In your opinion, is the Sanderson book good?

[Krono]

I'm almost done with book five.  I can't wait to read them all.  However, I am a little worried about a new auther and everything.  I know the Jordan vision of the story will be in tact, but I'm wondering about Sanderson's style.  I never read the Myst Born books or anything so, what I wanna' know is, does Sanderson emulate Jordan well?  Does he even try to?  Or does he just use his own style?

 

  I guess I'm just wondering if anyone can give me some spoiler free opinions & comments on Sandersons continuation of the greatest fantasy series ever written.

[Kadere]

Yes. TGS is, in many people's opinion (hardcore fans btw) the best book of the series or at the LEAST in the top 3. Brandon does a wonderful job emulating RJ's style and there's more than enough things going on in it to satisfy any reader. If you haven't read Brandon before you'll probably notice the differences in style even less then some people have who have read him. In certain chapters he's been considered "very noticable" and there have been some negative reaction to one of the characters depictions by him, but by and large the book is the best one since LoC.

[Krono]

Oh yeeeesss!  That I great to hear.  I am sooooo excited now.  All my worry just melted away.  It's not that I'm a big critic of...well of anything, I just really love these books.  I'm glad to hear the fans are happy.  That's what matters to me.  I'm sure I'll love the story part because that's all RJ.  Now I don't have to worry about the "style" part.

[Agitel]

Oh yeeeesss!  That I great to hear.  I am sooooo excited now.  All my worry just melted away.  It's not that I'm a big critic of...well of anything, I just really love these books.  I'm glad to hear the fans are happy.  That's what matters to me.  I'm sure I'll love the story part because that's all RJ.  Now I don't have to worry about the "style" part.

 

Well, there are some differences. I personally loved the book, but it should be said that Sanderson doesn't do quite as well dealing with the same vast scope as Jordan. He also isn't a writer as focused on the details. With that said, that's perhaps what the series needed by that point in the series, particularly with Jordan passed away and so much still that needed covering. The faster pace was certainly a breath of fresh air.

 

On top of that it IS a great book.

[Ishmayl]

I think you'll find that even "hardcore fans" have disagreements on the quality of the book.  I've read the book three times.  The first two times, I read them within one week of each other, right after the book came out.  I loved it on my first read through, and quite frankly, was disgusted with it just one week later.  

 

I just reread the book about three weeks ago (middle of April, 2010), and my basic overall feeling towards the book is, "It's pretty decent."  I do not rank it in my favorite books by any means, but I also don't rank it with my least favorite.  I feel that I have to put it in a different category because of a few things.

 

First of all, the book really does read (to me) like fanfic.  Good fanfic, but fanfic nonetheless. That's just an honest truth in how I perceive a lot of what happens in the book.  Scenes like the "bean" scene, and the "Night in BlankerBlank" chapter, I found extremely disappointing.  (I tried to put that with as little spoilerage as possible, please let me know if I crossed the line for this particular forum, and I will change it).  These two, and several other scenes in the book, made me think that things were being added to the book/series that were just fulfilling the author's base desires to add them in.

 

Secondly, he way certain characters spoke, to me, was without much voice, or with very different voice.  It reminded me very much of a comic series I read recently.  I have been reading comics since I was young, but I missed "Crisis on Infinite Earths" when it first came out.  I never read it.  When "Infinite Crisis" and "Final Crisis" came out over the last few years, I decided I should go back and read the original from decades ago.  What I found was that every character spoke in the same voice - Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, all these comic characters that I have grown used to over the last twenty years, back then spoke with little or no differentiation between them.  That's what reading a lot of TGS felt like to me.  I know others disagree with me - many feel that this is the only book where Nynaeve has ever even had a voice, and I just humbly disagree (I think A Crown of Swords is a Book of Awesome for Nynaeve, both in character development, and voice).  I also, contrary to many people who read the series, have been a reasonable fan of a certain Green Ajah Sister since she was introduced in aCoS, but I was pretty overly disgusted with her in this book, because I felt her character changed too much just to fit with the author's plotting style.

 

So anyway, you asked for opinions, and I believe many here will probably have opposing views to me, but I strongly believe that a lot of the praise for this book is at least a little undeserved.  Once again, it doesn't mean I don't like it - at the end of the day, I want the series finished, and I think Sanderson so far has done a "decent enough" job.  But different things trigger emotions and criticisms in different people, and this one triggered a lot in me on the negative side.

 

That all being said, I do think the book improved from Chapter 1 to the Epilogue.  So, if Brandon wrote the book in chronological order (some authors do, some authors don't), I could see the next two books being even more of improvements.

 

Let us know what you think when you get there.

[Mr Ares]

I guess I'm just wondering if anyone can give me some spoiler free opinions & comments on Sandersons continuation of the greatest fantasy series ever written.

Bradon Sanderson is continuing A Song of ice and Fire!?!? When did that happen?

[Ishmayl]

I guess I'm just wondering if anyone can give me some spoiler free opinions & comments on Sandersons continuation of the greatest fantasy series ever written.

Bradon Sanderson is continuing A Song of ice and Fire!?!? When did that happen?

 

Le'Trolle  ;D

 

We all know that in actuality, Sanderson will be writing the sequel to The Sword of Truth

[Impressive Bosom]

The 'Blanker-blank' chapter(s), while entertaining certainly, could have been removed from the book in its entirety and would never have been noticed or missed - assuming of course that something unforseen doesn't happen in the next two books that was set up by those chapters.

 

At any rate, while I can understand the 'fanfic' perception, I don't agree with it. I'm about to do my first re-read, but it stands for me as one of the top 5 books in the series, certainly, and that's without factoring in the idea that it had been so long between books and that it could have been such a disappointment and wasn't. Its a great read with some truly memorable scenes, the kind of scenes that stay with you long after the entire series has been digested.

[Tom Sawyer]

I think it's one of the better ones.  The series started to drag after book five and this latest one helped to put more focus back into the storyline and get things moving at a better pace.

[Shaidar]

My impression isn't that it's better or worse; it's just DIFFERENT.

 

BS has a totally different writing style. His prose is less ornate, but more fluid. Far less descriptive, more plot-driven. I'd say the characterization is worse, though what can one expect - they were RJ's creatures. But the pacing has become far better than anything RJ ever managed (again not surprising; BS has three books to finish a massive series off and tie up masses of loose ends).

 

I certainly wasn't disappointed with Gathering Storm and think its easily one of the Top 5.

[Sid]

I'm ok with it.  Though impossible to perfectly emulate RJ he does an admirable job at telling the story, and above all it will eventually bring us closure.  If you take books 1-11 as a whole vs. 12 I'd say the quality dips, but TGS is better than at least a few of the preceding books individually.  In the end it had me gripping the cover in shock/terror/disbelief/anticipation/glee just like all the other books did, so it's worth the read.

[Sirayn]

I thought it was excellent, and it revived my interest in the series.

[Elend]

As Sirayn indicates, it really does breathe a new life into the series, at least to an extent. Sanderson captures the things that made the Wheel of Time the Wheel of Time as well as anyone who isn't Jordan could do, and he adds a bit of something to it. Would I prefer it with Jordan writing it? Yes, I would. But Sanderson does a wonderful job writing it.

 

I guess I'm just wondering if anyone can give me some spoiler free opinions & comments on Sandersons continuation of the greatest fantasy series ever written.

Bradon Sanderson is continuing A Song of ice and Fire!?!? When did that happen?

 

Le'Trolle  ;D

 

We all know that in actuality, Sanderson will be writing the sequel to The Sword of Truth

 

We actually get to see a powerful woman in that series, that actually DOES stuff?!  ???

[Krono]

Wow.  Thank you guys so much for all your input.  Even with all the constructive critisism, I feel there is a general hat tip, by all, to Sanderson.  Personaly, I am just not very critical of details.  If the main story is good and the writing isn't too distracting, I think I'll probably love it.  Just the fact that the hardcore fans are taking this new author with even a small amount of praise says a lot.  A whole lot actually.  When I first posted this topic I truly was expecting rabbid hatred of the new book.  I can say, now, that my worries have been satiated.  

[McCBass]

Look forward to this book.  While it is undeniably different, Sanderson does a great job with a story that isn't his own.  While some of the chapters (Night in _____________) are superfluous, the overall story is good, and the character insights (except for the Prince) are well done. [i tried wicked hard not to spoil!]

[Luckers]

Yeah I liked it. The part with a chicken-that-wasn't-a-chicken-because-it-was-a-crappy-plot-device was a bit hard to swallow--or am I confusing myself?

 

 

[Elend]

Yeah I liked it. The part with a chicken-that-wasn't-a-chicken-because-it-was-a-crappy-plot-device was a bit hard to swallow--or am I confusing myself?

 

 

 

Were you just jaw-kicked, by chance? :D

[Luckers]

No, but next door a fairy vomited blood, then died.

[Sirayn]

I love that you can communicate entirely in the specialised language of Goodkind-mocking. You death-choosers. :D

[Elend]

I love that you can communicate entirely in the specialised language of Goodkind-mocking. You death-choosers. :D

 

Occasionally our things just rise up.

[Allenbird]

My impression isn't that it's better or worse; it's just DIFFERENT.

 

BS has a totally different writing style. His prose is less ornate, but more fluid. Far less descriptive, more plot-driven. I'd say the characterization is worse, though what can one expect - they were RJ's creatures. But the pacing has become far better than anything RJ ever managed (again not surprising; BS has three books to finish a massive series off and tie up masses of loose ends).

 

I certainly wasn't disappointed with Gathering Storm and think its easily one of the Top 5.

 

My thought emulate yours almost exactly. While this book is one of my favorites simply because it is close to the end and the excitement of the closing of plotlines is an awesome thing, it is definitely a different book. Brandon Sanderson has an obvious different style though his dark and ominous feel is common in all his books.

 

 

[OptimusPrime]

When I first read TGS I was dissapointed by some of the events. I felt that certain bits (like, the first major "gripping" bit) lacked the suspense it should have somewhat.

 

Yet now when I look back at it and what the situation is AFTER TGS, I cannot put into words how worth the wait the progress of the book is. A lot happens. A lot of MAJOR stuff happens. And it felt like being reunited with an old friend not seen for years.

 

Brandon did one hell of a job. Cant wait for ToM

[Skowsa]

When BS was announced as the author of the the rest of the best long running book series ever, I decided to read some of his other work. Very, very well done in deed. Elantris was an easy read and the Mistborn Trilogy, while being a little more involved, was a gripping series. The plot hooks and twists that were revealed at the end of the last book were very well set up in book 1.

 

Brandon did one hell of a job. Cant wait for ToM

 

I totally agree with this. The first time I read tGS I couldn't put it down. At the end of it I just collapsed and said "yes". The euphoria was like you get watching the biggest sports match of the season and your team winning in the final seconds. I am so pumped to get the next book read - I can't wait. :(

[Shaidar]

I know many people seem to think the Night in _______ scene was superfluous and fan-ficky, but I liked it. It was a good diversion and graphically emphasized one of the primary themes of the latter books.

[Majsju]

In my eyes, there were two scenes that gave me a feeling of being more Brandon than the rest of the book. The scene mentioned by several people here is not one of them.

 

 

Heh, maybe we should start a pool, and see who gets the most correct ones ;D