All things Brandon Sanderson

nite1_sl said:

One of his students, Brian mcclellan, is coming out with a book in April called promise of blood. Here's the write up. It actually seems like a really cool premise.
http://aidanmoher.com/blog/2013/02/a...ian-mcclellan/

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/031621...nkeyslothst-20

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Seems like a neat idea in the least.

Nebuchadnezzar_sl said:

God needs to have someone teach him how to curse correctly. Storm you, bros, storm you.

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Storm you heathen. I'll storming kill you!

That stuff does irk me a bit, but the converse is often equally irritating. Like everyone referring to the ground as earth or something. I don't know exactly when dirt also became the word for the planet in our iteration of the matrix, but in these stories we read, I think there should be a parallel, and not them using the name of the planet I'm on for their dirt. It just makes me notice I'm reading a story when I had passed that barrier and was IN the world myself a moment ago. Those kind of withdraw points are bothersome. Strangely, the storm you type cursing does it as well, but to a lesser extent.

Looks like the next book in The Storm Light Archives will be "Words of Radiance"

So there we are! Words of Radiance. The book finally has a title. Now if I can just get back to writing the thing, life will be groovy. (And for future reference, I don?t expect this will be the only entry in the series to change names from its working title to its real title. Stones Unhallowed, Szeth?s book, might change. Highprince of War, Dalinar?s book, most certainly will.)

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http://www.tor.com/blogs/2013/02/the...-been-revealed

notafunhater_sl said:

Have you guys heard this rumor that all of his books are linked somehow? Like a couple certain characters that show up in every single one?

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Take a page out of the Stephen King book huh? I think that is awesome. I loved how Flagg would bounce around books / be different people but still be the same. Once I finish up the last wheel of time book I might have to check out some of his original work.

Brandon Sanderson_sl said:

One of my goals for the Stormlight Archive, which you may have heard me discuss, is to focus each book on a specific character through a series of flashbacks. In a large series like this (the Stormlight Archive is two five-book sequences), it can be difficult to give each volume its own identity. By devoting a sequence of flashbacks in each book to a specific character, I can better separate the volumes in my mind?and therefore make them more distinctive to readers.

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Okay, does this not sound like the same thing that's completely destroying Peter Brett at the moment? Also, I can't be the only one who just skipped the Kaladin flashbacks in WOK once I realized they were largely pointless, right?

Nebuchadnezzar_sl said:

Okay, does this not sound like the same thing that's completely destroying Peter Brett at the moment? Also, I can't be the only one who just skipped the Kaladin flashbacks in WOK once I realized they were largely pointless, right?

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Peter Brett is destroying himself with overall bad writing, not with flashbacks. As for Kaladin's flashbacks, I agree that his childhood was just cut and dry heroish origin building that every fantasy story seems to do with one child or another and could have been done better or spent less time on. I would have preferred a brief mention of key details and more of a focus on his early life as a slave. His time in the army on the other hand was necessary for showing how he got in the cage in the first place though. On that note I really wish that Sanderson had spent more time on Kaladin's inner thoughts regarding that suit of shardplate, there was too little inner torment and too much of a casual dismissal to make that moment feel right to me.

I suppose that would be my main complaint about Kaladin, that he is too pure and good; he's never tempted by self interest, not even a tiny bit. His only fault is occasional despair and he can't really be blamed for that given the situation he finds himself in. That said I still like his story and am interested in where it might go.

Kaladin's flashbacks, along with being character building for the book itself, is also Sanderson setting up a bunch of future Moments of AwesomenessT & a Prodigal Son ReturnsT. But yeah, he could have edited them down a bit.

About Kaladin's character... switch the K with a P I guess. Sanderson isn't being too subtle here. I agree the moment he gives up the shardplate/blade moment could have been a little better handled. MAYBE we'll learn more about why the idea of taking the weapon for himself disgusted him later, there might be more to it than just "this weapon was used to kill my friends".

Ayeshala_sl said:

MAYBE we'll learn more about why the idea of taking the weapon for himself disgusted him later, there might be more to it than just "this weapon was used to kill my friends".

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I really do hope so. Had he been motivated even a little bit by a lust for glory and power when he led that charge and then had a long moment of reflection on just what the price for it all was then I could understand it better. But he wasn't and that just made the refusal really strange and artificial feeling especially given the opportunities he could have given to himself and his men had he taken it up if only to sell it later.

Perhaps it's related to that vision of the Knights Radiant at the fort.

I kind of assumed that his giving up the shard plate was more of an instinctual decision instead of something that was a conscious thought process. his spren, Sylph?, kind of backs this up when she says that she flat out hates the blades

Ayeshala_sl said:

I agree the moment he gives up the shardplate/blade moment could have been a little better handled. MAYBE we'll learn more about why the idea of taking the weapon for himself disgusted him later, there might be more to it than just "this weapon was used to kill my friends".

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I saw the decision as being related to Kaladin's hatred of the lighteyes. He wants to differentiate himself from them as much as possible. To him, a lighteyes would do anything to win shards. But he paid the price, willing or no, and to take them would make him truly a lighteyes.

Ko Dokomo_sl said:

I saw the decision as being related to Kaladin's hatred of the lighteyes. He wants to differentiate himself from them as much as possible. To him, a lighteyes would do anything to win shards. But he paid the price, willing or no, and to take them would make him truly a lighteyes.

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I took it more as an I just got all my friends killed for this... moment even though it came off a bit weird and artificial especially since he wasn't fighting for the sword and armor anyway. But had he just taken the spoils he could have then sold them and bought his own little darkeyed kingdom somewhere and that is what makes the whole situation bizarre and hard to understand at least for me. It may seem like a minor quibble but it isthepivotal moment in his back story and its just really odd without any further explanation.

Haven't seen this posted in the thread yet, but The Overlord has a YouTube page where he records himself as he's writing the second Stormlight book. Pretty interesting to watch if you're at all interested in his writing process.

Perhaps its just me, but wouldn't Kal just drain the shard plate of energy anyway using his abilities making it pretty useless? In terms of his character I think that he realized what alot of the fighting was over and didn't want to "sink" to that level. Perhaps he's waiting for a shard spear his weapon of choice!

Maybe the plate, but the only other surgebinder (I think that's the name) we know well is the assassin, and he uses the shardblade pretty damned handily.

The Assassin guy is more deadly without the shardblade.

Someone on his forums asked what would happen if Nightblood and a Shardblade hit each other

The answer: RAFO

I love this guy. He knows how to get his fanbase fired up.

Zindan_sl said:

The Assassin guy is more deadly without the shardblade.

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The only time he does not use his shardblade is when he wants to be incognito. Otherwise hes running around cutting holes in solid granite and flinging the peices and other object around for laughs.

Ayeshala_sl said:

The answer: RAFO

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For anyone else who doesn't want to look up every obscure acronym: Read And Find Out.

Gask_sl said:

The only time he does not use his shardblade is when he wants to be incognito. Otherwise hes running around cutting holes in solid granite and flinging the peices and other object around for laughs.

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No, if I recall, he drops the shardblade on purpose before killing a bunch of guards (I forget which ruler he was going after). I think he may have also thought that killing without the shardblade was easier/better.

Doesn't he drop the shardblade because the soldiers had shields that could block it? Since they were able to block the sword, it became easier to kill them without it.