61
Books / Re: release date of the omen machine
« on: June 20, 2011, 05:16:48 PM »
You still need to review the Warded Man. Take one for the team, Steve.
News:
"Magic is what makes fantasy fantastic," someone says, "you can't apply rules to them or else it loses wonder!" I respond, "Sure, but if you want to write them you will certainly want to know how they work." Writing is all about execution, and I find applying some basic laws of physics to magic systems make them more understandable and realistic. Here, I'm going to outline my basic method for developing a magic system.
Column by Chaos2651
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62
Books / Re: What are you reading, part 3
« on: June 20, 2011, 05:00:39 PM »
I loved the first 20 pages of Act of Will (it comes before Will Power, so I'd have thought you'd read it first). The setup was great, the voice was great, the humor was great, the conceit of it being a translation of a strange-language manuscript found in someone's attic was entertaining.
But then after that it just got so cliche. They spent 50 pages traveling in a very boring manner; Will was with a group of people who actually called themselves "adventurers" (that just felt straight out of D&D); Will spent hundreds of pages denying magic was happening in front of his eyes. And there was a meaningful death at the end, but then the guy managed to recover; the magic was so ill defined (weapons with magic rocks in them, whoopee). I loved the voice but that wasn't nearly enough to carry me through the book, and I was left with no desire to read the second one.
But then after that it just got so cliche. They spent 50 pages traveling in a very boring manner; Will was with a group of people who actually called themselves "adventurers" (that just felt straight out of D&D); Will spent hundreds of pages denying magic was happening in front of his eyes. And there was a meaningful death at the end, but then the guy managed to recover; the magic was so ill defined (weapons with magic rocks in them, whoopee). I loved the voice but that wasn't nearly enough to carry me through the book, and I was left with no desire to read the second one.
63
Books / Re: What are you reading, part 3
« on: June 20, 2011, 12:25:30 AM »
Nessa, did you read Act of Will before Will Power? I haven't been more disappointed in a book in recent memory.
A lot of those "donated in the name" books came from the Quark library. Ethan donated them without our permission. (We would have given it but he didn't ask.)
A lot of those "donated in the name" books came from the Quark library. Ethan donated them without our permission. (We would have given it but he didn't ask.)
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Brandon Sanderson / Re: Allow of Law Excerpt 1
« on: June 18, 2011, 07:09:22 PM »
The market for Westerns completely died in the 80s. It wouldn't be a particularly wise move. But still there are some quite Western aspects to this novel, one of the mid-to-late chapters in particular. It's pretty awesome.
65
Brandon Sanderson / Re: Brandon's latest WOT Reread habits?
« on: June 17, 2011, 10:09:20 PM »
He's using ebooks, some on the Nook, some on his netbook. He keeps notes on the netbook.
66
Brandon Sanderson / Re: Allow of Law Excerpt 1
« on: June 17, 2011, 10:07:20 PM »
I don't know if they have any plans to release the previews on Kindle, though eventually the book will have its own Kindle preview.
67
Brandon Sanderson / Re: Allow of Law Excerpt 1
« on: June 17, 2011, 07:06:52 AM »Sooo... are they actually taking this all the way to Chapter 6? That's a lot of story.It is, but where else would you stop? Not after the prologue, or it looks like a Western. Could maybe stop after chapter 2, but then they can't hype it much. If you go beyond chapter 2, you can't stop until after 6.
68
Brandon Sanderson / Re: Allow of Law Excerpt 1
« on: June 15, 2011, 08:29:44 PM »
only as a variant, and not as a main-entry variant either. Still, it makes me shiver.
69
Brandon Sanderson / Re: Allow of Law Excerpt 1
« on: June 15, 2011, 07:31:08 PM »
Don't trust Word's dictionary. It accepts "prophesize" as a correct word, for pete's sake. Check m-w.com when you're checking spelling officially. That is the industry standard dictionary.
If you Google search for firepit -"fire pit" there are almost 8 million hits and searching for -firepit "fire pit" gives 26 million hits. Actual typos are at a less than 10% ratio, usually less than 1%.
I didn't know the word adit either but Brandon originally had shaft there, which is totally wrong.
We don't capitalize human or human being, so we don't capitalize koloss or kandra or elves or dwarves.
If you Google search for firepit -"fire pit" there are almost 8 million hits and searching for -firepit "fire pit" gives 26 million hits. Actual typos are at a less than 10% ratio, usually less than 1%.
I didn't know the word adit either but Brandon originally had shaft there, which is totally wrong.
We don't capitalize human or human being, so we don't capitalize koloss or kandra or elves or dwarves.
70
Brandon Sanderson / Re: Allow of Law Excerpt 1
« on: June 15, 2011, 06:44:30 PM »
adit, eyeblink, koloss, and well tailored are correct usages, and firepit is not a dictionary word but I'm calling it good. It has a 25% usage rate on an exclusionary Google search, which for me puts it into secondary usage status rather than typo.
71
Brandon Sanderson / Re: Correcting Brandon (and Howard and Dan) (or, why they are SO wrong ;p)
« on: June 15, 2011, 07:21:24 AM »
Of course Brandon can make mistakes. Have you heard him try to pronounce denouement?
72
Brandon Sanderson / Re: Parallels in Mistborn? [Trilogy Spoilers]
« on: June 14, 2011, 07:31:42 AM »
I need to put it on my list. We have a long list already though, and don't watch much TV.
73
Brandon Sanderson / Re: Correcting Brandon (and Howard and Dan) (or, why they are SO wrong ;p)
« on: June 13, 2011, 11:07:51 PM »
You say novelists shouldn't spend too much time on worldbuilding. We say novelists shouldn't spend too much time on worldbuilding.
You say Tolkien had a different motivation for writing his earlier stuff. We say Tolkien had a different motivation for writing his earlier stuff.
Looks like we agree completely. End of conversation.
You say Tolkien had a different motivation for writing his earlier stuff. We say Tolkien had a different motivation for writing his earlier stuff.
Looks like we agree completely. End of conversation.
74
Brandon Sanderson / Re: Anyone else have trouble choking down middle WOT books? (spoilers)
« on: June 13, 2011, 05:22:49 PM »
I really don't mind the books. (Though I suppose that could be seen as damning praise.) This morning I finished listening to the Crossroads of Twilight audiobook on my morning commute, and it did a fine job of what I intended it to do: give me the Wheel of Time story in 20-minute chunks twice per day. I'll start on Knife of Dreams on my way home. I don't really think of these books as complete books (because really, they aren't) but just as parts of the overarching story. There are some parts in there I really really like, such as Pevara and her group, and the Mat and Tuon chapters.
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Brandon Sanderson / Re: Correcting Brandon (and Howard and Dan) (or, why they are SO wrong ;p)
« on: June 13, 2011, 05:15:15 PM »
Exactly. (And I already said I agreed with fardawg that Tolkien's motivations were not those of a novelist.)