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Messages - happyman

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31
Ugh.  Not this.

I hate threads aimed at specific characters.  I hate threads second-guessing situations that took a lot less time in the fictional world.  I hate the shear volume of nitpicking that takes place.  Please kill this thread before it grows any more malignant.

32
Brandon Sanderson / Re: Dalinar as a possible radiant? *Spoilers*
« on: June 20, 2011, 02:44:37 PM »
I'd say it's just about certain Dalinar has some kind of magic going on.  The evidence for it is primarily in the fight with the Chasmfiend, but it's pretty good evidence.  My personal idea is that he is a Stonesinew, simply because it fits his personality.  On Roshar, personality is apparently closely tied to what magic you get (if any), so the idea isn't nuts and it isn't just a literary device, either.

33
Brandon Sanderson / Re: Im pissed about stormlight archive.
« on: June 16, 2011, 02:39:44 PM »
In the case of Mistborn, I was very satisfied with the ending to TFE, although I knew perfectly well that there was more stuff to come.

When I finished TWoA, I was tired after a long night of reading, and was more than a little depressed about the cliff-hanger ending.  On re-read, though, I liked it much more.

HoA?  Amazing.  A deeply satisfying ending, even while sad.

34
Sigh. You're missing the point. Of course Brandon is not Tolkien. He nevertheless has a valid point about him from the point of view of a novelist.

Yeesh. Now you're missing the point  ::) I already said that I agree that a novelist shouldn't do what Tolkien did (since they have different goals and the Silmarillion was not background for a novel)  and that Brandon is right about worldbuilders disease being a problem. Once again, it is not valid if it is a misrepresentation of what Tolkien was trying to do. They have completely different goals and motivations; that was the point of comparing them; not simply that they are different people. You can't act as if Tolkien wasted time worldbuilding for a novel he never meant to write while writing the stories that he did mean to write! Its completely illogical. He did however have Eternal Rewrite Syndrome. I'm not trying to be a Tolkien apologist; I'm just trying to be make it clear as to what his motives were and dispel misconceptions.
See my last response to dhalagirl. Is it valid for the hypothetical critics to accuse her of having WBD?

Have you read everything I wrote (I'm not being a jerk; it happens)? This should have all been clear by now. Sometimes I am overly verbose and people skip half of what I write. I don't blame them.  ;)

Doesn't matter what Tolkien did or why he did it.  All that matters is that you shouldn't imitate him or do what it looks like he did (even if it isn't) if you want to get your book published within your lifetime.

And that's Brandon's point.  What Tolkien did or why he did it is irrelevant.  Which is the point you are missing.

35
Howard Tayler / Re: How do you read Schlock?
« on: June 09, 2011, 02:49:33 PM »
I use the RSS feed via Google Reader on my Google Homepage.  Of course, this just means I check it first thing every morning when I get in!  Thanks, Howard.

36
Another thought I had is that in Warbreaker (Which I am currenlty about half way through) they use voice to "awaken" things. It is stated at some point(sorry I dont have the exact reference) that the commands must be stated in a clear and understandable way.

This being the case it would seem the language that is being spoken is important as well as how it is being said. If the mumbling the words screws up the command then would not the command being spoken in another language do so aswell?

If that is true than the language must not have changed since the worlds creation by its shardholder/s. So is the language being spoken in Warbreaker the same as the Dawnchant from The Way of Kings?

One would think the shardholders would have spoken the same language. Atleast initially.

My response includes very minor spoilers if you're only half way through.  Nothing really important, though.

It's explained later that the commands must be clearly spoken and coherent.  They must also be in the native language of the Awakener.  Nobody knows why, but it suggests that the connection of the spoken words with the intent of the Awakener is what really matters; the language itself is not special.

37
Brandon Sanderson / Re: Shards of WoK ***Spoilers****
« on: May 28, 2011, 04:30:44 PM »
I think the little spheres or beads in Shadesmar represent the Cognitive aspect of objects in the physical world. if that  make any sense.

It's the best idea I've heard.

38
Brandon Sanderson / Re: Mistborn: Alloy of Law
« on: May 26, 2011, 03:02:00 PM »
TWoK does start off slower than many books out there do.

It seems like it could almost be considered a standard fantasy trope in and of itself: the protagonists get introduced (if the work is particularly derivative, they will live in a nice rural village with happy, healthy peasants during a time of rejoicing), evil attacks, the protagonists have to flee, etc.  Everything is very personal and very busy.

Then they start meeting kings, nobles and elves, we get a flipping ton of backstory, and the story broadens, spreads out, and begins to be more epic.  It also tends to slow down.  A lot.

Tolkien did it this way, of course; in his case, the only reason the story is remotely engaging before the Hobbits get to Rivendale is because of the sense of impending doom and the personal danger involved.  Terry Brooks did it, as did Robert Jordan.  It's a perfectly good way to start out an epic story.

In Brandon's case, though, he basically cut to the chase and started out with a broader scope rather than pretending it was one persons story.  This does mean readers have to acclimate more to the abrupt start in worldbuilding rather than being eased into it.  On the other hand, it also gives assurance that Brandon actually knows where his story is headed already.  I don't mind reading an epic story if the author is honest about the scope in advance.  I like this approach, as long as I know what I'm getting.

39
Brandon Sanderson / Re: Don't listen to the jerks
« on: May 26, 2011, 02:44:53 PM »
From 5% to 10% done with the first draft?  Yeah, he's working all right.  I'll admit to being just as impatient as the rest, but then I think about what this must be like for Brandon.  I mean, he's only writing A Memory of Light.  It's not like there are any expectations or anything.  The fanbase is totally reasonable and sane.  And nobody has invested roughly three-quarters of their life to reading it or anything.  So it's a stroll in the park, I'm sure.  No pressure!

Yeah.  I just keep my mouth shut except to point out that it may be a leetle bit trickier than some of the fans seem to think.

40
It is an interesting theory. The thing is, who would be the one to name them heralds? The being who would likely do so has told Dalinar that he has died. A few of those names are prime candidates to be the "champion" of mankind though (cough Kaladin)  ;).

The theory is that they never really stopped being Heralds.  Honor may be dead, but his power is doubtless floating around or otherwise accessible.  The things he did to the various people to make them Heralds, or bargains he made, or whatever, may still be in force.  Thus the Heralds would be... themselves.  If they're still alive, they probably have access to their other powers as well.

41
While you overall write-up is sound, happyman, I should mention that it is a popular and credible theory that the Reod was caused by Rayse (or was it Reyse?) when he killed Aona.  A minor detail, but every piece of knowledge is valuable.

Yes.  I know about that theory, but don't consider nearly as likely as a lot of people do.  I am perfectly fine with Elantris being the way the world would be after a long period of neglect caused by the Shard's deaths.  The events of Elantris would just be a side-effect of the world going its own way with no guidance at all.

42
Actually, I'm of the impression that Rosharians have a worse view of history than their other Cosmere counterparts.

The other worlds have a knowledge of what happened in their easily accessible past that makes sense and fits what we know.  In Mistborn, despite TLR, knowledge of the countries and places before his ascension persisted, and they sound perfectly human.  The world was apparently perfectly normal (by our standards) before, and most real historians managed to find that out.

In Warbreaker, we have different groups arguing over the causes of events in their recent past due to their various biases, but the broad details are generally agreed upon (very much like the real world, actually).  The first returned is an almost mythological person, but he undoubtedly existed.  Knowledge of other nations and their achievements was apparently common knowledge among scholars, otherwise Hoid would not have been so free with what he knew (and it may be where he got the info from.)

Elantris also knows what happened up to a point, as far as I can tell.  There is very little evidence of Shard-level meddling occurring within human history as we typically understand it.  If there was, it was very subtle, rather like Ruin's influence during tLR's reign.  Maybe Shard's were related to the Reod, maybe not.  My inclination is that they weren't.

These are all rather like the real world.  By and large, we know what happened, although we very seldom know exactly why it happened.  Very few of the worlds have access to the overarching cosmology, but this overarching cosmology impacts most of the stories only indirectly.

Roshar, on the other hand, is an enigma.  It knows about Shademar, it has in many ways more advanced magic than the other worlds, and yet it's history is a ferocious snarl of mythology, what may be misinformation, and the like.  It's ecosystem is just plain bizarre, and it seems clear that the effects of the Shards are much more prominent than on the other Shardworlds.  Odd.  Something is totally up with it.

43
Brandon Sanderson / Re: Don't listen to the jerks
« on: May 13, 2011, 02:33:53 PM »
Yeah, I've been following his tweets and I'm amazed that he accomplishes as much as he does in a day.  I know if I tried to do this it would take me at least twice as long as Brandon and it wouldn't be half as meticulous.  The man is amazing!

Didn't you know?  Brandon's the one who holds the 16th shard, Creativity.

Somehow, we wouldn't really be surprised.

He's actually on an Atium burn...

[Strange side thought...could you imagine the squirrel from "Hoodwinked" on both coffee AND atium?  What a trip!...okay, you can go back to what you were doing.]

So if there was a loud bang nearby, the squirrel would jump twenty feet in the air about three seconds before it happened?

44
Brandon Sanderson / Re: Mistborn Annotations in one big file
« on: May 10, 2011, 11:01:25 PM »
OK, so I've been avoiding getting an e-reader.  For a long time, they were much more trouble than they were worth.

They've been adding functionality you just can't get from a book, haven't they?  Aagh!

45
Brandon Sanderson / Re: Don't listen to the jerks
« on: May 10, 2011, 10:59:57 PM »
Huh.

It depends on the book, really.  It also depends on where I am.  If I'm with family, I can chat and philosophize for hours on what the book is about.  That usually ends up pretty well.

If I'm not, it can be kind of lonely, kinda like leaving somebody and knowing you'll never see them again.  More so if the ending was a downer or bittersweet.  The ending of "Well of Ascension" was a serious downer for me.  Left me depressed.  (Not seriously so, though.)  It didn't help that I'd read it in one sitting late at night.

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