What's next?

[AC12 he/him]

So I finished Bands of Mourning just last night and that officially marks having read all of Brandon's published work except Alcatraz. I am always looking for more reading material so the questions for you, dear fellow sharders is this

a)Should I read Alcatraz? (I am 23 and prefer adult fantasy but have nothing against YA reading material. Example: I really like Brandon Mull's Fablehaven and Dragon Watch and Joe Flanagan's Ranger's Apprentice and Brotherband Chronicles despite it being for a much younger audience.)

b)Should I attempt to hunt down and read the unpublished works (Aether of the Night, Liar of Partinel, White Sand prose edition, and any others that I am possibly unaware of.)

or finally c)Should I just be content in rereading Brandon's books/reading other authors until we get Legion 3 and Skyward? (Also suggesting other authors is welcome, I started Patrick Rothfuss's Slow Regard of Silent Things today.)

Your opinions are much appreciated. 

Edited January 30, 2018 by AC12

[Herowannabe he/him]

21 hours ago, AC12 said:

So I finished Bands of Mourning just last night and that officially marks having read all of Brandon's published work except Alcatraz. I am always looking for more reading material so the questions for you, dear fellow sharders is this

a)Should I read Alcatraz? (I am 23 and prefer adult fantasy but have nothing against YA reading material. Example: I really like Brandon Mull's Fablehaven and Dragon Watch and Joe Flanagan's Ranger's Apprentice and Brotherband Chronicles despite it being for a much younger audience.)

b)Should I attempt to hunt down and read the unpublished works (Aether of the Night, Liar of Partinel, White Sand prose edition, and any others that I am possibly unaware of.)

or finally c)Should I just be content in rereading Brandon's books/reading other authors until we get Legion 3 and Skyward? (Also suggesting other authors is welcome, I started Patrick Rothfuss's Slow Regard of Silent Things today.)

Your opinions are much appreciated. 

A). Definitely A). 

My first attempt at Alcatraz stopped after book 1, though that was in large part because I listen to audiobooks and the Narrator’s voice didn’t rub me the right way the first time through. Not really sure why, it doesn’t bother me now. 

But then Audible was doing a big 2 for 1 sale that included all of the Alactraz books  that had been published by that point, so I gave it another chance and loved it. So funny and epic in they way that Brandon pulls off so well!

[A Secret Corner he/him]

23 hours ago, AC12 said:

So I finished Bands of Mourning just last night and that officially marks having read all of Brandon's published work except Alcatraz. I am always looking for more reading material so the questions for you, dear fellow sharders is this

a)Should I read Alcatraz? (I am 23 and prefer adult fantasy but have nothing against YA reading material. Example: I really like Brandon Mull's Fablehaven and Dragon Watch and Joe Flanagan's Ranger's Apprentice and Brotherband Chronicles despite it being for a much younger audience.)

b)Should I attempt to hunt down and read the unpublished works (Aether of the Night, Liar of Partinel, White Sand prose edition, and any others that I am possibly unaware of.)

or finally c)Should I just be content in rereading Brandon's books/reading other authors until we get Legion 3 and Skyward? (Also suggesting other authors is welcome, I started Patrick Rothfuss's Slow Regard of Silent Things today.)

Your opinions are much appreciated. 

Hmm...

Welcome to the Shard! And remember to on the Shard at least, well, survive, *runs into corner*

Anyways  

a) A good idea. I've read all the Alcatraz books, and I would say they are very very good... I think they are also good at appealing to just about everyone at any age. (just remember Alcatraz will be warning you...)...

b.) If you want to see where some of Brandon's stuff in published works comes from, as well as how Brandon has changed as a writer in addition to a few tidbits, this is a good idea

c) as far as what to read now, no

In my opinion, I think you should start with Alcatraz, then get onto b and c. (and again, remember that Alcatraz will warn you)

Have a good time on the shard

p.s. Slow Regard of Silent Things was really, odd. Though I guess that if you can't tell that by reading it, we need to have a talk.

[Weltall]

I'd definitely suggest giving Alcatraz a try as well. I too am above the age of its primary audience and I still love them. They take themselves a lot less seriously than Brandon's usual faire but for all the goofiness in some of the Smedry Talents, they do operate according to some internally consistent principles like magic systems in other works. More like Reckoners-level consistency and scope than a 'scientific' system like allomancy or forgery, but still consistent within those bounds. And setting aside that, the books are just fun to read. And Brandon invented a word to describe how godawful fish sticks are, that absolutely has to count for something. And he pokes fun at 'important' books aimed at children having a bad tendency to kill off mothers, pets or both. And he jokes about who killed Asmodean. And... oh just try reading them already.

Yes, I'd also recommend tracking down Aether of Night (ask here) and White Sand (sign up for Brandon's newsletter) as well. They're not as polished as his published works and you'll probably be able to tell why they're unpublished if you compare them to his other works, especially the newer ones. But by the same token they're also a neat look into Brandon's writing process, how he's developed various concepts over time, borrowed ideas from himself and reworked them in interesting ways and generally grown as a writer. And of course, both works are still fun reads even though Aether's story is explicitly non-canonical (pending the rewrite) and White Sand's is subject to whatever changes are made in the graphic novels. Personally I had a lot of fun with Aether even though it's not canon and it's fun to try and guess what's going to be kept and what will be changed when he eventually rewrites it. White Sand's also worth reading even if you've got the graphic novels for all the material that the latter had to trim, ranging from interesting worldbuilding details to funny conversations to entire chapters worth of material, backstory and motivations.

The only parts of Liar of Partinel that you can read are the ones Brandon shared on his site (which are linked to in the stickied topic in this subforum) and Brandon himself has discouraged people from reading them, but he hasn't removed them. They're kind of interesting but at the same time, he's mentioned repeatedly how unhappy he was with the book, how we could get the wrong idea about certain characters from it and how it's going to be massively rewritten, so I'd put them way down on your priority reading list. The sample chapters he's released from Dragonsteel are similarly kind of neat, but mostly for the insight they give us into Brandon's development as a writer; the released ones are the segment he cannibalized for Stormlight Archive, with the Shattered Plains setting and the idea of Bridge Four. And if you've got time and don't mind that it's an unfinished project, there's also Mythwalker, aka Warbreaker Prime. That should about do it for Brandon's unpublished but available works. Be happy to provide more details on any of the above if you want.

As for author recommendations, off the top of my head I'd name Ursula Le Guin (RIP) and Jim Butcher as 'must try if you haven't already'. I got into the latter because Brandon recommended his works at a signing I attended. He's also got a Goodreads account that he uses to talk about books he's liked, for some additional ideas.

[AC12 he/him]

32 minutes ago, Secrets said:

p.s. Slow Regard of Silent Things was really, odd. Though I guess that if you can't tell that by reading it, we need to have a talk.

I 100% agree with this. I enjoyed Name of the Wind quite a bit, almost as much as some Brandon's stuff. Wise Man's Fear was still good but not on the same level. Slow Regard is just...I don't know. I will finish because I care about the world and I hate not finishing things but it is not nearly as enjoyable. I still hold out high hopes for book three when and if it ever arrives.

31 minutes ago, Weltall said:

And Brandon invented a word to describe how godawful fish sticks are

Well I was already leaning towards reading Alcatraz but this was icing on top the cake