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This Post Sucks
Dec 27, 2004

It Gave Me Splinters!
I just started Elantris yesterday and after about 300 pages, I'm really enjoying it. I don't know why people have been saying it takes a while to get in to? Maybe it's like the Mistborn ones where the middle drags a bit?

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computer parts
Nov 18, 2010

PLEASE CLAP

This Post Sucks posted:

I just started Elantris yesterday and after about 300 pages, I'm really enjoying it. I don't know why people have been saying it takes a while to get in to? Maybe it's like the Mistborn ones where the middle drags a bit?

It's because the flashy stuff doesn't happen until the end of the book. If you're the type of person who's entertained by a man struggling with his faith and a guy rebuilding a cursed city (I was) then you should enjoy most of it.

Affi
Dec 18, 2005

Break bread wit the enemy

X GON GIVE IT TO YA
Legion is great, I can really see this working as a television series. I just want to see JC walking around with weapons drawn everywhere.

soru
Apr 27, 2003

The Red God has his due, sweet girl, and only death may pay for life.

Affi posted:

Legion is great, I can really see this working as a television series. I just want to see JC walking around with weapons drawn everywhere.

It's impossible to not read JC as Adam Baldwin from Firefly.

404GoonNotFound
Aug 6, 2006

The McRib is back!?!?

soru posted:

It's impossible to not read JC as Adam Baldwin from Firefly.

Once again, he's post-crazy John Crichton and I will hear nothing to the contrary :colbert:

AgentHaiTo
Feb 7, 2003

Well, isn't this a coincidence? So, um, how you doing? You're busy, I know and I don't want to distract you, please, don't let me interrupt you.

soru posted:

It's impossible to not read JC as Adam Baldwin from Firefly.

It's funny you say that because I read this book entirely with the cast of Firefly as the different characters.

Affi
Dec 18, 2005

Break bread wit the enemy

X GON GIVE IT TO YA
Tobias is so Morgan Freeman.

Jorenko
Jun 6, 2004

I think you're just mad 'cause you're single.

Affi posted:

Tobias is so Morgan Freeman.

Holy poo poo. This warrants a reread.

Victorkm
Nov 25, 2001

Jorenko posted:

Holy poo poo. This warrants a reread.

That works very well with the character as well as steven's references to his comforting voice but I just can't not picture him as everyone's favorite analrapist.

Cartoon Man
Jan 31, 2004


Progress!

Brandon Sanderson's twitter account posted:

Stormlight 2 percentage bar moved from 2% to 4% as I finish another chapter. Goal is to be done by April 2013. We shall see...

:dance:

Biplane
Jul 18, 2005

gently caress me, I just finished Way of Kings for like the fourth time in 14 months. Stormlight 10 will blow everyones minds as it has Shallan sketch, in detail, how the Shattered Plains is really a huge mosaic of goatse.

Eric the Mauve
May 8, 2012

Making you happy for a buck since 199X
I just finished Way of Kings, loved it, but count me in with the "Wit is horrible" crowd. This character is in every Sanderson book (seriously, Elend/Lightsong/Wit are all the same character dropped into different circumstances/life stages) and for me at least it gets more painful to read, not less, with each new series.

Good lord is Sanderson good at worldbuilding and providing interesting and believable protagonists, though.

computer parts
Nov 18, 2010

PLEASE CLAP

Eric the Mauve posted:

I just finished Way of Kings, loved it, but count me in with the "Wit is horrible" crowd. This character is in every Sanderson book (seriously, Elend/Lightsong/Wit are all the same character dropped into different circumstances/life stages) and for me at least it gets more painful to read, not less, with each new series.

Good lord is Sanderson good at worldbuilding and providing interesting and believable protagonists, though.

He's actually literally in every book.

Fallorn
Apr 14, 2005
The thing I hope for is for Wit to get in a duel then absolutely murder the hell out of the other person without even looking to have been trying. Then joke around about where is the other persons come back to that.

Also do you think our little spear fighter is going to duel or get back at the person who forced him into slavery. That would be funny, the elite guard with a slave mark accusing the bright lord in front of every one and dueling him. Then he would skewer him through the eye with a spear wearing leather and gems while the Bright lord was in full shard.

SystemLogoff
Feb 19, 2011

End Session?

If you have not read Elantris, and you liked Stormlight, then you must. It's a very slow book that grows on you, then it all falls into place. It also ends at a point that feels fulfilling and empty at the same time.

Oh, and don't read it in a day. My spine and eyes are planing to murder me.

Eric the Mauve
May 8, 2012

Making you happy for a buck since 199X

Yeah, I know about Time Lord Hoid. That's not what I meant, of course. I always wonder if there are a bunch of people out there who love the Sanderson Humor Outlet Character or if it's just a bit of authorial self-indulgence. Not that there's anything wrong with that; he's Brandon loving Sanderson after all.

NinjaDebugger
Apr 22, 2008


Eric the Mauve posted:

Yeah, I know about Time Lord Hoid. That's not what I meant, of course. I always wonder if there are a bunch of people out there who love the Sanderson Humor Outlet Character or if it's just a bit of authorial self-indulgence. Not that there's anything wrong with that; he's Brandon loving Sanderson after all.

There are, in fact, people who enjoy it, and we have spoken up in this thread before.

platero
Sep 11, 2001

spooky, but polite, a-hole

Pillbug

Eric the Mauve posted:

Yeah, I know about Time Lord Hoid. That's not what I meant, of course. I always wonder if there are a bunch of people out there who love the Sanderson Humor Outlet Character or if it's just a bit of authorial self-indulgence. Not that there's anything wrong with that; he's Brandon loving Sanderson after all.

Dad jokes man, dad jokes.

This Post Sucks
Dec 27, 2004

It Gave Me Splinters!

SystemLogoff posted:

If you have not read Elantris, and you liked Stormlight, then you must. It's a very slow book that grows on you, then it all falls into place. It also ends at a point that feels fulfilling and empty at the same time.

Oh, and don't read it in a day. My spine and eyes are planing to murder me.

In about 750 pages in to Elantris and it's had me hooked from the beginning.

I'm still maintaining the worst Sanderson build up are the WoT books. I started a re-read so I could read the Sanderson stuff (I'd only read about the first 5 beforehand anyhow) and now I'm stuck on book 6. Ugh.

Mahlertov Cocktail
Mar 1, 2010

I ate your Mahler avatar! Hahahaha!
The bookstore in Freiburg has all of the Sanderson books in German. The cover for The Way of Kings (Der Weg der Könige) is at least as gorgeous as the Whelan cover. I wish I had infinite money for books. :(

This Post Sucks
Dec 27, 2004

It Gave Me Splinters!

Mahlertov Cocktail posted:

The bookstore in Freiburg has all of the Sanderson books in German. The cover for The Way of Kings (Der Weg der Könige) is at least as gorgeous as the Whelan cover. I wish I had infinite money for books. :(

I spent close to $50 getting the UK paperback versions of the Mistborn books cause they were so much better than the American versions.

Aggro
Apr 24, 2003

STRONG as an OX and TWICE as SMART
I just realized that once I finish Legion, I've completely demolished my backlog of fantasy novels, and Abercrombie's next book doesn't come out until mid-October. Argh.

I finished Warbreaker about an hour ago. I really can't get enough of Sanderson's avalanches. I absolutely loved the last few Lightsong chapters, with dramatic realizations, a poorly-planned rescue, and deus-ex-Lightsong.

Krakkles
May 5, 2003

Aggro posted:

dramatic realizations, a poorly-planned rescue, and deus-ex-Lightsong.
Shouldn't that be Lightsong ex machina?

I'm in the same spot. I actually tweeted Brandon to ask him what the hell I should read now, he his assistant pointed out that I'd missed Firstborn (I mistakenly thought it was Mistborn). So that killed another 45 minutes, and was pretty good.

Krakkles fucked around with this message at 07:16 on Sep 20, 2012

thecallahan
Nov 15, 2004

Since I was five Tara, all I've ever wanted was a Harley and cut.

Aggro posted:

I just realized that once I finish Legion, I've completely demolished my backlog of fantasy novels, and Abercrombie's next book doesn't come out until mid-October. Argh.

I finished Warbreaker about an hour ago. I really can't get enough of Sanderson's avalanches. I absolutely loved the last few Lightsong chapters, with dramatic realizations, a poorly-planned rescue, and deus-ex-Lightsong.

Have you read Raven's Shadow Book One: Blood Song (Raven's Shadow) by Anthony Ryan? Great first time book by an author who self published through Amazon. Only 3 bucks on the kindle. Now granted, I'm only about 2/3rds of the way through it but I'm really enjoying it.

Aggro
Apr 24, 2003

STRONG as an OX and TWICE as SMART
Yep, I read that right before Warbreaker. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but it reminds me why jumping into a new series totally sucks. I want more, but it'll be years before anything else comes out.

Blood Song has a very similar premise to The Name of the Wind, except Ryan doesn't include any author wish-fulfillment sex goddess adventures. The novel also has some of the most well-written fight scenes I've ever seen in fantasy.

Odette
Mar 19, 2011

Is the 4th Alcatraz book the last one in the series? Because the ending left a lot of things unresolved.

Sanderson! :argh:

Cartoon Man
Jan 31, 2004


Odette posted:

Is the 4th Alcatraz book the last one in the series? Because the ending left a lot of things unresolved.

Sanderson! :argh:

He was only contracted to do 4 I think, but he had plans for seven. He might renew the contract with Scholastic for the rest, I'm not sure.

Wolpertinger
Feb 16, 2011
I haven't actually even touched Alcatraz yet - is it worth reading at all? I usually can't stand YA.

Cartoon Man
Jan 31, 2004


Its a mixed bag. A lot of it is pure Sanderson lunacy and whimsy. Beneath that is a decent Sanderson magic system and world. They are short and probably not his best writing. I found them to be cute. Kind of.

Odette
Mar 19, 2011

They're kind of trashy but I like them.

Krakkles
May 5, 2003

Thought some people might appreciate this ... Brandon Sanderson is going to be answering questions posted to a fan site, and posted up the link for people to ask questions. I believe this DOES require registration, as it appears to be rather standard forum software, but in any case, go here. They do stipulate in the OP no Wheel of Time questions.

Cartoon Man
Jan 31, 2004


The Rithmatist will be coming out in May of 2013. This is Brandon's YA novel that he's been sitting on for a while. Here's the cover.
http://www.tor.com/blogs/2012/09/cover-revealed-for-brandon-sandersons-new-book-the-rithmatist

quote:

The Rithmatist is an epic fantasy set in an alternate version of our world—a world in which life in the American Isles is threatened by the attacks of mysterious creatures known as Wild Chalklings. Chalklings are two-dimensional drawings that can be infused with life by Rithmatists and it is the job of the Rithmatists to keep the Wild Chalkings at bay.

You may wonder how a two-dimensional drawing could possibly be a threat. Here’s the answer: Wild Chalklings scurry across the ground like scorpions or land piranhas, and bite chunks out of your feet. At which point you fall to the ground and they swarm you. Enough said.

The Rithmatist is about a 14-year-old kid named Joel who wants desperately to be a Rithmatist. But he wasn’t Chosen, so he doesn’t have the ability to bring chalklings or Rithmatic lines to life. All he can do is watch as The Rithmatist students at Armedius Academy learn the mystical art that he would give anything to practice. Then Rithmatist students start disappearing, kidnapped from their rooms at night, leaving only trails of blood. Joel’s professor asks him to help investigate—putting Joel and his friend Melody on the trail of a discovery that could change Rithmatics—and their world—forever….

toanoradian
May 31, 2011


The happiest waffligator
Man, Brandon Sanderson by The Rithmatist had a nice cover. Is that a steampunk horse?

Cartoon Man
Jan 31, 2004


Somebody posted in the comments of that article that Brandon has bought back the rights to the Alcatraz series. If true, thats really cool and means more Alcatraz books in the future. When he sold the rights to Scholastic, he wasn't that well known and had only published Elantris. (I think.)

toanoradian
May 31, 2011


The happiest waffligator
So I finally finished the first Mistborn book (started June, wandered off because the start bores me) today and it is rather amazing. Few questions though. You can spoil the other two books as you like, I am already too spoiled and would likely forget it anyway.

1) The word 'kandra' appeared on Chapter 19, few chapters before the term is properly introduced and explained. Is this an error? If it's a hint to the true nature of Renoux, it's kind of a weird hint.

2) I don't quite understand how Lord Ruler get younger. If I'm reading it right, Feruchemists can store an attribute, say [age], into a metal. Allomancers, on the other hand, can obtain an attribute from a metal. In the combination of Feruchemy and Allomancy, the metal that is burned would generate a great amount of the stored attribute? As such Lord Ruler have a lot of [age] and thus can constantly becoming younger? Am I getting this right?

3) Kelsier is like the most fun character in the book. He's just the right combination of dick and nice and he makes the other characters better. Nobody in the crew is like him. All the crew is too rational, too realistic. How depressing is the next two books? Or is there any Kelsier-like characters worth a drat in it?

Unrelated to Mistborn: How many words were Legion? It felt absurdly short to me, like a chapter in an 'epic fanfic'.

Victorkm
Nov 25, 2001

When you can use the same metal by burning it allomantically or storing it feruchemically the powers are multiplied. The Lord Ruler could burn gold to generate health/heal himself, and could make himself sick to store health for later healing in his goldminds. So instead of just making himself sick for a while while storing his natural health (He does this too), he can burn gold at the same time to make even more health than he started with and thus get a net gain which he can easily use to heal with.

So with the getting younger thing, decrepitude due to age is expressed as a decreased health which he rectifies with gold.

Burning a metalmind doesn't do much of any good, just wastes whatever is stored in the metalmind.

Victorkm fucked around with this message at 04:05 on Sep 28, 2012

Mortanis
Dec 28, 2005

It's your father's lightsaber. This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight.
College Slice
Burning the metal mind has to restore what's in it. Otherwise the system doesn't work. Vin notes when she tries some of Sazed's metal that there IS power there, just that she can't tap it.

From the Mistborn Wiki:

By burning a metal containing a stored attribute, such as burning atium which contains youth, the user effectively makes a profit on the attribute stored in the metal due to allomancy's property of drawing power from the metal. Thus the user gains more of the attribute than invested. An example of this is the Lord Ruler's immortality which is achieved through periods spent aged, storing youth in atium which he later burns and stores in the main atium minds which sustain him. Note that the attribute stored must have orignated from the user, hence Vin's inability to use the power in Sazed's pewtermind.

The term for a Twinborn who can burn the same metal as their Feruchemical ability uses is called a Compounder. A Compounder can store that metal, and tap it later at tenfold the power of a normal Misting.

Drunk Tomato
Apr 23, 2010

If God wanted us sober,
He'd knock the glass over.

toanoradian posted:

1) The word 'kandra' appeared on Chapter 19, few chapters before the term is properly introduced and explained. Is this an error? If it's a hint to the true nature of Renoux, it's kind of a weird hint.

I don't remember the context in chapter 19, and I also don't remember when you find this out, but Renoux was killed and replaced by a Kandra before you meet him

toanoradian posted:

3) Kelsier is like the most fun character in the book. He's just the right combination of dick and nice and he makes the other characters better. Nobody in the crew is like him. All the crew is too rational, too realistic. How depressing is the next two books? Or is there any Kelsier-like characters worth a drat in it?
I thought Kelsier as a character really only existed to introduce the conflict to Vin. If she's stuck following him around the whole time, she ceases to be the main character and we no longer care. For the growth of Vin and the rest of the story, I thought it was fitting that he died.

Elend takes his place as main male protagonist and I honestly preferred him as a character. He has an actual growth arc that I don't think Kelsier would have been able to have (as Kelsier was at the end of his character/growth arc when we met him). Really, I can't imagine not getting sick of Kelsier had he survived all three books.


Book two stuff (kind of spoilers) Plus, there's the whole "Chuch of the Survivor" thing that is a really big plot point, and the fact that Kelsier as a martyr is way more powerful to the movement than Kelsier as a roguish rebel.

veekie
Dec 25, 2007

Dice of Chaos

Mortanis posted:

Burning the metal mind has to restore what's in it. Otherwise the system doesn't work. Vin notes when she tries some of Sazed's metal that there IS power there, just that she can't tap it.

From the Mistborn Wiki:

By burning a metal containing a stored attribute, such as burning atium which contains youth, the user effectively makes a profit on the attribute stored in the metal due to allomancy's property of drawing power from the metal. Thus the user gains more of the attribute than invested. An example of this is the Lord Ruler's immortality which is achieved through periods spent aged, storing youth in atium which he later burns and stores in the main atium minds which sustain him. Note that the attribute stored must have orignated from the user, hence Vin's inability to use the power in Sazed's pewtermind.

The term for a Twinborn who can burn the same metal as their Feruchemical ability uses is called a Compounder. A Compounder can store that metal, and tap it later at tenfold the power of a normal Misting.

I think Sanderson also mentioned somewhere that the process for compounding age isn't perfect. The Lord Ruler needed more and more compounding for the same gain in time as he went along.

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Cartoon Man
Jan 31, 2004


Here's the Brandon Sanderson WOT panel at Dragoncon, including his reading of the Matt Cauthon chapter.

http://outta-this-world.com/2012/09/27/brandon-sanderson-reads-a-sneak-peak-from-a-memory-of-light/

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