[fredleblanc]

I picked up the first Wheel of Time book and dug in. Wondering how many books there were I found myself on Amazon.

To find out that someone else finished the series. What!? Who was this guy? What has he done? So I searched for that. Mistborn, what's this?

The Robert Jordan situation is how I found Brandon Sanderson. I've since read all of his original novels (not Infinity Blade nor Wheel of Time — I still haven't gone back after finding Sanderson) and just started my fourth re-reading of the original Mistborn trilogy. I absolutely love it.

To me, the "Robert Jordan situation," though sad, has brought me many, many hours of joy.

That said, with the exception of Sanderson's Stormlight Archive (because he is an absolute writing machine), I'm done reading books in long series that haven't been finished yet. Besides, there's plenty of great stuff out there that's finished that's waiting for me to find.

[Ntrails]

>I'm done reading books in long series that haven't been finished yet.

That was my main takeaway from the WoT thing too, and we were lucky he was able to pass on his notes to Sanderson and talk him through the "vision". I'm not going to set myself up for that risk again. Looking at you GoT.

[throwawaylalala]

I have read two of Sandersons books and just couldn't find myself caring about the characters; is there a specific one that you liked a lot?

With that said, you may want to check out" The Name of the wind" and any of hugh howys stuff (start with wool)...

[fredleblanc]

Ah, which two books did you read?

I've read through Kingkiller. And, like the rest of the world, am eagerly awaiting The Doors of Stone. That's the last time I'm taken by an unfinished series. :)

I love heists, so the first Mistborn book is my favorite — it's Ocean's Eleven meets fantasy. And, I thought that the whole trilogy (and beyond) was so cleverly pieced together that I re-read it each year. I like that everything has its place, even if it feels a bit too convenient now and then.

His Stormlight Archive series took me two tries to get into, but I'm so happy I did. The characters are well-thought-through, and each book (1,000+ pages) focuses on the backstory of one particular character.

And, I think the more impressive part of it is that almost all of his adult-fantasy books are connected, and that he's setting up a very, very large 36+ book arc that — for now — is only there if you look for it, but with each new book, the ties are coming together more and more.

[msh]

I liked his mistborn series, it had some novel ideas. The rest I have read are too long and generic fantasy.

I think the best modern fantasy I have read is Richard morgans 'a land fit for heroes' series.

I liked the first couple of books in the Malazan books of the fallen series but they got too long and slow.

[JadeNB]

> I think the best modern fantasy I have read is Richard morgans 'a land fit for heroes' series.

I came to these differently (through Morgan's Takeshi Kovacs series), but was equally impressed by them, and second the recommendation. If you're motivated to go looking for more, I'd say don't bother with Market Forces, and don't have high expectations for Thirteen.

[rodgerd]

> I think the best modern fantasy I have read is Richard morgans 'a land fit for heroes' series.

Check out The Castle trilogy by Steph Swainston. It is a great deal more original, thoughtful, and better written than most modern fantasy, and a very good read. Also it's a finished trilogy.

[abakker]

Sanderson's work in the original Mistborn Trilogy and in WoT are his best work IMO. unfortunately, the care he put into writing those books to get them just right is seemingly lacking from his more recent books. The most recent mistborn trilogy is laughable. It lacks any real tension, and the fallback on the deus ex machina is very very frustrating to the reader.

Sanderson needs to focus less on being a "writing machine" and more on being a writer.

Some of Sanderson's contemporaries like Lynch, Rothfuss, and Abercrombie have avoided this trap a bit better, but they have also published less.

[fredleblanc]

I mean, he's even said it himself, the most recent Mistborn trilogy was not an attempt to further epic fantasy, but a different experiment all together. It's an exploration of different types of stories, but within a universe that was familiar.[0]

I think the jury on the Stormlight Archive series' care is still up in the air, considering what makes the original Mistborn Trilogy so great is how complete the story is, and we're only 1/5 of the way through SA's arc (with what, another 20 years left until they're done)?

I don't think stories need to be deep and epic to be fun and worthwhile. And while Rothfuss may write the most beautiful prose (and to me, he does), it turns out that I'd rather have quantity with above-average quality than a couple of masterpieces with supreme quality.

But hey, to each their own. At least we're reading things we find interesting. :)

[0]: http://theoryland.com/intvmain.php?i=1152#2

[abakker]

Completely agree - and yes, he was going for something different with the recent mistborn stuff.

Have you seen Jonathan Renshaw's recent book? I'll definitely be following that one - simpler, more "standard" fantasy, but refreshingly executed so far.

[fredleblanc]

I haven't, is that Dawn of Wonder?

[abakker]

Yeah - definitely a good read.

[egypturnash]

> I'm done reading books in long series that haven't been finished yet

> you may want to check out" The Name of the wind"

...which is the first book of a projected three-book series, of which only two have been published.

I mean they're well-written and so far it's not as bad as the twenty-three wait for the next Chtorr book but, well...

[cthalupa]

> well-written

We're saying a series where a third of the second book is about the main character having sex with a sex goddess and thus earning the sexual prowess to get laid with every tavern wench and attractive female he gets within 75 feet of is well-written?

Kvothe is a complete Gary Stu and exercise in wish fulfillment for Rothfuss.