Posted on 04/22/2015 7:05:02 AM PDT by GrootheWanderer
Yes! Well worth getting in to. The first 4 are all good reads. The series bogged down in the middle - either it got so large with so many subplots that he had to do it that way or he was stretching it out too much - but some of the later Robert Jordan books had literally no action, only maneuvering characters into position for the end game. The Sanderson authored books (the last 3) are all good - he is better at character development than Robert Jordan, followed Jordan's notes religiously and made a point of tying up loose ends. WoT would make a good series of shows or movies - I would definitely try to watch them.
He won a Hugo for: Elantris, Steelheart, or Words of Radiance. Can’t remember which.
Not for Wheel of Time, Robert Jordan really messed the whole last third up(or Sanderson, but I doubt it). I felt empty after reading it. Did not get emotional, at all for Egwene, her 2 suiters, or anyone. It just felt empty to me. Except Matt, always be Matt.
Yes, Brandon Sanderson quickly and efficiently became my favorite author after I dove into his works after Memory of Light. I wanted to see what everyone was talking about. First I listened to Mistborn on audiobook. Then I listened to Alloy of Law (2nd one comes out soon, woohoo). Then I heard of another book of his “Way of Kings”, listened to that and I was then hooked for life. “Say the words Kaladin”, if you want to see a grown man cry like a little girl.
I also read Steelheart and Firefight. Both great, and the premise is awesome too. If you haven’t read them, they are great. Star appears in sky, people become “epics” (superhumans), but they are all evil, deranged, and the story is about a group of normal people that hunt them.
This post made me look up his political affiliation, and of course, I was right. He has been labeled a conservative. A lot of progressives won’t read his works, because of an essay he wrote about gay marriage before he was a well known author. Which is sad, and kinda funny at the same time. Nearly all of his books make #1 NYT, and if not #1, top 5. Bitter people missing out. The essay he wrote he was also very careful to shove his opinions on other people. Just sharing his belief. But he got slammed for it.
Oh, I just remembered. He has a short story, named “Legion”, that I bet you would really like. There is a sequel to it too.
He won in 2013 a Hugo for: Emperor’s Soul, which is a sequel to Warbreaker(?) I think.
Great person, great author. I will eventually read all his work. I can’t say that of Robert Jordan, or any other fantasy or sci-fi author. So definitely my #1.
If you haven’t read Way of Kings and Words of Radiance yet, you’ve gotta. There isn’t another book in the genre that I would suggest. The first one is kind of slow, but hugely rewarding. The second is just great the entire way through, he wrote it after he developed more as an author, and it’s just perfect. Everything you could ask for in a fantasy novel, and more. 1200 pages though.
I also listened to “The Rithmatist” which was really cool, sad there isn’t more yet. He said more after the third Stormlight Archives book.
I got to meet him at NY Comic-Con last year and he signed my copies of Way of Kings and Words of Radiance and got to chat with him for a couple of minutes. He couldn’t have been a nicer guy to me and my son. I didn’t know his politics - I honestly don’t like knowing about artists politics as it ruins their work for me most times - but I’m glad he’s on the side of sanity.
I’ve read all of the books you mentioned and enjoyed them all but while Way of Kings (SAY THE WORDS!) and Words of Radiance were my favorites, Well of Ascension has the single best scene (the paragraph where Vin attacks Straff Venture) I’ve ever read in a fantasy novel. I’m 45 and have been reading this stuff since I was 13 and I had to put the book down after that scene to just marvel at how amazing it was.
Emperor’s Soul was a sequel to Elantris, not Warbreaker. I enjoyed Alloy of Law but not as much as Mistborn.
I’ve also read Steelheart and Firefight which were much better than I thought they were going to be when I heard they were targeted at the Young Adult audience. Honestly, given how popular superheroes (Avengers, Flash, Arrow, Batman) and dystopias (Hunger Games, Maze Runner, Divergent) are it AMAZES me that this series hasn’t been picked up for a movie. IMO, it’s tailor made for the big screen. They’d mess it up, of course, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t try it!
I don’t know if I’ve read Leigon but I’ll check it out. Thanks for the tip!
Yea, I have a coworker reading the Way of Kings, but he put it down months ago (too slow), and a friend who might have finished it. It was slow, and the whole scenes with Shallan or however her name is spelt needed to be cut a LOT. I keep telling them, just finish it, grind through it, it’s the most rewarding fantasy I have read, since I was about 13, starting on WOT. I just turned 30. That whole scene where Kaladin takes Bridge Four back to rescue Dalinar is one of the best scenes I’ve ever read(heard), I did buy Words of Radiance in hardback, and it’s just great start to finish. The whole climax with Szeth. Whats up with the Honor guy at the end? Justice? That spren sword he gave him sounded a little bit cray cray. If you ever get a chance, listen to them on audiobook. It’s the same male/female combo that did the WoT audibooks, and it’s just great.
Yea, mistborn was hard for me to get into. I don’t really like female leads. But I did get through it, and it was good, but definitely not as good as Way of Kings. I have a soft spot for Westerns, but I don’t really read/watch them, but when I do I love them, so Alloy of Law was really cool, and the second one is coming out soon.
I wonder what the 4th oath will be for Windrunners. I have no idea. But I’m sure I’ll tear up reading it. The meaning in those words is so profound, I honestly don’t know how he comes up with this stuff, it’s just amazing. Also, what I really like about Sanderson besides him being an amazing author, is he gets his books out fast, and they are quality. A big reason why I can’t read game of thrones is I’d get to the 4th or 5th and be waiting years with everyone else. It was really hard reading WoT for me, my dad and uncle got into them, but the 9th one Crossroads of Twilight had just come out, and then there was a long, long, long wait. Then RJ died and when I read that on aintitcoolnews.com I was so upset. Thank God his wife new how important it was to get his life’s work finished. But that last book was just terrible. I don’t think Sanderson was into it, honestly.
It's not a spren sword. It's Nightblade, from Warbreaker. Which is on a completely different planet with different magic and the implications there are.... interesting.
If the Shallan bits had been cut it would have been even more amazing but I am very much a Sanderson fan. Not a WoT fan, put it down somewhere around book 8 or 9, but Sanderson's stuff is really really good. And he writes almost prolifically enough!
Well, I know that Stormlight basically ties all the shards together.
But I didn’t know that about Nightblade, now I’m going to have to read those. There are two in that series?
The 3 guys at the lake are also planet hoppers. But the guy from that gives the sword to Szeth, isn’t he one of the Heralds though? Or did Szeth just think he was? Kind of confusing if you haven’t read Warbreaker like myself.
As for WOT. Yea, it gets really slow, like books with really nothing happening in them. But it picks back up in book 11-13, and then 14 is crazy, but there is something major missing that took all the joy out of reading it from me.
Well, I suppose if they are coming to fight Odium from taking the shard from the Stormlight planet, then maybe he is a Herald? That could mean that Wit, and the other guys are Heralds, but just haven’t announced themselves yet? Gosh, now I’m gonna have to read Warbreaker. I started it and I remember the living sword. But I didn’t get very far.
Didn’t even put that together. Wow. Insane. Sanderson is a genius. Wonder if we’ll see some Mistborn thrown into the mix.
I don’t think they’re Heralds. I think they’re something else. I do expect to see Mistborn in the works at some point...
Oh, there’s a guy somewhere in Words of Radiance that I strongly suspect is from the Warbreaker world as well. I don’t remember his name, he’s a blacksmith or a sword-teacher or something who Kaladin meets. Yeah lots of connections.
Right, because most of Sanderson’s worlds are in the same universe, and the magic is from the destruction of some entity. The shards are on the planets. Granting different types of magic. Or something like that.
But it would make sense, the guy that gives Nightblood to Szeth implies he is a Herald. But he’s just a world hopper, like Wit. Well I think Wit is something else, a minor deity or something. He is in Mistborn as well. But he doesn’t talk.
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