I am Obsessed with Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archives
I love this series. I've reread it twice and I'm currently working my way through the audio versions. There's the next one coming out in December, as the series is yet unfinished, and I'm very excited about it.
I'm getting through it much more quickly than usual with the audio version because I can listen to it while I'm at work, which is (including my commute) 10 hours of reading a day. It usually takes me about a month to finish each book, but this way I'll be done with it in less than a week. It was a bit of a shock to discover I'd been pronouncing almost every name wrong, but one of the narrators pronounced "pupate" wrong so I don't feel bad about it.
When I was first introduced to the series, my friend sold it to me as "a self help book disguised as a fantasy series", and I think that's pretty accurate. A lot of the characters' struggles are weirdly relatable for characters in a completely fantasy universe, like one of the main characters outright has depression and PTSD very obviously and we get to see how he tries to deal with that in addition to the fantastical universe problems he has. At one point he invents group therapy. It's wonderful. Another character struggles with dissociative issues and the author went out of his way to acknowledge doing research into real life DID and similar conditions to make sure he was writing it the right way. There's also a good age range of characters, from teenagers to seniors, that we get perspectives and arcs from. One of the main characters is in his 50s which isn't an age you see a lot of these kinds of books talk about.
These books very much remind me of the friend who first recommended them, sometimes painfully so. We have a history together that was not always one of kindness and respect, though it is now very much both of these things. The last time I read them, I got emotional flashbacks, a symptom of my PTSD that was quite surprising to me, as I didn't consider that situation to be traumatic. But they're so good I consider it worth it to experience these things, and they always pass.
The other thing is, they're inspiring. I first began an exercise regimen when I read them for the first time, inspired by Kaladin training himself all on his own volition. And my current attempts at art span from Shallan's sketching habits. I got jealous of a fictional character, as one does, and so I bought a sketchbook and started drawing. I'm still not very good, but it's a fun hobby and one I'm glad I picked up.
I'm listening to them now so that I have a refreshed mind for the next one. I'm very worried about how everything left off in the last one, so the next is something I'm anxious for. I have no idea what's going to happen, how everyone is going to act and react, or how things are going to go for them. I don't even know if it'll be the end - and I can't tell if I hope it is or not.
This series has made a lasting impression on me and I love it. I advocate reading it to anyone who is interested in high fantasy and can stand long books. (It is easier as an audiobook, so keep that in mind.) It's just really goddamn good. Brandon Sanderson knows what he's doing.