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101 posted:Mistborn Era 1 by the studio that did Arcane would be the dream
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May 11, 2022 18:34
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Mordiceius posted:"He lowered the barrel to her face and fired." Oh well lol, that's on me then.
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May 11, 2022 22:01
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Eminent Domain posted:Oh well lol, that's on me then. Hah. For me, the moment was good, but like most the other dramatic moments from the book, it was immediately undone. It felt like he was incredibly hesitant to commit to any consequence in Bands of Mourning.
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May 11, 2022 22:17
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Louisgod posted:It's just interesting to think that even with Mistborn written in 2006 and him still being up and coming that it feels like he wrote things out in a way to be translatable to a tv or movie series. CK07 posted:The opening scene of The Way of Kings could not have been more expressly written as a sizzle reel unless it was formatted as a script. It's a fantasy Matrix fight scene, and - even though I complain about his action scenes at times - one of the best I've read. Dude knows what he wants out of this. I'd argue that Sanderson's writing is cinematic because he's of a generation of writers who grew up immersed in movies, and this style of writing will only become more common. We deconstructed films and TV episodes, including looking at how novels were adapted for the screen, in my high school English class. It included analyzing choices like camera angles. When you go into writing a novel equipped with this kind of understanding, it definitely influences how you choose to establish scenes and characters. Just look at how Sanderson writes most of his Sanderlanches: it's a bunch of rapid jump/smash cuts in prose form.
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May 12, 2022 00:11
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MartingaleJack posted:I finished Mistborn: Secret History last night. Didn't enjoy it. I've read everything Sanderson and love the guy, but this book was definitely only for super fans. It's the weakest thing I've read from him by far. Absolutely nothing landed for me. It just felt like unnecessary fan fiction. Also, I hate it when people die, but don't, even if it's someone I thought was cool. Likewise. Just finished it myself, and after loving the original trilogy and Era 2, I felt that Secret History added very little to the story while taking away from some of the cool character growth moments. You're spot on - it read like fan fiction and didn't take the time to let scenes that should have been super emotional and cathartic breath. Kelsier and Vin's reunion after her death was completely rushed and felt phoned in.
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May 12, 2022 19:45
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I'm about 30 minutes out from finishing Secret History and I must be in the minority because I love it. The small peaks into how the cosmere is truly connected in the cognitive realm specific to people from Elantris showing up was super fun, and for me it doesn't take away from the overall story or theme of era 1 but simply adds a fun background to what you already kinda suspected and what Sanderson lightly alluded to. Maybe I'll feel differently when I finish it though. That said, should I pick up and read White Sand since characters from that story pop up? I know it's cosmere related but I'm so ready to move on to a different author for a bit. Leng posted:I'd argue that Sanderson's writing is cinematic because he's of a generation of writers who grew up immersed in movies, and this style of writing will only become more common. We deconstructed films and TV episodes, including looking at how novels were adapted for the screen, in my high school English class. It included analyzing choices like camera angles. When you go into writing a novel equipped with this kind of understanding, it definitely influences how you choose to establish scenes and characters. This is a great perspective, I didn't even think of him being raised in the era of 80s/90s action stuff having such a strong influence on his writing and forget he's only 8 years older than me. It's also pretty clear his favorite video games have influenced his writing and action scenes. Louisgod fucked around with this message at 20:00 on May 12, 2022 |
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May 12, 2022 19:58
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Louisgod posted:That said, should I pick up and read White Sand since characters from that story pop up? I know it's cosmere related but I'm so ready to move on to a different author for a bit. I love all of his Cosmere books (except Elantris, which has only one compelling character), but the White Sand format doesn't work for me at all. I also think it's not that interesting compared to most of his other work, and the characters are nothing special, either. And none of the White Sand cast have yet done anything special. Yes, one of them is writing the arcanum at the end of each book, and one gave his knife to ghost Kelsier, but none of this is enhanced by having read White Sand, imho.
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May 12, 2022 21:40
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Louisgod posted:That said, should I pick up and read White Sand since characters from that story pop up? I know it's cosmere related but I'm so ready to move on to a different author for a bit. Be aware there's White Sand prose (unpublished non-canon version) and the official White Sand graphic novel (3 volumes) which is canon. Volumes I and II stick closely to the prose version, for the most part, but volume III's ending made clear some things that have Cosmere implications at a character level that weren't in the prose version. (I have not read the third volume of the graphic novel because I didn't enjoy the format of the first two all that much; I just went and looked at some spoilers) The prose version is rough but fun though. I'd save it for later, there's only been a handful or so of very small crossover hints. Also, Brandon doing a cool thing with Lightweaver Foundation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmPNADOpy3g
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May 13, 2022 02:00
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Mordiceius posted:Hah. For me, the moment was good, but like most the other dramatic moments from the book, it was immediately undone. For some reason I had the thought that either he didn't or he just blasted right by her face but I suppose with the chain a shotgun to the face is just a minor issue. Might just be teeing it all up for book 4 I guess.
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May 13, 2022 10:23
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Eminent Domain posted:For some reason I had the thought that either he didn't or he just blasted right by her face but I suppose with the chain a shotgun to the face is just a minor issue. Totally. This isn't to say that I'm not excited, I just feel like major character moments for our three core cast Wax dying, Marasi getting shot, Wayne using a gun again were all way less effective when it feels like he backtracked on each one within a chapter or two. I think I may have been a little extra critical because I had just come off Shadows of Self, which I thought was one of his best works, and that book did not pull punches. Bands of Mourning, despite having massive ramifications for the world and the Cosmere, felt like he played a little too safe with it? Side note - which book is the first one where he uses the term "Cosmere"? Characters specifically say it within Bands of Mourning, though I still haven't read any Stormlight (it's next up after Warbreaker).
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May 13, 2022 18:54
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So I finished Mistborn trilogy 1 (great ending-worth the slow start to book 3) and I've Sanderson to thank for getting me back into reading again (to the point I'm getting a "surprise" kindle for my birthday). Before I read more of his stuff I decided to sidestep straight to someone else I've been meaning to read for ages: Joe Abercrombie. The difference in tone is Wicked in the best way. I really want to start Stormlight afterwards but after 5th book has a release date so that I'm not waiting for it. Other than that what should I read if I want some background on this "cosmere" connected-universe stuff everyone's talking about? All I've been able to pick up so far from bits and pieces of various posts and comments here and there is that Ruin and Preservation were parts of something much larger that broke apart somewhere else, and they somehow/for some reason came to the planet that the Mistborn series is set on and created life there together, but bickered and nearly hosed it all up, which was the story of those three books. They are not the only pieces, and other Sanderson books deal with other entities. I think one of Sazed's diary entries mentioned what they were a part of but I forget the name of it. Hoid is involved somehow, and Vin noped out of meeting him presumably because ruin was scared of him or the information he would've given to Vin, and influenced her to bail through that earring of hers? I dunno. I'm probably wrong about a lot of that and I probably missed some other references to it all but what would make the most sense to read next to get a better handle on what's going on? I'd be more than happy for anyone to spoil any cosmere references that I missed or misinterpreted in Mistborn era 1 because I never re-read books anymore.
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May 14, 2022 00:59
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Cactus posted:I really want to start Stormlight afterwards but after 5th book has a release date so that I'm not waiting for it. It doesn't have an official release date, but his current target is Q4 2023 - Q1 2024, and if you're not familiar with Brandon's productivity habits, well, I think it's really safe to assume he's going to hit his target. So if you read all 4, you won't be waiting ~that long~ for #5 The second Mistborn series isn't quite done yet either but the final book should be out before too long. Overall it's good but I prefer the first series to the second, though I might be in the minority in this thread with that opinion  I think Warbreaker is great but a lot of people seem to consider it one of his weaker books. Elantris is probably my least favorite of the Cosmere, but it has some cool ideas in it.
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May 14, 2022 01:06
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Cactus posted:I really want to start Stormlight afterwards but after 5th book has a release date so that I'm not waiting for it. Other than that what should I read if I want some background on this "cosmere" connected-universe stuff everyone's talking about? Read Emperor's Soul. It's Cosmere, standalone, one of his best written works and it has an explanation of a big piece of Cosmere theory.
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May 14, 2022 01:22
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Sab669 posted:It doesn't have an official release date, but his current target is Q4 2023 - Q1 2024, and if you're not familiar with Brandon's productivity habits, well, I think it's really safe to assume he's going to hit his target. So if you read all 4, you won't be waiting ~that long~ for #5 You never know, he might start feeling burned out again and write 4 more side project books and delay Stormlight 5 by a month
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May 14, 2022 01:26
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Yea but he did that instead of touring and such, so it hasn't tampered with his State of the Sanderson timelines much.
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May 14, 2022 02:00
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He did say on a livestream that he really shouldn't have gone for Secret Project #4 and if something has to slip it's gonna be Stormlight 5... Nevertheless the progress counter is still going up so, so far, so good.
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May 14, 2022 02:11
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Cactus posted:I really want to start Stormlight afterwards but after 5th book has a release date so that I'm not waiting for it. Depends on how fast you read. It's coming out in ~2 years so if you have a couple books to read first, then 4 really fat books before hand, it maybe near release by the time you're done. There's plenty of his other books to read as well - Mistborn era 2, secret history, warbreaker, as well as short stories people mentioned. Not to mention, the books are huge so even if you love them to bits you'll probably be burning out by the time you get through all 4, a break could be nice to come back to it with some new energy.
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May 14, 2022 02:52
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I'm still not done with Warbreaker (at about 75% currently) but I feel like this book is Elantris done right. I mean, I know the formatting isn't exactly like Elantris, but I feel like each has three protagonists with stories that have very little overlap until the end. (Also, Siri and Vivenna are way better Raoden and Sarene).
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May 14, 2022 03:16
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I love Warbreaker
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May 14, 2022 04:55
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Cactus posted:So I finished Mistborn trilogy 1 (great ending-worth the slow start to book 3) and I've Sanderson to thank for getting me back into reading again (to the point I'm getting a "surprise" kindle for my birthday). Before I read more of his stuff I decided to sidestep straight to someone else I've been meaning to read for ages: Joe Abercrombie. The difference in tone is Wicked in the best way. Depending on your reading speed, you can't go wrong with Mistborn Era 2, since the fourth and final book of that era comes out this November. But if you want something different, there are two prime targets: Emperor's Soul and Warbreaker. As another poster wrote, Emperor's Soul is a prime contender for Sanderson's best work. It's also noticeably shorter than even the MIstborn books, so it's a quick read. And it also has quite some explanation for the wider Cosmere. Warbreaker is one of his earlier books, but still holds up quite well, imho. It also goes a bit deeper into the Cosmere stuff, and I consider it "required reading" before Stormlight book 4 at the very latest. But it's better to tackle it before starting Stormlight, imho. Be aware that Mistborn: Secret History should not be read before Mistborn 2 book 3 (Bands of Mourning), since it will spoil some important stuff in that book. Then there are his other standalone stories. Elantris was his very first book, and it shows. It's widely considered his weakest work. One of the three main characters is excellent, the other two suck, imho. It's far too long, there's a lot of unnecessary stuff that could have been cut, and he improved his overall writing quite a bit. Sixth of the Dusk and Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell are two shorter books that are imho worth a read. White Sand on the other hand is not that good, but if you're into comics/graphic novels, you might like them. Be aware that there are currently 6 Stormlight Archive books. Stormlight 1, The Way of Kings, Stormlight 2, Words of Radiance, Stormlight 2.5, Edgedancer, Stormlight 3, Oathbringer, Stormlight 3.5, Dawnshard, and Stormlight 4, Rhythm of War. The 0.5 novels are much shorter, and not quite required reading, but they do enhance the reading experience of the following main books. And Stormlight 4.5 has even been given a tentative title by Sanderson, so expect the pattern to continue.
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May 14, 2022 05:35
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Awesome, thanks guys. I'll go for Emperor's Soul and Warbreaker after finishing Joe Abercrombie's trilogy. It'll be nice to read a couple of standalone books after two trilogies anyway.
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May 14, 2022 10:23
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Leng posted:I'd argue that Sanderson's writing is cinematic because he's of a generation of writers who grew up immersed in movies, and this style of writing will only become more common. We deconstructed films and TV episodes, including looking at how novels were adapted for the screen, in my high school English class. It included analyzing choices like camera angles. When you go into writing a novel equipped with this kind of understanding, it definitely influences how you choose to establish scenes and characters. This isn't a new phenomenon, though the medium changes. A lot of late 19th/early 20th century adventure fiction is clearly written with an eye to the theatre (and hopes for an eventual play adaptation)
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May 14, 2022 10:51
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Sanderson is tweeting about his Elden Ring playthrough. https://twitter.com/BrandSanderson/status/1525628899350065152?t=QqWL3XPP1xJKNxImqQTsOQ&s=19 https://twitter.com/BrandSanderson/status/1525606315170467840 https://twitter.com/BrandSanderson/status/1525606381079842817 My brain was deleting one of the digits of the runes. When he said he was going to avoid leveling up much he wasn't lying!
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May 15, 2022 01:46
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I recently went through the first Mistborn audiobook again, and it was fascinating to see how much he was doing with setting everything up for the rest of the series. So many things that are mysteries in place that clearly have an answer, but we don't get that answer until much, much later, like how the compounding feruchemy/allomancy works with Miles Hundred-Lives in the 2nd phase of Scadrial novels . Very fun stuff. I was also impressed by how Vin developed as a character. I had forgotten just how completely closed off and untrusting she was at the start, and how much she grows by the end of the trilogy. After that I went over to Way of Kings, and it was a bit jarring how much of a tone shift it was compared to Mistborn. I had read all Stormlight books first, before going anywhere with Mistborn. I remembered really enjoying the "war is hell" idea at the core of Way of Kings, and that first scene where they introduce Kaladin from the untrained soldier's perspective felt like it was a whole notch or two higher than however heavy Mistborn 1 got.
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May 16, 2022 06:01
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road potato posted:I recently went through the first Mistborn audiobook again, and it was fascinating to see how much he was doing with setting everything up for the rest of the series. So many things that are mysteries in place that clearly have an answer, but we don't get that answer until much, much later, like how the compounding feruchemy/allomancy works with Miles Hundred-Lives in the 2nd phase of Scadrial novels . Very fun stuff. I was also impressed by how Vin developed as a character. I had forgotten just how completely closed off and untrusting she was at the start, and how much she grows by the end of the trilogy. I mean, war definitely is hell, but I'd argue that life on Scadrial sucked much more for the vast majority of people than life on Roshar, up until the Everstorm gets summoned. Roshar is not the friendliest place to be, but Scadrial was a literal hell world of ash falling from the sky every day.
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May 16, 2022 06:10
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Torrannor posted:I mean, war definitely is hell, but I'd argue that life on Scadrial sucked much more for the vast majority of people than life on Roshar, up until the Everstorm gets summoned. Roshar is not the friendliest place to be, but Scadrial was a literal hell world of ash falling from the sky every day. I agree with your points there 100% - I'd take the choice to get dropped into a random life in Roshar over a random life in Scadrial any day. I just feel like the specific prose of the battle scenes in Stormlight were more intense than at least what happens in Mistborn 1. The tone shifts a bit in Mistborn 2 and 3 like the descriptions of hemalurgy, and that time Vin headbuts someone to death, but I still feel like the violence in Stormlight is more graphic. I could be wrong, this could all just be my perception of it.
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May 16, 2022 12:47
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road potato posted:I agree with your points there 100% - I'd take the choice to get dropped into a random life in Roshar over a random life in Scadrial any day. I just feel like the specific prose of the battle scenes in Stormlight were more intense than at least what happens in Mistborn 1. The tone shifts a bit in Mistborn 2 and 3 like the descriptions of hemalurgy, and that time Vin headbuts someone to death, but I still feel like the violence in Stormlight is more graphic. I could be wrong, this could all just be my perception of it. I feel like the gap you're describing is the difference between "fights" (Mistborn) and "battles" (Stormlight) in a way I can't quite explain. Like, while there are a few mass fight scenes sprinkled throughout Mistborn, the focus remains on the heroes and their heist-ish shenanigans rather than the GI-equivalents, and the ugly aftermath on the ground is largely passed over in favor of the much-more-significant high-level events. But with Stormlight, each character who lives through and/or commits extreme violence does so for at least two plot/character reasons and one literary reason I can think of off the top of my head, and they process that stuff pretty extensively in a realistic way (and the books are correspondingly humongous). So despite my complaints about the action sequences being drawn-out at times, I have never found the violence in Stormlight to be gratuitous - it serves a purpose structurally, it's taken seriously and has consequences, and it makes the reader confront some of the realities of war right alongside the characters who are themselves at various stages of doing the exact same thing. Once in a while I find a description of an injury to be a little stomach-turning, but those go by quickly. By comparison, I think I made it through about 2.5 chapters of a Joe Abercrombie book before calling that a failed trial. Also, Barreft posted:I love Warbreaker
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May 16, 2022 16:33
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I’m right near the end of Warbreaker (Blushweaver was just killed and ooooof, that one hurt.) This book might have two of my favorite Sanderson characters of all time?
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May 16, 2022 16:44
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CK07 posted:... I have never found the violence in Stormlight to be gratuitous - it serves a purpose structurally, it's taken seriously and has consequences, and it makes the reader confront some of the realities of war right alongside the characters who are themselves at various stages of doing the exact same thing. Once in a while I find a description of an injury to be a little stomach-turning, but those go by quickly. ... The difference between the fights vs full-scale battles is part of it, and I feel like it is a very intentional difference like you said. I agree that it isn't gratuitous, it's just heavier and is treated as such. The whole "get out to the shattered planes where the war means something, oops, human lives mean even less out there really rings true because the battle scenes are visceral. That's part of what makes Oathbringer so incredible. you get all these descriptions of Dalinar committing terrible acts of war, and the whole thing is building up towards something that even he thought was traumatizing and unthinkable. I felt like the whole book layered on suspense so well to get to the incident that finally broke him.
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May 16, 2022 16:46
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I adore Warbreaker, the neighbor across the street from me just completed her 5th read through and she said it's her favorite Sanderson book. Sanderson is very, very good at kicking a character down to their lowest point in life, then somehow finding a way to kick them even lower, which makes their redemption arc that much more satisfying. Oh and also thank you for the recommendation on Hyperion. I'm about 20% in and was waiting for it to hook me and I just finished one of the character's (the priest's) story sharing. It was wild and I had some wild dreams last night seeing as I fell asleep while reading it. Excited to see where it goes.
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May 16, 2022 16:48
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road potato posted:The difference between the fights vs full-scale battles is part of it, and I feel like it is a very intentional difference like you said. I agree that it isn't gratuitous, it's just heavier and is treated as such. The whole "get out to the shattered planes where the war means something, oops, human lives mean even less out there really rings true because the battle scenes are visceral. Yeah it's also intensely cultural in Stormlight, the Alethi are absolute murderous nightmares even relative to the other societies on Roshar that all deal with their hell-crab world. They've oriented their society entirely around war, and I think Sanderson does a reasonably good job first putting you inside the heads of people where this lifestyle and system of values is extremely normalized, then only later beginning to unpack the horror and damage that comes from it. eke out fucked around with this message at 16:55 on May 16, 2022 |
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May 16, 2022 16:53
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road potato posted:The difference between the fights vs full-scale battles is part of it, and I feel like it is a very intentional difference like you said. I agree that it isn't gratuitous, it's just heavier and is treated as such. The whole "get out to the shattered planes where the war means something, oops, human lives mean even less out there really rings true because the battle scenes are visceral. Yeah I just got to his second-to-last memory reveal, about what happened at Rathelas yesterday and got drat it hit so much harder on this second read. And then an hour ago I got to what I guess is the start of the Sanderlanche in this book, when all that news comes in at once, and I'm just riding that poo poo allllll the way down from here on out. I feel like I'm really able to lean into the little details and understand what the ellipses and unfinished sentences mean, particularly from a certain Machiavellian genuis bastard monarch, who I legitimately think is the most cleverly conceived character concept I've come across in the last decade, not to mention Azure and even the Elantris nod. It just feels so good to be in the flow of it! eke out posted:Yeah it's also intensely cultural in Stormlight, the Alethi are absolute murderous nightmares even relative to the other societies on Roshar that all deal with their hell-crab world.
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May 16, 2022 19:35
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CK07 posted:Terrifying giants with an exclusive bloodlust in their veins and a competitive, violent culture? Thank the Almighty they were too obsessed with murdering each other to wipe out everyone on the planet. By the time they get to Oathbringer and you've got Dalinar trying to negotiate with other countries and kingdoms on Roshar and they're all incredulous, suspicious of his motives, and unwilling to fall for this obvious trick to let the Alethi in as a prelude to invasion and violent overthrow as a big part of what he has to overcome, that was when I kind of looked back and went 'yknow, if I weren't in the Alethi perspective so much early on I might have noticed this earlier about them - from the outside, they're kind of terrifying, and thank Honor that they're too busy fighting each other to turn their attention on others.'
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May 16, 2022 20:44
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Mordiceius posted:I’m right near the end of Warbreaker (Blushweaver was just killed and ooooof, that one hurt.) Yeah, that spoiler there got me too. It was very unexpected. The other twist that happens was delightfully out of left field for me as well. I hope you're thinking of the same two characters I am (Llarimar and Lightsong)
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May 16, 2022 20:49
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Proteus Jones posted:I hope you're thinking of the same two characters I am (Llarimar and Lightsong) Close. Lightsong and Vasher, with the former very likely my #1 favorite BYUMCU character.
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May 16, 2022 21:13
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Mordiceius posted:Close. Lightsong and Vasher, with the former very likely my #1 favorite BYUMCU character. Lightsong is "dad jokes - the character", and I love him for it. He's certainly my favorite Warbreaker character, and overall second favorite Sanderson character after Dalinar.
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May 16, 2022 22:09
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Torrannor posted:Lightsong is "dad jokes - the character", and I love him for it. He's certainly my favorite Warbreaker character, and overall second favorite Sanderson character after Dalinar. I especially like that Lightsong is more than just “Dad jokes - the character” and that it is more a facade he puts up to avoid his crippling existential anxiety and fear of making situations worse.
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May 16, 2022 22:28
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As a CPA, I have no choice but to stan Lightsong.
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May 16, 2022 22:48
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Sanderson making his first move into producing things as a show creator: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zQG9lulKfY TL;DR he hired a bunch of other writers (including a Hollywood screenwriter) to write an audio only show based in his Legion universe.
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May 16, 2022 23:03
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Vasher finally drew Nightblood. I’m hootin. I’m hollerin.
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May 17, 2022 16:10
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