Brandon Sanderson

Batchman · Knight of the Realm

So I have a new author on my not too terribly short list of favorite authors.

Brandon has been publishing for about five years, now. He has released two stand-alone novels (both of which will probably eventually have sequels), a three book trilogy, the first three books in a five book kids series with Scholastic, and is finishing off Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series, since Jordan died.

Brandon writes fantasy, but his stuff is usually fairly unique. His big thing is the magic systems. For each book or series he has at least one (sometimes two or three or more) brand new magic systems, usually like nothing else that is out there.

I don't think any other author I've read has ever gone from my reading one book to reading everything he has ever written in such a short period of time ... I like this guy's stories that much.

Brandon likes to try new things, even in the area of publishing. His most recent novel (well, except for the first of three volumes to finish off the Wheel of Time) was published in hardcover by Tor in August ... and released on his web site where people can read it for free, at the same time. He figures he will sell more books in the long run, if he gets more people interested in his work ... and Tor has enough confidence in him that they were willing to let him try the experiment.

Joe, I know you aren't usually into fantasy, but it's free and easy ... try a chapter or three and see if it piques your interest ... everybody else, give it a try ... nothing to lose.

I have now read everything Brandon has published, and one book that won't be published for at least three or four more years, and I think he's going to have a long and popular career.

A link to the part of his web site where the e-book version of his new novel Warbreaker is at: http://www.brandonsanderson.com/portal/Warbreaker

JuntaJoe · Site Admin

I'd say I've moved beyond "not really into" and drifted over to detesting fantasy that includes magic. It's just an instant plot solver to me. With scifi the author has to attempt to make his science work within the context of known physics.

ExarKun · Knight of the Realm

s_stabeler · Knight of the Realm

personally, I think the problem with most books on magic is they tend to use it as a cure-all. if there are sensible limits on magic ( like in the Harry Potter books) it can be interesting. ( of course, in the last Harry Potter book, the main antagonist got past one, relatively insignificant, rule ( regarding flight is all i will say)

Batchman · Knight of the Realm

Well, a lot of it depends on how much your magic is based on a system, and how much you know the rules to that system.

In his Mistborn series, Brandon has three somewhat related magical systems. One involves the swallowing of metallic solutions which provide various abilities (tin improves ones senses, steel allows you to push or pull on metals, pewter increases strength and stamina [and these are to get the idea across, I may misremember which metal does what]).

A second magical system involves saving one's own abilities into metals for later use. For example, you spend several hours being really weak right now, so you can save up that strength and use it all in a few minutes of massive power.

The third involves the placement of spikes made of various metals, pounded -through- another body, killing it, and granting powers to the body receiving the spike.

The fun comes when you start exploring what happens when you mix these three systems together.

Intricately plotted magic systems that have rules are no different that science fiction systems that venture well outside of known science. Let' face it, some science fiction staples are pretty much fantasy, anyway. It's just fantasy that is shrouded in psuedo-science. Time travel, psionics ... almost certainly do not exist, but that doesn't change lots of science fiction being written in these areas.

I don't mean to make this an attack, and I know just because I make a statement here, I am not going to change Joe's mind, but that's why I just can't quite get Joe's attitude. (It's his, and that is fine ... I just don't understand it is all.)

Granted, there is a lot of bad fantasy out there. There is also a lot of good fantasy. And a lot that is in between. You can say the same about science fiction, and pretty much any other kind of fiction. And what is the difference between fantasy books which include magic, and fantasy games that include magic?

Again, Joe, not trying to attack you, and not trying to force you to change your mind, just trying to explain what it is about your viewpoint that I don't get.

JuntaJoe · Site Admin

I'll try again. Say we use the system you mentioned above. What's its grounding? It's inescapable limiter? None. Oh sure, the characters have to live within the rules, but had that been a real issue that stops the plot the author can go back and change the universe rules.

But in proper SciFi there is the hard limit of physics. Sure, they push the envelope, that's many times the point. But they cannot escape the rules. To stretch the rules to make a convenient plot device means they either need to have an existing heavy grounding in the science personally or go find someone who does. They cannot go changing the rules of the universe simply to make the story work.

As for those elements you call pseudo science I fully agree. Most of us who see that then simply reclassify the work as space opera or alternative fiction.

But you won't find the best SF writers indulging in that.

You want to read what proper SF is like?

Go break your brain on Anathem by Neal Stephenson. Trust me, you will end that book feeling like a mental midget.

Or try grasping all the advanced physics anything Charles Sheffield wrote.

Asimov will likely be remembered like Plato or Shakespeare in a few centuries.

Arthur C. Clarke, Robert Heinlein, David Brin, Greg Bear, Ben Bova, Tom Kratman, etc. These guys are scary smart.

And if I wanted to just be entertained then I already have a ton of great writers that contribute to the genre without pushing the edge of science. David Drake, Peter F. Hamilton, William Dietz, John Ringo, Harry Turtledove, the list is literally endless. But even when they don't try to take Einstein on for a few rounds there is a bit of the Gene Roddenberry in all of them. They examine the human condition, politics, ethics, the horror of war, morality, or social mores. They all want to do more with their books than just entertain you. And yet they still have to live with the reality of the physics of our universe. Almost never will you see them go beyond what other physics trailblazers in SF have extrapolated from what we have today. A fantasy writer has no such limits other than the ones he conveniently imposes on himself.

I love to read. That's really an understatement too. But reading still can be a time waster if you let it. To commit to a couple hours of reading every day of your life means realizing that you will lose many productive years by the end in this pursuit. I want something to show for that time investment. Otherwise all I did was practice my reading skills and saving electricity while doing little more mentally than watching sitcoms or soaps.

Or maybe its just that having always been interested in someday doing a bit of writing I know I would want to write something significant. Fantasy? I could have had a career writing fantasy decades ago. Easy as pie. I was Dungeon Master in the absolute heyday of Dungeons and Dragons. I was literally cranking out a small fantasy novel every few weeks and then actually reading my story to a finicky audience. It was fun, but I considered my day job to be of more value to the species. Writing fantasy today I'd feel like I was nothing better than a pulp romance writer making the rent with my submissions. To be gathered into piles after digesting them and dropped off in bulk at public waiting areas for the bored masses to grab for a free read.

But to write a proper SF novel? Even with all my life experience and heavy science background? I shudder in trepidation at the thought. I would have make my universe live within the rulebook. If I couldn't massage the science to make it work I'd be stuck out. Fantasy? If the rulebook got in the way I would simply rewrite it like I did back in the old days.

I read plenty of fantasy in my youth. In the end I walked away with contempt.