How (if at all) does this compare to storm light archive

[Deano]

Hi all I'm looking to start listen these books
I read somewhere it's a little like Brandon's way of kings.
If you were to compare these to any other book what would they be and why.
Also I've seen a lot of people say the first is hard to get in to as there is so many characters.
I'm really bad at remembering names
I had the same sort of problem with g.o.t
But found a wiki page that help loads
Is there something similar that would help me with who is who
Thanks

[Rob, Quick Ben]

This is much more complex and dark than stormlight has been so far.

As far as names, each book list the majority of those in it at the front. I've found that helpful.

As far as what series it's like, I can't think of any I've read that really compares. I've been told it was largely inspired by The Black Company, but haven't read those yet myself.

[Eddie]

I wouldn't suggest listening to it it's entirely way to complex for a first read thru I think it's better to get the actual copy of the book itself or the e-book. To answer your question other than them being both great there really isn't any comparison, I don't believe, I could be wrong but they are pretty opposite

[Dara]

I'm only up to Memories of Ice but Stormight Archive is lighter. Not nearly as gross or brutal. Malazan is a lot more work. The first book is very taxing. As Eddie said, I'd read it instead of listening to it. I often find myself re-reading passages more than once.

[Anthony]

No comparison. The Malazan series is incredibly more epic, deeper and more complex, darker and more philosophical, and richer in character and world building than anything Sanderson has ever done. But it requires a great deal more from a reader than most other fantasy authors, so be prepared.

[Rob, Quick Ben]

Personally I like stormlight better so far. But it kind of hard to compare one book against the 6+ I've read so far.

I'm probably in the minority of this group though.

[Dara]

At this point, I think it's too hard to judge 1 book against a completed series.

[Mpauli]

I only tried to read Stormlight once and put it on hold after 200 pages or so (but I'm going to continue it at some point). So, I might not be the best person to compare it or -to tell you what I think- say that both works are actually quite different.

I think Erikson and Sanderson both excel in world-building, but eventhough they do it very differently. Sanderson always has some very defining characteristics about his worlds and builds around those.
Erikson has more of a layered approach, where he contructs histories on histories on histories and develops his world from this.

Regarding characters their approach is quite different. Sanderson focuses on a handful of main protagonists, Erikson tells you the story of everyone and his mum and his mum's distant cousin's dog.
But both are able to achieve emotional connections between the reader and the characters.

A huge differenc is the way information is shared. Sanderson is very forgiving and hands out information at the appropriate time.
Erikson hands out any information at some point, but most of the time it's too early for the reader to realize what to do with said information or it comes two books after you thought it would have been useful and then it's up to you to make the connection. In this regard Erikson is more demanding than any other author I know, but that is one of the things that is his appeal for me.
You can stumble from clue to hint, make mindboggling theories, create whole scenarios of your own and they might even be true.

But one huge disclaimer in the end. Sanderson said that the Stormlight Archives will be a 10 book series and so far we only have the first installment. So we can't really know how vast the scope of his work will be in the end.
For now, I'm a huge Erikson fan and see Sanderson as a promising author who did some decent work, but didn't achieve to blow me away like Erikson does.

[Rob, Quick Ben]

Erikson also mostly refuses to write good beginnings to his books despite demonstrating he's capable of doing so. :-)

Then again you apparently thought that about way of kings, while I loved every second of it.

[Dara]

I loved The Way of Kings too. Not much happened over 1000 pages but it was fascinating.

[Eddie]

The way of kings was pretty damn awesome I thought too

[Mpauli]

Rob wrote: "Erikson also mostly refuses to write good beginnings to his books despite demonstrating he's capable of doing so. :-)

Then again you apparently thought that about way of kings, while I loved ever..."

Yeah, Erikson tends to be very tedious with his beginnings, although I found them more interesting on the re-reads, cause there are so many little hidden gems you can't really make sense of, if you don't know where it all leads up to.
But still, he could get to the action more quickly.^^

With Way of Kings I really enjoyed the prologue and the whole concept of the shard armor/weapons. I enjoyed the female protagonist, was slightly interested in the high-born guy, but was a bit bored with Kaladin. And he seemed to get the most attention.
But I have to admit I'm not that much into action/fighting/chasing. I'm more into mysteries and puzzles and as far as I read, his pov had to offer none. But I'm going to give it an honest try before the second one comes out.

[Matthew]

Rob wrote: "This is much more complex and dark than stormlight has been so far.

As far as names, each book list the majority of those in it at the front. I've found that helpful.

As far as what series it's l..."

I actually just read the Black Company book a few months ago and I was amazed had how closely some of the character relationships were structured, especially in Garden of the Moons and the way the Bridgeburners are.

[Lori]

Well here's a good comparison in a nutshell:

I became obsessed with reading MBoftF and it also took over my inner life. But even more importantly, when I finished the whole series a few years I remembered a lot from the first book.

I loved Kings, but by now I don't remember a thing. I also am not interested in rereading it so am going to have to f ind a good summary when the next book FINALLY comes out. I'm kinda annoyed with him in a GRRM way, quit writing other books and get on with Kings.

[Rob, Quick Ben]

Well to be fair to Sanderson he was obligated to finish Wheel of Time first. He hopes to release the rest of the books in 18-24 month intervals, so we'll see if he can deliver on that or not.

[Lori]

But he's written quite a few books after Kings, even started some new series.

I'm not panning him, yet, #2 is next year.

EDIT just checked his bio here, time flies, I thought WoT was early last year but it was 2013!!!! And he's written a lot after kings, he is so prolific.

I got spoiled by SE who was every 12 months until the last one. :)

[Rob, Quick Ben]

For me the measuring stick will be how long between 2 & 3.

[Lori]

I don't know how he does it, has so many stories going on at the same time, hopefully he remains focused. He does seem conscious and humble with his fans. Unlike George who yells at us!

[Rob, Quick Ben]

I really enjoyed meeting him at a memory of light signing earlier this year. I'm hoping to catch him again for words of radiance.

[Mpauli]

And I totally get his approach. Doing one book in a series, then getting to another series. It keeps things fresh and helps him to get motivated. So, even if you're only into one of his series, he tends to deliver within a "normal" author window. If you're into more than one, you're able to pick up one of his books every 6 months. That's crazy effective and passionate. :)

[Rob, Quick Ben]

His other two series are YA though. However I believe he is planning another Mistborn trilogy.

I don't begrudge him his creative process but I really hope now that WoT is over the time between SA books goes way down.

[Dara]

I'm willing to cut Sanderson some slack on length between Stormlight books. He writes other stuff in between and still works on Stormlight material. He cranks out novels at a rapid pace and I'll read every one of them. Whereas 6 years between books is kind of ridiculous. I know Martin does some other stuff like editing anthologies and writes an episode or two of GoT but come on...

Not to derail this thread too much but by reading Eriksen, I'm realizing now he totally puts Martin to shame in pretty much every way. Martin is good but Eriksen is in a league of his own.

[Matthew]

Dara wrote: "I'm willing to cut Sanderson some slack on length brewer Stormlight books. He writes other stuff in between and still works on Stormlight material. He cranks out novels at a rapid pace and I'll rea..."

I think Erikson's background as an anthropologist shows through in his books. His development of each of the races and their respective cultures and histories is one of the strongest points of his books. I think it has helped hem tremendously in the development of the gods and the magic/religious system as well and it gives him a leg up that most other authors don't have.

I have to say as well that Erikson is very good at writing battle scenes. It seems he likes to end each book with a major battle conflict and resolution and those really climax nicely at the end of the books.

[Dara]

I totally agree with you. The more I read, the more his anthropologist side seems to show. I love it.