Allomancy Posted May 30, 2015 Report Share Posted May 30, 2015 I am trying to get a friend to read Sanderson books, but she keep telling me that the books are "too long". What should I say to her to get her reading them? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwiLyghtSansSparkles Posted May 30, 2015 Report Share Posted May 30, 2015 I am trying to get a friend to read Sanderson books, but she keep telling me that the books are "too long". What should I say to her to get her reading them? Give her a shorter book, like Steelheart, to start with. That one's not much longer than most YA books, and it's what got me hooked on Sanderson books. I probably wouldn't have picked up, let alone bought, a doorstopper like Way of Kings if I didn't already like Sanderson, and the Reckoners books were what led me to like him. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Young Bard Posted May 31, 2015 Report Share Posted May 31, 2015 Or even better, The Emperor's Soul. It's more... Brandon, won a Hugo award, and is only about 120 pages long. Before the hardcore Reckoners fans come down upon me, what I mean by more Brandon is that it has a solid magic system (which there is still partly unexplained in the Reckoners series). In addition, Steelheart was designed with an action blockbuster movie in mind, which makes it less... original. However, the Emperor's Soul is less action based, so much as character based. It has some of the best characters I have seen from Brandon, and is one of his best books. /rant 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kestrel Posted May 31, 2015 Report Share Posted May 31, 2015 Throw Way of Kings at her that's what my friend did. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwiLyghtSansSparkles Posted May 31, 2015 Report Share Posted May 31, 2015 Or even better, The Emperor's Soul. It's more... Brandon, won a Hugo award, and is only about 120 pages long. Before the hardcore Reckoners fans come down upon me, what I mean by more Brandon is that it has a solid magic system (which there is still partly unexplained in the Reckoners series). In addition, Steelheart was designed with an action blockbuster movie in mind, which makes it less... original. However, the Emperor's Soul is less action based, so much as character based. It has some of the best characters I have seen from Brandon, and is one of his best books. /rant The Emperor's Soul is an excellent book, but it's not one I'd recommend starting with. All of the points you made regarding it are true; however, it is also paced far more slowly than most of Brandon's other works, with the majority of the action taking place in a single room with two characters discussing a third who is also a coma patient. Does it work? Yes, brilliantly. I adore that book for its contemplativeness, its excellent characterization, its ability to make the reader care about one character who has no lines until the very end. However, I'll say it again, because it bears repeating: it is extremely slow. Reckoners, on the other hand, is far more fast-paced. It moves at a faster clip than Way of Kings, and I'd say is a tad quicker than The Final Empire. Of the Sanderson books I've read, I think the pacing of Steelheart is much more typical than that of The Emperor's Soul, making it a better short book to give a new fan a taste of what to expect. (And, side note about the "magic" system of the Reckonersverse: yes, most of the mechanics do go unexplained until the sequel. However, I wouldn't list this as a bad thing. The effects of the system are observable, yet Sanderson makes the causes an ongoing mystery until Firefight, at which point they begin to unravel. In the universe of this series, it works.) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High prince of geeks Posted May 31, 2015 Report Share Posted May 31, 2015 I would suggest something like heartbreaker. It is one of the shorter full length novels, and is a fairly quick read as well as being on of the easiest for and outsider to like Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allomancy Posted May 31, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2015 Yeah. Would Alcatraz work? I started on that book series. Though, I must say I was a lot younger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dayman Posted May 31, 2015 Report Share Posted May 31, 2015 I always recommend starting people with Mistborn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dayman Posted May 31, 2015 Report Share Posted May 31, 2015 I always recommend starting people with Mistborn. IMO it's the best series so far (being finished helps) and it's the perfect intro to the cosmere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kestrel Posted May 31, 2015 Report Share Posted May 31, 2015 ^ true, that or Warbreaker. Elantris moved too slow for me, and if I had started on it I probably would have dropped the series and never gave a second thought about Sanderson. Way of Kings is just daunting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colours Posted May 31, 2015 Report Share Posted May 31, 2015 I'm going to go against the grain slightly and recommend starting with Legion. It depends on who you're recommending to, of course, but while it's less Brandon-typical, it's short and does a good job of showing off his creativity, maybe with the highest things-happening-to-word-count ratio. The Emperor's Soul is kind of the exact opposite, so the combined volume might provide a good sample. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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