Amph Brandon Sanderson -- State of Sanderson 2015

I think it's one of those things that tends to happens, some authors are more easily found in some countries more than others. Although Sanderson did himself a favour by knowing a good if demanding deal in taking on the WoT conclusion trilogy.

 

No kidding - I think that's when his career really took off, when people learned that this was the person finishing WoT and (like me) heard his name for the first time.

 

Yeah, that's when I first heard of him, too. Though, to be fair, he never sought permission to finish WoT - they (including Jordan's wife) came to him and asked him.

 

Dang that is when I heard of him as well! As a matter of fact it was Raven that told me about him finishing and I had never heard of him. I picked up Elantris and MB 1 a few days later, read Elantris first and was blown away.

 

I first heard of Brandon because a friend of mine was taking his creative writing course at BYU and he had just started getting locally famous for Elantris. When I got my copy of Elantris signed, I was the only one in line.

Flash forward a couple of years and he comes to the dinner before our university's sci-fi/fantasy symposium. It had just been announced that he'd be finishing WoT and I congratulated him on that because he was, you know, the guy sitting next to me and sharing my breadsticks. He was amused that for the first time, he was getting groupies.

This year, he was the featured guest of honor at that symposium.

So look how far he's come.

 

Yeah, I remember Jek_Windu posted the Memory of Light thread and said Sanderson was finishing and Raven said he loved Sanderson, and then I decided it would be a good idea to check him out

And I'm so jealous - I'd love to meet him. He's a fabulous author.

 

I'd still say he deserves credit for accepting, it took a lot of nerve to say yes to the job. It'd be easy to see the WOT finale as a poisoned chalice.

 

I think a lot of authors would have jumped for the chance - it's WoT. But I admire the amount of work he's put into it, and he's doing a fantastic job. After reading Mistborn I don't see why Harriet chose him, since his story was so different from taditional fantasy, which is what WoT is, but she made an excellent choice.

 

I completely agree with you. You can feel it when your reading the new one except of course the out of sync Mat. I didnt feel much of a diff. at all.

 

Finished Vol 1!

You ever get to a certain tipping point in a book where you then have to finish it no matter what? Because that happened last night, as Part 4 concluded in devastating fashion my only response: I have to finish this!

And Kelsier! What a magnificent bastard! Talk about screwing over the Final Empire - he wrecks the pits of Hathsin, causes economic and social chaos and, with his death, inspires a mass revolt. Yet it would have been for naught had Vin not attacked the Lord Ruler at Kredik Shaw...

Kredik Shaw... It's hard to create new places that inspire fear due to so many other creations coming and going over the years: Foul's Creche and Mount Thunder in the Covenant Chronicles, the Hadeshorn in Shannara, the Dark Tower of Barad-Dur in LOTR yet Sanderson manages it with his description of the Lord Ruler's palace and it's surprisingly weak security. But then what need for security?

That final battle with the Lord Ruler is utterly brutal, we find out the secret and weakness of the Inquisitors - it's not just me who finds that concept quite, quite creepy, is it? And in the end Vin gets lucky and kills the old bastard! Which was a big surprise, often in multi-volume stories like this the main villain will be around for all books, instead the Lord Ruler gets offed! A very smart and unpredictable move.

Finally, there's enough mysteries remaining for the next two books due to what was found about Rashek's abilities, how they out-stripped that of everyone else and a mysterious threat....

Will be getting Vol 2 soon!

 

I'm glad you liked it!!

 

Just don't assume than anything you think right now is actually correct Some of it is, and some of it... well, you'll see

Glad you enjoyed it!

 

Yeah, the entire trilogy is a mindbender.

 

Well, I've ordered books 2-3, so I'll find out exactly what you're all cryptically alluding to!

 

Good

I will warn you that the second one starts kinda slow, but it picks up and finishes strong

 

I found the first one quite slow then I hit the tipping point that snagged my interest, so on that basis I'll just trust it's leading somewhere....

 

I had that same issue with Elantris, so when it felt the same way with Mistborn, I stuck it out in the belief that it would be just as awesome. I was so right.

I was rereading Alcatraz and the Evil Librarians the other night. I love the soliloquy on why authors write books--"We like to torture people."

 

In the word of Father Jack Hackett: FEEE-EEEE-CC-KKK!

Got to the end of the Well of Ascension and had to immediately start The Hero Of Ages, did anyone have the misfortune to read this series as it came out? The cliffhangers are bloody satanic!

And Vin.... Oh Vin, I can imagine the hard men of Glasgae admiring that enhanced head butt, for a lassie who can put the heid on, she'd get respect all right. And then there's that 300 men slaughter too....Think of the craziest martial art film sequence - say Donnie Yen or Jet Li - then x10 and more! Yet they did earn it!

I think what I really like about Vin is that she has all this ability yet she remains uncertain, she can kill hundreds but that won't give her the security she seeks. I'm quite tired of the arrogant, domineering female-type characters that tend to feature in the likes of Eddings and Jordan. Never liked those characters - people like that exist all right, but don't like them either. The nearest Sanderson gets is with Tindwyl and she has a good deal more depth to her.

At the same time Sanderson has the nerve to tackle what is the last taboo of western society in regard to relationships: Class. Inter-class relationships are still not really accepted, there's always the snide line that s/he only married for the money, the idea that love spans across all manner of chasms rarely gets applied to class. How does someone feel going from one world to another? It's not often addressed in fantastic stories.

Loved Straff's end! Bye, bye bastard!

Oh yeah, I'm enjoying this series a lot.

 

Did you finish it, or are you still in the middle?

 

Started Book 3 - comment away!

 

Okay

Straff's end was awesome. I didn't like Elend becoming a Mistborn - before, it was just something Vin could do, and it made them seem more equal that they could each do things the other couldn't. I was also kinda sad about Zane - I thought he could've been a cool character (though I love the last bit with the voice in his head ).

 

I agree with you about Elend. I thought it felt like a bit of a copout for him to become that. And yes, I read them as they came out! You're right about the cliffhangers being bloody satanic!

 

Oh you poor person, that must have been hell!

I'm 100 pages in and it's a shame that Elend's idealism has fallen and that there is not that difference between him and Vin, I liked that neat inversion where Vin's the one more inclined to just decking someone and Elend isn't, because in gender terms, it tends to be the other way around...

Oh and is it just me or are the Steel Inquisitors a truly creepy concept? No mean feat given I've been reading SF and fantasy for 20+ years!

 

Yeah, they are. I was really sad when it happened to Marsh. Creepy stuff.

I read the first one when it was that and the second, but Raven warned that the second had a huge cliffhanger, so I stopped after the first one and waited for the third to come out before I read it and the second.

 

Yup, Steel Inquisitors make me squirm. I really need to read Warbreaker.