Yados Posted April 2, 2012 Report Share Posted April 2, 2012 (edited) I've often wondered if Mr. Sanderson is more influenced by comic books than the average high-fantasy writer, as an avid comic reader myself. There's never been anything concrete, just a few glimmers here and there. I'll show my work. 1) Movement Some of the magic systems we've seen in Sanderson's major works-- Mistborn and Stormlight-- have so much movement inherent to their magic systems. Mistborn jumping the highest walls and spires in Luthadel/Elendel. Windrunners walking on walls and jumping wide chasms. Even tiny Shardplate-users wrestling giant chasmfiends. It's a visual dynamism that seeps into the prose and, I know that one of the reasons that I take movement into consideration when writing my own things is because that visual half of things was drilled into me so early on with comics. Likewise, fight scenes are so visually choreographed. 2) Radiants and Mistborn In Dalinar's vision, the radiants were depicted to us as shining figures in blue armor with sigils woven of light blazing across the chest... bounding off into the distance as quickly as they came. Mistborn, at least the more classic ones (not Vin or Kel) are aristocratic, highly privileged individuals who, by night, stalk the streets and rooftops of their city dressed in segmented capes. Sound familiar? 3) Names Kal-el din K-El sier (Clark) Kenton ... yeah, so that one was from White Sand. But still. Movement based magic system, main character shares some name similarity with Superman. Seemed the place to mention it. I can take it out if we're not supposed to talk about that stuff in any way whatsoever. 4) Ironheart Not to mention that I believe Sanderson has mentioned a superhero standalone book of the above title. Just a bit of fun, meaningless conjecture. Edited April 2, 2012 by Yados 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweetness Posted April 3, 2012 Report Share Posted April 3, 2012 (edited) Your reasoning seems a bit forced. I approve anyway. (Except this: DC < Marvel ) Edited April 3, 2012 by Sweetness Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yados Posted April 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2012 Yeah, I'm the best at forced logic. I typed all the data into Reason, gave it my desired conclusion, and beheld all those believable logical steps it provided. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Spoonface Posted April 3, 2012 Report Share Posted April 3, 2012 Movement is just a thing that people do. The books would be pretty darn boring if they just stood around and looked at stuff the whole time. The idea of aristocratic individuals with a crime-fighting nightlife seems more like Batman or Ironman to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yados Posted April 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2012 Movement is just a thing that people do. The books would be pretty darn boring if they just stood around and looked at stuff the whole time. The idea of aristocratic individuals with a crime-fighting nightlife seems more like Batman or Ironman to me. Sure, but you have a fantasy tradition of stuff like WoT or LotR or Harry Potter where magic serves as a destructive, cognitive, or creative force. However, magic that sends people propelling over cityscapes or over mountains is a bit less the norm. And yeah, I was alleging Batman with the Mistborn line. Should have been more clear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweetness Posted April 3, 2012 Report Share Posted April 3, 2012 I distinctly remember another thread drawing the "Kelsier is Batman" conclusion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Spoonface Posted April 4, 2012 Report Share Posted April 4, 2012 It was the "Best Brandon Character" thread. And it was never decided if it was Marsh or Kelsier that was the more Batmanny. But Jasnah is still Chuck Norris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweetness Posted April 4, 2012 Report Share Posted April 4, 2012 Can I espouse that as a theory? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Spoonface Posted April 4, 2012 Report Share Posted April 4, 2012 Sure! There won't really be a link to go to, but that doesn't matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yados Posted April 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2012 Oh, oh. Thought of another. Elantris' lead-- Raoden. What's the name of Krypton's sun? Rao. ... seriously man, what's up with these names? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nikomis Posted April 10, 2012 Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 Eh, there's a limit to fun three letter combinations. And two letters. I mean, the planet for the Green Lanterns is Oa, and that's already using two of the same three letters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Windrunner Posted April 10, 2012 Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 This is what Brandon has to say about overlap between the powers and names of his characters and others. WHURSMABELLYDid you know there's a Marvel Comics character called Legion who has abilities very similair to those found in your novella? BRANDON SANDERSON Someone mentioned it to me yesterday. I'm afraid, though, it's impossible not to do things that Marve/DC haven't covered. Magneto vs Allomancy, for example, or about a billion gravity manipulation superheroes vs Szeth. When I write something, I can't ask "Has anyone done this before?" because the answer will ALWAYS be yes. That said, it's amusing (but perhaps not surprising) that we both used the same idea with the name. WHURSMABELLY Have you ever felt the need to change anything in your writing that was TOO close to something already out there? BRANDON SANDERSON Yes, I have—but only in the pre-publication stage. If I'd known about the Marvel character, for example I probably would have used another name. Still, knowing now means I can change it if I do a full novel. Source Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheese Ninja Posted April 10, 2012 Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 I feel like Brandon really likes it when his characters can fly or just simply be superstrong. Mistborn could keep themselves in the air pretty well with metal pushes and pulls, plus they have pewter for super strength. Wax could keep himself in the air pretty easily with pushes, gunshots, and weight manipulation. Talented Awakeners could use tasseled sleeves and pantlegs to approximate super strength, especially in jumps. Windrunners can manipulate gravity's effect on themselves and other objects, plus the have the Stormlight enhanced strength. Elantrians can't fly, but they can teleport. So yeah, besides Elantrians, they are all like superheroes who are sharply limited by the amount of resources they have at hand. The whole "limitations are more interesting in a magic system than the powers" thing. http://brandonsanderson.com/article/100/Sandersons-Second-Law Hmm, googled the Sanderson's Laws, and here's a blog post of his that explicitly mentions Superman from April of 2011. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheese Ninja Posted April 19, 2012 Report Share Posted April 19, 2012 (edited) Double post/bump with new information: At the 25:20 point of this Google+ Sydney Hangout He's asked what ability of one of his character would he most like to have. His answer: flying, either by steelpushing, Mistborn, or gravity surges. I knew I was on to something there. Edited April 19, 2012 by Cheese Ninja Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inkthinker Posted April 22, 2012 Report Share Posted April 22, 2012 Videogames. Dude loves him some games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lil_literalist Posted April 22, 2012 Report Share Posted April 22, 2012 One thing that you need to remember is that many stories share similar elements not because they are influenced by one another, but because those things make the story interesting. For instance, most stories have some sort of villain to provide conflict. You don't need a villain, but it makes good sense to have one. Likewise, having a battle with two characters standing still and trying to best each other in willpower simply just doesn't make for an entertaining scene (unless there's something more going on than just that, such as an ideological conflict). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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