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SaviourX
Sep 30, 2003

The only true Catwoman is Julie Newmar, Lee Meriwether, or Eartha Kitt.

Not A Hydroxyl Ion posted:

I really can't wait for this book to be released. I'm a huge Sanderson fan; he's extremely good at avoiding the problems that often hit other genre writers

I don't think this is the same writer, because the first Mistborn book was plagued by all sorts of genre and first-novel trappings. Also, I don't think being descriptive being overly wordy are comparable things.

I liked the dude because of his podcast, but ~140 pages into the first Mistborn novel, all it was was cliches about young rogues and mysterious magic strangers with the blandest possible prose. Having a magic system that you have to exposit like a DnD manual doesn't help, either.
I don't know how some of you got positive experiences from the reading, much less made it through more than one. Then again, this is the sub-forum that loves Erikson despite his many flaws.

Maybe he's matured a bit or has a better focus with this one, but I'm not counting on it.

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MartingaleJack
Aug 26, 2004

I'll split you open and I don't even like coconuts.

SaviourX posted:

I don't think this is the same writer, because the first Mistborn book was plagued by all sorts of genre and first-novel trappings. Also, I don't think being descriptive being overly wordy are comparable things.

Maybe he's matured a bit or has a better focus with this one, but I'm not counting on it.

I think Sanderson has very little natural writing talent. He's had to work really hard not to be R.A. Salvatore, and I think with each book his prose gets a little better. The important thing is that he obviously is trying to improve, not just spew out the next book.

SaviourX
Sep 30, 2003

The only true Catwoman is Julie Newmar, Lee Meriwether, or Eartha Kitt.

Aye, I can respect that, but that sort of progression will always be a slow uphill drive.

ConfusedUs
Feb 24, 2004

Bees?
You want fucking bees?
Here you go!
ROLL INITIATIVE!!





Way of Kings comes out in two days.

woop woop

mcable
Apr 21, 2010

https://i.imgur.com/kCXRcxe.jpg

SaviourX posted:

Aye, I can respect that, but that sort of progression will always be a slow uphill drive.

I have a much better view of Sanderson's writing abilities than you guys but I'll agree that Sanderson has improved the craft of his writing a lot, the last few years by working on the Wheel of Time books.

So yeah, two more days. Woop Woop.

Synastren
Nov 8, 2005

Bad at Starcraft 2.
Better at psychology.
Psychology Megathread




SaviourX posted:

I liked the dude because of his podcast, but ~140 pages into the first Mistborn novel, all it was was cliches about young rogues and mysterious magic strangers with the blandest possible prose. Having a magic system that you have to exposit like a DnD manual doesn't help, either.

Eh, after about the halfway point into Mistborn the cliches seem to wear off a bit. I distinctly enjoyed the second half more than the first half.

Granted, his prose isn't that great, but it is (I think) definitely above the line of mediocrity within the genre--not that he has any truly stiff competition there.

Besides, I like my magic systems [unnecessarily?] complex, thank you very much. :colbert: Though, I guess, I like them nearly as much as starting each sentence with a single word followed by a comma.

syphon
Jan 1, 2001
I liked the structured magic system. There are other series where there are no rules or limitations to the magic, which leaves things very open for the classic Deus Ex Machina of 'a wizard did it' (I'm looking at you, Feist or Eddings).

This was illustrated pretty well with the few big fights there were in the Mistborn series, where the hero can't just cast some spell that shoots green poo poo at the enemy to save the day.

Kreeblah
May 17, 2004

INSERT QUACK TO CONTINUE


Taco Defender
Yep. I absolutely love strictly-defined magic systems. They give stories a larger-than-life feel while still forcing the characters to be clever.

Atlas Hugged
Mar 12, 2007


Put your arms around me,
fiddly digits, itchy britches
I love you all
Are we treating this like the BS megathread?

I'm about halfway through Elantris and enjoying it well enough. It's pretty obvious that it's a first novel, though. There's a lot of telling and exposition that's either unnecessary (as in, it would be better to let the read puzzle out the meaning of something) or would be better as action (as in, we are told more how characters are than we really see them do). Still, I have book one of Mistborn waiting for when I finish this and I also downloaded Warbreaker when I finish that.

Sadly, I probably won't be able to get a copy of Way of Kings for a year or so.

ConfusedUs
Feb 24, 2004

Bees?
You want fucking bees?
Here you go!
ROLL INITIATIVE!!





Haraksha posted:

Are we treating this like the BS megathread?

Pretty much, yeah. Especially because the book in the thread title isn't even out yet.

One more day. woop woop

veekie
Dec 25, 2007

Dice of Chaos

syphon posted:

I liked the structured magic system. There are other series where there are no rules or limitations to the magic, which leaves things very open for the classic Deus Ex Machina of 'a wizard did it' (I'm looking at you, Feist or Eddings).

This was illustrated pretty well with the few big fights there were in the Mistborn series, where the hero can't just cast some spell that shoots green poo poo at the enemy to save the day.
I love Magic Science settings.

Synastren
Nov 8, 2005

Bad at Starcraft 2.
Better at psychology.
Psychology Megathread




Haraksha posted:

I'm about halfway through Elantris and enjoying it well enough. It's pretty obvious that it's a first novel, though. There's a lot of telling and exposition that's either unnecessary (as in, it would be better to let the read puzzle out the meaning of something) or would be better as action (as in, we are told more how characters are than we really see them do). Still, I have book one of Mistborn waiting for when I finish this and I also downloaded Warbreaker when I finish that.

I thought Elantris was OK. The only thing that was at all novel (heh) was his incredibly depressing setting. The characters were, by and large, cliches, and were uninteresting--perhaps with the exception of the Lightsong ark, which was actually enjoyable for me. Unsurprisingly, though, I did enjoy his magic system(s).

ConfusedUs
Feb 24, 2004

Bees?
You want fucking bees?
Here you go!
ROLL INITIATIVE!!





I'm about to dive in. I read the first couple chapters on my lunch break, but this time I probably won't come up for air until I fall asleep.

Early impressions:
Lashing (the magic system) is cool and I can see some awesome fight scenes coming out of it. For those that don't know yet, Lashing is essentially gravity control. The Lasher can change which direction he is pulled, which direction other things are pulled, or cause an object to pull things to itself.

Ho hum. Magic soul-sealing swords and armor built to nullify them. Like we haven't seen that kind of thing before. Still, I suppose it's a staple of the genre...

Sanderson writes a pretty good battle scene. Digging the POV from a fresh, raw recruit building up what will probably be one of the series' main protagonists. Sanderson did this pretty well in Mistborn, too, when Vin watches Kelsier kick rear end.

VanillaGorilla
Oct 2, 2003

ConfusedUs posted:

I'm about to dive in. I read the first couple chapters on my lunch break, but this time I probably won't come up for air until I fall asleep.

Early impressions:
Lashing (the magic system) is cool and I can see some awesome fight scenes coming out of it. For those that don't know yet, Lashing is essentially gravity control. The Lasher can change which direction he is pulled, which direction other things are pulled, or cause an object to pull things to itself.

Ho hum. Magic soul-sealing swords and armor built to nullify them. Like we haven't seen that kind of thing before. Still, I suppose it's a staple of the genre...

Sanderson writes a pretty good battle scene. Digging the POV from a fresh, raw recruit building up what will probably be one of the series' main protagonists. Sanderson did this pretty well in Mistborn, too, when Vin watches Kelsier kick rear end.

I'm enjoying it as well. The book gets much better after the first chapter - Sanderson has a way of being way to expository in his writing. It's like there's a technical manual for his magic system buried in every fight, and it becomes a bit overbearing and repetitious. It's almost like he doesn't trust his reader to imagine this super awesome action sequence that's playing in his head, so he goes waaaaay overboard trying to describe the mechanics of what's happening.

It's one of the things that really annoyed me about the Mistwalker series, and it's front and center in Way of Kings. That being said, Sanderson's ability to build worlds and interesting systems is here, too, so I'm sticking with it. I just hope that he lets go of writing everything like "so and so Lashes himself to the wall (OH BY THE WAY DID I MENTION THAT LASHING OPERATES THIS WAY AND THERE ARE 3 TYPES OF LASHES AND THIS IS HOW THEY ARE DIFFERENT)"

Atlas Hugged
Mar 12, 2007


Put your arms around me,
fiddly digits, itchy britches
I love you all

Synastren posted:

I thought Elantris was OK. The only thing that was at all novel (heh) was his incredibly depressing setting. The characters were, by and large, cliches, and were uninteresting--perhaps with the exception of the Lightsong ark, which was actually enjoyable for me. Unsurprisingly, though, I did enjoy his magic system(s).

Well, I just finished it, and I definitely enjoyed it, despite it being rather predictable. It's kind of obvious how things are going to end, but it was a fun ride getting there. It's time to move on to Mistborn!

mcable
Apr 21, 2010

https://i.imgur.com/kCXRcxe.jpg

VanillaGorilla posted:

I'm enjoying it as well. The book gets much better after the first chapter - Sanderson has a way of being way to expository in his writing. It's like there's a technical manual for his magic system buried in every fight, and it becomes a bit overbearing and repetitious. It's almost like he doesn't trust his reader to imagine this super awesome action sequence that's playing in his head, so he goes waaaaay overboard trying to describe the mechanics of what's happening.

It's one of the things that really annoyed me about the Mistwalker series, and it's front and center in Way of Kings. That being said, Sanderson's ability to build worlds and interesting systems is here, too, so I'm sticking with it. I just hope that he lets go of writing everything like "so and so Lashes himself to the wall (OH BY THE WAY DID I MENTION THAT LASHING OPERATES THIS WAY AND THERE ARE 3 TYPES OF LASHES AND THIS IS HOW THEY ARE DIFFERENT)"

I got to disagree that he does it all the time. I'll say that he's more technical with the early fight scenes. But once he's explained how the magic works, then the subsequent fights are a lot more free and fluid. At least that's how I feel about Mistborn, since I haven't gotten WOK yet.

ConfusedUs
Feb 24, 2004

Bees?
You want fucking bees?
Here you go!
ROLL INITIATIVE!!





VanillaGorilla posted:

It's one of the things that really annoyed me about the Mistwalker series, and it's front and center in Way of Kings. That being said, Sanderson's ability to build worlds and interesting systems is here, too, so I'm sticking with it. I just hope that he lets go of writing everything like "so and so Lashes himself to the wall (OH BY THE WAY DID I MENTION THAT LASHING OPERATES THIS WAY AND THERE ARE 3 TYPES OF LASHES AND THIS IS HOW THEY ARE DIFFERENT)"

He got over it pretty quickly in the Mistborn books. The first couple of fights and the training montage were a bit overly technical, but most everything after was more free-flowing. There might be the occasional "so and so burned tin, heightening his senses," here and there, but there wasn't an encyclopedia-like entry.

I'm expecting Way of Kings to end up like that, and to be honest, Wheel of Time is much that way too. How many times are we reminded that shields are made of pure Spirit? drat near every time it's used.

I find these magic-as-a-science systems to be quite engaging, especially if they remain consistent to themselves.

MartingaleJack
Aug 26, 2004

I'll split you open and I don't even like coconuts.
I pre-ordered the book via kindle and it arrived while I was stuck at work. I'm currently about 30,000 words in and here are my takes on it:

* Sanderson has really improved his ability to write descriptions. Sentence structures are much more varied. Vocabulary has been expanded. Whereas Mistborn and Elantris sometimes felt as if they were written for the YA crowd, this definitely does not. I'd place the prose somewhere on the level of Joe Abercrombie or Scott Lynch(without going overboard like Lynch usually does with descriptions).

Viewpoints are used to greater effect. For instance, the way the main character is introduced is through the eyes of someone else (Cenn).

* Violence. Lots of violence and not in the playful Mistborn or Warbreaker way.

* One reused character archetype. So far Shalla is the same female lead from Warbreaker and Elantris.

* Magic Systems. Magic Systems! Mistborn had three: allomancy, whatevermancy, and whatevermancy. Warbreaker had the colors and breath system. Stormlight Archive introduces a new magic system almost every chapter. Sometimes its really well done, so you barely notice that a magic system is being introduced. Other times its Lash this, Lashed that--a hard introduction a la the Mistborn books. And who's to say that doesn't work really well for what it is. Straightforward and getting it out of the way so cooler stuff can take place.

So far the novel is only confirming the suspicion I got reading Elantris 4 years ago that Sanderson is going to be a very large figure in fantasy novels in the years to come.

mcable
Apr 21, 2010

https://i.imgur.com/kCXRcxe.jpg

BananaNutkins posted:

* One reused character archetype. So far Shalla is the same female lead from Warbreaker and Elantris.

Not to mention that in Warbreaker, there were two of them. At least we didn't get a twofer in WOK, with the heretic princess averting the typical princess tropes by being a super-smart, didactic B.

Finished the first part and really enjoying it so far.

mcable fucked around with this message at 12:11 on Sep 1, 2010

Sexpansion
Mar 22, 2003

DELETED
This book may be good or bad, I have no idea, but the description of it on wikipedia makes it sound loving hilarious:

quote:

The world of The Way of Kings is one constantly assaulted by hurricanes.[3] Flora and fauna have evolved to cope with this condition.[3]

Oh okay, kind of interesting.

quote:

In response to an attack by malignant entities (known as Voidbringers),[3] the "Almighty" fashions magical weapons and suits of armor, called Shardblades[3].

Uh oh.

quote:

The "Almighty" equips knights, known as Radiants, with these Shardblades,[3] and, eventually, the Radiants defeat these evil Voidbringers.[3]

Hahahahaha.

quote:

Then, for unknown reasons, the Radiants turn against mankind and begin fighting over the remaining Shardblades.[3]

Shartblade.

quote:

The book begins at a phase where warlords have, for many years, been gathering armies around Shardblade wielding fighters.[3] These armies fight over possession of the remaining Shardblades,[3] in an attempt to acquire enough for a decisive advantage.

Sounds like a videogame I would play.

quote:

Sanderson describes the plot specific to The Way of Kings on the Barnes and Noble forums:

The book follows a young spearman forced into the army of a Shardbearer, led to war against an enemy he doesn't understand and doesn't really want to fight. It will deal with the truth of what happened deep in mankind's past. Why did the Radiants turn against mankind, and what happened to the magic they used to wield?[3]

I wonder if he'll wield the mystical shartblade?

MartingaleJack
Aug 26, 2004

I'll split you open and I don't even like coconuts.
Yea, well, find me a fantasy book that has a good summary. I think the pitch has little to do with the quality of the actual book, and I'm pretty sure that a lot of the times the writer wasn't even involved.

Here's a pitch where the writer WAS involved and it still turned out silly:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9usnlWLK7I

My favorite line: "I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs to make the minstrels weep."

Dramatika
Aug 1, 2002

THE BANK IS OPEN
Ugh, I'm going to have to unbookmark this thread for a few days, I got my copy yesterday but will be busy for the rest of the week, and want to go into this with a completely open, unspoiled mind this weekend. The posts here are making me want to cancel all my plans and read this instead.

And yeah, all fantasy blurbs/summaries are terrible, half the fun of fantasy novels is the world building that occurs, and you can't build a convincing world in two paragraphs.

Also, I was completely shocked when this book came in yesterday, I didn't expect it to be so huge. Are all of them supposed to be ~1000 pages?

Kreeblah
May 17, 2004

INSERT QUACK TO CONTINUE


Taco Defender
I don't think he said this was going to be any longer or shorter than any of the other ones, so they could be. If he keeps that up for all ten books or whatever, we might well end up with a series that's longer (wordcount-wise) than the Wheel of Time.

mcable
Apr 21, 2010

https://i.imgur.com/kCXRcxe.jpg
I'm pretty sure I read in a recent blog/interview that Brandon said that Way of Kings clocked in at 400k words but that future installments would be more like 250k-300k.

j3rkstore
Jan 28, 2009

L'esprit d'escalier
Just finished the book and I really enjoyed it!

I had to read it all on my Droid as my Kindle has yet to arrive :argh: Amazon

Fellwenner
Oct 21, 2005
Don't make me kill you.

The spren remind me strongly of something similar in Katherine Kerr's books, but they appear to have a different role in the world. Still though, I'm really, really liking this book.

L-O-N
Sep 13, 2004

Pillbug
A great first book. I loved the various magic systems. All of them seemed so different and distinct. The world seems very full of life. I liked it better than Mistborn, which had great cities, but ignored the countryside.

Kaladin's flashback chapters were a bit too numerous, and seemed it could have been compressed, but everything else was fine. Kaladin and Syl reminds me of Guts and Puck in Berserk.

Also, it's interesting that Shallan is the one that has a shardblade. Wonder if she's going to learn to use it or give it to someone else. Can't wait for the next book. Between this and the end of Wheel of Time, Sanderson is just pumping out good books.

OdinsBeard
Jul 12, 2003

I don't think about my hands too much. Just trying to hit the ball in the air. Hit the ball in the air!

L-O-N posted:

Also, it's interesting that Shallan is the one that has a shardblade. Wonder if she's going to learn to use it or give it to someone else. Can't wait for the next book. Between this and the end of Wheel of Time, Sanderson is just pumping out good books.

When the hell did that happen?

Neep
Jan 2, 2003

Terrorist is Prohibited!!!
I just started the book, I'm about a third of the way through, and I'm really liking it. I could see myself loving this series and Sanderson's writing as I complete the book.

I do agree there is a bit more exposition given than needed but at least it doesn't feel repetitive.

I haven't read any other Sanderson but I was considering getting Mistborn. Is that still worth reading even though it seems people are saying he's less mature as an author and some of the characters are very similar?

I hope the next volume comes out soon as I really enjoy long narratives (as long as they have a defined progression). I was hunting for info on any start of it but haven't found it.

j3rkstore
Jan 28, 2009

L'esprit d'escalier

L-O-N posted:

Also, it's interesting that Shallan is the one that has a shardblade. Wonder if she's going to learn to use it or give it to someone else.

Did I miss this as well?

Kreeblah
May 17, 2004

INSERT QUACK TO CONTINUE


Taco Defender

j3rkstore posted:

Did I miss this as well?

If I'm remembering right, just before she melts her lamp via soulcasting, she considers pulling it out.

MartingaleJack
Aug 26, 2004

I'll split you open and I don't even like coconuts.

Neep posted:

I just started the book, I'm about a third of the way through, and I'm really liking it. I could see myself loving this series and Sanderson's writing as I complete the book.

I do agree there is a bit more exposition given than needed but at least it doesn't feel repetitive.

I haven't read any other Sanderson but I was considering getting Mistborn. Is that still worth reading even though it seems people are saying he's less mature as an author and some of the characters are very similar?

I hope the next volume comes out soon as I really enjoy long narratives (as long as they have a defined progression). I was hunting for info on any start of it but haven't found it.

I'd say the first book is worth reading, and if you like that then you will probably enjoy the rest of the series for what it is.

j3rkstore
Jan 28, 2009

L'esprit d'escalier

Kreeblah posted:

If I'm remembering right, just before she melts her lamp via soulcasting, she considers pulling it out.

Wow, good catch. I totally missed that.

pseudorandom name
May 6, 2007

j3rkstore posted:

Wow, good catch. I totally missed that.

Huh. I did too. And by implication, she took it from her father when she killed him (however that happened.

Page 643, if anyone wants to reread the scene themselves.

OdinsBeard
Jul 12, 2003

I don't think about my hands too much. Just trying to hit the ball in the air. Hit the ball in the air!

Kreeblah posted:

If I'm remembering right, just before she melts her lamp via soulcasting, she considers pulling it out.

That is a good catch, it was a pretty subtle reference. Where it says "Except . . . "

edit: actually it wasn't even that subtle, I just can't put two and two together, apparently.

ConfusedUs
Feb 24, 2004

Bees?
You want fucking bees?
Here you go!
ROLL INITIATIVE!!





This book owns. It's really good.

OdinsBeard
Jul 12, 2003

I don't think about my hands too much. Just trying to hit the ball in the air. Hit the ball in the air!

ConfusedUs posted:

This book owns. It's really good.

I agree. I can't believe we've got 9 more books, though. At least we can count on him to put them out at a good pace. I remember him saying he was shelving it until he finishes the last Wheel of Time book, unfortunately.

veekie
Dec 25, 2007

Dice of Chaos

Xyrael posted:

I agree. I can't believe we've got 9 more books, though. At least we can count on him to put them out at a good pace. I remember him saying he was shelving it until he finishes the last Wheel of Time book, unfortunately.

At the rate the man goes that'd probably be some time next year.

ConfusedUs
Feb 24, 2004

Bees?
You want fucking bees?
Here you go!
ROLL INITIATIVE!!





Xyrael posted:

I agree. I can't believe we've got 9 more books, though. At least we can count on him to put them out at a good pace. I remember him saying he was shelving it until he finishes the last Wheel of Time book, unfortunately.

Well he's done with the penultimate WoT book, so there's just one more to go. And I'm pretty sure that I read that Jordan wrote most of the ending to the series, so it should go even faster!

I'm not really too worried about the time between books in this series. Thus far Sanderson has put out about a billion books in just a few years.

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moist towelette
Jun 4, 2010
I just finished this last night and I still can't decide if I really liked it or not, it started off so strong and finished well but the middle half was just so tedious for me, especially the flashback chapters. I realize that books in this genre are usually long, and it can take a while to set things up especially at the start of the series but it really felt like next to nothing happened for hundreds of pages.

I actually really like his sense of humor that pops up occasionally here and and in the wheel of time book he wrote, I can't think of an example but it took me by surprise once or twice.

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