November 20, 2019 by NONOGAMESTER

[Knight of Iron she/they]

One time I walked up to my friend and said, "Do you have any book recommendations?" and she said a lot of things but I forgot them all except for two words (cause they kind of rhymed): Brandon Sanderson. Went up to my library and walked to where all his books were and was greeted by a whole host of fat books like I had never read before. I started inspecting books like Mistborn and had the most difficult time in the world tracking down which book was the start of the series (I got so close but I turned away at the title "Final Empire," cause it sounds like the last one). Instead I grabbed The Way of Kings and read the whole thing. Ever since then (4 months ago) I haven't been able to stop reading all his material.

[Destruction he/him]

The first one of Brandon's books I read was The Way of Kings. I asked my brother for the kindle we shared and I saw WoK. I decided to look over it and I read all of WoK and WoR during that very long car ride. 

[fammann]

On 21.11.2019 at 1:42 AM, spren of destruction said:

The first one of Brandon's books I read was The Way of Kings. I asked my brother for the kindle we shared and I saw WoK. I decided to look over it and I read all of WoK and WoR during that very long car ride. 

How long was this car ride? I needed about a month to read Way of Kings. You are probably a faster reader than I am.

[NorthStar she/her]

I first got into Sanderson with Skyward. 

[Destruction he/him]

On 11/26/2019 at 3:28 AM, fammann said:

How long was this car ride? I needed about a month to read Way of Kings. You are probably a faster reader than I am.

I was not a good reader back then and I skipped the interludes and a lot of the chapters I didn't think were interesting like the Shallan chapters. I have repented of this most terrible error and I now read full stories. I do however read fast and when I read Oathbringer I read it in like 5 days because I focused all of my attention on reading it.

[Honorless he/him]

Started with Mistborn: The Final Empire, recommended alongside Sabriel

[NottTheBrave he/him]

I'm going to be starting my fiancé off on Skyward soon!  I have the audio books of both it and starsight, so I'll be letting her listen to those.  Then Stormlight if I can swing it!  

[The Awakened Salad they/them]

I remember I was reading an online writing guide and the writer of said guide mentioned this guy named Sanderson quite a bit. I also followed their book reviews, and after a glowing review of The Rithmatist and a positive review of The Final Empire I decided to give Brandon a try. Sadly, there were no copies of Mistborn in the book store that day, so I settled for The Way of Kings, and now I’m here .

[Istiban]

I first read Misborn era 1. I find him searching in google for good phantasy books. I loved his style and his magic system and well... everything (except the edgy character from book 2)

[Ishar]

I first ended up reading Mistborn era 1. I have honestly no idea how I actually ended up finding Mistborn Era 1, but it is what I read first. After reading it, and then reading stormlight, I remembered a conversation I had on a minecraft server (yes, a minecraft server), where I was talking with another player about books, and they recommended the Stormlight Archives (This was at least a year before I actually read mistborn). I had also been eying Steelheart for a long time, but I never ended up reading it until after I had read Mistborn and the Way of Kings.

[SingingMosaic]

I started reading TFE in 2015, but stopped because of computer issues. I started again in 2017, and got to the middle of WoA, but I didn't understand what kind of brilliance was going to happen so I didn't have the patience to finish it. In 2018 I started the trilogy again, and this time saw it through because I'd been most of the way through WoA and someone told me I'd appreciate what came next. At the time I was dealing with the debilitating effects of multiple mental illnesses which left me heavily dissociated for long stretches of time, and resulted in unpredictable emotions, cryptic motivations and long stretches where it seemed like my actions were under the control of forces far bigger than me. I had felt so small for years, so silent, and when I finished HoA I knew that not only was I going to follow Sanderson but that he had changed my life and I felt certain he was going to do it again. It wasn't some lightbulb moment. Books never usually get to me because of that. They always depict you getting control back as an aha moment where you snap your fingers and everything is OK, not the terribly draining process that it really is, when you expend incredible amounts of energy just to gain inches that you might lose at the drop of a hat. I never thought I could come out the other side. My life was full of, "This will never change," or, "Just snap out of it," and had been since early childhood. It seemed like after that, I started seeing things in the world that validated the fact that it really is incredibly difficult sometimes, and that just because the progress you fight for disappears doesn't mean you'll never find a way to get it back. Stormlight just reinforced that. I think now that it was only a matter of time, that something would have done it eventually. Someone told me when I was sixteen, when I mentioned facilities that relatives used to threaten me with, that I wouldn't settle for it. I would get out or die trying. I would not stand for captivity. I couldn't see what they'd seen in me then, but I see it now. In a way, he was my way back to the world. Those things aren't gone. The reality of my situation hasn't changed. But I have a different way of looking at and reacting to it, and that started there. I'll always be a patchwork creature, but it isn't all that I am. If I ever saw him I would thank him for depicting people who found that out, rather than just magically realizing it meaninglessly as many authors have depicted. I describe his books, well the Cosmere as that's what I've read so far, as fantasy written by someone who knows how to pay attention.

[fammann]

On 29.3.2020 at 0:51 AM, SingingMosaic said:

In a way, he was my way back to the world. Those things aren't gone. The reality of my situation hasn't changed. But I have a different way of looking at and reacting to it, and that started there. I'll always be a patchwork creature, but it isn't all that I am. If I ever saw him I would thank him for depicting people who found that out, rather than just magically realizing it meaninglessly as many authors have depicted. I describe his books, well the Cosmere as that's what I've read so far, as fantasy written by someone who knows how to pay attention.

Thank you for that post. It moved me very much. For me it's the same, although my condition doesn't seem so severe as yours, I still had that reaction to Sandersons work. I felt understood. He touched me deep inside and motivated me to keep trying. I'm glad he could help you too.

[CahiraCelosial she/her]

So my Dad had really enjoyed reading Mistborn, WoK, etc, and he is the one who always recommends fantasy books to me, so I started reading Mistborn, and it all kind of just spiraled from there...

[nbozb]

I picked up Skyward first. I checked it out through my teacher's classroom library, and absolutely loved it. Then I read Steelheart, which was pretty good. After a lot of consideration, I picked up Mistborn, and proceeded to talk about nothing but Vin for the rest of the week, then read the rest of Sanderson's books.

[The Warbreaker]

Mistborn was the first book trilogy that I read by Brandon, it actually took two attempts to really get in to it but I found it to be such a rewarding read.

[BloomAgeOne]

On 4/18/2020 at 3:02 AM, nbozb said:

I picked up Skyward first. I checked it out through my teacher's classroom library, and absolutely loved it. Then I read Steelheart, which was pretty good. After a lot of consideration, I picked up Mistborn, and proceeded to talk about nothing but Vin for the rest of the week, then read the rest of Sanderson's books.

Wow, that sound's just like my own story! I started off with Skyward, Steelheart and Warbreaker, which I checked out of one of my local libraries after I'd seen Brandon play Magic the Gathering on Game Knights and saw him recommended by Shadiversity. Warbreaker in particular got me interested in reading more, and I bought Mistborn, which I enjoyed even more. Since then, I've consumed the rest of Mistborn Era 1, the Stormlight Archive books, The Emperor's Soul and The Rithmatist. I can't wait for Rhythm of War in November!

[thebubblesarealie he/him]

I have an unusual story. I began by playing the Mistborn board game when my Mistborn-loving friends came over to play board games. Maybe a few months later, I picked up Mistborn and read it. I loved it, but after I finished it I went to Brandon’s website, where I learned of the other two books in the series. I read the blurb and decided that I loved the first book too much to have it ruined for me in the last 2 books (in that there wasn’t a happy ending right away)! I picked them up eventually, and read them. I put them down again. Come this past February, I ordered Mistborn era2 and Stormlight archive, along with Arcanum unbounded. So far, I have read everything there is to read about Mistborn, and books 1 and 2 of Stormlight, and Edgedancer. I am currently on Oathbringer.

[Kelwynish]

For me it was pure luck. I have a long commute for work and decided to fill that time with audio books. I picked WOK because it was really long and looked appealing. Best snap decesion I've ever made.