“Fantasy Firsts” Giveaway: Mistborn and The Eye of the World
If you follow fantasy news at all, you will know that there is Big News happening this month… the publication of The Gathering Storm, the 12th volume of the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan, on 27 October.
Unfortunately, Jordan passed away before he could complete the series, but the helm was passed to fantasy author (and WoT fan) Brandon Sanderson. Using Jordan’s notes and drafts, Sanderson is completing the final volumes to bring the epic series to a conclusion.
I have gushed about Sanderson on this blog before (my reviews of most of Sanderson’s books), but I haven’t spent a lot of time talking about the Wheel of Time, for the simple reason that I read (and re-read) the whole thing several years before I started blogging. WoT has its ardent supporters and its vicious haters, and I fall decisively among the former. It was among the first fantasy I read as an adult, and I consider it to be the series that got me hooked on the genre as a whole. It certainly has its problems (excessive length that drags in some of the later books), but I fell so in love with Jordan’s world, and his characters, and their stories, that they have remained vivid and detailed in my mind, even years after the last time I re-read any of the books.
Aaaanyways. Enough about me. Let’s talk about you… and more specifically, how you can win not one but TWO fantastic fantasy novels.
In honor of the upcoming release of The Gathering Storm, Tor Books is giving away sets of The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan, and Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson, the first novels of fantasy series by the two great authors completing the new Wheel of Time book. They’ve been generous enough to let me give away THREE sets of both books to my lucky, lucky readers… that means you!
To Enter:
1) Leave a comment below telling me about your favorite bookish first… a first novel, a first scene, a first line, whatever.
2) Make sure that the e-mail you put in the appropriate blank is one you check frequently, as that is how I will be contacting the winners. You do not need to put your e-mail address in the text of the comment, nor will I use the address for any other purpose.
3) Entries are due by 23:59 EST on Wednesday 21 October 2009.
4) Contest is open to those with a mailing address in the U.S., Canada, or the U.K.
These are both great books. C’mon, get hooked on some excellent fantasy series. I dare you!
Fyrefly's Book Blog 
I suppose my favorite first is the first line of A Tale of Two Cities: “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times…”
nbmars AT yahoo DOT com
This series has been a part of my life for the nearly the last twenty years, and has been on the top of my list of books since I was twelve, but it was not always that way. I recieved Eye of the World on my eleventh birthday from a friend of the family and read a little in the middle and a little in the beginning (as is still my habit) and didn’t really like the style or see anything interesting and shelved the book. For a year I read (Classics by) piers anthony, robert asprin and a great many others. When my local small town library and I ran out of books, I picked up the Eye of the World and was hooked. I stumbled on The Great Hunt at a thrift store for two dollars and discovered it was a series and have spent the remainder of my life waiting for books ( with 2 weddings and 4 kids in between). But it was not my first love in the fantasy realm. Piers Anthony and the wonderful pre-computer game world of Xanth have that honor.
I haven’t read WoT or any Sanderson. Yet. One of my favorite bookish firsts is when I managed to get one of my sisters to pick up Harry Potter and she became totally addicted. I love seeing people discover (again) their love of reading. And what better place to start than HP?
I so want Mistborn. The beginning that always comes to mind whenever I think of beginnings is always that of Pride and Prejudice.
My favorite first book in a series is Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. I haven’t read either of these books/series yet, so I would love to win!
akreese (at) hotmail (dot) com
My fiction/fantasy reading started early. But the one that I remember as one of the first reading experiences was Mr. Popper’s Penguins
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Popper's_Penguins
I think the librarian at the downtown library gave it to my grandmother as a suggested reading. I loved penguins in the icebox (now know as refrigerators) and Mrs Popper trying to deal with her expanding penguin family. Hooked me on reading.
The first fantasy series I remember getting hooked on is The Dragon Riders of Pern by Ann McCaffery. Still love them to this day.
My favorite first would have to be Naked in Death by J.D. Robb. The year was (approximately) 1997, and I was conked out on Benadryl after suffering third degree burns in a tanning bed. I then applied a “soothing gel” which I was apparently allergic too, thus the ER trip and resulting Benadryl. I would wake long enough to read a few pages and then pass back out—but I was still coherent enough to fall in love with the series, which I’m still reading to this day. I re-read them often and love them more every single time.
singergrl13@yahoo.com
Thanks for the giveaway!
Jessica
My first fantasy book was Arena by William R. Forstchen
The first time I ever was obsessed enough about a book to mail an author overseas for his lovely signature: Garth Nix of the Old Kingdom trilogy. And I didn’t think I would get it, but I was so pleasantly surprised upon receiving a battered up postcard from him a few months later! What a nice guy :)
email: this_is_shar(at)live(dot)com
“Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again” from Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca is one of the most haunting first lines I’ve ever read. Thanks!
Ok. This is awesome. I LOVE Wheel of Time. I don’t own the first one though and I NEED to re-read the series before I read the last ones. And I’ve never read Mistborn. WOT hold a place in my heart though. I picked up the first book when I was in high school. My dad was in the middle of reading Crown of Thorns but passed away before finishing it. So I thought I’d check out the series and loved it. I have gotten both my siblings to become fans. Guess it runs in the family. :)
Thanks for the giveaway!