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enigma105
Mar 16, 2004

His record...it's over 9-7!!!
Wit is an insult comic. Unless you know the person they are insulting, it's just dumb snark.

Of course I get a kick out of Shallan's puns as well. There's a "so bad it's good" quality to some of them. Plus, we are told part of the humor is the shock value of a lighteyes lady talking in such a fashion. It's like a young kid cussing or your mom making fart jokes. If that isn't amusing, then it's just a type of humor you don't like.

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enigma105
Mar 16, 2004

His record...it's over 9-7!!!

Xachariah posted:

The only names in Sanderson's books that have made me roll my eyes are Wax and Wayne in Alloy of Law. Maybe Newcago in Steelheart too? Other than that he seems mostly fine for naming, far better than many other fantasy authors I have read.

Sanderson talks a bit about names in WoK here: http://www.writingexcuses.com/2012/06/10/writing-excuses-7-24-project-in-depth-way-of-kings/

And I'm pretty forgiving of names as well. Fantasy names are a tough thing though, since you want them to be a little alien but still "feel right". He's doing better than most D&D players at least.

enigma105
Mar 16, 2004

His record...it's over 9-7!!!

Lobsterpillar posted:

Unfortunately it looks to me like its just a sample :(. Or perhaps its region specific, I know we get a ton of stuff on NZ itunes that is more expensive than on itunes in the USA.

It's US only

enigma105
Mar 16, 2004

His record...it's over 9-7!!!

Evil Fluffy posted:

If some/all of the interlude characters don't end up as main characters in the later books I'd be surprised. Especially since at least one of them appears to be of a different order than any of the people around Kaladin.

I think Lift and Renarin are each going to be the focus of one of the Second Set books.

enigma105
Mar 16, 2004

His record...it's over 9-7!!!

socialsecurity posted:

Wit even makes a point about how they call Axe-Hounds Hounds despite not knowing what a hound actually is, there is some history to their language they don't know about.

I don't know if it's a full plot point, but it's obvious that humans aren't native to Roshar. I remember something about horses as well. Pretty much anything that is from Shin is suspect as well.

enigma105
Mar 16, 2004

His record...it's over 9-7!!!

Tunicate posted:

Looks like Altered Perceptions came out.

I've read two of the alternate Stormlight archive chapters so far and it's pretty jarringly different. Not just the "one choice" that I expected but it's nearly a different book. Names are different, Personalities are different, and the weather is different. The basic stuff we have in the published books is there, but is realized in very different ways.

Still an interesting read.

enigma105
Mar 16, 2004

His record...it's over 9-7!!!

rafikki posted:

I think the general consensus (and my opinion, at least) is that it's probably the weakest of the Sanderson's stuff. It was competent enough, but I certainly haven't felt a pull to go back and reread it.

It's YA and non-cosmere. I like the reasoning for evil superpowers, but it isn't as good as Stormlight. It's better than a lot of other stuff out there though. I'm sure the Steelheart ebook will be cheap somewhere as a promotion for Firefight if you want to check it out.

enigma105
Mar 16, 2004

His record...it's over 9-7!!!

Immortan posted:

I'm thinking about picking up the Stormlight Archive series and I just want to know if its too "light hearted" like Harry Potter or more "gritty" like Asofai? Looking for more of the latter, personally. TIA!

It's not for kids like Harry Potter either. A defining character moment is a spent on the edge of a cliff contemplating suicide. If you think "gritty" means rape, sudden character death, or pages spent describing food then it's not what you want. If you mean it's a story meant for adults, then you are on the right path. No sex, but the main character is dealing with depression.

enigma105
Mar 16, 2004

His record...it's over 9-7!!!

mewse posted:

I posted about it in here before but the reckoners books struck me as way more young adult than other stuff that was supposedly young adult like wheel of time, because of stuff like the protagonist angrily saying "I'm not a nerd!!"

WoT came before YA became a huge "thing" thanks to Harry Potter. Lines between YA and general fantasy were much more blurry in the 80s. Today it seems like there's a much more distinct market with less blur between YA and adult.

Then again WoT has plenty of genre swearing as well. Plus vague sex references rather than an avoidance altogether.

enigma105
Mar 16, 2004

His record...it's over 9-7!!!

Ex-Priest Tobin posted:

Not meaning to threadshit, but I've heard so many fantasy fans rave about this guy's novels that I picked up and read the first Mistborn novel. Really struggle to make out what the fuss is about? All the characters were stock, the storyline predictable and the prose functional at best. To be honest it felt like an average comic book in novel form. The magic system was kind of cool and interesting, and the plotting fairly tight the majority of the way through, but those are the only positive takeaways I had. Altogether I felt like I was reading something written by a 16-year-old.

Did I pick up the wrong one or are his others significantly better?

You picked up his second published novel, so it's definitely early in his career. The Emperor's Soul is considered his best by many, and Sanderson is always improving. He's also always writing, so there have been quite a few books written since then (Including the final 3 WoT books).

His early books also have the "Sanderson Avalanche", where every plot thread wraps up in the one or two crazy chapters. He has gotten better at that as well. He is still an outliner first, so his plots will always be pretty tight, but his characters are improving. Check out Warbreaker (it's free on his website) for a character most people really like (Lightsong).

His signature is the magic systems that he creates, and the rules he sticks with. If that kept you interested then it only gets better. If it isn't, it still gets better but I'd suggest Warbreaker (free) and the novella The Emporor's Soul to get a more modern Sanderson.

enigma105
Mar 16, 2004

His record...it's over 9-7!!!

mewse posted:

Yeah and I've gained 50 pounds, it sucks

that's a hell of a punch

enigma105
Mar 16, 2004

His record...it's over 9-7!!!

That cover.

Brandon Sanderson presents: Brandon Sanderson's White Sand, written by Brandon Sanderson and some other guy

I'm guessing that isn't the final cover

enigma105
Mar 16, 2004

His record...it's over 9-7!!!

NinjaDebugger posted:

The other author is probably Joe Dever, since the blurb reads like Avatar crossed with Lone Wolf. FOR SOMMERLUND AND THE KAI!

It's Rik Hoskin (who I don't know). Not that you can tell easily from that page

enigma105
Mar 16, 2004

His record...it's over 9-7!!!

OAquinas posted:

Sanderson!

Sanderson!

SANDERSON!!!


Coming to you live from the deserts of Taldain! Tickets pay for the whole seat, but you only need the eeeeeedge

*only applies to last 3rd of book

enigma105
Mar 16, 2004

His record...it's over 9-7!!!

Cartoon Man posted:

Hello Sanderson thread. I used to keep up with all things Sanderson, but for whatever reason I quit reading after Stormlight book 2. I see that book 3 is coming out soon and I’ve got a nice hardcover on preorder to go with my other two. (Love all the drawings and artwork that show up in those books, it’s just not the same with an ebook.). I see he’s written a ton of shorter stuff in past few years and I wanted to ask if any of it is “must read” before book three comes out. I think the last short story of his I read was Emporer’s Soul which loving owned.

Edgedancer is set between books 2 & 3. Unless Lift drove you crazy in the interludes, you should read it.

If you haven't read Warbreaker (it's free on Sanderson's website), it has a nice tie-in to book 2. More like an Easter egg so far, but I'll bet it's a bigger deal in 3.

enigma105
Mar 16, 2004

His record...it's over 9-7!!!

calandryll posted:

I think it's talked about more later on but they had hoped that she was easily manipulable because she was so young.

Also they knew that if the rebels failed whoever they set up as their leader would be executed.

enigma105
Mar 16, 2004

His record...it's over 9-7!!!

RC Cola posted:

Is it Taim who brings him the seals? Just wait. Egwene is okay until about book 8. Perrin is good in 4 and 6 and gets worse until book 11. Then he gets good. Mat imo is better on a read through once you know what's going on. But Mat's arc gets better and better as he embraces his destiny. Nynaeve also picks up. I think it's book 8 and beyond where she becomes a good character. Rand's Decent into madness is one of the best written parts of the series imo.
By book 14 if Mat isn't your favorite character, I don't know what to tell you.

I think Egwene gets awesome in book 11. Another standout party of the series is her one chapter. It just put her on crash course with Rand and we know more than she does. I like her reaction to being captured and controlled in book 11 is not to have PTSD from book 2 but to figure out how to use the situation. It's nice that it wasn't another "I must become hard" thing since we've send Rand get worse every time.

She is explicitly calling back to her time being trained by the Aiel and the training with Siuan and using that education without access to the One Power.

enigma105
Mar 16, 2004

His record...it's over 9-7!!!

Sab669 posted:

:shrug: What necessitates Wheel of Time being 4,410,036 words long

What books do you read? Why are they the size they are? Why isn't Game of Thrones a 2 hour movie?

Here's the WoT condensed: The world doesn't end. FYI, that is spoiled in the first chapter in every book, so don't feel bad if you accidentally read it.

Stormlight so far: Suck it up, hero

Mistborn: Burn it all

enigma105
Mar 16, 2004

His record...it's over 9-7!!!

Mel Mudkiper posted:

Let me clarify

I am not trying to insult the book.

I legitimately do not know what the book could contain that would make it that long.

I mean, the book is as long as War and Peace which has something like 200+ named characters

The Wheel of Time has 2782 named characters, 147 have a PoV.

Most names don't really matter, but quite often the people that appear early in the series come up again.

enigma105
Mar 16, 2004

His record...it's over 9-7!!!

Mel Mudkiper posted:

I am curious as to the level of craft someone practices over the course of writing some 10,000 pages of a single story

Like, how much did he reflect on a sentence before committing to it?

If you are talking about Sanderson, he has a podcast called Writing Excuses that might help.

There's is even An Episode on Line Editing an old manuscript of his

If you've read Way of Kings, There's even an episode that tells about that book specifically, though it does have some spoilers.

It's not just Brandon, but 3-4 other authors so it isn't just his process. But if you search they do take on lots of issues. Some of which may answer your questions. The short answer is that his process is an outline, then write, then begin editing, at least for big stuff. His shorter works can start with discovery writing.

Edit: if you are talking about Jordan, I think the problem could be the lack of editing. Since it's likely no one wanted to change his words to much lest they become "no longer Robert Jordan".

enigma105 fucked around with this message at 23:29 on Nov 10, 2018

enigma105
Mar 16, 2004

His record...it's over 9-7!!!

Sab669 posted:

I've got like 10 minutes left on Knife of Dreams, pulled up the wiki article to review everything and... Honesty I don't recall like anything about Semirhage with the Rand summary 🤔

Overall definitely a better book than the last 3-4, but I'm not sure I'll enjoy the remaining books much more than any other in the series. Like I can't imagine it getting so much better for me by this point.

Semirhage was High Lady Suroth, Tuon's Truthspeaker. Not sure if that's explicitly spelled out, but I believe it is. A lot is happening in that chapter, so I can understand missing it.

enigma105
Mar 16, 2004

His record...it's over 9-7!!!

Henrik Zetterberg posted:

Finished WoT book 10 (CoT).

It started out really promising then turned to a big pile of poop with a literal 20 Aes Sedai chapters in a row, including 3 hours of a bath. Then nothing of substance really happens until the literal last sentence of the book that came extremely abruptly.

Another dumb book.

But you are now done with "the slog" and get to enjoy all the awesome that it was set up.

enigma105
Mar 16, 2004

His record...it's over 9-7!!!

OAquinas posted:

GRRM also tends to write character driven and meander, while Sanderson plans the hell out of his stories. If he writes himself into a corner something has gone really, really wrong.

I don't know if it's still his process, but he used to write his outlines backwards, starting with the big, crazy finish and then figuring out how to get there along with trusts and turns. Thats why Sanderson's early books (Elantris especially) have the Sanderlanche in the last chapters. The Writing Excuses podcast has some really great behind the scenes stuff amongst all the writing advise, and he talks about having to work out how to seperate a books various climaxes so they don't happen at once.

enigma105 fucked around with this message at 03:41 on May 30, 2019

enigma105
Mar 16, 2004

His record...it's over 9-7!!!

Reaverbot posted:

Alloy of Law felt like Brandon just really wanted to write allomancy gun fight scenes and everything else in the book is in service of facilitating them.

I think it's how it started. The gunfight in the middle of the book was written on a plane ride or something and the rest of the book emerged from that seed.

enigma105
Mar 16, 2004

His record...it's over 9-7!!!

Democratic Pirate posted:

Can someone spoil Vin 3.0 because I’ve read all things Sanderson and I am drawing a blank.

She is awesome

enigma105
Mar 16, 2004

His record...it's over 9-7!!!

Boogaloo Shrimp posted:

The next logical extension from this is Voltron, Defender of the Cosmere.

I think that's what Apocalypse Guard was/is supposed to be. I'm not sure if it's cancelled or still being reworked by Dan Wells though

enigma105
Mar 16, 2004

His record...it's over 9-7!!!

Torrannor posted:


I was looking up when the first chapter for Rhythm of War was released on tor.com. It was on July 23rd, and Rhythm of War came out on November 17th. So roughly a four months gap between the first teaser chapter, and the book coming out. If it works the same for Winds and Truth, we can expect the first excerpt from that book around August. I'm very excited for this.

I love the "book club" discussion this forces. Otherwise the thread becomes a no go zone for those of us who can't read the whole book overnight.

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enigma105
Mar 16, 2004

His record...it's over 9-7!!!

ConfusedUs posted:

Adolin: “I am a stick?”

WoR spolier

Maya: You could be a sword
Adolin: Son of a Shard, I'm in

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