|
Hey guys I didn't know about this thread till just now and I'm not really reading it cause I don't want spoilers. I picked up The Way Of Kings a while ago on a total whim - I had finished up my recent reading list and didn't have anything else to read, I knew literally nothing about it or about Brandon Sanderson, I just saw that it got good reviews. I was absolutely and totally hooked after a few chapters. The characters, the slow exploration and detailed explanations of the world, the story that slowly expanded to something amazing - I loved it. I burned through all 3 books (in audiobook) in less than two months, which is a feat since the books are enormous and I don't have much time for reading, but I made time. After burning through them all I hit post-good-book-depression. What else could live up to that? I picked up the cosmere collection, thinking it would be another set of mini-books like the one about Lift, hoping that it would sustain me. After the first one (about soulforging), and was intrigued because it was obviously not part of the same world. Then the intro to the next novella said that it had major spoilers to another book. Imagine my surprise on doing some research to find out that there is a whole separate series and another standalone book. Man, I've got a lot of reading to do. 
|
#
¿
May 18, 2018 07:03
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 26, 2024 08:29 |
|
|
Tunicate posted:Well, you've certainly fallen down the rabbit hole. Torrannor posted:Yeah, definitely Warbreaker next. Thanks for the suggestions! I was thinking about Mistborn next, so its good to have some guidance. What do you think, Warbreaker -> Mistborn -> Elantris and then finish the Cosmere Collection?
|
|
#
¿
May 18, 2018 08:03
|
|
|
ekeog posted:it's impressive people can read edgedancer and everything, yet still not catch that her entire persona is this facade meant to resist change and avoid dealing with childhood trauma (which she ironically went to an entity created by what is basically the God of Change to get help with) I think it's quite possible to realize that while still finding her behavior grating. I enjoyed Edgedancer overall, but her excessively infantile behavior made it really rough at points. It probably doesn't help that I read it via audio book, and Kate Reading has a really annoying tendency to extremely over-exaggerate anything potentially immature about characters - she'll turn an innocuous question into something really petulant and grating. Did the same thing to Shallan to extreme effect.
|
|
#
¿
May 19, 2018 06:19
|
|
|
This was a little chatty, but very cool. You can't really miss the theme of all the lead characters being damaged in a Stormlight Archive, but seeing the reaction from someone who has suffered through many of the same afflictions was interesting. There were nuances and glimpses into the characters that I didn't fully catch that this article helped point out. Not to mention a reminder of what a drat good author Sanderson is. God drat.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 8, 2018 00:09
|
|
|
So I just finished Warbreaker, at the recommendation of this thread. I definitely enjoyed it, but it wasn't nearly on the same level as the Stormlight Archives IMO. I doubt I'll re-read it, but I know for certain I will be re-reading TSA at some point in the future (probably leading up to the release of the next book). Anyway, I'm wondering which I should tackle next! Elantris, Mistborn, some other novella? Thanks!
|
|
#
¿
Jun 8, 2018 05:38
|
|
|
Torrannor posted:Elantris is his earliest and, imho, weakest book. While the original Mistborn trilogy is often considered his best or second best work behind Stormlight. Do you want to get the less engaging book out of the way, or go with the stronger books? I'd describe myself as intrigued but confused. Lack of an explanation for how the sword got from the world of warbreaker to the world of TSA left me a little nonplussed. I realize that it is significant, but I'm not sure how, at this point. It's possible there are hints in missed in TSA since it was my first reading that I'll get on re-reading it. If there are, please refrain from spoiling it . I still have a lot of question marks about how the worlds and the systems of magic they have are linked. I've gathered from what I've read so far that there is some kind of central "shard" concept but how it all fits together is still a mystery to me.Torrannor posted:Also, there are three major characters from Warbreaker appearing in Words of Radiance or Oathbreaker, did you spot them all? Disclaimer: I didn't, though it was obvious in retrospect once some fans figured it out. I only noticed the 1 obvious one, Hoid. Again this is something I may need to re-read TSA to fully get. I've gathered enough at this point to know that Hoid can travel between realms, but how he does it, what he is, and what is goal is still elude me. I'm definitely intrigued and curious to see if the other books shed more light on this mystery, particularly the rest of the Cosmere Collection, which I'm leaving unfinished for now since there was a spoiler warning in it.. In hindsight, I suspect a big part of why I didn't like Warbreaker as much was because of the narration, since I've been reading these books in audiobook form. The narrator for Warbreaker was... fine, but didn't help to make the characters particularly memorable. This is something the narrators of TSA did an absolutely phenomenal job of, particularly Michael Kramer, who is bar-none the best narrator I've ever heard. He applies incredible weight to events that occur, making everything from small interactions to the grand climaxes of the book feel beautiful and significant. His characterization is what really sets him apart though, going so far as to give every character a rich and unique voice and character, and even doing accents based on where characters were from in the world. Applied to wonderful effect to Lopin and Rock, two of my favorite characters. I didn't enjoy Kate Reading as much, mostly because of her tendency to amplify the most petulant aspects of characters, which made me dislike Shallan a lot early on (mostly redeemed later by her growth as a character) and Lift especially. Obviously she was supposed to be an immature child, but Kate Reading really brought it to a new level of annoying. However, her characterization and voices are overall good, and her portrayal of Pattern was absolutely fantastic, making him shine as a character. Ironically, Michael Kramer kind of fell flat on that in the few portions that he did Pattern's voice. I'll probably read Elantris next. I'm well enough invested at this point that I'm certain I'll be reading every Cosmere book, and I can survive through some weaker writing to save the better books for later. Unless it's not particularly important in the wider picture? Taffer fucked around with this message at 08:09 on Jun 8, 2018 |
|
#
¿
Jun 8, 2018 08:03
|
|
|
Tunicate posted:if it were important it'd be called chapter 1, calling it a prologue indicates the author secretly knows this poo poo is superfluous to telling a good story The prologues are actually good, op
|
|
#
¿
Jul 15, 2018 03:46
|
|
|
Frabba posted:I dunno about you guys but I tend to avoid the awkward teen chapters, name a book that was improved by the presence of chapters 13-19. And frankly, the depressive early-adult years really drag down an experience. I recommend skipping 20-25 as well
|
|
#
¿
Jul 16, 2018 20:00
|
|
|
Just finished the first Mistborn book. drat, that was good. It was obvious at many points that Sanderson hadn't progressed as an author as far as he had in TSA, but it was considerably better written than Warbreaker. The magic systems were much more interesting and well developed, the story followed a far more engaging arc, but most importantly the characters were great. I'm quite sure that, much like Warbreaker, there were many hints to the broader Cosmere that I missed, once again the only real link I noticed was Hoid. Who, much like in Warbreaker, had a very brief and not influential appearance, in contrast to TSA (particularly the later books) where he plays a significant role. There are also a ton of unanswered questions - the book had a very satisfying ending, which I was pleasantly surprised by, but was also left open ended enough that I'm psyched to jump straight into the next book. Brandon Sanderson is a good author.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 20, 2018 06:14
|
|
|
I think since I started reading this thread, 75% of the posts have been about WoT. C'mon! 
|
|
#
¿
Jul 24, 2018 20:12
|
|
|
Torrannor posted:Conversely, Dalinar's flashbacks are a lot more interesting than Kaladin's and Shallan's.  A lot of people complained that the third book was boring, but I thought those flashbacks were great. I have a soft spot for Kaladin, but seeing Dalinar's arc become so strong and interesting was a surprise, and definitely made him one of my favorite characters, and I already really liked him before we learned his backstory. I actually think the weakest part of the third book was all the time in the [spoiler]spren world[/i]. It didn't feel fleshed out or interesting at all. I can definitely see the dislike of "power creep", but I don't think it was something the held the books back. Sanderson will have to play it carefully as it keeps going though, because it could definitely remove a lot of tension and interest.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 7, 2018 22:53
|
|
|
I just finished Hero of Ages. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the series. The buildup and reveal of both the story and the world was impressive, the detailed plan laid out for all 3 books, with very subtle hints of what was really going on through the whole thing. I enjoy how well Sanderson expands the scope of a story and a world as it progresses, as seen in both the Mistborn books and the Stormlight books. From the slow expanding of understanding what the Lord Ruler was, how he got his powers, what his agenda was, through to his death. Then the even slower but IMO more interesting reveal of the powers of Preservation and Ruin, the understanding of the real motivations and (partially subverted) goals of the Lord Ruler, slowly turning your image of him as a cruel tyrant into an altruist who was corrupted while trying to save the world.. There were definitely some stumbles along the way, however. In book 2, the story started out strong - I actually thought that, overall, the love story between [spoilers]Elend and Vin[/spoiler] was quite touching, but Sanderson laid it on a little too thick and too repeatedly about how much TRUST they have and how DEEP their love ran. Thankfully, I think based on my reading of TSA that he did learn from this and get better. But the real problem was the horrifically weak love-triangle between Vin and Zane. Ultimately, it lead to some important character developments, but I thought the execution was extremely cringy and out-of-line with who Vin was as a character. It would have been much more effective if Zane had just become a trusted friend and ally, much like the rest of the crew, rather than a love interest.. Luckily, that part of book didn't last too terribly long. Overall, I'd say book 2 was just okay. You started to get an understanding of Ruin, and a tiny bit of Preservation but ultimately I don't feel that this book carried the story very far. It was longer and more plodding than necessary and had very few really strong moments unlike books 1 and 3. I actually think the most important part about this book is getting to know Tensoon. Book 3 was much better. The situation was dire, there was a lot of tension and mystery and discovery. This was the book where you really started to realize the the Lord Ruler was actually not evil, but was trying to save humanity, and what those efforts looked like. An understanding of what Ruin is and how he twisted the Lord Rulers plans is a big part of this.. My biggest complaints about this book are that too much was revealed in the between-chapter snippets. Once I reached the end of the book those obviously started to make a lot more sense once I understood that it was Sazed's post-hoc explanations after having obtained both powers., but getting those infodumps outside of story developments often made them a lot less impactful, IMO, especially because some of the reveals were huge. My other complaint was... a fair bit of deus ex machina. The heroes were too often in situations where they should die based on everything you know, then suddenly you learn something else and the character lives! Sometimes this was satisfying, but to me it just had the effect of removing tension, because it happened enough times that I ceased worrying about the main characters entering dire situations. Still, I definitely enjoyed it. The characters were good, the world-building was exquisite as always, the story was engaging and the conclusion bittersweet and satisfying. I'm excited to see what comes next! Should I just right into the next Mistborn series? I know there's a time jump, and I know it's incomplete, so I'm not sure if I should read something else first.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 14, 2018 23:01
|
|
|
Evil Fluffy posted:He was protecting someone who couldn't protect themselves. In the end of WoR he says the second oath to the Stormfather, so he was already at the first ideal and could draw in stormlight. An alternate explanation is just that his armor was being cracked and leaking stormlight - that's how I interpreted it, anyway. Is there any clue that suggests he was at the first ideal at this point? A hint like this is too subtle to really say that, I think.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 16, 2018 17:56
|
|
|
As someone with no knowledge of WoT, reading this whole series of posts is just 
|
|
#
¿
Oct 9, 2018 00:46
|
|
|
mewse posted:They're really good but with oathbringer (book 3) it seems like he is starting to get bogged down by his own plot I don't get people who say this. Book 3 was loving incredible, I dunno if I'd say it's the best but that's just because I loved the hell out of Book 1. Finally getting Dalinar's backstory and then the culmination of all that in his encounter with Odium was so so so good.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 29, 2018 20:45
|
|
|
Tahirovic posted:Actually tempted to do a WoT reread too, even tough I know the ups and downs by now. There is no Dune series.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 31, 2018 18:25
|
|
|
Mel Mudkiper posted:Hi all I saw this dude has a new book out and its 1200 pages long and what the gently caress could a 1200 page book possibly be about Idk about his new book but his famously huge books The Stormlight Archives are fantasy. But if you're not a fantasy reader normally (I'm not) don't let that turn you away. It's incredibly intricate and engaging world building around amazingly rich (and flawed) characters. It's fantasy so there is magic, but the way the author treats it make the magic more like physical laws with really well-defined limits. For me personally this makes it a lot less eye rolly and more rewarding, as people aren't just casting spells or what have you, but doing things with very specific effects that the reader understands. But the best part is just the characters and the story arcs. The author does a great job doing really really long buildups with incredibly rewarding payoffs. And stories that leave you wanting more with leaving you hanging on lame cliffhangers. Anyway I'm terrible at reviewing books but these books are great and you should read them.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 6, 2018 05:41
|
|
|
Sham bam bamina! posted:Good to know! Maybe I'll give it a real shot sometime. Yeah, as others said it's never that stark later. Personally I didn't mind that scene that much, but I'm a huge dork who likes that kind of stuff. But I definitely see the validity of the criticism that it's too video gamey. But the intention with that scene is to not only introduce what the magic is, but also how it functions. As lots of people have talked about in this thread, the magic in TSA is very rules-based. For some people, that's tedious, but personally, I think it's fantastic. When the foundations are made clear and explained, then you really understand what characters are doing in some kind of action sequence, the outcomes are truly earned. It's far less mystical than Gandalf or Harry Potter, but it's also far more rewarding. The characters don't just suddenly cast a spell or whatever that you've never heard of and don't know how it works, but it magically solves whatever problem they were facing. That's not interesting or engaging. But yeah, later on in the book the "mechanics" of the magic are explored pretty thoroughly outside of action sequences. In later action sequences the video-gamey parts are far less explicit, because by then the reader has more knowledge of what is happening, so a specific lashing or whatever is not elaborated on. Though, that stuff does still get mentioned even in the subsequent books, so if that really bothers you then you won't like the action in the books. Completely separate from the magic though, what makes TSA so great isn't the magic at all, and definitely not how the magic is used in the fights. What makes it great is really interesting characters in an incredibly intricate world that's slowly expanded over the course of the books. And of course the larger plot that carries them through that world. The long, slow, deliberate buildups to big character and plot payoffs are what set the books apart. For example (spoilers ahead): The incredibly long buildup to Kaladin and Dalinar finally meeting (and the long expected betrayal by Sadeas). That whole section of the book centers around an action sequence, but the action sequence is the means, not the end. It's about a huge turning point in Kaladin's character that's been building up over the course of the book, and about what Kaladin and Dalinar can do together with the different things they know, or power that they have. The payoff of this scene and what it means for the characters and the larger plot is insanely satisfying. The action sequence is intense and well-written, IMO, but is just part of the more meaningful arcs. Anyway, the books are great and you should read them. Don't let the prologue set you off, it's not at all indicative of what the book is like. Besides a couple miniature interludes there are no sequences that even heavily engage in the magic system at all. Even the end of the book which is built up to barely touches it. And in so much as it does, it's faaaarrr less video gamey, and has the force of a ton of plot buildup behind it that make it intensely satisfying and meaningful.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 12, 2018 18:37
|
|
|
BravestOfTheLamps posted:I'm not requesting anything. I'm observing that in Sanderson's fiction, rape and consensual sex are equally shameful things. It's never once presented as shameful, and at many points it's heavily implied. Think a movie showing two characters in a relationship making out, then panning the camera away. The implication is obvious but the act doesn't need to be shown, because I'm watching for characters and a story, not erotica. Like if you're into that, go nuts, but that's not what these books are about. He just doesn't feel the need to actually describe the act of sex, which is good cause tons of scifi and fantasy books feel the need to do that and it's universally cringy and pointless to the characters and the larger story. The point about a breeding program you disengenuously brought up was implemented by a fascist dictator who is the primary villain of the story as a eugenics program, and is very plainly and obviously presented as terrible. Sex is used to further the story in the same way all aspects of humanity are used to further the story. Gender, mental illness, politics, and so forth. I'm not sure why that's a bad concept to you. Equally shameful lol, why am I bothering to reply to a lazy troll
|
|
#
¿
Nov 13, 2018 05:23
|
|
|
Frankly, the lack of a passionate and erotic sex scene between Kaladin and Adolin has ruined my enjoyment of this series. Give us what we demand Sanderson, or we're through!
|
|
#
¿
Nov 13, 2018 18:57
|
|
|
CharlestheHammer posted:Dragonsteel is ambitious considering it won’t be a thing for a decade at least. Since each TSA book looks to be taking around 2-4 years... probably more like 18-25 years... 
|
|
#
¿
Nov 16, 2018 23:53
|
|
|
spandexcajun posted:Ya'll don't know nothing about lovely book covers if you did not read the LOTR early 90s paparbacks: Man my family had this edition of the book growing up, brings back memories. spandexcajun posted:
I've seen a lot of people bringing this up and I don't really get it. In each book I thought the setup was absolutely great (with minor exceptions of course... Like the flashbacks of Kaladin as a kid), the world building, the details of the characters and the scenarios, they brought such vibrance to the story, and anticipation for what was coming. Like, in book 1 the teasing and buildup of the characters almost meeting, waiting desperately for Kaladin and Dalinar to meet, waiting for Dalinar and Jasnah to find out about Kaladin being a radiant, etc. The brief interaction between Kaladin and Adolin earlier in the book served as such a good tease to the reader. I guess in a way I can see how that would be frustrating to someone but it provided such great buildup along with the great backdrop of the rich and detailed world, by the time the climax came it was one of the most intense and exciting I had ever read. Once I reached the end of the book I was dying to tell anyone near me about how crazy and rewarding it was. My poor GF had to listen to me talk about it for days because I couldn't stop thinking about it. Someone brought up the mini-trilogy aspect of Oathbringer with the battle at kholinar but ironically I thought that section was out of place. Maybe because it so closely followed the very weak section at the spiritual realm? Despite that, Oathbringer is probably my favorite of the series. Between the deep back story and the jaw dropping finale it was really something incredible.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 18, 2018 05:40
|
|
|
ConfusedUs posted:Sadeas' death was unexpected and, and it was wonderful the way it happened, but the fallout was weak. Agreed. That was a huge moment, and the instant it happened your mind jumped to all the potential consequences that could result, creating a lot of tension. Then.... there weren't really any consequences at all. P.S. you should probably spoiler that, I know most of us have read these books but not everyone has! I first came to this thread after finishing book 1 and was very worried about hitting spoilers like that.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 18, 2018 09:38
|
|
|
SynthesisAlpha posted:I like that Rothfuss handled sex the way Jordan handles swordfights. Give the moves silly names and let the reader interpret it. This. Sanderson could (and probably should, tbh) give stronger allusion to sexual attraction and actual sex to help ground some characters better, and generally introduce some relatability. But I am eternally grateful that he does not describe sex. So many otherwise good scifi and fantasy books shoehorn in absolutely cringey and awful sex scenes that are clearly just the author describing their fantasy. Those make it very hard to recommend a book, and in many cases can outright ruin it. It makes me happy knowing Sandersons work will never fall down that well.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 11, 2019 00:20
|
|
|
ShinsoBEAM! posted:Please these are just moderately cringe, don't make me pull out the troves of what I have read on kindle unlimited Well? We're waiting
|
|
#
¿
Jan 11, 2019 04:23
|
|
|
Mel Mudkiper posted:I would argue if details of the world do not exist to give the reader an immediate understanding of what is essential in the protagonist's current behavior they are entirely superfluous All actions not leading to the survival and expansion of the human species are entirely superfluous. If you enjoy things you should just kill yourself (the world building is awesome and fun even by itself, but it actually is relevant to the larger narrative. Which you'd know if you actually read the books instead of just drive-by poo poo posting)
|
|
#
¿
Feb 5, 2019 21:47
|
|
|
Xotl posted:I don't get this attitude. Ignore the percentages; 100 pages is more than enough time to get a sense of a person's ability with prose and their tendencies towards characterization. Of course it is. But it's not enough to say you've "read the series". To say that is dumb and wrong, you should say "I started it and didn't like it so I stopped". I've never read WoT and I never plan to, because the posts in this thread about it even by the "fans" make it sound like an exceptionally tedious slog.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 8, 2019 22:47
|
|
|
Karia posted:Think about the opportunity cost, though. This isn't just a case of whether you're enjoying WoT, but also whether you'd enjoy something else more. When Mel says he disliked the first part of book 1, he's not just making a statement about the quality of the series in an objective sense, but also judging that there's something else he can read that he'd like better. In the time it took you to read the first six books, which you acknowledge have serious pacing problems, you could have read something else that didn't have those issues. I'm not even going to be a snob here and insist that you read non-genre (god knows I have bad taste) but even if you just want to stick to fantasy there has to be something better written that you haven't read yet. Or instead of reading something better you could poo poo post about how something you didn't read sucks  I haven't read WoT so I have no horse in this race. I come to this thread to read/talk about Sanderson. The only thing worse than seeing fans of WoT talk about how it sucks is seeing people who haven't even read it talk about how it sucks. Nobody cares, go and take your faux cultured sensibilities somewhere else and let people enjoy something harmless and fun.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 9, 2019 07:29
|
|
|
RC Cola posted:Has anyone listened to the audio books of any Sanderson novels? How are the people who read them? Extremely good. That's how I've read all of Sanderson's books. Almost all of them are read by Michael Kramer, who is a wonderful narrator. He gives each character fantastic unique voices, even going so far as to create accents for regions of each world. For all the non-dialog reading he adds appropriate but subdued emphasis and emotion, enough to pull you into the text but not so much that it becomes distracting or overshadowing. I'm listening to another audio book atm where the narrator goes way overboard and overacts everything to the point that it makes it difficult to listen to. Some of Sanderson's books, notably Stormlight, have the female POV sections read by Kate Reading. This gives a neat narrative separation between character viewpoints, but unfortunately I don't think she's as good. She really overacts dialog, particularly any young woman, which contributed to me disliking certain characters for a really long time - notably Shallon. She's supposed to be a fairly immature character early on but the narration makes her sound unbelievably petulant and sulky. The same definitely applies to Lift too. But it's not all bad, there are certain characters I think she did an incredible job on (Pattern), and her non-dialog reading is generally quite good. I couldn't recommend it enough. I think the narration adds wonderful weight to the story (like whenever the Stormfather speaks), and the voices will make each character stand out in a great way. The voices for Rock, Lopin, Teft, Dalinar and so many more are unforgettable.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 10, 2019 20:35
|
|
|
Sab669 posted:I know they've changed some pronunciations from book to book, but I can't think of any instances within the same book where they pronounce things differently. Maybe they do and I'm just not listening that closely, though. There was one prominent instance in the finale of book 1 of Stormlight. Reading pronounced Sadeas completely differently from how it had been pronounced the entire book and it confused me enough that I thought I had missed a chapter introducing a character or something. There are probably other instances, but that's the only one that stands out to me.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 12, 2019 19:22
|
|
|
As a certified anime hater I really resent all of these comparisons 
|
|
#
¿
Apr 24, 2019 21:12
|
|
|
Patrick Spens posted:How can you possible like Sanderson and not like anime? Sanderson is anime. Sanderson is more anime than some animated movies from Japan. 
|
|
#
¿
May 2, 2019 05:03
|
|
|
Lift is also the most annoying character. Coincidence? I think not
|
|
#
¿
May 2, 2019 05:29
|
|
|
I'll definitely agree with you there. That book was..... okay, I guess. I couldn't really get invested in any of the characters or the setting though. Really the only thing I got out of that book were the connections to the broader cosmere. Even the magic system felt contrived, and its rules were poorly defined IMO so people could just kind of magic their way out of a bad situation without things being earned.
|
|
#
¿
May 5, 2019 19:47
|
|
|
Sab669 posted:Oh, right, I did read Elantris. Sixth & Silence were both in AU (and I'd LOVE more from the Sixth of Dusk world). I guess I'll have to finally check out White Sands Sixth of Dusk was so good, I really want more from that world (and character). It was probably my favorite piece out of AU, short, but so well done. Of course it has a hard time competing with the giant info-dump that was Kelsier's trip into the cognitive realm, but it was definitely more exciting and well-written, IMO. How much more is there to White Sands than what showed up in AU? All that was there was the basic intro to the world and following a characters journey through that series of trials.
|
|
#
¿
May 29, 2019 00:08
|
|
|
And it's not published as a written novel? I'm not really interested in graphic novels
|
|
#
¿
May 29, 2019 04:27
|
|
|
Interestingly I never go the sense from how the characters are described in the book that they are supposed to look Asian. Could be my white boy brain, but it is really only indicated by contrast to the Shin, who are always described as having "big, round eyes", the Alethi characters themselves never seem to get any description that indicates they're Asian looking beyond "tan skin". Which is.... not exactly a uniquely Asian trait. Either way I'm not sure I'd be able watch an adaption of TSA. There is so much in the books that could turn out to be horrifically ugly or cringeworthy if not done perfectly, and after GoT.... yikes.
|
|
#
¿
May 30, 2019 01:05
|
|
|
Edmond Dantes posted:Haven't really kept up with the thread (still gotta read Oathbringer), but I was checking out a local bookstore today and found Skyward. How did that turn out? Seems to be one of his YA series? I didn't read any of his other YA stuff, but I enjoyed Skyward. It's fairly straightforward and the characters are predictably.... teenagery, but overall it was good and a fun read, I'd recommend it. On the topic of TSA, I've been re-reading it. I'm noticing a ton of poo poo I didn't notice the first time through, and I'm in love with how many little hints and crossovers between cosmere series that I didn't see before there are (because TSA was the first I read). That said, I'm once again bored with Kaladin's backstory, more than I was the first time through, it's more plodding than I remember and generally way too long. Obviously his backstory informs his character, but IMO it deserves some editing. I enjoy Shallon's character more than I did the first time through, despite the poor performance by Kate Reading (the woman who reads the female POV characters in the audiobook), but her point in Oathbringer where she struggles with her identity as an amalgam of many different "characters" she creates is frustrating and not very compelling, IMO. It could be that it's just a thing outside my lived experience, but the mental illness and/or trauma backgrounds of the characters falls flat in her case at points. I resonate strongly with Kaladin as someone who has dealt with chronic depression my whole life. Dalinar's backstory, though obviously outside my lived experience, is extremely well done and resonates a lot, but Shallon's.... I dunno, feels a little contrived, with her constant repressed memories and split personality. Perhaps someone who has lived experiences like that can tell me that it's grounded, but I find myself wanting those chapters to just end. But the books are incredibly good and even better the second time through. Sanderson is a Good Author. I'm super excited for book 4.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 20, 2019 04:32
|
|
|
It's okay, he got a new one He grew it back at the end of WoR when his family was protecting Elhokar, as the first successful "squire" of Kaladin.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 20, 2019 21:48
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 26, 2024 08:29 |
|
|
ShinsoBEAM! posted:
Yeah the first time I read the books I really did not like her character. I blame a lot of this on the audio book performance, but regardless I found her grating and unsympathetic. The second time through I enjoyed her way more, her back story felt a lot more compelling and her repressed memories explained a lot about her characters and her traumatic childhood. Buuuuut.... Once it gets into Oathbringer and she suddenly starts having identity issues and multiple personalities that seem (to me) disconnected from her traumatic past it just falls apart. Her struggle in every POV chapter to figure out which version of herself she's going to play is utterly tedious and feels totally contrived. I would have much preferred if her character conflict in OB was extrinsic, focusing mainly on the challenges facing her and the people in Urithiru. Leave the intrinsic conflict to her struggles about what she wants in a partner. I say that with reservations though because I thought that storyline was pretty flat and I think most people agree.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 20, 2019 21:58
|
|