Access to Dragonsteel Prime

[+TheFoxQR]

Pretty much the title.

I want to read it. For the longest time, I wanted to read it but I'm not from the US, so I could not access the copy at BYU.

Now, I am in the US, and would love to get my hands on it. This is for me, and I'll happily oblige by any specific conditions about not discussing it.

[Weltall]

There are only two ways to get it: You can request a circulating copy of the book if you happen to be a member of a library that BYU will share the book with on an inter-library loan (I have no idea which ones that would include but I'm guessing it's major academic libraries only) or... you have to physically go to BYU and read the non-circulating copy that's sitting in the library there. There are no electronic copies.

[+TheFoxQR]

Thanks!

I contacted Special Collections at BYU, and they said it would be fine so long as I go and read it there.

But I am currently a student, I'll look into the inter-library loan thingy. 

[Rohwer]

On 2/7/2019 at 8:49 AM, Weltall said:

There are only two ways to get it: You can request a circulating copy of the book if you happen to be a member of a library that BYU will share the book with on an inter-library loan (I have no idea which ones that would include but I'm guessing it's major academic libraries only) or... you have to physically go to BYU and read the non-circulating copy that's sitting in the library there. There are no electronic copies.

I'm in Provo/ Lehi a few times per year for work and frequently find myself with time to kill.  How big is Dragonsteel?  I mean, can I read it in a single sitting or will I need to dedicate multiple trips to the BYU library to take it all in?  Thanks.

[Weltall]

5 minutes ago, Rohwer said:

I'm in Provo/ Lehi a few times per year for work and frequently find myself with time to kill.  How big is Dragonsteel?  I mean, can I read it in a single sitting or will I need to dedicate multiple trips to the BYU library to take it all in?  Thanks.

I wish I could answer that but I've never read it myself. The library's description says it's about 230 leaves, which could be single or double-sided. The latter seems a safe assumption considering the length of the excerpts Brandon has shared and how he's described the Shattered Plains sequence as a 'diversion' from the main story. With that assumption, I'd guess you'd need to dedicate a good chunk of a day to it if you wanted to read it in a single sitting, even if you're a pretty fast reader.

Going to Provo and reading it for myself is on my bucket list, should circumstances ever put me in the general vicinity. But until then, I'm just working off what other people have said and some guesswork.

[Rohwer]

Thanks @Weltall.  I'll block out a good chunk of time for my next visit.  

[Jace21]

23 hours ago, Rohwer said:

I'm in Provo/ Lehi a few times per year for work and frequently find myself with time to kill.  How big is Dragonsteel?  I mean, can I read it in a single sitting or will I need to dedicate multiple trips to the BYU library to take it all in?  Thanks.

I moved to Provo a year ago and read it in a few hours. Now I read quite fast but one sitting isn't out of the question, if depends how long a "sitting" you have time for.

[Rohwer]

Thanks @Jace21 .  I'd say I read at an average speed, but I'm easily distracted.    I'll still plan on making a day of it next time I'm in town.  

 

 

[Aleph-Naught]

Has anyone had success with requesting it thourgh ILL? I imagine the copy that is loaned out is never on the shelf long enough to succeed, or that BYU may have a waitlist that they prioritize over any ILL requests.

Edited March 27, 2019 by Aleph-Naught

[Wyndlerunner]

So, during a tour that I took through Special Collections, I asked about Dragonsteel specifically, and the fellow who was giving the tour said that Brandon has asked them not to have it publicly available without permission from himself. Whether or not this is entirely accurate, I am unsure, but I lean on the side of it being truthful

[Turin Turambar]

So basically, I'll never be able to read it. Any other way to get to it other than traveling halfway accross the USA?

[+Invocation]

3 hours ago, Turin Turambar said:

So basically, I'll never be able to read it. Any other way to get to it other than traveling halfway accross the USA?

There's some chapters on his website. Mostly Bridge 4 stuff, as far as I know.

[Turin Turambar]

I found that. I meant the rest of the novel.

[Weltall]

On 4/10/2019 at 6:39 PM, Turin Turambar said:

So basically, I'll never be able to read it. Any other way to get to it other than traveling halfway accross the USA?

Not really. Brandon really doesn't like people reading it because of various flaws he's mentioned in it and he generally doesn't consider it very good, aside from the one bit that he cannibalized into The Way of Kings. However, since he wrote it as a master's thesis he can't prevent people from accessing it since those are part of any university's publicly available archives. However, he's not required to make it any easier to access, hence the requirement that you either get it via interlibrary loan (if you have access to a library BYU will loan it to) or you go there in person.

Here's one WoB on the subject:

Quote

Brandon Sanderson

I don't like emailing out this book [Dragonsteel] because of things /u/JawKneePawLick talks about. All the good things in it have been done better in later books--there isn't a single character attribute or theme by this point that hasn't been repurposed better in Stormlight.

You can glean some little things about the cosmere, but not much. I didn't start canonizing real cosmere elements until Mistborn. The book just isn't great, and what it does contain in regards to the cosmere has either been changed or will be changed.

General Reddit 2017 (Dec. 3, 2017)

So yeah, short of doing it the hard way, your only option is to do it the really hard way, invent a time machine and go back to a point when Brandon did share some of his older works... and if you could do that, you'd be better off going into the future and bringing us back copies of his complete works and save us time waiting and Brandon time writing them. Just watch out for paradoxes.

Edited April 15, 2019 by Weltall

[Wander89]

The closest we would get is the https://brandonsanderson.com/new-dragonsteel-chapter-one/ probably and try and work from there. I'm in the uK and used to have a copy but I don't any longer and it suuuuuuucks 

[+Ark1002]

I wish I could read it

[Yolenlightweaver]

Just for more information, the book is 200 pages exactly with 3 maps on the back. It is single spaced single sided appearing as if it was photocopied from separate pages. The problem with it is the books that are in circulation are almost always on hold which makes it extremely difficult to get a hold of. From what I understand we aren't supposed to discuss it normally on the forums sadly.

[Wander89]

13 hours ago, Yolenlightweaver said:

Just for more information, the book is 200 pages exactly with 3 maps on the back. It is single spaced single sided appearing as if it was photocopied from separate pages. The problem with it is the books that are in circulation are almost always on hold which makes it extremely difficult to get a hold of. From what I understand we aren't supposed to discuss it normally on the forums sadly.

This just hurts more hahaha I get that we aren't supposed to discuss it, I just wish it was accessible somewhere like Aether of Night is.

[Leiyan]

On 6/28/2019 at 6:47 PM, Yolenlightweaver said:

Just for more information, the book is 200 pages exactly with 3 maps on the back. It is single spaced single sided appearing as if it was photocopied from separate pages. The problem with it is the books that are in circulation are almost always on hold which makes it extremely difficult to get a hold of. From what I understand we aren't supposed to discuss it normally on the forums sadly.

Thanks for this information!  I am lucky enough to be traveling to the area for a conference soon and I'm planning in a few extra days to read Dragonsteel at BYU.

On 3/27/2019 at 6:09 PM, Aleph-Naught said:

Has anyone had success with requesting it thourgh ILL? I imagine the copy that is loaned out is never on the shelf long enough to succeed, or that BYU may have a waitlist that they prioritize over any ILL requests.

I have been trying to get it through ILL for literally 7 years without success. >.<

[Hakedohn]

I went to the library to see it. I am not a byu student and was allowed to read it. They only allow you to bring a pen and loose paper into the room with you. 

The associate I spoke with at the library also told me that they were trying to upload copies of their special collections to the website. He didn't know where Dragonsteel was on the list. 

Edited September 23, 2019 by Hakedohn

[Hakedohn]

They also do not have any copies to loan out to anyone ( including students). They only have 1 copy that anyone can access in the special collections area. 

Edited September 23, 2019 by Hakedohn

[Hakedohn]

On 6/28/2019 at 3:47 PM, Yolenlightweaver said:

Just for more information, the book is 200 pages exactly with 3 maps on the back. It is single spaced single sided appearing as if it was photocopied from separate pages. The problem with it is the books that are in circulation are almost always on hold which makes it extremely difficult to get a hold of. From what I understand we aren't supposed to discuss it normally on the forums sadly.

I believe  the copy  I saw had like 227 pages. The three maps were so very basic. They were made with 2001 map creator  so i guess  it was the best it could be. I just wish Brandon had someone draw them out 

[Hakedohn]

On 2/7/2019 at 7:49 AM, Weltall said:

There are only two ways to get it: You can request a circulating copy of the book if you happen to be a member of a library that BYU will share the book with on an inter-library loan (I have no idea which ones that would include but I'm guessing it's major academic libraries only) or... you have to physically go to BYU and read the non-circulating copy that's sitting in the library there. There are no electronic copies.

I asked the library about the loan copies when I was there. They told me that they removed those two copies and the only way now to review it is in the special collections. You do not need to be a student to view the copy in special collections 

[johns]

On 2/13/2019 at 10:55 PM, Rohwer said:

I'm in Provo/ Lehi a few times per year for work and frequently find myself with time to kill.  How big is Dragonsteel?  I mean, can I read it in a single sitting or will I need to dedicate multiple trips to the BYU library to take it all in?  Thanks.

It's very small type on large paper. One guy online who read it says its a 300,000+ word book crammed into 200 pages.

Here's a pretty detailed review [SOME SPOILERS] I got this information from: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/295624917?book_show_action=true&page=1.

[Thomas_H]

On 9/23/2019 at 9:34 AM, Hakedohn said:

They also do not have any copies to loan out to anyone ( including students). They only have 1 copy that anyone can access in the special collections area. 

That is not true. If you have a BYU id you can check out one of three copies that they let out of the library. There is also a copy is special collections that requires you to stay in a specific room in the library while reading. It isn’t difficult to place a hold on a copy but it can take months before it is available.