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Most fantasy novels are medieval schtick where everyone is fightin' all the time, so the "sports" are duels like in Kushner's Swordspoint or GRRM's jousting tourneys or Abercrombie's fencing tournament with Jezal and Gorst in the first trilogy. In the magic school subgenre there's Not Quidditch like in the Magicians. No really successful fantasy novel has done anything like Ian M. Banks did in Player of Games, as far as I'm aware. A Dresden Files novel might have done something with the aztec stone ball game, but it wasnt super memorable.
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Nov 19, 2018 22:51
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External Organs posted:In stormlight 5, all human characters will die and the second half will star an ever growing cast of sentient swords. You joke, but that is the raddest possible future.
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Jan 30, 2019 01:17
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Fenrir posted:Hahaha, oh hell no. I got 5 books into that hole 20+ years ago and there's no way I'm going to slog through Jordan again. Mistborn 1 is the only one I enjoyed. The next two having pacing issues, and I didn't like any of the characters other than Vin and Spook. Stormlight has been more consistently good.
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Aug 8, 2019 02:05
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This guy knows the proper way to walk across a courtyard.
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Sep 5, 2019 16:24
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He wrote about 1/5th of a normal-sized novel in a single day. I've been writing for 20 years, and if I push myself to 2,000 words, the intense thinking leaves me with an awful migraine. L. Ron Hubbard and Michael Moorcock used to write like Sanderson, but Sanderson's quality is way higher.
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Dec 31, 2019 20:09
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If I was bored with Oathbringer and ready to quit the series, is Rhythm of War going to change my mind?
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Dec 8, 2020 01:38
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The Emperor's Soul is just standard Sanderson refined to the point that it still works for normies who don't care about omg magic systems. The prose still isn't great, but at least it isn't repetitious, and there's no padding to the story.
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Mar 11, 2021 02:55
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Just finished RoW. Hated the Venli chapters like everyone else. The listener, regal, Fused, whatever is just too much for me to follow. Raboniel was the only one who interested me. I still don't really understand was a Fused is, though it was probably explained somewhere. I don't know what a Returned is either. I liked the book, but it was about 50% bloat.
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Jun 5, 2021 04:47
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Yes, but also Shadow of the Dead Gods by John Gwynne! Edit: I don't know how this ended up here but you should read this book anyway.
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Jul 3, 2021 05:59
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6th of the Dusk is good, and isn't it the book that sorta explains Stormlight's weird use of chickens?
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Jul 3, 2021 06:02
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It is not a cohesive book by any means. I think it is Sanderson's Crossroads of Twilight. The only good thing I can say about it is that the Cosmere stuff seems to be coming together finally in a way that is more than just cameos. It's a Sanderson book, so stuff happens, it's just that most of it doesn't move the series plot forward one iota. There's no real endgame in sight. The payoffs for some characters Taravangian, Moash, and Venli especially, are weaksauce. Kaladin gets a little time to shine, but most of the main PoVs are just spinning their wheels off doing sidequests and spending the majority of their chapters conflicted about who they are and what they want to be. I still think Shadesmar as a whole was a huge mistake. In the first two books it was this mystic space that seemed like real magic where the rules were beyond human knowing. Then Sanderson had to systemify everything and now it's like a side universe where everything is representational but in actuality it just reads like everyone got shrunk down and dropped into an alternate dimension where everything is in a Japanese capsule machine and spren are people but not really but really.
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Jul 16, 2021 06:02
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Torrannor posted:If you're replying to Reaverbot, they're speaking of Words of Radiance, aka book 2, not Rhythm of War, book 4. Words of Radiance is imho a fantastic book. But the tonal shifts are sometimes quite drastic, which is fitting for a book focused on Shallan. drat palindromes. You're right.
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Jul 16, 2021 14:31
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Democratic Pirate posted:Why do you think the payoff for your first character was weaksauce? Becoming the new god king big bad seems like a fairly important plot point going forward, and I liked the way Cultivation’s plan came together. The interesting parts of Taravangian's character were all tied up in his Flowers for Algernon-ing. Ultimately he was a passive character who kind of made a decision at the very, very end, but there was so much dead space between him doing anything that the pacing for him making the choice/realizing that it was his only option didn't resonate emotionally with me. All the elements were there, but the pacing just killed it. Didn't help that we barely got to see the betrayal happening. No one of real consequence to the plot, no one I was emotionally invested was affected very much. Taravangian is regretful for his actions, but maybe if he had killed someone I'd cared about in his betrayal I would have cared too.
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Jul 16, 2021 17:15
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Sab669 posted:I'm not nearly as into his non-Cosmere / YA stuff, but it was entertaining enough for me to read all 3. The ending just kinda did a dead cat bounce for me. I didn't like the reveal of what was causing the super powers. It just didn't mesh/wasn't as interesting as everything that came before. In my imagination the twist was going to be way cooler. That said, the books were a great ride, and probably my favorite Sanderson property.
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Jul 20, 2021 21:06
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The problem with Sanderson's writing in Stormlight isn't that it's too detailed. It's that the details are all repeats. He's told us what a crem-encrusted wall looks like about forty times before the first book is over. There's a dance you have to do as an author between reminding the reader of the environment when they need it for immersion and only showing the details that are pertinent necessary for the scene. Sanderson's terrible at it, or maybe great at it if you're a 13 year old who needs constant reminding and clarification. This is where he fails most as a prose writer, imo. He always chooses to write as clearly and possible without regard to structure variation and flow. Look at all the scenes in the book where every other sentence begins with someone's name. Most authors have trouble doing that in fight scenes when they're doing a play by play of each action, but Sanderson does it everywhere. There are a million times where a pronoun would serve so much better, but in a misguided attempt at clarity, it's, Kaladin summoned his Sylsword. Kaladin then stepped forward, glowing brightly for the townspeople to see. "The Everstorm is coming," Kaladin said. "We should take shelter at once." Kaladin dismissed his Sylsword and breathed out a puff of Stormlight Kaladin had been holding in.
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Jul 29, 2021 16:19
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If every scene from a Listener/Singer/whatever PoV were removed from RoW, nothing important would have been lost, the pacing would have improved, and it would still be a bloated book.
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Jul 29, 2021 18:48
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Barreft posted:He's writing way too much way too fast for such a huge cosmic spanning thing. Counterpoint, the only reason he's in position to write this kind thing is because he outputs his books at the same rate that Marvel makes movies. The Cosmere is the BYU MCU.
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Jul 30, 2021 03:30
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Brandon's already catering enough to the "mental illness is my superpower" crowd.
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Jul 31, 2021 14:52
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A lot of (all) the characters embody anime tropes, or behave in anime ways. Brandon has designed his world to have a magic system (spren) that visually represents emotions. These are like the common little embellishments you see in anime, like the scratchy 4 stroke sign meaning irritation or anger (it's like the balled up scribble in Charlie brown), the sweat drop, the red three angular strokes meaning embarrassment, the distended nose drip meaning astonishment, etc,.
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Aug 1, 2021 16:59
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My biggest disappointment with RoW is that Kaladin doing Die Hard in the Urithru could have been extremely cool, but it wasnt. There were things for him to do because of the three nodes, I guess, but he was so reluctant that when he did them he felt like a totally passive character. The time for refusing the call to adventure is long past for everyone on the Heroes Journey chart in this series but it keeps on happening because they gotta have a reason to refuse to say the words. The pacing was just totally off in Kaladin's story. I wish Navani had given her gizmo to someone else, or that mastering its use would have had a bigger impact on Kaladin, but he just kinda practices with it, and gaining competence with it didn't seem to have an effect on his mood at all. There isn't a character left who doesn't have some annoying aspect to their personality that makes them a chore to read. MartingaleJack fucked around with this message at 02:26 on Aug 2, 2021 |
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Aug 2, 2021 02:24
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LeninVS posted:Did I miss a book? What happened to moash He stops being a person and starts being an anime mid-boss.
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Aug 2, 2021 04:18
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Paul W.S. Anderson would do it and Milla Jovovich would play Steris. This is the way the world works.
MartingaleJack fucked around with this message at 03:14 on Aug 4, 2021 |
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Aug 4, 2021 02:42
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It helps that he has the Blackthorn mantle/name he can lump all the bad stuff onto, but we know him as Dalinar. It also helps to know his mental state was affected non-volitionally by the Thrill, which is like pure adrenaline and rabies and bath salts, so of course he's going to commit outrageous acts or violence.
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Aug 15, 2021 19:52
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I played Magic with him at the first Writing Excuses retreat. He brought this enormous cube with all the colors and decks and then there were like 8 of us who went through and built decks. I sucked and got eliminated in like 5 minutes. Side note, Brandon cooked dinner for everyone that night, and I'll let you guess what it was It was a huge cauldron of Mac and Cheese with like 8 pounds of 5 different cheeses.
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Oct 23, 2021 22:20
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I'm a big Sanderson fan, but I think his efforts to assembly line and solve the writing process through proceduralizing everything has resulted in higher page counts done quicker, as he hoped, but at the cost of quality. I understand why he's done it. I understand why ANY genre fiction writer would want to produce as much possible, because it's almost impossible to make an impact without very regular releases, but...it feels like his writing improved all the way up to the release of Stormlight 1 and then just regressed.
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Nov 16, 2021 05:35
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I loved Skyward. Now I'm listening to Starsight and not enjoying it that much. 3 reasons: The story finds Spensa back in an academy, only this time her wingmates are aliens! Also, it's a spy story just like Shallan's plot with the Ghostbloods, except the goofy spren are goofy aliens. The illusion powers are so similar... Whereas Skyward was very streamlined with few scenes that could be cut, Starsight reads like Sanderson is searching for a plot as he writes it. The inciting event, was interesting but how the characters responded to it didn't feel logical at all.
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Jan 9, 2022 20:36
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I enjoyed the first Skyward book more than any of his other books. It's tightly plotted, inventive, and full of wonder. I made it halfway through the sequel because it was none of those things. I might finish it later, but it seemed like a quickly knocked out workshop for Shallan chapters.
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Apr 28, 2022 04:33
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I finished Mistborn: Secret History last night. Didn't enjoy it. I've read everything Sanderson and love the guy, but this book was definitely only for super fans. It's the weakest thing I've read from him by far. Absolutely nothing landed for me. It just felt like unnecessary fan fiction. Also, I hate it when people die, but don't, even if it's someone I thought was cool.
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May 9, 2022 02:33
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Louisgod posted:Speaking of, I just finished Bands of Mourning this morning and am moving on to Secret History today, then I think I'm caught up on just about all the main cosmere books. Gonna take a break from Sanderson for a bit and buy Hyperion based on how many here love it. I need to dive into something new and would love suggestions on some absolutely stellar, universally praised books that are fantasty/sci-fi related. Basically any book you wish you could wipe your memory of to experience it anew again. The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman.
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May 10, 2022 00:17
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I got definite Mormon vibes from the safe hand thing for some reason
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May 26, 2022 03:18
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Looks like a Dresden Files cover.
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May 31, 2022 20:07
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Skyward is my vote. I hope that one gets adapted. I think we need another decade of tech improvements and before a Stormlight book won't look like crap.
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Jul 18, 2022 05:28
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I think the biggest problem with doing live action of most of Sanderson is that his world's are colorful, for the most part, and bright, and the cgi effects would need to be in virtually every scene. Mistborn might be doable if they use the ash fall or mists in the majority of outdoor scenes to occlude what would look bad or be prohibitively expensive.
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Jul 19, 2022 07:31
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If it's Mistborn on some kind of contract, I expect the genders of the crew to swap in several places. Sanderson himself has more or less said he would do that if he could go back. So who's it gonna be? I vote Breeze.
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Jul 20, 2022 02:35
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Strong doesn't have to mean physically strong.
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Jul 20, 2022 05:00
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I hated Elend and was rooting for Zane that whole book, hoping she would choose him and the novel would just go off the rails in a much more interesting direction.
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Jul 21, 2022 02:34
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Secret History might be the most impactful to the Cosmere, but it's probably Sanderson's worst book due to its reliance on you caring about certain characters a better writer would have left dead--one of my big criticisms of his work as a whole is that there are rarely permanent consequences. It's the worst series in recent memory where deaths dont remain permanent. The descriptive passages are poorly written. They're supposed to be vague, but they just aren't gripping. Shadesmar in the main series and the cognitive realm seemed so cool initially, but instead of something awesome and mysterious but wonderful like in Piranesi, the alternate world is just like that old video game Zelda trope of Dark world and totally lacking sense of wonder.
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Aug 10, 2022 02:08
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Shadesmar is an extremely boring version of faerie with a pretty cool ball pit.
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Aug 10, 2022 03:03
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Fezz posted:Looks like we have a cover and release date for Bastille vs the Evil Librarians. September 20 of this year! That first book is awesome, and so is Steelheart. I think they're both better than. Stormlight. Problem with Skyward is that the sequel is so tonally different. I still haven't finished it or read any of the others. The Reckoners series is really good up until the finale, where in a rare happening for Sanderson the ending is just a wet thud.
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Sep 1, 2022 18:55
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I'm halfway through Tress and I've almost hurled my kindle across the room three times. The earregardless "joke" may have been the last straw.
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Jun 20, 2023 07:47
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