Timewaster's Guide Archive
Local Authors => Brandon Sanderson => Topic started by: Spriggan on April 27, 2005, 01:10:04 AM
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http://www.hbfenn.com/new/ff/20050302/20050302export1.htm
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Wow! Do you think he liked it?
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that reviewer is a "she" but ya its a gushing review.
another one is
Elantris by Brandon Sanderson. 0765311771 Tor Fantasy hb $24.95. Surprisingly well done first novel. Original high concept and well thought out subplots on the intersection of religion and politics. Not the usual high fantasy. Well worth discovering.
http://www.crimeandspace.com/upcoming.htm
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I sure everyone has seen it, but here is Scott Cards Review.
For those of you who are always on the lookout for excellent heroic fiction of the Robin Hobb and George R. R. Martin tradition -- heroism, intrigue, and inventive fantasy world creation -- I have good news.
For those who are sick of fantasy series that go on and on, never seeming to come nearer to an ending, I have even better news.
Elantris is the finest novel of fantasy to be written in many years. Brandon Sanderson has created a truly original world of magic and intrigue, and with the rigor of the best science fiction writers he has made it real at every level.
What makes this novel unforgettable, however, is the magnificent characters he has created. True heroes who, in the face of adversity, find strength they did not know they had, make mistakes from whose consequences they do not shrink, and sacrifice to save what is worth loving in their world.
Best of all, the story is complete. Oh, there's room for a sequel - and I hope there'll be one. But this does not feel like "volume 1," with all the important questions yet to be answered. Sanderson brings off an impossibly complicated resolution only a few pages from the end of the book, and you finish the book satisfied.
Sanderson writes within a moral universe where people are rarely sure who the good guys and the bad guys might turn out to be. But the difference between good and evil is clear even though it's subtle and sometimes hard to find.
It's rare for a fiction writer to have much understanding of how leadership works, how communities form, and how love really takes root in the human heart. Sanderson is astonishingly wise.
I'm glad I didn't write this book. I'm not the least bit envious. Because if I had written it, I wouldn't have had the pleasure of letting it unfold before me as this story did, in all its ugliness and beauty and excitement and pain.
Here's the bad news. This book doesn't come out until May of 2005. But in the spirit of movies that get hyped for many months prior to their release, I want you to be anticipating this one. It's worth the wait.
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The Barnes & Noble Review
Brandon Sanderson's debut novel, Elantris -- an instant fantasy classic about a fallen city of the gods and its inexplicable rise from its own ruins -- is a singular storytelling tour de force that is absolutely beyond compare.
The city of Elantris was once the most beautiful in the world. Inhabited by a godlike populace and home to innumerable wonders, it attracted people from far and wide. But then something happened. The magic that powered Elantris suddenly disappeared. The once-radiant Elantrians became leprous creatures, and the city fell into shadow.
Ten years after the Punishment, Elantris is a ghost town, a "land of sludge, insanity, and eternal perdition," inhabited by those few who become afflicted with the Shaod, a dread disease that blackens the skin, stops the heart, and suspends those ill-fated souls in a state of nightmarish half death. Raoden, the beloved crown prince of Arelon, contracts the ailment just as he prepares for his wedding to Princess Sarene of Teod. He is secretly whisked away to Elantris, where King Iadon informs his people that his son has died of an "unexpected disease." Sarene arrives shortly thereafter, finding a kingdom on the verge of collapse. In the shadow of the ghostly city, Sarene vows to do what she can to stop the religious and political upheaval. Raoden, meanwhile, uncovers the jaw-dropping secrets of Elantris.
In a genre where mainstream success regularly leads to mind-numbing repetition (unnecessarily prolonged series that recycle predictable plotlines) and shameless mass imitation, true creative genius is often hard to find. Fantasy fans need not look any further for such genius -- Brandon Sanderson is his name, and Elantris is his calling card. Paul Goat Allen
Link (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=jR3T3fIBwu&isbn=0765311771&itm=1)
I love that . . . "Brandon Sanderson is his name, and Elantris is his calling card."
That would be cool if they put that on the fly leaf of the paperback edition.
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Ha...this review doesn't mention Hrathen, unless "religious and political upheaval" counts...
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Some new net reviews.
This weekend I picked up a new fantasy novel called "Elantris." It is really good. Really good. At first as I scanned the shelves at Barnes and Noble I was disappointed, "nothing new" I thought. But there were new things, lots of them... they just weren't from the old reliable authors who I trust. I realized that I had fallen into a rut: wherein I was only looking for new stories with the same old people... no challenges, no new friends, no chances. So I decided I was being stupid and started checking out the new titles. This book has a lot of really excellent characters, not to mention plot devices that, I think, are truly unique. If you have the cash I suggest you give it a shot... or at least see If your local library will get it for you.
From this Blog (http://www.livejournal.com/users/thepinnacle/). Couldn't find a way to link directly to it, but it's about halfway down.
Not really a review but someone with a picture of Elantris on thier bookshelf,http://trashotron.com/agony/shelves/2005/05-03-05.htm
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Someone posted some lame review on Amazon. Sounds like she didn't read the whole book. Complained about the first 2 lines of the first 2 chapters, and then made up a third line to complain about!
Everyone go mark it 'not helpful'!!
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http://www.sff.net/people/sherwood/RecentReading.htp
Short review by sf writer Sherwood Smith. What's meant by "eyeball cliches"?
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Not quite sure myself, but I did like the line "The protagonists were not Noble Heroes so much as genuinely good people, something far too rare these days, at least for my taste."
On another note someone needs to write a new amazon review since that one that is more negative is what shows for a lot of google searchs.
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I have been waiting to read the book with Karen, but I suppose I can write one if no one else does.
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my wife and I are reading Wake me When it's Over together. We'll probably do Elantris next.
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Someone posted some lame review on Amazon. Sounds like she didn't read the whole book. Complained about the first 2 lines of the first 2 chapters, and then made up a third line to complain about!
Everyone go mark it 'not helpful'!!
My response to her complaint
Similarly, the dialogue was a bit jarring: the prince and the princess particularly sounded like a couple of cocky, fairly smart college students.
was, "Well, Brandon is a cocky, fairly smart college student." But my husband explained it better. Who are Raoden and Sarene? They're well-educated, of the nobility and in their early twenties. What does that translate into in today's standard? "Cocky, smart, wealthy college students."
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"Eyeball cliches" might refer to something that's always bugged me about Brandon's writing. Emotions and reactions are often communicated only through "narrowed eyes" or "rolled his eyes" or "shifty eyes." (Ok, I don't think Brandon's ever used shifty eyes, but you get the idea.)
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That makes sense.
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What would you do instead?
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She'd probably want something a bit more expressive, or a little bit different. He might have a good point.
However, I do what I do for two reasons. First, I like quick, easy tags like this because they're more invisible. Second, my voice depends on being in very close proximity to my characters' thoughts, even when I'm in narrative, and so I am very careful not to break viewpoint. The more you postulate on what someone other than the VP character is thinking, the more distant your viewpoint becomes, and the closer you get to the narrator.
However, I'll ask Sherwood next time I see her. I think he goes to cons. Maybe She'll have some pointers.
[Edited to correct gender. Really, who names a girl Sherwood?]
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She.
;)
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...it's rather dry, but I did my best for today... v_v
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The romatic book club gave elantris 4 1/2 stars, the review isn't on the net but the score is. If you want to read the review you need to buy a copy of their magazine.
http://www.romantictimes.com/bookpage.php?bookid=25936
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Joshua sent me a copy of the review. It's quite good, and it cracks me up to be featured so prominently in a magazine called the "Romantic Times."
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I'm not sure I could say it cracks me up, but it makes me wish I were responsible so that I could laugh evily.
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There's a new amazon review that's quite negative, so we need a new positive one.
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Heh. Both Lemony Snicket and Martin have multiple 1-star reviews on their front pages, so I don't mind a couple of threes. Really, what this person said is the same as the Kirkus review, but being (amusingly) even more snide about it.
I don't mind if you guys write good reviews for me--in fact, I'd encourage it--but only if you honestly liked the book and want to write about it. Stuffing the Amazon list just to inflate the rating isn't necessary.
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its more becaue if you do a search for elantris all the amazon affiliate sites that list reviews for books show what ever is the most current. So right now there's about 20+ websites out there that show that review as their google summery text.
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Hey, this one looks cool. (I just started reading it.)
http://trashotron.com/agony/news/2005/05-16-05.htm#051605
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That is a good review.
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Wow. He even links to BS.com.
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Oldie Locks, how come thee upon this alias?
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Because I felt like it. ;D
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Here's a thread:
http://www.sffworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10515
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The guy with 301 posts liked it (I think his name was Radone). So...yea!
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Here's a newspaper review!
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/entertainment/11689366.htm
One can see why Elantris (487 pages; Tor; $24.95) was picked up: It is a rarity in the fantasy genre. For one thing, it is not the first book in a planned series; it is complete in one volume. And it breaks with other conventions, if only for having an all-human cast.
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Registration required! Is that the entire review?
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no it was longer, I just found it via a google link and there was no regestration needed for it. Besides what I posted he gave a summery and then said it was a good book worthy of discussion.
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By the way, has anyone pointed out that the Publisher's Weekly review was a starred review? Yay, EUOL!
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Registration required! Is that the entire review?
bugmenot.com gives the login
[email protected]
happy3
The review is not written very well, and gives no indication that the reviewer read beyond chapter 2.
By the way, has anyone pointed out that the Publisher's Weekly review was a starred review? Yay, EUOL!
I noticed that. What does it mean? I'm not familiar with Publisher's Weekly reviews. Don't most reviews have stars? I always wanted to know how many stars it got! If 1 star = bad, 5 stars = good, then all reviews are starred! Does this mean Publisher's Weekly is using some weird system unlike a normal review place, and one star = good, no stars = humdrum?
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Pub Weekly does it like Horn Book and other review magazines: if they review it, it's pretty good (unless they say otherwise in the review itself). If they star it, it means it's outstanding.
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Guess I'm used to movie reviews and Amazon. Book reviews are not something I've ever gotten into, since I usually don't care about reviewers' thoughts. I pick books to read based on whim or recommendation (recommendations are different from reviews--I'd rather hear "it's good; you'll like it" than the kinds of comments in reviews). Plus reviews often give too much away.
[Which gives me an idea... :P]
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That news paper reivew isn't the greatists, but that's not quite as important as Elantris actualy being in a news papar's review section.
Here's some more
http://beetle.cbtlsl.com/archives/2005/05/28/elantris/
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Heh heh heh.
There's another glowing review on Amazon. I clicked on her "see all my reviews" link for fun, and the review she posted right after Elantris was of a new book by Cecilia Dart-Thornton, of Ill-Made Mute infamy. She hated it as much as any of us would, which is nice, since it shows that the good Elantris review is from someone who doesn't just gush about everything out there.
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Speaking of Amazon.com, you should really consider having the option on Amazon of letting viewers read the first few pages. I don't know if you have control over that or if that's Tor's decision, but I know that it's helped me decide on whether to order a book. If viewers can get a taste of what Elantris is all about, they would more likely purchase it. Just an idea :).
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hehe
and they're romance was so incredibly lame I was yearning for a Jennifer Lopez movie for something more realistic.
WoW that's a bad book if it makes someone wish for a J-Lo movie.
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hehe
WoW that's a bad book if it makes someone wish for a J-Lo movie.
ha ha ha ha that was me. I was just peeking through here to see if anyone found my review on Elantris on my page, so I'm rather suprised that my review on Iron Tree was on here. I was worried that no one would get the Jlo comment, but I'm glad to see at least someone did ;) Really, that book was horrible. And now I see I put "they're" instead of "their." Crap.
Anyway here's my sites review:
http://www.rfbookreviews.com/authors/sanderson.htm
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Ya I'm "hip" like that.
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Lies.
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Ya I'm "hip" like that.
for some reason I waste all of my clever comments on my amazon reviews. Sometimes I think I should just copy and paste them to my site.
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Lies.
me?
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no he's calling me a Liar, and this coming from a Scott.
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no he's calling me a Liar, and this coming from a Scott.
damn, I was all ready to prove myself.
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Didn't Brandon and Fell write a review of Ill-Made Mute for TWG a couple years ago? I can't find it.
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Didn't Brandon and Fell write a review of Ill-Made Mute for TWG a couple years ago? I can't find it.
I heard it was good, but after reading that steaming pile of crap I doubt I'll read it even though its sitting on my bookshelf.
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They were planning on it but I don't think they ever finished the book.
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Oh, I finished that book...and it nearly finished me. I still have nightmares.
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I thought sure I read some kind of review...or maybe I'm just remembering the next year's World Fantasy conversation. Which convinced me not to finish reading it. I finally donated it to a library booksale the other day. No need to have it taking up valuable shelf space (after finally unpacking my boxes).
Welcome to the forum, lilacjive! If you feel like sticking around, stop by the introduction thread in News, and be sure to read the FAQ... ;D
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Now, I didn't think that Ill-Made Mute was as terrible as Fell did. The thing is, it had a brilliant setting and a wonderful weaving of fairy-tale storytelling into a fantasy novel. Unfortunately, I wasn't drawn to the characters, and thought the plotting/pacing was uninspired. I was left not wanting to really read any more of her work.
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damn, I was all ready to prove myself.
I'm sure he'll be happy to call you a Liar if you want, he doesn't discriminate.
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Equal opportunities are us!
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Scarily enough, the book you talk about must be REALLY bad - this thread had been viewed the number of the beast times.
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Heh, EUOL's a professional. He has to be nice to his colleagues and say things like "uninspired" instead of the "insipid" I was hoping for.
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Well...some people did actually like the book. Didn't fuzzy or MoD or both like it or something like that?
Up to the part I read, the only thing I liked was the sitting-around-telling-stories parts, but that does not a good novel make, in my opinion. (Well, floating rocks and ships were pretty cool, too.)
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EUOL has a point--the world was pretty interesting. She just didn't do anything interesting with it.
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New blog reviews
http://joesherry.blogspot.com/2005/06/elantris.html
http://www.adg.us/article193.html
http://www.voicewin.com/crime/content/6/800/1-2.htm (you need to scroll down as the book moves down everytime a new review is added).
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Anyone read Swedish?
http://www.sfbok.se/asp/artikel2.asp?VolumeID=51576
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Ahem, let me translate.
Det finns inga produkter i din korg!
"I would give up my lifetime supply of swedish fish to read Elantris!"
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It's just a product listing with the basic plot outline. No review.
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Killjoy.
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My friend and former B&N coworker, Alana, recently reviewed Elantris. I don't know what she meant by EUOL's web presence--I just told her about TWG one day at work--but it's a favorable review.
http://www.virgilandbeatrice.com/
you have to scroll down to the June 14 entry because I don't know how to link just part of a page. It's near the bottom of the page.
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The web presence probably deals with the infamous "Tolkien debacle".
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???
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http://www.brandonsanderson.com/article.php?id=22
Though I've also read that people say Tor itself is compareing brandon to Tolkien, though I think it's just rumors started by that EUOLogy.
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Huh. Who knew that it would spread beyond one little site. :)
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My personal internet rumor about Elantris and EUOL is that the only reason he got published is because of some Mormon cabal involving Scott Card. Ya, you can't make this stuff up if you tried.
Also there's an interview with EUOL over at Reigheena's site, why this wasn't posted earlier I'll never know.
http://www.rfbookreviews.com/sandint.htm
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Just curious, Sprig--where did you read the internet rumors? I'm interested in seeing what crazy things people come up with playing telephone on the internet.
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Google. You find nutty stuff sometimes.
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Has anyone mentioned yet that Booklist reviewed it favorably? I just saw it quoted on Amazon. That's really good--that hits the library market. Basically tells librarians who don't have the time to read everything that they should buy it.
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Also there's an interview with EUOL over at Reigheena's site, why this wasn't posted earlier I'll never know.
If by interview with EUOL over at Reigheena's site, you mean the comments that Quark members have about Elantris, then here's the link. http://quarksff.org/index.php?option=com_simpleboard&Itemid=52&func=view&id=5602&catid=16
I do have my own site for my stories, but that's pretty much all I have on there. Unless someone's been hacking into it. :o
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woops my bad, wrong random EUOL fangril.
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Since Scoble is allwayse talking about it I decided to check out Technorati's blog search for elantris and it brought up a bunch of stuff.
http://www.technorati.com/search/elantris
http://ebberts.blogspot.com/2005/09/elantris.html#comments
http://www.livejournal.com/users/hybridutensil/289026.html
http://www.livejournal.com/users/guardie6/5861.html
http://readerscircle.blogspot.com/2005/06/catching-up-three-reviews.html
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Hybridutensil is a friend of Magegirl's and OldOne's, among others. Though I don't know her in real life, I don't think.