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aparmenideanmonad posted:Oh come on. Sure, lots of people wanted the leatherbound book, but the actual draw for most was the new secret project book, and they very clearly structured this to prop up the physical goods sales with the new book release. This is the equivalent of making you walk through the gift shop after you visit the museum and it's annoying and icky. And not to blow this out of proportion, but Brandon is typically a shining example of how to do things right, so it's also a bit disappointing coming from his team.
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Apr 19, 2024 17:00
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You can literally buy the ebook at any other point in time, no one forced you to participate in the campaign lol Pretending the words of radiance leatherbound crowdfunding campaign isn't about the words of radiance leather bound just because most people can't afford it is so weirdly goony, there wouldn't even be a campaign if it weren't for the leatherbound (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST) big mean giraffe fucked around with this message at 17:22 on Apr 19, 2024 |
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Apr 19, 2024 17:18
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I backed the ebook-only tier because, hey, it was $10 and there's no way the book is that cheap at release. I also thought it was weird af they wanted my physical address for that. Not enough to complain (until this conversation came up), but it definitely gave me pause.
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Apr 19, 2024 17:21
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big mean giraffe posted:You can literally buy the ebook at any other point in time, no one forced you to participate in the campaign lol  about it - apparently others weren't but still recognize this is what was going on.Agreed that I could have opted into buying the e-book later, but I like crowdfunded stuff because it is typically the most direct way to support the author while also getting access to fun new books quickly! I led with the idea that I'll probably take this approach in the future, because the early read and participation in new book spoiler/speculation chat doesn't offset how bothersome I find the things that I've been complaining about. As for people not buying a leatherbound physical book because they aren't rich enough...perhaps reflect a bit on your take here as it's not a good look.
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Apr 19, 2024 18:10
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aparmenideanmonad posted:As for people not buying a leatherbound physical book because they aren't rich enough...perhaps reflect a bit on your take here as it's not a good look. What a weird and goony way to completely misread what I said. Not everything's some big insidious plot by brandon to trick you into buying merchandise, people have been clamoring for years for more merch from him.
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Apr 19, 2024 18:19
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Oathbringer Re-Read critique: I'm bouncing back and forth between the audiobook of Oathbringer (mostly as background while I'm doing dishes/laundry/cooking etc) and a couple other non-audio books. I just finished The Dark Forest (part 2 of Three Body Problem) and The Other Valley (a pretty cool novel that I highly recommend) and I totally see some of the critiques people level at Brandon. I'm full-on invested (not Invested) in the Cosmere, and I get that different books provide different things to me as a reader. The big thing I'm feeling this time through is that Brandon's writing is very direct and heavy-handed. Thinking about the Bridge 4 chapters: He really wants to hammer home the idea that everyone in bridge 4 feels like the loneliest most-outsideriest person in bridge 4, but that's only because they by default don't consider Rlain and Dabbid to be people. I guess there's some nuance in saying that even the good guys are fully indoctrinated by society, but by the 4th or 5th time we hear the same idea I was lingering over the fast-forward button. \ I get that he's definitely critiquing militarism and gender roles in American (& and Mormon) culture through this book, especially with revealing Dalinar's monsterous past. I think it's a unique angle in fantasy that we are so supposed to situate ourselves with the 'good guys' as being right and good, and then over the books pointing out how messed up their society is. It just feels very direct at times. The bit about Rlain and people touching his carapace felt like the most heavy-handed way to say "It's just like America guys, get it?" I also had a reminder of why people hate Shallan and Wit in their endless back-and-forth about stupidity and how dumb people are when they first met up in Kholinar. Just an insufferable exchange, which is odd because Shallan is the only person who has any sort of tenderness and sincerely caring relationship with Wit. The "look at how clever Shallan is" parts just really flop for me, and I have the same critique of Wit as a narrator in Tress, I've heard voiced here. With all that... still enjoying Oathbringer. Give me badass huge swords, world-ending evil, unraveling ancient magical powers. In WOR I fully joined the hooting and hollering during The Dual and at the end when Adolin just finally says enough and stabs Sadeas. Very cool. Nice character development from some key characters (Adolin, Gavilar, probably others) that is well done and not too over the top. Can't wait to see what happens in book 5, can't wait to read the new secret project. Edited because I goofed up the spoiler tags. road potato fucked around with this message at 18:22 on Apr 19, 2024 |
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Apr 19, 2024 18:20
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My only complaint about the campaign is that it was cheaper to get a box with swag I don't want than the hardcover books alone, but I don't think that's a secret plot by Brandon to give me more stuff for less money
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Apr 19, 2024 18:24
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I'm very enjoying Part 3 of Oathbringer. Part 1 was good too. Part 2 was too slow. As I mentioned prior, its not that the book felt like it was spinning its wheels - as that would mean nothing was happening and it was going nowhere. It just felt like the pacing suddenly became glacial. (I blame the Bridge Four chapters.) Part 1 felt like it was natural progression from WoR. Then Part 2 comes along and feels like something taken from early TWoK.
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Apr 19, 2024 18:33
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The entire campaign was about Words of Radiance leatherbound. If that wasn’t obvious, then I’m not sure what to tell you. The secret project was extremely welcome but Brando got my dumbass to drop $600 for WoR Signed + WoK Signed. I can’t stand this man. He hurts my bank account too much.
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Apr 19, 2024 22:47
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Mordiceius posted:I'm very enjoying Part 3 of Oathbringer. Oathbringer is a slow burn with a huge payoff. Enjoy the ride. It’s my favorite book of the four so far for this very reason.
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Apr 19, 2024 22:48
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A Sneaker Broker posted:Oathbringer is a slow burn with a huge payoff. Enjoy the ride. It’s my favorite book of the four so far for this very reason. Yeah, I feel like it is probably a situation where all of the "boring" stuff got shoved into part 2 to make space in 3/4/5 for stuff to get wild. Part 3 is already very very good. I just found it interesting because I thought Part 1 felt like a natural progression from WoR with the excitement and the pacing. Then Part 2 comes along and it feels like Brandon slammed on the breaks to a whiplashy degree.
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Apr 19, 2024 23:06
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Mordiceius posted:Yeah, I feel like it is probably a situation where all of the "boring" stuff got shoved into part 2 to make space in 3/4/5 for stuff to get wild. Part 3 is already very very good. You're going to hate RoW a lot I can tell and we'll have to read yet another hundred posts on your thoughts of Way of Kings again
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Apr 20, 2024 00:35
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Barreft posted:You're going to hate RoW a lot I can tell and we'll have to read yet another hundred posts on your thoughts of Way of Kings again I'm going to be open minded. I've heard a lot of conflicting things on it. Based off the general tone of conversation, I bet I will rank it less than WoR/O but, like I said, I'm going to keep an open mind. My friend loves Kaladin as his favorite, thinks Dalinar is alright, and generally doesn't care for Shallan, and hates Rhythm of War. Meanwhile, I'm neutral on Kaladin, love Dalinar, and love Shallan. So we'll see. I never want to go into a book with the idea I'll hate it.
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Apr 20, 2024 00:41
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seems the crowdbacking issue has settled down now? If not I'm sure there is a dedicated thread for such things elsewhere.
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Apr 20, 2024 01:48
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Mordiceius posted:I'm going to be open minded. I've heard a lot of conflicting things on it. Based off the general tone of conversation, I bet I will rank it less than WoR/O but, like I said, I'm going to keep an open mind. Yeah fair. I'm okay on Kaladin, love Dalinar, like Shallan and most of the book was a slog for me, and I loved the first 3 and Edgedancer/Dawnshard.
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Apr 21, 2024 00:13
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Barreft posted:Yeah fair. I'm okay on Kaladin, love Dalinar, like Shallan and most of the book was a slog for me, and I loved the first 3 and Edgedancer/Dawnshard. I've been thinking on Kaladin lately and one thing that feels a little odd to me about Kaladin is that, since he is the main PoV character for book 1, it feels like he should be a bit of the audience insert character. He comes from a small town, so he's a bit naïve about the greater world so it's great to have a character to learn the world through their eyes. Except he spends almost the entire book as a slave doing bridge runs, so it's not really experiencing much of the world or society. 
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Apr 21, 2024 00:52
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Mordiceius posted:I've been thinking on Kaladin lately and one thing that feels a little odd to me about Kaladin is that, since he is the main PoV character for book 1, it feels like he should be a bit of the audience insert character. He comes from a small town, so he's a bit naïve about the greater world so it's great to have a character to learn the world through their eyes. Except he spends almost the entire book as a slave doing bridge runs, so it's not really experiencing much of the world or society. It's not bad at all just has very many annoyances for me that never stopped, but I can't say anything more, obviously, until you listen to it. It's a good 7/10 which would've been way better if he put Dawnshard in the book and took out soooo much filler
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Apr 21, 2024 01:53
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Mordiceius posted:Except he spends almost the entire book as a slave doing bridge runs, so it's not really experiencing much of the world or society. Maybe some sort of allegory for how it feels to be a regular person under the yoke of capitalism in modern society...
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Apr 21, 2024 02:27
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The bridge crew are a kitchen staff. This is self explanatory
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Apr 21, 2024 03:10
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Half of Dracula posted:The bridge crew are a kitchen staff. This is self explanatory Can you smell what Rock is cookin'?
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Apr 21, 2024 03:14
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DarkHorse posted:Can you smell what Rock is cookin'? That stew gotta have some mushrooms in it.
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Apr 21, 2024 03:37
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Shallan didn't grab me in the first book but I liked her a lot the second book on.
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Apr 21, 2024 03:50
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Alloy of Law done…
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Apr 21, 2024 19:00
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A Sneaker Broker posted:Alloy of Law done… While the other books of Era 2 aren't as long as Stormlight books, Alloy of Law is MUCH shorter than the other Era 2 books
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Apr 21, 2024 20:49
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If I remember correctly that book started as a writing exercise to bridge the first two eras he had planned, the second of which is now era 3, and it turned into a 4 book trilogy
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Apr 21, 2024 21:42
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It’s interesting because I found Wayne a little grating in book 1. Like, not bad, just a bit much. A bit too try hard with the humor. By the end of the series though, Wayne was explosively funny.
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Apr 21, 2024 22:15
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Just finished Edgedancer - It's fine. Easily the least interesting I've found a Sanderson project I have read. I'm sure going forward in the bigger story I'll be glad to have all this info, but it really felt like an info-dump with kind of a bare bones story. I feel like this would have been better served as having been edited dramatically and done as an interlude in WoR Looking forward to Oathbringer, will likely start in a week or so.
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Apr 23, 2024 22:45
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While I totally understand why you might feel that way, I disagree. I thought Edgedancer was delightful because Lift feels like it is Brandon writing a Pixar character and inserting her into a very not-Pixar world. Meanwhile, there's a portion of Oathbringer which, while I thought was okay, I think would have worked better if they were fleshed out more into a series of short stories instead of stuffed into Oathbringer.
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Apr 23, 2024 23:11
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Mordiceius posted:While I totally understand why you might feel that way, I disagree. I thought Edgedancer was delightful because Lift feels like it is Brandon writing a Pixar character and inserting her into a very not-Pixar world. I will respectfully disagree with the opinion above. I loved Edgedancer. I thought Lift was annoying at first, but by the time I closed RoW, she was easily in the top 3.
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Apr 23, 2024 23:15
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On another note - I was reviewing how I've ranked all of the Cosmere books and I've decided that it's unfair to just create one big list because comparing full novels to novellas and short stories results in, naturally, the short stories almost all falling to the bottom of the list which is not an accurate representation. pre:|------------------------------------------------------------------| |-------------------------COSMERE RANKINGS-------------------------| |-Novels----------------------------------Novellas & Short Stories-| | | | The Final Empire | | The Hero of Ages | | Words of Radiance | | The Lost Metal | | Shadows of Self | | Warbreaker | | The Bands of Mourning | | The Way of Kings Edgedancer | | The Alloy of Law Mistborn - Secret History | | The Well of Ascension The Emperor’s Soul | |--------------------The Line of Recommendation--------------------| | Elantris Allomancer Jak and the Pits of Eltania | | The Eleventh Metal | | The Hope of Elantris | |------------------------------------------------------------------| -----Not Listed----- Oathbringer (In Progress) Dawnshard Rhythm of War Tress of the Emerald Sea Yumi and the Nightmare Painter The Sunlit Man Wind and Truth Isles of the Emberdark Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell Sixth of the Dusk White Sands
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Apr 23, 2024 23:48
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Mordiceius posted:While I totally understand why you might feel that way, I disagree. I thought Edgedancer was delightful because Lift feels like it is Brandon writing a Pixar character and inserting her into a very not-Pixar world. A Sneaker Broker posted:I will respectfully disagree with the opinion above. I loved Edgedancer. I thought Lift was annoying at first, but by the time I closed RoW, she was easily in the top 3. It's not that I found her annoying, I just feel like the tone of the character didn't fit the story so far and it was jarring. Dropping a Pixar character into this high fantasy setting is pretty well said. That explanation gives some perspective that makes me like it a little more. I never really understood the 'Stormlight is an anime' comments I saw ITT, but Lift absolutely makes me feel that way. I also found her fuzzy memory about her age that we will eventually find out about to be just too similar to Dalinar's fuzzy memory about his wife (Spoilers through WoR) Very possible that future reveals explain the similarities, but for now it felt redundant to another character's story. If they both made the same 'deal with the devil' to change their memories, it may all come together, I guess. She's obviously important going forward, and can absolutely see how this novella could be something really fun on a re-read with further context. Mordiceius posted:Meanwhile, there's a portion of Oathbringer which, while I thought was okay, I think would have worked better if they were fleshed out more into a series of short stories instead of stuffed into Oathbringer. Feels like half or more of the interludes in Stormlight could have this push/pull on if they should get more time or not.
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Apr 24, 2024 19:15
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81sidewinder posted:made the same 'deal with the devil' to change their memories, it may all come together, I guess.  Won't confirm and deny anything, but RAFO.
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Apr 24, 2024 19:57
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Lift point of view chapters can be a bit much sometimes, but she's good in scenes balancing out more serious characters
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Apr 24, 2024 21:05
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Lift just has a very particular worldview, and is of the strongly held opinion that when what she thinks ought to be happening and reality contradict each other, reality is wrong and she's owed an apology. (Spoilers through RoW) Unclear how much that's just her and how much it's her wish to "always be myself" -- it's hard to argue that there's anyone quite as themself, all the time, as Lift.
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Apr 24, 2024 21:37
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Oathbringer - Ch 75 “Only Red” and Ch 76 “An Animal” Has anyone talked about how a very present recurring theme in this book specifically is addiction?
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Apr 25, 2024 17:19
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Mordiceius posted:Oathbringer - Ch 75 “Only Red” and Ch 76 “An Animal” That is how it be.
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Apr 26, 2024 06:21
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I just finished my first Sanderson book, The Way of Kings. I really enjoyed it, probably could have used a bit of editing to slim down from 1124 pages. But I was engrossed the whole time. When I finally figured out that they basically live in a coral reef (600 pages in?) I got pretty excited. Maybe this is just me not reading too much fantasy recently or making an unfair comparison - but I kept waiting for a Game of Thrones type turn. It’s like I have a flinch reflex from those books “oh I like this character for the last 1000 pages, time for them to die horribly.” Anyway I was glad that didn’t happen. Made for a nice chill book more in the vein of Lord of the Rings than GOT. space uncle fucked around with this message at 15:30 on Apr 26, 2024 |
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Apr 26, 2024 15:26
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space uncle posted:I just finished my first Sanderson book, The Way of Kings. Sanderson isn’t Martin. He has his own tendencies that you might notice, but he doesn’t seek to write the same kind of fantasy stories Martin does. Now that you’re a whole one book into the series, can you make some guesses about what is going to happen in future books? What moments seem like they’ll be important later on? What do you expect the characters to do? And, maybe most importantly, do you think Shallan is hilarious or just irritating?
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Apr 26, 2024 15:53
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Some characters in Sandersons books die, but it's to fit their character arc or for story purposes, it's never done to shock you.
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Apr 26, 2024 15:55
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Maybe this is factually wrong but to me it felt like Sanderson had his initial rise to popularity when the markets were getting over saturated with dark fantasy like grrm. It was a great contrast and really needed.
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Apr 26, 2024 16:01
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