Orlion Blight

I have finished Warbreaker and am now working on The Kindly Ones (no, not THAT one the OTHER one!) and The Book of Phoenix by Nnedi Okorafor.

I always looked forward to Vasher, since it meant that the story was about to move along. As a character though... we only really get two three dimensional ones (as in they have actual arcs and change, not that they are terrible like Parlin or that your frame of reference changes like the God King) and those are Lightsong and Vivenna. Between the two, I would probably pick Vivenna.

Yeah, you gotta dial back your excitement... otherwise, you'll scare away the prey...erhm...potential readers!

Let's see... I lent my grandmother and a friend The Emperor's Soul. The friend thoroughly enjoyed it and I got her a copy of Mistborn and Well of Ascension (I thought she all ready had Hero of Ages, otherwise she would have gotten that as well). After struggling through Clash of Kings and the first Walking Dead compendium, she's now reading Mistborn and is currently happier for it. I lent Steelheart to my mother, who liked it. Eventually, she also read Mitosis once I got a physical copy of it and enjoyed that. Unfortunately, she could not finish Firefight. Once I'm done with it, I might try to get other friends to read Warbreaker... all in a plan to get people to read Stormlight Archives!

Outstanding! Thanks, Peter! My mind is now at rest for this particular matter

One Hundred Years of Solitude pretty much invented... we'll call it "modern magic realism", so that should be on your list. (Full disclosure, I have not read it yet ) The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie is fantastic. Little, Big by John Crowley is also very good. His Aeygpt sequence also qualifies as magic realism, but I would wait to try those until you've got more experience under your belt, particularly with Crowley. Make sure you are also in the right mood is what I would say about reading magic realism. Tight plots and explanations don't really factor into these types of books, at least the ones I've read. As far as things that are similar but not quite: Jorge Luis Borges. Spend the fifty bucks on the collection of his short stories and read them. A couple of those would qualify as magic realism, but a lot also are close to the border between fantasy and magic realism. If you're strapped for cash, find a copy of Ficciones (Fictions), that would be "essential". Nnedi Okorafor's Who Fears Death is borderline magic realism/fantasy/post-apocalyptic tale and should be in everyone's To Be Read Pile any way.

Thanks for the tidbit of news! I'm excited for this, but I'm also trepiditious because of the lack of news and updates we get after we are told to expect "news in the next few months!" Dynamite Comics in particular has been in radio silence on the subject.... Just makes me nervous!

The Emperor's Soul is arguably Brandon's best work, well worth a mere five dollars

Glad to hear it! Thank you!

If it's not out of control, I'm fine with that. To illustrate, consider Henry James: the guy loved to "update" and make his works "better"... what happens now? If I want to get into Henry James, I am now faced with the "which edition should I get/is the best" conundrum. I doubt this will happen with Sanderson, if for no other reason than "the best editions are the one that are most consistent with each other". Another example (and it was coming) is George Lucas. Sometimes a creator think they are doing the best for their fans and creations, even as these two are yelling "NOOOOO!" right at them. I doubt this will happen as well because Peter will smack Brandon upside the head if this madness were to ever take him. Really, the only problem I have is that I have not read Words of Radiance yet, but have bought the book. So the question becomes: is this going to happen often enough that I need to wait to see if something substantive will change?

10 plus years waiting for an Elantris sequel... Martin fans don't have anything on us!

I think there are a couple issues being discussed here in this essay that are conflated as one. In one case, is an idea that schools teach almost exclusively books with male protagonist. I can only speak of my schooling, lo these many years agone, but that does not seem to be the case. And since a lot of the books I read growing up seem to be universally recognized, I think it is not so widespread a problem. Some examples: Z for Zachariah, Tuck Everlasting, Knight in the Attic, Witch of Blackbird Pond, The Diary of Anne Frank, and Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry; and those are what I can recall from the top of my head during these grades (in fact, I recall reading A Stranger is Watching by Mary Higgins Clark for seventh grade! Come on!) I'm sure there are exceptions, but I think there are diverse gender protagonists in school reading. The other issue talks about "girl things" and "boy things". It's the assumption that though girls may like to read something called "Princess Diaries", boys not want to (boys might not even be the audience for the book!). Same thing with whatever Captain Farts-A-Lot book they have nowadays for boys. This is in part due to gender expectations, but some books are geared to a specific audience. This gets trickier, but best thing to do may be to treat these presentations in a more general light (like Ms Hale correctly does and points out). There is no need for school or author or student to complicate matters... I mean, just have the assembly about writing so the kids get a break from class to learn about the career. All assembled do not have to be fans (and never were when I grew up... I imagine one author would come by to try to convert us into new fans!)

Martin's career is interesting because there is surprisingly very little in his bibliography... not to mention this is his first (and presumably only) sustained novel series. A lot of his other stuff consists of short stories or novels made up of short stories. I think that is, in part, why he takes a while writing these books...

You say that now, but as the wait continues and draws out, you need to spread the madness around! I got Ancillary Justice and Ancillary Sword by an Ann Lecke. The final book in the trilogy comes out in October, so I have some time.

The Expanse is on my reading pile. I have been slowly going through the Culture books by Banks (absolutely loved Consider Phlebas!) Just finished Old Man's War and Lock In by Scalzi. They are enjoyable enough, though sometimes I want something of a higher caliber... at least he got multiple universes right!

True, and I was even holding back! Of course, someone (quite a few someones, actually) have to like it since it continues to be a bestseller, despite efforts by those of us who know better to slay interest in the series with a sword...of truth!

I remember reading the first book, and I remember the S&M, Stockholm Syndrome, come on Goodkind, what does any of this have to do with anything side-story. Might have been all right, except (to me) the ending was so dumb that it did not justify reading through such pointlessness. From what I've heard from friends who have read further, this continues throughout the series.

Has any one here read the Area X trilogy by Jeff Vandermeer? If not, I recommend it!

Le gasp! Now, full disclosure, I have not read any of his stuff... but I just kinda assume he's popular round these parts!

Depends. Wheel of Time requires a little more focus, I think (it's more continual) whereas Malazan, though there are archs throughout the series, is made up of pretty self-contained books. So if you need a break from Wheel of Time, go ahead and pick up a Malazan book. Start with the first one (Gardens of the Moon) to get use to the style, and then read the next two before deciding to continue or drop it. I mean, if you don't like Memories of Ice you're not going to like the series... or have a soul As far as rating, I'd say R-ish. Maybe not is "intense" as A Song of Ice and Fire, but definitely more graphic than Wheel of Time. On the ratings I'd say: The Wheel of Time (PG-13 for Fantasy Action and some sexual situations), Malazan Book of the Fallen (R for Fantasy Violence, some Graphic Scenes, Adult themes, drug use, defecation, etc.) The Second Apocalypse( Rated Holy $#!+, this is what nightmares are made of... do not, NOT read if Malazan or A Song of Ice and Fire are too graphic for you! Which is a shame, because it is very well written and very good, but by jingo! And I've only read the Prince of Nothing trilogy!)

The first time I had heard of Sanderson, it was a pitch for Mistborn that included the phrase: "...imagine if the Dark Lord won...something that I don't think has been done before." Hearing that, I snobbily avoided it since in the Silmarillion we have an instance where the Dark Lord "won" and was in control for a while. I would have none of that. A couple years passed and it was announced that Sanderson would be finishing the Wheel of Time. I decided that if he did a good job, I would give his precious Mistborn a chance. I still haven't read Wheel of Time 11-14. Then, a year arrived when part of my literary world was turned upside down. Writers who I had loathed for years (specifically Ernest Hemingway and Allen Ginsberg) ended up being some of my favourite writers. I had a gift card, Mazalan was complete, there was still a year before the final Thomas Covenant book came out, so I bought the Mistborn trilogy... determined to critique any and all plot points. The first book turned out good. The second book kept me interested. The third surprised me at the end. All in all, they were very enjoyable books. So now, I look forward to Sanderson books. I still have a few I haven't read yet (I'm pacing myself!), but it is nice to know that there will be some enjoyable books coming out with some regularity.

And the trilogy concludes with The Existence of the Previous Two Spoils Everything

Well, I do have a massive Barnes & Noble gift card that needs to be spent...

You almost can not go wrong with Michael Crichton. I would also add Timeline to that list.

I was raised on various Oz books growing up. My grandparents had a bunch of them, and every time we visited we could take one back home with us. Then there was The Wind in the Willows, which might be hard to classify as fantasy, so we'll just call it integral. I can't remember if I read the Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings first... it would have been around fourth grade, then in I was introduced to the Chronicles of Narnia by my fifth grade teacher who read a few of them to us. Then in sixth grade, I revisited Tolkien and read the Divine Comedy by Dante.