Timewaster's Guide Archive

I would have to say that Marsh's return was the most surprising, due to the complete lack of foreshadowing (I just finished a reread 2 days ago and don't remember any).

Didn't Kelsier and the Inquisitor that he killed do something similar??

Your picture of Elend is pretty good.  It does remind me of another picture I've seen tho.





For those of us that are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (or Mormons if you prefer) you may also recognize it.


This is by no means a slam on your effort or art.  It just reminds me of this picture.

Getting back on track.

I like to read just about anything, but kind myself coming back to the old tried and true.

RA Salvatore:  His novels about a drow ranger named Drizzt really got me hooked (if you don't know the series, shame on you ).  His Cleric Quintet series and others are fantastic as well.  Don't forget his other series too.

David Eddings:  All his early stuff is great, I even enjoyed his newest series The Dreamers but not as much.  He has started to recycle characters even more than usual (he's a great author but don't get me started on this topic).

Orson Scott Card:  My Favorite author (sorry Brandon).  He writes fantasy and but mostly sci-fi, even his short stories are awesome (for sure read Maps in a Mirror).  Pick up any of his books and be amazed.  His stories are awesome but his characters are unmatched anywhere.  Try Hart's Hope, Ender's Game (of course) and Enchantment to get a start, then finish off the rest because you will be hooked.

Robert Heinlein:  Sci-fi author extrodinaire.  Starship troopers and Stranger in a Strange Land are where to start, but others are great too.  He tends to be more than a little sexist (sign of the times when they were written) but he still has some great female characters (try Friday on for size).

Ben Bova:  Pure Sci-fi, but our universe and not too distant future.  Good stuff.

Patrick Rothfuss:  I have to add my vote of confidence to this 1st time author, simply couldn't put The Name of the Wind down.

Ted Bell:  He has a great series about a billionaire playboy spy that is great.

Ursula K LeGuin:  The Earthsea Trilogy, need I say more except don't forget about the 3 or 4 new books written about earthsea.

Neil Gaiman:  Neverwhere blew my mind and American Gods did it again.  Stardust was just fun, and Coraline is a great book for older children.

Larry Niven:  The Ringworld series was awesome as was Beowulf's Children (no not that Beowulf) and Destiny's Road.

I also read alot of Dean R Koontz.  He has some great stories and characters and comes out with like 2-3 books a year, so there is always some thing new on tap.

I find it best to look for new authors at the library.  Used bookstores and Goodwill, etc are good places to go too.  You won't (usually) pay a lot for them so you aren't really out much if you pick a real stinker of a book/author.  Plus you can always just redonate or trade/sell the book again.

It is interesting how most of us came to read Brandon's books.

As for me, I was in B&N about a year ago just browsing like I always do and saw 2 books that looked interesting.  The covers for Elantris and Mistborn really caught my eye.  I looked thru them and saw a familiar name pop out.  Isaac Stewart, the map artist for MB, and I went to high school together.  Even better was the fact that Brandon had been there just days before and had signed all of the copies in the store.  I love signed books so I bought one of each and am now hooked.  When MB 2 came out Brandon and Isaac came for a signing and signed all of my unsigned copies (at this point just MB2 and Alcatraz).  Fun times.

I even got my wife (who hates fantasy because of all the weird made up names and places that she can't figure out the pronunciations for) hooked on them.  I think she was more excited about meeting Brandon than I was.

She even hinted that she wanted to name our next child Vin if it were a girl.  I think she was just joking but we find out what number 4 is in 2 months and see if she still feels that way when the baby is born in August.