Timewaster's Guide Archive

Well I feel like a jerk when I read posts like this:

It's that I had to *force* myself to read Eye of the World. It was derivitive, had poor prose, and made massive allusions to fantasy, literary, and religious symbolism for the sake of looking smart without actually using any of the tradition or meaning behind those symbols.  The characters are utter morons with poor motivations at best.

I feel like a jerk because I know better then to think that the writer is an illeterate, dense and not particularly bright for having these views since he could just have bad taste.

Quote:

Kelsier would not have had much if any trace metals. You get trace metals from what you would ingest and being a prisoner he probably didn't even have access to metal utensils, more likely a stick and a flat stone or a community trough.

You can also find trace metals in water. And the pits being a typeof mine I would hazard to guess that the prisoners water supply was probably quite contaminated with trace metals.

I have a Question, and this is not attempting to be in anyway disrespectful. Mr. Sanderson, I have read and thoroughly enjoyed Warbreaker, The Final Empire and I am currently reading The Well of Ascension. I have also read a large portion of these threads (including the 40 or so pages of the Warbreaker thread and the Fan Art thread). Now my question is this, why do you spend so little time describing the physical settings and clothing in your books?  It never entered my consciousness when I was reading the books, but it really became evident when viewing the FanArt threads, especially your comments therein.  Your description of the men's costumes being similar to circa 1800 England was a bit jarring as I viewed them more utilitarian ( even the nobles ' attire) more 1840's  early Industrial Age England  (maybe from from the way Breese was described). In any case, what I am trying to ask is whether the sketchy descriptions were intentional to coincide with the general "dark" imagryor was there another intent? Again, I'm not saying that you should have used more descriptiive language, I thoroughly enjoyed the books, but am still curious.

I must confess that I first heard abount Mr. Sanderson from a friend who happens to work at a book store a frequent. He told be that Sanderson's books where the kind of fantasy I liked. He commended Mistborn. When I inquired as to what it was about he mentioned that it involved a "crew" of talented criminals fighting a Dark Empire. Frankly, it did not sound all that interesting. A few weeks later I read the announcement concerning Mr. Sanderson being choosen to finish A Memory of Light. I then found this forum and started to peek into the different threads. I then dowloaded Warbreaker and buying The Final Empire and The Well of Ascension from Amazon. I have now finished Warbreaker and The Final Empire and am about half way through The Well of Ascension. I have ordered Elantris through Amazon. I now consider myself a Brandon Sanderson fan. I have one question. I have read that Alcatraz was written as a "Young Adult"  novel, is it worth my time picking it up (I am in my 40's and found the Harry Potter Series, a bit--- basic)?

Tentative publication date is fall 2009.

I loved Warbreaker and only have a few comments at this point

First, the lesser gods (returned) can only use their breath in one shot. While Vasher and the King (he reanimates the stone warriors) are able to use breath in the same way as normal individuals  reanimating several different objects at several different times. If this is going to be a stand-alone novel the inconsistency should be explained. If this is the first book in a series then obviously its a point that can be dealt with later.

Second, Jewel seems to have certain feelings for her Lifeless. She seems more concerned about him then her fellow mercenaries. Did they have a relationship of some type prior to his death?

Third, and this is a more general point. The War that establishes the government of the main country and the Mountain Kingdom is only three hundred years in the past. But, all of its details and reasons are now forgotten to all except maybe the priests and a few StoryTellers. Would not many more facts, legends and artifacts have survived among the commen people, especially in the Mountain Kingdom? Should not the war be set further back in time?

Fourth, and this is a minor point, when Lightsong first discovers his detective skills he ruminates over whether he was a "policeman" in his previous life. This is nit-picky but the term "policeman" has a decided modern feel to it. It was first used in the 19th century during the middle of the Industrial Age. When I saw it used by a character in a World set in a pre-indusrial world it was a bit jarring. Like I said its a bit nit-picky but its the kind of anomaly that drives me to distraction.

Fifth, the interplay between the King and Siri gets little attention after they consummate their marriage. Their interplay is one of the most interesting parts of the book, especially as it shows the King's mental and emotional awakening. It really needs to be paid more attention to.

Lastly, the character Denth(sp) is quite interesting and his mercenary philosophy actually fascinatingly deep. However, in the last couple of chapters he comes off as just being evil.  Vasher's  assassination of his sister and the swordsman scholar gives him good reason to hate and want to kill Vasher. But his character should seem to be much more morally gray then you depict him at the end of the book. Vasher was the Usurper, started a war, created stone warriors, set-up the religion/government of the main Kingdom but he was still  still "good".  Denth, shows philosophical insight he is not a mental cripple like his side-kick.  In reality, is his becoming a mercenary all that more morally reprehensible then Vasher abandoning the main kingdom for three hundred years  after organizing a repressive theocracy ? Use Denth as the "bad" guy but give him a little more credit.  During the duel with Vasher have them dispute their philosophies. Make it clear that both are much more "gray" then either black or white.

I think that his "objectivest" philosophy has turned him from a run of the mill egomaniac onto a paranoid egomaniac.  Actually, I think Goodkind is upset because Ayn Rand placed her philosophy partially in Fantasy setting (Anthem) but was classified as a "serious" novelist and not a fantasy writer.  Here a quote from Shakespeare would be helpful. "The fault dear Brutus (read Goodkind), lies not in the stars but in ourselfs that we be underlings.  Rand was original, good fantasy writers are at least imaginative, Goodkind (IMO) is neither.  His primary interest is not to write a good story but to adnvance his version of "objectivism".  Which puts his novels at a par with those of L. Ron Hubbard.