Interesting news for fans of Brandon Sanderson

rshetts2 · Post by **rshetts2** » Fri Oct 28, 2016 5:46 pm

It appears that the works of Brandon Sanderson's fictional "universe" will be coming to the big screen. In fact the excellent first book in the Stormlight series, The Way of Kings, is already being adapted to screenplay. More about it can be found here: http://www.blastr.com/2016-10-28/brando ... big-screen

Default · Post by **Default** » Fri Oct 28, 2016 10:45 pm

My kid went on the Writing Excuses cruise in the Caribbean last month. He spoke with Brandon and came back with a fire that I haven't seen before. He is planning on going on the next cruise through the North Sea, then knocking around for a couple of days, then going to WorldCon.

Matrix · Post by **Matrix** » Sun Oct 30, 2016 5:47 pm

This sounds great, loved the books. Hopefully they dont mess it up

If they capture even 50% of the book excitement, it should be a huge hit.

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Sun Oct 30, 2016 6:17 pm

Default wrote:My kid went on the Writing Excuses cruise in the Caribbean last month. He spoke with Brandon and came back with a fire that I haven't seen before. He is planning on going on the next cruise through the North Sea, then knocking around for a couple of days, then going to WorldCon.

Sounds very cool! Was this an aspiring-writers themed cruise?

(You and I should meet up for a beer again, BTW.)

rshetts2 · Post by **rshetts2** » Sun Oct 30, 2016 6:27 pm

I was actually surprised that they chose Way of Kings to adapt first. That is a fairly large novel and it has a lot going on. I can not possibly see how they can do it justice in a 2 hour movie so hopefully plan on giving it more than just one movie.

Default · Post by **Default** » Sun Oct 30, 2016 10:23 pm

Holman wrote:
Default wrote:My kid went on the Writing Excuses cruise in the Caribbean last month. He spoke with Brandon and came back with a fire that I haven't seen before. He is planning on going on the next cruise through the North Sea, then knocking around for a couple of days, then going to WorldCon.
Sounds very cool! Was this an aspiring-writers themed cruise?

(You and I should meet up for a beer again, BTW.)

Aspiring and published writers. It is turning out to be a transcendental moment in Andy's life. Ditto on the beer, we need to do that.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Tue Mar 01, 2022 6:08 pm

Brandon Sanderson is not human.

Kickstarter launched today and is closing in on $8M.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Tue Mar 01, 2022 6:28 pm

Spoiler:

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Tue Mar 01, 2022 9:07 pm

That sounds really cool.

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Tue Mar 29, 2022 12:07 pm

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Tue Mar 29, 2022 5:37 pm

stessier wrote: ↑Tue Mar 29, 2022 12:07 pm

Teaser for something revealed at 9am mountain time tomorrow.

Thanks for nothing!

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Tue Mar 29, 2022 5:49 pm

Don't shoot the messenger!

Jaymann · Post by **Jaymann** » Tue Mar 29, 2022 6:00 pm

Sanderson should write finishes for Song of Ice and Fire and Kingkiller Chronicles. If the authors die he can publish them as canon. If by some miracle an author finishes the series (or he can't get the rights) he can publish as fan fiction.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Wed Mar 30, 2022 3:36 pm

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Wed Mar 30, 2022 3:45 pm

He's a strange one, that Sanderson.

Jaymann · Post by **Jaymann** » Wed Mar 30, 2022 3:48 pm

I followed the link to his kickstarter page. His goal was $1M, he is up $38M!

The dude wrote more during the pandemic than Rothfuss has in his career.

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Wed Mar 30, 2022 3:48 pm

Spoiler:

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Wed Mar 30, 2022 3:49 pm

I don't know how he has time to make 3-minute videos.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Wed Mar 30, 2022 3:53 pm

Jaymann wrote: ↑Wed Mar 30, 2022 3:48 pm The dude wrote more during the pandemic than Rothfuss has in his career.

It's been so long I'd basically forgotten about Rothfuss.

stessier wrote: ↑Wed Mar 30, 2022 3:48 pm
Spoiler:
I really want to read the Stormlight series, but swore after Wheel of Time and Game of Thrones that I wouldn't start a series until the originally planned books are done. It's been pretty hard to wait.

As the kickstarter demonstrated, Sanderson is a writing machine. The only challenge is that he is insists on writing so many different things. Write the stuff I'm waiting for Brandon!

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Wed Mar 30, 2022 4:19 pm

coopasonic wrote: ↑Wed Mar 30, 2022 3:53 pmAs the kickstarter demonstrated, Sanderson is a writing machine. The only challenge is that he is insists on writing so many different things. Write the stuff I'm waiting for Brandon!

GRRM also writes so many things. The difference is that Sanderson manages to write a half-dozen projects at a time and still completes each of them on a schedule that would make Rothfuss et al weep.

I also have held off on Stormlight for this reason, but I would peg the odds of Sanderson finishing as far higher than Rothfuss/GRRM. Hell, I'd probably peg the odds that Sanderson finishes Stormlight and then steps in and completes Rothfuss/GRRM's main serieses above the odds of those two authors both finishing their own work.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Wed Mar 30, 2022 5:04 pm

I have complete faith in him. I just lack patience.

Baroquen · Post by **Baroquen** » Wed Mar 30, 2022 5:47 pm

Stormlight is one of the few series where I am "up to date". Yes, it's a problem remembering all the details when a new tome comes out, and I'm definitely not re-reading those things. But it's still enjoyable.

(Technically, I'm caught up with Game of Thrones but I don't feel like that counts anymore).

Zarathud · Post by **Zarathud** » Wed Mar 30, 2022 6:44 pm

Sanderson has some interesting talks about his writing. He writes everyday. First he gets a draft on a series over a year, then moves onto a different series while working with the editor for variety in year 2. Then as things get finalized and marketed, he’s onto a third project in year 3 to keep it interesting. That 3 project over 3 year cycle was planned so he wouldn’t burn out.

While everyone else stalled out, he kept writing on things he liked and had free time to do more than his 3 things because he didn’t have to market. It’s his system, and kudos to him for filling that time productively.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Wed Mar 30, 2022 8:22 pm

stessier wrote: ↑Wed Mar 30, 2022 3:48 pm
Spoiler:
I really want to read the Stormlight series, but swore after Wheel of Time and Game of Thrones that I wouldn't start a series until the originally planned books are done. It's been pretty hard to wait.

Made myself the same promise with Wheel of Time back around '96. The only time I broke it was for Rothfuss. Get to it, Rothfuss!

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Sun Jan 01, 2023 10:39 am

I got an email about 7 hours ago with a link to download the first of the four secret novels. I am a few chapters in and it's a bit more humor focused than most of his work and no sign of any revolutionary magic system... yet, but I am still enthralled. Sandman is going on pause for a few days.

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Mon Jan 02, 2023 10:19 am

Is it ‘good’ humor?

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Mon Jan 02, 2023 12:33 pm

Carpet_pissr wrote: ↑Mon Jan 02, 2023 10:19 am Is it ‘good’ humor?

That's going to be pretty subjective. It feels a lot like a parody of fantasy, calling out various fantasy tropes in a humorous way. I'm half way through it now and still pretty well enthralled, but I am also not as critical of books/film/TV as your typical OOer, so I may not be the best reviewer.

Jeff V · Post by **Jeff V** » Mon Jan 02, 2023 11:13 pm

I don't suppose it's a link that can be shared?

Max Peck · Post by **Max Peck** » Sat Mar 25, 2023 3:25 pm

Apparently you can get paid for being not a fan of Brandon Sanderson.

Brandon Sanderson Is Your God

Sanderson, when I eventually meet him in person, makes versions of these excuses, plus others, for his writerly obscurity. It’s kind of fun to talk about, until it isn’t, and that’s when I realize, in a panic, that I now have a problem. Sanderson is excited to talk about his reputation. He’s excited, really, to talk about anything. But none of his self-analysis is, for my purposes, exciting. In fact, at that first dinner, over flopsy Utah Chinese—this being days before I’d meet his extended family, and attend his fan convention, and take his son to a theme park, and cry in his basement—I find Sanderson depressingly, story-killingly lame.

He sits across from me in an empty restaurant, kind of lordly and sure of his insights, in a graphic T-shirt and ill-fitting blazer, which he says he wears because it makes him look professorial. It doesn’t. He isn’t. Unless the word means only: believing everything you say is worth saying. Sanderson talks a lot, but almost none of it is usable, quotable. I begin to think, This is what I drove all the way from San Francisco to the suburbs of Salt Lake City in the freezing-cold dead of winter for? For previously frozen dim sum and freeze-dried conversation? This must be why nobody writes about Brandon Sanderson.

So, recklessly, I say what’s on my mind. I have to. His wife is there, his biggest fan, always his first reader, making polite comments; I don’t care. Maybe nobody writes about you, I say to Sanderson, because you don’t write very well.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Sat Mar 25, 2023 3:30 pm

And Sanderson's response:

Madmarcus · Post by **Madmarcus** » Mon Mar 27, 2023 8:54 am

Is it supposed to be surprising that Sanderson is basically a non-exciting guy? He's a competent writer with a great work ethic and habits. He's made his fame by writing a lot of fantasy that is consistently slightly above average but, at least to me, never really hits any sort of high bar for bon mots or insight.

Skinypupy · Post by **Skinypupy** » Mon Mar 27, 2023 9:32 am

That Wired article was just weird. Felt like the author came in fully expecting there to be some sort of juicy scandal or extreme quirk. When it turned out that Sanderson is just a normal, boring guy, the author then decided that the best solution was to trash him for it? Just a really odd reaction.

While I've never read much of Sanderson's books (I started Stormlight Archive, but didn't find it particuarly interesting). I didn't find them actively terrible, mind you, I just figured his writing really wasn't for me. To paint him as some sort of villain because he's boring was...certainly a choice. Sounded like the author was basically just mad that he had to spend a week in Utah in the middle of winter. It is remarkably dull here (all the locations they talk about in the article are about 10 minutes from me), I'll give him that. What he seems to miss is that some of us (most of us?) actually happen to like dull.

The description of Evermore Park as a run-down dump was particularly funny, and spot on. Little B 14.1 is actually looking to get a summer job there, as she would basically get paid (very little) to cosplay. She thinks that sounds like the greatest thing ever.

I thought Sanderson's response was perfect.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Mon Mar 27, 2023 9:36 am

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Mon Mar 27, 2023 9:32 amall the locations they talk about in the article are about 10 minutes from me

I eagerly await your review of The Shower.

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Mon Mar 27, 2023 9:41 am

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Mon Mar 27, 2023 9:32 am That Wired article was just weird. Felt like the author came in fully expecting there to be some sort of juicy scandal or extreme quirk. When it turned out that Sanderson is just a normal, boring guy, the author then decided that the best solution was to trash him for it? Just a really odd reaction.

It was weird and it barely seemed fit to print but the content gods require digital ink sacrifices.

I thought Sanderson's response was perfect.

Agreed. Including his analysis of why the author went so meta on the article.

Torfish · Post by **Torfish** » Mon Mar 27, 2023 1:46 pm

I've read many of Sanderson's books. I count three books that I would recommend. The rest are just average.

Elantris is his best and I think his first book. Excellent.
Way of Kings and Words of Radiance. Very good.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Mon Mar 27, 2023 2:05 pm

I haven't read anything of his, but I'm about halfway through Robert Jordan's final Wheel of Time novel, so I'll be reading him very soon.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Mon Mar 27, 2023 2:13 pm

I can't claim to be a fan either; I've only read the Mistborne trilogy and it felt very...mechanical (and soulless) to me. I did read the first two books (I think) of the Reckoners trilogy (?) and it was a little better - maybe he's become a better writer? I don't have any particular feelings about him other than I don't quite understand what everyone else is so enamored with - other than his prolific nature.

The piece in Wired was indeed odd for all the reasons mentioned above. I guess there were some expectations going in and a hope to find something "juicy" and as it turns out, he's just a family dude that keeps a weird schedule and likes to write.

Fireball · Post by **Fireball** » Mon Mar 27, 2023 2:53 pm

I haven't gotten to Sanderson's books in WOT yet, but I will, and I look forward to reading them.

This article is mean-spirited, and the writer comes off as a jerk with a chip on his shoulder.

For a long time, Sanderson was rather controversial in the LGBTQ community given some of his early statements on things like marriage equality. Yet it seems to me that he started in a space where he was very unfamiliar with my community, and has tried very heard to learn about why his initial statements were so unacceptable. I respect him for that, and appreciate the journey he's taken. What else can we expect from someone? Any social or political movement that doesn't accept converts is doomed to die.

Sanderson's response to the negative article shows a great deal of class, empathy and character, all traits missing from the original piece. I know it's not what the WIRED article writer intended, but this whole situations has further improved my vague opinion about Sanderson.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Mon Mar 27, 2023 4:24 pm

As I come back to my computer after bringing in a package off the porch and excitedly unwrapping my hardcover copy of Tress and the Emerald Sea, I think about how to express my enjoyment of Sanderson's books. The problem is that I don't really know why they resonate with me. I am notoriously uncritical of most media like books, movies and shows. I am very easily pulled into a world that I can visualize and Sanderson's books do that for me. Are they academically unchallenging? Certainly. Does that mean they aren't entertaining? Nope. Could I be reading something better? Probably. Do I care? Nope.

By my count I have read 21 Sanderson books, including the WoT books and 3 novellas. I have enjoyed every single one of them. That probably accounts for more than half the pages I have read in the past 10-15 years. Yeah, I don't read much and maybe that is part of it.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Mon Mar 27, 2023 5:13 pm

The best retort I've seen was along the lines of "I can't believe this person had the audacity to attack Sanderson's prose when it took him five months to write 'I don't like Brandon Sanderson'."