Perfect State by Brandon Sanderson - Best Short Work Nominee (2016)

[Nicole]

This is the discussion thread for Perfect State by Brandon Sanderson, the final nominee in the Best Short Work category. What did you think of this work and how did it compare to the other two works in the category?

[Derek]

I was totally blown away by this work. The whole (view spoiler)[ brain in jar concept (hide spoiler)] was done brilliantly and it was cool to have a universe where science fiction, fantasy, and classical urban elements are all combined. I read Sixth of the Dusk last year and really loved that as well, but enjoyed this one even more. I definitely need to read more of Sanderson's work. There's just something in the way he tells a story that I can't get enough of.

[Maija]

I didn't get along with this story at all. I only finished it because it was so short, otherwise I would have pushed it aside.

The beginning was fine, but the date was the point where things took a wrong turn for me. Weird comments, like the woman dressing up for a date taken to mean that she had to be super interested, unnecessary funny haha feminism-is-being-against-high-heels-just-kidding jokes, etc etc. Some story beats I'm grown tired of, seen many times before. (view spoiler)[The woman shooting herself at the end to give the hero pain was just the icing. Also carrying a wounded woman to safety is such a cliche, but some writers seem to think that adding the woman objecting 'cause "she doesn't need help" even though she clearly does, somehow makes it modern and fine. (hide spoiler)] Boring. Tired.

I enjoyed Sixth of the Dusk just fine last year, so I was surprised by how much I disliked this.

[Derek]

Maija wrote: "I didn't get along with this story at all. I only finished it because it was so short, otherwise I would have pushed it aside.

The beginning was fine, but the date was the point where things took ..."

Interesting take on the female representation in this. I guess it was my understanding that (view spoiler)[ the mastermind behind the whole thing (Kai's nemisis) was a woman, though i may just be making that up. I suppose I thought that the point of some of those more cliche things was that she was playing with his somewhat sexist view of women (hide spoiler)] and that moments which you described were meant to bring out his stereotypical chivalry. I guess by the end, it seemed to me like this whole thing was soley about Kai (view spoiler)[ and having his entire essense toyed with to the point that he's no longer the character we met at the beginning (hide spoiler)]. Maybe this is a naive way of looking at it though.

[Saskia]

I just finished this and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I would like to read more set in this world.

Concerning the "date" I have to agree with Derek. I think, as Derek has already pointed out, that those cliche moments were intended to bring out Kais view on women. Furthermore I think that the woman herself was not ment to feel real or free of stereotypes (view spoiler)[as she was a creation by Kais nemesis and ment to draw Kai in, which would obviously only work if she was appealing to him. Him being the cliche fanatasy hero he is. (hide spoiler)]. But reading is obviously a subjective thing, so each to his own! (: I just personally think that Sanderson was actually toying with some of the typical stereotypes and ideas with this.

One thing that bugged me though was not how but when the story ended. (view spoiler)[I think it would have been SO GOOD if the story had ended with Mehlis message! Everything after that felt a little bit like spoon-feeding what exactly had happened in case it wasn't clear.. except for the part with Kais change in character of course, but idk.. would have liked it to just end at that point. (hide spoiler)]

Overall I enjoyed it!

[Maija]

Oh, I agree with all the story reasons for the character to be like that, but it didn't make the story any more enjoyable for me to read. I just think that if a writer comes up with a reason to use the same old stereotypes, it doesn't change the fact that they still use them. Shrug. I'm not interested in stories like that, I feel like I've seen it all before. I also don't think that Kai's thoughts were sufficiently challenged/discussed to bring a new level to the tropes. So this story definitely wasn't for me.

And yes, it was stated that Kai's nemesis was (view spoiler)[a woman, and most probably some of her story may be like what the robot told Kai (hide spoiler)]. I hoped the ending would've shed some more light on this/focused a bit on the nemesis' perspective, so it would've offered something more to me than an old pulp storyline with new wrapping.

Edit: Don't mean to start anything, I just really didn't like this, haha! You're of course welcome to like it! I know not everyone is as easily annoyed by things like this as I am.

[Derek]

Yeah no worries Maija, I didnt think you were trying to start anything. I was just interested in your perspective since it was the opposite of mine. Fiction always means different things to different people and since I like to write as a kind of hobby, I also like to hear about what people think about things I like, especially in cases like this. Since I grew up as a white male in a house of all boys (my poor mother!) I tend to not always have the most diverse of perspectives either which is something I'm always attempting to expand.

[Paul]

I enjoyed this novella but I liked the comparison of this novella to my life as a MMO gamer some years ago. I think that the idea of living in this simulated world was interesting to me because I used to play video games so often. For the longest time that was my life and because of that I found Kai's story interesting. I then saw that he was longing for more, a stronger connection, and I personally went through the same thing. This Matrix-like theme and the comparison to people that spend their lives online is what I enjoyed.

The feminism comments were out of place and the antagonist implementation was unneeded in my opinion.

[SE]

This was the first Sanderson I've ever read and I mostly enjoyed it. That said, I thought Maija made some interesting points and I might want to re-read with her comments in mind.