Seonid he/him Posted May 8, 2014 Posted May 8, 2014 Just a note to introduce myself. I've been lurking here for a while, voraciously devouring cosmere theories and Stormlight speculation, and I think I've even posted once somewhere...but I haven't done one of these yet. So I am. I'm an undergrad at Utah State University majoring in Physics and Religious Studies, and I'm also an aspiring author (both adventure sci-fi and epic fantasy, with some post-apocalyptic short stories I'd like to write someday too...). And I love Brandon Sanderson. I found Sanderson through the Wheel of Time series (long time fan of that, even if it did drag in places...enough so that I'm making a total conversion mod of Age of Empires II to the Wheel of Time universe. Sorry, tangent.) I read Mistborn, got hooked, and I'm in the process of getting through everything else he's written. Left on the list: Elantris Aether of Night Alcatraz Short stories in various anthologies that I don't have money to buy And that's me. 1
GreyPilgrim he/him Posted May 8, 2014 Posted May 8, 2014 Welcome, Seonid! Yeah, it looks like you made one very short post at one point. Glad to see you delurking, and I hope to see you around in the discussion! Is your username a Wheel of Tike reference? I seem to recall it being the name of an Aes Sedai, though I don't remember the character at all...
Awesomeness Summoned he/him Posted May 8, 2014 Posted May 8, 2014 She was one of the Salidar Aes Sedai that swore fealty to Rand and traveled with Perrin. Glad to see a delurk Seonid and hope to see more of you! Have you read all his short fiction listed HERE?
Seonid he/him Posted May 8, 2014 Author Posted May 8, 2014 Funnily enough, it isn't a WoT reference, rather it's the family name of the main character from my high fantasy world. I suppose there could be an unconscious influence, though. I started reading the Wheel of Time when I was 13 or so (I randomly found book 8 in my junior high school library, and started from there), which was around the time I started writing seriously. It's been more than a decade now, and for the life of me, I can't remember which happened first.
Awesomeness Summoned he/him Posted May 8, 2014 Posted May 8, 2014 Well, seeing as how there were a couple thousand characters in WoT, you were bound to accidentally use at least one.
GreyPilgrim he/him Posted May 8, 2014 Posted May 8, 2014 Even Brandon himself ended up using a name from the Wheel of Time, with Sarene.
Kobold King he/him Posted May 8, 2014 Posted May 8, 2014 Even Brandon himself ended up using a name from the Wheel of Time, with Sarene. That's not the worst of it. He apparently reused a whole lot of WoT names in his novel A Memory of Light. I haven't read it, but my friend says it reads more like a piece of WoT fanfiction than an original story. 1
GreyPilgrim he/him Posted May 8, 2014 Posted May 8, 2014 That's not the worst of it. He apparently reused a whole lot of WoT names in his novel A Memory of Light. I haven't read it, but my friend says it reads more like a piece of WoT fanfiction than an original story. He actually wrote three books like that. Can't understand why.
Seonid he/him Posted May 8, 2014 Author Posted May 8, 2014 Well, seeing as how there were a couple thousand characters in WoT, you were bound to accidentally use at least one. True that. True that. That's not the worst of it. He apparently reused a whole lot of WoT names in his novel A Memory of Light. I haven't read it, but my friend says it reads more like a piece of WoT fanfiction than an original story. And, Kobold King, for what it's worth, I quite enjoyed AMoL. But then, I'm easy to please. (If I missed what should have been obvious sarcasm, proceed to ignore this line.)
Swimmingly he/him Posted May 8, 2014 Posted May 8, 2014 Can't say it didn't sell well, though! I swear, these big-name authors, coasting on their reputation as an excuse to sell any piece of crem that comes to mind!
Kobold King he/him Posted May 8, 2014 Posted May 8, 2014 Can't say it didn't sell well, though! I swear, these big-name authors, coasting on their reputation as an excuse to sell any piece of crem that comes to mind! What they say is true. Originality is dead.
GreyPilgrim he/him Posted May 8, 2014 Posted May 8, 2014 Can't say it didn't sell well, though! I swear, these big-name authors, coasting on their reputation as an excuse to sell any piece of crem that comes to mind! Brandon kind of abuses us. I will spend money on literally anything with his name on it. And he has so many projects!!!
Seonid he/him Posted May 8, 2014 Author Posted May 8, 2014 Every trope has been done before. Spren (a magical creature that bonds with a person, giving him/her powers)? See "Familiars." Channelers and the One Power? Aristotelian elements + the common addition of Spirit as a basis for a magic system - commonplace. Story of the poor, orphaned hero/heroine grew up on the streets and learned a hard and brutal life but eventually found a group of friends who actually care and overthrow the Dark Lord/Evil Overlord/Big Bad Guy/Terrifying Person from the hero/heroine's past together with him/her? Sounds like Mistborn, sounds like The Way of Kings, sounds like parts of Circle of Magic, sounds like a host of other books. But. Everything is original in a way, too. The Wheel of Time was derivative. But it was unique. The Lord of the Rings was derivative. But it was unique, too. The Stormlight Archive is derivative, in its own ways. But it is entirely unique in other ways. And I love Brandon Sanderson for it.
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