Brandon Sanderson yay!

[Remy]

This is my second Brandon Sanderson book, the first being Warbreaker. He had referenced it in the podcast Writing Excuses, so I thought I'd give it a try. It was a good book, but some of the characters seemed too similar. I'm enjoying Elantris a lot more, but I'm only on page 185 in a brick-and-mortar copy (don't know if anyone else will get that reference). I'll try to pick up some other Sanderson work when I finish this one.

[Remington]

This is the first book I've read written by Sanderson. I've made it 5 chapters in so far and I'm kinda bored. I hope the pace picks up like you say it does.

[JRush]

I am 60% of the way into Elantris and I love it so far. This is the first Sanderson book I've read and I'm glad to find another author that I can work through.

I like his writing style, the story feels like it unfolds in front of me and all I need to do is keep up. Not a lot of thinking required.

[terpkristin]

I agree it's a bit slow in the beginning. I've read through chapter 10 and while it's not bad, it's not sucking me in as much as I had hoped so far.

That said, I really like Sanderson's work on the Wheel of Time books and quite enjoyed the Mistborn trilogy (I have yet to read The Alloy of Law), so I'm not giving up. Just not itching to read it every chance I get...yet.

[Icelord]

20% in on the Kindle now. Started slow but it is going along well now. I'm enjoying the book and the story is pretty good.

[Dustin]

Kid wrote: "Remy wrote: "This is my second Brandon Sanderson book, the first being Warbreaker. He had referenced it in the podcast Writing Excuses, so I thought I'd give it a try. It was a good book, but some ..."

Yes I liked Warbreaker but when I flip back to it I rarely reread anything before the first half or just before. It does pick up and it has some of my favorite dialog and the magic's fun but the plot could have been shortened. Having read the Way of Kings you'll also find a very familiar scene with Wit/Hoid.

But back to Elantris, yes the build up is long and I had the same problem as I did with Way of Kings where I wanted more Kaladin chapters but Raodin I believe in this, but it does start flowing. You don't read Sanderson for flow and if you do read Mistborn.

[Will]

This was the first Sanderson book I read and I very much enjoyed. I'm looking forward to reading Mistborn. Maybe sometime next year

[Sam]

This is the first Sanderson book that I have read. I am only a few chapters in, and I can tell I am really going to like it. This was a good pick.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

I'm a Brandon Sanderson virgin.

[Nick]

Jenny wrote: "I'm a Brandon Sanderson virgin."

Your wrist still hurting?

[terpkristin]

Nick wrote: "Jenny wrote: "I'm a Brandon Sanderson virgin."

Your wrist still hurting?"

LOL!
And I'm somehow surprised that Jenny is a Sanderson virgin. I thought for sure she had at least read Mistborn: The Final Empire...

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Nick wrote: "Jenny wrote: "I'm a Brandon Sanderson virgin."

Your wrist still hurting?"
*FACEPALM*

And actually, YES. Too much Murakami this time. :)

terpkristin wrote: "And I'm somehow surprised that Jenny is a Sanderson virgin. I thought for sure she had at least read Mistborn: The Final Empire... "
No, not yet. Remember when Tor.com released all those free eBooks to celebrate some anniversary? So I OWN it from that but haven't ever read it. Is he done with that series, I don't even know.

I continue to be surprised by the amounts of time people sit around and think about my reading. :P

[terpkristin]

Jenny wrote: "I continue to be surprised by the amounts of time people sit around and think about my reading."

Oh crap. You're onto me... ;)

[JRush]

I just finished Elantris and I loved it. Cant wait for the discussions to start!

[terpkristin]

Jonathan wrote: "I just finished Elantris and I loved it. Cant wait for the discussions to start!"

So start a couple! :) There's a forum "folder" for it. :) I'm about a third through..

[Jay]

I listened to the Graphic Audio version of Elantris, and just didn't like it as much. I went back and read the e-version, and it seemed a lot better.

It was my first (and probably last) Graphic Audio book, as I think the sound effects and other voices were too distracting. Maybe I'm getting old, but I just like to build the characters and ambiance in my own mind.

That said, I love all the Sanderson books, and got started due to his WoT books (which I think were much better than Jordan's), and have read everything of his I could find. The Alcatraz books are really good Young Adult ones, as well. Though I think the Mistborn are still my favorites.

[Nick]

Really into Elantris so far. I'm listening to the audio-book.
Interesting pronunciations on a few names- Kiin's daughter Kaise is "K-ice".

[Arroyo0]

Jay wrote: "I listened to the Graphic Audio version of Elantris, and just didn't like it as much. I went back and read the e-version, and it seemed a lot better.

It was my first (and probably last) Graphic Audio book.."

I listened to the Recorded books Audiobook version, narrated by Jack Garrett a in 2009 and enjoyed it, I was debating in format to re-read or re-listen Elantris for S&L and thinking about checking out this Graphic Audio thing but I'm not sure I'd like it.
Did anybody else listen Graphic Audio books? are they good or was the background music and sound effects getting in the way of a good story?

[terpkristin]

Arroyo0 wrote: "Did anybody else listen Graphic Audio books? are they good or was the background music and sound effects getting in the way of a good story?"

I listened to a bit of the first part of the book from Graphic Audio. I really liked the voice work, but the background music was too distracting for me.

[Michael]

I've been meaning to get into some more Sanderson since the whole Wheel of Time thing. I even went so far as purchasing a dead-tree edition of the first Mistborn novel but I just haven't gotten around to it. This seems like a good excuse :)

I've only read the first two chapters so far but so far I am enjoying it. It feels a little rough in places, like it hasn't gone through enough revisions/editing. As it is an early work I'm willing to forgive that though. It's better than anything I've published :p

[Stan]

I remember reading this when it first came out and really enjoyed the story (I think it was the first novel he had written)

I remember thinking a sequel would be nice, but I guess other projects came up :(

Special Note:

I remember hearing Sanderson in a podcast say that he did not even like reading books until late in high school (this gives all those late blooming and burgeoning authors hope).

I believe it was the Robert Jordan Wheel of Time books which hooked him on reading, which explains one of the reasons he was so happy taking over the writing of the series

[Kevin]

Stan wrote: "I remember reading this when it first came out and really enjoyed the story (I think it was the first novel he had written)

I remember thinking a sequel would be nice, but I guess other projects c..."

The book that actually got him reading was Dragonsbane by Barbara Hambly, which was recommended by a teacher in 8th grade I think.

[Larry]

Kevin wrote: "Stan wrote: "I remember reading this when it first came out and really enjoyed the story (I think it was the first novel he had written)

I remember thinking a sequel would be nice, but I guess oth..."
I remember reading Dragonsbane as a kid. I've always loved Hambly's stuff.

[Israel]

Jenny wrote: "Nick wrote: "Jenny wrote: "I'm a Brandon Sanderson virgin."

Your wrist still hurting?"
*FACEPALM*

And actually, YES. Too much Murakami this time. :)

terpkristin wrote: "And I'm somehow surpris..."

I'm not sure he's ever done with any series. Elantris has some semi-standalone sequels on the backburner while he wraps up WOT and works on the second book in the Way of Kings world. Warbreaker has a sequel in the works too.

The Mistborn books wrap up as a trilogy but he just released a short 400 page novella set ~300 after the trilogy wraps.

[Kevin]

Israel wrote: "Jenny wrote: "Nick wrote: "Jenny wrote: "I'm a Brandon Sanderson virgin."

Your wrist still hurting?"
*FACEPALM*

And actually, YES. Too much Murakami this time. :)

terpkristin wrote: "And I'm s..."

Mistborn is actually just the first trilogy, the second being a urban fantasy, the last being science fcition in space. This is not going to happned for a while, more in between novels.

[Nick]

Elantris was my first Brandon Sanderson novel, and I enjoyed it very much. From what I have read from the other threads about Elantris, it seems like this is his weakest book, so I'm excited to get into some others like the Mistborn Trilogy.

[Micah]

I just picked up my copy today! can't wait to start it. Going to have to wait 2-3 weeks though since finals and work are going to keep me busy until then. But after that it looks like it should be a fairly good read for my year end down time. Can't wait.

[Joshua]

Jenny wrote: "I continue to be surprised by the amounts of time people sit around and think about my reading. :P"

My thoughts about your reading are usually some form of this, "She read that many books? Lord, I spend too much time on Reddit. Time to pick up the Nook."

[Tamahome]

Someone add this to urban dictionary: 'WWJR' - What Would Jenny Read

[Michael]

But there's only one answer: "All of it."

[Joshua]

@Sodon Nice answer.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

I felt shamed by Tom and Veronica's discussion of how a person should use their to-read list, as if one could get too large. I just throw everything on there so I don't lose it. Then when I need something new, I just skim the pretty book covers until something reaches out and demands to be read... I'm going to post another topic related to this. *runs to the forums*

[Israel]

Jenny wrote: "I felt shamed by Tom and Veronica's discussion of how a person should use their to-read list, as if one could get too large. I just throw everything on there so I don't lose it. Then when I need ..."

I'm with you Jenny. My to read list has been sitting around 100 books for a while and even though I've been on a tear lately, it will likely only grow. For that I blame all of you in S&L.

[Don]

Im with you, Kid. I really hope The Way of Kings is on the S&L list soon, rather than later. While I enjoyed Elantris, TWoK was superb. I hope the next book is coming soon.

[Erin]

Remy wrote: "This is my second Brandon Sanderson book, the first being Warbreaker. He had referenced it in the podcast Writing Excuses, so I thought I'd give it a try. It was a good book, but some of the characters seemed too similar."

Funny thing about that...

Puts on Sanderson fangirl hat

On his page about Warbreaker (http://brandonsanderson.com/book/Warb...), Brandon says that he wrote Warbreaker in part as a response to Elantris, to give himself a chance to explore some concepts that he couldn't address.

Takes off Sanderson fangirl hat

To be honest, I was bugged about the similarities when I first read Warbreaker (I went chronologically in my Sanderson reading, so Elantris came first), but knowing those similarities were intentional helped a whole lot.