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Author Topic: Constructive Criticism  (Read 3577 times)

darxbane

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Re: Constructive Criticism
« Reply #15 on: February 09, 2009, 05:40:17 PM »
I think you oversimplify a little bit.  Sure, there is a basic structure to any story, but what you have stated is not true of all the books.  For example, Mistborn does not have that hopeless moment in it.  Sure, there is a tragic moment, but no hopeless one.  Elantris was Brandon's first published full-length novel, so it is going to have some cookie-cutter elements to it.  Also, Vin is not all that outside her element.  She's a thief, and is used to skulking around in the shadows.  Sure, she has to develop other parts of her character, but she was made to be a Mistborn.

Straight plan-betrayal-miracle?  What part of Well of Ascension had the miracle?  It seems to me the ending of that story didn't go so well for the heroes.
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melbatoast

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Re: Constructive Criticism
« Reply #16 on: February 09, 2009, 08:30:34 PM »
You know, I thought the same thing after I read Elantris again right after finishing the Mistborn series. There are a lot of similar elements, but really, who cares? Brandon tells a great story every time.
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Peter Ahlstrom

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Re: Constructive Criticism
« Reply #17 on: February 09, 2009, 09:53:21 PM »
I think a formula becomes a problem if it means you can predict what's going to happen (not just that a certain class of something is going to happen). So far, Brandon has managed to keep the level of surprising-yet-inevitable quite high.
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Relient A

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Re: Constructive Criticism
« Reply #18 on: February 10, 2009, 03:09:45 AM »
Perhaps he thinks that Vin finding a way to defeat TLR and Elend's... change at the end of WoA to be miracles. I don't think this is the case, but I can see how they would be mistaken as such.
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little wilson

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Re: Constructive Criticism
« Reply #19 on: February 10, 2009, 05:14:14 AM »
Exactly. I can also see how they can be viewed as miracles, but I don't consider them to be. They're both perfectly plausible within the confines of the story, which is really all that matters.
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Tino Didriksen

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Re: Constructive Criticism
« Reply #20 on: February 17, 2009, 07:13:08 PM »
Righty, I have now read Hero of Ages, and am happy to say it was not at all a repeat of the same ending. So...repetitive cycle broken, and moving on. Was really just that I wanted.

Good books, all of them.
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Peter Ahlstrom

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Re: Constructive Criticism
« Reply #21 on: February 18, 2009, 06:05:34 AM »
Glad to hear it. :)
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