Fantasy novels, really?

I've never been interested in reading fantasy.  I developed a love for sci fi over a decade ago when I discovered Arthur C. Clarke and Orson Scott Card.  I've read a lot of Isaac Asimov over the last 2 years.  I especially like sci fi that takes place off-planet--in a space ship, on a distance planet, etc.  But fantasy--keep that junk away from me.  When I discuss books with people, I have to remind them that sci fi and fantasy are different genres and that "I don't do fantasy." In the past, I have started to read several fantasy novels and always gave up quickly.  I realized that I just didn't have the attention span to learn all of the new rules introduced in each book: new cultures, new magic systems, new worlds with new (and often very weird and unintuitive) customs, conventions, histories, species, races, etc).  No thanks.

But....

Last June, I was desperate for new reading material.  A friend lent me Brandon Sanderson's Elantris.  I was skeptical (it was fantasy, after all), but I decided to give it a try.  At times, I was frustrated by occasional poor stylistic decisions, the sudden drops in action, and changes in character points of view.  However, this was a compelling read.  I was done in 6 days; I didn't want to put it down.  I really enjoyed it.

So maybe I had neglected a perfectly good genre of fiction.  Maybe there was a sophistication that I hadn't expected.  My only option was to read some more.

Based on another recommendation, I bought Patrick Rothfuss' The Name of the Wind in October.  Holy cow.  Brilliantly constructed, wonderfully tight prose, compelling story.  This novel showed amazing and deliberate care in its creation.  I was impressed and quickly (i.e. immediately) went on to the next book in the series, The Wise Man's Fear.  I had just started this book when I decided to see how many of these books to expect--and was devastated to discover that book 2 had only recently been published and that I would have to wait until at least May for the next installment.  I was so (temporarily) disgusted that I nearly stopped reading.  Okay, probably not, but there's a reason why I don't start reading a series until the series in completed: I'm not good at waiting.  Harry Potter, Twilight, Mistborn (but I'll get to that): I read them after the entire series had been published.  My assessment of The Wise Man's Fear: pretty darn good.  This book was much slower, and honestly, showed less care with the construction.  Large sections of the text dragged; it felt like little cutting/trimming had been done.  The phrasing was not as controlled and deliberate.  But it was still quite good; I'm attached to the characters and really want to know what happens next in the story.  I'm eagerly awaiting the next volume.

Okay, so I'd found THREE whole fantasy books that I liked.  More research was needed, so I returned to Brandon Sanderson. 

I started the Mistborn trilogy, and read Mistborn, The Well of Ascension, and The Hero of Ages.  Mistborn: amazing.  Careful, well-planned, well-conceived brilliance.  The Well of Ascension: great.  Well-planned still, good follow through on details set up in the first book.  A great, quick read.  The Hero of Ages: a nice conclusion that left me wanting more.  This book was frustrating at times because it did not show the caliber of writing that the first two exhibited, but it wrapped things up nicely, and I was pleased with the trilogy as a whole.  Then I discovered The Alloy of Law, a Mistborn novel that takes place hundreds of years after the original trilogy.  While I appreciated not have to learn a new magic system (Pushing and Pulling was complicated enough, thank you very much), I was not impressed by this book.  Perhaps the setting (in a way, kind of industrial revolution-y) put me off, or maybe the characters weren't as likeable.  But I never really got attached to anyone; I think the characters needed a little more depth.  But I gave Sanderson another try with his novella, The Emperor's Soul.  I really enjoyed this.  I'm not typically a fan of novellas; it seems that just when they're getting started, they've suddenly ended, and I'm rarely satisfied with brevity.  This was an exception.  Though the magic system of soul stamps was complicated and really needed a bit more explanation, this was a complete work: it left me satisfied. 

I'd borrowed Sanderson's Warbreaker from a friend, but when I mentioned to one of my composition classes that I was going to start reading it, one of my students urged me to read Brent Weeks' Lightbringer books first.  Near Christmas, I gave the first, The Black Prism, a try.  It was an interesting combination of clumsy, cluncky, and sometimes awkward prose, a fairly complex but intriguing magic system, and a really great story line.  It was perplexing to be so intrigued by the story but so annoyed by the diction. I immediately moved on to The Blinding Knife when I finished the first installment.  The character development is really quite good, and the story is compelling.  Better yet, the prose has a much more polished feel.  It was clearly given more care in the editing stages.  This book dragged in places, but the slow points were always brief.  I really believe that book 2 was better than book 1; I think Weeks is hitting his stride and has the potential to create a really great book 3.

However, this leaves me with Warbreaker, which is not living up to expectations.  I'm about 200 pages in, and I'm less impressed than I expected.  As with all Sanderson I've read, this is compelling.  I will have no trouble finishing this book in a couple more days.  But after read The Alloy of Law, which left a bad taste in my mouth, I'm wondering if Sanderson is the John Grisham or Danielle Steel of fantasy.  Has he figured out the "fantasy formula" and is now just cranking the books out?  Is he cashing in on his Wheel of Time fame by publishing second-rate novels?  I don't know.  I'm still too new to this genre to have an educated opinion. 

I don't know if I'm ready for dragons or other devices/characters that are so stereotypically "fantasy," but I've discovered that I can handle magic--and that I actually like it.  Perhaps there's still hope for my conversion.