What hooks you?

The best part about fantasy/science fiction novels is how they can take you out of this world and drop you down somewhere new, surrounded by interesting characters, strange magic/technology, and new races or cultures.  Sometimes the most interesting thing about reading the first novel in a series is not what you get to see in those 300 – 600 pages, but the things that are hinted at that exist outside of the small area that the protagonists show us.  Maybe we only hear bits and pieces about a grand city of magic or technology while our lead character moves about in the surrounding villages. What if our atheist hero(ine) witnesses the after effects of a God(ess)’s wrath on a sinful village.  Or maybe villagers tell our group of travelers about an all powerful mage that fought off a whole pack of bandits with “amazing and deadly spells”.  We get hints of a much bigger world that keep us interested in seeing what happens even after we turn that last page.

My question to you is what part of the worlds you have explored do you find hooks you the most?  Is it the characters, both main and background, that you read on to learn more about?    Do new races, with their unique abilities and characteristics, keep you wondering what they will do next?  Does the running of a kingdom and the political intrigue that goes on behind the main character yet influences their lives make you turn the pages a little bit faster?  Or does an author’s creation of a system of magic that shapes a world or the strange technologies its citizens use make you preorder the next book in the series before you’ve even finished the first book?

Of course a combination of all of the above would make a very engaging world, but even having one can be the backbone for an excellent series.  For me its cultures that pop up and change from kingdom to kingdom.  Please leave me your thoughts on what parts of a story really draw you in.  I would love to hear them!