Author Topic: Currently Reading (2018 Edition)  (Read 6379 times)

DarkeningHumour

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Currently Reading (2018 Edition)
« on: January 11, 2018, 05:42:32 PM »
I finished Oathbringer this year technically, so that counts. It't good but not Words of Radiance good unfortunately. I can't wait for 2020. Totally up to talking about it if anyone's caught up.

I also learned that the series is going to be 10 books long instead of 5, as I thought, so that's rad. Of course, #10 will probably only come out in 2075, but still.

My reading list right now is a bunch of Sanderson Cosmere titles (just finished Elantris) and my father's Christmas book gifts, some of which came from me.
« Last Edit: January 12, 2018, 03:08:29 PM by saltine »
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Dave the Necrobumper

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Re: Re: Books Read in 2018
« Reply #1 on: January 11, 2018, 08:46:09 PM »
How have you found the series with Oathbringer compared to his Mistborn series?

DarkeningHumour

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Re: Re: Books Read in 2018
« Reply #2 on: January 12, 2018, 02:45:09 AM »
Stormlight is better in every respect. The story is not just bigger and grander, the writing is also superior, period. The POV characters are more fleshed out than Vin. Mistborn also suffered from one inherent flaw. It's structure was inherited from the first book, which was about a group of thieves planning a heist, and that worked great. But then Sanderson had to apply that to 2 and 3 and it made less sense. Stormlight is more consistent. It also encourages rereads. Lots of Interlude chapters only make sense if you go back to them because they introduce characters who only start to matter to the story later, sometimes two books later. It is very well planned out. The characters are also better. Shallan is the Vin-like teenage girl Sanderson is fond of writing, and both of them are pretty good, but then you also have a bunch of other POV characters with strong arcs and personalities. Maybe Firstborn has the best secondary characters overall ; there are at least three strong contenders in the crew. That's because there are so many POV characters in Mistborn however, which decreases the pool size.

The only thing I cannot comment on is the overarching arc, because we're not even 50% in in Stormlight. I don't find Mistborn as subversive as some. It doesn't really upend the rules of the genre in my eyes. Stormlight so far is even more cookie cutter though, even if not in a bad way. There are a couple of reveals here and there, but we've basically always known who the baddies were, and it appears Odium is the ultimate Cosmere villain, so it is unlikely there will be many suprises there. It will end up being another Objectively Good Guys vs. Objectively Evil God of Evil type story.

I have other gripes with Stormlight, but comparatively, those are the points that matter.
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Dave the Necrobumper

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Re: Re: Books Read in 2018
« Reply #3 on: January 12, 2018, 03:19:51 AM »
That is good and bad. Good: more books to read, bad: more books to read. Bad: the series is not at my library. Oh well it is going to have to join my book queue. Thank you for the recommendation.

DarkeningHumour

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Re: Re: Books Read in 2018
« Reply #4 on: January 12, 2018, 04:57:38 AM »
One piece of advice: make sure to check out Warbreaker before Oathbringer. I wish I had. There's also a novella between books 2 and 3.

EDIT: Be also wary: The Way of Kings is longer than Mistborn 1 and has four POV characters, not counting the Interludes. That means it takes you longer to get to know them and care for them than it did Vin. The world is also much more complicated and intricate than Scadrial's and we only find out about the magic systems quite late in the book, and that is only to scratch their surface. That means the pacing is significantly slower than Mistborn and the series takes longer to really grab you. The returns are also greater though.
« Last Edit: January 12, 2018, 05:01:59 AM by DarkeningHumour »
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Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: Re: Books Read in 2018
« Reply #5 on: January 12, 2018, 05:38:40 AM »
I thought Warbreaker wasn't connected. I do hope to get to Oathbringer this year.

DarkeningHumour

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Re: Re: Books Read in 2018
« Reply #6 on: January 12, 2018, 05:54:44 AM »
They're all connected. 80% of Sanderson's work belongs to the Cosmere shared universe. The biggest exception is the Reckoners series.
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saltine

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Re: Currently Reading (2018 Edition)
« Reply #7 on: January 12, 2018, 03:10:48 PM »
Molly's Game by Molly Bloom
Entertaining so far.
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MartinTeller

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Re: Currently Reading (2018 Edition)
« Reply #8 on: January 12, 2018, 07:11:23 PM »

george96

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Re: Currently Reading (2018 Edition)
« Reply #9 on: January 13, 2018, 08:47:39 PM »

 

love