How does Brandon Sanderson do in emulating Rober Jordan

[Serpenta]

I'm on Chapter 37 in Knife of Dreams (The last one completed by Jordan) and i am a bit worried about how Brandon will do and wheither or not i should move on to another series.

 

Does Brandon Sanderson do a good job emulating the writing style of Robert Jordan?

 

Thanks for you time guys and PLEASE no spoilers.

[Agitel]

I'm on Chapter 37 in Knife of Dreams (The last one completed by Jordan) and i am a bit worried about how Brandon will do and wheither or not i should move on to another series.

 

Does Brandon Sanderson do a good job emulating the writing style of Robert Jordan?

 

Thanks for you time guys and PLEASE no spoilers.

 

Brandon doesn't try to emulate Jordan's style. There have been criticisms of his prose. I think even the most ardent critics would still encourage you to finish the series, though.

[Luckers]

Agreed. :-)

[Serpenta]

I'm on Chapter 37 in Knife of Dreams (The last one completed by Jordan) and i am a bit worried about how Brandon will do and wheither or not i should move on to another series.

 

Does Brandon Sanderson do a good job emulating the writing style of Robert Jordan?

 

Thanks for you time guys and PLEASE no spoilers.

 

Brandon doesn't try to emulate Jordan's style. There have been criticisms of his prose. I think even the most ardent critics would still encourage you to finish the series, though.

 

:(

 

 

So how is his style?? Ive never read anything from him.

[MarkDiLillo]

His writing style is more suited towards a younger crowd and likewise his humor as well. He is a much younger and more inexperienced author and you will notice the difference if that is what you're looking for. Otherwise, on your first read through, you wont have many problems because he advances the plot and plot is typically the biggest source of satisfaction for most people if they haven't read the books yet.

[Suttree]

Brandon doesn't try to emulate Jordan's style. There have been criticisms of his prose. I think even the most ardent critics would still encourage you to finish the series, though.

 

Ditto.

 

:(

 

 

So how is his style?? Ive never read anything from him.

 

Kiss most of the subtlety and polished prose good bye. For all that he does handle a few of the characters such as Perrin well.

[Agitel]

I'm on Chapter 37 in Knife of Dreams (The last one completed by Jordan) and i am a bit worried about how Brandon will do and wheither or not i should move on to another series.

 

Does Brandon Sanderson do a good job emulating the writing style of Robert Jordan?

 

Thanks for you time guys and PLEASE no spoilers.

 

Brandon doesn't try to emulate Jordan's style. There have been criticisms of his prose. I think even the most ardent critics would still encourage you to finish the series, though.

 

:(

 

 

So how is his style?? Ive never read anything from him.

 

I always felt Jordan had a lyrical quality to his prose. Sanderson's more direct. I've never tried to apply a term to it. Conversational? You'd never call it obtuse. I do think Sanderson adapted his style a little in The Gathering Storm for the Wheel of Time, but he dropped that in Towers of Midnight. Characters are more likely to talk with each other and share ideas (I do think Jordan went a little too far the other way in that respect), and Sanderson is much more generous in giving us a character's thought process and decision making. Possibly too generous in some circumstances. His touch isn't as light and deft as Jordan's was, and of course it's difficult adapting to another author's world. I'll say upfront that he does have a problem in capturing the voice of Mat's chapters (especially in The Gathering Storm, though thankfully Mat doesn't have a huge role in that book), but shows an affinity for Perrin.

 

I feel like I'm being all criticism, though. I've always been very accepting of Sanderson's contributions to this series, and I still highly enjoyed the reads. Luckers has been a vocal critic (in fact one even publicly mentioned by Sanderson), believing Sanderson could do better, and you see that he endorsed continuing to finish the series above. Perhaps he could better put your fears to rest.

 

Sanderson has to adapt Jordan's own plot. In general for Sanderson's published works, I would say that Sanderson displays a strength for structuring a story, more so than Jordan did in the earlier Wheel of Time books (on an individual volume basis, I feel that the structure of EotW was very flawed). He's adept at keeping his characters, protagonists and antagonists, active and engaging and not passive (another criticism I'd put on EotW). He's incredibly creative in designing magic systems and settings for his stories. He's good at editing himself, perhaps not much with polishing his prose, but at keeping the story on point (for the most part). I don't seen Sanderson planning on a trilogy and accidentally expanding to fourteen books, for example. There's a . . . 'legitimateness' to his characters in how they react and reflect . . . A certain awareness of where other contemporary fantasies have stumbled or common techniques that are cliche . . . I'm trying to think of how to explain this. There is some philosophical reflection by his characters that, to me anyway, feels honest and isn't Sanderson setting up a straw argument to try and convince the reader. I'm going beyond his contribution to the Wheel of Time in reflecting on Brandon's strengths.

 

I've heard high praise for his prose by some, and heavy criticism by others. Some people like the direct style. Some find some aspects of it clumsy. As I said, his characters and plot are less nuanced and subtle than Jordan or Martin or Erikson. And he's not a natural with adult humor.

 

Perhaps words from a critic will be more persuasive. But this post was an interesting exercise for me as well.

[GB]

i would encourage you to finish as well. the change in writing is noticeable but it is something that we cannot change

[Sid]

You will likely notice differences. He does some things admirably, and others not so much. There's only a few months to go to the end of the books, and RJ did write the ending himself. I would not recommend re-reading them, though.

[Serpenta]

Thank you all for the responses. Ive been reading (mostly lesning to the audiobooks) when i work out and drive to class for years now. The characters and storyline in the wheel of time has become an important part of my life and the thought of it changing was quite frightening. It's deffinately good to know that Robert Jordan wrote the ending himself. It will be dissapointing to see the essense of the characters who only existed in Robert Jordan's head go away but having Brandon Sanderson finish it is vastly superior to it not being finished at all.

[Suttree]

Where was the subtlety? -Talmanes

 

Man Sid that is an awesome Sig. Just noticed it for the first time and it is ace.

[Lilbaz]

Would have loved Jordan to finish it (even if it took another 30 books). Feel that Sanderson has taken his time to get in touch with some of the characters and some of the plots seem a bit rushed (having spent years building them up then sort of meh was that it?). Having said that MOL is my most anticipated book of all time. Jordan wrote the ending himself I believe so we will see his vision.

 

At the end of the day it isn't Sanderson's books or characters so you probably can't expect him to spend the time and love on them that Jordan did, but he has probably done as well as anyone could.

 

P.S I wasn't really a Sanderson fan anyway and couldn't be arsed to finish the 3rd of the mistborn trilogy.

[Maleshub]

Brandon cannot emulate RJ and his style. In my opinion it is simply impossible for that to happen. I posted my thoughts on it here. The post itself doesn't have spoilers; but the thread does.

[Barid Bel Medar]

My best advice would be to ignore the change and focus solely on the plot. I have just skimmed over words/prhases in favour of the plot advancement and general story.

 

If you go into tGS and ToM with the change prominent in your mind, you will either not finish the book or begrudge every word.

 

Brandon doesn't have RJ's ....way with words. The subtlety and finesse that RJ displayed is almost non-existent. And yes, some of the characters are compromised -although not in a totally dramatic way, just small changes, I believe the overall heart of the characters are kept intact.

 

However, not all of Brandon's work has been negatives. If you like that kind of thing, Brandon is much more to the point than RJ, no paragraphs of clothing description or tangents to menial things for world building purposes.

 

He is also a more cinematic writer. Climax scenes are more action-oriented where RJ took a more human approach (example Couldain) He also has a flair for the dramatic and hard hitting lines/scenes. Depending on what your preferences are, it could be either good or bad. But he does what he does well.

 

So I say relax, try and enjoy the story for what it is, the story of the Wheel of Time, and the characters that we know and love. Read lightly the first time, and you will be very satisfied. Save the scrutiny for re-reads.

[ShenAnCalhar]

Overall he does a good job, and his two contributions thus far are great additions to the series. A couple things to be careful if:

 

- Tempests - they're everywhere.

- He froze. She hesitated.

- Initial pronoun droppage.

- Mat losing some subtlety.

 

That said my complaints are minor and I'm glad he's finishing the series.

[MarkDiLillo]

lol tempests - they're everywhere. this made me laugh because it is so damn true.

[Sid]

Thank you all for the responses. Ive been reading (mostly lesning to the audiobooks) when i work out and drive to class for years now. The characters and storyline in the wheel of time has become an important part of my life and the thought of it changing was quite frightening. It's deffinately good to know that Robert Jordan wrote the ending himself. It will be dissapointing to see the essense of the characters who only existed in Robert Jordan's head go away but having Brandon Sanderson finish it is vastly superior to it not being finished at all.

 

Actually, I would recommend continuing with the audiobooks if you can. Michael Kramer and Kate Reading continue to do a good job with it, and the familiar voices tend to keep things a little closer to home, as it were.

 

 

@ Suttree - Thanks. I thought Comic Sans was... appropriate.

[YourNewDragonAndGod]

Sanderson has let us know that he is not trying to copy Robert Jordan. However, except for Mat and Cadsuane Id say that he writes the characters fairly well. One of the complaints is that he is to direct and isnt very good at the mysterious foreshadowing that Jordan did. But it was always my opinion that he was brought in to write an ending and we didn't need a 5,000 page ending to satisfy our love of Robert Jordan's slow plot advancement and love of incredible details. We already have 9,374 pages of that. I like the fact that he is wrapping the plot up for us and trying to give us the greatest well written ending to one of the greatest series of all time. We have to remember that he is a fan as well, and wants the series to exceed as much as we do. Besides the man has other books to write, and a career of his own to fulfill.

 

I guess I got off topic. His writing is more direct, but it doesn't mean that it is better or worse than Jordan's. You should definitely finish the series. You are missing out if you don't.

[Suttree]

For wheel of time, I am at crossroads of twilight and I find it to be a drag.

 

That is indeed the toughest one to get through. KoD picks up that pace significantly. View them both as one big book(essentially what they are) and it goes much easier.

[frozndevl]

Re: chongjasmine

 

Keep in mind that Elantris is Brandon's first published work, so if you want to test more refined version of his writing, check out Mistborn or the Stormlight Archive.

[Darksmoon]

I think the Wheel of Time is definately worth finishing.

 

I think Brandon has done an admirable job completing the series.

 

No one could have lived up to the standard that Robert Jordan set for the series. No one knew the story or the characters the way he did. No one can write that story the way Robert Jordan could.

 

Brandon is still a young writer and I believe his writing has grown through the experience of completing the Wheel of Time. To complete one of the most complicated and in my opinion, the greatest fantasy epic of all time is HUGE task. I believe his books will continue to get better.

 

I am very excited that Robert Jordan wrote the ending to the series so that we will get the ending he always wanted us to have.

 

If you are just going to read the books looking for Robert Jordan's writing then you will be disappointed. If you can read them and accept them for what they are, a conclusion to a story written by another author then I would recommend reading.

[Luckers]

Re: chongjasmine

 

Keep in mind that Elantris is Brandon's first published work, so if you want to test more refined version of his writing, check out Mistborn or the Stormlight Archive.

 

Indeed. There is a definate evolution in skill between Elantris and the Mistborn Trilogy.

[Flipsaken]

Overall he does a good job, and his two contributions thus far are great additions to the series. A couple things to be careful if:

 

- Tempests - they're everywhere.

- He froze. She hesitated.

- Initial pronoun droppage.

- Mat losing some subtlety.

 

 

What about all the "figure"s, "sures" and "folks" as well they all are just so jarring. Combine that with the cardboard characterisations and the conversations between nobles that sound as if they have never had an education.

 

All of this made ToM a nightmare for me to read, especially the meeting between Perrin and Elyane which has all of these faults. Every time I re-read the book this is the part I find I have to skim through the most because it is so cringeworthy bad. For pete's sake it's even worse than Mat's letter.

[Suttree]

Re: chongjasmine

 

Keep in mind that Elantris is Brandon's first published work, so if you want to test more refined version of his writing, check out Mistborn or the Stormlight Archive.

 

Indeed. There is a definate evolution in skill between Elantris and the Mistborn Trilogy.

 

The problem to me being that's where it stalled out. I haven't read TWoK mind so someone can step in If there was a good deal of progress made there.

[Damer Sedai]

Personally, I think Brandon does a better job than he often credited for amongst the hard core fans. No one can replace Robert Jordan, whose world building, character development, plot weaving, and prose are all at least 9.5 on a 10 point scale. I feel that Brandon (along with Team Jordan) has a good grasp on the spirit of the series. I think he is good at writing big scenes are are memorable and dramatic and fit the narrative. For all the judgements on his skills in understanding certain characters, he makes some better (Perrin, and I would say, Nynaeve too) as well.