I know all of you probably have some different reasons, which is why I'm asking all of you: why?
I love the YW books because they're a combination of two of my favorite things ever-- theoretical physics and moral philosophy. I really like reading the ways in which DD managed to make wizardry a type of science, and I think it's awesome how the Wizards' Oath is is sort of a type of moral philosophy. I consider being a practicing, successful wizard as the sort of self-transcendence described by Frankle in Man's Search For Meaning.
I like to turn to the YW books when I can't decide whether I want to read something like Hyperspace or The Elegant Universe or something more psychological like Dostoyevsky's works (and I also like reading Kant, although I consider myself a virtue ethicist-- IDK why, but Kant'e writing feels a lot more interesting to me)). Of course, the YW books could never substitute for these masterpieces, but at least I don't get the funny looks and double-takes from strangers when I'm reading the YW books on the subway (it doesn't happen much now, but I got that a lot when I was 11 and going home on the subway whilst reading The Brothers Karamazov... WAIT NO the weirder looks came whilst I was reading God Made The Integers (Stephen Hawking)(thankfully though, unlike Nita or Dairine, I was never really labelled a nerd because when I was younger my classmates were too young to know what a nerd was and by the time we did reach that age I had tested into a school for "nerds" and we all read these sorts of books. Anyways)).
All in all what made the YW books a deep passion for me (aside from Dairine <3<3) was probably just the fact that a) they were probably the only scifi/fantasy series I've read which manages to incorporate theoretical physics and moral philosophy into something worth reading, and b) I feel like I relate a lot to the characters (and not just Dairine, but wizards in general-- "Wizardry is choices." Being someone in me, in my generation, I have a lot of choices. People swear I have dozens more choices open to me than they ever did, whether they are of older generations or also part of mine, and I feel like that's sort of what drove me to be interested in moral philosophy, and to see it used in the YW books like that... to see wizards-- no matter how fictional they are-- make these choices, is what makes me love the YW books and the characters so much). I turn back to these books when I'm bored or lonely, or sometimes just when I want something meaningful to read. They've always been there for me-- at first my local library had all the YW books, and then when I moved my new school owned a shelf and a half of the YW books, which I read time and time again until I saved up enough allowance to buy all of them (which took a while, considering that a) I was too young to get a job, b) It's not like I would've had time to work what with the 3-5 hours of homework a day and c) I didn't get much allowance...).
So basically, now I'm just asking all of you what makes the YA books special to you, and/or why you love them.
I love the YW books because they're a combination of two of my favorite things ever-- theoretical physics and moral philosophy. I really like reading the ways in which DD managed to make wizardry a type of science, and I think it's awesome how the Wizards' Oath is is sort of a type of moral philosophy. I consider being a practicing, successful wizard as the sort of self-transcendence described by Frankle in Man's Search For Meaning.
I like to turn to the YW books when I can't decide whether I want to read something like Hyperspace or The Elegant Universe or something more psychological like Dostoyevsky's works (and I also like reading Kant, although I consider myself a virtue ethicist-- IDK why, but Kant'e writing feels a lot more interesting to me)). Of course, the YW books could never substitute for these masterpieces, but at least I don't get the funny looks and double-takes from strangers when I'm reading the YW books on the subway (it doesn't happen much now, but I got that a lot when I was 11 and going home on the subway whilst reading The Brothers Karamazov... WAIT NO the weirder looks came whilst I was reading God Made The Integers (Stephen Hawking)(thankfully though, unlike Nita or Dairine, I was never really labelled a nerd because when I was younger my classmates were too young to know what a nerd was and by the time we did reach that age I had tested into a school for "nerds" and we all read these sorts of books. Anyways)).
All in all what made the YW books a deep passion for me (aside from Dairine <3<3) was probably just the fact that a) they were probably the only scifi/fantasy series I've read which manages to incorporate theoretical physics and moral philosophy into something worth reading, and b) I feel like I relate a lot to the characters (and not just Dairine, but wizards in general-- "Wizardry is choices." Being someone in me, in my generation, I have a lot of choices. People swear I have dozens more choices open to me than they ever did, whether they are of older generations or also part of mine, and I feel like that's sort of what drove me to be interested in moral philosophy, and to see it used in the YW books like that... to see wizards-- no matter how fictional they are-- make these choices, is what makes me love the YW books and the characters so much). I turn back to these books when I'm bored or lonely, or sometimes just when I want something meaningful to read. They've always been there for me-- at first my local library had all the YW books, and then when I moved my new school owned a shelf and a half of the YW books, which I read time and time again until I saved up enough allowance to buy all of them (which took a while, considering that a) I was too young to get a job, b) It's not like I would've had time to work what with the 3-5 hours of homework a day and c) I didn't get much allowance...).
So basically, now I'm just asking all of you what makes the YA books special to you, and/or why you love them.
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