Thoughts on Long Chills and Case Dough

[Mr. Misting he/him]

So, for anyone that didn't know, Brandon decided to throw another book into the secret projects, because, you know, why not. For anyone who wants to download the novella it's available for free: https://www.dragonsteelbooks.com/products/long-chills-and-case-dough-ebook

* SPOILERS *

So what did people think of the story? I actually liked it a lot. Jack was fascinating to me, and I loved the juxtaposition of noir over sci-fi. It was just such a neat and tidy mystery. The story had a really cool thought, and was able to be fully explore it without ever overstaying its welcome.

One nitpick was I wish we had seen an example of the gangs being dangerous. Because the gang confrontation is played as a joke, and a good joke at that, we never see an in book example or explanation of any actual problems the gang cause. If we had an example then Jack's explanation of motive to Alice would have worked better for me. 

It was super interesting to see some of Brandon's work before publish. What did you guys think about it?

[Thaidakar the Ghostblood he/him]

I liked it. It was a nice punch of story that wasn't too much. If it was a novel, the style of narration would've gotten too annoying. It got a little annoying around the middle, but it evened out nicely. I wished it played more into the humor of the narration earlier on than when it really did it. I also wish it did more with the police.

The last confrontation was really fun and reminded me faintly of that one moment in Foundation with the forcefield, one of my favorite scenes ever. It was smart and made use of things that it set up naturally. 

The story altogether played into the tropes of a noir detective story, and that works in its favor. I like the twists and how it all runs together. It's a story I can recommend to people who don't want to read one of Sanderson's novels, but wants a small taste. This, Emperor's Soul and Legion are what I'll recommend in that category now. However, in recommending it to people I think it is best that we should make clear that this is one of his earlier stories.

In fact, as one of his earlier stories, it also has its faults where other Sanderson stories don't. For one thing, things in this story have been used elsewhere. Jack's and Alici's relationship reminded me of various relationships that Stephen Leeds had in the Legion series. For another, I think that the way elements are handled are in a vastly different style than used in other stories. That, as evidenced by what I've said above, does not mean it is bad. It's a good taste of Brandon's writing, but it is not fully representative of what we have now or what we will see in the future.

Anyways, I've rambled for a good while now. It was a good book. I give it 7.5/10

[Little_Dagger she/her]

All in all, I thought that Sanderson Curiosity was a very appropriate label. It's a cute little story that, for me, was fun mostly because it was so different from Brandon's published work. I don't think I'll read it again, and I don't expect it to stick with me for very long, but it was enjoyable as a gift in the last subscription box. 

 

[Treamayne]

I thought it was a decent story, and it did still feel like a middle draft. A polished version might be interesting. That said, the end (to me) felt a little unfinished. He solved not only his primary "case" but also the related mutliple mass shootings and the case that the Paisley had wanted him to investigate - but there wasn't even a one-sentance nod to closing that subplot (also no mention of him getting paid for the job - it reads like she takes off with all of the money and he got nothing). I guess it might be implied by Jack taking unnamed lab coat to Paisley, but that was about closing the Stasis Sickness mass shootings, and he hadn't confirmed the Mob death at that point.

Good story, but awkward at the end. Liked how the title played into the resolution.

[MND169 she/her]

I liked it. I didn't care that she didn't pay him in the end cause we'd already found out that he didn't actually NEED to be paid, and besides, the cops will probably give him something for solving the mob boss hit which is gonna get solved when he turns in the lab coat and they go over all the evidence. He may get a smaller kickback when that clears up the other mass shootings too, even tho the cops don't care about civilians much anymore. 

 

Every time he sets another story in Chicago, my brain immediately starts thinking Harry Dresden, and while nothing he writes is ever very Dresdenish, I could see Dresden liking this story which makes me smile