All things Brandon Sanderson

Grimmlokk_sl said:

Still reading. Still loving it. But that cunt is back to being "clever" and having everyone tell her repeatedly how witty and clever she is.

Twice she's shut down a group full of badass killers by saying someone had bad breath. What the fuck, Sanderson? You are better than this! Her story is actually really interesting this time around. It's like a cool tied-in mystery in the middle of all the military/political stuff going on with Kaladin etc. Then she gets clever and everyone falls all over themselves to kiss her feet and I want to throw my nook.

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Yes once she meets her new "mentor" everything just starts clicking for her again for not entirely valid reasons. Her patron in the war camps is an especially prime example as he doesn't want anything from her; it's almost like she enchanted him into believing that he actually is her uncle. Sanderson just decided that she needed a certain level of autonomy to become what he wanted her to but didn't put in the leg work to make it fully believable. The above and Kaladin's dragged out, immature hate spiral, and the constant irreverent banter that is injected at inappropriate moments are the only downsides to the novel for me. It's still a very good book however.

slippery_sl said:

I actually think that's just Sebarial's character. He's the smart thinker that lets things that amuse him slide, and she amuses him.

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That's how it's presented; that he thrives on being contrary and irksome to the other princes and that he also happens, quite fortuitously, to be a true patriot but it just doesn't sit right with me because he didn't know anything about her. Men in positions of power don't remain there by accumulating random and expensive mystery personnel that they neither watch or ask anything from. She could have easily been an agent for another prince but he shows no interest in her after driving her home and introducing her to the "wife" in a heartwarming scene of goodwill and acceptance . It's nitpicky no doubt but Sanderson could have tightened it up with some follow through with the character which he sadly didn't.

Or he's extremely confident about his ability to judge her character and slowly developed some trust in her. Her goals and potential marriage to the Kholin household (not known for being sneaky like Sadeas) meant that he could understand her. Still that doesn't mean he didn't keep his most confidential secrets from her. It didn't seem like he let her know anything in the books that people couldn't see themselves including the development efforts he put in the camp.

Kaio_sl said:

Or he's extremely confident about his ability to judge her character and slowly developed some trust in her. Her goals and potential marriage to the Kholin household (not known for being sneaky like Sadeas) meant that he could understand her. Still that doesn't mean he didn't keep his most confidential secrets from her. It didn't seem like he let her know anything in the books that people couldn't see themselves including the development efforts he put in the camp.

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All logical explanations but it would have been more interesting and credible if we got to see into the mans mind a little bit to reach that judgement; as it is he like most of the other princes is a blank who is defined by simplistic motivations and who enters or exits the narrative at a whim when they are needed to support team A or B. He's the joker prince who somehow kept his highly trained and well equipped army a secret while building an economic power base under everyone's noses, he also has a heart of gold and is a true patriot... Anyway, like I said, it's a nitpick but that coupled with the other convenient strides Shallan makes along her progression arc draws attention to it. Again I enjoyed the book quite a bit, I'm just trying to explain my thoughts about some minor quibbles I had.

Gask_sl said:

He's the joker prince who somehow kept his highly trained and well equipped army a secret while building an economic power base under everyone's noses, he also has a heart of gold and is a true patriot...

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He's the prince *because* he has a highly trained and well equipped army. Dalinor was just thinking that he'd assumed his army would suck because the guy never did any fighting himself, but immediately realized that was a stupid assumption, because there is no link between how well the boss fights and how well the army fights.

I feel bad for him anyway - his cunning plan to be that world's equivalent of Haliburton was pretty good, but is pretty much fucked after the ending of the book ;p

You guys forget who organized the living troops during the evacuation? He -is- a high prince. He saw something needed to be done and did it. Actions speak a lot louder than being inside the guys mind and seeing the lies he tells himself to excuse his responsibility. Right Sadeas?

Sanderson makes sure everything fits in a little box with a bow on top. Sometimes it's cool, but it becomes a bit too obvious in an epic like Stormlight.

Christ, I'm hooked. Re-reading Warbreaker.

Agraza_sl said:

Sanderson makes sure everything fits in a little box with a bow on top. Sometimes it's cool, but it becomes a bit too obvious in an epic like Stormlight.

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His singular stories usually have a decent hook or maybe a twist. I'm expecting it to be an epic twist in Stormlight. I'm be seriously disappointed (which is worse than pissed off) if we could see it this early.

Omg. I'm a fanboy.

Vlett_sl said:

His singular stories usually have a decent hook or maybe a twist. I'm expecting it to be an epic twist in Stormlight. I'm be seriously disappointed (which is worse than pissed off) if we could see it this early.

Omg. I'm a fanboy.

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I'd say that's a good bet. Even in the individual book he's throwing in twists.


And on a completely unrelated note, Lopen is seriously one of my favorite characters. His ending chapter in WoR was hysterical.

Zyke_sl said:

I'd say that's a good bet. Even in the individual book he's throwing in twists.

Spoiler

Just look at how Shallan's flashbacks ended up and the big reveal at the end that had to do with her past. And in the first one when Dalinar realizes the truth about the "visions" he was having and that they were just recording since the Almighty is long dead. It would be pretty awesome if aside from these smaller (but still important) twists thrown around there was a major plot one as well.

And on a completely unrelated note, Lopen is seriously one of my favorite characters. His ending chapter in WoR was hysterical.

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About halfway through WoR, ignoring this thread and spoilers other than to say that this book is awesome.

Started the first Stormlight book and am having real trouble getting into it, which is quite unusual as I have devoured his works before. I think the density of proper nouns and lingo is crazy high in this book to the point where I find myself not even caring that I don't follow what country/race is which.

Qhue_sl said:

Started the first Stormlight book and am having real trouble getting into it, which is quite unusual as I have devoured his works before. I think the density of proper nouns and lingo is crazy high in this book to the point where I find myself not even caring that I don't follow what country/race is which.

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I think everyone has a problem with this at some point. There was even a thread on Sanderson's forum a few years ago of how you can completely take out Shallan's story gaps until the third act and almost make it a better book for the new reader. The problem is, you'll want to put it all together eventually.

I never liked the suggestion that you could leave out her first half, even though I hated that shit. But now being most of the way through book 2 I see you seriously did not need it. Like, at all. Chapter after chapter of her worrying how to handle her family stuff and zero resolution, then book two we actually find out what the fuck was going on. I feel like the Shallan flashbacks from WoR should have replaced most of her early chapters in book 1. Because those went fuckingnowhere.

Also, the blushing in her chapters is 10x worse than the braid tugging in WoT. Seriously.

I think everyone would suggest that you stick with the book, the last third is very good.

Grimmlokk_sl said:

I never liked the suggestion that you could leave out her first half, even though I hated that shit. But now being most of the way through book 2 I see you seriously did not need it. Like, at all. Chapter after chapter of her worrying how to handle her family stuff and zero resolution, then book two we actually find out what the fuck was going on. I feel like the Shallan flashbacks from WoR should have replaced most of her early chapters in book 1. Because those went fuckingnowhere.

Also, the blushing in her chapters is 10x worse than the braid tugging in WoT. Seriously.

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From a story teller perspective I agree. I have to focus on how much her life has changed in a short amount of time. The second book just shows how much denial the girl has in the first. (Did my best to avoid spoiling anything specific)