[Morgoth]

There's nothing particularly radical in claiming one story is better than another. Or, for that matter, claim that a story is pure garbage.

Mal, as he is wont to do, takes it a little further than most people though. I for one quite enjoy Abercrombie, and to some extent Abraham

[QuickTidal]

Briar King, on 29 August 2013 - 03:31 AM, said:

Abercrombie is awesome. Sanderson is in a much lighter cat then him but calling Abercrombie not adult is hilarious to me. Made me giggle. Kudos

Ha! Yeah, I think in that instance Mal might be saying "adult" but mean "pretentious"?

I dunno.

[birthSqueeze]

Malaclypse, on 28 August 2013 - 01:10 PM, said:

Morgoth, on 27 August 2013 - 09:08 AM, said:

It would be pretty hilarious if Mal was forced by his own principles to like all fantasy. Alas, amphibian's description is pretty far off the mark.

That would be funny - as it is, I'm forced to want to like all fantasy until I find out it's shit. Look, people, I don't give a squirt of piss how many books anybody sells. It's just not something I think about.

I really hate shit like Sanderson, Abercrombie, Daniel Abraham, etc. because it's shit, imo. These are books that could have been written 20 years ago by Eddings or some TSR hack. We should have higher standards than this now. There ought to be more writers like Erikson, Bakker, Lawrence, Mieville. You know, people who are writing for an adult audience - as in, it's not just fantasy for its own sake - like if you take the fantastical elements away, what kind of fucking story is it? And how does it compare as a story of that genre? If you're going to try to convince me that Brandon Sanderson has something interesting to say about the human condition you are going to have to try very fucking hard.

Anyway, I have a bunch more Tim Powers to read so I'm happy. Gonna try Douglas Hulick whilst lounging in the Turkish sun next month so fingers crossed - first page seemed promising.

Are you kidding man? Saying one author is bad because he's not like another is like saying vanilla is bad for not being chocolate. They're two completely different things so thus no comparison is needed. I'd expect better from a Malazan fan.

I'm also pretty sure Brandon Sanderson has a lot to say about the human condition, particularly about subjects of trust, loyalty, faith, work ethic, etc. In fact I'd go so far to say he has just as much to say if not more about the human condition than Erikson and Mieville. The only Mieville novel I've read City and the City was fascinating, but the characterization was sub par, and the last third of the novel is terrible. Just because one authors work is difficult to read doesn't mean it's any better than another. Your idea of adult fiction seems very skewed and laughable.

I also don't understand how you can put Lawrence in the same category as Erikson. I thought Broken Empires was very juvenile and basic. Adult content, but very much lacking in substance.

This post has been edited by birthSqueeze: 31 August 2013 - 03:34 AM

[Macros]

Id agree with lumping branderson in with eddings et al, but not so much the rest.

Aber is definitely nit YA, it might not be deep, but YA it is not.

[birthSqueeze]

Macros, on 31 August 2013 - 03:55 AM, said:

Id agree with lumping branderson in with eddings et al, but not so much the rest.

Aber is definitely nit YA, it might not be deep, but YA it is not.

Brandon Sanderson's a great author! I can't wait until Words of Radiance comes out. I looked it up on Amazon and it looks like the publication date has been pushed back from November to March. So disappointing.

[Kruppe's snacky cakes]

I'm not all that familiar with this artist, other than recognizing many of his circa 1980s Asimov covers, etc...from back in the day when I would browse the sci-fi/fantasy section of my local Waldenbooks (R.I.P.). Anyway, this thread inspired me to pick up a copy of Michael Whelan's Works of Wonder. Lots of great stuff in there.

[birthSqueeze]

I'm really looking forward to the rest of the Stormlight Archives. If The Way of Kings is testament to Sanderson's talent as a story teller and ability to move readers emotionally, then it's quite possible that it'll be some of the greatest fantasy of all time. I don't care if his prose aren't that good either; normally I would but not in his case.

[Baco Xtath]

birthSqueeze, on 11 September 2013 - 12:04 AM, said:

I don't care if his prose aren't that good either; normally I would but not in his case.

This made me laugh. A "neither" would have had me in stitches, though.

[Macros]

Be the greatest fantasy of all time?

was this a serious comment or are you twisting my nipples?

[End of Disc One]

Macros, on 12 September 2013 - 08:08 AM, said:

Be the greatest fantasy of all time?

was this a serious comment or are you twisting my nipples?

Seeing how well Sanderson plans his series, I absolutely think it will be up there.

[Macros]

And here I thought my work shirt was chaffing me

[birthSqueeze]

I was being completely serious. I've heard that he did a very good job of finishing up the Wheel of Time which is an amazing feat considering all the negativity I've heard about the later parts of that series. If he can do that then I'm sure the Stormlight Archives will be consistent and not go off on a bunch of tangents. He knows the mistakes that writers of gigantic epics have made in the past and is making a conscious effort to not stray onto the wrong path. I also have a confession to make..... The Way of Kings brought me to tears several times. Should it be any wonder that I predict Stormlight Archives is going to among the best? Lots and lots of people from a lot of other fantasy communities are hoping that will be the case as well.

[Macros]

Hmm, we must have read the book from entirely different perspectives.

[birthSqueeze]

Yeah, that happens. I was just enjoying a great story and being generally very entertained and blow away by interesting concepts at the time I was reading it. Were you trying to be too discerning about it? That can greatly hinder enjoyment which has been the case for me recently.

[Kaamos]

I've read the entire WOT, and the last volume felt listless for a Sanderson novel.

Spoiler

Trollocs. Trollocs, everywhere. To the point they conceptually gushed out of my ears. Talk about getting desensitized to the enemy.

Enjoyed the recent Rithmatist much more.
Then again, I'm prone to laughing at humor featuring pink unicorns. :-D

This post has been edited by Kaamos: 16 September 2013 - 08:57 AM

[Hocknose]

UK cover is up on Amazon...

[amphibian]

Cover choices are basically guy with duck feet or dude picking up dog poo.

The book will probably be entertaining as heck to the fans, but the publishers aren't doing them any favors with the covers.

[QuickTidal]

amphibian, on 16 September 2013 - 05:47 PM, said:

Cover choices are basically guy with duck feet or dude picking up dog poo.

The book will probably be entertaining as heck to the fans, but the publishers aren't doing them any favors with the covers.

I'm defo going with the US cover...the UK cover with duck-footed (weirdly proportioned) guy (who is strangely casting a chessboard for a shadow?!), and fancy free font du jour is just not even trying.

So yeah, the UK publisher hired a hack...at least for the most part the US cover is lovely art (guy's proportions and dog poo [still not sure how you all see that] aside)

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 16 September 2013 - 06:02 PM

[Kaamos]

That's actual historical armor the character's wearing on the cover. http://en.wikipedia....ximilian_armour Don't know what that has to do with the novel, however.
Here in my country, you can see those duck feet shoes for instance in church wallpaintings, used to be haute couture in ye oldendays. :-D

[polishgenius]

All of Sanderson's UK covers are in that style. Most of them are pretty good - The Final Empire and Elantris being particular highlights, imo - but this does look poor. Way of Kings wasn't stunning either.

Malaclypse, on 09 August 2013 - 10:56 PM, said:

I'd much prefer if this guy was not such a waste of good paper. I feel like he's almost there, almost like Eddings when I was a teenager but in reality, he's so far from that. Dumb people who think they're smart has to be my biggest pet peeve.

I'm not an enormous fan of Sanderson and can get on board with the Eddings comparison, but I'm very glad he exists, because his success has opened the door for many more epic fantasies that have weirder, non-Tolkien elements.


Also, you totally need to read the Acts of Caine. You'll either love them, or loathe them with the very core of your being.