She Who Cannot Be Named Posted June 26, 2014 Report Share Posted June 26, 2014 ... Well, at least mine here on 17th shard (finally *) Most important thing first: Hello to everyone After my somewhat (un)succsessful try to hook friends up on the Cosmere books (some simply viewed them as nice entertainment, unwilling to dig deeper into the fabric of the universe... xD On a more serious note, being from Austria (not the one with the kangaroos) makes this somewhat difficult, as the translations cannot get all the little hints and secrets right, and not everyone likes to read up to 1088 pages in English...) : may the discussions commence (or rather continue xD ). *I've been lurking around in the shadows for quite some time, as I generelly have more of a tendency to read rather than write things. Anyway, here I am now. So far, I've read almost everything of Brandon's stuff (apart from White Sand and some excerpts from yet unpublished stuff) and I simply love it. It may be my inner scientist speaking, but hard epic fantasy ftw 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiver Posted June 26, 2014 Report Share Posted June 26, 2014 damnation. Now I'm going to spend a while trying to think of the female version of Voldemort. Voldemart? Voldemarie? Hmm... Anyway, aside from the puzzling conundrum... welcome! Hope you enjoy your stay. Mind if I ask what fantasy besides Brandon you've read? Your last line makes me think you've read more hard fantasy, and I'd be curious to read similar stuff to Brandons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shardlet Posted June 26, 2014 Report Share Posted June 26, 2014 (edited) There's an Austria that has kangaroos!!? Welcom to 17S! Your one stop shop for all Cosmere theorymongering. @Quiver: I thought of perhaps Tomasina Riddle or perhaps Tammy. Edited June 26, 2014 by Shardlet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashiok Posted June 27, 2014 Report Share Posted June 27, 2014 Ok. You're here. You like the hard epic fantasy aspect of the Cosmere? Cosmere theories and the SA subforum things are where it's at. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Queen Elsa Steelheart Posted June 27, 2014 Report Share Posted June 27, 2014 Welcome to 17th shard! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delightful Posted June 27, 2014 Report Share Posted June 27, 2014 Well 'I am lord' becomes 'I am lady' and that give you different letters to play with before you even get to changing (feminising? Is that a word?) The name of Tom Riddle. This may take a while to work out. Welcome She Who Must Not Be Named! What's your favourite Sanderson book so far? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erai Sedai Posted June 27, 2014 Report Share Posted June 27, 2014 welcome! feel free to visit the land of kangaroos anytime Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
She Who Cannot Be Named Posted June 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2014 thanks @ Quiver: Unfortunatly, I haven't (yet) found any other author in the same leage as Brandon. Terry Pratchett's books are great in mixing technology and magic (especially the ones starring wizards from the Unseen University, or, if you like Science Fiction too, The Long Earth), a more comedic (and literary scientific) approach would be Walter Moers Zamonien novels, or Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next or Shades of Grey. @ Delightful: That's a difficult call, probably WOK / SA generally, due to reading it while it's coming out. But Alcatraz and TFE are a close second. Magic system wise it would be Mistborn (at least until more of Roshar's magic systems are revealed). @ Erai: I'd love to visit Australia sometime, up till now only some of my parcels managed to get there (e.g. England - Australia - Austria being the shortest route and all...) Even though I'm a big Harry Potter fan, my nickname... does stem from one of Brandon's books So shifting letters around may or may not be the right way 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wyrmhero Posted June 27, 2014 Report Share Posted June 27, 2014 Aha, someone else who has read Thursday Next! It's a shame that Shades of Grey means a certain other book to most people now. It had some rather interesting ideas in it. In any case, welcome to the forums. Take a bit of time to get settled in, then start throwing theories around with everyone else. The worst bit about Brandon's books is having to wait for them. Or join us in the Elimination subforum for a forum game of Mafia using the Cosmere. It's where I spend all my time these days... Regardless of what subforums you spend your time in, enjoy your (hopefully very long) stay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kasimir Posted June 27, 2014 Report Share Posted June 27, 2014 Welcome to 17th Shard! I've always wanted to ask this: do you read Sanderson's books translated or do you prefer the English versions, then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
She Who Cannot Be Named Posted June 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2014 I've always wanted to ask this: do you read Sanderson's books translated or do you prefer the English versions, then? I definitely prefer the English ones, altough I started with Elantris and the first two Mistborn novels in German a couple years back. Unable to get HoA, I discovered Warbreaker was freely available, read it and decided that these novels are even more awesome in their original version and stayed with them (In short: I've read all of them in English by now) To be honest, I usually prefer to read in English, with the exception of German authors. Apart from rather strange translations (Shardplate and Shardblade sound rather cool in English, but the German equivalents are reeeeeeally strange. It's not the translator's fault, a noun made up of the combination of two other nouns is simply more commonplace around here. Splitterklinge/panzer... I cannot help but to imagine a set of armour made from some sort of glass/crystal, already with cracks in it... ) and losing subtle hints, the most aggrevating factor is publication of the books themselves. WoR is bound to come out late in October, and that's just the first half of the book, the second one being announced for February. WoK was also split into two books, and apparently many people quit reading after the first "book", because there was no major climax of some sort... In the seldom case that I don't understand anything of the book at all (Terry Pratchett sometimes...) I simply read it in German first and give it afterwards another try in English Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kasimir Posted June 27, 2014 Report Share Posted June 27, 2014 Ah, fair enough. I was curious about how you found the translations of Sanderson (partly, I admit, because I was wondering if it was worth getting my grubby paws on a copy ) I have tried this experiment with one or two other authors, but it didn't work so well. I definitely think I can understand what you mean by things getting lost, especially when the author has created his own terms (e.g. Shardblade, Shardplate...) And you started with Elantris and Mistborn! That was the route I took as well I'm surprised that they split WoK as well; that would definitely be pretty annoying, to have to wait for the second half or get two copies. But then again, I think I recall them doing something like that with Rothfuss's Kingkiller Chronicles as well. 'Splitterklinge' klingt richtig seltsam, oder? Unfortunately, I have to take the opposite route: read it in English, and then read it in German, and hope for the best 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dreamingofcheese Posted June 28, 2014 Report Share Posted June 28, 2014 Greetings, I am also a huge Harry Potter fan... I tell this to non readers and they give me gruff. Can you believe that? The nerve, so they only read when they have to. enjoy the forum the people are awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
She Who Cannot Be Named Posted June 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2014 @ Kasimir: Which books did you give a try in German? I took another glimpse at The Final Empire/Kinder des Nebels, and had a rather hilarious fit of laughter due to all names being literally translated... Apart from the usual guessing game in bookstores. Kinder des Nebels (children of the mist) = Final Empire, Herrscher des Lichts (emperor of light) = The Hero of Ages, Sturmklänge (storm chimes) = Warbreaker... @ dreamingofcheese: gruesome, isn't it? At least we have a very effective ward against such people. ^^ (Or a means of self-defense, at least when you have a physical copy with you) They are missing all the fun. (Even though it's rather funny to watch their baffled expressions when your casually read a normal-sized book (anything with at least ... housenumber... 600 pages) and then they recognise that the book is a different one than the one from the day before... ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiver Posted June 28, 2014 Report Share Posted June 28, 2014 Wait, Warbreaker was translated as Storm Chimes? That name is freaking AWESOME. Why would someone not want to use it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
She Who Cannot Be Named Posted June 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2014 Oh, there are a couple more like that... The name itself is not bad at all, but it doesn't really fit the book. Well of Ascension = Krieger des Feuers (warriors of fire) is even worse of a fit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiver Posted June 28, 2014 Report Share Posted June 28, 2014 Oh, wildly inappropriate to be sure; it sounds like a SA book title... but still. Awesome name. Warriors of Fire...uh... Nope. Don't see the connection. Warriors who burn metals? Kind of a stretch... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kasimir Posted June 28, 2014 Report Share Posted June 28, 2014 @ Kasimir: Which books did you give a try in German? I took another glimpse at The Final Empire/Kinder des Nebels, and had a rather hilarious fit of laughter due to all names being literally translated... Apart from the usual guessing game in bookstores. Kinder des Nebels (children of the mist) = Final Empire, Herrscher des Lichts (emperor of light) = The Hero of Ages, Sturmklänge (storm chimes) = Warbreaker... I've tried this fantasy series by Kelly McCullough (his Fallen Blade series, the first book of which would be Broken Blade), which turns out as "Der zerborstene Klinge" auf Deutsch. I've tried den Hobbit, as well as a children's series by Robert Flanagan (Ranger's Apprentice.) The latter is easier for me as my German is not very good. DzK has proven to be very, very, very difficult even with the help of the original English. And I've tried Alexey Pehov's Schattenwanderer, and the second book, whose title eludes me at the moment. Kinder des Nebels kind of makes sense, if you squint. Krieger des Feuers? I don't even--I just can't see how that makes sense Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
She Who Cannot Be Named Posted June 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2014 SA also has some neat title translations: The Way of Kings (first half) = Der Weg der Könige (just the same) The Way of Kings (second half) = Der Pfad der Winde (the path of winds) Words of Radiance (first half) = Die Worte des Lichts (just the same, again!) Words of Radiance (second half) = Stürme des Zorns (storms of rage/anger) Warriors of Fire...uh...Nope. Don't see the connection. Warriors who burn metals? Kind of a stretch... Krieger des Feuers? I don't even--I just can't see how that makes sense I haven't got the faintest idea, too @ Kasimir: I've only read the Hobbit of the books you mentioned. Maybe you want to give Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl oder some of Neil Gaiman's children books (Coraline or Graveyard Book) a try? They are rather short and not too complicated, and also fun to read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kasimir Posted June 29, 2014 Report Share Posted June 29, 2014 !!! The ones for SA work out decently enough, I feel. Artemis Fowl or some of Gaiman's children books? Got it. Danke for the tip I've read those in English, so looking out for the German versions and reading them shall be plenty interesting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dreamingofcheese Posted June 29, 2014 Report Share Posted June 29, 2014 @ dreamingofcheese: gruesome, isn't it? At least we have a very effective ward against such people. ^^ (Or a means of self-defense, at least when you have a physical copy with you) They are missing all the fun. (Even though it's rather funny to watch their baffled expressions when your casually read a normal-sized book (anything with at least ... housenumber... 600 pages) and then they recognise that the book is a different one than the one from the day before... ) You should have seen their eyes when told them oh WoR this is my third time reading it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhaenys is Azor Ahai Posted July 11, 2014 Report Share Posted July 11, 2014 I'm new to this forum. So far I've read the first three Mistborn books and I plan on reading the Alloy of Law after that Warbreaker and then the Stormlight Archives. Mistborn to me seems like a mix between Lord of the Rings and A Song of Ice and Fire. Not because of the storyline or anything- just the magic. In Lord of the Rings there are people who have A LOT of magic (whether it is used for good or evil) and then there are those people with a little bit of magic etc. BUT Tolkien (at least not in LoTR or the Hobbit) does not explain how elves etc gain the magic from and what effects it has on everyone- it's just there. Meanwhile in ASOIAF you have a 'realistic' world where there is barely any magic (that is mentioned or 'experienced') yet in the prologue of A Game of Thrones- magic (of the Others) is the main thing that happens in the chapter. And then you have Mistborn which (I think) is perfect in terms of magic, there isn't too much nor is there not enough. It is also explained well- does Tolkien explain exactly how Sauron made the Nazgul- no he doesn't. Does Marin explain HOW the Others use their magic?- no he doesn't (although it could happen in the later books). Yet Sanderson explains how the Inquisitors, koloss and kandra are made, how Allomancers were created, the whole struggle between Ruin and Preservation. While I love both LoTR and ASOIAF- the magic in their worlds isn't done properly (although in ASOIAF the story is good because it's very political with only a tiny bit of magic involved while with LoTR what makes it good is the whole thing about how friends are important and how good self motivation is etc). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khognilin Posted July 11, 2014 Report Share Posted July 11, 2014 I doesn't seem a mix to me at all, it is its own thing. What I love about Branden's works is that he presents the magic as part of reality - something completely natural (in their worlds), that is subject to study, development and control. In all books there are at least a few characters that act as scientist in their respective worlds. It is not all gruesom battles and political intrigue as with GRRM, nor is it "man, the most insignificant player in reality, subject to the whims of each and every force", that we have in Tolkien. Branden puts the individual mind, the rational explorer, on a piedestal, while showing his personal growth and journey and the battle of internal conflicts. For me the epic stories in his works are just the background on which his characters can grow and interact. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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