Flights of Fantasy discussion

I believe he does have some sort of tie in idea. He is a big outliner and quite possibly a genius. I like Dalinar as well, especially at the end. You can tell he is defintely going to be an integral character. A lot of people hate on him though haha

Regarding Hoid - I usually miss most references to him for some reason. But is he (view spoiler)[ Wit here? (hide spoiler)]

I love Dalinar. He can be a little stubborn. But he's a 'good' man. His chapters are my favorites. Kaladin is a close second. Very close.

Dalinar & Kaladin rock. Love the last few chapters in the book. Two of my favourite characters together. Plus the standoff with Sadeas. Anyone else also love Rock?

Chris wrote: "Nienna wrote: "Didn't know that Emperor's Soul was a sequel (?) to Elantris.

My theory for Steelheart is still [spoilers removed]"

I haven't read Emperor, though I read Elantris. I don't think i..."

Yep, Emperor is not a sequel. Its a stand-alone, but part of the Cosmere.

Eon wrote: "Dalinar & Kaladin rock. Love the last few chapters in the book. Two of my favourite characters together. Plus the standoff with Sadeas. Anyone else also love Rock?"

I love Rock. He's a great character.

Potential Dalinar spoiler - (view spoiler)[It's widely believed that Sanderson will kill off Dalinar. Some people believe this will happen in book 2, but I don't agree personally. In Sanderson's Reddit AMA, he said that book 5 is Dalinar's book, but that he wouldn't promise not to kill him off before then. So, get used to the idea of Dalinar going away, but hopefully not yet. (hide spoiler)]

Luke wrote: "Eon wrote: "Dalinar & Kaladin rock. Love the last few chapters in the book. Two of my favourite characters together. Plus the standoff with Sadeas. Anyone else also love Rock?"

I love Rock. He's a..."

Luke wrote: "Eon wrote: "Dalinar & Kaladin rock. Love the last few chapters in the book. Two of my favourite characters together. Plus the standoff with Sadeas. Anyone else also love Rock?"

I love Rock. He's a..."

Damn...that sucks.

I know, but after reading all the conspiracy theories, I don't think it will be as bad as I used to.

Luke wrote: "I know, but after reading all the conspiracy theories, I don't think it will be as bad as I used to."

Preparing my soul now... lol

Was just busy reading this - Link

Its got me in a froth. Beta reader spoiler free reactions to reading WOR.

Chris wrote: "I did start this last night. Didn't get far - 35 pages out of 1000 is pretty minuscule. But I read both the prologue and the prologue to the prologue.

And it's more confusing than Malazan."

Don't worry.. The Prelude and Prologue are confusing I guess, in that they are just little pieces of a puzzle that you don't know what the overall picture looks like yet (poorly worded, it's early and I just can't make that sentence right).. But it won't be confusing once you get into the meat of the chapters. It will be awesome. I can't stop reading, and if I can't I know you'll love it too :)

OK, Dawn. I trust you, and I trust Sanderson...

I remember how confuzzling the prologue to Eye of the World was, as well as most prologues in most epic fantasies. I never understood the strategy of alienating and confusing your readers before you hook them.

So yeah, I didn't even pick it up last night. I'm almost done with Gardens of the Moon...

Anyone else experience anything like this? ...

I'm reading a chapter about Kaladin. Totally into in. Chapter ends, POV switches, and I groan. No! I want to keep reading Kaladin! Screw Shallan! But I keep reading.. Totally into it. Chapter ends, POV switches, and I groan. No! I want to keep reading Shallan! Screw Kaladin!

Yep.. It's a strange phenomenon.

haha.....that happened to me when I read ASOIAF or WoT or Malazan....that's a good sign.

Oh hell yeah. I was so frustrated every time they switched. Don't love the book any less though!

*Disclaimer on my WoT inclusion in that last post: The exception was the Perrin chapters. I groaned when they started, and rejoiced when they were over.

I wish I could get some more Matt adventures.

Speaking of WOT..... Unfettered was released today! Yay - more Rothfuss, Sanderson, Lawrence and more!

"It’s a stunning and diverse collection of fantasy fiction from some of the biggest names in the fantasy genre – including Terry Brooks, Patrick Rothfuss, Peter V. Brett, Mark Lawrence, Naomi Novik, Kevin Hearne, Michael J. Sullivan, R. A Salvatore, Tad Williams, Lev Grossman and many others.

It also includes deleted scenes from Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson’s A MEMORY OF LIGHT, the final Wheel of Time novel."

Foreword by Patrick Rothfuss
- Introduction: On Becoming Unfettered
- Imaginary Friends by Terry Brooks
- How Old Holly Came To Be by Patrick Rothfuss
- The Old Scale Game by Tad Williams
- Game of Chance by Carrie Vaughn
- The Martyr of the Roses by Jacqueline Carey
- Mudboy by Peter V. Brett
- The Sound of Broken Absolutes by Peter Orullian
- The Coach with Big Teeth by R.A. Salvatore
- Keeper of Memory by Todd Lockwood
- Heaven in a Wild Flower by Blake Charlton
- Dogs by Daniel Abraham
- The Chapel Perilous by Kevin Hearne
- Select Mode by Mark Lawrence
- All the Girls Love Michael Stein by David Anthony Durham
- Strange Rain by Jennifer Bosworth
- Nocturne by Robert V.S. Redick
- Unbowed by Eldon Thompson
- In Favour with Their Stars by Naomi Novik
- River of Souls by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson
- The Jester by Michael J. Sullivan
- The Duel by Lev Grossman
- Walker and the Shade of Allanon by Terry Brooks
- The Unfettered Knight by Shawn Speakman
- The Twilight Dragon by Shawn Speakman (bonus story for UK edition)

Luke wrote: "I know, but after reading all the conspiracy theories, I don't think it will be as bad as I used to."

I don't read theories, and generally don't want to. I just like experiencing the story "real time" and not looking for/dreading when X might happen (other than what comes naturally from the text, lol).

If you guys don't mind, can you specify when a spoiler is for a theory/rumor vs actual book content so I can know not to read them? :)

^ Agree.

I clicked expecting a spoiler for this book (which I've read before) not a spoiler for 5 books in the future...

Honestly, I'm not happy when authors talk about what their plans are. It lessens the impact of the story, in my opinion, when you know that it's going to happen.

I don't mind reading theories and rumors (though I can start using spoilers) but when it comes from the author themselves its no longer a theory or a rumor.

I agree, Nienna. That's one reason I don't like to go looking for author comments on things. I love Brandon Sanderson, but he's very open about his work, and I like when it's process discussion (how he creates characters, his writing process, what inspires him, etc) but dislike when it's story info. I know that I'm in the minority, but I don't want to know anything about the story other than when I can read it.

Links between books, like the Cosmere discussion, is a little different for me because that's like an easter egg - if you find/notice it, it's an added bit of interest, but reading the books NOT knowing that they are connected doesn't ruin the enjoyment of them or even really affect the individual stories at all.

I apologize, I couldn't think of how to word it other than "Potential Dalinar Spoiler". I'll go more descriptive in the future. Plus, it's really all conjecture, so it's not a true spoiler since it's all just the opinion of the readers. For all we know, Sanderson is throwing us off track and laughing to himself, watching us squirm lol.

@Eon, Dawn, and Chris. Yeah, that POV switch always annoys me lol. The one thing that I really didn't care for are the "5 years ago, 4 years ago, etc" chapters. They only actually get interesting in the last 1/3 of the book.

And, on the WoT, the Perrin chapters annoyed the heck out of me. They were so bad that I stepped away from the 8th book because of them and took a 4 month hiatus from the series.

No problem and thanks, Luke. I really only read the first line, which wasn't exactly spoilery for me, because I figure it's going to happen at some point. I just don't want to know WHEN. I want my dread to be organic because I love the character and he lives a dangerous life, not because I know that something bad is going to happen to him in chapter 56 (for instance). LOL

Considering how Sanderson approaches his stories, I fully expect for things to change, so he can say that he's planned for something big in book 5 or 7 or 10, but he's only just finished writing book 2, and the story will only grow and change from there. Who knows what will happen?

----

Regarding the POV switches, I think that is part of why they are used. It keeps the story flowing, keeps the pacing and excitement up, and shows us a ton of perspectives.

But yeah, I hate when they end too. LOL

That's why I like TWoK so much. There are only 4 primary POVs, so you get back to each character fairly quickly, unlike other series where you might have to wait for 30 characters to cycle through and half a book.

It's hard with spoilers. How to give enough info that the person knows whether to click it, but not give too much so that it completely negates the spoiler tag lol.

The best thing about the Stormlight Archive theories, is that there is only a single book published right now. So most theories are just wild conjectures and are entertaining to read for me. People will take a single, little line from the book and extrapolate it out into 5-6 books (which is pointless imo) and then argue over it for days. It's quite good fun if you're into that sort of thing.

On the positive side - at least Sanderson's characters have a lower mortality rate than Mr Martin's characters :)

I'm good with "Series theory: (view spoiler)[spoilery stuff here (hide spoiler)]" ;)

This discussion is really interesting though, and I'm interested to see how my re-read of this goes, because the first time through, I just devoured it.

I am not really an analytical reader - by which I mean I don't study books looking for connections or hints or symbolism or whatever. I just process it based on my enjoyment and when I'm done I think about the specifics of it.

Eon wrote: "On the positive side - at least Sanderson's characters have a lower mortality rate than Mr Martin's characters :)"

Oh god yes. Don't get me wrong, I like a little hazard and threat against the characters, but within reason.

I'm not a highly analytical reader either. I just look for things that appear out of place. It's like if you're watching a murder mystery, and a secondary character shows up, out of the blue, with no obvious plot connections, you know he did it lol. Or the camera focuses on something for half a second too long, you know it's important. That's basically how I read. I watch for the random character interactions that weren't there to build up the plot or the world, comments that don't obviously fit with the dialogue, etc.

Luke, Dawn and I run a ASOIAF group and our most active thread is a theory one. It's set up to be completely spoiler acceptable through the 5 books, with people speculating on the series beyond that.

It's pretty wild all the stuff that they've come up with in there.

Chris wrote: "Luke, Dawn and I run a ASOIAF group and our most active thread is a theory one. It's set up to be completely spoiler acceptable through the 5 books, with people speculating on the series beyond tha..."

I've never opened that thread. LOL

Yeah, it's amazing some of the mental leaps and bounds people make when they're enthusiastic about a series lol.

Since you're pretty experienced with aSoIaF, do you think GRRM will finish it up in 7 books, or will he split the ending like so many others have? (Not trying to derail, just a thought I've been wondering for a bit.)

Regarding my comment on POV switches, just to be clear, I wasn't saying I didn't like them. I just think it's funny that I always think I'm going to be unhappy reading another character, but then fall right into it and don't want to switch back. Every time. Just shows how much it's all total awesome sauce!

Luke wrote: "Yeah, it's amazing some of the mental leaps and bounds people make when they're enthusiastic about a series lol.

Since you're pretty experienced with aSoIaF, do you think GRRM will finish it up i..."

I think it's going to be split. He's already done it once.

I love theorizing. I'm usually wrong. Like really wrong. But I love guessing. And trying to figure things out. My favorite TV shows were Twin Peaks and Lost to give you am idea of how my mind works. Probably why I enjoyed Gardens of the Moon so much.

And that's why I love Sanderson's writing so much too.

(When I get caught up with my aSoIaF read - eventually - I'll have to read all those theories).

Fortunately, I think Sanderson will keep to his 10 book limit for SA. His plotting model is fairly strict and doesn't leave a whole ton of room for going overboard. I was wondering how he was going to live long enough to finish all of them at this pace, but according to what I've read, he'll be speeding up to about 2 years per SA book now.

GRRM on the other hand, let's hope he speeds up a bit. At this rate, if he goes for 8 books, it could take him a very long time to finish.

Chris wrote: "Luke, Dawn and I run a ASOIAF group and our most active thread is a theory one. It's set up to be completely spoiler acceptable through the 5 books, with people speculating on the series beyond tha..."

where is this thread?

I think GRRM will need more than 7 books, yes. Though I think the tv show will finish two or three years before he does. So I guess his last book will likely be a novelization. Hehe...

He's split it more than once already. It was originally a trilogy, then later Dance became two books.

He'd better get movin'. He's not a spring chicken lol.

I hope the show doesn't catch up to GRRM - but I know it's likely. I don't know how I feel about that. I love the show. But I don't want to know the end before the book series finishes. And I've heard that the producers know how it ends just in case. I just know I'll be very disappointed if the show ends first.

Ten books sounds impossible but I believe Sanderson is up to it. I'm sure finishing WoT took up a lot of his time and now that he's done with that he can concentrate on his own stuff. He's also already very productive in his writing. If he can keep going at the pace he has been I wouldn't be surprised to see an Archive book every year.

I think it's more realistic to see an Archive book every 2-3 years. Not because he writes slowly, but because he's said that he has to work on other things in between books to keep his perspective, and takes a lot of time to step away and come back to the book for revisions.

I don't think that books this size and quality could be done in a year with that kind of process.

That's not to say that I wouldn't LOVE it if he could pump them out every year, but I think that if he were to try, he'd get burnt out on them and have to take a long hiatus.

I don't worry about Sanderson. He's young, and he's a workaholic. He sticks to his plan pretty well too. He'll keep cranking out other stuff like Becky said, to keep him fresh.

Not like some authors that stick with one book for 6 years, except when editing anthologies that get delayed a year or two each. Then blogging for pages and pages about how much grief he gets from all of the above.

Nienna wrote: "Regarding Hoid - I usually miss most references to him for some reason. But is he [spoilers removed]

I love Dalinar. He can be a little stubborn. But he's a 'good' man. His chapters are my favorit..."

Yes that's Hoid.

I had no idea who he was the first time around. He made a lot more sense after I found that tidbit out.

Yeah. He was very mysterious and wise haha

* Every 'other' year - although every year would be great too. Lol.

I read my a** off today and got Part 2 finished. I'm happy I got such a huge chunk of the book done today but I'm starting to feel the burnout coming on.

It's not something I can point to. I like the characters. I like the story. The writing is well done. But I get bored.

I think it's mostly those damn bridgeruns.

There is so much I forgot and that I don't remember. I'm glad I decided to read again before the second book comes out. But I might have to take a break from it for the weekend.

I'm still 7% done (read till chapter 4) since, unfortunately, exams don't give you much time to read :/
Anyway I'm enjoying the book and like the quantity of details the author puts in the book to make that world seem so real! On the other hand this sometimes gets me confused as it is hard to remember everything about a world you are just getting to know.
What I find difficult is to associate characters to faces. For ASOIAF it was easier as I started reading the books after the first season so I imagined them as the actors are (though the kids in the books are a little younger!).
I someway associate Shallan with Sophie Turner (a.k.a. Sansa in GoT) when I imagine her.
How do you deal with this face-association problem? :)

Sometimes characters remind me of other characters and/or actors but most times they don't. I usually don't picture an actor at all.

Although, Dalinar has become Davos from GoT.

And when I read aSoIaF (GoT) I only picture some of the actors, not all of them.

When I recently listened to ASOIAF on audio, I had a hard time picturing some of the actors because the readers gave some strange voices. Tyrion sounded nothing like Peter Dinklage...

So, on this book. I need to pick up the pace. Or rather, I need to begin a pace. I've been trying to finish GotM before digging in.

Chris wrote: So, on this book. I need to pick up the pace. Or rather, I need to begin a pace. I've been trying to finish GotM before digging in. "

Me too.

I had a few library books that needed to be returned that I had to prioritize, but have at least read the prologue. It is shocking how little I remember so far.

Has anyone tried the audio book? It's 45hrs long.

I haven't. I generally like to try to stick to one format for series books - one voice in my head, kinda. (I mixed and matched for Dresden, but that doesn't really count because Marsters practically IS Dresden. LOL)

But anyway, I also didn't care for the sample. So I figured this is a read-only series for me.