[Abyss]

Mentalist, on 12 September 2019 - 07:31 PM, said:

Way of Kings was a slog with eventual payoff.

Words of Radiance was slighly less of a slog with several action moments spaced out better, but some extremely annoying character moves. It gave glimpses of more extensive world-building, but failed to convince me.

Oathbringer is..... ? (we'll see once I get to it)

I'd say closer to WORDS than WAY. There is some slog, there are some genuinely irritating chraracter moments, but the payoffs are holydragonfuckstars amazeballs.

[QuickTidal]

Abyss, on 12 September 2019 - 07:44 PM, said:

Mentalist, on 12 September 2019 - 07:31 PM, said:

Way of Kings was a slog with eventual payoff.

Words of Radiance was slighly less of a slog with several action moments spaced out better, but some extremely annoying character moves. It gave glimpses of more extensive world-building, but failed to convince me.

Oathbringer is..... ? (we'll see once I get to it)

I'd say closer to WORDS than WAY. There is some slog, there are some genuinely irritating chraracter moments, but the payoffs are holydragonfuckstars amazeballs.

For what it’s worth, I struggled with OATHBRINGER Enough that I bailed out for probably a month...then I came back to it, got back into it and enjoyed it till the end.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 12 September 2019 - 11:28 PM

[worry]

He should make a 20 book series with the books half as long. Problem solved.

[Nicodimas]

Oh god a ton of management driven books , I’m hunkering down and have lot to figure out to move to my next step

First book radical candor ...then relationomics...then everybody matters.

[Maark Abbott]

Abyss, on 12 September 2019 - 02:46 PM, said:

Maark Abbott, on 12 September 2019 - 07:40 AM, said:

After one book I could tell you he's hopelessly out of his depth. He should stick to short, punchy books rather than gargantuan tomes, because it's been evidenced that long books are far past his chops. Never before has a book been so thoroughly and offensively boring.

That's your wrong opinion and you're entitled to be wrong in it and then sprayed with wrongspray.

I've read his shorter stuff and found it entirely too facile in plot and character, and lacking the development and sheer impact his doorstoppers have and thus you are wrongiest of wrongers.

But then WoK was 800 pages of filler (about half of that bad filler to boot), about 50 that were really good, and the rest was serviceable but entirely average. I have to entirely disagree with your position because you are more wrong than people who say no deal is a good thing.

Mentalist, on 12 September 2019 - 07:31 PM, said:

Way of Kings was a slog with eventual payoff.

Words of Radiance was slighly less of a slog with several action moments spaced out better, but some extremely annoying character moves. It gave glimpses of more extensive world-building, but failed to convince me.

Oathbringer is..... ? (we'll see once I get to it)

There was a very slight payoff with that last battle scene, but then that speech from Hod or Hop or whatever his name was at the end had me literally throw the book away in frustration. My stance on Ole Sandy is unchanged, WoK soured me entirely on his output due to the sheer lack of care that was evident in its making, and I see no way that this can be fixed.

[QuickTidal]

Maark Abbott, on 13 September 2019 - 07:31 AM, said:

My stance on Ole Sandy is unchanged, WoK soured me entirely on his output due to the sheer lack of care that was evident in its making, and I see no way that this can be fixed.

This is the most batshit opinion I've heard. MISTBORN was his practice round (and it's excellent), but STORMLIGHT is his magnum opus and as such the planning and care that went into it is stunningly detailed.

Like I get that it's not your cup of tea, but the statement that Sanderson was somehow careless with the first 3 books in an eventual ten book series is...flat wrong. Having sections that you deem "filler" is not somehow carelessness.

[Maark Abbott]

QuickTidal, on 13 September 2019 - 12:24 PM, said:

Maark Abbott, on 13 September 2019 - 07:31 AM, said:

My stance on Ole Sandy is unchanged, WoK soured me entirely on his output due to the sheer lack of care that was evident in its making, and I see no way that this can be fixed.

This is the most batshit opinion I've heard. MISTBORN was his practice round (and it's excellent), but STORMLIGHT is his magnum opus and as such the planning and care that went into it is stunningly detailed.

Like I get that it's not your cup of tea, but the statement that Sanderson was somehow careless with the first 3 books in an eventual ten book series is...flat wrong. Having sections that you deem "filler" is not somehow carelessness.

My position is based on the evidence that was before me.

Mistborn had its flaws, yes. But the books were short, sharp and most of all they had a sense of fun in all that murk.

Stormlight had slapdash, 'rule of cool' worldbuilding that made absolutely no sense. It had eight hundred pages that the story would not have suffered for the lack of (especially those absurd, page-count padding interludes that were entirely pointless). The characters are lazy copy-paste mope tropes. It moves with the turgid, lurching speed of a sleeping slug.

It's not a case of me deeming the noted segments as filler, it's the fact that they added nothing of any note or worth. Stunningly detailed? No. I dispute that entirely.

Stormlight isn't a magnum opus. It's more like a solero left in the sun too long covered in flies and slightly greened by algae. Had it been pared down to maybe the 400 pages which were actually worth the time, I could perhaps have enjoyed it. I wanted to enjoy it, because I'd enjoyed everything else he'd written to that point, but when it's so evident that an author just doesn't care? No. I don't regret yeeting that fetid thing out of my house for an instant.

[QuickTidal]

Maark Abbott, on 13 September 2019 - 12:38 PM, said:

It's not a case of me deeming the noted segments as filler, it's the fact that they added nothing of any note or worth. Stunningly detailed? No. I dispute that entirely.

You read book 1 (or 2) of a 10 book series...the stuff you think is filler is shit he's placing for future needs...This is his bread and butter of how he writes. There is stuff in Mistborn 1 (for example) that does't pay off till Mistborn 3. You can certainly check out if it pleases you, but assuming you can call it filler at this point is a mistake.

Maark Abbott, on 13 September 2019 - 12:38 PM, said:

Stormlight isn't a magnum opus. It's more like a solero left in the sun too long covered in flies and slightly greened by algae. Had it been pared down to maybe the 400 pages which were actually worth the time, I could perhaps have enjoyed it. I wanted to enjoy it, because I'd enjoyed everything else he'd written to that point, but when it's so evident that an author just doesn't care? No. I don't regret yeeting that fetid thing out of my house for an instant.

Again, he's finished 3 books of 10. These claims are a quite a bit unfounded. I'm not at all a stranger to the sloggier bits of his storytelling, but if his other series is any indication, most of this will pay off down the line. We should wait until then to pass summary judgement on it.

And when I say Magnum Opus, I'm not talking about how we perceive it...I'm talking about it being the main series of books that will engage and connect the entire universe he's created across everything he's written since ELANTRIS. For all the Cosmere books, this 10-volume work will be the codex, as such I expect he's putting every care into it that he can to make sure everything synchs up.

[Cyphon]

Nicodimas, on 13 September 2019 - 05:37 AM, said:

Oh god a ton of management driven books , I’m hunkering down and have lot to figure out to move to my next step

First book radical candor ...then relationomics...then everybody matters.

Why did you buy these, and why these particular books (genuinely curious!)?

[Maark Abbott]

BfuckinK, on 13 September 2019 - 03:14 PM, said:

Those pointless interludes had Cosmere gold in them. You just had to pick up on it. Not pointless at all.

I ll agree with your hate of Way but just moved over to Slogbringer. I fully intend to keep going though unless I have the same reaction as Slogbringer on Rhythm of War.

Oh yeah, the incredibly tenuous links between books marketing ploy.

Even the character I actually recognised added literally nothing of any worth.

Quick - if Book 1 is bad enough that it makes someone who was to that point a fan of the author go as sour as I have, does that not suggest something was considerably, heinously wrong overall? I remember how very excited I was to sit down with it when the parcel came.

As before, if this is the author at their most meticulous and careful, it speaks incredibly badly as to the quality of future output. It's one of only two books that I've actively gotten rid of.

[Abyss]

Maark Abbott, on 16 September 2019 - 07:05 AM, said:

Oh yeah, the incredibly tenuous links between books marketing ploy.

Ah yes, that hideous ploy that Stephen King has been doing for decades. Damn authors working in connections between their different works for the readers' enjoyment.
See also Weis n Hickman, Michael Moorcock, GG Kay, Mark Lawrence, Peter Clines, Richard Morgan, Joe Abercrombie...

Quote

Even the character I actually recognised added literally nothing of any worth.

Counterpoint: yes they did. I thought the connections to and characters from his other series' were great fun to read and added a significant element of 'cross-world' activities to the bigger story.

It's your opinion and you're entitled to it, but your level of 'i hate this book and if you disagree with me you are wrong and i scorn you' seems extreme. Were you bitten by a Brandon Sanderson book as a child or something?

[Maark Abbott]

Abyss, on 16 September 2019 - 02:31 PM, said:

Maark Abbott, on 16 September 2019 - 07:05 AM, said:

Oh yeah, the incredibly tenuous links between books marketing ploy.

Ah yes, that hideous ploy that Stephen King has been doing for decades. Damn authors working in connections between their different works for the readers' enjoyment.
See also Weis n Hickman, Michael Moorcock, GG Kay, Mark Lawrence, Peter Clines, Richard Morgan, Joe Abercrombie...

Quote

Even the character I actually recognised added literally nothing of any worth.

Counterpoint: yes they did. I thought the connections to and characters from his other series' were great fun to read and added a significant element of 'cross-world' activities to the bigger story.

It's your opinion and you're entitled to it, but your level of 'i hate this book and if you disagree with me you are wrong and i scorn you' seems extreme. Were you bitten by a Brandon Sanderson book as a child or something?

No, I was bitten by how careless and slapdash WoK was. As before, I was incredibly excited to read it and expected that I would love it, but the absolute sense of 'I don't actually give a shit about this lol' that seeped from every page written was unbearable. It genuinely baffles me how this didn't jump out at you guys, because it's the core reason that book is ass tier garbage.

[Macros]

Maark, show us on the doll where the book touched you

[Maark Abbott]

Macros, on 17 September 2019 - 07:22 AM, said:

Maark, show us on the doll where the book touched you

I point to the heart on the doll, see how it is broken

Macros roll insight please

[Maark Abbott]

On a more positive note. I am sorta tempted by Lucas' upcoming novel, Clint Clusterfuk, if for nothing else than the title.

[Salt-Man Z]

Well, I bought into the hype and picked up Gideon the Ninth yesterday. I almost never buy dead tree anymore, let alone brand new, let alone hardcover, let alone for an author I've never read, but the hype seemed real, and when I saw this at Half Price Books it was just sooo pretty I couldn't pass it up. (Well, I did initially, but I came back later!)

Not my pic, but look how pretty:

Attached File(s)

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[Abyss]

Salt-Man Z, on 17 September 2019 - 06:03 PM, said:

Well, I bought into the hype and picked up Gideon the Ninth yesterday. I almost never buy dead tree anymore, let alone brand new, let alone hardcover, let alone for an author I've never read, but the hype seemed real, and when I saw this at Half Price Books it was just sooo pretty I couldn't pass it up. (Well, I did initially, but I came back later!)

Not my pic, but look how pretty:

I got the earbook, it's next once i finish my current listen. Am looking fwd to it, if for no other reason than to see if it lives up to the hype.

[Maark Abbott]

BfuckinK, on 17 September 2019 - 06:11 PM, said:

That's how the 10th anniversary Brent Weeks Night Angel omni looks. Blacked out. Fine enough to fuck.

All of NA in one book?

I mean yeah it's kinda basic but I really enjoyed that series. Was fun.

[Salt-Man Z]

I have the SFBC Night Angel omnibus, and it's easily the thickest book in my entire library. Just massive. (The stories themselves I found less impressive.)

[Abyss]

BfuckinK, on 18 September 2019 - 04:38 PM, said:

Ya actually quite happy Lightbringer is ending and he plans to go back to NA with 1000% more experience as an author. It's gonna rock. I actually liked NA. Popcorn.

Goooood popcorn for the most part. He's also a really nice guy.

I was not aware he was going back to NA... source?