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Finished Wheel of Time recently and enjoyed it. That was my first Sanderson, and decided to do Mistborn next. Enjoying it for the most part, but holy cow his explanation of the magic is thorough. This is like 90 percent a fun book and 10 percent a D and D manual. Is this common in his books?
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Dec 2, 2023 23:38
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| # ¿ May 8, 2024 14:31 |
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pik_d posted:@81sidewinder also, remember all the weird stuff in WoT that Androl gets up to? That's basically how it is in all his books. Appreciate this. Androl did have a couple scenes where we got that d and d manual type of explanation, but the payoff was ultimately pretty great and totally worth it. DarkHorse posted:Sanderson gets a lot of satisfaction out of making simple magic rules and then seeing what nonsense emerges when you start smashing them together. This mechanistic view of magic-physics is the scaffolding that his characters tug on to advance the plot and allows for dramatic reveals, power-ups, and other satisfying surprises without resorting to rear end-pulls or (most) deus ex machina bullshit. Everything is usually consistent with what you've seen thus far and clever people can often figure it out before the characters do. I think I'm somewhere in between. The 'how does this magic system work' piece of it isn't the fun part for me. But if 5 percent more explanation in the first act of a book keeps the storytelling consistent, I'm totally cool with that. Having a good book ruined by some random bullshit in the final scenes is one of my major peeves.
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Dec 3, 2023 17:37
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Finished Mistborn era 1 and really enjoyed it. The payoffs at the end was extremely satisfying. I have started The Way of Kings and it's way up my alley. I would like to be ready for Stormlight 5, but don't want to burn out or just have my reading be all Sanderson this year. Am I good to go if I just do Stormlight 1-4 and Mistborn era 2 between now and December? I'm sure I'll fill the rest out in the coming years, but doing the whole Cosmere this year seems daunting. 81sidewinder fucked around with this message at 23:12 on Jan 6, 2024 |
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Jan 6, 2024 22:42
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Mordiceius posted:I'm assuming they mean that they finished Mistborn era 1. I did, edited to clarify. Thanks for the guidance, folks.
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Jan 6, 2024 23:13
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About halfway through The Way of Kings and Kalladin just survived the Highstorm. His chapters feel like classic movies - ladder runs feel like a great prison movie like Shawshank Redeption, Cool Hand Luke or One Flew Over the Coocoo's Nest.. Really fun character to spend time with. Excited for Shallan and Dalinar chapters to kick into high gear
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Jan 21, 2024 22:10
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Please quarantine the GURM chat to his own thread, tysm
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Feb 3, 2024 19:36
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Finished The Way of Kings earlier this week. Hoo baby this rules. Coming off of Wheel of Time I wanted something similar, but more organized, haha. Feels like I hit the jackpot here. I also think this book had way less of my biggest criticism of Sanderson than his Wheel books or Mistborn era 1 - that the magic systems explanations can feel like a D and D manual. The powers are explained pretty thoroughly, but seemed to fit the narrative much more seamlessly. Kaladin is one of my favorite characters, ever the way we had his current story interwoven into the flashbacks and then they both simultaneously get a payoff, just so satisfying. He's obviously our main character, and I'm sure things will continue to get worse, then better, then worse for him I wish Shallan and Jasnah were woven into the main story a little better in this book. I'm sure it's coming, but the way their story played out almost felt like a different book. Excited to see how their arrival stirs things up Dalinar, Adolin and Navani their portions of the book were kind of tedious early on, but really ramped up into an excellent payoff. From when he gets betrayed until the end of the story is so much fun. Predictions - 1. Dalinar's visions are obviously the 'big bad' of the story, and are probably the underlying threat going on while the people jockey for position in the worlds of men. Bringing back the Knights Radiant is a books-long story and it's probably going to pay off in book 5. 2. Shallan and Kaladin have a romance that is complicated by their roles in the conflict. When they ultimately get together, it will be a great moment. 3. Szeth is the Han Solo/Lan Mandragoron of the story. He continues to be a tortured badass and ultimately joins the heroes. 4. The truth about Dalinar's wife rocks the heroes in a big way - his relationship with either Adolin or Navani is dramatically altered when we learn the truth 5. Elhokar is likely to die pretty quickly to create a power vacuum
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Feb 4, 2024 22:41
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Torrannor posted:This is really good. Thanks for posting this, we always enjoy those new reader speculations! This is great to hear. I read Mistborn era 1, and really liked it, but didn't LOVE it. I think it just suffered from being 'not Wheel of Time'. Good to hear another vote of confidence that I'm in the right place with Stormlight. As much as I loved WoT, it really suffered from RJ not seeming to know where it was going the whole time. I know Sanderson has all his poo poo outlined and isn't ever going to hit a slog. Feels like this could surpass Wheel for me. CapnAndy posted:And these are just Taffer posted:I love prediction posts! I won't spoil anything, except to say that some were close to the mark and some are far off. Keep posting through your journey! Absolutely, see you all in a a few weeks
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Feb 5, 2024 22:19
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Be sure to come back and read them again after you finish WoR!
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Just finished Words of Radiance part 3 - folks, I am hooting and hollering. Was yelling in the car during my audiobook listen like I had a football game on. I knew it would be Kalladin coming in to save the day for Adolin, but it was still a blockbuster moment. Kalladin gets owned again, does the right thing but ends up in jail. So excited to see where this goes.
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Mar 3, 2024 22:40
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81sidewinder posted:Just finished Words of Radiance part 3 - folks, I am hooting and hollering. Was yelling in the car during my audiobook listen like I had a football game on. Finished WoR, and Really enjoyed Kalladin and Shallan getting some time together, even though how we got there felt a little forced. Still hoping those crazy kids get together. Adolin being brought forward has been a cool element added, and him killing Sadeus was a great payoff. As great as parts 4 and 5 were, none of the big moments in the end of the book were quite as perfect as Kalladin hopping into the duel - that was still my favorite part. Fired up about Jasnah coming back, always enjoyed her character. Glad it was the stinger at the end of the book instead of holding out until book 3 81sidewinder posted:Finished The Way of Kings earlier this week. Going to hold by most of these, I think.  1.I think this was pretty explicitly correct by the end of WoR, excited to see how we get all ten different Knights, and who they are. Obviously, some of them are people from the story we have already met. Feeling like some interlude characters are a fit for this. Lift seems particularly likely, since her interlude really didn't play into the rest of the story yet. 2. Still holding out for this. Kal, Shallan and Adolin becoming a throuple is obviously not happening, but is where my mind goes after coming off of Wheel of Time. 3. Still feel strongly about this, especially after his breakthrough at the end of WoR. He's obviously going to be significant. Either joining the heroes or getting much worse and becoming one of the main antagonists. 4. Since we have already gotten the Kalladin and Shallan flashbacks focused on in the first two books, I think we are due for this. Feel very strongly that there is something sinister in those erased memories. 5. Didn't explicitly say this in the last post, but I thought Elhokar dying would be like a part 1 event and they picked up the pieces later. Things are obviously going in a different direction, since Dallinar is essentially king now already. Redemption arc for Elhokar? Really don't see how he fits in now as a lame duck Going to take a break before Oathbringer, will sneak Edgedancer in there somewhere before I start.
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Mar 11, 2024 23:19
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eke out posted:i suspect mainline Mormons probably have a lot more opinions about polygamy than most people do, considering it is responsible for a literal schism in their faith and a bunch of radical far-right separatist groups that exist solely to continue patriarchal domination they are denied by the orthodox church This was my thought. No Mormon wants to go there
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Mar 12, 2024 17:43
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Redundant phrasing is a big reason why I can't just power through a series like this. Braid tugging may not have been written even 100 times in WoT, but it felt like 1000.
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Mar 14, 2024 21:20
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Anyone done Way of Kings Prime?
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Mar 19, 2024 18:17
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I've found Sanderson to be at his best when he's splicing a little other genre stuff into the mix. The heist movie vibe in Final Empire and the prison movie vibe for Bridge Four in WoK are my favorites.
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Mar 24, 2024 20:55
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A Sneaker Broker posted:About 2% through Chapter 18 of Final Empire and I have to say This is kind of perfect, come back to this idea when you finish the trilogy.
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Mar 28, 2024 15:44
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stramit posted:I still don’t think Sanderson quite gets the character he wrote on the page. I still don’t believe Kelsier is a psychopath. By fantasy standards, maybe not. By IRL standards, it's pretty obviously the case. Part of why it's interesting. 'What is acceptable in war?' is something you have to wrestle with yourself. Tunicate posted:Brandon forgot how evil he made the final empire nobles Also, this. The nobles being so one-dimensionally evil doesn't give Kelsier quite as much nuance.
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Mar 30, 2024 16:21
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lol, when are we going to get charged by Backerkit? Time keeps getting pushed back.
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Mar 30, 2024 16:22
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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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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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Starting Oathbringer, and it's nice to be back in this world. The Prologues becoming a Roshomon style story all about the same event is one of my favorite things going in the story.
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May 3, 2024 23:18
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