Author Topic: Gathering Storm - Sanderson should give himself some more credit!  (Read 2950 times)

ryanjm

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A quote from his blog: "None of you ran out to get the book because of me." WRONG!  I had almost given up hope reading WoT books after the last several that were so mediocre. I told myself after the last one "I will NOT buy another one of these books until reviews are written that say it's worth buying." 

I thought Gathering Storm was excellent. I haven't read the first few WoT books in a while, but from my hazy memory of them I would say this is up there with the best in the series, which is around #3-6 if I remember correctly.  Maybe this book would have been just as good if Jordan wrote it himself, but I have a strong suspicion it wouldn't have been based on the declining quality of the series.

I don't mean to disrespect Jordan, because it was pretty awesome of him to leave a ton of notes so that the series could be finished, but I think maybe part of him was happy to hand it off to someone who still had passion for these characters, and the skill to pull it off.  Or maybe he was totally clueless about what his fans thought, I don't know.

What I DO  know is that Brandon is trying to stay humble and give credit to Jordan, but I can't help but feeling I wouldn't think so  highly of this book if it had been solely Jordan's work. I suspect there would have been 1/2 the story progression, quite a bit more hair-pulling, gossiping, and random nonsense rather than the massive plot advancement we got. And so I want to say thank you to Mr. Sanderson, because no matter what he will say publicly, the success of this book is in large part to his ability and hard work as a writer.

Argent

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Re: Gathering Storm - Sanderson should give himself some more credit!
« Reply #1 on: November 09, 2009, 08:57:32 PM »
Heh, I agree. Let me quote what I said on his Facebook page when he wrote the same comment:

I too think you are being a little harsh on yourself. Mr. Jordan should not have *all* credit for this. If that were the case, your name wouldn't be on the cover.

Mr. Jordan had excellent foundations and development for the world. Amazing world, I agree. But your storytelling, your sense of rhythm, and your dynamic style make the insanely big ... Read moreworld easier to grasp. I think.

What I am trying to say is that if Mr. Jordan had the content (which he did), you have the style, the means to give it to readers in a more interesting way.
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Patriotic Kaz

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Re: Gathering Storm - Sanderson should give himself some more credit!
« Reply #2 on: November 09, 2009, 11:47:56 PM »
He needs to give himself more credit sure. However, the "declining books" are books designed to set up Tarmon Gaidain and were written very well but lacked the same entertainment as the earlier books. I think it is a shame that Mr. Rigney can not finish his series, and i have serious doubts on whether Brandon can do a better job than the original author.


P.S. anyone who thinks that is an insult to Mr. Sanderson is an idiot the fact that the series still flows not to mention the believability of it all is one insane accomplishment that few pro's could manange.
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Squeakle

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Re: Gathering Storm - Sanderson should give himself some more credit!
« Reply #3 on: November 10, 2009, 01:32:42 AM »
I think what Brandon was trying to say was that the fact that it went #1 was due to Robert Jordan, not him.

This is probably true, however:

When ToM goes to #1 I think he would deserve plenty of credit for that.

Brandon has written a brilliant book. However without the Jordan name on it it would probably not have gone #1 (on debut, in any case). This is no slight against his writing, just the way of the world.

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Re: Gathering Storm - Sanderson should give himself some more credit!
« Reply #4 on: November 10, 2009, 08:30:58 AM »
I don't know....

Since I haven't read any of the books YET I would not have gone to the midnight release party and gotten a number and signed book if Brandon's name wasn't on the cover.

So he at least got one guy to go out and buy it because of him. Hoorah.
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TheSupremeForce

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Re: Gathering Storm - Sanderson should give himself some more credit!
« Reply #5 on: November 11, 2009, 12:10:20 AM »
I certainly wouldn't have rushed out to purchase The Gathering Storm had it not been written by Brandon.  I'd "given up" on the Wheel of Time after book nine.  In a strange twist, the only reason I'll probably complete the series is due to the change in author. 

Ari54

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Re: Gathering Storm - Sanderson should give himself some more credit!
« Reply #6 on: November 11, 2009, 03:19:17 AM »
I think what Brandon was trying to say was that the fact that it went #1 was due to Robert Jordan, not him.

This is probably true, however:

When ToM goes to #1 I think he would deserve plenty of credit for that.

Brandon has written a brilliant book. However without the Jordan name on it it would probably not have gone #1 (on debut, in any case). This is no slight against his writing, just the way of the world.

I think you're right. :) At the same time though, there are readers like me and others in this thread who might not have read or finished the Wheel of Time were it not for hearing about Brandon finishing the series.

#1 is very hard to do. I hope to see Brandon get there with one of his own books. But so much of the Wheel of Time belongs to Robert Jordan, even with Brandon writing these last books, that I think his words were true in spirit, even if they were worded in a way that wasn't necessarily literally true ;)

shdwfeather

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Re: Gathering Storm - Sanderson should give himself some more credit!
« Reply #7 on: November 11, 2009, 11:57:04 PM »
Bahaha.

The only reason I started reading the WoT series was because Brandon was finishing it. :P I was long a Sanderson fan before I became a RJ fan.

Publius

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Re: Gathering Storm - Sanderson should give himself some more credit!
« Reply #8 on: November 13, 2009, 02:34:38 PM »
I disagree... I think Brandon Sanderson is handling everything correctly. This isn't BS's story it's RJ's. This isn't a broken down series that is crawling towards the finish line, even though some fans may think that. This is a series that is making a habit of debuting at #1. 

A lot of people only know BS from the Gathering Storm, and have never read any of his own work. If he starts giving himself too much credit it may be viewed as taking credit for the series or being disrespectful towards RJ.  That would inevitably turn away many potential readers, not to mention take attention away from the story.

Of course I don't think that book sales is the main reason why he's handling all the praise the way he has. He appears to be a genuinely humble person who knows that he wouldn't be getting all this praise for tGS if not for all the notes and outlines that RJ left behind. I also think he's respectful and appreciative for the opportunity that has been given to him. Everyone knows he did a great job on this book, but when everyone is patting him on the back for a job well done is it necessary for him to pat himself on the back too?  I don't think so, and I think it's very classy of him to redirect praise back to Robert Jordan.

If the tables were turned and Brandon Sanderson was the one who left the notes behind for someone to finish a series of his, how would you want that unknown author to act? If that book then debuted at #1, how would you want that previously unknown author to act? Personally, I would want that author to show the same humility and respect towards BS, as BS is showing towards Robert Jordan.

Of course, just because he's not acting like an athlete talking about his SportsCenter highlight doesn't mean that he doesn't realize he did a great job. In his previous blog post he didn't say that, "I hope Robert Jordan is smiling", or that "Robert Jordan might be smiling", no what he wrote was, "Robert Jordan IS smiling."
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Patriotic Kaz

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Re: Gathering Storm - Sanderson should give himself some more credit!
« Reply #9 on: November 13, 2009, 07:39:04 PM »
My thoughts exactly except elegentaly put.... do i do anything elegantly? I'm more of a hammer....
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Re: Gathering Storm - Sanderson should give himself some more credit!
« Reply #10 on: November 13, 2009, 11:33:06 PM »
My thoughts exactly except elegentaly put.... do i do anything elegantly? I'm more of a hammer....

Yup. Kaz is the bludgeoning force of his beliefs and opinions.

Honestly, though, I agree, I think that if he did give himself more credit than he does, it will equate pretty much to proffesional suicide, as the WoT fans end up spurning him as egotistical or something. Though I do feel his humble nature is genuine, it's just that doing otherwise could end up being the worst thing he ever does.
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Squeakle

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Re: Gathering Storm - Sanderson should give himself some more credit!
« Reply #11 on: November 14, 2009, 01:25:08 AM »
Though I do feel his humble nature is genuine, it's just that doing otherwise could end up being the worst thing he ever does.

You just have to read what he wrote after RJ died (not professionally involved) to know that his response now (professionally involved) is genuine.

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Re: Gathering Storm - Sanderson should give himself some more credit!
« Reply #12 on: November 14, 2009, 04:20:35 AM »
Though I do feel his humble nature is genuine, it's just that doing otherwise could end up being the worst thing he ever does.

You just have to read what he wrote after RJ died (not professionally involved) to know that his response now (professionally involved) is genuine.

Yeah, i know, i kept up with his blog about it. Just sayin' that i wasn't casting doubt on his intents with my post :)
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