Liked every bit of it. The ending felt a (view spoiler)[little too nice, and out of sorts, even though it had a nice "fourth-wall"-esque bre4.5 stars.
Liked every bit of it. The ending felt a (view spoiler)[little too nice, and out of sorts, even though it had a nice "fourth-wall"-esque break. (hide spoiler)]
The new aspects were nice, and I'll keep waiting for the time Marvel's Legion gets cancelled and this gets under development instead....more
I'd read the first one-third of this book as it was published at Tor.com. I even wrote a script that would compile and provide meRe-read review (2020)
I'd read the first one-third of this book as it was published at Tor.com. I even wrote a script that would compile and provide me EPUB files for easy reading. As such, the re-read gave me a chance to get a fresh/complete look after 3 years, especially for the first one-third which I had to read episodically.
Sanderson's strength is endings, but this is book 3 of a 5 part sequence, and while there are things happening - it is hard to keep a balance in the middle books. Oathbringer manages it quite well - each character arc holds up to the promises that were made in the last book. We first encounter (view spoiler)[2 different Unmades (hide spoiler)] and get a sense of the enemy.
The ending itself is, as you can expect from a Sanderson's book, an avlanche of emotions, and one of the best written battle sequences I've read. With so many viewpoint characters in the (view spoiler)[Battle of Thaylen city (hide spoiler)], it is a tough act to make sure that the reader doesn't get confused (what happens in the Endgame final battle, for eg). At every point, as the viewpoints keep switching - you know where everyone is, and what are they upto. The (view spoiler)[Odium showing up to supervise (hide spoiler)] was superb - showing how high the stakes are getting.
Highly recommended, and if you haven't started the series yet - now is a good time - you can finish the first 3 books in time for release of Rhythm of War this november....more
**spoiler alert** Did you know NASA uses Armageddon, the 1998 film, in their Management training program. The 150 minute of film contains over 168 imp**spoiler alert** Did you know NASA uses Armageddon, the 1998 film, in their Management training program. The 150 minute of film contains over 168 impossibles[1]. It makes for a great exercise in seeing how many of those things their staff can recognize, both the impossible things and the improbable.
Zero 'g' is the book equivalent. There is even a scene in the book, where the "smart kid" questions the shady science that the author is peddling (I was hoping for a meta moment):
Kid: If the earth lost gravity, shouldn't the Earth lose orbit (it says "crash into sun") Heroine: There are other powers at play here, don't question nature!
The reason I read Sci-Fi is that it gives me hope about the world. It shows me how rational science can win and save the day. But when the people doing this science descend to "kindergarten logic", I tend to stop reading. I punched through this mostly because of the short length.
There is so much bad science, I wouldn't recommend it to fifth-graders because that might give them the wrong ideas about how science is actually done. Here's a short list, just for fun:
- Mars berely has a magnetic field. You can't whip up a magnet in your home and "turn Mars the other way" - An asteroid crashing into Bermuda island doesn't help. It is still an extinction level event. No explanation is provided for why an asteroid even gets to earth if _earth has lost gravity_. - Everything about "Particle B": - We need to go to a different star-system to get it - The turn-around is on the order of years, somehow - It is "very heavy", that is all we are told - Noticeably, it has nothing to do towards the climax of the book. I'm assuming it becomes important in Book 2 - No, Humanity cannot clear enough junk from earth to make it lose it's mass in half-a-century. See the rocket equation for why - Why would we decide to drop our garbage at Venus, of all places? It is just way too uneconomical to carry "bad air" (actual term in the book) to Venus. It would be far more cheaper to just process it, or bury it. - "Gravity Generators", which were the one cool thing, were never explained.
There were some good ideas in the book. But it all gets shadowed by weak writing, dumb characters, bad science, and no proper editing....more
Fine ending to a fine trilogy. Tamas is one of the best fictitious generals (Field Marshal!) I've ever had the pleasure of reading.Fine ending to a fine trilogy. Tamas is one of the best fictitious generals (Field Marshal!) I've ever had the pleasure of reading....more
**spoiler alert** This review contains **SPOILERS**. Read at your own risk.
So, you can ask Brandon for a copy and he'll mail it to you.
Good things abo**spoiler alert** This review contains **SPOILERS**. Read at your own risk.
So, you can ask Brandon for a copy and he'll mail it to you.
Good things about the book:
- Balanced magic system - Well thought out economy - Very well written characters - Plot and pacing is excellent
Things I didn't like:
- Bad worldbuilding in certain areas - Way too many twists - No map (I guess the published version will have one)
White Sand is set on a tidally locked planet called Taldain. Which means that the two faces of the planet are either in constant sunlight or darkness. This should in theory mean that life, as we know it, shouldn't be able to exist. But apparently, it does. And not only on the dayside, it even exists on the darkside where plants grow without sunlight. Dayside should be under constant heating, and all the water should have evaporated ages back, but it hasn't. Darkside is cold, but not so cold to be freezing.
The thing I like most about Sanderson's worldbuilding is that it always makes sense. The conclusions you'd draw from the given scenario would be the exact same conclusions that Brandon makes (perhaps even better). That guarantees you suspension of disbelief.
For eg, at the end of the Mistborn trilogy when Terris-people are freed, and start to populate again, it becomes logical that the powers of Allomancy and Feruchemy would become mixed and come out in the same person. And that is what the next book is all about.
The second issue I have with the book is that it has way too many character twists. It is often required of the plot, and some of it requires clever foreshadowing; both of which Brandon tries. But apart from the few cases where it works (the Aha! moment), there are like 5 extra character twists where the character is not what you thought him to be. It feels too much like a heavy-handed trope used far too many times for a single book.
I would have liked to see a map of the book, but I guess that will be fixed in the final published version. My rating is 4.5 because while I enjoyed the book overall, there were times I felt like it could have been made better. The rating is actually bumped from 4 to 4.5 because its still unpublished.
I can't wait for the graphic novels to come out and see what all is changed from the original material....more
It was an ok book. There are much better things worth reading. Can't say much else.It was an ok book. There are much better things worth reading. Can't say much else....more
I think hard SF is harder to write. It's easy to fall in the trap of cardboard characters and too much science. This book has far too many mysteries aI think hard SF is harder to write. It's easy to fall in the trap of cardboard characters and too much science. This book has far too many mysteries and not much character development.
I was expecting better, but considering it took me more than an year to finish this short book, I think I'll stick with The Martian in the future.
Not that I don't like hard SF. I loved the Coyote series by Allen Steele, primarily because it has humans rather than science as the center piece.
This was probably just a bit too much for me....more
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