Showing posts with label Brandon Sanderson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brandon Sanderson. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
The Wheel of Time is done!
...mostly. Brandon Sanderson tweeted some time last night that he had finished writing A Memory of Light, the last book in the Wheel of Time series. Now it needs edited and will be published some time next year. Yay!!
Sunday, November 13, 2011
The Alloy of Law, by Brandon Sanderson
The Alloy of Law, by Brandon Sanderson. Tor, 2011. 332 pp. 978-0-7653-3042-0.
... in which Waxillium Ladrian, Allomancer, uses his Allomantic abilities and his skills as a lawman to bring down a ring of dangerous and powerful criminals.
The Alloy of Law is a sequel to Sanderson's amazingly awesome Mistborn trilogy, though this book is a stand-alone story and can be read without any familiarity with the original Mistborn books. Set about three hundred years after the events in the original Mistborn trilogy, this story follows Waxillium Ladrian, a former lawman and current lord of the House Ladrian. Wax spent twenty years as a lawman in the Roughs, working in tiny, backwoods towns to apprehend criminals, much like a sheriff in an old-fashioned western. However, when his uncle dies in a tragic accident, Wax is summoned back to the capital city of Elendel to assume his duties as the head of his House. Struggling to adjust to life among the highborn aristocracy after spending two decades in the Roughs, Wax sets aside his lawman tendencies. However, when a series of mysterious and high-profile robberies and kidnappings continue to go unsolved, Wax begins to investigate and finds that the case is far more dangerous than he anticipated.
... in which Waxillium Ladrian, Allomancer, uses his Allomantic abilities and his skills as a lawman to bring down a ring of dangerous and powerful criminals.
The Alloy of Law is a sequel to Sanderson's amazingly awesome Mistborn trilogy, though this book is a stand-alone story and can be read without any familiarity with the original Mistborn books. Set about three hundred years after the events in the original Mistborn trilogy, this story follows Waxillium Ladrian, a former lawman and current lord of the House Ladrian. Wax spent twenty years as a lawman in the Roughs, working in tiny, backwoods towns to apprehend criminals, much like a sheriff in an old-fashioned western. However, when his uncle dies in a tragic accident, Wax is summoned back to the capital city of Elendel to assume his duties as the head of his House. Struggling to adjust to life among the highborn aristocracy after spending two decades in the Roughs, Wax sets aside his lawman tendencies. However, when a series of mysterious and high-profile robberies and kidnappings continue to go unsolved, Wax begins to investigate and finds that the case is far more dangerous than he anticipated.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Off Topic: Best Science Fiction, Fantasy Books?
NPR is currently running a poll on the best science fiction and fantasy books. Right now, you can comment here with five of your favorite books/ series to be later aggregated into an actual poll. Young adult, romance and horror are specifically excluded but apparently some types of zombies are ok.
Emma's list:
1. The Wheel of Time series by Jordan and Sanderson
2. A Song of Ice and Fire series by Martin
3. World War Z by Brooks (it's totally the virus kind)
4. Acts of Caine series by Stover
5. Coldfire series by Friedman
What are yours? I would love to see our followers' lists here after you vote! (Co-bloggers, feel free to edit this post and append your lists.)
Emma's list:
1. The Wheel of Time series by Jordan and Sanderson
2. A Song of Ice and Fire series by Martin
3. World War Z by Brooks (it's totally the virus kind)
4. Acts of Caine series by Stover
5. Coldfire series by Friedman
What are yours? I would love to see our followers' lists here after you vote! (Co-bloggers, feel free to edit this post and append your lists.)
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Towers of Midnight by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
Towers of Midnight is book 13 in my all time super-favorite fantasy series, called the Wheel of Time. If you don't follow epic fantasy, and/or have been under a rock for a few years, the original author, Robert Jordan, died before completing the series and chose Brandon Sanderson to finish it for him. There is one more book after this (January 2012 expected release date) and the whole series is done. That will be a sad day for Wheel of Time nerds like me!
I will avoid spoilers, except to the extent that I bring up characters' names as part of Towers of Midnight.
I think that Sanderson is doing an admirable job of continuing Jordan's incredible story and intricate world. I can't even imagine all the research and reading and re-reading Sanderson must have done to maintain Jordan's style so well. It really feels like the same guy wrote it all. I didn't think it would be possible for the series to be finished in an acceptable manner when Jordan died, but I was apparently wrong.
Sanderson is very good at writing clever, natural sounding dialogue. For that or some other reason, there were a lot of borderline-snarky conversations in this book. It seems to me like Jordan's books were not very dialogue-intensive so this is one way the styles of the authors diverge. I can't decide how I feel about that. On the one hand, it's generally amusing, well written and engaging, but on the other hand I feel like it's not how Jordan would have written it or how the earlier Wheel of Time books were written. It's hard to say if it's an improvement or a distraction. Maybe it's both.
Sanderson actually manages to improve a few characters that were among my least favorite points of view previously. Notably, Nynaeve doesn't have much screen time but seems to gain depth, and become a more interesting and intriguing character. Galad becomes really, really cool. I never thought he had much potential to be an awesome character, previously. Perrin and Faile are the focus of Towers of Midnight, and are surprisingly tolerable. Yes, even Faile. Weird, right?
That brings me to my major problem with Sanderson's take on Wheel of Time. Mat. Sanderson is ruining my favorite character. Maybe I missed the part in Jordan's writing (across my 2 - 4 readings of the series...) where Mat suffered EXTENSIVE BRAIN DAMAGE. Sanderson makes Mat really, really stupid, cocky, and unlikeable. Egregious misspellings in a letter? Was it really necessary to do that? It doesn't make any sense for someone in Mat's position, with his (spoiler intensive) skills to be that stupid. That was my only major problem with the book. I had a problem with Sanderson's take on a few other characters, but nothing big except poor, lobotomized Mat. Jeez.
If you like epic fantasy, I can't recommend this series highly enough. The world, cultures, people and plot are incredibly intricate and deep. If you, like so many others (including you guys, Emily and Bret) stopped reading halfway through because things slow down around book 7 or 8 I strongly suggest you try again. The more times I read the series the more I get out of it, and it *does* pick up again in book 9 or 10. Plus, now there is an end in sight with book 14 expected to come out in January 2012.
I will avoid spoilers, except to the extent that I bring up characters' names as part of Towers of Midnight.
I think that Sanderson is doing an admirable job of continuing Jordan's incredible story and intricate world. I can't even imagine all the research and reading and re-reading Sanderson must have done to maintain Jordan's style so well. It really feels like the same guy wrote it all. I didn't think it would be possible for the series to be finished in an acceptable manner when Jordan died, but I was apparently wrong.
Sanderson is very good at writing clever, natural sounding dialogue. For that or some other reason, there were a lot of borderline-snarky conversations in this book. It seems to me like Jordan's books were not very dialogue-intensive so this is one way the styles of the authors diverge. I can't decide how I feel about that. On the one hand, it's generally amusing, well written and engaging, but on the other hand I feel like it's not how Jordan would have written it or how the earlier Wheel of Time books were written. It's hard to say if it's an improvement or a distraction. Maybe it's both.
Sanderson actually manages to improve a few characters that were among my least favorite points of view previously. Notably, Nynaeve doesn't have much screen time but seems to gain depth, and become a more interesting and intriguing character. Galad becomes really, really cool. I never thought he had much potential to be an awesome character, previously. Perrin and Faile are the focus of Towers of Midnight, and are surprisingly tolerable. Yes, even Faile. Weird, right?
That brings me to my major problem with Sanderson's take on Wheel of Time. Mat. Sanderson is ruining my favorite character. Maybe I missed the part in Jordan's writing (across my 2 - 4 readings of the series...) where Mat suffered EXTENSIVE BRAIN DAMAGE. Sanderson makes Mat really, really stupid, cocky, and unlikeable. Egregious misspellings in a letter? Was it really necessary to do that? It doesn't make any sense for someone in Mat's position, with his (spoiler intensive) skills to be that stupid. That was my only major problem with the book. I had a problem with Sanderson's take on a few other characters, but nothing big except poor, lobotomized Mat. Jeez.
If you like epic fantasy, I can't recommend this series highly enough. The world, cultures, people and plot are incredibly intricate and deep. If you, like so many others (including you guys, Emily and Bret) stopped reading halfway through because things slow down around book 7 or 8 I strongly suggest you try again. The more times I read the series the more I get out of it, and it *does* pick up again in book 9 or 10. Plus, now there is an end in sight with book 14 expected to come out in January 2012.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
I bought and started this book the first day it was available, and was initially overwhelmed by its massive 1,000 page size. Seriously, this is the best argument in favor of eReaders I am aware of. In the interest of full disclosure and complete honesty, I should say that I was predisposed to dislike this book because it took up Brandon Sanderson's time which would be better spent finishing Wheel of Time! Ok, I am just kidding. Mostly.
I really didn't enjoy Way of Kings much until about 1/2 of the way through. It really is super ambitious and I think there is just way too much setting for one book. There were too many elements of the setting's past/mythology/ecology that I really failed to understand. So many pages were devoted to obscure discussions about the setting's ancient history. I finished the book with only a slightly better understanding of the setting than I had initially. Heralds? Crem? Radiants? Spren? Voidbringers? Soulcasters? Symbol-heads? Dawnshards? I seriously don't really understand what anything in the setting *is* or how it is relevant. Really frustrating. There may be like five magic systems, or one. I really don't know. It's very eclectic and I feel like nothing in the setting fits together. I guess Sanderson saved that for the other books in the series? It would have been ok if the setting were confusing and not fully described, but background took up a ton of the book and I *still* don't get it! I wish Sanderson had reduced the scope of the setting and made the book about half as long.
My take on all of Sanderson's other books is that they have really cool, graspable magic systems and races, at the expense of characters that the reader cares about. This was just the opposite. Way of Kings had, in my opinion, a confusing setting and meaningless magic system(s) but really, really great characters. I immediately found myself cheering for Shallan and Kaladin especially. They were deep and likable and had excellent stories, minus the crap I didn't understand... I found myself reading the last chunk of the book way past my bedtime last night because I had to know how it all ended. The last half of the book was riveting and enjoyable, really cool stories.
All in all, the Way of Kings makes me feel like Sanderson is a less experienced author than I had previously imagined. This book seems maybe too ambitious. I wish he had stuck to Wheel of Time for a few more years, maybe some simpler stories, and waited to write this book when he had the experience to better tame his imagination and the setting. It's just too much for one planet/book. The characters and story are strong, but made into an almost unsurmountable book by the vast amounts of confusing history and magic.
I really didn't enjoy Way of Kings much until about 1/2 of the way through. It really is super ambitious and I think there is just way too much setting for one book. There were too many elements of the setting's past/mythology/ecology that I really failed to understand. So many pages were devoted to obscure discussions about the setting's ancient history. I finished the book with only a slightly better understanding of the setting than I had initially. Heralds? Crem? Radiants? Spren? Voidbringers? Soulcasters? Symbol-heads? Dawnshards? I seriously don't really understand what anything in the setting *is* or how it is relevant. Really frustrating. There may be like five magic systems, or one. I really don't know. It's very eclectic and I feel like nothing in the setting fits together. I guess Sanderson saved that for the other books in the series? It would have been ok if the setting were confusing and not fully described, but background took up a ton of the book and I *still* don't get it! I wish Sanderson had reduced the scope of the setting and made the book about half as long.
My take on all of Sanderson's other books is that they have really cool, graspable magic systems and races, at the expense of characters that the reader cares about. This was just the opposite. Way of Kings had, in my opinion, a confusing setting and meaningless magic system(s) but really, really great characters. I immediately found myself cheering for Shallan and Kaladin especially. They were deep and likable and had excellent stories, minus the crap I didn't understand... I found myself reading the last chunk of the book way past my bedtime last night because I had to know how it all ended. The last half of the book was riveting and enjoyable, really cool stories.
All in all, the Way of Kings makes me feel like Sanderson is a less experienced author than I had previously imagined. This book seems maybe too ambitious. I wish he had stuck to Wheel of Time for a few more years, maybe some simpler stories, and waited to write this book when he had the experience to better tame his imagination and the setting. It's just too much for one planet/book. The characters and story are strong, but made into an almost unsurmountable book by the vast amounts of confusing history and magic.
Friday, July 9, 2010
The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson
The Hero of Ages is the final book in Sanderson's Mistborn Trilogy. I will inevitably be incorporating all three books into this review, but I will try to focus on the third book and avoid spoilers.
In general this book provides a satisfying and interesting conclusion to a great story. Sanderson is one of my favorite fantasy authors, and easily the most prolific of the authors I really get excited about reading. His books have really well thought out and unusual systems of magic in the settings. They have specific rules and limitations and sort of make sense in the settings. In Mistborn, the three magical disciplines are all intertwined and the reader gets a better and better sense of them as the story progresses. Particularly in the third book, the intricacies of the magical disciplines are key to the story's ending.
One thing Sanderson seems to have a thing for is settings with religions that are firmly grounded in reality. There are "gods" running around and influencing the world in ways that require no more faith than, say, believing in an exceptionally powerful king or other leader. Mistborn, despite featuring a "religion" or two fully backed up by history, evidence, and "gods" in living memory involves a character having a crisis of faith. It seems a little contrived to me. Sanderson seems to think that a non-believer can choose to have faith and believe in something that he just doesn't believe in. I would tend to disagree.
I never got super excited about the main characters in Mistborn, at least not as much as I feel I could have been. I can't go into much detail without giving important spoilers away, but the story of the main characters never really appealed to me much. I was more interested in the peripheral characters such as the Kandra or the other Allomancers who are generally ignored.
I think this review might come off more negatively than I intended. Mistborn is a fantastic story with generally interesting characters and a really, really unique setting. Sanderson's writing is never slow or boring, you always want to know what happens next! The Hero of Ages and the entire Mistborn trilogy is certainly worth reading, particularly if you like your fantasy generally happy and upbeat, without dismal human failings and cruelty. Sanderson is a perfect heir to Robert Jordan's throne, since his writing is similarly "tidy" as far as limiting the depravity and sexuality, while still seeming like real people.
In general this book provides a satisfying and interesting conclusion to a great story. Sanderson is one of my favorite fantasy authors, and easily the most prolific of the authors I really get excited about reading. His books have really well thought out and unusual systems of magic in the settings. They have specific rules and limitations and sort of make sense in the settings. In Mistborn, the three magical disciplines are all intertwined and the reader gets a better and better sense of them as the story progresses. Particularly in the third book, the intricacies of the magical disciplines are key to the story's ending.
One thing Sanderson seems to have a thing for is settings with religions that are firmly grounded in reality. There are "gods" running around and influencing the world in ways that require no more faith than, say, believing in an exceptionally powerful king or other leader. Mistborn, despite featuring a "religion" or two fully backed up by history, evidence, and "gods" in living memory involves a character having a crisis of faith. It seems a little contrived to me. Sanderson seems to think that a non-believer can choose to have faith and believe in something that he just doesn't believe in. I would tend to disagree.
I never got super excited about the main characters in Mistborn, at least not as much as I feel I could have been. I can't go into much detail without giving important spoilers away, but the story of the main characters never really appealed to me much. I was more interested in the peripheral characters such as the Kandra or the other Allomancers who are generally ignored.
I think this review might come off more negatively than I intended. Mistborn is a fantastic story with generally interesting characters and a really, really unique setting. Sanderson's writing is never slow or boring, you always want to know what happens next! The Hero of Ages and the entire Mistborn trilogy is certainly worth reading, particularly if you like your fantasy generally happy and upbeat, without dismal human failings and cruelty. Sanderson is a perfect heir to Robert Jordan's throne, since his writing is similarly "tidy" as far as limiting the depravity and sexuality, while still seeming like real people.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Upcoming Awesomeness: The Way of Kings
I just logged in today and discovered that not one, but TWO blogs I follow were talking about a new book by Brandon Sanderson coming out in August! The Way of Kings sounds amazing!! I can't wait for it!
Brandon Sanderson is one of my favorite authors. I was going to list my favorite books of his, but I realized that I like them all. Elantris, Mistborn, Warbreaker... they are all pretty awesome. Even though Robert Jordan is my all time favorite, I think that Sanderson is doing the Wheel of Time justice so far. His continuation of the story after Jordan's death felt exactly like reading the rest of the series to me. My only complaint about this new Way of Kings series Sanderson is embarking on is that it will delay him finishing the Wheel of Time! I don't want TWO authors to die before it's finished!
Thanks to Fantasy & SciFi Lovin' News & Reviews and Adventures in Reading for making me aware of this book!!
Brandon Sanderson is one of my favorite authors. I was going to list my favorite books of his, but I realized that I like them all. Elantris, Mistborn, Warbreaker... they are all pretty awesome. Even though Robert Jordan is my all time favorite, I think that Sanderson is doing the Wheel of Time justice so far. His continuation of the story after Jordan's death felt exactly like reading the rest of the series to me. My only complaint about this new Way of Kings series Sanderson is embarking on is that it will delay him finishing the Wheel of Time! I don't want TWO authors to die before it's finished!
Thanks to Fantasy & SciFi Lovin' News & Reviews and Adventures in Reading for making me aware of this book!!
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