What author did you read a book by and didn’t like, but gave them another chance and loved it?

I’m so glad I gave Edith Wharton another chance. I read Ethan Frome and thought it was fine. On a whim I picked up The Age of Innocence and fell in love. Now I’m buying anything I can by her. I recently read The House of Mirth, and can confirm she is one of my favorite authors now. Anybody have a similar experience with an author?

  • dafaliraevz@alien.topB
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    1 year ago

    Brandon Sanderson

    I liked the Mistborn trilogy, mostly the magic system, but didn’t much care for the fact that the two main characters were young adults (I’m not much of a fan of stories with teen protagonists unless it’s done reeeeally well), though I did find the prophecies to be fun. To me, I didn’t get why it was so popular in the fantasy space. A nice read, but it didn’t blow me away, which was what I was expecting due to its popularity. I had no desire to read Sanderson again.

    I had a buddy say that his Stormlight Archive was loads better and that if I got through the first book and felt the same as I did with Mistborn, then the rest of the series will be an utter slog. I came in not having high hopes that the series would be great, but that it would be as mid as Mistborn.

    Well, The Way of Kings was absolutely and utterly spectacular. I jammed through the four released books in two months. Each of the four books had me up till 3am to read their climaxes in one sitting. No book before or since has done that to me. It’s right up there in my top 3 all time books series, regardless of genre, and Book 5 is my most anticipated read for next year.

    I haven’t read the second trilogy of Mistborn, though my buddy says it’s a completely different cast and vibe.

    • BeigePhilip@alien.topB
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      1 year ago

      The first Mistborn novel was so bad, it put me off the genre entirely. It’s been about 12 years and I still can’t bring myself to pick up a fantasy novel from a writer I don’t already know.

    • TIN
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      1 year ago

      Yeah, I think mistborn has some amazing ideas but it’s clearly an early series from him, the writing improves as he goes and takes a leap forward in the Stormlight Archives.