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I wish I could discuss more in this thread, but I'm terrified of spoilers. I'm currently reading The Well of Ascension, and while I don't enjoy it as much as The Final Empire, Chapter 47 is one of the best pieces of fantasy I've ever read. Every moment leading up to the fight between Zane and Vin was gripping and believable. The action itself was stellar, as it has been throughout the series, and the conclusion was bittersweet and poignant. It's rare for a book to strike a strong emotional response in me, but that chapter did it two or three times. Amazing. I loved seeing Vin exploit her gifts in another way, and the actions of Also, this is the first series I've ever read in which I actually give a gently caress about the relationships of a teenage girl.
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Apr 24, 2012 04:47
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I'm a third of the way through The Way of Kings, and I'm having the same issue with it that I did with Elantris. There are three protagonists, but one of them has a vastly more interesting story than the others. For Elantris, Raoden was way more fun to read about than Sharene or Hrathen. In The Way of Kings, Kaladin's chapters are a huge step up from those with Dalinar and his son. Like, I get frustrated when they get back-to-back chapters because I want more Kaladin.
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May 30, 2012 21:54
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OneTwentySix posted:Maybe halfway in or so? By the end, it's pretty good, but it suffers big time from having three? point of view characters, and only one is even slightly interesting. It does take a while. As a bit of a spoiler, I thought it picked up dramatically when Raoden finally meets Sharene, but that doesn't happen until ~60% through the book. The opening definitely suffers from Raoden's story being way more interesting than noble politicking.
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Jun 7, 2012 11:21
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I liked that Alloy of Law felt like a badly directed buddy cop movie.
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Aug 27, 2012 23:22
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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.
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Sep 20, 2012 01:49
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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.
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Sep 20, 2012 17:34
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The Emperor's Soul won a Hugo tonight. Absolutely deserving of it, I'd say. I literally couldn't put it down and read the entire thing in one sitting -- it was extremely well-written and engaging.
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Sep 2, 2013 04:55
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Agreed. God Emperor of Dune is actually my favorite book in the series because it a unique idea with from one of the craziest points of view I've ever encountered. Books 5 and 6 are just silly though.
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Dec 5, 2013 21:54
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Is Brent Weeks the same guy that did Night Angel? I thought that series was entertaining, but the prose was pretty average. I read it over the course of two flights. I'm still waiting for the guy that did Blood Song to write more. That book was an amazing work, especially for someone's first novel.
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Dec 20, 2013 02:49
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I liked Republic of Thieves, though it doesn't have the same amount of exhilarating desperation that made the plots so intense in the first two novels. Given Lynch's depression and divorce, he clearly wrote a lot of his own relationship into Locke and Sabetha's. I did really like the fact that the novel shows the far-teaching implications of Locke and Jean's actions. I've read all of Sanderson, Abercrombie, Martin, Lynch, Rothfuss, Ryan, and O'Malley's The Rook. I should probably go back and read more classic fantasy like LeGuin or something.
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Dec 21, 2013 20:44
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Hopeford posted:Though that reminds me, I really do wish that Sanderson wrote a murder mystery. With his plotting being what it is, I bet he could write a great one. This should absolutely be the follow-up to Legion.
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Jan 31, 2014 17:05
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State of the GRRM: Winds of Winter: on hiatus State of the Rothfuss: Doors of Stone: on hiatus
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Dec 19, 2015 14:28
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I really dig Lightbringer. Cool setting, interesting magic system, and each book has at least one jaw-dropping twist.
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Apr 12, 2016 16:05
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flosofl posted:This is a bad opinion (well, not really but I had the exact opposite reaction tot he book). The fourth book is fantastic. Give me a minute and I'll see if I can dig up the effort posting I did on this book. I just couldn't believe that book 4 wasn't the end the story. I really don't enjoy starting unfinished series, because I often have to re-read from the beginning to catch up. I dig Lightbringer, but not enough to read the whole thing over again.
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Jun 14, 2017 18:49
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What's the best source for chapter-by-chapter summaries of TWoK and WoR? I'd like to refresh my memory before Oathbringer, but I don't have time to re-read the series.
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Sep 11, 2017 02:08
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He’s already read the books once and was specifically asking for any summary besides the chapter-by-chapter ones on Tor
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Oct 17, 2017 12:24
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It’s also because dissociative identity disorder or multiple personality disorder is almost unheard of, with most cases in popular media and fiction being overly stylized, often to the point of being farcical. I kind of liked Sanderson’s depiction as being closer to “method actor get way too into her role” rather than the trope of other personalities clashing and acting like “possessors”. I hope he never writes a plot where Shallan can’t remember something she did while acting out one of her other personas.
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Feb 7, 2018 11:47
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Borderline personality has nothing to do with multiple personalities.
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Feb 8, 2018 19:05
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The Brandon Sanderson version of ASoIaF would be hilarious.
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Mar 3, 2018 20:23
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Legion...trilogy? What/when was the third story?
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Oct 17, 2018 02:47
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Torrannor posted:God Emperor of Dune is the best book in the series. Sadly, the series is unfinished because Herbert died before writing the sequel to Chapterhouse: Dune. I agree with this. I really enjoyed God Emperor, and the premise fascinated me. What a massive poo poo the series takes after that though...
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Nov 1, 2018 01:05
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You can get the same experience now reading ASoIaF.
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Feb 27, 2019 22:36
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I really enjoy the whole Powder Mage universe. I like magic systems with strict rules, and characters who use that magic in inventive ways. I also like technologically restricted and consistent universes, so flintlock fantasy works well for me. He writes characters with a decent amount of depth and the dialogue ranges from mediocre to surprisingly good. His best strength is probably something that other readers might hate, but I appreciate that he’s an obvious war game nerd who maps out all of his battles. Because he’s so deliberate about where troops and cavalry are laid out for each battle, the conflicts are consistent in how each side responds to attacks and developments. Brian Staveley and Django Wexler also do those things well, and I similarly dig them.
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Apr 19, 2019 04:01
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That series is extremely good, and I highly recommend it. I actually thought the third book was the best in the series. I got a little misty eyed at the end.
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Apr 20, 2020 05:47
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I even liked the first book of the second trilogy but agreed that it takes a steep dive after that, and finishes with a very unsatisfying conclusion. There are, however, about a dozen novellas set in the powder mage world, and I enjoyed all of those.
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Apr 20, 2020 19:39
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I thought the last book of Lightbringer undermined basically everything that made the first four so enjoyable. I was so excited for the culmination of the series and ended up profoundly disappointed. It’s still worth reading, if only because the world building is outstanding, and there are more than a few twists and climactic scenes that I loved along the way. Brian McClellan is probably the closest to Sanderson in terms of writing style/prose. I really liked the initial trilogy and its accompanying short stories; the second sequel drags quite a bit and lacks a real antagonist until the final book.
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Jul 9, 2020 14:14
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Evil Fluffy posted:The Broken Empire trilogy is pretty decent in this regard. Yea, Broken Empire is extremely good, and the follow up trilogy is even better. I’m annoyed as gently caress Mark Lawrence pivoted to writing mediocre YA fantasy because I absolutely loved the world he had crafted in those books. For more gritty, morally ambiguous fantasy, The Steel Remains and its follow ups by Richard K. Morgan are excellent.
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Feb 10, 2021 04:11
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I actually really liked the backstory for Shallan and the initial twist was genuinely surprising. It was frustrating as hell to have her go through the exact same growth cycle in books 3 and 4 though.
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Aug 21, 2021 19:22
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I got The Lost Metal on publication day, read the first chapter, and realized I didn't remember anything about Mistborn. So, I've spent the last two months re-reading the entire series. I think I enjoyed everything even more the second time. I definitely had a couple of the huge beats tucked away in the ol' brainbox, but I had forgotten so many of the details of how the story developed. This would be a massive wall of black text I laid out all of my thoughts on every single book, but my "brief" summary: Mistborn Era 1: I had forgotten how loving DARK The Final Empire is. The whole setting is painfully bleak, especially when contrasted with the future of Scadrial. The subjugation of the skaa is so utterly ruthless. I also appreciated the storyline with Zane much more on a re-read. I had initially dismissed a good deal of his scenes as an unnecessary love triangle, but knowing how his actions are so driven by Ruin made their interactions much more interesting. Oddly, I thought the first half The Hero of Ages was more a slog than the first half The Well of Ascension. Maybe it's because I already knew the big twists about the caverns and the koloss, and so it all just felt like a huge buildup the Catacendre. Despite that, the last 75 pages are still agonizing and beautiful and perfect. Mistborn Era 2: Some small part of me wishes that The Alloy of Law could've just been a one-off novella. As much as I liked getting to know Wayne and Marasi and Steris more, it was so much goddamn fun to just enjoy a straightforward cops-and-robbers fantasy heist. Just a great book -- I finished it in like, two days. Shadows of Self I had COMPLETELY forgotten. Like, I'm vaguely aware that I read it, but it it was not memorable in any way. I had forgotten the vast majority of the plot related to the various religious factions, and I really didn't find myself invested in the mystery. I guess it's telling that I was just as surprised on the second read that Lessie was a kandra the entire time. The biggest shock of the novel, and it just didn't stick with me at all. Weird. The Bands of Mourning felt more monumental, especially bringing in the South Scadrians the twists on allomancy that came with their arrival. Another novel with an amazing ending, and it features the very best of Steris. The Lost Metal: I'm clearly in the minority, but this just didn't really click with me with the exception of a few scenes. I absolutely loved the fights with Not-Wax and Not-Wayne -- it's a ridiculous gimmick but it totally worked for me, and the final battle was phenomenal. I liked the narrative arc for Wax and his acceptance, and his final release, from the influence of God/Harmony was excellently done. And of course, Wayne's final scenes are among the best pieces that Sanderson has ever written. TLM and the Cosmere in general: I think I'm just steadily...not becoming Sanderson's audience? He's built up these two incredible worlds on Scadrial and Roshar, along with everything else that makes up the Cosmere. But, I'm not interested in The Ghostbloods at all. It feels very much like some weird attempt at The X-Men / The Avengers with everyone with their cool superpowers coming together for, uh, some reason? Maybe I need a Secret History 2 to explain to me how a cognitive shadow gets Invested by a single Spike and within a very short period of time, he's running a multiplanetary secret guild with deep inroads into the highest levels of society on multiple planets, despite regaining close to none of the powers he had as a Mistborn. I get that Sanderson wants to make Kelsier his overarching character and that Hoid needs a counterpart/antagonist. It's just falling real flat for me at this point. The scenes where characters had to explain how their Investitures worked felt like all of the worst parts of Rhythm of War to me. Last thought that is barely a spoiler, so I'm leaving it out: We get to see so much cool stuff with the Metallic Arts throughout Era 2, but man, it bummed me out that there so few Twinborn characters. There was so much potential to be shown with interesting combinations or with interesting Compounding. Like, why did we never get to see someone using a Chromium band to be outrageously Lucky during a fight? Or a dramatic rescue with Cadmium saving Breath? Edit: Ok, last real thought and apparently there are many Reddit discussions on this already. But! Are we supposed to know what happened to (TLM spoilers) the Bands of Mourning? It seems like should've been a monumental discovery that they were drained, but it got glossed over within half a chapter, and then they gently caress off to South Scadrial. Sorry for all the black bands! Aggro fucked around with this message at 04:08 on Jan 10, 2023 |
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Jan 10, 2023 04:05
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I don’t think it’s a great intro story because for as wonderful and fun Tress’s journey is, the ending loses a lot if there’s no context for who the Sorceress is or what the stakes are for Hoid. I loved the book though. It felt exactly like Sanderson’s take on The Princess Bride, and it was an enjoyable ride the entire way through.
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Jan 29, 2023 18:24
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I re-read all 7 (7.5?) Mistborn novels this year while waiting for any of the authors I follow to put out new stuff. They are just as good, if not better, the second time around. The finale of Hero of Ages is still the best thing Sanderson has ever written, IMO.
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May 21, 2023 05:38
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Big Bowie Bonanza posted:What if there was a whole SA book that was an info dump with no plot or anything You mean Rhythm of War?
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Jul 25, 2023 20:09
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Louisgod posted:God dammit I need to stop reading these speculative spoilers otherwise one is eventually going to be true and it's going to piss me off when it doesn't surprise me Same but holy poo poo that’s a good one
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Aug 22, 2023 03:26
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Here’s something fun — a TikTok voice actor recording a stunning take on Dalinar’s great rest monologue from Oathbringer. Spoilers, sort of? It doesn’t really give anything but obviously more impactful if you know the context. https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8FKRc2W/
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Aug 26, 2023 03:21
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Leading up to RoW, I re-read the first three books and enjoyed them more the second time. Granted, I don’t read with the in-depth analysis that some of the other folks here do. I don’t even try to pick up on subtle clues or guess the outcomes of events — I just enjoy being pleasantly surprised by turns and twists. So, with a re-read, I can appreciate the world building and foreshadowing a bit more. But it took me 3 months to get through RoW the first time, sooooo not doing that again.
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Sep 26, 2023 19:38
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