Brandon Sanderson

I'd say Warbreaker is a really good place to look for more Cosmere if you like Stormlight, especially since a few characters you'll have seen in the latter make their debut there. I can definitely see people finding some of the Mistborn books boring, my girlfriend liked the first but got tired of the second and never read the third. Elantris I personally really like but it's undeniably rough around the edges.

I'd argue that Wax and Wayne are superior to the original trilogy. While I'm a fan of Mistborn, when I look back, I think The Final Empire is the only one I look back fondly on. Not that I actively dislike the rest of the trilogy, it just... something about it just doesn't click the same with me.

Wax and Wayne, meanwhile, I've read each of the books in it multiple times and I enjoy it every time.

Edited by Prime_of_Perfection on Jan 20th 2020 at 3:56:58 PM

Read Starsight. Real different from Skyward, but not in a bad way. I miss the detailed dogfighting action scenes, but I liked the worldbuilding and alien characters quite a lot, though it's a bit of a shame that the first book's cast was barely in it. Humans Through Alien Eyes both in a literal sense with the Superiority propaganda and more broadly in how the delvers see sapients was pretty fun. Hell of a cliffhanger ending, though. Wiznik really has that spark of Umbridge-like disingenuous, sugar-coated despicableness that makes you hate him deeply.

Oh, and Hesho the totally democratic leader was absolutely great. Sanderson's been finding his footing with comedic characters, they often fell flat in other books but as improbable as it sounds the faux-Japanese Fennec king was extremely loveable. Rest in peace,furry little despot.

Edited by Ninety on Feb 25th 2020 at 2:46:28 AM

Coincidentally, I finally got around to reading that last week as well. I enjoyed it — moreso than Skyward, for the most part. Skyward struck me as a pretty basic, linear story where point A leads directly to point B and that's about it. Starsight had more of that Sanderson flair where there are revelations that completely recontextualize stuff that you've already seen and sends the plot spinning off in an interesting new direction.

I also thought that Starsight had more interesting characters than Skyward. Sanderson's YA characters tend to be a bit weak, with too many of them boiling down to a simple motivation and a quirk or two, and Starsight doesn't really change that, but rather mostly just does a better job of it. For example, I always found David's "bad at metaphors" thing in Reckoners to feel pretty forced, and in Skyward, Spensa's habit of ridiculously overblown insults feels similar, but in Starsight it feels more genuine (partially by being toned down, partially by being referenced less frequently, and partially by just being better written). It also helps that Starsight has a more varied cast to work with than just "downtrodden post-apocalyptic freedom fighters".

I suspect that the sequel to Starsight will be Something Completely Different again, though, by expanding the scope like Starsight did from Skyward. I don't really have any predictions for how that will turn out, but it'll be interesting to see, anyway.

Oh, I actually finished the Reckoners last weekend. Took me about a day per book.

I think the end was kinda abrupt I guess, with Calamity both solving the issue of Prof and being easily defeated by being shown an alternate reality where superheroes exist. Like, for a writer who plans the end and plots backward, I thought that ending was a little underwhelming. Everything leading up to it was ace though.

So, any chemists in the audience... how hard would it have been to make Cadmium and Chomium and their compounds for allomancy with what we see of FE-level tech? Because TLR is supposedly savant or nearly savant in all 16 metals, which indicates a LOT of metals burned, especially Bendalloy, since it burns so fast. That implies some sort of source for the metals during the thousand years of the Empire. While the aluminum was canonically taken from inside volcanoes, the FE has a LOT of volcanoes, and the existence of the metal itself wasn't secret since Vin's source in Book 2 got his metal from Noble's cutlery, so only the fact it was an allomantic metal was secret, and likely it being un-push and -pullable.

So Sanderson has apparently said he's writing a Mistborn screenplay.

I....don't know how to feel about this. I have a strong "some novels don't need adaptation" philosophy. Look at what happened to A Song of Ice and Fire or The Hobbit. And I will say this, every Harry Potter film was garbage and the new Artemis Fowl movie looks like total shit. I have experienced a lifetime of my favorite fantasy literature being butchered.

The fact is, not every book needs to be made into TV show or a film. Sometimes a book is just better left as a book.

Edited by Nikkolas on Mar 12th 2020 at 5:03:34 AM

Nah, I dig it. I also don't think books need an adaptation, but that's very different to people just plain wanting to have one. Sometimes you get a bad movie, disappointing but doesn't cancel out the original books you loved.

Sanderson has been pushing for movies of his books for a while, and many have been picked up and then put down again, so if this means one is either greenlit or close to being greenlit... good for him. Nice money, and a nice boost to his book sales no doubt.

I read an interview a while ago where he made it pretty clear that money wasn't really a factor in his book decisions at this point. Since he's already more than wealthy enough to fund the rest of his life very comfortably.

Although to be fair, he could have been speaking broadly.

I think in terms of an adaption I'd prefer to see Era 2 or some Mistborn preseries bought to the screen.

But I still won't complain if they do Final Empire.

Oh, I seriously doubt he's struggling for cash. But y'know, your spouse is all like "it would be nice if we had another extension to the house Brandon" and you're just like, welp time to plan another 38 book epic series.

Or you sell the rights to somebody and live the rest of your life off Vin merchandise made and sold by somebody else.

I can't remember the last time I saw a good fantasy book adaptation.

Don't think Harry Potter was that bad really. They dropped the ball on some parts, but nothing's perfect.

Witcher series was good.

Game of Thrones was good up until they ran out of original material.

Good Omens was good.

American Gods was good.

We'll see regarding Wheel of Time, but I'm quietly confident.

It's basically a little hit or miss depending on who's doing the adaptation, but this doomposting about fav books being ruined once a film studio gets a hold of them is a bit hyperbolic IMO

The fact that Sanderson is writing the screenplay heads off the biggest problem with adaptations right off the bat. He's not going to change the entire story for some random reason. If he was going to do that, he would market it as an entirely new story.

So it's either going to be a good adaptation of one of his existing books (I'd start with Elantris, but Mistborn is probably more popular) or he's decided that a good adaptation would be impossible and it's going to be a new story.

I don't see why you can't do Final Empire's main plot in a movie. It's a heist movie plus "poor person dresses up to act like a noble person" plus master/student magic learning. Shaving off some extraneous scenes to hit the key story beats shouldn't be a problem, and you have a formula that is really quite doable within Hollywood imo.

Edited by GoldenKaos on Mar 12th 2020 at 4:35:04 PM

And most of the fights should require relatively little special effects for a flashy high fantasy thing. It's all wire-fu and coin bullets as opposed to fireballs shaped like a dragon or whatever.

(Side note, The Hobbit seems like an odd example to bring up as inherently unadaptable. Yeah, the people behind the live-action trilogy had no clue what kind of story they were working with, but I've never heard those complaints about the Rankin-Bass movie so how is the issue with the source material?)

A lighthearted 100-minute adventure movie ending in a heartbreaking battle would have been great.

The Peter Jackson version had a very well-documented case of troubled production, with many people with fingers in the pie looking for their cut of LOTR money and as result a lot of executive meddling to boot. It's hardly the Hobbit's fault that it turned out as it did.

I know I've mentioned this a couple times now but it really does strike me as the biggest difference between ASOIAF and TSA is just how idealistic the latter is. Martin is not as grimderp as some say but his story is one of relentless failure and misery for our poor heroes. There are bright points but they feel so few and far between. It's why, even though The Final Empire (my first Sanderson novel) starts off more fucked up than anything in Westeros, Mistborn never felt to me like it was half as depressing as ASOIAF. As it pertains to Stormlight Archive though, Shallan's convincing the deserters to be better men and her relationship with Tyn really stand out to me. Tyn talks about making hard choices, about being broken. She's clearly not a happy person. And that's the key - justice is vital component of happy and fulfilling life in this setting. Wealth and power and even excitement are no substitute. There is is not a single happy unjust person in this setting that I can think of. Even Sadeas, when we get his perspective, is doing all of this because he's afraid of death, of his failing body, He's not happy scheming and plotting.

From Shallan's father to Tyn to Shallan herself, lies destroy a person.

Edited by Nikkolas on Mar 13th 2020 at 6:30:21 AM

I still don't really like the final battle in the Mistborn trilogy.

... is it possible to respect something for its cleverness while also not enjoying it that much?

From your post i would guess so^^

I read that so long ago I literally don't remember what happened.

I have a vague recollection of what happened. A lot happened, actually.

Vin halfway between Preservation and Mistborn and annihilating Inquisitors was awesome.

The other part with Elend and co. fighting to the last against...whatever they were fighting is less memorable to me.

Edited by Nikkolas on Mar 13th 2020 at 11:07:37 AM

The ending pays off this very intricate web of plotting that Sanderson had been seeding throughout the book. Where a very specific number of people were being affected by the Mists. Some were dying, some were falling sick and quickly getting better, and some were becoming sick for an especially long time. That last group became ostracized by the rest of Elend's army, and Elend eventually sent them off on a special mission for their own protection. It turns out that the mists were actually Snapping people, and those that were ill for an ultra-long time were the Atium mistlings. So, Elend ended up with an army of invincible super soldiers sitting on a stockpile of Atium.

The slow trickle of information throughout the story and the way it all snaps together in the end is really awesome. The problem I had is that after the initial "Aw shit!" moment where you realize what Sanderson is doing, the story is basically over. Atium soldiers aren't going to lose to Gholam. And as long as the Atium soldiers use up the Atium stockpile (and there's no reason why they wouldn't), Ruin loses.

Edited by GNinja on Mar 13th 2020 at 6:25:04 PM

Oh, yeah. Don't see that as a problem really.

Most people don't.

The real climax of the book to me is Vin vs all the I Nquisitors. That's the last time Ruin really had a chance of winning. Beyond that point, while it's impressive to see how the plotting all slots together, I don't really find much to enjoy in a final confrontation which is basically decided before it even begins. It's a formality, but it's also one that drags on for a while.

Edited by GNinja on Mar 13th 2020 at 7:23:22 PM