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Messages - TyranAmiros

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1
Brandon Sanderson / Re: Which book should I read first?
« on: June 25, 2010, 07:28:52 AM »
My first Brandon Sanderson novel was Elantris, and I'd really recommend it as a place to start.  It's good because it's a stand-alone, so if you don't like it for any reason ( :-\) you aren't only 1/3 of the way through a story.  It's also a good introduction to Brandon's style, particularly how he approaches magic and philosophy in all of his work.

For me, as a Wheel of Time fan, Gathering Storm was a better read having read BS' other work because you're already used to the writing style.

2
Brandon Sanderson / Re: If the Wheel of Time were set in our day...
« on: October 16, 2009, 08:14:33 AM »
This week on Tool Academy, one couple has a breakthrough in Therapy when Tuon admits she misses the romance they had when Mat carried her off.  Later, one girlfriend goes crazy in the Girls' House when she believes another Tool's girlfriend has designs on her boyfriend.  And when Rand has to decide which of his three girlfriends he takes with him on his date, will he do the right thing, or is he just a Tool?

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Brandon Sanderson / Re: Storm Leaders
« on: October 16, 2009, 05:49:36 AM »
Oh - and send me cookies. haha. j/k

If you're serious, I really do bake very good low-fat chocolate chip cookies... ;)  I think that this a really awesome thing you're doing for the fans and I just really hope to have a chance to participate during one of these releases.

I don't know if my favorite bookstore (Mysterious Galaxy in San Diego) would think they'd get enough traffic for a midnight release, but they've already been promoting the release in their emails.  I'll talk to them next time I stop by.

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Brandon Sanderson / Re: Merch and Collectable Ideas
« on: October 16, 2009, 05:36:03 AM »
I teach government and I would kill for the *real* world map from Alcatraz.

5
When I asked him what he though of the WOT series, he said something like, "1 through 6 were great, 7 was pretty good, 8 and 9 he had to push himself to get through, 10 was terrible, 11 was fair." (I may not have the exact book numbers right.). Does this match the general consensus, or is my friend just too picky? I like a long book, but slogging through 3 or 4 1000 page books just to get through them doesn't sound like fun.

That's more or less the consensus, though I personally think 7 is the funniest book and 11 would be considered a great book if it hadn't followed 8-10.  Getting through book 3, however, I find rough.

If you do decide to try TGS, the Encyclopedia WoT (http://www.encyclopaedia-wot.org/) has the best set of complete chapter summaries on its site, though the tor.com read-through is far more in depth.  I will say though that most people who *have* read all the books can't keep all the characters/places straight--I remember Brandon saying he was surprised by all the tiny details fans have noted online.

And also, since TGS is not the last WoT book, you can always start with Eye of the World and be all caught up by Towers of Midnight or A Memory of Light!

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Brandon Sanderson / Re: If the Wheel of Time were set in our day...
« on: October 13, 2009, 05:47:51 PM »
The #1 best-seller of 997 NE: Men are from Shayol Ghul, women are from Tar Valon: a guide to building communication and trust between the sexes

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Brandon Sanderson / Re: If the Wheel of Time were set in our day...
« on: October 12, 2009, 05:04:51 PM »
LOL!

...And today on The View, we have Rand Al'Thor, author of 2012 and the Prophesies of the Dragon.  Most people would be labeled somewhat odd for claiming that they were the reincarnated soul of a 3000 year old dead warrior, but his book is a best seller all the way from Amadicia to Tear.

But first, simplicity is back as Egwene reviews Tar Valon Fashion Week, and later, clinical psychologist Nynaeve al'Meara talks about getting out of a rut by setting yourself seemingly impossible goals.

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Brandon Sanderson / Re: Storm Leaders
« on: October 11, 2009, 03:28:08 AM »
Congrats to those who got it!

I guess I'll have to try again for Midnight Storm :-\

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Brandon Sanderson / Re: Storm Leaders
« on: October 02, 2009, 05:31:50 AM »
No, but I did find the new Alcatraz book!

10
Perhaps Rand dying but becoming one of the dream world characters (like birgitte) is a nice way to fulfill the "the live he must die" or whatever it was thingie?

I think the Dragon (i.e. not Rand, but the soul in Rand's body) is one of these types.  One interpretation of "to live, you must die" is just that--in order for the Dragon to be spun out the next cycle of the Wheel (and thus for the turning of the Wheel to continue, Rand (the physical person whom the Dragon's soul is inhabiting) must die.

11
For the in-depth discussion go to Dragonmount, I can't recall everything but they're pretty sure Rand lives.

Rand constantly going around thinking he's going to die is exactly the kind of irony Jordan likes to play with.

There are three (IIRC) relevant passages: the "blood on the rocks of Shayol Ghul" line from the Prophesies. Nicola and Min's foretelling Rand's women around his funeral bier, and the "to live, you must die" line from the Finn.  Rand takes these to mean that he's going to die.

However, though Rand is certain he's not going to last past Tarmon Gai'don, he's probably misinterpreting "die" to mean literal death.  Another possibility is figurative death--Rand plays dead for a while as he goes into hiding--kind of like he's already been doing since capturing Illian, but even more so.

Yet another option is that Rand's body fails (thus fulfilling the "blood on the rocks" bit), but his soul continues in Moridin's body (or something like that).

12
So after reading Chapters 1 and the prologue any new theories as to what's going to happen next?

The Prologue changed my thoughts on Min's vision in LoC of Rand and another man touching and merging.  I thought it was LTT and Rand, but now I think it's Moridin and Rand.  It would actually be really nice symmetry to the entire story.  WoT opens with a scene between LTT and Ishy and ends with a scene with Moridin and Rand...two souls "reborn" into new bodies.

For Moiraine, we've had immense foreshadowing that she's going to make it out of Finnland alive.  My bet is that seeing her is what breaks through Rand's neurosis and teaches him to laugh and cry again.  This won't happen until Towers of Midnight (is it too early to start calling it ToM yet?).  Oh yeah, and then we find out that Moiraine killed Asmodean because the Finn in Tear told her to do it, so that Rand could start the Black Tower :D.  On a more probable note, I also bet Cadsuane will die and Nynaeve will take her place as Rand's advisor.

Other predictions: Rand's alliance with the Seanchan will happen in this book, with Tuon and Tylee's connections to Mat and Perrin playing a key role.  Semirhage will escape thanks to an as-of-yet unknown darkfriend in Rand's camp. The two Aes Sedai factions are reunified, thanks to the Ajah heads and something involving Gawyn.  My loony theory is that Siuan is somehow restored as Amyrlin and all records of the break and Elaida and Egwene as Amyrlin are sealed in the 13th Depository.  Mat and Perrin probably have minimal roles.  Mat maybe makes it to the Tower of Ghenji, Perrin probably runs into Galad's Whitecloak faction.  Elayne also will get minimal screentime and I bet her coronation doesn't go as smoothly as expected...

One thing we haven't seen yet is the Shadow openly ruling anywhere.  I think TGS may be the book where one of the Forsaken comes out into the open. 

13
Brandon Sanderson / Re: Storm Leaders
« on: September 18, 2009, 11:22:50 PM »
I put in for San Diego, where I was fortunate enough to meet Brandon on the HoA signing tour.

I think the original post said we'd hear within a week of the 27th.

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Brandon Sanderson / Re: The Gathering Storm Chapter One
« on: September 09, 2009, 07:22:31 AM »
Quote
So while character development in this series has slowed, it really hasn't stopped. At all. It's just moved to other characters who didn't get developed as much. I'm sure there are others that could be named that I haven't really been discussing.  The point is, while the huge events in the series may not be affecting the characters as much as you think they should be, they are still affecting them. Some of the main characters have seen pretty much everything, and would be hard to shake with even the largest of events. The smaller character changes are probably a result of that.


Also, the amount of time each book covers has shrunken, so while Eye of the World or Fires of Heaven cover months of times, Crown of Swords or Crossroads of Twilight only cover a couple of weeks.  I don't know how much character development we might expect in Perrin, for example, over the 40 or so days he's been hunting Faile, even if that represents four books of story.  I think we'll see major character development for Rand in this book, and hopefully for Egwene as well. 

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Brandon Sanderson / Re: The Gathering Storm Chapter One
« on: September 08, 2009, 06:29:34 AM »
I could definitely tell it was a different author, but overall I thought it was pretty good.  Chapter one has to have a lot of description between the opening wind and catching the casual readers up after four years since the last book.  

I'm holding my final opinion until I read the entire book, but at this point I just want to see WoT finished, one way or another.  

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