Exciting, Inspiring, or Intriguing

There is a writing challenge I came across that encourages the writer to make a list of things they find exciting, inspiring, or intriguing. After I started thinking about it, I came to find the challenge itself intriguing. It seemed to me to be a starting point for understanding quite a lot, not only what I wanted to write about, but why I liked certain books best.

This is the first part of the challenge: a list of things that excite, inspire, or intrigue me.

THE LIST (in no particular order or categories)

• Good vs. evil conflicts
• Spoken words as binding and/or authoritative
• World War II
• Jerusalem
• Turn of the century Egypt (early 1900s)
• Archeology
• Fictional 1920/30s detectives
• Folk dancing
• Redemption stories (related to realized potential)
• Realized potential (related to redemption stories)
• Apprenticeships
• Strong friendships / complementary relationships
• Strong parent/child relationships
• Adoption
• Planes / flying
• Engineering (electrical/mechanical)
• Mountains
• Mountain fortresses
• Exploration
• Space / Nebulas / Stars
• Swimming
• Other cultures
• Solving puzzles / mysteries
• Space ships / fighters / stations
• Rebellions against oppression
• Weight of history
• Hidden communities
• Layered cities (i.e. Coruscant)
• Secret identities
• Being undercover
• Shadow wars
• Shadow antagonists
• Autumn
• Christmas
• Underground / cave cities
• Cities w/ waterfalls and/or lakes
• Epic sword-fights / battles
• Archery
• Monarchies
• Liege relationships
• Divine providence
• Kings as priests
• Wild West
• Tight knit communities
• Holiness of God