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Am I missing something about Mistborn? I'm really not seeing where all this praise is coming from...


Jaerid

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I always was under the impression it was a novel he wrote before that he took out and polished up. Honestly, I've been up for days writing about Shakespeare sonnets, so I'm kind of loopy, and I could be pulling this out of my butt.

He did write it - or at least a draft of it - many years ago, long before even Elantris was published. He then re-edited it for publication, but the re-editing turned out to be a significant rewrite of most of the entire novel (which is quite some feat, considering he was working on the three WoT books simultaneously).

There's an afterword to the first volume of the novel (WoK is two volumes in paperback in the UK) where he goes into this in some detail, more than I've seen him say online, and it was quite interesting. The good news is that apparently WoK will be the longest book in the series.

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I really liked Mistborn, the first one. I stayed up an entire night completely transfixed by the story. I thought the story was so interesting that I didn't even notice the little idiosyncrasies in his writing that I didn't like.

Then I read the second and the third book, and while I still really liked the story, a couple things bugged me. For one, he's really really repetitive. I felt like I was reading the same thing over and over again. I think a good 150 pages could have been shaved off each of the last two books without anything being missed.

He at least writes in a very accessible way so that they are very fast reads, but if I had to read about another person landing maladroitly one more time...

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If only we had access to a vast interconnected network--we might call it an "inter-net"--that allowed easy searching across many sources to produce evidence and accurate information! ;)

In this post on his blog, Sanderson says:

Getting [both The Way of Kings and Towers of Midnight] out in the same year required fourteen-hour days, six days a week, for a good year and a half. [And that included the buffer of having] the first version of The Way of Kings that I'd written in 2002. I threw it away and started over, but having written it once before sped the process a great deal.

In other words, I don't think any perceived dip in prose quality in The Way of Kings could be attributed to it having been written earlier than his other books. It wasn't. (And anyway, if you're dating first drafts--of questionable utility to begin with--you'd also have to note that Elantris was first drafted in 1999, putting it back before Way of Kings again.)

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I think it's just a different mindset around here than other sites I go to. See any Dresden Files thread for example; people are constantly admitting it's not high literature but justifying their enjoyment by saying it's like a mindless, fun, summer blockbuster. People here just seem more critical.

How is that a bad thing?

I mean, I can enjoy an 80s Arnie action movie in all it's silly glory. I love Commando. But at no point would I claim Commando was good.

Judging a book critically is all about enjoying it. It's just about enjoying works that aren't just shallow fluff.

Sanderson isn't crap and isn't just fluff, but he's not a great author either. Decent enough prose, good enough if predictable plotting, interesting settings, decent enough if cliched characters, the old North American trifecta of "Mucho Violence/No Sex/No Cursing" that's always silly and so on.

Amen brother. I love all the trash talk about a PUBLISHED author from a bunch of would be, some day, soon to be authors/critics on this site.

If you don't like him don't read him. If you can do better than DO IT and stop bitching.

http://thehumanscorc...le-facepalm.jpg

Wow, you manage to wrap so much stupid into only a few sentences. There's at least like 3 dumb arguments here, including the classic "You can't do better so you aren't allowed to criticize".

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I think it's just a different mindset around here than other sites I go to. See any Dresden Files thread for example; people are constantly admitting it's not high literature but justifying their enjoyment by saying it's like a mindless, fun, summer blockbuster. People here just seem more critical.

Uh, aren't the Dresden Files sort of a mindless, fun, summer blockbuster? For someone who argued about stopping to think critically and enjoying the read, that seems to be the highest praise a book could have. What's wrong with saying it like it is?

If you don't like him don't read him. If you can do better than DO IT and stop bitching.
Seemed to me that to know if I liked something, I had to try it first. My mother used that tactic when I was a kid, and although I could not cook, I could still tell when something was bad or not.

And I don't see why people should refrain from negative criticism about something they didn't like: it's not "bitching", and it's actually useful for those who want opinions on the book.

Maybe you want to take your own advice and stop reading this forum, since you don't seem to like it, and go read some other board where only positive reviews are allowed. Like the Goodkind forums, or maybe the Stanek ones.

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Amen brother. I love all the trash talk about a PUBLISHED author from a bunch of would be, some day, soon to be authors/critics on this site.

If you don't like him don't read him. If you can do better than DO IT and stop bitching.

The argument that not being a published author means you can't criticise people who are is utterly fucking laughable and something used only by people who have run out of real arguments. As is the idea, implicit in that post, that a PUBLISHED author automatically has no flaws that can be picked up on.

The idea that criticising something means you're not enjoying it is also a befuddling one. I mean, Mistborn I did struggle with the second two books, but Malazan, for example, I fucking love but still pick holes in it regularly. For me it's less the mindset of a critic than that of someone who wants to tell stories myself, and therefore examines in particular the structure of everything I read or watch, and I suspect at least a few of the 'bitches' are in the same boat.

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Amen brother. I love all the trash talk about a PUBLISHED author from a bunch of would be, some day, soon to be authors/critics on this site.

If you don't like him don't read him. If you can do better than DO IT and stop bitching.

You're the only one I see bitching here. Way of Kings was interesting to me, but only because of the world in which the characters lived. I loved Warbreaker and the Mistborn trilogy was fun. I like Sanderson but that doesn't mean I'm blind to his flaws. Also Terry Goodkind is a published author just throwing that out there.

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Amen brother. I love all the trash talk about a PUBLISHED author from a bunch of would be, some day, soon to be authors/critics on this site.

If you don't like him don't read him. If you can do better than DO IT and stop bitching.

:rolleyes:

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If everyone stepped back, you'd see that this board is more attuned to rated R literary fare than PG. That's fine. ASOIAF is definitely R rated.

But just because a book doesn't have sex/language/etc, that doesn't make it toilet paper worthy. Likewise, a "gritty" book crammed with sex/language/etc doesn't always translate into a superior read.

In every thread about Sanderson, someone points at his religion and says without adult themes his books suck. To which I say bullshit. Like him or not, but don't blame his beliefs for your difference in tastes.

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If everyone stepped back, you'd see that this board is more attuned to rated R literary fare than PG. That's fine. ASOIAF is definitely R rated.

But just because a book doesn't have sex/language/etc, that doesn't make it toilet paper worthy. Likewise, a "gritty" book crammed with sex/language/etc doesn't always translate into a superior read.

In every thread about Sanderson, someone points at his religion and says without adult themes his books suck. To which I say bullshit. Like him or not, but don't blame his beliefs for your difference in tastes.

I agree with this, the notion that a fantasy must have sex and language in order to be considered "adult", "gritty" or "good" is ridiculous. It seems to be becoming a common trend for books to be called YA for not including descriptive sex scenes or vulgar language, by that definition then Lord of the Rings is YA, as are most of the best selling fantasy series in history. ASOIAF is certainly full of such things, but that does not make it better then other fantasy because of that, sometimes I find myself reading ASOIAF (mostly the recent book ) and find myself wonder if any of the language and sex, which just seems to be getting more and more common, really even contributes anything to the story or setting anymore.

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If everyone stepped back, you'd see that this board is more attuned to rated R literary fare than PG. That's fine. ASOIAF is definitely R rated.

But just because a book doesn't have sex/language/etc, that doesn't make it toilet paper worthy. Likewise, a "gritty" book crammed with sex/language/etc doesn't always translate into a superior read.

In every thread about Sanderson, someone points at his religion and says without adult themes his books suck. To which I say bullshit. Like him or not, but don't blame his beliefs for your difference in tastes.

People swear and fuck in real life. The second is, in fact, an enourmous part of the human experience.

Books that completely ignore these elements or treat them the same way a kid's cartoon does come off rather juvenile.

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If everyone stepped back, you'd see that this board is more attuned to rated R literary fare than PG. That's fine. ASOIAF is definitely R rated.

But just because a book doesn't have sex/language/etc, that doesn't make it toilet paper worthy. Likewise, a "gritty" book crammed with sex/language/etc doesn't always translate into a superior read.

In every thread about Sanderson, someone points at his religion and says without adult themes his books suck. To which I say bullshit. Like him or not, but don't blame his beliefs for your difference in tastes.

I agree with your points.

Everyone else that has a problem with my comment is laughable. My problem is with a few people on this board that love to trash an author and point out all their flaws and those said people have NO TALENT themselves at all. They just love to run around bashing what popular at the time. This is why I ask WHAT HAVE YOU WRITTEN or GO DO BETTER IF YOUR SO SMART. My biggest problem is with what the poster that I quoted brought up, I think people have a problem with him being a mormon more than anything else so they trash him for any and everything. OS Card comes to mind. I also find the comments about him not using bad language and sex in his books funny as hell too. It takes more talent not to say fuck, shit and talk about someone's wet pussy than to just blurt it out and put it in.

I love GRRM, I'm his biggest fan.... Mistborn and way of kings were much better reads then the last two ASOIAF books. Even without all the bad language, sex and endless descriptions, page after page after page, of food. You guys complain about Sanderson filling his books with repetitive fluff? Martin has him beat by a landslide with his boring descriptions of food alone.

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People swear and fuck in real life. The second is, in fact, an enourmous part of the human experience.

Books that completely ignore these elements or treat them the same way a kid's cartoon does come off rather juvenile.

So you think Danial Abraham's Long Price is juvenile?

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We are reading scifi/fantasy.... Not The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay or The Road. If all these silly fantasy writers are not living up to all your nitpicks go read a book from a "real writer"

I know I'm gonna get shit for that... Who cares. I read fantasy for fun stories that take me to a make believe world. Sanderson does that very well, so does Martin. But to be completely honest... Neither of them write near as well as the authors of the two books I just listed, no fantasy writer does. No matter how bad you want to tell yourself they do, that don't. They write silly stories (which I love) about magic, dragons and silly little worlds.

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We are reading scifi/fantasy.... Not The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay or The Road. If all these silly fantasy writers are not living up to all your nitpicks go read a book from a "real writer"

I know I'm gonna get shit for that... Who cares. I read fantasy for fun stories that take me to a make believe world. Sanderson does that very well, so does Martin. But to be completely honest... Neither of them write near as well as the authors of the two books I just listed, no fantasy writer does. No matter how bad you want to tell yourself they do, that don't. They write silly stories (which I love) about magic, dragons and silly little worlds.

The Road is far from the best of that autors works. Also I really didn't like it. And stop bitching for the love of god

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And what's so what's so juvenile about sandersons books. They are brutal, wrapped in political situations. He has his characters make tough decisions that they have to live with. That's juvenile because he does not use bad language and talk about sex. Our world has completely gone to hell or there are a bunch of 14 year olds here that are upset cause they can't get themselves off reading a book. How sad.

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And what's so what's so juvenile about sandersons books. They are brutal, wrapped in political situations. He has his characters make tough decisions that they have to live with. That's juvenile because he does not use bad language and talk about sex. Our world has completely gone to hell or there are a bunch of 14 year olds here that are upset cause they can't get themselves off reading a book. How sad.

I think you should relax a little, no sense insulting people because they disagree with you.

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I agree with your points.

Everyone else that has a problem with my comment is laughable. My problem is with a few people on this board that love to trash an author and point out all their flaws and those said people have NO TALENT themselves at all. They just love to run around bashing what popular at the time. This is why I ask WHAT HAVE YOU WRITTEN or GO DO BETTER IF YOUR SO SMART. My biggest problem is with what the poster that I quoted brought up, I think people have a problem with him being a mormon more than anything else so they trash him for any and everything. OS Card comes to mind. I also find the comments about him not using bad language and sex in his books funny as hell too. It takes more talent not to say fuck, shit and talk about someone's wet pussy than to just blurt it out and put it in.

I love GRRM, I'm his biggest fan.... Mistborn and way of kings were much better reads then the last two ASOIAF books. Even without all the bad language, sex and endless descriptions, page after page after page, of food. You guys complain about Sanderson filling his books with repetitive fluff? Martin has him beat by a landslide with his boring descriptions of food alone.

Ha, i just wanted to quote 'wet pussy'

You are missing the point here. Granted, i hate mormons, but that's besides the point. He seems to not have any real skill (and i say this as an untalented hack) in dealing with adult themes. I can get by without an a/p lesson when describing adult material, but his 'fade to black' mentality, or the cheese dick courtship he puts his main characters through is silly.

Another issue many have is the reluctance to tackle any of these areas, yet he has no problem describing someone getting decapitated.. seems hypocritical.

Oh, and you're fucking out of your mind if you think anything by Sanderson is even playing the same sport as GRRM.

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And what's so what's so juvenile about sandersons books. They are brutal, wrapped in political situations. He has his characters make tough decisions that they have to live with. That's juvenile because he does not use bad language and talk about sex. Our world has completely gone to hell or there are a bunch of 14 year olds here that are upset cause they can't get themselves off reading a book. How sad.

You got it. He's onto us boys. Time to give up the game. me399 has i figured out. Fuck, and i thought we were doing so well to hide it.

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