Well, as expected, there was no unanimous decision as to which SFF artist you guys prefer. Though Michael Komarck (20%) and Michael Whelan (17%) garnered the largest amount of votes, 26% selected the "None of the above" category. Which means that there are a lot of gifted artists out there!:-)
This week's survey has to do with whether or not you believe that Brandon Sanderson can bring Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time to a satisfying end.
20 commentaires:
And you, Patrick? :)
I know a lot of people bash WoT for it's convoluted plot, and Jordan's inability to move the story forward, but this is the novel that go me, and tons of other people, hooked on the fantasy genre. I can't wait to read the finished product. One thing I have noticed through my friends reading WoT, is that each person loves all the books, up until they had to wait for the new one. When I picked up the story I got to read straight through Lord of Chaos, and thought Crown of Swords was week. But one friend thought he peaked at The Dragon Reborn, and another would say Path of Daggers. I think the wait between books played a huge part in people opinions. Keep that in mind GRRM!
You had forgotten John Howe, who would have gotten my vote... And I think I would not have been the only one to vote for him.
After reading all of Brandon's work up until and not yet including Hero of Ages I'm pozitive he will do a stellar job. Not only is he an excellent author with riveting books, his writing style is very similar to RJ's. Would I wish Jordan could have finished it? Sure, but since everything turned out the way it is, I cannot think of a better substitute than Brandon Sanderson. Go AMOL!
The evolution in Sanderson's writing between Elantris and Mistborn is encouraging, and if he brings that greater maturity and style to work on WoT, we could be in for a good book.
Having just started my first WoT re-read in eight years, one of the things I'd forgotten about the series is its immense depth. Jordan created a world with tremendous detail of history and setting, and I think there are plenty of tales that could have been told against this backdrop by RJ and other writers (with his permission and approval) if he had lived. It's a great playground to write in, and I think Sanderson will pull it off. It would have been preferable for RJ to have done it, but Sanderson was my own first choice for it, so I'm looking forward to seeing what he does with it.
Speaking of Dune debacles I saw a video interview with Anderson and Herbert. Neither really could stare the camera dead on and an excerpt was also on line. They like to tell and not to show, which I find weak.
Brandon Sanderson will do fine.
"Wheel of Time" essentially, is a simple story that a good writer should be able to handle pretty well.
I think it's amazing that a budding and successful writer in his own right would take the time to set that aside and pursue someone else's dream. I think he could only do it if he really respects and loves the work, so that bodes well. My interest in WoT subsided long ago, but is actually sparked again with Sanderson finishing things up. At the very least, I can't wait to read the reviews.
After reading Chronicles of the Black Company, I say let Glen Cook finish it. The stories are awfully similar. Being a huge RJ fan myself, WOT now seems to be Cook's story with much greater detail and realization. Patrick, did you notice the similarities?
Never read Sanderson's novels.... but i have to agree w/ cecrow. If u take up time to pursue someone else's dream that has to mean something. Definately earns points in my book. I am looking forward to how it all will be tied up and completed.
Giving Sanderson kudos for following RJ's dream and vision is total BS!
I mean, the guy will get such a big payday out of this, especially now that it looks like AMoL will be split into two volumes. Based on KoD's sales, that's nearly 1.5 million copies in hardcover in North America alone. Imagine the royalties that will get into Sanderson's bank account!
I don't have anything against Brandon Sanderson, but please don't paint him as a saint for doing this...
Jon
I don't agree that Brandon is doing the book strictly for the payday. He is a talented author and is taking a very large risk in completing RJ's work. If the book does not please the WOT following, Brandon is in for quite the bashing. Reading Brandon's books and following his blog, the payday seems to be secondary at best for taking on this project. I am very confident in his ability to complete Jordan's vision.
To my shame, I haven't read through the Wheel of Time series yet (the first book has been sitting on my shelf for ages), so I didn't vote.
But I *have* read Brandon Sanderson's work, and I just thought I'd chip in to say that think he's a very capable author.
Mistborn in particular was a fine fantasy novel with a good handle on plot, magic, and setting.
As miles.dw mentioned I think alot of the frustration stems from the wait between books and therefore you loose the flow and it feels like it stagnates somehow.
But, I am just happy it get finished and I have tried to read a bit of Brandon and he seems to be more than competent and up for the task.
So I am grateful, eventhough some of my enthusiasm died after Crown of Swords.
Still love that universe though :)
I haven't read any of Brandon's work yet, but the one thing that tells me he'll do well by WOT and Robert Jordan is the fact that he was chosen by Jordan's life-long editor, his wife. If anyone knows how A Memory of Light should be, it'll be her. :-)
Those who whined about WOT's "convoluted" story lines suffer from a lack of attention and are better suited to reading pulp fantasy like forgotten realms then trying and wrap their lil minds around WOT a book in the true tradition of sagas matched by few.
And I am completely neutral on sanderson. The final product will decide my opinion, I hope for the best.
"one thing that tells me he'll do well by WOT and Robert Jordan is the fact that he was chosen by Jordan's life-long editor, his wife."
Shit, considering how much editing seems to be missing from his last three books, especially crossroads at twilight, i can't say this gives me any kind of faith. Those books could use A LOT of editing. A LOT. CaT should've been thrown out and rewritten, no kidding.
Sanderson though, i think he might do a good job. I have read his blog to get a handle on him, and i was heartened by his posts when he was rereading the whole series(except when he says nynaeve is his favourite character), and i think he is probably the best author that could have done this.
I am uncertain as to the quality of Sanderson's work. I liked Elantris, and thought that certain aspects of Mistborn were cool. But I gave up on the second Mistborn book. After about 150 pages I just didn't care.
I will say that Mr. Sanderson is enthusiastic about Memory..., so I don't think he'll lay an egg. I'll dutifully buy book, but I know that it's not really a Jordan book.
@ Anonymous
Given that Jordan himself completely lost control of his storylines in the last four books, and was only partially successful in repairing the damage with KoD, I don't really see how that can be defended. WoT's individual storylines are actually pretty simple, it's just the sheer number of them which is unusual, and trying to get them all to reach the same point simultaneously that he needed for the grand finale proved too difficult in the end.
@ ShadowOfGod:
Agreed. RJ made a catastrophic mistake when he published CoT even after realising he'd made a horrendous error of pacing in the novel. He should have scrapped the book and restarted it, but he went for the publish-and-be-damned route instead. CoT is the moment that Wheel of Time lost any serious claim it had on being the best epic fantasy out there.
I find myself liking Crown of Swords though Knife of Dreams almost more than I like the earlier books. As for Sanderson's books all I have to say is wow. Those books blow my mind and will continue to blow my mind. If you have any doubt in him and haven't read the books read them. All doubt will seep away. He is the best one for the job.
Post a Comment