Poll

What is your favourite book ?

Mistborn: The Final Empire
16 (23.5%)
Mistborn: The Well of Ascension
7 (10.3%)
Mistborn: The Hero of Ages
19 (27.9%)
Elantris
7 (10.3%)
Warbreaker
17 (25%)
Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians
2 (2.9%)
Alcatraz Versus the Scrivener's Bones
0 (0%)

Total Members Voted: 68

Author Topic: Favourite book  (Read 12099 times)

tozka

  • Level 1
  • *
  • Posts: 2
  • Fell Points: 0
    • View Profile
Favourite book
« on: August 25, 2009, 02:26:25 PM »
The only book I have not read from these is Alcatraz Versus the Scrivener's Bones because I cannot find it where I live. Which is really pity because I'd love to read it. I've read only the first two chapters.

Anyway. My favourite is "Mistborn: The Well of Ascension" I like the internal struggle in Vin and Elend . How far they go to find themself. They are pretty much well shaped in the third book and the first book is introduction , not mentioning we don't see much Elend in the first book. The introduction of Zane and Tindwyl only adds to this struggle. And I always thought when I read the book that Zane is what Vin would have been if Kelsier didn't interfere in her life , didn't show her what friendship and trust is.
 
I never thought even for a second  that Zane is insane. Although I was a bit confused , I was sure Zane is not insane but I couldn't figure out an explanation for the voice he hears.

Another thing is that many of Elend's moral and political principles are mine too. I think I might have made almost the same mistakes as Elend.Actually I don't think he made many mistakes. Unfortunately I don't think I have evolved as he did by the end of the book.

The triangle Cett, Straff, Elend was done very nicely in my opinion - the personal and military struggle between the three of them, the political machination. Everyone trying to outsmart the other two. Although at the end how it was resolved I had a bit of feeling as Deus ex Machina. But it was not unbelievable , it was the Mistborn who saved the day.


I apologize if there were topic like this. If there is I hope you'll redirect me to it. But I couldn't find any.
« Last Edit: August 25, 2009, 02:32:29 PM by tozka »

Plasman

  • Level 5
  • *
  • Posts: 142
  • Fell Points: 0
    • View Profile
Re: Favourite book
« Reply #1 on: August 25, 2009, 06:55:26 PM »
This post contains spoilers. sorry.
I went with HoA. I just loved the feeling of revalation that we got with it being the last book of the series and all (i guess i should say most) of the secrets being brought out into the open.  Even though a year of speculating led me to guess a few of the reveals, most of them came as a surprise and i was wowed.
We had Spook turning into one of the coolest characters of the series, TenSoon giving us a fascinating look at kandra civilization, Sazed and his struggle with faith, and some of the best fight scenes ever (Vin versus thirteen Inquisitors comes to mind), though granted i think the best ones are in WoA.
The only real problem i have with the book is that the Vin and Elend character arcs didn't seem quite as strong this time around, which is, i think, one of the reason it was ok for them to die at the end of the book. I felt that the first two books did a great job of exploring their characters and showing them grow and so by the time the third book came along there were only a few loose ends to tie up in their relationship, and then they were "ready" to die.  But i think it works out.  That fact allowed us more time to explore the other characters of this world.
All in all, HoA was epic. A great conclusion to a great series.

(P.S. WoA is a very close second)
Duct tape is like the force, it has a light side and a dark side and it holds the universe together.

happyman

  • Level 17
  • *
  • Posts: 828
  • Fell Points: 0
    • View Profile
Re: Favourite book
« Reply #2 on: August 25, 2009, 09:18:21 PM »
Well of Ascension was a tad bit too long for my taste.  Hero of Ages, though, was awesome.

It was a close call between Warbreaker and Hero of Ages, but the sheer epic scale of Hero of Ages won in the end.
Nature hates being reified.

Recovering_Cynic

  • Level 13
  • *
  • Posts: 581
  • Fell Points: 0
  • Except vampires. Vampires suck.
    • View Profile
    • my livejournal
Re: Favourite book
« Reply #3 on: August 25, 2009, 10:50:33 PM »
Mistborn wins for me.  Honestly, Kelsier was my favorite character of the whole series.  He was complex, thoughtful, funny, and extremely intelligent.  He stood before the Dark Lord and stuck up his little finger (figuratively speaking of course).  The other books were quite good, but some of the magic was lost after Kel left the picture.

Warbreaker was awesome, but I haven't read the polished version.  I may have to change my vote after I do so.
this is the way the world ends,
not with a bang, but a whimper
~T.S. Eliot

Bastille

  • Level 10
  • *
  • Posts: 389
  • Fell Points: 0
    • View Profile
Re: Favourite book
« Reply #4 on: August 25, 2009, 11:51:20 PM »
I personally had a choice between Al Vs EL or Warbreaker. Alcatraz won in the end. Mistborn: Final Empire was in there but I agree with Recovering_Cynic that after Kell left something was lost.
Nature's first green is gold
Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

Ari54

  • Level 8
  • *
  • Posts: 295
  • Fell Points: 0
    • View Profile
    • M.J. Whitehead.com
Re: Favourite book
« Reply #5 on: August 26, 2009, 04:57:11 AM »
I liked the plot payoffs and the big battle and the Spook scenes from HoA, so it got my vote. I was kinda tempted to vote Warbreaker though, and if HoA were a standalone book, Warbreaker would probably have been a lot better. Apples and oranges, I think. :)

sortitus

  • Level 15
  • *
  • Posts: 675
  • Fell Points: 0
  • MVP of the WORLD
    • View Profile
    • I'll kick you in the face!
Re: Favourite book
« Reply #6 on: August 26, 2009, 07:12:52 AM »
Warbreaker. The people I liked weren't nerfed at the end. (see Elantris: Sarene's hubby gets godlike power, making the fact that she has some pretty fantastic people skills pretty useless. TFE: We lose the best character in the series. WoA: Zane was better. HoA: the MCs get together and play Russian Roulette with 5/6 chambers full, so the epilogue was superfluous. Warbreaker: Viv is the only one who gets nerfed (again, by relationship), and I didn't like her.) The endings of each book were satisfying in themselves. Some of my favorite characters just didn't make it, which frustrated me. Zane's death in particular was awesome, but I was super sad about it. HoA had the only ending that I straight up didn't like (probably because of the epilogue). I think the ending worked better without, and that the chapter quote for the epilogue was plenty of epilogue. The ending itself was pretty kickin'.

Of course, I wouldn't get so frustrated if I didn't like the books (and characters in them) so much. :P
Hero of Ages: Impressive Regality Over Niceness, Y'all
좋아! This time with more ecstatic! 좋네!!! I'll say it again in french! Trois fois voiture!!! Ça va. C'est vrai. C'est bien.
High Knight of the Grand Pie of the Holy Order of Pie, The Left Hand of Pie

Publius

  • Level 4
  • *
  • Posts: 80
  • Fell Points: 0
    • View Profile
Re: Favourite book
« Reply #7 on: August 27, 2009, 01:20:52 AM »
Mistborn wins for me.  Honestly, Kelsier was my favorite character of the whole series.  He was complex, thoughtful, funny, and extremely intelligent.  He stood before the Dark Lord and stuck up his little finger (figuratively speaking of course).  The other books were quite good, but some of the magic was lost after Kel left the picture.

That quote about says it all for me.
Man is not free unless government is limited ~ Ronald Reagan

Ari54

  • Level 8
  • *
  • Posts: 295
  • Fell Points: 0
    • View Profile
    • M.J. Whitehead.com
Re: Favourite book
« Reply #8 on: August 27, 2009, 04:24:34 AM »
Mistborn wins for me.  Honestly, Kelsier was my favorite character of the whole series.  He was complex, thoughtful, funny, and extremely intelligent.  He stood before the Dark Lord and stuck up his little finger (figuratively speaking of course).  The other books were quite good, but some of the magic was lost after Kel left the picture.

That quote about says it all for me.


I dunno, it may be the writer in me talking, but I don't think Kelsier would have been anywhere near as cool if he had stayed around for the next two novels.

Recovering_Cynic

  • Level 13
  • *
  • Posts: 581
  • Fell Points: 0
  • Except vampires. Vampires suck.
    • View Profile
    • my livejournal
Re: Favourite book
« Reply #9 on: August 27, 2009, 06:29:26 AM »
I agree.  Kel wouldn't have been as cool had he stuck around.  Sacrificing himself the way he did is in large part what made him cool, and the sacrificing is in large part what made the first book so heartwrenchingly good.
this is the way the world ends,
not with a bang, but a whimper
~T.S. Eliot

Aranfan

  • Level 4
  • *
  • Posts: 90
  • Fell Points: 0
    • View Profile
Re: Favourite book
« Reply #10 on: August 27, 2009, 07:34:12 AM »
While all of Sanderson's books that I have read have been awesome (I've not read the Alcatrz books), it comes down to HoA and Warbreaker for me.

Warbreaker has some of the best banter and dialogue I have ever seen put onto a page, and through that, excellent characters. 

While Warbreaker has the character angle nailed, Hero of Ages has the the EPIC SCALE!!! angle nailed.  You really got the sense that Ruin and Preservation were Gods, and much more deserving of the title than the Elantrians or Returned were.

This isn't to say that Warbreaker wasn't appropriately epic or that HoA had bad characters, it's just that Brandon had more experience with characterization when he was writing Warbreaker than when he was writing HoA, and by the same token the world wasn't ending in Warbreaker so it didn't require the same sense of enormity and scale to get the essential nature of the conflict across.

Upon consideration, I have to give the title of favorite to Hero of Ages.

Fantomboo

  • Level 1
  • *
  • Posts: 10
  • Fell Points: 0
  • I like PIE!
    • View Profile
Re: Favourite book
« Reply #11 on: August 27, 2009, 01:07:07 PM »
For me I have to say HoA. The book was a great conclusion to the series. Plus the character I found the most intriguing throughout the books Saiz became even more interesting.
Don't use words too big for the subject. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite.
C.S. Lewis

Sevynwarr

  • Level 1
  • *
  • Posts: 2
  • Fell Points: 0
    • View Profile
Re: Favourite book
« Reply #12 on: August 28, 2009, 05:08:47 AM »
I haven't read Warbreaker yet (three month old twins are keeping me from it unfortunately) I liked Elantris quite a bit, because of how well the three main characters personalities are developed, and it had a kickass ending.  There aren't many writers out there that can create characters that are all very different from each other, and remain consistant throughout the entire story, I've noticed.  Plus I've done work as a missionary and think Brandon Sanderson captured the frustrations of preaching to an indifferent people perfectly.  However, the first Mistborn wins for me, because he took two very different sorts of stories, fantasy and a heist, and put them together into something that was very original and highly entertaining.  Even though it followed one of the oldest story archetypes in existense, it didn't seem like I was reading the same old story just with different characters.   While I liked the other two in the trilogy a great deal, they didn't have the same feel to them that the first one did.  I read the first one in one night because I just couldn't put it down.  None of his other books have been like that for me.

GreenMonsta

  • Level 22
  • *
  • Posts: 1156
  • Fell Points: 0
    • View Profile
Re: Favourite book
« Reply #13 on: August 28, 2009, 04:10:52 PM »
Come on people. HoA was fantastic but would it have been so good had not FE been amazing first. I mean I've re-read that book twice and I find myself not wanting to skip a word and that's rare for me.

Alright so I will respect opinion here and just say that FE was eye opening for me. The drastically different magic systems and the amazingly interesting characters just threw me for a loop. I will always think of that as one of my favorite books of all time.
"No signs of anything that could cause even a slight case of death"

"He's a paraplegic whats he gonna do, bite us?"

tozka

  • Level 1
  • *
  • Posts: 2
  • Fell Points: 0
    • View Profile
Re: Favourite book
« Reply #14 on: August 28, 2009, 04:54:38 PM »
Btw, the Final Empire comes close second. I liked how Vin changed with Kel's help. And while Kel was set well shaped character he undergoes   changes thanks to Vin too. I like when he saved Elend's life ,it was very pivotal point in the book and it was very touching moment for me. Of course the magic system was extremely interesting. Maybe the best short of Robert Jordan's One Power which beats it in scope(well certainly his books are enormous) and originality  but just a little. And the heist - fantasy story was very interesting and original. Nothing like I've read  before.
« Last Edit: August 28, 2009, 05:01:36 PM by tozka »