Previous
Just slightly late on this edition >.>
January's pick is:
Scott Lynch
>The Gentleman Bastards
The Lies of Locke Lamora
Red Seas Under Red Skies
The Republic of Thieves
The Gentleman Bastards is a delightful series about a gang of thieves in a high-magic fantasy world that drips with history and interesting visuals. Each book is divided into two interwoven parts, one telling the present day story and the other a series of flashbacks to the group growing up and learning to be thieves together.
The tone of the series is somewhat adult and be prepared for a tonal shift in the third book as the books become somewhat more melancholy and bitter sweet. In my opinion this only makes them stronger, and it's almost certainly due to the six year gap between books two and three where the author struggled with divorce, depression and anxiety (greatly delaying the book and coloring the interactions of two central characters).
It should be noted that while each book more or less stands on it's own, this is an ongoing series with the next book "The Thorn of Emberlain" due out sometime late 2015 and the series is planned a seven books currently.
-Raesh
"Ever notice that B.A.'s flavor text swells in direct proportion to how much one of our characters is getting screwed?" - Brian Van Hoose
DR-RAESH
BADGOPHER
Re: Raesh's Belated Author of the Month [Jan]
02/27/2015 02:43 PM CST
I finished Gentlemen Bastards last week actually, and have to agree. One of the best series I've read in a long time.
CRYPTODYNAMIC
Re: Raesh's Belated Author of the Month [Jan]
02/27/2015 03:09 PM CST
I'm definitely going to have to agree on Gentleman Bastards. I started on the first book last summer and found myself sacrificing sleep because I didn't want to stop reading them. Tore through all three in short order. In DR terms, if you like flashy thieves or scoundrel bards, you'll probably particularly appreciate these.
- Miskton
- Miskton
DR-RAESH
Raesh's Author of the Month [March]
04/05/2015 11:22 PM CDT
Going to keep this short and sweet because, honestly, I thought I'd done March already and was looking ahead to plan my April post. Whoops.
For March we have:
Kevin Hearne
>The Iron Druid Chronicles
Hounded
Hexed
Hammered
Tricked
Trapped
Hunted
Shattered
>Stand Alone
Heir to the Jedi (I haven't read this and didn't know it existed until a few moments ago so that's the last you'll hear of it from me.)
A quick aside to start this - I occasionally pick up collections of short stories, usually because they contain a specific story from one of my favorite authors, and feel obliged to read the entire tome. This is particularly true of GRRM's anthologies (Warriors, Rogues, Dangerous Women etc). Sometimes this leads to new and interesting authors. Sometimes it's a slog that ends with me playing more video games. Kevin Hearne is the second author I've discussed in this series I've found this way (Lev Grossman was the first, though chronically they were reversed from that).
So - the Iron Druid Chronicles. The first comparison is always to the Dresden Files (A series that may well make an appearance later in this series... SPOILER) and that's fair. They're definitely urban fantasy with all that entails (All the old Gods are real, secret magic communities, etc). The main character is Atticus O'Sullivan (The series eventually branches out to include some more view points) who is a two thousand year old druid, the last druid, who appears to be in his early twenties and this results in some interesting character quirks. He actually has lived all this time - no stasis, no forgotten memories, etc. which is a little unique.
You ask what sets it apart from Dresden and other books in that similar vein? Mostly the tone. No matter what's happening in them they're just kind of silly and lighthearted. They're also relatively short and very fast reads. They also feature a great talking dog.
Unlike most of the previous authors, Kevin Hearne doesn't come fully recommended. The later books are short with multiple viewpoints and don't really feel like self contained stories, and the silly factor isn't quite in balance with the underlying "The world is going to end!" plot it builds to. If you want some light, fun, urban fantasy? Read 'em. If you want something a little deeper... skip this one.
Do make sure you read them in order, however, and the series isn't finished.
-Raesh
"Ever notice that B.A.'s flavor text swells in direct proportion to how much one of our characters is getting screwed?" - Brian Van Hoose
For March we have:
Kevin Hearne
>The Iron Druid Chronicles
Hounded
Hexed
Hammered
Tricked
Trapped
Hunted
Shattered
>Stand Alone
Heir to the Jedi (I haven't read this and didn't know it existed until a few moments ago so that's the last you'll hear of it from me.)
A quick aside to start this - I occasionally pick up collections of short stories, usually because they contain a specific story from one of my favorite authors, and feel obliged to read the entire tome. This is particularly true of GRRM's anthologies (Warriors, Rogues, Dangerous Women etc). Sometimes this leads to new and interesting authors. Sometimes it's a slog that ends with me playing more video games. Kevin Hearne is the second author I've discussed in this series I've found this way (Lev Grossman was the first, though chronically they were reversed from that).
So - the Iron Druid Chronicles. The first comparison is always to the Dresden Files (A series that may well make an appearance later in this series... SPOILER) and that's fair. They're definitely urban fantasy with all that entails (All the old Gods are real, secret magic communities, etc). The main character is Atticus O'Sullivan (The series eventually branches out to include some more view points) who is a two thousand year old druid, the last druid, who appears to be in his early twenties and this results in some interesting character quirks. He actually has lived all this time - no stasis, no forgotten memories, etc. which is a little unique.
You ask what sets it apart from Dresden and other books in that similar vein? Mostly the tone. No matter what's happening in them they're just kind of silly and lighthearted. They're also relatively short and very fast reads. They also feature a great talking dog.
Unlike most of the previous authors, Kevin Hearne doesn't come fully recommended. The later books are short with multiple viewpoints and don't really feel like self contained stories, and the silly factor isn't quite in balance with the underlying "The world is going to end!" plot it builds to. If you want some light, fun, urban fantasy? Read 'em. If you want something a little deeper... skip this one.
Do make sure you read them in order, however, and the series isn't finished.
-Raesh
"Ever notice that B.A.'s flavor text swells in direct proportion to how much one of our characters is getting screwed?" - Brian Van Hoose
DR-RAESH
Raesh's Author of the Month [April]
04/06/2015 12:38 AM CDT
... it's time for the author I'm sure most of you knew was coming. Someone who's been my favorite author since 2008, who has since become a juggernaut in the world of Fantasy. An author who I own every book they've written in hardcover (including extremely limited print runs and Con promos), and have had them all signed - and mostly personalized.
Brandon Sanderson
But wait! There's a twist! Because Sanderson has written so many books in the last decade and I have so much to say that I'm going to break this into two parts. Today we'll be discussing his Cosmere books.
>Mistborn
The Final Empire
The Well of Ascension
The Hero of Ages
The Alloy of Law
>The Stormlight Archive
The Way of Kings
Words of Radiance
>Standalone
Elantris
The Emperor's Soul (novella)
Warbreaker
Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell (short story)
Sixth of the Dusk (short story)
First off - The Cosmere. What is it? That's a complex question, but the short version is that it's Sanderson's way of writing a massive 30ish book epic without having to pitch it that way to his publisher. There are many worlds in the Cosmere and they share a larger universe. You can read any of the series alone and they work just fine, but if you're a fan there's a lot of hidden depth and back story that connects them.
Secondly, magic. Because in the end, that's what Sanderson is know for - his incredibly detailed, inventive, and precise magic systems. If you like hard magic systems, you'll love Sanderson. He sets out the rules "This is what my magic can do" and then lets his characters loose to apply it in all sorts of clever ways.
Let's get down to what these books are and where you should start.
>Elantris
This is Sanderson's first book and you can tell he's still finding his footing a little bit, but it's still good. It's actually being rereleased as a 10th anniversary hardcover later this year with some text revisions, an updated map, an appendix (Which all his other books have) and as such I'd encourage you to wait for that edition.
The plot focuses on Elantris, a city full of Gods which anyone could ascend to that is now cursed and filled with, essentially, zombies and a trio of characters - Raoden, a prince who falls to the curse and tries to retain his humanity, Sarene, the princess who arrives in the country to discover the husband she's never met (Raoden) has "died", and Hrathen, a priest who's been given three months to convert the entire country before it is destroyed.
>Mistborn
The first three books (The Final Empire, also know as Mistborn, The Well of Ascension and The Hero of Ages) are, hands down, my favorite series of books ever. There is no way I can do it justice in a few words here - it's simply amazing and I could write page after page just about those books. The first book starts off as a fantasy heist story and goes amazing places from there.
This is where I'd recommend starting.
Sanderson has said his intention is to show the evolution of a fantasy world here by writing a second Mistborn trilogy set in the 1980s technology, and then a third in a SciFi setting, which leads us to The Alloy of Law. This is neither of those trilogies, it's something he wrote in between other books as a break and is more of a 1900 setting (At the dawn of industry and electricity and guns) with a dash of the West. It is also extremely good but contains massive spoilers for the initial trilogy. The next books due out in the Cosmere are Shadows of Self (Oct 2015) and Bands of Mourning (Jan 2016), the first two parts of a follow up trilogy to Alloy of Law.
>Warbreaker
Like Elantris, Warbreaker is a stand alone book that takes place on it's own world with it's own, colorful, magic system. It also features Nightblade, the coolest magic sword ever.
The most interesting thing about is is that he wrote it open source, releasing a chapter at a time as he wrote it for feedback and revision. You can actually still find the entire book online, for free, as well as revision notes between earlier versions. http://brandonsanderson.com/books/warbreaker/warbreaker/
>The Stormlight Archive
This is planned to be a 10 book series (Broken into two chunks of 5) of absolutely staggering proportions. Both books top 1000 pages each, with Words of Radiance described by Sanderson as an entire trilogy between two covers, and are some of the most beautiful hardcovers I own. They're choke full of illustrations and other artistic touches. This is the rare case where I'm forced to recommend the hardcover over the paperback, even for casual reading. (And I apologize to your back).
Roshar is a world torn by intense storms and this has shaped the entire world around it creating an incredibly unique and fascinating setting. Then you have the Shardplate and Shardblades, which are essentially magical powerarmor and immense magical swords that people would surrender kingdoms for. The action scenes in this series are intense and very cinematic.
I would not recommend starting with the Stormlight Archives, because this is where the Cosmere starts to come together. They stand alone just fine, but you'll understand so much more if you've read Warbreaker, Elantris and Mistborn first (Whereas in those books you can get little bits and pieces in the background, but it's just that - background).
>Shorter Works
Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell and Sixth of the Dusk are both enjoyable short stories that only connect with the greater Cosmere in very, very, tiny ways - so they're not a bad way to get started if you want something short.
However, there's The Emperor's Soul. This is his Hugo award winner and quite possibly the best thing he's ever written. It's only about 100 pages and requires no outside knowledge of his books. It's a deeply personal story and I can't recommend it enough. If you're not ready to dive into a larger work, this is absolutely where you should start.
You can find out much, much more (and lots of spoilers, be warned) at http://coppermind.net/ and http://www.17thshard.com/. He is also very active on his blog at http://brandonsanderson.com/
I realize I ended up glossing over these books very quickly, but as always - discussion is encouraged. Please start a new thread if you plan to include spoilers.
-Raesh
Bonus geek cred pictures:
A small sample of my collection: http://imgur.com/BUwAYpB (Legion and Legion: Skin Deep, with matching numbers)
These are extremely limited prints from Mistborn showing two of the magic systems: http://imgur.com/BJKaqAn (Oh, I'm in it too. Looking about as photogenic as always).
My cat Kelsier: http://imgur.com/Z4QuD2s http://imgur.com/QrPHvRS http://imgur.com/CE4U8VT http://imgur.com/ojLDNIQ
My cat Vin: http://imgur.com/K4PYvXD http://imgur.com/x3qPbVU
Both cats: http://imgur.com/HuxYLm4
Brandon Sanderson
But wait! There's a twist! Because Sanderson has written so many books in the last decade and I have so much to say that I'm going to break this into two parts. Today we'll be discussing his Cosmere books.
>Mistborn
The Final Empire
The Well of Ascension
The Hero of Ages
The Alloy of Law
>The Stormlight Archive
The Way of Kings
Words of Radiance
>Standalone
Elantris
The Emperor's Soul (novella)
Warbreaker
Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell (short story)
Sixth of the Dusk (short story)
First off - The Cosmere. What is it? That's a complex question, but the short version is that it's Sanderson's way of writing a massive 30ish book epic without having to pitch it that way to his publisher. There are many worlds in the Cosmere and they share a larger universe. You can read any of the series alone and they work just fine, but if you're a fan there's a lot of hidden depth and back story that connects them.
Secondly, magic. Because in the end, that's what Sanderson is know for - his incredibly detailed, inventive, and precise magic systems. If you like hard magic systems, you'll love Sanderson. He sets out the rules "This is what my magic can do" and then lets his characters loose to apply it in all sorts of clever ways.
Let's get down to what these books are and where you should start.
>Elantris
This is Sanderson's first book and you can tell he's still finding his footing a little bit, but it's still good. It's actually being rereleased as a 10th anniversary hardcover later this year with some text revisions, an updated map, an appendix (Which all his other books have) and as such I'd encourage you to wait for that edition.
The plot focuses on Elantris, a city full of Gods which anyone could ascend to that is now cursed and filled with, essentially, zombies and a trio of characters - Raoden, a prince who falls to the curse and tries to retain his humanity, Sarene, the princess who arrives in the country to discover the husband she's never met (Raoden) has "died", and Hrathen, a priest who's been given three months to convert the entire country before it is destroyed.
>Mistborn
The first three books (The Final Empire, also know as Mistborn, The Well of Ascension and The Hero of Ages) are, hands down, my favorite series of books ever. There is no way I can do it justice in a few words here - it's simply amazing and I could write page after page just about those books. The first book starts off as a fantasy heist story and goes amazing places from there.
This is where I'd recommend starting.
Sanderson has said his intention is to show the evolution of a fantasy world here by writing a second Mistborn trilogy set in the 1980s technology, and then a third in a SciFi setting, which leads us to The Alloy of Law. This is neither of those trilogies, it's something he wrote in between other books as a break and is more of a 1900 setting (At the dawn of industry and electricity and guns) with a dash of the West. It is also extremely good but contains massive spoilers for the initial trilogy. The next books due out in the Cosmere are Shadows of Self (Oct 2015) and Bands of Mourning (Jan 2016), the first two parts of a follow up trilogy to Alloy of Law.
>Warbreaker
Like Elantris, Warbreaker is a stand alone book that takes place on it's own world with it's own, colorful, magic system. It also features Nightblade, the coolest magic sword ever.
The most interesting thing about is is that he wrote it open source, releasing a chapter at a time as he wrote it for feedback and revision. You can actually still find the entire book online, for free, as well as revision notes between earlier versions. http://brandonsanderson.com/books/warbreaker/warbreaker/
>The Stormlight Archive
This is planned to be a 10 book series (Broken into two chunks of 5) of absolutely staggering proportions. Both books top 1000 pages each, with Words of Radiance described by Sanderson as an entire trilogy between two covers, and are some of the most beautiful hardcovers I own. They're choke full of illustrations and other artistic touches. This is the rare case where I'm forced to recommend the hardcover over the paperback, even for casual reading. (And I apologize to your back).
Roshar is a world torn by intense storms and this has shaped the entire world around it creating an incredibly unique and fascinating setting. Then you have the Shardplate and Shardblades, which are essentially magical powerarmor and immense magical swords that people would surrender kingdoms for. The action scenes in this series are intense and very cinematic.
I would not recommend starting with the Stormlight Archives, because this is where the Cosmere starts to come together. They stand alone just fine, but you'll understand so much more if you've read Warbreaker, Elantris and Mistborn first (Whereas in those books you can get little bits and pieces in the background, but it's just that - background).
>Shorter Works
Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell and Sixth of the Dusk are both enjoyable short stories that only connect with the greater Cosmere in very, very, tiny ways - so they're not a bad way to get started if you want something short.
However, there's The Emperor's Soul. This is his Hugo award winner and quite possibly the best thing he's ever written. It's only about 100 pages and requires no outside knowledge of his books. It's a deeply personal story and I can't recommend it enough. If you're not ready to dive into a larger work, this is absolutely where you should start.
You can find out much, much more (and lots of spoilers, be warned) at http://coppermind.net/ and http://www.17thshard.com/. He is also very active on his blog at http://brandonsanderson.com/
I realize I ended up glossing over these books very quickly, but as always - discussion is encouraged. Please start a new thread if you plan to include spoilers.
-Raesh
Bonus geek cred pictures:
A small sample of my collection: http://imgur.com/BUwAYpB (Legion and Legion: Skin Deep, with matching numbers)
These are extremely limited prints from Mistborn showing two of the magic systems: http://imgur.com/BJKaqAn (Oh, I'm in it too. Looking about as photogenic as always).
My cat Kelsier: http://imgur.com/Z4QuD2s http://imgur.com/QrPHvRS http://imgur.com/CE4U8VT http://imgur.com/ojLDNIQ
My cat Vin: http://imgur.com/K4PYvXD http://imgur.com/x3qPbVU
Both cats: http://imgur.com/HuxYLm4
SHAWN255
Re: Raesh's Author of the Month [April]
04/06/2015 12:58 AM CDT
I love both the iron druid chronicles and anything by Sanderson.
Hearne is just fun to read. I enjoy every moment of his stories. And when a certain someone does a certain thing in Hunted... man did it tug the heart strings.
Sanderson... well Sanderson ruins me for other authors.
Aside from the fact that his writing ethic is just insane -- he pumps out like 3+ books a year, they are pretty much all awesome. I even like his YA fiction. Rithmatist was a good story and the ideas behind it were really interesting.
As far as the Cosmere..
Stormlight is amazing. And even though it is planned to be 10 books.. he will still finish it before a certain other writer. ;) Insanely awesome descriptions of everything.. but not overdone. And they are helped by the fantastic concept art that is part of the book. Battle scenes pull you into the action and drag you along on a fun ride. Great characters with lots of layers... overall just amazing.
Misborn is amazing. Especially the first trilogy. Great characters. Fun action.. neat systems.
and so on. Just read his books if you get a chance.
Hearne is just fun to read. I enjoy every moment of his stories. And when a certain someone does a certain thing in Hunted... man did it tug the heart strings.
Sanderson... well Sanderson ruins me for other authors.
Aside from the fact that his writing ethic is just insane -- he pumps out like 3+ books a year, they are pretty much all awesome. I even like his YA fiction. Rithmatist was a good story and the ideas behind it were really interesting.
As far as the Cosmere..
Stormlight is amazing. And even though it is planned to be 10 books.. he will still finish it before a certain other writer. ;) Insanely awesome descriptions of everything.. but not overdone. And they are helped by the fantastic concept art that is part of the book. Battle scenes pull you into the action and drag you along on a fun ride. Great characters with lots of layers... overall just amazing.
Misborn is amazing. Especially the first trilogy. Great characters. Fun action.. neat systems.
and so on. Just read his books if you get a chance.
BADGOPHER
Re: Raesh's Author of the Month [April]
04/06/2015 06:19 AM CDT
I tried to read Mistborn, and the first book was a really solid and interesting read, the ending was amazing. I wanted 'more' out of the setting but for some reason I couldn't get into the second book, I just kind of tapered off.
I really enjoy the Iron druid chronicles (in fact, it's one of my very, very, short list of novels I preorder as soon as a date is released, along with Dresden books).
I'd suggest for anyone who enjoys Dresden or Iron Druid, they check out 'Rook' by Daniel O'Malley. Only book so good in the past few years that I bought the audio version for a trip, then about 2/3 of the way through bought the e-book so I could finish it faster.
I really enjoy the Iron druid chronicles (in fact, it's one of my very, very, short list of novels I preorder as soon as a date is released, along with Dresden books).
I'd suggest for anyone who enjoys Dresden or Iron Druid, they check out 'Rook' by Daniel O'Malley. Only book so good in the past few years that I bought the audio version for a trip, then about 2/3 of the way through bought the e-book so I could finish it faster.
NIKPACK
Re: Raesh's Author of the Month [April]
04/06/2015 01:28 PM CDT
I have been anticipating this thread for a while now (with Raesh's previous Sanderson teases) and wanted to know what the hubbub was about. So I made sure to read two Sanderson books: The Rithmatist and the first Mistborn novel (in that order).
I loved The Rithmatist, which I think will be mentioned in the second Sanderson installment. The world and magic system mixed in well with a good mystery story. The end was a little rushed and not as prolific as Mistborn, but Sanderson gripped me from the very beginning. From that point, I HAD to know what happened in the rest of the novel and in any future novels (why aren't they out yet?!).
Whereas in Mistborn, I really struggled to get through Part I. So much so, I read Part I and put the book down for many weeks. I couldn't understand how all the parts to the story - the characters, the magic, the political structure, the thieves - fit together. Sanderson kept introducing all these new concepts without enough detail to put the parts together. In some ways, I think this is intentional since our knowledge is growing with the main character, Vin. Moreover, I don't think there's anything wrong with writing this way, it's a clever idea. At the time I was reading though, I just found it overwhelming and jolting. Once I picked the book back up though, it continuously got better straight up until the end. Rather than in The Rithmatist where I felt my interest peaked early and leveled off, my enjoyment steadily continued to increase throughout the entire novel in Mistborn.
Will I read the The Well of Ascension? Probably. Do I have to read it absolutely right now? No. I will probably read the second and third books in the trilogy just so I can get to The Alloy of Law because it just sounds more interesting.
What I am finding about Sanderson is the amazing number of ideas that he in his mind. If one isn't exactly your cup of tea, you can find another novel he wrote to satisfy you. In a single word, he's prolific. That is a tremendous quality to have in an author.
Nikpack
I loved The Rithmatist, which I think will be mentioned in the second Sanderson installment. The world and magic system mixed in well with a good mystery story. The end was a little rushed and not as prolific as Mistborn, but Sanderson gripped me from the very beginning. From that point, I HAD to know what happened in the rest of the novel and in any future novels (why aren't they out yet?!).
Whereas in Mistborn, I really struggled to get through Part I. So much so, I read Part I and put the book down for many weeks. I couldn't understand how all the parts to the story - the characters, the magic, the political structure, the thieves - fit together. Sanderson kept introducing all these new concepts without enough detail to put the parts together. In some ways, I think this is intentional since our knowledge is growing with the main character, Vin. Moreover, I don't think there's anything wrong with writing this way, it's a clever idea. At the time I was reading though, I just found it overwhelming and jolting. Once I picked the book back up though, it continuously got better straight up until the end. Rather than in The Rithmatist where I felt my interest peaked early and leveled off, my enjoyment steadily continued to increase throughout the entire novel in Mistborn.
Will I read the The Well of Ascension? Probably. Do I have to read it absolutely right now? No. I will probably read the second and third books in the trilogy just so I can get to The Alloy of Law because it just sounds more interesting.
What I am finding about Sanderson is the amazing number of ideas that he in his mind. If one isn't exactly your cup of tea, you can find another novel he wrote to satisfy you. In a single word, he's prolific. That is a tremendous quality to have in an author.
Nikpack
NIKPACK
Re: Raesh's Author of the Month [March]
04/06/2015 01:33 PM CDT
<<I really enjoy the Iron druid chronicles (in fact, it's one of my very, very, short list of novels I preorder as soon as a date is released, along with Dresden books).
<<I'd suggest for anyone who enjoys Dresden or Iron Druid, they check out 'Rook' by Daniel O'Malley. Only book so good in the past few years that I bought the audio version for a trip, then about 2/3 of the way through bought the e-book so I could finish it faster.
Dresden is also one of the few pre-orders that I have every year(ish), so I feel like Hounded is one that I will need to read in the near future.
Nikpack
<<I'd suggest for anyone who enjoys Dresden or Iron Druid, they check out 'Rook' by Daniel O'Malley. Only book so good in the past few years that I bought the audio version for a trip, then about 2/3 of the way through bought the e-book so I could finish it faster.
Dresden is also one of the few pre-orders that I have every year(ish), so I feel like Hounded is one that I will need to read in the near future.
Nikpack
LIURIDR
Re: Raesh's Author of the Month [April]
04/06/2015 01:48 PM CDT
Love, love, love Sanderson novels.
DR-RAESH
Re: Raesh's Author of the Month [April]
04/06/2015 02:00 PM CDT
Yeah, I'll be covering the Rithmatist next month. (Spoiler: I thought it was good, but not great, and a fairly representative of his YA novels).
Overall if I had to rank my enjoyment of the Sanderson Cosmere books it'd be something like this (from top to bottom):
... I just deleted the list because it was a joke. We'll go by series instead, skipping novellas and short stories, and include his non-cosmere work:
Mistborn
The Stormlight Archive
Wheel of Time
Reckoners
Alcatraz
Warbreaker (Nightblood alone would rank higher. I have high hopes for the sequel)
Rithmatist
Elantris
-Raesh
"Ever notice that B.A.'s flavor text swells in direct proportion to how much one of our characters is getting screwed?" - Brian Van Hoose
Overall if I had to rank my enjoyment of the Sanderson Cosmere books it'd be something like this (from top to bottom):
... I just deleted the list because it was a joke. We'll go by series instead, skipping novellas and short stories, and include his non-cosmere work:
Mistborn
The Stormlight Archive
Wheel of Time
Reckoners
Alcatraz
Warbreaker (Nightblood alone would rank higher. I have high hopes for the sequel)
Rithmatist
Elantris
-Raesh
"Ever notice that B.A.'s flavor text swells in direct proportion to how much one of our characters is getting screwed?" - Brian Van Hoose
SHAWN255
Re: Raesh's Author of the Month [April]
04/06/2015 02:11 PM CDT
That is about the same as my list... though I would remove Wheel of Time.. He finished them but they aren't really his and they are pointless without all the other books by Jordan.
Also I would switch Stormlight and mistborn.
And man.. yeah the Reckoners series is really shaping up into some cool takes on super heroes.
Sanderson's best quality is that as a writer... he actually writes. He is like steven king. He constantly is writing books. Some are hit or miss.. but more often than not they hit.. and by the time he dies I will have to have a section devoted just to him in my library lol
Also I would switch Stormlight and mistborn.
And man.. yeah the Reckoners series is really shaping up into some cool takes on super heroes.
Sanderson's best quality is that as a writer... he actually writes. He is like steven king. He constantly is writing books. Some are hit or miss.. but more often than not they hit.. and by the time he dies I will have to have a section devoted just to him in my library lol
DR-RAESH
Raesh's Author of the Month [May]
05/29/2015 05:21 PM CDT
Little late this month, but it's still May. We'll blame it on knowing what it was going to be and having had notes open on it in a browser tab for a few weeks.
This month is Brandon Sanderson (Again). This month we're covering his non-Cosmere works. Those include:
>Alcatraz
Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians
Alcatraz Versus the Scrivener's Bones
Alcatraz Versus the Knights of Crystallia
Alcatraz Versus the Shattered Lens
>Infinity Blade
Infinity Blade: Awakening (novella)
Infinity Blade: Redemption (novella)
>Legion
Legion (novella)
Legion: Skin Deep (novella)
>Reckoners
Steelheart
Mitosis (novella)
Firefight
>Rithmatist
The Rithmatist
>The Wheel of Time
The Gathering Storm
Towers of Midnight
A Memory of Light
River of Souls (short story)
>Standalone
Firstborn (short story)
Defending Elysium (short story)
Perfect State (novella)
Heuristic Algorithm and Reasoning Response Engine (short story)
Dreamer (short story)
So... a confession. There's actually a few on here I haven't read. (GASP!). And that's mostly because I don't do eReaders. Nothing against them, I just like nice hardcovers (preferably) for books I plan to save so a few of these haven't been published that way yet so I haven't picked them up. These include Infinity Blade: Redemption (I actually have a fairly rare hardcover edition of the first one), Perfect State (plan to get this in hardcover when it's his con promo this summer), and Heuristic Algorithm and Reasoning Response Engine (I actually have this one, I just haven't gotten to it yet).
Also, there's this I found this month: http://www.tor.com/2015/05/11/where-to-start-reading-brandon-sanderson/
Note that most of these are more YA focused, and that's okay. On to some commentary.
>Alcatraz (YA)
These are great fun and quick reads, but I don't know how well the humor works outside of the physical books. (I assume most of it translates, but not all). Lots of "in" jokes for literary fans. They're kinda like Harry Potter, but much goofier and smarter. Note that there's supposed to be a fifth book, but Scholastic and Sanderson didn't really get along with these books so the fourth book likes to claim it's the last one. Sanderson finally has the rights back and is in the process of getting them all republished, along with the fifth book. They work fine without it, however, so don't avoid them for fear of an unfinished series.
As an aside, my mother read these books to her second grade classroom and they had a reported blast with them.
>>Infinity Blade
Not much to say on these, they're available as ebooks and are short stories Sanderson wrote based on the popular iOS games. Basically because he was a fan of the games and wrote them because he wanted to.
>Legion
The first one is very short (80ish pages) and the second is about twice that. You can find them as either ebooks or in a couple of different formats. Again, quick, but enjoyable. They've very different than his normal books in that they're in a modern setting where the main character has imaginary friends (who are all crazy) who help him solve crimes. Yeah. I admit, I want more of them, and I kinda like the idea of them potentially becoming a TV show (Though I don't know the actual odds of that).
>Reckoners (YA)
This is a trilogy, the third of which will be out early next year. It's a slightly futuristic setting in which random people have gained super powers... and all of them are evil.
Personally I found Steelheart, in particular, to be very similar to Mistborn in some of the visual elements and themes - and that sounds weird to say about a book based on supervillains in Chicago. But it's good times. You can tell they're YA in that they're a little less intimidating in their size and you can blow through them at a decent clip, but enjoyable. It's possible they're a little more violent than you'd expect, but then again, the Hunger Games are YA and it's no worse than that.
>Rithmatist (YA)
This is another case where Sanderson has added a lot to the book by having illustrations throughout it, which makes sense since it uses a very visual magic system of chalk drawings. There's some good potential here and it was a reasonably enjoyable distraction, but it'll take until the planned sequel (possibly two) to see if it really pays off. No release date on that yet, last we heard it'd been pushed back some due to him needing to do more research to do the book justice.
>Standalones
Just going to get all of these out of the way at once (and remember, I haven't read two of them). They're all short scifi-ish settings, and they're all an enjoyable momentary distraction and not much more. Defending Elysium feels like it could be the foundation for a very interesting SciFi series, but I haven't heard of any plans to do anything of the sort.
>The Wheel of Time.
For quite awhile this is what Sanderson was known for: The guy chosen to finish one of the most sprawling and popular fantasy series of all time. He's published a number of interesting blogs and interviews about that process, and what it did to the rest of his plans and career - they're worth a read if you're in to that sort of thing at all (and I am). But I'm going to keep this fairly short since I could do another month on Jordan and this whole situation, at least.
So, how'd he do? Overall - extremely well. He was pushed into a very hard situation, where Jordan's world had grown and grown and grown and was all suppose to wrap up in one last book that was going to be "1500-2000 pages if need be but it'd be one book". It ended up three, all of them around 1000 pages. And Sanderson's pacing was far faster than Jordan's had ever been. I don't want to go into extreme details for fear of spoiling the series, so I'll just leave these notes:
1) Yes. You need to read the Jordan books first.
2) No, he's not Jordan. No, he doesn't pretend to be.
3) The Gathering Storm was incredible, and my only real complaint is that Matt's voice doesn't feel right. This is a common complaint.
4) The Towers of Midnight. This also has some incredible stuff in it, the resolution of Perrin's story line in particular. He also gets Matt right. The primary complaint here is the timeline. because the book was split during writing, you end up with this oddity that the two major plotlines in the book are not simultaneous and that can be confusing.
5) A Memory of Light. This is the only one I haven't read twice, so my impressions are a little more fluid. Overall, a satisfying conclusion to the series and the chapter "The Last Battle" is sneaky clever when you understand what he's done with it. Unfortunately, the timeline remains a little problematic due to how much he's having to juggle at different rates and I feel like he lost Matt's voice a little bit.
So what are we to make of Sanderson's non Cosmere works? For one, they tend to be slightly weaker than his core books, but still enjoyable. The other is that you can tell this is where he experiments more. He writes outside of his comfort zone and many of these are product of his writing style, where he breaks up large projects by doing free writes. Some he discards, other he publishes as little treats. And others turn into a bonus series of Mistborn books and we all win.
See you in October when Shadows of Self comes out.
-Raesh
"Ever notice that B.A.'s flavor text swells in direct proportion to how much one of our characters is getting screwed?" - Brian Van Hoose
This month is Brandon Sanderson (Again). This month we're covering his non-Cosmere works. Those include:
>Alcatraz
Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians
Alcatraz Versus the Scrivener's Bones
Alcatraz Versus the Knights of Crystallia
Alcatraz Versus the Shattered Lens
>Infinity Blade
Infinity Blade: Awakening (novella)
Infinity Blade: Redemption (novella)
>Legion
Legion (novella)
Legion: Skin Deep (novella)
>Reckoners
Steelheart
Mitosis (novella)
Firefight
>Rithmatist
The Rithmatist
>The Wheel of Time
The Gathering Storm
Towers of Midnight
A Memory of Light
River of Souls (short story)
>Standalone
Firstborn (short story)
Defending Elysium (short story)
Perfect State (novella)
Heuristic Algorithm and Reasoning Response Engine (short story)
Dreamer (short story)
So... a confession. There's actually a few on here I haven't read. (GASP!). And that's mostly because I don't do eReaders. Nothing against them, I just like nice hardcovers (preferably) for books I plan to save so a few of these haven't been published that way yet so I haven't picked them up. These include Infinity Blade: Redemption (I actually have a fairly rare hardcover edition of the first one), Perfect State (plan to get this in hardcover when it's his con promo this summer), and Heuristic Algorithm and Reasoning Response Engine (I actually have this one, I just haven't gotten to it yet).
Also, there's this I found this month: http://www.tor.com/2015/05/11/where-to-start-reading-brandon-sanderson/
Note that most of these are more YA focused, and that's okay. On to some commentary.
>Alcatraz (YA)
These are great fun and quick reads, but I don't know how well the humor works outside of the physical books. (I assume most of it translates, but not all). Lots of "in" jokes for literary fans. They're kinda like Harry Potter, but much goofier and smarter. Note that there's supposed to be a fifth book, but Scholastic and Sanderson didn't really get along with these books so the fourth book likes to claim it's the last one. Sanderson finally has the rights back and is in the process of getting them all republished, along with the fifth book. They work fine without it, however, so don't avoid them for fear of an unfinished series.
As an aside, my mother read these books to her second grade classroom and they had a reported blast with them.
>>Infinity Blade
Not much to say on these, they're available as ebooks and are short stories Sanderson wrote based on the popular iOS games. Basically because he was a fan of the games and wrote them because he wanted to.
>Legion
The first one is very short (80ish pages) and the second is about twice that. You can find them as either ebooks or in a couple of different formats. Again, quick, but enjoyable. They've very different than his normal books in that they're in a modern setting where the main character has imaginary friends (who are all crazy) who help him solve crimes. Yeah. I admit, I want more of them, and I kinda like the idea of them potentially becoming a TV show (Though I don't know the actual odds of that).
>Reckoners (YA)
This is a trilogy, the third of which will be out early next year. It's a slightly futuristic setting in which random people have gained super powers... and all of them are evil.
Personally I found Steelheart, in particular, to be very similar to Mistborn in some of the visual elements and themes - and that sounds weird to say about a book based on supervillains in Chicago. But it's good times. You can tell they're YA in that they're a little less intimidating in their size and you can blow through them at a decent clip, but enjoyable. It's possible they're a little more violent than you'd expect, but then again, the Hunger Games are YA and it's no worse than that.
>Rithmatist (YA)
This is another case where Sanderson has added a lot to the book by having illustrations throughout it, which makes sense since it uses a very visual magic system of chalk drawings. There's some good potential here and it was a reasonably enjoyable distraction, but it'll take until the planned sequel (possibly two) to see if it really pays off. No release date on that yet, last we heard it'd been pushed back some due to him needing to do more research to do the book justice.
>Standalones
Just going to get all of these out of the way at once (and remember, I haven't read two of them). They're all short scifi-ish settings, and they're all an enjoyable momentary distraction and not much more. Defending Elysium feels like it could be the foundation for a very interesting SciFi series, but I haven't heard of any plans to do anything of the sort.
>The Wheel of Time.
For quite awhile this is what Sanderson was known for: The guy chosen to finish one of the most sprawling and popular fantasy series of all time. He's published a number of interesting blogs and interviews about that process, and what it did to the rest of his plans and career - they're worth a read if you're in to that sort of thing at all (and I am). But I'm going to keep this fairly short since I could do another month on Jordan and this whole situation, at least.
So, how'd he do? Overall - extremely well. He was pushed into a very hard situation, where Jordan's world had grown and grown and grown and was all suppose to wrap up in one last book that was going to be "1500-2000 pages if need be but it'd be one book". It ended up three, all of them around 1000 pages. And Sanderson's pacing was far faster than Jordan's had ever been. I don't want to go into extreme details for fear of spoiling the series, so I'll just leave these notes:
1) Yes. You need to read the Jordan books first.
2) No, he's not Jordan. No, he doesn't pretend to be.
3) The Gathering Storm was incredible, and my only real complaint is that Matt's voice doesn't feel right. This is a common complaint.
4) The Towers of Midnight. This also has some incredible stuff in it, the resolution of Perrin's story line in particular. He also gets Matt right. The primary complaint here is the timeline. because the book was split during writing, you end up with this oddity that the two major plotlines in the book are not simultaneous and that can be confusing.
5) A Memory of Light. This is the only one I haven't read twice, so my impressions are a little more fluid. Overall, a satisfying conclusion to the series and the chapter "The Last Battle" is sneaky clever when you understand what he's done with it. Unfortunately, the timeline remains a little problematic due to how much he's having to juggle at different rates and I feel like he lost Matt's voice a little bit.
So what are we to make of Sanderson's non Cosmere works? For one, they tend to be slightly weaker than his core books, but still enjoyable. The other is that you can tell this is where he experiments more. He writes outside of his comfort zone and many of these are product of his writing style, where he breaks up large projects by doing free writes. Some he discards, other he publishes as little treats. And others turn into a bonus series of Mistborn books and we all win.
See you in October when Shadows of Self comes out.
-Raesh
"Ever notice that B.A.'s flavor text swells in direct proportion to how much one of our characters is getting screwed?" - Brian Van Hoose
DR-RAESH
Re: Raesh's Author of the Month [May]
05/29/2015 05:59 PM CDT
Hey. That was timely:
http://brandonsanderson.com/calamity-is-done/
Status update on several of his upcoming books.
Also, if you're fast and crazy like me - you too can spend $99 on http://subterraneanpress.com/store/product_detail/shadows_for_silence_in_the_forests_of_hell_and_perfect_state (The lettered edition is already gone). What's that you say? I already own one of those two stories in it's original form and am planning on picking up the con promo he's selling this summer of both of them? Shush you. Just shush.
-Raesh
"Ever notice that B.A.'s flavor text swells in direct proportion to how much one of our characters is getting screwed?" - Brian Van Hoose
http://brandonsanderson.com/calamity-is-done/
Status update on several of his upcoming books.
Also, if you're fast and crazy like me - you too can spend $99 on http://subterraneanpress.com/store/product_detail/shadows_for_silence_in_the_forests_of_hell_and_perfect_state (The lettered edition is already gone). What's that you say? I already own one of those two stories in it's original form and am planning on picking up the con promo he's selling this summer of both of them? Shush you. Just shush.
-Raesh
"Ever notice that B.A.'s flavor text swells in direct proportion to how much one of our characters is getting screwed?" - Brian Van Hoose
BADGOPHER
Re: Raesh's Author of the Month [May]
05/29/2015 09:37 PM CDT
>Personally I found Steelheart, in particular, to be very similar to Mistborn in some of the visual elements and themes - and that sounds weird to say about a book based on supervillains in Chicago. But it's good times. You can tell they're YA in that they're a little less intimidating in their size and you can blow through them at a decent clip, but enjoyable. It's possible they're a little more violent than you'd expect, but then again, the Hunger Games are YA and it's no worse than that.
I picked it up after you mentioned it last month. It was well written and a good read, but the story elements kind of underwhelmed it at the end. I never like the 'anyone with X can only be Y' hard lock alignment systems. Plus, I feel like he 'cheats' by allowing some of the villains to use their powers, kind of, without going full fledged evil, for story purposes.
I picked it up after you mentioned it last month. It was well written and a good read, but the story elements kind of underwhelmed it at the end. I never like the 'anyone with X can only be Y' hard lock alignment systems. Plus, I feel like he 'cheats' by allowing some of the villains to use their powers, kind of, without going full fledged evil, for story purposes.
SHAWN255
Re: Raesh's Author of the Month [May]
05/29/2015 09:46 PM CDT
I really enjoyed the Reckoners series.. looking forward to Calamity. Was a good take on superheroes and what might happen if people got powers like that.
Rithmatist was also a great start. We will have to see how it goes forward.. but knowing Sanderson I am not too worried about it falling flat.
The Jordan books... were overall excellent, even amazing, work considering he was saving a series from its author's death. He did the series justice and finished it well.
Anyways.. highly highly recommend anything by Sanderson. Fantastic author.
SHAWN255
Re: Raesh's Author of the Month [May]
05/29/2015 09:49 PM CDT
>>I picked it up after you mentioned it last month. It was well written and a good read, but the story elements kind of underwhelmed it at the end. I never like the 'anyone with X can only be Y' hard lock alignment systems. Plus, I feel like he 'cheats' by allowing some of the villains to use their powers, kind of, without going full fledged evil, for story purposes.
He doesn't cheat... it is pretty obvious by the end of the first book how they can avoid going evil... or at least limit their exposure.
He doesn't cheat... it is pretty obvious by the end of the first book how they can avoid going evil... or at least limit their exposure.
DR-RAESH
Re: Raesh's Author of the Month [May]
05/30/2015 01:09 AM CDT
Firefight actually runs with that theme a fair bit more. Still not sure overall how I feel about Firefight... I need to read through it again.
(I think I've mentioned that I tend to read all the books I like at least twice? I've been failing at that lately, however, due to adding more authors to my rotation and other demands on my time... like a stupid large backlog of Steam and PSN+ games I haven't even launched. Oh, and coding for all of you.)
-Raesh
"Ever notice that B.A.'s flavor text swells in direct proportion to how much one of our characters is getting screwed?" - Brian Van Hoose
(I think I've mentioned that I tend to read all the books I like at least twice? I've been failing at that lately, however, due to adding more authors to my rotation and other demands on my time... like a stupid large backlog of Steam and PSN+ games I haven't even launched. Oh, and coding for all of you.)
-Raesh
"Ever notice that B.A.'s flavor text swells in direct proportion to how much one of our characters is getting screwed?" - Brian Van Hoose
BADGOPHER
Re: Raesh's Author of the Month [May]
05/30/2015 09:54 AM CDT
>He doesn't cheat... it is pretty obvious by the end of the first book how they can avoid going evil... or at least limit their exposure.
I considered it cheating because the 'main guy' (not the protagonist mind) was effectively using his ability 24x7 without 'turning evil'.
Honestly I just don't care for the mechanics of 'do X, must be evil' absolutes.
But yes, I do feel the way Sanderson wrote some of his 'good guys' is effectively cheating his own rules for 'good and evil and super powers' in that novel.
I considered it cheating because the 'main guy' (not the protagonist mind) was effectively using his ability 24x7 without 'turning evil'.
Honestly I just don't care for the mechanics of 'do X, must be evil' absolutes.
But yes, I do feel the way Sanderson wrote some of his 'good guys' is effectively cheating his own rules for 'good and evil and super powers' in that novel.
DR-RAESH
Re: Raesh's Author of the Month [May]
05/30/2015 02:27 PM CDT
You might like where book two goes in that case...
-Raesh
"Ever notice that B.A.'s flavor text swells in direct proportion to how much one of our characters is getting screwed?" - Brian Van Hoose
-Raesh
"Ever notice that B.A.'s flavor text swells in direct proportion to how much one of our characters is getting screwed?" - Brian Van Hoose
BADGOPHER
Re: Raesh's Author of the Month [May]
05/30/2015 03:58 PM CDT
>You might like where book two goes in that case...
Eh, it's on my 'eventual' radar. I read a couple books a week, usually, so I'll probably get to it eventually.
I was on a 'supers' kick, but I'm back to paranormal mystery//urban fantasy for a while I think.
Eh, it's on my 'eventual' radar. I read a couple books a week, usually, so I'll probably get to it eventually.
I was on a 'supers' kick, but I'm back to paranormal mystery//urban fantasy for a while I think.
SHAWN255
Re: Raesh's Author of the Month [May]
05/30/2015 04:38 PM CDT
You might want to reread it. He actually almost never uses his ability. And when he does... he starts going bad. They talk about it before the end of the book several times, and it is explored further in Firefight
It is the height of silly to claim that an author is 'cheating' when he is the one determining the rules of his world. As long as he is consistent with the use of the rules he defines -- especially once you fully 'know' the rules -- then it is anything but cheating. And Sanderson stays true to the rules he presents.
Also.. 'do X, must be evil' is part of a larger picture. Read the next book. Unless it is a standalone book... nothing ever totally makes sense in the first book.
BADGOPHER
Re: Raesh's Author of the Month [May]
05/30/2015 06:43 PM CDT
>You might want to reread it. He actually almost never uses his ability.
...you apparently don't understand the basic tennants of the 'giver' powers. He was 'using' his powers nearly constantly.
>It is the height of silly to claim that an author is 'cheating' when he is the one determining the rules of his world.
Most authors create rule sets which their characters follow; I could have simply called it a deus ex machina, but cheating has a less aggressive tone.
>As long as he is consistent with the use of the rules he defines -- especially once you fully 'know' the rules -- then it is anything but cheating. And Sanderson stays true to the rules he presents.
Obviously I disagree.
>nothing ever totally makes sense in the first book.
Everything made perfect sense. I can read a single book and project how the next one is going to go without much effort, it's fairly basic, especially when you're dealing with Young Adult fiction/fantasy.
You're not going to change my mind, so I'm not going to read or reply to any more of this thread. I said it was on my eventual read, I said it wasn't a bad book. I just took issue with how he manipulated his characters powersets to bend/break his own rules. It dillutes the nature of the book.
...you apparently don't understand the basic tennants of the 'giver' powers. He was 'using' his powers nearly constantly.
>It is the height of silly to claim that an author is 'cheating' when he is the one determining the rules of his world.
Most authors create rule sets which their characters follow; I could have simply called it a deus ex machina, but cheating has a less aggressive tone.
>As long as he is consistent with the use of the rules he defines -- especially once you fully 'know' the rules -- then it is anything but cheating. And Sanderson stays true to the rules he presents.
Obviously I disagree.
>nothing ever totally makes sense in the first book.
Everything made perfect sense. I can read a single book and project how the next one is going to go without much effort, it's fairly basic, especially when you're dealing with Young Adult fiction/fantasy.
You're not going to change my mind, so I'm not going to read or reply to any more of this thread. I said it was on my eventual read, I said it wasn't a bad book. I just took issue with how he manipulated his characters powersets to bend/break his own rules. It dillutes the nature of the book.
SHAWN255
Re: Raesh's Author of the Month [May]
05/31/2015 03:17 AM CDT
limited SPOILERS BELOW skip if you haven't read book 1 of the reckoners.
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>>...you apparently don't understand the basic tennants of the 'giver' powers. He was 'using' his powers nearly constantly.
and you apparently didn't pay that much attention while you read the book. If you did, it explains it by the end of book 1, and goes into further detail in Firefight.
Some powers are able to be given, the action of giving itself, is not the power. Think about it for even a second. If your power is 'giving'... and that is all you have... well you don't do much at all do you?! (I also wouldn't be surprised if most of the powers can be given to some degree to others. Especially based upon what we see and learn in Firefight.)
So by giving the power away, and not using it himself, he is rarely corrupted -- because he is not using the power itself.. and since the others only use a small portion of his powers, and in small doses or rare occasions at that, they aren't corrupted either. No cheating there.
You want to make the giving a power in and of itself.. but it isn't. And Sanderson is consistent about how if the powers aren't being used, or the power is spread out, that it dilutes the 'evil' influence of the powers. All of that is very clear by the end of book 1. If there is disagreement there, I can only tell you that you should reread the book. Maybe you read it too fast or something.
Anyways.. Hope you read the second one, maybe it will sort some things out for you.
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>>...you apparently don't understand the basic tennants of the 'giver' powers. He was 'using' his powers nearly constantly.
and you apparently didn't pay that much attention while you read the book. If you did, it explains it by the end of book 1, and goes into further detail in Firefight.
Some powers are able to be given, the action of giving itself, is not the power. Think about it for even a second. If your power is 'giving'... and that is all you have... well you don't do much at all do you?! (I also wouldn't be surprised if most of the powers can be given to some degree to others. Especially based upon what we see and learn in Firefight.)
So by giving the power away, and not using it himself, he is rarely corrupted -- because he is not using the power itself.. and since the others only use a small portion of his powers, and in small doses or rare occasions at that, they aren't corrupted either. No cheating there.
You want to make the giving a power in and of itself.. but it isn't. And Sanderson is consistent about how if the powers aren't being used, or the power is spread out, that it dilutes the 'evil' influence of the powers. All of that is very clear by the end of book 1. If there is disagreement there, I can only tell you that you should reread the book. Maybe you read it too fast or something.
Anyways.. Hope you read the second one, maybe it will sort some things out for you.
DR-RAESH
Re: Raesh's Author of the Month [May]
05/31/2015 08:58 AM CDT
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and we're not here to force anyone to like specific books.
-Raesh
"Ever notice that B.A.'s flavor text swells in direct proportion to how much one of our characters is getting screwed?" - Brian Van Hoose
-Raesh
"Ever notice that B.A.'s flavor text swells in direct proportion to how much one of our characters is getting screwed?" - Brian Van Hoose
DR-RAESH
Raesh's Author of the Month [June]
06/06/2015 05:08 PM CDT
We're going to keep this short this month and do something a little different.
This month's author is Robert Jackson Bennett, author of:
Mr. Shivers.
The Company Man
The Troupe
American Elsewhere
City of Stairs
In this case, I've only read one book - City of Stairs - and just finished it earlier this week.
And it was spectacular. It's a deep and thoughtful book that manages to blend an early 20th century spy novel with a story of colonialism, nationalism, hidden history and dead gods. Highly recommended.
Also, Sigurd is amazing.
What I'm interested in, is has anyone read anything else by him? What did you all think? As far as I know each of his books so far have been unconnected, and they're suppose to sprawl through genres including Horror (not normally my home turf) and I haven't decided if I want to pick up anything else by Bennett yet.
-Raesh
"Ever notice that B.A.'s flavor text swells in direct proportion to how much one of our characters is getting screwed?" - Brian Van Hoose
This month's author is Robert Jackson Bennett, author of:
Mr. Shivers.
The Company Man
The Troupe
American Elsewhere
City of Stairs
In this case, I've only read one book - City of Stairs - and just finished it earlier this week.
And it was spectacular. It's a deep and thoughtful book that manages to blend an early 20th century spy novel with a story of colonialism, nationalism, hidden history and dead gods. Highly recommended.
Also, Sigurd is amazing.
What I'm interested in, is has anyone read anything else by him? What did you all think? As far as I know each of his books so far have been unconnected, and they're suppose to sprawl through genres including Horror (not normally my home turf) and I haven't decided if I want to pick up anything else by Bennett yet.
-Raesh
"Ever notice that B.A.'s flavor text swells in direct proportion to how much one of our characters is getting screwed?" - Brian Van Hoose
CRYPTODYNAMIC
Re: Raesh's Author of the Month [June]
06/23/2015 02:46 PM CDT
I've read City of Stairs and American Elsewhere now. Enjoyed them both! I didn't quite follow why one of the revelations later on in the story of City of Stairs was really such a big deal, but otherwise had a good time with it. American Elsewhere had a very strong Stephen King feel to it, which was just fine by me.
- Miskton
- Miskton
DR-RAESH
Raesh's Author of the Month [July]
07/19/2015 06:57 PM CDT
Sorry for being late this month - when the month started I thought I knew what author I was going to do, but I hadn't read enough of his books to be sure. Now I have.
July's author is Mark Lawrence, author of:
The Broken Empire Trilogy
Prince of Throns
King of Thorns
Emperor of Thorns
The Req Queen's War
Prince of Fools
The Liar's Key
The Wheel of Osheim (2016)
Both series take place in the same universe and roughly the same chronology, but there isn't a lot of cross over. The Broken Empire is actually fairly interesting since, while it's not instantly apparent, it's based on a post apocalyptic real world (Where technology had become somewhat more advanced than our own) that has magic and the normal fantasy tropes. Which... I know. It's been done. But somehow this worked for me when usually it doesn't - I think because it's grounded in science. There's a fairly interesting scientific reason magic works now. There's in universe explanations for why they don't have many records from the Builders (The advanced society) but still have records of Christianity and Plato and so forth. The coastlines are all different because global warming caused the oceans to rise. Stuff like that.
For the Broken Empire I was a little leery entering into it. I'd heard it was grimdark which is a little hit or miss with me, and to a large degree it is (The first book in particular), but again. It works. The narrator is very much an anti-hero but he's an enjoyable anti-hero, but your mileage may vary. He does awful things and makes you forget about it because of his wit.
The Red Queen's War I've only read the first book (The Liar's Key arrived a few days ago and is next up after I finish Last First Snow) - but it's a notably different tone. It's still a fairly rough and tumble universe but the narrator is a reluctant hero and that changes a great deal of how you view the world. Also Snorri ver Snagason.
As a slight departure from the normal format I've decided to include a bonus this month. You can consider it an apology for frequently posting these late, but it's really not. Below is a list of a couple of starting points I'd recommend for people just getting into modern Epic Fantasy. These are not in any particular order.
A Game of Thrones - George R R Martin
This is only on the list because of the popularity of Game of Thrones (the TV series). That gives it huge cultural weight right now and I really did enjoy the first three books. However, I nearly culled it from the list since books 4 and 5 are notably weaker and there's no end in sight for the series actually being finished. I'm also reluctant to include it as an entry point because these books are serious reading both in length and complexity.
Three Parts Dead - Max Gladstone
Gladstone's books are just some a wonderful blend of genres and ideas. He's doing something utterly unique and I feel like they will appeal to a large audience if only they knew he existed. These are particularly good to start with since it doesn't really matter what order you read his books in and they're all fairly short (Under 400 pages).
The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss
Another book that nearly got removed from the list due to pure length and the fact that the series isn't finished, but Rothfuss's writing is just so splendid it's impossible not to love. Further, the series doesn't end on cliffhanger and due to the single point of view they aren't nearly as hard to wrap your head around as Martin.
Mistborn: The Final Empire - Brandon Sanderson
I doubt anyone is surprised to find a Sanderson book on this list (or that it's Mistborn). Overall I feel like this is the best place to start on Sanderson. It's more polished than Elantris, the entire trilogy is out, the world building isn't nearly as complex as Stormlight Archive and the entire series is just amazingly good. I did strongly consider listing Alloy of Law here instead (and if gunslinging is more your thing that's a decent place to start too. You'll miss a lot of the references to historical references, but nothing that will hinder the plot, and Allow of Law is much shorter and swifter paced with a slightly lighter mood. The follow up trilogy also starts releasing later this year.
Storm Front - Jim Butcher
I cheated. This is Urban Fantasy, not Epic Fantasy (One could argue the same for Gladstone, really) but that's a huge part of the Fantasy market these days... and Dresden is the best of it. That said, Storm Front is not the strongest book in the series (by any means) but it's a quick read and I can't bring myself to recommend reading them out of order.
-Raesh
"Ever notice that B.A.'s flavor text swells in direct proportion to how much one of our characters is getting screwed?" - Brian Van Hoose
July's author is Mark Lawrence, author of:
The Broken Empire Trilogy
Prince of Throns
King of Thorns
Emperor of Thorns
The Req Queen's War
Prince of Fools
The Liar's Key
The Wheel of Osheim (2016)
Both series take place in the same universe and roughly the same chronology, but there isn't a lot of cross over. The Broken Empire is actually fairly interesting since, while it's not instantly apparent, it's based on a post apocalyptic real world (Where technology had become somewhat more advanced than our own) that has magic and the normal fantasy tropes. Which... I know. It's been done. But somehow this worked for me when usually it doesn't - I think because it's grounded in science. There's a fairly interesting scientific reason magic works now. There's in universe explanations for why they don't have many records from the Builders (The advanced society) but still have records of Christianity and Plato and so forth. The coastlines are all different because global warming caused the oceans to rise. Stuff like that.
For the Broken Empire I was a little leery entering into it. I'd heard it was grimdark which is a little hit or miss with me, and to a large degree it is (The first book in particular), but again. It works. The narrator is very much an anti-hero but he's an enjoyable anti-hero, but your mileage may vary. He does awful things and makes you forget about it because of his wit.
The Red Queen's War I've only read the first book (The Liar's Key arrived a few days ago and is next up after I finish Last First Snow) - but it's a notably different tone. It's still a fairly rough and tumble universe but the narrator is a reluctant hero and that changes a great deal of how you view the world. Also Snorri ver Snagason.
As a slight departure from the normal format I've decided to include a bonus this month. You can consider it an apology for frequently posting these late, but it's really not. Below is a list of a couple of starting points I'd recommend for people just getting into modern Epic Fantasy. These are not in any particular order.
A Game of Thrones - George R R Martin
This is only on the list because of the popularity of Game of Thrones (the TV series). That gives it huge cultural weight right now and I really did enjoy the first three books. However, I nearly culled it from the list since books 4 and 5 are notably weaker and there's no end in sight for the series actually being finished. I'm also reluctant to include it as an entry point because these books are serious reading both in length and complexity.
Three Parts Dead - Max Gladstone
Gladstone's books are just some a wonderful blend of genres and ideas. He's doing something utterly unique and I feel like they will appeal to a large audience if only they knew he existed. These are particularly good to start with since it doesn't really matter what order you read his books in and they're all fairly short (Under 400 pages).
The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss
Another book that nearly got removed from the list due to pure length and the fact that the series isn't finished, but Rothfuss's writing is just so splendid it's impossible not to love. Further, the series doesn't end on cliffhanger and due to the single point of view they aren't nearly as hard to wrap your head around as Martin.
Mistborn: The Final Empire - Brandon Sanderson
I doubt anyone is surprised to find a Sanderson book on this list (or that it's Mistborn). Overall I feel like this is the best place to start on Sanderson. It's more polished than Elantris, the entire trilogy is out, the world building isn't nearly as complex as Stormlight Archive and the entire series is just amazingly good. I did strongly consider listing Alloy of Law here instead (and if gunslinging is more your thing that's a decent place to start too. You'll miss a lot of the references to historical references, but nothing that will hinder the plot, and Allow of Law is much shorter and swifter paced with a slightly lighter mood. The follow up trilogy also starts releasing later this year.
Storm Front - Jim Butcher
I cheated. This is Urban Fantasy, not Epic Fantasy (One could argue the same for Gladstone, really) but that's a huge part of the Fantasy market these days... and Dresden is the best of it. That said, Storm Front is not the strongest book in the series (by any means) but it's a quick read and I can't bring myself to recommend reading them out of order.
-Raesh
"Ever notice that B.A.'s flavor text swells in direct proportion to how much one of our characters is getting screwed?" - Brian Van Hoose
THAYET
Re: Raesh's Author of the Month [July]
07/19/2015 09:47 PM CDT
I have to say I really didn't like Rothfuss. The main character is the Mary Sue-est of Mary Sues, the rest of his characters are absolutely one-dimensional and largely only seem to exist to prop up the main character and reinforce how Totally Awesome he is, the storytelling is shallow and tedious and focuses almost entirely on unimportant details ("And here's how much money I have in my pockets to the copper today...") to the point that he actually cracks an unfunny joke about it in book 2, and book 2's 200+ page detour into sex fairies and sex ninjas (seriously) was... bad. It was bad. Really, really bad.
His prose is decent as fantasy authors go, but he does nothing new or extraordinary with his narrative, his characters, or his worldbuilding and I'm honestly kind of a little baffled at his popularity.
Thayet
Follow @thayelf on Twitter for absolutely nothing of any value whatsoever!
His prose is decent as fantasy authors go, but he does nothing new or extraordinary with his narrative, his characters, or his worldbuilding and I'm honestly kind of a little baffled at his popularity.
Thayet
Follow @thayelf on Twitter for absolutely nothing of any value whatsoever!
DR-RAESH
Re: Raesh's Author of the Month [July]
07/19/2015 10:48 PM CDT
Do keep in mind Kvoth is an unreliable narrator at best.
As for the rest... I think that's a personal preference thing. Though I think most people agree that book two meanders a bit too much later on. Because it does, even if I did enjoy those parts of the story. That's part of why book three is taking too long, Rothfuss felt like he didn't polish book two quite enough and that it could have used some additional edits.
-Raesh
"The trouble with atheism, is that it offers a limited range of curses.” - Two Serpents Rise
As for the rest... I think that's a personal preference thing. Though I think most people agree that book two meanders a bit too much later on. Because it does, even if I did enjoy those parts of the story. That's part of why book three is taking too long, Rothfuss felt like he didn't polish book two quite enough and that it could have used some additional edits.
-Raesh
"The trouble with atheism, is that it offers a limited range of curses.” - Two Serpents Rise
THAYET
Re: Raesh's Author of the Month [July]
07/19/2015 11:02 PM CDT
Dude definitely could have used an editor, yeah. There are the echoes of an interesting world there (though it suffers from the same samey-setting problems of most high fantasy) it just feels like he never gets around to it. The "Kvothe is an unreliable narrator" thing feels like a cop-out to me as well, to be honest, because there's very little yet to suggest the bulk of his story is anything other than what he says it is. Bast (the most interesting character in the books next to the Cthaeh) more or less backs up the notion of Kvothe being Just That Awesome.
I'll still read the third book because I'm curious about how he intends to wrap it up and turn it into a coherent story, but I'm also at peace with reading intensely flawed fiction from time to time.
Thayet
Follow @thayelf on Twitter for absolutely nothing of any value whatsoever!
I'll still read the third book because I'm curious about how he intends to wrap it up and turn it into a coherent story, but I'm also at peace with reading intensely flawed fiction from time to time.
Thayet
Follow @thayelf on Twitter for absolutely nothing of any value whatsoever!
SHAWN255
Re: Raesh's Author of the Month [July]
07/19/2015 11:15 PM CDT
>>His prose is decent as fantasy authors go, but he does nothing new or extraordinary with his narrative, his characters, or his worldbuilding and I'm honestly kind of a little baffled at his popularity.
This is what I would say about Martin. He is only known for killing characters. and he isn't unique in that regard. He is gore-porn at its best.. but nothing special overall.
I actually don't recommend Martin at all to readers. He will be dead before he finishes the series.. so if someone is new to him and hasn't seen the show.. they should just watch it. It at least will definitely be finished. Once he dies, unless he makes plans to finish it -- something he has said before that he isn't doing -- not having an ending will make it the greatest letdown ever.
I think the worst sin of the current generation of authors is that they all want to do open-ended series. Prior to Jordan.. trilogies were the thing. and they were oh so lovely in comparison. Now... blah. Everyone writes series.. and you are lucky if they stop at 3. At least Jordan made plans to finish his series no matter what happened to him. (also.. while Jordan had a couple books that dragged... he at least put out enough books and frequently enough, that if one was bad.. the next wasn't 5+ years away.. unlike martin. Jordan's average time between books was 2.5 years with most less. The longest gap between a book was a 4 year gap, when he died and Sanderson picked up where he left off.. which I give MAJOR props to Jordan, his wife, and Sanderson for making happen!)
Anyways. good list. Though I would add Jordan's Wheel of Time Series. Especially with it finished.. it is good read.
This is what I would say about Martin. He is only known for killing characters. and he isn't unique in that regard. He is gore-porn at its best.. but nothing special overall.
I actually don't recommend Martin at all to readers. He will be dead before he finishes the series.. so if someone is new to him and hasn't seen the show.. they should just watch it. It at least will definitely be finished. Once he dies, unless he makes plans to finish it -- something he has said before that he isn't doing -- not having an ending will make it the greatest letdown ever.
I think the worst sin of the current generation of authors is that they all want to do open-ended series. Prior to Jordan.. trilogies were the thing. and they were oh so lovely in comparison. Now... blah. Everyone writes series.. and you are lucky if they stop at 3. At least Jordan made plans to finish his series no matter what happened to him. (also.. while Jordan had a couple books that dragged... he at least put out enough books and frequently enough, that if one was bad.. the next wasn't 5+ years away.. unlike martin. Jordan's average time between books was 2.5 years with most less. The longest gap between a book was a 4 year gap, when he died and Sanderson picked up where he left off.. which I give MAJOR props to Jordan, his wife, and Sanderson for making happen!)
Anyways. good list. Though I would add Jordan's Wheel of Time Series. Especially with it finished.. it is good read.
SHAWN255
Re: Raesh's Author of the Month [July]
07/19/2015 11:17 PM CDT
As for Rothfuss..
It will be interesting to see how he can wrap the story up in one more book.. I can see the backstory finished in one more day/book... but what about the story going forward from there? I don't see how that can be wrapped up into one more book and be satisfying.. unless it is a really long book.
It will be interesting to see how he can wrap the story up in one more book.. I can see the backstory finished in one more day/book... but what about the story going forward from there? I don't see how that can be wrapped up into one more book and be satisfying.. unless it is a really long book.
DR-RAESH
Re: Raesh's Author of the Month [July]
07/19/2015 11:40 PM CDT
>>This is what I would say about Martin. He is only known for killing characters. and he isn't unique in that regard. He is gore-porn at its best.. but nothing special overall.
In Martin's defense, if you look at when the first three books were published - they were published at the very start of when we started the current generation of authors. He's sort of the bridge between Jordan and Sanderson, Weeks, Rothfuss, Brett, etc.
>>I actually don't recommend Martin at all to readers. He will be dead before he finishes the series..
Let's not go down that path in this discussion. As much as I share the frustrations with the delays in publishing, it's in poor taste at the very least.
>>I can see the backstory finished in one more day/book... but what about the story going forward from there?
Yup. I ask the same thing.
>>I think the worst sin of the current generation of authors is that they all want to do open-ended series.
I actually don't find this to be the case. If anything, I think the Trilogy is a bit overused right now.
Just looking over the series on my shelf (ie: The ones I can see without leaving the room - I have quite a few laying around I haven't shelved yet). Series in bold are finished.
The Demon Cycle - Intended as a trilogy I believe, has grown to 5ish books.
Dresden - Intended to be about 20 case files + a 3 book trilogy, though he's also said book 12 was suppose to be about book 10.
Alara - Five books and finished. I don't know how long it was intended to be.
When Gravity Fails - (I'm cheating, this is sci fi but I wanted to give Effinger a random shout out) this was intended to be five book but the author descended into drugs and died before writing more than a few chapters of book 4.
The Magicians - I think this was meant to be a stand alone that turned into a trilogy.
The Craft Sequence - Open ended so far as I know.
The Iron Druid - No idea how long this series is intended to go, but I don't think it's technically open ended.
Gentleman Bastards - Planned as seven books with another seven book series to follow... we'll have to see if he can get back to reliably publishing.
Song of Ice and Fire - Trilogy turned into five and then seven planned books. We'll see.
Power Mage - Planned trilogy.
Takeshi Kovacs - Planned? trilogy.
Kingkiller Chronicles - Planned trilogy.
Elantris - Planned trilogy, though each book is intended to stand alone.
Mistborn - Planned trilogy, expected to have two follow up trilogies.
Alloy of Law - The product of a free write, sets up a trilogy that will start coming out later this year.
Stormlight Archives - Planned ten books, split into two sets of five.
Wheel of Time - I don't even know how to count this.
Alcatraz - 4/5 books published, the fifth is finished not but not published. Delays was due to a fight with the publisher.
Rithmatist - Planned 2-3 books.
Reckoners - Planned trilogy, final book is out in Jan.
Old Man's War - Semi-open ended. I believe it was intended as a trilogy but he's ended up going back to the series a few more times since.
Night Angel - Planned trilogy.
Lightbringer - Planned 4-5 books. I don't think this was ever intended as a trilogy, but I may be mistaken.
Memory, Sorry, Thorn - Planned as a trilogy so far as I know.
Otherland - No idea if this was planned as 4 books or not. (I admit, this is the only series on this list I haven't heard. It's been collecting dust on my shelf for a few years).
On that list I'd really only consider The Craft Sequence, The Iron Druid and Dresden as open ended, and even those I think have an arc. Compare that to something like Xanth... which started as a trilogy and is now pushing 40 books. That's like 20+ books farther than I got into the series many years ago.
-Raesh
"The trouble with atheism, is that it offers a limited range of curses.” - Two Serpents Rise
In Martin's defense, if you look at when the first three books were published - they were published at the very start of when we started the current generation of authors. He's sort of the bridge between Jordan and Sanderson, Weeks, Rothfuss, Brett, etc.
>>I actually don't recommend Martin at all to readers. He will be dead before he finishes the series..
Let's not go down that path in this discussion. As much as I share the frustrations with the delays in publishing, it's in poor taste at the very least.
>>I can see the backstory finished in one more day/book... but what about the story going forward from there?
Yup. I ask the same thing.
>>I think the worst sin of the current generation of authors is that they all want to do open-ended series.
I actually don't find this to be the case. If anything, I think the Trilogy is a bit overused right now.
Just looking over the series on my shelf (ie: The ones I can see without leaving the room - I have quite a few laying around I haven't shelved yet). Series in bold are finished.
The Demon Cycle - Intended as a trilogy I believe, has grown to 5ish books.
Dresden - Intended to be about 20 case files + a 3 book trilogy, though he's also said book 12 was suppose to be about book 10.
Alara - Five books and finished. I don't know how long it was intended to be.
When Gravity Fails - (I'm cheating, this is sci fi but I wanted to give Effinger a random shout out) this was intended to be five book but the author descended into drugs and died before writing more than a few chapters of book 4.
The Magicians - I think this was meant to be a stand alone that turned into a trilogy.
The Craft Sequence - Open ended so far as I know.
The Iron Druid - No idea how long this series is intended to go, but I don't think it's technically open ended.
Gentleman Bastards - Planned as seven books with another seven book series to follow... we'll have to see if he can get back to reliably publishing.
Song of Ice and Fire - Trilogy turned into five and then seven planned books. We'll see.
Power Mage - Planned trilogy.
Takeshi Kovacs - Planned? trilogy.
Kingkiller Chronicles - Planned trilogy.
Elantris - Planned trilogy, though each book is intended to stand alone.
Mistborn - Planned trilogy, expected to have two follow up trilogies.
Alloy of Law - The product of a free write, sets up a trilogy that will start coming out later this year.
Stormlight Archives - Planned ten books, split into two sets of five.
Wheel of Time - I don't even know how to count this.
Alcatraz - 4/5 books published, the fifth is finished not but not published. Delays was due to a fight with the publisher.
Rithmatist - Planned 2-3 books.
Reckoners - Planned trilogy, final book is out in Jan.
Old Man's War - Semi-open ended. I believe it was intended as a trilogy but he's ended up going back to the series a few more times since.
Night Angel - Planned trilogy.
Lightbringer - Planned 4-5 books. I don't think this was ever intended as a trilogy, but I may be mistaken.
Memory, Sorry, Thorn - Planned as a trilogy so far as I know.
Otherland - No idea if this was planned as 4 books or not. (I admit, this is the only series on this list I haven't heard. It's been collecting dust on my shelf for a few years).
On that list I'd really only consider The Craft Sequence, The Iron Druid and Dresden as open ended, and even those I think have an arc. Compare that to something like Xanth... which started as a trilogy and is now pushing 40 books. That's like 20+ books farther than I got into the series many years ago.
-Raesh
"The trouble with atheism, is that it offers a limited range of curses.” - Two Serpents Rise
THAYET
Re: Raesh's Author of the Month [July]
07/19/2015 11:41 PM CDT
All this fantasy talk is just reminding me of how sad I am about Thorn of Emberlain's delay. :(
At least we'll see the last Tiffany Aching book soon probably!
Thayet
Follow @thayelf on Twitter for absolutely nothing of any value whatsoever!
At least we'll see the last Tiffany Aching book soon probably!
Thayet
Follow @thayelf on Twitter for absolutely nothing of any value whatsoever!
DR-RAESH
Re: Raesh's Author of the Month [July]
07/19/2015 11:54 PM CDT
>>All this fantasy talk is just reminding me of how sad I am about Thorn of Emberlain's delay. :(
Far as I know we're still expecting it before the end of the year. We'll see.
-Raesh
"The trouble with atheism, is that it offers a limited range of curses.” - Two Serpents Rise
Far as I know we're still expecting it before the end of the year. We'll see.
-Raesh
"The trouble with atheism, is that it offers a limited range of curses.” - Two Serpents Rise
DR-RAESH
Re: Raesh's Author of the Month [July]
07/20/2015 02:45 AM CDT
Old Man's War - Semi-open ended. I believe it was intended as a trilogy but he's ended up going back to the series a few more times since.
The irony of opening up Amazon moments ago and seeing it recommend a new Old Man's War book is not lost on me.
-Raesh
"The trouble with atheism, is that it offers a limited range of curses.” - Two Serpents Rise
The irony of opening up Amazon moments ago and seeing it recommend a new Old Man's War book is not lost on me.
-Raesh
"The trouble with atheism, is that it offers a limited range of curses.” - Two Serpents Rise
SHAWN255
Re: Raesh's Author of the Month [July]
07/20/2015 05:59 AM CDT
>>In Martin's defense, if you look at when the first three books were published - they were published at the very start of when we started the current generation of authors. He's sort of the bridge between Jordan and Sanderson, Weeks, Rothfuss, Brett, etc.
I agree. But he is closer to Jordan than the rest. If we were putting him in a generation.. he would definitely be lumped with Jordan. Melanie Rawn is a great example of that generation as well.. and she killed off characters too.
>>Let's not go down that path in this discussion.
It isn't a bad thing to talk about though. When writing an epic series like this... especially when you are older, and potentially not in the best of health... it isn't unrealistic or bad form to question his plans for 'what if' he passes. Again, Jordan made plans, laid outlines, worked with his wife to prepare for it especially as he got closer. And while he knew it was coming and so had more time to think about it.. Martin has flat out said that he has no plans for any one else to finish his series.
http://unrealitymag.com/television/were-out-of-luck-if-george-rr-martin-dies-before-finishing-a-song-of-ice-and-fire/
As a reader.. that has invested into his books.. I find that lacking. If it wasn't a series, if it was more like Xanth.. or a Dragonlance novel or something that was relatively stand alone.. each book would be its own purchase. But when you buy into Martin's ASoIaF... you are buying an installment, and with that comes the promise of an ending down the road. Without that ending (good or bad).. his story flops and he becomes remembered only for not finishing.
If I could go back.. I would never have picked up GoT.. and just waited for the TV show. lol. But I refuse to watch it because I won't support martin in any other aspect until the books are finished.
But anyways.. enough of that guy.
>>Yup. I ask the same thing.
I will go so far as to say while I am still interested in the past... I am far more interested into the future and where he goes from here. And this is why I doubt it will stay 3 books. He might claim to keep that promise by ending the trilogy there as the 'past' and then start a new trilogy to take the story forward.. but I would lump those together regardless if he wants to call them separate trilogies.
>>If anything, I think the Trilogy is a bit overused right now.
Maybe it isn't that they 'want' to do open-ended series.. it is just that they tend to go that direction more now. (and I am thinking outside just fantasy at this point.. but I think so are you since you brought in the Iron Druid Chronicles and Dresden.. which fall a bit outside that)
I like trilogies. Forces the author to write the story and finish it. Not leave me hanging. Not milking me for more cash. I will gladly pay for a full story.. but it seems like a lot of the stories I have been picking up on my kindle are hit or miss.
I think a lot of it comes from the fact that it is easier to continue an existing IP than come up with something new that still gains an audience. It is part of why I really like and respect Sanderson. He keeps trying new things... new ideas.. new settings.. new types of magic.. new characters. He isn't afraid to try something new.
Random other rant... holy Grrrrrrrr!!! ebooks prices are slowly driving me nuts. I gladly support every single self-published author I can. People like Hearne with the latest Iron Druid book are risking me pirating his book... it is one of his shorter books (according to what is listed currently) and yet the price is set at $14. I am sorry.. but no ebook is ever worth 14 bucks.
I agree. But he is closer to Jordan than the rest. If we were putting him in a generation.. he would definitely be lumped with Jordan. Melanie Rawn is a great example of that generation as well.. and she killed off characters too.
>>Let's not go down that path in this discussion.
It isn't a bad thing to talk about though. When writing an epic series like this... especially when you are older, and potentially not in the best of health... it isn't unrealistic or bad form to question his plans for 'what if' he passes. Again, Jordan made plans, laid outlines, worked with his wife to prepare for it especially as he got closer. And while he knew it was coming and so had more time to think about it.. Martin has flat out said that he has no plans for any one else to finish his series.
http://unrealitymag.com/television/were-out-of-luck-if-george-rr-martin-dies-before-finishing-a-song-of-ice-and-fire/
As a reader.. that has invested into his books.. I find that lacking. If it wasn't a series, if it was more like Xanth.. or a Dragonlance novel or something that was relatively stand alone.. each book would be its own purchase. But when you buy into Martin's ASoIaF... you are buying an installment, and with that comes the promise of an ending down the road. Without that ending (good or bad).. his story flops and he becomes remembered only for not finishing.
If I could go back.. I would never have picked up GoT.. and just waited for the TV show. lol. But I refuse to watch it because I won't support martin in any other aspect until the books are finished.
But anyways.. enough of that guy.
>>Yup. I ask the same thing.
I will go so far as to say while I am still interested in the past... I am far more interested into the future and where he goes from here. And this is why I doubt it will stay 3 books. He might claim to keep that promise by ending the trilogy there as the 'past' and then start a new trilogy to take the story forward.. but I would lump those together regardless if he wants to call them separate trilogies.
>>If anything, I think the Trilogy is a bit overused right now.
Maybe it isn't that they 'want' to do open-ended series.. it is just that they tend to go that direction more now. (and I am thinking outside just fantasy at this point.. but I think so are you since you brought in the Iron Druid Chronicles and Dresden.. which fall a bit outside that)
I like trilogies. Forces the author to write the story and finish it. Not leave me hanging. Not milking me for more cash. I will gladly pay for a full story.. but it seems like a lot of the stories I have been picking up on my kindle are hit or miss.
I think a lot of it comes from the fact that it is easier to continue an existing IP than come up with something new that still gains an audience. It is part of why I really like and respect Sanderson. He keeps trying new things... new ideas.. new settings.. new types of magic.. new characters. He isn't afraid to try something new.
Random other rant... holy Grrrrrrrr!!! ebooks prices are slowly driving me nuts. I gladly support every single self-published author I can. People like Hearne with the latest Iron Druid book are risking me pirating his book... it is one of his shorter books (according to what is listed currently) and yet the price is set at $14. I am sorry.. but no ebook is ever worth 14 bucks.
DASLOW
Re: Raesh's Author of the Month [July]
07/20/2015 08:05 AM CDT
>Otherland - No idea if this was planned as 4 books or not. (I admit, this is the only series on this list I haven't heard. It's been collecting dust on my shelf for a few years).
I really enjoyed this series when I was younger. You should definitely dust them off. I should probably pull them out for another read too.
I really enjoyed this series when I was younger. You should definitely dust them off. I should probably pull them out for another read too.
DR-RAESH
Re: Raesh's Author of the Month [July]
07/20/2015 09:03 AM CDT
>>Again, Jordan made plans, laid outlines, worked with his wife to prepare for it especially as he got closer
Actually, Jordan said for a long time that he was against someone else finishing the series and only changed his mind in the last few years when his health was failing IIRC.
-Raesh
"The trouble with atheism, is that it offers a limited range of curses.” - Two Serpents Rise
Actually, Jordan said for a long time that he was against someone else finishing the series and only changed his mind in the last few years when his health was failing IIRC.
-Raesh
"The trouble with atheism, is that it offers a limited range of curses.” - Two Serpents Rise
