A Gunslinger wrote:I started out hooked, then he raped Lena. This act took me out of the game...in fact, the 1st time I tried reading the books (8th grade) this made me put it down. When I returned a few years later, I forced my way through and was then hooked by Jehannum.
That's almost creepy, because I did the same thing (except I was in 7th grade at the time). Atiaran's "acceptance" of the ordeal seemed almost as criminal at the time. I was already hooked on TC's character though, and within a year I had picked LFB up again, devouring the next five in short order.
Note: Though devoured, I still relished the style, the vocabulary, and the powerful imagery. Let it not be said of me that I read a book only to find out what happens next!
I've been trying to remember when I knew (after all, it was about 20 years ago and my memory is terrible!).
I think it was SRD's writing style (rather than the content itself) that had me hooked in the beginning. The prose "sung" to me.
One thing that sticks in my mind is the wraiths of Andelain...but I think I was story hooked before that... I empathize with "damaged" characters. Even at the age of 13, something about Covenant struck a deep chord within me (and something about Linden also strikes a deep chord).
That said, my "Chronicles journey" (so to speak) has been quite a weird one--it's hard to know what actually hooked me and what keeps me hooked.
Seareach wrote:I've been trying to remember when I knew (after all, it was about 20 years ago and my memory is terrible!).
I think it was SRD's writing style (rather than the content itself) that had me hooked in the beginning. The prose "sung" to me.
One thing that sticks in my mind is the wraiths of Andelain...but I think I was story hooked before that... I empathize with "damaged" characters. Even at the age of 13, something about Covenant struck a deep chord within me...
Okay, a few of you have posted stories, so here is mine. And you all are readers (hell, you got through 7 books which don't have a heap of action, is mostly internalized, and about a leper...you have to be readers):
My friend at the time invited me to visit him in Arkansas. We were friendly in 6th grade, saw little of each other in 7th grade, and he moved away that summer. We met because we were both excited about Star Wars and both reading Lord of the Rings. It was the summer between 8th and 9th grade that he invited me to visit him to spend some time with him while he hung out with his dad while his dad ran a canoe rental business.
It was awkward at first, but we had a ball. He told me he was reading the coolest series while he was bored off his butt. He let me borrow LFB while he was reading TIW. He pitched it to me, and I was hooked right away from the pitch.
My visit included the 4th of July, and we set off fireworks with his family on his grandfather's farm. His cousin was there, and I thought she was pretty, but teased her most of the time. That night, I couldn't think of anything other than her. I realized it was strange feelings of love. She was the first I really felt that way for.
A few days later, I took a canoe trip with my friend and his cousin. Yep, I fell hard. I was very sad when I left the next day to go home. I read LFB all the way on the bus trip home, and those two item (and Led Zepplin IV, which I listened to on my Walkman) are all intertwined together for me. So that's kind of what hooked me, the beauty of the Land, the beauty of the Ozarks, the beauty of his cousin, all came together to move me more than I had ever been moved before.
It took me a year to finally finish the first and second Chronicles, listening to Stairway to Heaven so often and looking daily (yes, I was obsessed) at the single picture I had of his cousin that we took. As an afterward to this story, I went back next summer with love in my heart, everything rehearsed, and so forth. All set for the 4th of July...
...and she had to work.
Devastated. But then my friend and I had a real conversation that didn't consist of poop and fart jokes, about Covenant, and everything tied in with that, and then moved into me confessing my love for his cousin. Yeah, he knew it. And we became best friends at that point. He was best man at my wedding, and even though we are living on opposite sides of the U.S., we still keep in contact and occasionally see each other when money allows.
I can't quite put my finger on what finally got me with these books as far as the story goes though. I know that I really wanted more coverage of "the real world" as opposed to the Land, but the death of Lena for some reason was the first and maybe the only time I have cried from a single event in a book.
Life is a waste of time
Time is a waste of life
So get wasted all of the time
And you'll have the time of your life
