Timewaster's Guide Archive

Aww! Thanks for the tip! Hadn't heard of it. Cancelled my order, though. Going on a trip to Amsterdam tomorrow, because WoK is in stock there.

Well yeah, they actually are opposites. But even with opposites, there are those basic elements that are quite the same, and it are those elements I totally love about both of them.

First, there's the scope of the world. Though both Name of the Wind and Brandon's books (up 'till WoK, that is), mostly take place in one or two cities, there's a feeling that the world is huge and, in a sense, real.

Then there's the characters. The way you get to meet someone who is quite new to the world he or she lives in, but are instantly intrigued by them. The depth of characters is really similar. Also, though they are all kind of new and naive, they are also quite brilliant, and always seem to shine in their new situations.

Third, there is the magic-system. In most books, I find the magic-system to be quite boring and limited. There's always just one system that, after reading a hundred pages, is pretty clear to you. (Yes, that's even true for WoT.) Both Name of the Wind and Brandon's books have multiple, inventive, and out of the ordinary magic-systems.

And last, both writers are simply amazing and sweep you into their story before you even notice what's happening. Preferably in the first three pages.

On a side note, what I read (in the preview chapters) about Kaladin so far, reminded me a whole lot of Kvothe!

It did? Awesome! Hadn't noticed yet! Well, that's a start then. Do you know if there are any plans to translate any of the other books to Dutch, Peter?

Bah. I feel so evil knowing everything going on, well, as much as can be known from book one. I have the power to tease, and am having trouble not abusing it (I can hold back spoilers though, don't worry there =] ). And the sketches are awesome, great reference point for how the creatures look, amazing job on them Ink!

I expect a speculation topic for the whole book any moment now. 

Having registered to these forums today (hi all!), for the sole purpose of talking about Brandon's books, I think it's fitting to start by posting in this topic. No big story there, however. I wish I would've found out about Brandon Sanderson in another way than most of his readers. Not the case. I started out as a Wheel of Time fan, and easily found my way to Brandon's books through those.

I actually only recently started reading fantasy. I read the Lord of the Rings when I was just a kid, but other than that, there isn't all that much fantasy to come by here in Holland (if my English sucks, there's my excuse!). It wasn't until someone pointed me towards The Wheel of Time, that I rediscovered the genre.

That was about two years ago. I started reading and didn't stop reading. In four months, I had read all eleven books and New Spring. In Dutch, all of them. After that, I started on the Song of Ice and Fire series, but well, let's face it, though it's good, it isn't WoT. On the internet, I found out about Sanderson completing the WoT series, and decided I wanted to give his books a try.

As none of his books are translated to Dutch, the first Mistborn was also the first English book I read. It opened up a whole new world. The last year, I've read about seventy different books of a whole lot of different writers. None ever did to me what Mistborn, Elantris and Warbreaker did, however. And now, I'm just a huge fan of Brandon. What's left for me to do, is try to convert my fellow Dutchies to fans as well. Noone's ever even heard of him!