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Book Review: Wind and Truth | The Bloat of Sanderson—Vision Lost

…And I’m back! This will be short, so let’s dive right in.

I finished Wind and Truth in late December and sat on my review for a while, but if I post to Goodreads, then I might as well post here. Rhythm of War was a slog to get through, while a bunch of jarring verbiage to take you out of the story, and it only got worse with WaT. So, without further ado, the review….

Honestly, I put this book at a 2.5, and I’ll probably go back through the series and readjust my ratings. What started out as a promising series has suffered under the burden of bloat, and this outing presents all of Sanderson’s flaws in sharp focus, and brings a few new ones to light. I don’t know if it’s with the retirement of his old editor, no one willing to be direct with him, or the story’s getting away from him, but I’m not one to gobble down everything I’m spoon-fed and ask, “Please, sir, can I have some more?” At this point, I don’t know if I’ll even finish his series.

Let me be frank: I want Sanderson to succeed, and I will always love his first Mistborn Trilogy, but I’m not above being contrarian, going against the grain, and letting them know when they’re failing—Rothfuss and Martin anyone? While the new layout, 10-days, gave the novel some sense of movement, it was beleaguered with half-hearted prose, flat-to-surface level characters, an intense focus or obsession on their disorders, and plodding down a worn-out path of their philosophies and beliefs. Like, dude, we get it. Mention it once, then once more for the slower readers like myself, and then let it go.

Bloat: I don’t mind long books, but mother of God, they could’ve cut out 40% and made it a lot more impactful. Also, I once enjoyed the flashbacks early on, but now it’s used as a cudgel to drive points home. If we need to do so many flashbacks, maybe back up and write a book covering those.

Characters: Kaladin—used to be an interesting character in books 1 & 2, and I haven’t been able to stomach him since. I can’t wait to get to other chapters without him. Dalinar—I once enjoyed reading him, and now, since about book 3 on, I find him tepid at best. Jasnah—to be frank, it just seems like she’s there to round out male vs female characters. Shallan—she was once my favorite character, but her flitting in and out of other characters has become quite tiresome, and now, I give it an eye roll every twenty seconds. Adolin—to me, he’s always hovered at the edges, and none of his chapters have made me stand up and take notice of him with two exceptions: when he and Shallan went to their first date/dinner, and very late in WaT, where he finds himself back at square one, or even below that. The only other character I somewhat enjoy is Taravangian, and heroes are only as good as your villains, but I find him lacking. I find the rest of the characters white noise.

I spent a great deal of time in this book eye rolling and having wtf moments, but not in a good way. Sanderson has slipped down the path of The Last Jedi kind of bad, but instead of pulling a Rian “Ruin” Johnson, I hope to takes time to reassess those flaws and fix them moving forward. Some things were ham-fisted, or they came out of nowhere, and it leaves me scratching my head, wondering where the breadcrumbs were all along. They came out of the blue, and while that can sometimes be good with plot twists, these were twists to characters and/or plot. While you want readers to go, “yup, didn’t see that coming,” you should at least have clues they can pick up on after the fact.

Prose: No need to hit this, as everyone knows Sanderson is incredibly weak in this area.

There’s a bunch of other points, but I’m sure you can read other reviews to find them. This is pretty long for myself, and I rarely write reviews as is. If you enjoyed WaT, I’m happy for you, and I’m glad you enjoyed it. I didn’t. I truly hope Sanderson does better in the future, and I think he could do so by whittling the story of unnecessary fluff. These books would be phenomenal at twice the length of Mistborn 1. Everything else, just bogs it down. These are my humble opinions, so put away the torches and pitch forks. To each their own…

If you enjoyed this content and want more or to support the cause, follow me on Patreon! If you want to read my works, check out my books on Amazon. All are available in eBook and print. Reviews can be found on Goodreads and Amazon. I shall return…

Writing Update: Vol. IV Draft 4.2

…And I’m back! This will be short, so let’s dive right in.

The latest draft is well underway, and I’ve spent the better part of two weeks on it, passing the 50% mark, at least in word count. I’ve managed to cut over 5k words while adding other details to it, and I hope to hit my goal of 275k words. I do plan to do a massive write up regarding book IV and adding a page to my blog, much like how I did for book 1. We’ll see.

In other news, I was in my hometown not too long ago, and I gifted the local library with two copies of Red Creek to put on their shelves. Hopefully, people still go to the library, and they’ll come away with a wild, frontier ride. I also gave an author copy to another individual whom I have weekly interactions with. So far, he said there were moments he genuinely laughed out loud, and it’s nice to know my sense of humor came through on the page.

If you enjoyed this content and want more or to support the cause, follow me on Patreon! If you want to read my works, check out my books on Amazon. All are available in eBook and print. Reviews can be found on Goodreads and Amazon. I shall return…

Writing Update: Vol. IV Draft 4

…And I’m back! This will be short, so let’s dive right in.

Here’s the latest update with the draft. I’ve already trimmed a thousand words, and I’ve added some crucial elements that foreshadow volumes VI & VII. I guess that’s the beauty of it when you can write deeper into the series and make sure your stories line up.

Chapters: 7 / 57
Epilogues: 1 / 9
Total Words: 38,641 / 284,536
Percentage Done: 13.58%

That’s it for this round, short and sweet.

If you enjoyed this content and want more or to support the cause, follow me on Patreon! If you want to read my works, check out my books on Amazon. All are available in eBook and print. Reviews can be found on Goodreads and Amazon. I shall return…

Writing Updates: Dec–May Timeline

…And I’m back! This will be short, so let’s dive right in.

Well, launch date is here for Red Creek. For those of you who haven’t picked up a copy, whether paperback or ebook, snag yourself one. I think you will enjoy Maro Prakk’s next mission, or shall I say his first as a civilian?

What’s new in the Dire Universe? I have, as of launch day for Red Creek, hit my writing and editing goals. I have just finished the third draft to the sequel to The Demon’s Fate. I need a bit of a break before I go back in for my fourth draft, which is, arguably, the easiest draft for me. I’m looking forward to the rebranding of the first book while doing the cover for the second.

So, on this auspicious day, I have a confession. I’ve just finished Book 6 of the Maro Prakk novella series. So, I’m quite a few stories ahead, and I’m totally fine with that. It helps me chart where I’m going, and if there’s something wrong, I can backtrack with little time lost. I’m hoping for at least 15 books in this series, maybe more. We’ll see. On the low side, it’ll be 10. Once books 1–5 are released, I want to grab them all and put them in a big book together with a custom cover of all the prominent characters within. We’ll call it a compendium.

Where does that leave me now? Heading back to my fantasy series. I’ll be knee deep in the slog: Volumes IV–VII on my fantasy series. Don’t know if I’m dreading it or looking forward to it. Volume IV is starting the fourth draft, so maybe it’ll take a few weeks, but it’s also my longest book at 285k words, and time might be contingent on if I cut a lot more. Volume V is about 95K words long, and it’ll definitely be the shortest in the series, but it needs a second draft, which will take some time as I add to the story. Maybe a month at most? Volume VI is a first draft and sitting around 265k words, so a month and a half to two months to see that one through. By the end, it might be longer than Volume IV. Volume VII has some parts written, maybe 1/3, so tack on another month or two. Somewhere between March–May, I’ll come up for air.

And by that time, I will have snuck in a fourth and fifth draft on Bloodbane, the second book for the Maro Prakk series, which is due out mid 2025. So, I’ve got my work cut out for me, but got to strike while the iron is hot and when I have time. As soon as football season is over—sooner rather than later seeing how terrible my Cowboys are doing—I’ll have more time on my hands to do write. Although, I’m rooting for the Bills to pull it off, and the Texans, so I might be locked in all the way to the SuperBowl. As long as it ain’t the Chiefs…

If you enjoyed this content and want more or to support the cause, follow me on Patreon! If you want to read my works, check out my books on Amazon. All are available in eBook and print. Reviews can be found on Goodreads and Amazon. I shall return…

Red Creek—Live Tomorrow!

Trail justice is bloody work. Red Creek: where the Old West meets the Witcher. What lengths will a man go to save a little girl? Find out Dec. 10th, as Maro, and his horse, Bastard, track down a reprehensible gang, one poor soul at a time. Preorder now! Live tomorrow!

Red Creek—Live December 10th!

Not all heroes wear badges, and sometimes, true justice is bloody work. Red Creek: where the Old West meets the Witcher. What lengths will a man go to save a little girl? Find out Dec. 10th, as Maro, and his horse, Bastard, track down a reprehensible gang, one poor soul at a time. Preorder Red Creek now!

Writing Update—Back on the Horse

…And I’m back! This will be short, so let’s dive right in.

After the change in pace due to life’s circumstances, I’ve managed to get back on the horse and start making headway again. I’m currently about 60% into the third draft of my military sci-fi sequel to The Demon’s Fate, which I’m hoping for a 2026 release date. It’s clipping along nicely, and draft three always seems to be the easiest one for me. Then again, draft three focuses on the senses and the world around the characters, so there’s not much to add. 

We’ve got Red Creek about to hit the shelves for a December 10th release. It’ll be available in paperback and ebook. I’m very excited to introduce the world to Maro Prakk, a character I’ve been sitting on for years. Next year, hopefully near the middle of summer, we’ll also be getting the sequel to that story. I need to kick off draft four, then five, then it’s off to the editor. For this story, I returned to my cover artist, Ivan Zahn. He does great work over there at Book Covers Art, and I’m over the moon about finding him. Make sure you head over that way and check out his portfolio. 

In other news, I’m piddling around with a new project, fleshing out ideas and trying story paths, and I’m eyeing two books in my fantasy series that needs my attention, Volume IV and Volume VII. I haven’t finished the latter, and the former needs draft four completed. With a release date of 2027, I don’t have much time to lose, and it’s the longest novel by far. However, once I do go down that path, I have a feeling I’ll roll right into Volumes V, VI, and VII. That’ll be a six-month hiatus, at the minimum, from anything else.

If you enjoyed this content and want more or to support the cause, follow me on Patreon! If you want to read my works, check out my books on Amazon. All are available in eBook and print. Reviews can be found on Goodreads and Amazon. I shall return…

Red Creek Cover

…And I’m back! This will be short, so let’s dive right in.

Well, the cover artist does it again. Ladies and gents, without further ado, I give you Red Creek, designed by Ivan Zahn at Book Covers Art.

Tell me what you think! Drop your comments on the post.

If you enjoyed this content and want more or to support the cause, follow me on Patreon! If you want to read my works, check out my books on Amazon. All are available in eBook and print. Reviews can be found on Goodreads and Amazon. I shall return…

Update: Screeching Halt

…And I’m back! This will be short, so let’s dive right in.

It’s been a hot moment since my last posting, and a lot of stuff has happened. First, I was in a major vehicle accident—no fault of my own. As you can imagine, that derailed things a bit. A second situation arose because of it regarding health because of the crash, so I’m taking time to investigate that. And the third, I’ve just haven’t been in the right head space to write or edit, burned out, so I’ve been rather idle on that front. The latter is a slump that I hope to shake off soon. 

But before all that, I was able to get through the third draft of Bloodbane, and the reception among beta readers is mixed. Bloodbane’s a shift from the grittiness of Red Creek to a comedy horror. While some love the humor, others aren’t digging it so much. 

Also, Red Creek has returned from the editor and it’s ready to go. I’ve reached out to the cover artist, and we’re set to work on the cover in mid-November. We’ll see what magic he comes up with. Again, I hope to have it out on shelves sometime in December. 

If you enjoyed this content and want more or to support the cause, follow me on Patreon! If you want to read my works, check out my books on Amazon. All are available in eBook and print. Reviews can be found on Goodreads and Amazon. I shall return…

Red Creek Update

…And I’m back! This will be short, so let’s dive right in.

Entering the final stages of Red Creek hitting the shelves. I just fired off the manuscript to my editor, Jon, over in England, and I’ve reached out to Ivan, my amazing cover artist in Italy. We’re still near the top on his Fantasy Covers, so go check out all the incredible work he does. Ivan and I are working on the finer details of the cover before the crafting phase begins. I very much hope to have Red Creek available for ebook and print by December. It’s tight, but doable. That’s all for now, we’ll keep you posted.

If you enjoyed this content and want more or to support the cause, follow me on Patreon! If you want to read my works, check out my books on Amazon. All are available in eBook and print. Reviews can be found on Goodreads and Amazon. I shall return…