Shaukan-son-Hasweth he/him Posted January 8, 2025 Posted January 8, 2025 (edited) After finishing WaT recently it really hit me how long I’ve been following Stormlight now. Despite my feelings on this last book, the series has become pretty dear to me. Partially because it's been with me for that long, partially because of the story itself. I first discovered stormlight 13 years ago at 17 during the summer break. I was taking driving lessons at the time and my instructor was an incredibly awful and mean person. I’m not good at driving either so on the days when he would pick me up I was super nervous and looking for ways to distract myself. I found the german audiobook version of Way of Kings on my brothers old Ipod. I started listening thankful for a source of escapism and quickly got lost in the world. It felt unique and new. The magic, ecology, cultures and religions of each of Sandersons work is so cool. This is the aspect in which I think, with all of the flaws his writing can have, his creativity is one of a kind and not often matched by others I've read. It maybe the part that will keep me following until the end. In the following years I listend to everything Brandon had to offer. I had plenty of time while doing monotone labor on the farm I grew up on or on my hour long commutes to school everyday. I especially remember that Brandon was once having a book signing in a city I was also hanging out in, and I only learned about it a month later. Man was I bummed out... While I enjoyed all of the works that were later revealed to be part of the cosmere, the stormlight books in particular have been a point of reflection for me. I distinctively remember the phases of my life I was in when each book came out. It’s crazy to think about where and who I was at each instance. So much had changed between each of them. And because of this this series is quite meaningful to me. Maybe any media could have taken that place. But I’m glad it was this one because I do think I took a few valuable lessons away from the themes. Consciously or unconsciously. Now, at almost 30, the themes and messages in Brandons works seem a little bit blunt for me, but back when I was a teenager I really appreciated that. These books have definitely been a huge source of comfort for me to come back to in the past years. Even if it was just for escapism when everything was just a lot. People trying to do the right thing and staying true to their ideals even and especially when it’s not the easy comfortable or convenient thing to do was a very inspiring topic. As cringy as it may sound, but I do think it inspired me to intentionally become a better person, or at least someone with integrity. Also, the characters dealing with their dark pasts and mental state was deeply relatable to me. I still sometimes find myself coming back to Shallans conversation with wit in “The girl who stood up” in oathbringer, or Eshnonais conversation with the Stormfather before she goes beyond. Sometimes these books just said things I really needed to hear at that moment. And nobody else was saying them. With WaT I’m not sure if I haven’t in some ways outgrown the story in this aspect. I still love the world and am thankful and happy that they exist, and I know I will be looking forward to how it ends. For example, I don’t know what it would have meant to me years ago to have a scene with two gay men openly discussing navigating their attraction with each other. Maybe a decade ago it really would have helped to sort things out or give the courage to have these conversations in real life. But now, I can only see it from the other side. In this scenario I’m not Renarin or Rlain. I am Drehy. And maybe it’s like that with the other themes as well. That alone shows what a journey these stormlight infused years have been. I just felt like sharing this. And I'm especially interested to hear from you guys as well. Edited January 8, 2025 by Shaukan-son-Hasweth 5
Recommended Posts