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November 2013 Epic Read--Mistborn--Roll call and Initial thoughts
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message 51:
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Kimberly
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Nov 15, 2013 05:21PM
I am infatuated with Sanderson's magic systems. I love the intricate detail and the intertwining of allomancy, feruchemy and hemalurgy. I'm detailed oriented and he provides the details right down to trace elements in the ground water. I don't want to say more and give away details, but every question that came up in my mind, Sanderson answered along the way. Can you tell I'm a big fan of these books? :)
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I mostly like how his magic systems are an integral part of his world. They're not just conventiently there (or not when not needed) like in most fantasy settings, but intertwined in the workings of his societies. You can't strip any of his magic systems out of his worlds and still have the day to day life be exactly the same.
He does a great job building the suspense with the pits, the wife, and what happened there, or what didn't.
Finished my other book so I'm in. Starting this one as soon as I get home.
KevinB wrote: "I mostly like how his magic systems are an integral part of his world. They're not just conventiently there (or not when not needed) like in most fantasy settings, but intertwined in the workings ..."That's a good point and applies to the short I read last week.
The oppression would definitely not be the same without the magic systems.:)
Vin has a lot to learn.....and I'm trying to keep up with her.
I started this one on Tuesday, and it was a bit slow to pull me in. Now that the team has been cobbled together, I'm getting excited to see how they pull this off.I may have to go back and re-read the flashback bits together. As of now, they just confuse me and I'm skimming or skipping them. *guiltyface*
I do that too.:(
I don't know why.......it is part of the book, after all.
I have forced myself to read them before, and it is as if I am reading another language. I don't or can't understand them.
I don't remember that at all. Remember thinking that my feelings about characters completely changed through the book but can't remember how!
I'm about halfway, so I'm not sure how I feel about the characters yet. I sometimes save that till the end.Maybe the characters change character ;) later in the series ...er I mean book.
I remember that happening but not how or who!
My feeling constantly changed about Kellsier. I went from annoyed to ambivalent to aghast and back again. Still couldn't tell you more than he wasn't my favorite character. I thoroughly enjoyed Sazed though.
I like that Kelsier has a dark side, and isn't just the paragon of nobility and goodness that he easily could have been cast as in the epic fantasy hero role. But then, even that role doesn't really turn out to be what you think it's going to be following the standard epic fantasy tropes.
Logan wrote: "I may have to go back and re-read the flashback bits together. As of now, they just confuse me and I'm skimming or skipping them."It's worth doing. There's a lot in there that explains the backstory, but only if you know what you're looking for.
Also, when you're done, consider checking out Sanderson's annotations. Lots of interesting behind-the-scenes stuff posted on every chapter of the trilogy.
http://brandonsanderson.com/annotatio...
Natasha--FYI this is the intro thread. Your comments 66 and 68 might be a little spoilery.Steve, that's the part of about Sanderson that rather annoys me. Why is there so much behind the scenes? Why does it matter that all his writing is one connected world, somehow, that the reader will one day get to understand? I feel like he is trying to create a giant world without doing the business of writing it. I get it, you've dreamed it up. Stop blogging about it and write. Did Andre Norton issue a step by step guide and analysis of Witch World, or did it organically grow as she wrote, and after she was in the end phases, more information came out and was anthologized? I don't want the backstory need-to-search-out-multiple-sources interactions with my book. I don't want the full DVD experience of outtakes, world-building and character creation. I'm not a paper-gamer, which I suspect is where some of his intense background building lies.
Primarily, I can't help but feel more than a little manipulated by Sanderson. Reading this made me feel like I was watching a good action movie. Not profound, very archtypical, but well-acted and with a brisk plot.
No problem, Natasha... You weren't very specific, but some people feel very strongly about them. I'm sure I unintentionally violate spoilers all the time.
Yes...tough to talk about a book without saying something spoilery.;)
I catch myself erasing a lot of comments.....before posting.
LOL
Carol. [Only Unicorns and Rainbows] wrote: "Steve, that's the part of about Sanderson that rather annoys me. Why is there so much behind the scenes? Why does it matter that all his writing is one connected world, somehow, that the reader will one day get to understand? I feel like he is trying to create a giant world without doing the business of writing it."The reason I like it is that it builds trust. Something that looks like a plot hole in a Sanderson novel is usually something he hasn't explained yet, but I can rest assured that an explanation is coming.
There are two classic blunders with world-building.
1. Not thinking it through. A while ago, I read a fantasy novel with a well-respected female fighting troupe living a world filled with stereotypical medieval misogyny. One chapter, they are these fearsome warriors with no shortage of contracts, the next people react with, "Oh, that's a cute hobby for a girl." The two didn't make sense together, and that's a world-building error. Sanderson doesn't make those errors, and the way he avoids them is by setting up all this infrastructure in the background. For example, in Mistborn, the nobility uses Aluminum forks. It's not a random choice. It's a consequence of the magic system. That's the level of thought Sanderson puts into these things. Which leads into...
2. Overwhelming the reader with minute trivia about your world they don't even care about. City populations, tax codes, lengthy lineages, new poetry styles. It sound like Sanderson crossed your caring threshold in the main text, but he's usually right on target for me. Some of these things belong in the annotations or appendices, not the main text. A small subset of readers will find them interesting, but the finer the level of detail gets, the more people view it as a self-indulgent aside.
So why does it matter that the different settings connect in ways we'll someday learn about? Because his target audience thinks it's cool.
Anyway, it's not just the world-building stuff I find interesting in those annotations. He talks about his original draft, how he made decisions to reveal this piece of information in that chapter, pointing out foreshadowing you may have missed, etc. It's an interesting perspective on his writing process, which is something he's always been very open about (see: Warbreaker).
Steve, thanks for the link. I find his comments really interesting. It's nice to see his motivations for leaving in or taking out certain bits of information.Now that I'm 25% in, and Vin has been taught the basics of the magic system, I'm hoping that most of the world-building is out of the way. I do think he tends toward too many info dumps, and after the pitch of the plan, followed by the development meeting for the plan, followed by Vin's tutorial, I'm itching for things to get moving already. This book is trying my patience, but I'm sticking with it all the same.
This has been a surprisingly slow read for me. I do not like Vin - she fluxuates wildly between street-smart superwoman and love-sick, clothes and boy obsessed teen. The ease with which her past is quickly forgotten is worthy of a bad show on the CW.
I am hoping the plot quickens and the story redeems itself, but right now the magic system is the only thing keeping me going...
Lucinda (lovely name, btw), I found the first book the weakest of the three (although I loved the latter part). There was a year or two between reading that and eventually picking up the second and third books, which I liked much more.
Vin is still growing up, though her advantage is street smarts. I suppose I forgive the inconsistency of Vin, for the roll she needs to play.Besides, I really like Elend.
Lucinda wrote: "This has been a surprisingly slow read for me. I do not like Vin - she fluxuates wildly between street-smart superwoman and love-sick, clothes and boy obsessed teen. The ease with which her past ..."
I think the way she fluctuates actually makes her a more three dimensional character. She is a teenager. Hasn't experienced any romance or even simple crushes, has never seen the kind of opulence she's being exposed to now, so I think it makes sense that that's a little overwhelming for her, whereas the parts that are more directly linked with survival and fighting come more naturally because she's used to putting every ounce of energy toward survival
Yes Dragonsteel, that's what I feel.Just finished, and I'm fairly happy, as to how it turned out.
I'll be reading the rest of the series.Of course, that was the plan.
;)
Read this book about a year ago, and enjoyed it enough to read the rest of the trilogy. LOVE the magic system, found it to be creative, simple, and not too overpowered.Hope everyone else enjoys this series as much as I did!
I find myself rolling my eyes every time the magic system is explained...again...and again. However, the premise is interesting so I'm still going strong on the third book.
I read the series as soon as I found it so did not participate in the discussion. For me, I loved it.
I actually like the fact that the magic system has been explained very minutely. For me that makes the fantasy world that much more believable and thereby immersive. The detailing does tend to make the progress a bit slow, but never really gets boring. The character of Vin made perfect sense to me. Even though she was a bit too quick in blending in with the nobles, but her doubts and fluctuations were normal. For someone who's never seen such grandeur, it's easy to get lost in the external beauty unless you are jolted back to reality by certain events, which, I might add, were very well presented in the book.
Loved the first book on audio and now I have an excuse to hear the last two
