[Andorion]

 Cheesewiz, on 19 January 2017 - 03:32 AM, said:

He was. Then bk 2 happened and he wasn't lol

8 books to go. Here's hoping for a radical personality change!

[Mentalist]

 Andorion, on 19 January 2017 - 03:00 AM, said:

 Cheesewiz, on 19 January 2017 - 02:23 AM, said:

 Mentalist, on 19 January 2017 - 02:17 AM, said:

Wrapped up Bands of Mourning

You know what, Sanderson is really getting better at this. Or maybe it's just the Mistborn is a really solid setting.

I don't think The Lost Metal will be an insta-buy. But I'm getting real hopeful that "Oathbreaker might convince me that Stormlight is actually great, not just decent.

Meanwhile I think I'll throw "The Liar's Key" in the bag as my next commute book.

The Mistborn stuff Arcanum was really good! So was Edgedancer if you didn't have a problem with Lift in Words. I personally can't fucking wait till she becomes a main in SLA. I hope Kaladins bitch ass dies in Oath so she can take center stage I love her so much.

I don't think either Kaladin or Shallan are going to die. Dalinar on the other hand is a prime candidate.

Yeah Sanderson is improving, he is even less uptight about sex. But there is so much to remember in his books about the magic system it makes following the series very hard.

Yeah, the assorted quotes at the beginning of chapters in Words of Radiance really did not work for me. Unlike SE, where the epigraph would have at least some thematic resonance to the subject matter in the chapter, Sanderson's stuff left me blanking.

 Cheesewiz, on 19 January 2017 - 03:15 AM, said:

Dalinar and Adolin are toast before it's done. The sickly son is safe for sure. Kaladin is just such a bad character. The worst BS has written so far imo. He was so bad in bk 2 in was painful to read his povs. I ll pop fireworks if BS realizes how much people hate him and gives him a death. Odds are 10 bks full of his whiny ass though.

 Andorion, on 19 January 2017 - 03:50 AM, said:

 Cheesewiz, on 19 January 2017 - 03:32 AM, said:

He was. Then bk 2 happened and he wasn't lol

8 books to go. Here's hoping for a radical personality change!

Kaladin is a great character, whom Sanderson forced to endure ridiculous anguish as part of "building character". TWICE.

He maintains potential to be an immense bad-ass, as long as Sanderson gets the picture that the Dragonball Z trope of " nearly destroy him before building him up to OVER NINE THOUSAND" is REALLY stale by now.

I'll even be okay with him making dumb mistakes in "Oathbreaker"- as long as they fit the context-- which shouldn't be hard, given how out of their depths all the newly-minted Knights are gonna be.

Shallan had the most interesting storyline in tWoK, and I liked her in WoR (except for Sanderson's attempts at "wit" coming from her, and that hunting scene that channeled Escaflowne-esque awkward love moment HARD). But this is due to Sanderson's documented struggles with writing multi-dimensional characters.

Given how much his characterization improved throughout the Wax & Wayne novels, I'm actually quite hopeful he'll be able to write extra dimensions to his existing Stormlight Archive leads.

[Maark Abbott]

 EmperorMagus, on 18 January 2017 - 07:57 AM, said:

 Maark Abbott, on 18 January 2017 - 06:48 AM, said:

I can see that he was trying to go for Erikson's scope with Stormshite, but he doesn't have the chops for it. Alas.

On my part, I'm at Part 3 of Sparhawk & Friends: The Sequel. It's enjoyable enough, if predictable. Nostalgia is a hell of a thing.

I can just imagine a bearded guy with that particular northern England accent (I think of it like a mix between the London accent and the Scottish accent but that's another thing) saying Stormshite in exasperation at people's unnatural fondness for the horrible book, putting the stress on shite while spite shots out of his mouth.

I don't know what the point of this post is, I just wanted to describe the image in my mind for some reason.

Been reading Plato's Republic (for a class) this past week. Gotta admit it has a certain charm to it. Undoubtedly one of the cleverer books I've read. (understatement of the year goes tooooo)

Oh aye, Ah tells thi that Ah'd be seyyun it in this sorter whee, cocker.

I don't think I'd read Words of Even More Words for a thousand pounds. Kaladin was unbearable, Shanranran or whatever the hell she was called was utterly pointless, and Grandad was just old Kaladin. If I wanted to read about My Chemical Romance I can just go to bloody Wikipedia and do it there. Why would I subject myself to another thousand pages of tedium? It's enough to make me summon a dragon*

*Gothos jokes innit

[Morgoth]

 Andorion, on 18 January 2017 - 08:17 AM, said:

 EmperorMagus, on 18 January 2017 - 08:12 AM, said:

 Andorion, on 18 January 2017 - 08:10 AM, said:

And now I can't stop laughing!

BTW Plato? You take philosophy?

You're going to laugh at me, but this is an elective I'm taking for fun. It's a political philosophy course with Plato,Hobbes,Machiavelli, and Nietzsche in the syllabus.

Oh wow that is an interesting course pattern. Hobbes is very interesting. Machiavelli is far more nuanced than what is assumed in popular media, try and read Prince if you can, Nietzsche is very heavy and complex, but if you can get him, its great fun.

I have not read Plato, but of the remaining three, I would consider Hobbes to be the easiest to get, and Nietzche the hardest.

BTW history of political thought is something everyone should know IMO. I would consider Locke to be even more relevant than Hobbes, his theories of Land, Property and Waste are directly applicable to modern capitalism and environmental pollution.

Good on you for taking this course!

And Rawls! His Theory of Justice, though heavy as a bad year, is incredible.

[Abyss]

 Mentalist, on 19 January 2017 - 02:17 AM, said:

Wrapped up Bands of Mourning

You know what, Sanderson is really getting better at this. Or maybe it's just the Mistborn is a really solid setting.
...

A little of both I think.




He's definitely made the Mistborn setting way more interesting than it was in the first trilo. I thought the world in MISTBORN pretty boring, similar to one of my problems with ELANTRIS, vs the more developed world in STORMLIGHT. Now the people are more real, and the world more interesting and well thought out.




He's also getting funnier... I'm about 1/3 in and some of the humorous sequences in BANDS were lol-worthy. Mostly involving one particularly straight-laced character who Brandon has turned into one of the joys of the series.

[End of Disc One]

Steris is great. Probably my favorite female character that Sanderson has written.

[QuickTidal]

I'm actually a sucker for Wayne. I realize he's SUPPOSED to be the comic-relief, and therefore his stuff is always kind of on the nose...I still can't help but chuckle at him and often.

[Mentalist]

All 3 female chars in the W&W sequence (Marasi, MeLaan, and Steris) are basically the best characters he's written so far.

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 20 January 2017 - 05:21 AM

[Macros]

finished Invictus.

Solid entry to the series. I think they're starting to get a bit tired but there was a decent twist on the personal side of things to keep it interesting.
3.5/5

[Macros]

have no books with me now. have 2 days left over here. and no books.

grah

[Abyss]

 Abyss, on 19 January 2017 - 07:48 PM, said:

 Mentalist, on 19 January 2017 - 02:17 AM, said:

Wrapped up Bands of Mourning

You know what, Sanderson is really getting better at this. Or maybe it's just the Mistborn is a really solid setting.
...

A little of both I think.




He's definitely made the Mistborn setting way more interesting than it was in the first trilo. I thought the world in MISTBORN pretty boring, similar to one of my problems with ELANTRIS, vs the more developed world in STORMLIGHT. Now the people are more real, and the world more interesting and well thought out.




He's also getting funnier... I'm about 1/3 in and some of the humorous sequences in BANDS were lol-worthy. Mostly involving one particularly straight-laced character who Brandon has turned into one of the joys of the series.

 End of Disc One, on 19 January 2017 - 07:50 PM, said:

Steris is great. Probably my favorite female character that Sanderson has written.

So true. And amazing considering how she starts out. The earbook narrator clearly has so much fun doing her interactions with Wax.

 QuickTidal, on 19 January 2017 - 08:11 PM, said:

I'm actually a sucker for Wayne. I realize he's SUPPOSED to be the comic-relief, and therefore his stuff is always kind of on the nose...I still can't help but chuckle at him and often.

I love how he's perpetually smarter than anyone expects.

 Mentalist, on 19 January 2017 - 08:20 PM, said:

All 3 female chars in the W&W sequence (Marasi, Melaan, and Stern's) are basically the best characters he's written so far.

Yknow, you may be right.

 Cheesewiz, on 19 January 2017 - 09:18 PM, said:

I actually worry that Present Mistborn and Future will be to big a stretch. Hope my worry becomes null right away when it's time.

Null it now. Brandon's on fire.

[Andorion]

Forgot to mention:

Finished Ivanhoe by Walter Scott. Distinctly mediocre book, but I can see that this led to so many story tropes.

Finished City of Ice. Very solid and ominous ending.

Reading the first of Alastair Reynolds' Poseidon's Children trilogy - Blue Remembered Earth. Despite the absence of the usual Reynolds story tropes its quite good.

Also started Charles Dickens Bleak House. I rather liked the first two chapters. Dickens has some sly humour.

[Andorion]

 Cheesewiz, on 20 January 2017 - 05:55 AM, said:

I see all these words and yet don't see the word Sho-Gun

Either end of this month, or beginning of the next. That's my next purchase period.

[worry]

Finished Sharp Ends. Really enjoyed it, as Abercrombie flexes his characterization muscles to the max. He writes a mean self-deceiver-who-doesn't-quite-believe-their-own-deceptions, don't he?

Started Shadow & Claw. 0% in and I'm already enjoying it. GW is hella cheeky in the intro portions.

[Morgoth]

 death rattle, on 20 January 2017 - 07:32 AM, said:

Finished Sharp Ends. Really enjoyed it, as Abercrombie flexes his characterization muscles to the max. He writes a mean self-deceiver-who-doesn't-quite-believe-their-own-deceptions, don't he?

Started Shadow & Claw. 0% in and I'm already enjoying it. GW is hella cheeky in the intro portions.

Your first time?

[worry]

Yep.

[Mentalist]

So I grit my teeth last night and pushed thru the last 100 or so pages of Seveneves . Things did kinda get better once the contact action picked up.

Still, that last part was just tech lingo overload, Moreso than anything before it.

Overall, probably a 3.5/5 for this one. Part I was kinda slow, Part II quite good, and Part 3 choppy with terrible pacing.

Now gonna move onto "The Mirror Empire" as my at home reading.

[Andorion]

 Mentalist, on 20 January 2017 - 03:01 PM, said:

So I grit my teeth last night and pushed thru the last 100 or so pages of Seveneves . Things did kinda get better once the contact action picked up.

Still, that last part was just tech lingo overload, Moreso than anything before it.

Overall, probably a 3.5/5 for this one. Part I was kinda slow, Part II quite good, and Part 3 choppy with terrible pacing.

Now gonna move onto "The Mirror Empire" as my at home reading.

I always thought that the last part of Seveneves felt like an entirely different book. Stephenson should have written an epilogue about the future and put this story as a separate novella or something.

Mirror Empire is a book I am curious about.

[QuickTidal]

Michael J. Sullivan's AGE OF MYTH (which takes place in his existing Fantasy world, Elan, just 3000 years prior to the existing books), is utterly wonderful so far! If possible, I'm enjoying it more than the Ryiria Chronicles. Just solid, Classic Fantasy enjoyment! Fun new characters, interesting conflicts, and the idea the those that wrote the "history" we thought we knew in Ryiria we not reliable narrators at all. Good stuff!

It's also nice to know, that since Sullivan writes each of his series in their entirety BEFORE they are published, that all six books are already written and the series will have a set ending (and no middle of the series fluffing out for more cash) in a timely fashion (I think 2 books a year is the release sched?).

Anyways, for those that enjoyed Ryiria, you'll enjoy this.

[Macros]

I didnt overly enjoy Ryiria, actually a slog to finish for me they were just ... Blegh.
Needless to say I wont be reading these, Im only posting regarding his publishing schedule.
He's written all six books before commencing the releases? That is seriously impressive