Draginon

Did you read the original or the revised version? The revised one has elements King didn't think of when he originally wrote it to bring it more in line with the final 3 books so that the series wasn't as disjointed. The later books get much better especially with the setting problem, the second has Roland meeting his companions by way of doors going to different iterations of New York while he's traveling down a beach, the third starts in a forest before moving to a wasteland similar in appearance to the Midwest followed by a grand city, the fourth is mainly a flashback story with the present time scenes being in Topeka from The Stand's universe and, strangely, the Emerald City. The fifth thru seventh books change locations constantly from being in strange places close to the Tower itself, New York and even Bangor. A lot of the stuff makes sense if you've read most of his other books like Father Callahan from Salems Lot being a major character in the final three and this kid from one of his 90's books also is a huge help in the last two. You could think of the two examples similar to the connections of the Cosmere but it's not "oh I recognize you!" and more "this is a sequel/continuation!?" It also doesn't help that some concepts don't get properly explained unless you read the story he first introduced it in, not quite like how Sanderson will have the magic systems cross over but more "I have to read some random short story to understand what's happening!?" Yeah, King's stuff is special and requires more commitment than Sanderson does.

@StormingTexan I've actually read Dark Tower and it's in such a weird category since it doesn't occupy one genre since it's more western in the first book but in the rest the only thing western is Roland himself. It's also more 'realistic' in terms of fantasy, it's King what do you expect here?, but mostly it's a nexus connecting everything King has ever written so I'm still not sure what genre to use. @Dunkum Well the way the Roughs are described screams John Wayne and when it moves to Elendel, and I got the New York vibe from the description as well, you still have shoot outs, a train robbery, bandits (don't tell me Miles wearing that mask during the wedding didn't make you think of the western villain wearing a kerchief over his face), the calvary coming to save the day, the execution and other little details that seemed to suggest old west but in the city, so more likely it's meant to be more like Kansas City or Minneapolis in terms of geography. In a way you could consider this a "sheriff getting tired of the banditry in the wilds moves back to 'the city' and becomes constable of the place" story. Also the whole New York buildup of skyscrapers happened during the old west period so I'm thinking that's the period Brandon was going for and I kept imagining the technology and fashion in terms of that period as well.

Finished reading The Alloy of Law last night. Was hoping to finish over spring break but other things got in the way of that. Anyway my thoughts: Finally a western I liked! I don't really get the appeal of western stories but this is probably one of the few western-esque stories I liked. Wax, Wayne and Marasi were fantastic to read (not including Steris on account of her barely appearing) but Miles' sections were a drag for me to read for some reason making him the first character I didn't want to actually read about from a Sanderson book (not saying he isn't interesting, there was just something that didn't click for me when he was the POV character) Can't wait to read the sequels and see what else happens with this crew but first I've got some chalklings to deal with. Next up The Rithmatist

Applied for my first passport! My mom though is having more trouble with it since the district clerk decided her New Jersey birth certificate isn't legal, but did accept her expired passport.

Went to B&N since I had some coupons for 20% off a children's chapter book and a mystery book. I used them to get the final Kingdom Keepers book and a book called Warlock Holmes. After buying these I decided to put in an order for White Sand 2 since I've been unable to find it. Turned out they had some in the back! So now I have everything Cosmere up to this point.

Went up to Choctaw yesterday and won a little money. It helped to pay for this monster: All the characters: How it was packaged: And the instructions and sticker sheet: I'm definitely taking my time with this thing since I did one closer to 4000 pieces in about a day and was so tired by the end. NEVER AGAIN!!!

I found the first volume of Fables. Also I went to a sunglasses store and saw the colored lens which made me think of Alcatraz.

What does the train operator wear to a formal event? A railroad tie!

@Firerust I'm only counting full novels at this point since a short story, like Eleventh Metal and Allomancer Jak, aren't exactly full books, just stories. I'm hesitant to count Secret History since it's not a novel but it could count if Brandon only does 15 novels @King Cole It would be cool if he did do it though, like how one of the Stormlight books was close to 1000 and he noticed that he could get it to 1001 because of 10 being important to Roshar.

This is something I've been thinking of lately. Since the total number of known Mistborn books is totaling 13 do you think Brandon might write three more books to give us the magical number 16? I've been thinking he might since he's always claimed that the main series of the Cosmere are Stormlight, Mistborn and Dragonsteel and to have 16 be big in one way (16 planetary bodies in Roshar, 16 books in Mistborn, 16 Shards in Dragonsteel) would be an interesting connection to have.

In a way the Sanderson multiverse could go like this: A magic universe where the Milky Way didn't get started but a Cosmere happened (all Cosmere stories) A magic universe where the earth does get formed but the magic went there instead of the Cosmere (I guess Alcatraz because of the Cosmere Easter eggs) A magic universe that's like the previous minus the absence of the Cosmere (Rithmatist) A universe like the previous one but magic is wonky (Reckoners) A universe with no magic or not noticeable (other stories)

@Storming Radiant I liked the books but I did start getting annoyed with some of the characters by the book 8-11 range, especially with Rand. He got so much better once book 13 happens. If you feel 7 and 8 are kind of slow or boring stick with it through 11 which gets a faster pace and then ramps up to ridiculous levels in book 12. In terms of WOT I felt AMOL was too short for everything that needed to happen since it felt like Brandon was trying to stick two books worth of material in that one volume and then had to figure out who doesn't get much focus like Moiraine, the Sharan's and even stuff with the double trios felt condensed. Anyway I finished Shattered Lens and it felt too meta at points but it did keep the same humor going. I guess the revelation about the Talents and Incarna was obvious but not something I really thought of during the previous two books. Now I'm heading back to Scadrial to rustle up some grub, fire guns, rescue damsals from train tracks and get Harmonious with The Alloy of Law. And no one correct me on the old west tropes I listed.

Finally found The Invisible Man Legacy Collection! Just need to find The Wolf Man set to have all the OG Universal Monsters films. Also found Star Wars: Tales From a Galaxy Far, Far Away: Aliens: Volume 1 for under $4.

Did you hear about the goat farm that got school funding for all the kids they have?

I've caught up to the Power Rangers as far as I can without trying to find the issues not yet collected (#17-#24) so I've got to wait for Volumes 5 & 6, Go Go Power Rangers Volumes 1 & 2 and Lost Chronicles (the 2016 and 2017 annuals) in order to see everything before the Shattered Grid 'Crisis Earth' event.

@Dunkum I thought it was a 1=1 when converting a Rosharan year to an Earth year? Anyway the stuff I knew about Kaladin beforehand was that he was trained to be a surgeon and then became a successful military leader, and when thinking on the military part I assumed it'd be much longer than the actual 4 years and I also didn't take into account that apprenticeship was being done like in the olden days of being trained as a child so you can imagine how surprised I was at him being 19 and thinking 'how is all that supposed to happen in such a short amount of time???' I was close for the ages of the other characters, I pegged Shallan as being between 18-22 because of her being a ward so I was close, I pegged Dalinar somewhere in the 40-60 range because of him being a father and depending on how old Adolin was and how old he himself was when Adolin was born and Szeth I kind of pegged as being somewhere in his 30's (he is in that age range in the first book right?). The only other character I was kind of off on was Jasnah who I guessed was in the late 20's-early 30's range so I was happy when she was just slightly older than I was thinking. @maxal Yeah, it makes sense with his whole deal with blaming himself for others dying and his hatred of lighteyes. However when he has his 'adult' moments he's kind of like Nyneave, it makes them both seem a decade or two older than they actually are so that's something that really throws one for a loop when they remember how old the character is supposed to be.

I have officially finished Way of Kings!!! It was a fantastic read, but because I have the 1200 page paperback it was hard towards the end to not break the book. I liked all the different characters, though Nan Balat creeped me with his psychopath tendencies, but I was surprised that Szeth was light skinned since the chapter icon, and the color version I've seen, make him look more dark skinned like Sazed. I was also surprised when the opening chapters said Kaladin was 19! I thought based off what I had read about him beforehand and from the synopsis that he'd be in his late 20's or in his 30's, not almost a decade younger than me. It was really cute seeing Shallan and Kabsal 'dating' until the moment in the hospital. I also really liked Jasnah since she was smart and took no crem about what people thought of her while also being sweet when she's close to someone. Can't wait to read Words of Radiance, aka The Book of Endless Pages, but before that I'll be reading The Shattered Lens and the WOK Annotations.

I try to pronounce it how it's spelled. I'm curious if brits pronounce it s-zed-eth considering they pronounce z differently.

Took advantage of some sales today. GameStop was having their Pro Days Sale, but there was only one person working because someone assumed it wouldn't be busy. Anyway I grabbed Final Fantasy XV, Assassin's Creed Unity and Rise of the Tomb Raider. Went to B&N since I had some coupons and got Saga book 1 and The Walking Dead Compendium 1 & 2 since it was buy 2 get 3rd free on Image Comics. Was going to get White Sand 2 but this location didn't have one in stock. At Nebraska Furniture Mart I found a cheap copy of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie and Power Rangers Dino SuperCharge. Today was a good day.

That's why I said "in a way" since not everyone has read the prose so it's new to some people.

Lucky you, I'm still a ways away from that book. WHY DO THERE HAVE TO BE SO MANY BOOKS INBETWEEN STORMLIGHT BOOKS!!??

It's funny how some are disappointed that this isn't Cosmere meaning we'll get nothing there this year. In a way White Sand 2 is our 'new' Cosmere so we aren't exactly lacking, just getting a light year similar to 2013 which only had Silence. Anyway I'm excited to see what this non-Cosmere story is since it's refreshing to get away from the Cosmere now and then.

So it's going to be a Cosmere-lite year. I wonder if the novella is going to be part of any of his non-cosmere stories or its own separate story.

You will be refreshed upon waking but shall feel drained within five minutes I wish to be able to visit any fictional world I want

We drink iced tea in this house and I had to open a new bottle to fill two cups. When it's full it's hard not to have it dribble down the side. I got maybe two drops on the counter and my mom started berating me for spilling, she got a paper towel to wipe it up and she knocked the bottom of the jug enough that I nearly spilled the entire thing. That would've been a much bigger mess than a couple drops of tea and yet I'm the messy one in this case. Heck I was going to clean up immediately after filling both cups and that would've only been a few seconds longer.