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He writes six hours per day, which I think is really impressive. While I don't think Sanderson is the best writer, with his constant effort both in the amount of work he produces, and constantly trying to improve (and actually improving) he will produce some of the best fantasy novels ever.
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Feb 9, 2012 04:28
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Brandon got a lot of cool poo poo in Taiwan. http://brandonsanderson.com/blog/1056/Taiwan-Trip-Haul Look at the dude who etched a thank-you note in metal.  quote:The publisher gave out the cards, if people wanted to get those signed as a keepsake instead of choosing one of the books. These certificates dubbed one a "Knight" of Brandon Sanderson. (And the publisher actually chose me five people to knight, with a sword and everything.) I'm not sure what it all means, or if I should really be going about knighting people, but the whole experience was very cool. drat, Brandon is loving awesome. Would GRRM have taken the time to fly to Taiwan and knight his fans? quote:THE WAY OF KINGS was published in two parts, but packaged together in these gift bags. Included was a little notebook thing which was just plain awesome—so awesome, in fact, that I talked the publisher into giving me a box of them to bring home with me. I'm going to give them away on the website and at cons this year, so stay tuned to find how you can win one. I am so loving jealous of that. Its rare to see US books packaged with extras. Cartoon Man fucked around with this message at 00:07 on Feb 10, 2012 |
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Feb 10, 2012 00:03
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arioch posted:I haven't read the books in question, but are flaws really flaws if they never come into play? It's like Karen Traviss telling us the Null Arc clone commandos are tremendously damaged beings but in practice they're perfect soldiers, perfect sons, and perfect husbands. Well, presumably whatever the flaw is leads to him failing miserably and falling into a depressive funk and giving up, and possibly losing his magic too. It's also possible that instead of his doom being self-inflicted, he was just unfortunate enough to talk to the omniscient all-hating prophetic tree that even a few words from is almost guaranteed to cause an horrifying disaster because, being omniscient, he can cause you to react in exactly the way that will lead to the worst possible outcome Wolpertinger fucked around with this message at 14:24 on Feb 10, 2012 |
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Feb 10, 2012 14:21
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Cartoon Man posted:drat, Brandon is loving awesome. Would GRRM have taken the time to fly to Taiwan and knight his fans? Yes GRRM would have; GRRM likes travelling for cons (except Dragoncon). He just wouldn't have written while doing so.
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Feb 10, 2012 17:01
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Cartoon Man posted:The Rithmatist I'm definitely going to ignore the YA tag and pick this one up. I just can't resist reading another Sanderson magic system.
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Feb 13, 2012 08:52
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Fruit Chewy posted:I'm definitely going to ignore the YA tag and pick this one up. I just can't resist reading another Sanderson magic system. Didn't he mention somewhere that the chalkboard battles played out in his mind like Starcraft matches?
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Feb 13, 2012 08:59
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404GoonNotFound posted:Didn't he mention somewhere that the chalkboard battles played out in his mind like Starcraft matches? I find Starcraft Chalk Battles to be extremely hard to visualize.
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Feb 13, 2012 11:33
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Wolpertinger posted:I find Starcraft Chalk Battles to be extremely hard to visualize. Maybe he draws things with Chalk and commands them to attack in mass? That's basically Starcraft.
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Feb 13, 2012 18:09
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Most likely he starts off by drawing six things as fast as he can, then he runs around the battlefield poking the ground for about 20 seconds, then continues.
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Feb 13, 2012 18:22
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Wolpertinger posted:I find Starcraft Chalk Battles to be extremely hard to visualize. Lots of micromanagement between drawing new effects and controlling existing ones?
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Feb 14, 2012 01:04
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I'm imagining a man painstakingly drawing a carefully optimised base and then drawing a few guys to guard it, while his opponent picks up 50 erasers and then just throws them at the chalkboard all at once.
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Feb 14, 2012 02:34
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And at the beginning, both sides are just collecting a ton of chalk before actually doing anything.
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Feb 14, 2012 04:22
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I honestly cannot imagine how it could legitimately be like a Starcraft fight. Maybe Sanderson is just awful at Starcraft.
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Feb 14, 2012 06:50
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Well, from the description alone, you can already derive several components: Detail - You can only draw so much detail in quickly. Speed - I'm not sure how fast Shallan draws, but it sounds about as fast as a Polaroid. Could be a factor. Space - You have limited area to sketch in(unless it floats off the board), does size matter? Detail and Space probably determines power/accuracy, unless it comes out of some metaphysical. Effect - What can you do with it? Control - Is it mental command of the effect, or do you have to draw commands. Chalk - At some point you're going to need to reload or the thing breaks, or it gets too stubby. So if you treat it like a sketch based computer interface, with tradeoffs between spamming small vague effects to get speed on your side, or you can focus on one of the other details. Your primary resources are practically speaking, time and space management. Not much different from any RTS, except there your measurable resource is usually cash.
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Feb 14, 2012 07:49
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It's not hard to imagine a system where you have to draw specific stuff to counter other stuff like in starcraft. And chalk is minerals or something. I don't know, I figure he's a big huge nerd so it'll work out.
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Feb 14, 2012 21:02
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I'm waiting for him to create a form of magic in one of his books where you link a deck of cards to various land types in order to travel the cosmere and summon creatures and cast spells based on what lands you linked your cards to. Though I'm sure he would make it slightly less obvious where his inspiration came from!
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Feb 15, 2012 16:54
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That would be his new Gathering of Magic trilogy
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Feb 15, 2012 17:01
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So I was reading Mistborn and reasonably enjoying it but... is it true that Brandon Sanderson is anti-Gay Marriage? I seriously will not support any writer who holds that viewpoint so I'd really like to know before I pick up any further books.
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Feb 18, 2012 20:43
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ImpAtom posted:So I was reading Mistborn and reasonably enjoying it but... Long story short, he's mormon, and believes it enough that he thinks outlawing gay marriage is saving them from an eternity in hell. More here: http://brandonsanderson.com/article/51/EUOLogy-Dumbledores-Homosexuality Edit: turns out he's updated that post with a much more reasonable position since the last time I was there. I'm glad he's coming around. Jorenko fucked around with this message at 21:10 on Feb 18, 2012 |
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Feb 18, 2012 21:03
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Jorenko posted:Long story short, he's mormon, and believes it enough that he thinks outlawing gay marriage is saving them from an eternity in hell. More here: http://brandonsanderson.com/article/51/EUOLogy-Dumbledores-Homosexuality Thanks for the answer! His original essay is pretty bad, but I have the benefit of reading it with his notes from 2011. I can't agree with his viewpoint of "marriage is religious" but otherwise his 2011 writing is a lot more reasonable and it's nice to see he's at least not an Orson Scott Card and he's willing to recognize his own privilege. I don't agree with him but this is a case where I feel a lot less bad about buying the books now. Thank you! Now to go on to the second book... ImpAtom fucked around with this message at 21:15 on Feb 18, 2012 |
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Feb 18, 2012 21:12
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Honestly I think thats the only real place Brandon has ever tried to talk about his religion. He's never let his mormom beliefs show up in any of writings. He's also finishing the WOT books which have lesbian pillowfriend scenes and forskaen rape in them. (Ok, perhaps thats kind of a stretch.) It would be a shame to refuse to read any his books just because of his religion.
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Feb 18, 2012 22:55
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Cartoon Man posted:He's never let his mormom beliefs show up in any of writings. It's actually pretty easy to tell from his writing that he is if you've been around mormons.
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Feb 18, 2012 23:07
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What I thought was funny in WoK is Jasnah and that King guy were arguing about the existence of god and Jasnah was making pretty solid arguments for atheism, but the King didn't have poo poo.soru posted:It's actually pretty easy to tell from his writing that he is if you've been around mormons. For example, anytime he tries to write jokes.
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Feb 18, 2012 23:33
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I thought his underlying cosmology with certain former humans becoming Gods of new planets had a bit of Mormonism slant to it. Overall I like it when he discusses religion in his books. His religious characters are generally questioning of their faith or trying to reconcile their beliefs with a corrupt religious hierarchy. I get the feeling that he's a pretty tolerant guy willing to consider other people's viewpoints.
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Feb 18, 2012 23:50
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Cartoon Man posted:Honestly I think thats the only real place Brandon has ever tried to talk about his religion. He's never let his mormom beliefs show up in any of writings. He's also finishing the WOT books which have lesbian pillowfriend scenes and forskaen rape in them. (Ok, perhaps thats kind of a stretch.) Well, talk about specific religions, sure. But reading any of Sanderson's books you can tell he's obviously in love with the idea of religion, what makes something worthy of worship, how dogma is formed, etc etc. I gotta say, it's pretty nice to see a religious person be so introspective about their beliefs. Although from what I've heard from people more knowledgeable on the subject, apparently Dalinar's story in WoK is one giant Mormon analogy.
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Feb 18, 2012 23:52
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Conduit for Sale! posted:What I thought was funny in WoK is Jasnah and that King guy were arguing about the existence of god and Jasnah was making pretty solid arguments for atheism, but the King didn't have poo poo. Of course, you have to take into account that God is literally dead in that universe.
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Feb 19, 2012 00:48
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Cartoon Man posted:It would be a shame to refuse to read any his books just because of his religion. I don't think that's what ImpAtom and others were saying. The easiest comparison to make is between Sanderson and Orson Scott Card, since both are Mormon. Sanderson at least tries to reconcile his beliefs with reality. Card uses his beliefs as an excuse to hate gay people. As a result, I'll give Sanderson the benefit of the doubt and still buy and read his books, while I refuse to read or purchase anything written by Card, and I absolutely will not recommend him to anyone (in fact I actively discourage people from reading his books).
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Feb 19, 2012 01:12
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Conduit for Sale! posted:What I thought was funny in WoK is Jasnah and that King guy were arguing about the existence of god and Jasnah was making pretty solid arguments for atheism, but the King didn't have poo poo.
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Feb 19, 2012 01:12
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Ornamented Death posted:I refuse to read or purchase anything written by Card, and I absolutely will not recommend him to anyone (in fact I actively discourage people from reading his books). I actively regret buying Shadow Complex after learning that Card wrote the story and what Empire was about 
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Feb 19, 2012 01:18
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404GoonNotFound posted:I actively regret buying Shadow Complex after learning that Card wrote the story and what Empire was about I have a small stack of Ender books that are just gathering dust. I won't trade them in to a used book store, I won't give them away or throw them away, and I can't bring myself to burn any book, now matter how terrible it or the author may be. My wife sometimes fussed about them (my bookshelves are already overflowing), but it's the principle, drat it.
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Feb 19, 2012 01:21
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404GoonNotFound posted:I actively regret buying Shadow Complex after learning that Card wrote the story and what Empire was about I won't buy a book by Card because he literally hates me, but I bought Shadow Complex with 0 guilt. I mean there's fuckall story anyway, and what is there is generic as hell, why should I care that it's some licensed Card poo poo? I guess I probably gave Card a few cents by buying it but oh well. There's so few sidescrolling Metroid-like games these days. Algid posted:The king is also an evil mastermind who goes to great lengths to cultivate his reputation of being a not particularly intelligent or aggresive dude and just sits around and builds all these hospitals for some reason. He isn't really the sort of character an author uses as a self-insert. I just thought it was funny that he wrote some pretty decent arguments for atheism.
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Feb 19, 2012 01:33
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Ornamented Death posted:I don't think that's what ImpAtom and others were saying. The easiest comparison to make is between Sanderson and Orson Scott Card, since both are Mormon. Sanderson at least tries to reconcile his beliefs with reality. Card uses his beliefs as an excuse to hate gay people. As a result, I'll give Sanderson the benefit of the doubt and still buy and read his books, while I refuse to read or purchase anything written by Card, and I absolutely will not recommend him to anyone (in fact I actively discourage people from reading his books). Yeah, this is a lot closer to my feeling. I had a very similar experience with Card and I wanted to make sure that this wasn't a case of Sanderson being another Card before I spent any more money on him. The link I got showed me someone who, while I disagree with, isn't anywhere in the same realm and so I don't mind spending money on his books. Sanderson, at least in what was posted above, clearly has strong religious feelings but also doesn't seem at all interested in using them in a hateful way. I may not 100% agree with him but he comes across as really drat reasonable. ImpAtom fucked around with this message at 02:36 on Feb 19, 2012 |
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Feb 19, 2012 02:32
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The cosmology is so ridiculously demented and complex in Brandon's multiverse that 'atheism' is probably the smartest thing despite the existence of gods - pretty much all of the deities are a fraction of a god at best, and the large majority of them seem either batshit insane or seem to be alien and almost completely detached from humanity. Honestly, I wouldn't even trust Preservation completely, considering how 'preservation' would imply eternal unchangingness and stasis (at least Sazed/Harmony is fairly 'hands off' due to the inherent nature of his conflicting aspects), and Honor is heavily implied to be dead in Way of Kings, so..
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Feb 19, 2012 11:30
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ImpAtom posted:Yeah, this is a lot closer to my feeling. I had a very similar experience with Card and I wanted to make sure that this wasn't a case of Sanderson being another Card before I spent any more money on him. The link I got showed me someone who, while I disagree with, isn't anywhere in the same realm and so I don't mind spending money on his books. I get from Sanderson kind of the same way I feel on the opposite side of things. Sanderson: "Hey I'm religious, here's what I believe, you can agree or not, what ever, just don't expect me to drop my beliefs" Me: "Hey I'm not religious, it's fine by me if you want to be though, just don't try and force me into whatever it is your into."
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Feb 19, 2012 17:24
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I read somewhere that there's a theory that all of Sanderson's work take place in the same world/universe, but I haven't found anything about it beyond that. Is this an actually expressible theory or was it just someone being a loon?
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Feb 20, 2012 02:32
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These guys seem to have devoted their lives to unraveling the mystery: http://www.17thshard.com/ The biggest indicator is that a character named Hoid appears in every setting. Apparently there's a God-like being that shattered into 16 shards (with aspects like Preservation and Ruin). These shards were taken up by what we think were mortals, who then became gods of the various settings. The shards also seem to generate the magic systems in the various settings. http://coppermind.17thshard.com/wiki/Adonalsium Subvisual Haze fucked around with this message at 02:42 on Feb 20, 2012 |
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Feb 20, 2012 02:37
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That sounds amazing, and sounds exactly like something Sanderson would do too.
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Feb 20, 2012 02:54
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Inkwing is having a contest where you can vote for which version of their Bridge 4 shirt will get printed. http://inkwing.blogspot.com/2012/02/which-design-do-you-love-contest.html I know its kind of silly, but I like number 3. quote:I survived Bridge 4 and all I got was soup.
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Feb 21, 2012 01:27
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3B is fantastic.
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Feb 21, 2012 08:09
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Cartoon Man posted:Inkwing is having a contest where you can vote for which version of their Bridge 4 shirt will get printed. i'm lucky enough to work with one of the artists who designed a couple of the tshirts. I gotta go with #2 "I'm wearing your mom"
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Feb 21, 2012 20:54
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