Brandon Sanderson ??

[carpetmojo]

Am I alone - having finished Book 3 - in feeling Sanderson has done the old "hitting the buffers at No. 3 in a series" trick ?

I felt the re-interpretation of minor incidents/events to move the story on / provide enough material to, justify Book 3 a bit obvious, enough for me to notice it, at least.
And, for me, he did go on a bit on the mystic/philosophical side, frankly - particularly towards the latter parts.
Found myself skipping bits, to be honest.
And it did seem - in a fairly predictable manner - the tale has run its course....
Now I see there's another !

Now I wouldn't say the crime's anywhere near the scale of our George R.M., and the Ice, Blood, and make it up any old way series of course - but enough for me to ask for opinions as to whether ( noting the above ) it's worth giving Book 4 a look ?

[mewmartigan]

I am currently on a Sanderson kick....read Elantris, then Warbreaker and I am now on book 2 of Mistborn.

I assume you are referring to the Mistborn trilogy and now asking if you should look at the new book that just came out?
It's my understanding that The Alloy of Law is set in the far future of the Mistborn world so it shouldn't have much to do with the original story/characters.

I have really enjoyed all of his stuff so far but I know from the previous thread on here that opinions on Mistborn's third book vary.

[Coralm]

As Marcus said, I believe that the newest book takes place much later with none of the same characters. I think (and I could be wrong) that the newer one edges also more toward steampunk than fantasy. I would think just from what I know of the first three books, not having read the fourth yet, that the newest will be really different from the original trilogy.

[queentess]

Originally Posted by carpetmojo

Now I wouldn't say the crime's anywhere near the scale of our George R.M., and the Ice, Blood, and make it up any old way series of course - but enough for me to ask for opinions as to whether ( noting the above ) it's worth giving Book 4 a look ?

I'm a bit weird about Sanderson. I love the Mistborn trilogy, enjoy what he's done with Wheel of Time, but HATE WITH A BURNING PASSION Elantris. Started Warbreaker and didn't get far. With my tastes in mind, I read the newest book set in the Mistborn universe, and I did not like it. I expected it to be nothing like Mistborn (and it wasn't), but I wasn't prepared for it to be a weak steampunky detective story. I can't recommend it, but it depends on how your tastes run. I found the pacing, weak storyline, predictability, bad dialog, and hasty end with lots of action to mirror the way Elantris was written.

[way8lifter]

His newest series starts with The Way Of Kings ...1200 page monster ...I under stands he plans on 10 ...with todays publishing crap ...that means 27 books ...at a 1000 plus pages each ...he ought to finish it up about 2030 ...string it out like Jordan did ..pat death and still have 2 more books !

[Nancy Fulda]

Originally Posted by carpetmojo

Am I alone - having finished Book 3 - in feeling Sanderson has done the old "hitting the buffers at No. 3 in a series" trick ?

If you're talking about the Mistborn trilogy then, yes, the third book dragged. Sanderson spent a lot of time setting up for the (admittedly intriguing) ending, but didn't manage to deliver as much punch for chapter as the earlier books. Pretty much the only plotline I was 100% sucked in by was TenSoon's.

I haven't read The Alloy of Law yet, although it's on my list for 2013. I'm kind of curious to see what Sanderson's done with the magic system.

[frostschutz]

Mistborn is like The Matrix. First book, great story, great ending - the sequels, I didn't like nearly as well.

[Nancy Fulda]

Thinking about it, does anyone know the timeline on the Mistborn books? Because I seem to recall that Sanderson got tapped as Robert Jordan's successor right about the time he would have been working on #3.

If that was indeed the case, I think I could forgive Brandon for being a wee bit distracted while writing The Hero of Ages.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Nancy Fulda

If you're talking about the Mistborn trilogy then, yes, the third book dragged. Sanderson spent a lot of time setting up for the (admittedly intriguing) ending, but didn't manage to deliver as much punch for chapter as the earlier books. Pretty much the only plotline I was 100% sucked in by was TenSoon's.

To offer an alternate point of view, I thought the final book in the trilogy was easily the best. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Belfaborac]

I found all three equally enjoyable and can't really see how the last volume could be perceived as significantly worse than the other two. If anything I'm with Harry on this one, in thinking it's the best one. I also thoroughly enjoyed both Elantris and Warbreaker and look forward to the completion of the Stormlight Archive, hopefully sometime before I become a pensioner.

[taosaur]

I'm surprised this thread wasn't merged with the other one. As I said over there, yes book three dragged heavily through most of the last third of the book, but I found the very ending quite satisfying. I thoroughly enjoyed both Alloy of Steel and Elantris as well--both probably more than the Mistborn trilogy.

[carpetmojo]

Considering all above, and my own thoughts, I think i'll try Elantris next - perhaps I started at the wrong book....

[TongueTied]

I enjoyed Alloy of Law more than the latter Mistborn books. Yes, it it verging on steam punk but Brandon has injected humor into it as well. A good read and it would be nice to see sequel.

[taosaur]

I finished up The Way of Kings (Stormlight Archives #1) not long ago, and it was probably his best yet. It had the intricate magic/cosmology we've come to expect, but it didn't get as bogged down in the details as Mistborn or (shudder) Warbreaker. It also had the most compelling female lead so far, IMO. I'm looking forward to future volumes.

[H.P. Lovesauce]

I recommend following the Rule of Three: "For Christ's sake, stop after the third book!"