Club409
BOOKS DO YOU READ THEM
It's been a while since I've read the first book and I don't want to provide any spoilers. I suppose the one saving grace is that all the main characters that he spends trying to develop (I will argue that character development was fairly poor early on) are with the series until the end. I felt that there was an action part fairly early which was a pretty cool scene utilizing the magical system. If you haven't hit that part yet I would wait until then to put the book down. I think at this point was when I said "that was pretty cool" as Sanderson utilizied his magical system to create a unique action sequence. However my "fairly early on" could be towards the middle to end because I don't really remember much before that point in the book.
Now that you mention it I do recall quite a bit of politicking where Sanderson does get long winded. Hopefully the bursts of action will be enough to get you through these mundane portions. However this is a theme that plays through the entire series (ruling classes societal differences etc).
You won't hurt my feelings at all for not finishing or even liking the book. I should've provided a disclaimer earlier that I'm not an overly critical reader. I definitely have my favorites but don't necessarily have books that I hate (at least since highschool days).
Good luck!
I guess most of the buzz I heard was about the magic system which I agree is pretty interesting. I like the set of constraints it gives and the creative ways the characters work within them. I like that everything seems to move forward and there's not a lot of backtracking in the story telling I'll probably go ahead and finish the first book. I guess from there I'll decide whether to keep reading. Still waiting for anything to happen really. I mean I guess we're learning about the characters and all. The bad guy's story seems to be the most interesting as far as raising questions and considering motivations but of course that's the one we're getting the least of.
Ok so I ended up reading the rest of the trilogy. I think he did a really good job answering some questions within world he created using events that happened and rules of the environment. Felt like a lot of stuff came full circle. And I was right the bad guy's story was the most interesting.
*Spoilers*
I really enjoyed reading about Spook. I always like when minor characters take on bigger roles and develop. I mean when you're reading about Kelsier or Vin they're pretty much the same through the whole thing. Yeah Vin changes early on to get powers and trust friends but that's all that really happens to her. Kelsier is just confident and charismatic the whole time. Spook went from errand boy to leader in a way that seems plausible. Then the new powers and voice in his head keeps you guessing.
The Remaining by DJ Molles - Are you tired of your zombie reads featuring pansy ass whiny protaganists that wouldn't even recognize visible signs of dehydration and the effect it would have on prolonged physical exertion? Well this book is for you. It's the zombie apocalypse but the US Govt put Army Capt Lee [forgot his last name] in a bunker with orders to wait it out then emerge and reestablish civilization. All of the centralized contigency planning is fun to me. From the stuff I can recognize the parts featuring training and equipment are spot on and I would be highly surprised if the author was not a severely competent soldier himself. The first half of the book is great as it applies all the internalized training to the end of the world scenario. Later on the book basically becomes standard zombie survival fare and it's stuff you've probably heard/seen before. Personally I don't find survival itself as that interesting of a motivation in stories. The Capt has a mission so there's more going on. It's a quick read and there's not really any closure at the end. It ends only because that's where the next book in the series is going to start. If you've got a Kindle and Amazon Prime it's free in the lending library. Book 4 is due out this month but I'm not sure if I'll continue reading. Like I said it lost some of the charm halfway through and I'm not sure it's gonna come back. 3.5 out of 5 bunker naps (can you imagine how peaceful?)
what if episode 2 was good?
i approve
anyone got any good recommendations lately?
I've been reading the Foundation series by Isaac Asimov and the Odyssey One series by Evan Currie. Both are excellent. In the Foundation series I've finished the original trilogy and the first sequel. Now debating whether to finish with the final sequel or go back and read the I Robot series (which was written after the original Foundation trilogy but takes place chronologically thousands of years before).
In the Odyssey One series I just finished the third book (first second third) fourth is scheduled to be released this spring and I can't wait. I suspect Currie was heavily influenced by Asimov but he took things in a very different direction. The plot is very action driven with a lot of space combat whereas Foundation is mostly a hard sci-fi drama but they have some very similar concepts which made it interesting to read both series concurrently.
SPOILERS! GOSH!