Finished Bands of Mourning Spoiler This was my favorite W&W novel. It was a hard 8 for me until the last 20 pages--bumped to a 9. The plot was pretty strong, I liked the inclusion of areas outside of Elendel, I liked the death of Suit. I called Telsin's betrayal but I still thought it was done well. The Wax-comes-back-to-life bit is something I usually don't like, but it kind of reminded me of Harry in the train station with Dumbledore. Anyways, really fun book that is up there with the original trilogy IMO (might just be because I just finished the ending). The final Wax vision was great On to Secret History. Should finish that in a couple days.
Okay so I've recently gone on a bit of a binge to get completely caught up on the Cosmere. I only have Warbreaker left. Here are thought on M:SH, Hope of Elantris, and SotD. Since I'm doing all three off the top of my head they won't be super detailed. Secret History Spoiler I've never been a huge Kelsier fan but I really enjoyed this book, mainly due to the look at the greater moving pieces than due to Kelsier's characterization. I'll be honest, much like Bands of Mourning this book was good for 80% and then I thought it hit another gear in the final 20% and pushed itself to probably my favorite read of the year. Loved the Preservation/Ruin bits and I liked getting to see Vin/Elend at the end (The trilogy was the first stuff I read by him and I loved those two characters). I'll probably have to read this again eventually so I can make sure I catch all the nuance, but I loved that Sanderson wrote this over a decade (which, let's be honest, was maybe a chapter a year) and so he added nuance as he developed the universe. Hope of Elantris doesn't need a spoiler. Basically just a POV from another area during the books climax. It was solid and worth reading, but I don't have much to offer here. Only 6k words. Sixth of the Dusk Spoiler This may have been the most non-Sanderson Sanderson I've read. Well, that sounds misleading. I say that mostly because the magic wasn't really something used by the characters, but rather gifted from parasites in companion birds. I also thought its ending was a bit blurry--I had to reread it to understand what was happening. I enjoyed the characters and the world seemed interesting, but I think the most important bit of info was the allusion to space travel. Not sure if this means shard bearers or actual astronauts (like the space opera Mistborn) but that seems pretty important later on. The plot was solid but I think the story was most memorable for that reason
I was just grinning ear to ear from the epilogue of BoM all the way through Secret History. Just when I though Brandon couldn't be any greater, he blows my mind again. I didn't hear so much as a single rumor about Secret History. Incredibly well kept secret.
50% of the way through BoM right now, but the scene when they arrive in New Seran where they are talking to the hotel manager is some of the best humor I've read from Sanderson. So far it's my favorite book from Mistborn through W&W.
Turn around for SH from beta read to publish was two months. No one knew. Which is awesome that he kept it under wraps that long
Theoretically yes but you should read through Bands of Mourning as SH has spoilers (though it's technically #3.5)
Bands of Mourning was my favorite of the three W&W books, so just move to that then go to SH. They segue well
I don't mind waiting. I just prefer the time period of Kelsier and co. versus the more modern Wax and Wayne period, and was excited at the prospect of going back. Don't get me wrong, they're both great (and W&W are funny as shit), but I prefer my fantasy in a low-tech format. It's nice to have occasional modernity in my fantasy books, but it's not my preference.
Finished Bands of Mourning on Friday. Halfway through Secret History today. I guess I'll start Stormlight Archive tomorrow.
I'm so excited for you to be starting TWOK. Totally different reading experience from Wax and Wayne though.
Yeah, make sure to check this thread out when you start TWOK http://www.the-mainboard.com/index.php?threads/the-stormlight-archive-thread.158401/
I'm extremely excited about a new series, and I've heard a lot of folks say SA is better than the Mistborn/W&W books.
It is, just way different read. Just as much Sanderson action scenes and plot twists, just a lot more world building.
Take what you know about Sanderson and apply it to a series that will be ten books, 400k words each. That's Stormlight. He's said it's the story he's always wanted to write. I loved Mistborn. It was the first Sanderson series I read. But I think SLA is better.
Warbreaker. Anyone wanna send me this one? I'll probably read it in the kindle app on my phone if that helps at all...
I don't have it to send, but I'm reading it when I finish this month's book club book. It's the only Cosmere novel I have left.
Let me know how it is. I have it on my Kindle but haven't started it. I finally started Bands of Mourning while at the gym. Really liking it so far.
I just read the first Mistborn book, an currently reading Well of Ascension, is this thread full of spoilers?
Sanderson's awesome. He also writes a ton so there are multiple other series you can read if you enjoy Mistborn, including another that's set in the same world.
Finished Warbreaker. Will post thoughts soon. I've now read everything Cosmere impacting that's been released.
Just finished Well of Ascension, love it as well. When I read Sanderson I feel like he has a story to tell and knows where it is going....isn't just making stuff up as he goes along like some other fantasy writers do. The cover art seems a little misleading....don't know from what part of the book its supposed to be from
Warbreaker thoughts spoilered Spoiler This book reminded me a lot of Elantris. From tone, style, story structure--all of it. It makes sense, because he wrote this novel as serialized releases on his website before it was actually published, so it was probably written around the time immediately following Elantris' publication and while he was working on Mistborn. I thought this book was solid, but it's definitely in the middle of his releases. I'd probably rate it just above Elantris, but it's closer to Shadows of Self than it is Mistborn trilogy or SLA. The magic system is cool and I thought the idea of living, hostage gods that are fed tributes by the subjects in return for the expectation of an eventual miracle and, thus, the death of that god was pretty damn cool. I actually wish that the book had featured more of that interplay. The magic (colors) was fine and inventive--typical Sanderson. I thought the older sister, Vivenna, was annoying at times. I'm sure Sanderson was going for that--she was stubborn in her world view. This illustrated that Siri was the person who was better for the role. Vivenna meeting with Vasher and Nightblood wasn't too surprising. I expected Denth's betrayal. I've read that he plans on writing a second novel in this world titled Nightblood--I hope he does, because that subplot was pretty interesting and, while we got some answers, we didn't really explore them. It was more tell, rather than show. All in all, I liked the novel, but didn't love it. Much like Elantris. But it's Cosmere impacting and features a fairly extensive Hoid conversation, so it's worth reading.
Agree with a lot of this. I think the whole novel is worthwhile just for Hoid, Vasher and Nightblood.
those of you that check the books you read thread (or follow me on goodreads) know I finally joined in on the fun. Just read the first 3 Mistborn books in about a 5 day period. Loved the books. Big fan of his writing. Going to take a break here (gonna re-read the passage and the twelve in advance of next week) but am very much looking forward to jumping back into these books after this. And, given the number of books, looks like I'll have plenty of options. Suggestions going forward? I'm planning on catching up on the Mistborn series (think there's 3 more?). Is there another series I should start after that? Or instead of the other Mistborn books?
There's no best order for the Cosmere overall. I'd just look up a list of all of his Cosmere books and start crossing those off. Wax and Wayne is the next Mistborn series. He's written 3 of the 4, plus a novella that is a must read called Secret History. The recommended order is for you to read through Bands of Mourning, then read SH, even though it is technically #3.5. It contains spoilers for later books. After that, you should move on to Stormlight Archive. His other novels, particularly Elantris and Warbreaker, are good, but they can wait and are not as good as Mistborn and SLA.
I will also add that Wax and Wayne are a different type of books from the original trilogy. They're shorter, fun reads. While Bands of Mourning especially was great, I would not put them up there with Mistborn 1-3 or SLA. Also, if you ever read Wheel of Time he wraps that series up incredibly well.
Just finished Words of Radiance. In the middle of reading Warbreaker. Debating starting Oathbringer immediately or giving myself a minute. I've been non-stop Sanderson for the past 5 months and have finished all Mistborn books, Elantris, two SA books, and soon to be Warbreaker.
Unless I missed something, Oathbringer isn't out yet Also you're quite close to being caught up on the Cosmere. Just need his short stories and novellas
Welp...that solves that question. I thought 2 were out and he just released the third recently. I guess it was Words of Radiance that just came out...oops.
Amazon has the kindle version of The Way of Kings on sale for $3, so I picked it up. Never read any of his stuff before, but I'm obsessed with ASOIAF so I figured I would give it a try.