Just bought "The Way of Kings" [Brandon Sanderson] - Should I read it?

[mewmartigan]

Cool, I like waiting for 3 more books better than waiting for 7 more. A break in the story with a long break between the two 5 books cycles is something I am fine with. Maybe in that 3-4 year break he'll get that second Alloy of Law book out!

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by Valhalla

According to his blog there will be 2 5-book arcs. Next 3 (ie the rest of the first arc) will be released every 18-24 months then a gap of 3 or 4 years before arc 2 starts. Or something like that anyway!

WTF.

That's a 20-25 year time span. I call that ridiculous.

[Dazrin]

Originally Posted by mewmartigan

Cool, I like waiting for 3 more books better than waiting for 7 more. A break in the story with a long break between the two 5 books cycles is something I am fine with. Maybe in that 3-4 year break he'll get that second Alloy of Law book out!

He may very well get the second AoL book out well before that. He works on several books at a time from what I have seen. He has at least three series in the works right now, Mistborn/Alloy of Law, Reckoners, Stormlight Archive, and has works in progress for each of them I believe.

[Dazrin]

Originally Posted by Valhalla

According to his blog there will be 2 5-book arcs. Next 3 (ie the rest of the first arc) will be released every 18-24 months then a gap of 3 or 4 years before arc 2 starts. Or something like that anyway!

I hadn't heard that, interesting. Might allow me to get the first set fairly soon.

Originally Posted by Katsunami

That's a 20-25 year time span. I call that ridiculous.

It's a long time, but no longer than other series that have this sort of scope. Wheel of Time was 23 years (1990-2013) and so far A Song of Ice and Fire has taken 18 years (1996-???) with at least 2 books to go. Who knows how long that will take.

I think it was HarryT who commented that he had faith in Sanderson because of his output, so I took a look at that a while back and Sanderson is definitely showing that he can consistently put out books. His first was Elantris in 2005(?) and he has written more than 15 other books since then (3 WoT, 4 Mistborn, 2 Stormlight Archive, 4 Alcatraz, 1 Legion, 2+ standalone) with at least 1 or 2 more that are finished and going to be published this year (Reckoners #2, Legion #2 (maybe)). So he averages at least 2 books/year for going on 10 years now. And that doesn't include his short stories.

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

That second volume is pretty doggone expensive.....and if it's THAT expensive, then it must be good! --- That's all I'm saying!

I guess I don't understand why you say the second book is expensive. I bought it in hardcover for $16.43 from B&N (had to pay sales tax but free shipping). The second book is nearly 1,100 pages. I don't consider that expensive.

If you mean the ebook is expensive (it's $12.74 at B&N), I agree, but then I don't think the prices the publishers are asking for many ebooks are reasonable and I don't buy them.

I'm willing to buy a hardcover that I can either keep, gift to one of my kids or a friend, or resell once I've read it. I'm not one of the "ebook only" readers.

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by mewmartigan

That's probably a better strategy but I'm going on faith in Sanderson and the already good reviews for The Way of Kings.

I will only be buying book 1 of Malazan however, instead of the 10 book omnibus just in case I don't like it.

I bought the omnibus and am now up to the third book. If I had just bought the first book, I would have read no further. The first book was badly written, scattered, and barely interesting. When I finished it, I decided to give the next book a try to see if it was any better. It was much better and the third book is even better.

[mewmartigan]

Originally Posted by rhadin

I bought the omnibus and am now up to the third book. If I had just bought the first book, I would have read no further. The first book was badly written, scattered, and barely interesting. When I finished it, I decided to give the next book a try to see if it was any better. It was much better and the third book is even better.

Yeah, I have heard the first book is somewhat tough and have even seen several recommendations to just start with book 2...I don't think I could do that but I will at least give the second book a try if I make it through the first and I am on the fence.

[xg4bx]

I bought the ebook version. The length of the book made it worth it to me, $13 for something that'll take me a week to finish is a pretty fair trade IMO. Plus buying a new release/full price book from a mainstream publisher is something I rarely indulge in.

Originally Posted by rhadin

I guess I don't understand why you say the second book is expensive. I bought it in hardcover for $16.43 from B&N (had to pay sales tax but free shipping). The second book is nearly 1,100 pages. I don't consider that expensive.

If you mean the ebook is expensive (it's $12.74 at B&N), I agree, but then I don't think the prices the publishers are asking for many ebooks are reasonable and I don't buy them.

I'm willing to buy a hardcover that I can either keep, gift to one of my kids or a friend, or resell once I've read it. I'm not one of the "ebook only" readers.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

WTF.

That's a 20-25 year time span. I call that ridiculous.

I'll be dead by then.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by rhadin

I guess I don't understand why you say the second book is expensive. I bought it in hardcover for $16.43 from B&N (had to pay sales tax but free shipping). The second book is nearly 1,100 pages. I don't consider that expensive.

If you mean the ebook is expensive (it's $12.74 at B&N), I agree, but then I don't think the prices the publishers are asking for many ebooks are reasonable and I don't buy them.

I'm willing to buy a hardcover that I can either keep, gift to one of my kids or a friend, or resell once I've read it. I'm not one of the "ebook only" readers.

Yes, I meant ebook, rather than book.

I also meant relative to the first, although I have no idea what the price of that first one was when it first came out. (I'm talking ebooks.)

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

I'll be dead by then.

So, don't read that series, as you'll never see the end of it.

[Tarana]

Never understood how anybody could possibly know ahead of time that their story will take ten books to tell properly.

I can always tell when people never learned how to do outlines in high school. Many writers, I will not say most, do outlines. Given that fantasy and science fiction is currently dominated by series, I would think that would be a first step today. They can always change it later.

This isn't just an issue in books. My boss never learned how to do outlines. He simply expanded or cut whatever he wrote for reports to fit in the pre-determined space. Lots of wasted time, both for him and the reader.

As to the original question, I don't have the book, but my cousin liked it.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Tarana

I can always tell when people never learned how to do outlines in high school. Many writers, I will not say most, do outlines. Given that fantasy and science fiction is currently dominated by series, I would think that would be a first step today. They can always change it later.

If you're implying that I never learned how to do outlines in school, then your batting average just went down. I understand it perfectly well (I even understand that Sanderson is probably one of the most notorious planners/architects out there). I just don't see the point of planning a story that takes 10+ books and/or 2+ decades to fully tell. I find it ridiculous and presumptuous, in fact. Whether it be Sanderson, Jordan, Martin or whoever.

I love fantasy--I really do--but I sometimes wish The Series was the exception rather than the rule that governed it. I'd get to read more of it that way.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

If you're implying that I never learned how to do outlines in school, then your batting average just went down. I understand it perfectly well (I even understand that Sanderson is probably one of the most notorious planners/architects out there). I just don't see the point of planning a story that takes 10+ books and/or 2+ decades to fully tell. I find it ridiculous and presumptuous, in fact. Whether it be Sanderson, Jordan, Martin or whoever.

I love fantasy--I really do--but I sometimes wish The Series was the exception rather than the rule that governed it. I'd get to read more of it that way.

If you can get the publisher to give you the contract? Oh, yeah, I can see the reason. $$$. Remember what Dr. Johnson said about writing -- "No man but a blockhead ever wrote, except for money."

[jgaiser]

Originally Posted by rhadin

I bought the omnibus and am now up to the third book. If I had just bought the first book, I would have read no further. The first book was badly written, scattered, and barely interesting. When I finished it, I decided to give the next book a try to see if it was any better. It was much better and the third book is even better.

Have the omnibus also and I can't say I loved the first book, but by the half way point the rough spots had been smoothed out and I did enjoy the book.

About 1/4 way into the second, but I'm also reading The Golem and The Jini by Helene Wecker and Mark Twain by Ron Powers so I won't be finishing it anytime soon.