Literary topic: Brandon Sanderson

[scadugenga]

Holy crap, Dark. I have to give you mad props for recommending Sanderson.

I admit to being cautiously hesitant. Particularly because of the whole Wheel of Time thing.

But then I picked up Way of Kings.

...

Wow.

This man can write! I literally flew through the 1000+ pages and was left wanting the next book ASAP.

I'm going to have to go find his other series soonest.

[DarkLink]

Lol, told ya so. Wait 'till you read Alloy of Law, his first adult short novel. In fact, I felt the whole Mistborn series was better than the Way of Kings, which I still liked a lot but the first half was a touch slow. I'm definitely looking forward to the next one.

In fact, I've been told that Sanderson took all the good parts of the Wheel of Time, and trimmed out all the bad habits Jordan had, such as ponderously slow pacing. I can't say from personal experience since I only read the first few books (which were awesome) and then quit on book 4 or 5 when he spent more time describing women's dresses than advancing the plot.


Sanderson also puts out books like a rabbit puts out babies. Or maybe a squirrel. Whichever's faster.

[DarkLink]

BTW, neat factoid. All of Brandon Sanderson's fantasy novels tie into one another (Mistborn, Warbreaker, Way of Kings, etc). The hints are very subtle, but the Way of Kings promises to reveal the connections eventually. Look out for a guy named Hoid.

He also considered naming the sequel to the Way of Kings the Book of Endless Pages, which would be really ironic but actually make sense in the plot, but apparently decided against it for obvious reasons considering how long the Way of Kings was.

[scadugenga]

Well, now that Borders has gone, and with my rampant detestation of Barnes & Noble, it's been hard to find a bookstore around here.

Found a "Half Price Books" today, went in, but sadly, no Sanderson.

I may need to check ABE books to try and find more.

[DarkLink]

I've got a nook and a kindle app on my windows phone, so I just order stuff online now. I'm looking forward to getting Caine's Law in a couple of days when it comes out, which is another author (Matthew Stover) that you should check out. Unless you're squeamish, as he tends to have a lot of blood and gore in his books. The Acts of Caine series is amazing, though. Conan the Barbarian meets 1984.

But so far, Sanderson's getting a pretty impressive record. His main books (4 Mistborn novels, Warbreaker, Elantris, Way of Kings) are all part of one massive overarching universe in addition to being their own individual epic fantasy series, and now that he's finishing up the Wheel of Time books, there'll be a lot more coming from him over the next few decades.

[scadugenga]

Oh I'm well and truly versed in Stover.

Heroes Die was a fantastic read. Caine Black Knife was just as good, if not a bit better. Good to know another one's coming out soon.

I have a Nook, and now an Ipad. I vastly prefer the ipad as an ereader.

That being said, I have a hard time justifying paying full retail price for an ebook.

[scadugenga]

Okay, I'm about two thirds the way through Mistborn.

It's a *very* intriguing book.

Not sure if I like it better than the Way of Kings...but I haven't finished it yet, either.

[DarkLink]

Ooooohhhhh, just you wait.

In fact, for me, it's the other way around. I read the Mistborn series first, then the Way of Kings, so it was the Way of Kings that had to prove itself worthy. I thought the first half was a little slow, but once it picked up it fit right in.

Anyways, I think Mistborn probably holds the record for me for most twists and turns in a novel. Wait 'till stuff starts happening in the finale for each book. Just you wait. They take that "there's always another secret" very seriously.

Plus, it's fun to use in-universe knowledge only to accurately predict aspects of the magic system that haven't been revealed yet. By the end of the first book I believe you technically have everything you need to figure out what each and every metal does for allomancers, and how many metals there are. It's pretty awesome how intricate the system is.

[scadugenga]

Okay, managed to finish Mistborn while on lunch break from the Infinity tournament at Adepticon.

Damn...

You weren't kidding.

Now I have to go find the rest of the series. I'm digging the Allomancy.

And I still have to say I think I like Way of Kings a bit more--if only for Bridge Four.

[DarkLink]

Wait until you get to the grand finale at the end of the trilogy. Allomancy and the Lord Ruler's secrets are just scratching the surface.