T77, on 01 March 2011 - 02:53 PM, said:
Bombur, on 28 February 2011 - 03:53 PM, said:
T77, on 28 February 2011 - 03:10 PM, said:
Finished Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson, this was my first book by him. I thought it was very meh, it just didn't do it for me. Everything about it was just very average and I was not that impressed with his writing. Normally I would stop reading a book that doesn't draw me in by the halfway point, but seeing all the praise for this guy I trudged on. Unless I hear it gets much better from here I don't think I will be continuing with th series.
Since you thought Mistborn was meh, my advice is DO NOT read book two!
I wasn't that impressed by the mistborn series. I sort of enjoyed the first book, decent overall and good in parts but not spectacular. But the second book was pretty bad. Nothing much happens for hundreds of pages... a bunch of armies sitting around looking at each-other, wondering (along with the reader) when the action will begin. Only the last 100 or so pages are interesting. The third book is better, not quite as good as the first, but decent. Still, I wish I hadn't bothered with the series. There are better things to read. My only consolation is I got a boxed-set of all three volumes for $20NZ - and each is sold separately for around $25NZ.
I didn't really care for Sanderson's writing style in mistborn either. Though I thought the blend between his style and Jordan's in The Gathering Storm was an improvement over both and quite good. I'd say that Jordan is the better writer, so trying to emulate him improved Sanderson, and Sanderson's faster paced story-telling improved Jordan.
Mistborn has the dubious distinction of being the only fantasy I've read over the past couple of years that I couldn't lose myself in. I think this might be because Sanderson info dumps a lot and explains his character's thoughts on what they're doing in too much detail. I found that a bit jarring, like I kept being plucked out of the story so Sanderson could make it absolutely abdundantly clear what was happening.
Though considering that over this same two year period I've mainly been reading classics like the book of the new sun, lyonesse, and the chronicles of amber, plus malazan and ASOI&F with a sprinkling of gemmel and pratchett, it's probably not surprising mistborn came out the worst. Oh scratch that - I just remembered I read Dragonlance a few months ago - that was fucking awful. Mistborn beats it by miles.
Thanks! Chances were slim that I was going to continue with the series, but seeing that you felt as I did I will not read the last 2 books. Like you I have been reading the New/Long Sun, Malazan as well as The Black Company and compared to that it is so inferior IMO. It felt like cookie cutter fantasy with average writing. I read the first WoT book and thought it was pretty good and will eventually go back and finish that, especially since Jordan wrote most of it.
Be encouraged that Sanderson's WOT books have been damn good. My hat goes off to him for that. A brilliant achievement really, considering he is finishing off someone else's super famous epic fantasy series.
Actually, the problem with WOT isn't with Sanderson, but with Jordon.
The thing about WOT (well for the majority of readers): it's really great till after book 6 (Lord of Chaos), but from thereon in Jordan gets bogged down in too much detail. Arcs that should have been wrapped up quickly drag on forever, and less and less seems to happen. Despite this, books seven, nine and eleven are still decent reads (some really cool stuff in 9 especially, and eleven ties up all those tedious arcs that should have ended books ago), but disappointing compared to the earlier ones. Eight made me almost bored with the series, so much so that it was some years before I bothered with 9. The real trough though is with book Ten. Ten is possibly the worst fantasy novel I've ever read. Nothing happens in it. NOTHING.
The wikipedia plot summary for book 10 goes something like:
- character X continues doing something he started doing in the last book, but doesn't finish doing it, and in fact makes almost no headway. Actually, he joins the circus.
- character Y: see X
- character Z: see X
Rand is just about completely absent from the book. Probably he got bored too and went off to do something more interesting, like water his garden.
Then (after book 11) Sanderson came along with book 12 and seriously got the story moving again. Sanderson's books 12 and 13 both blew me away. Anyway, when you continue with WOT, and find yourself despairing with book 10 just be encouraged that it does get good again.
Help
