Kureshi Ironclaw

He has a sequel planned called Nightblood, but I don't think he is going to write it for a while yet. I wouldn't mind seeing some Nalthis short stories or novellas at some stage though.

I just got back from seeing it in the theater and I'm going to give it a thumbs up. There were some really fun characters and a lot of clever foreshadowing that paid off in the climax. I especially enjoyed the culture and setting.

I got into Eragon at about age 8 too after reading Emily Rodda's Deltora Quest, and it definitely was the series that got me hooked on the fantasy genre. I've read it a couple of times through, but I don't think I'll ever read it again because I know it probably won't hold up to the critical reading eye I have now and I don't want to ruin it for myself. Eragon does use a lot of tropes but that isn't a bad thing because it is a good introduction to new readers of fantasy, especially readers of my generation who don't necessarily want to start with a fantasy series written before 2000.

The Dear Hunter have genius concept albums and a very versatile sound. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qI_LBCofHM I've also been listening to a lot of Meshugguh.

Did you hear about the bass player whose timing was so bad he threw himself behind a train? Also, as a guitarist, I'm a big fan of talking about every instrument as if it were a guitar. People pull out cellos and I say, "hey, that's a pretty big guitar." And it's always fun to tell the wind players that they shouldn't blow into a guitar.

Valhalla by Blind Guardian. It hits hard right away so I'm sure to hear it with my decrepit ears on the rare occasion that my phone is off vibrate and somebody actually calls me.

From Mistborn: I wrote a song about it after I finished the book.

I would say that the knowledge that Szeth is sworn to Dalinar, on top of the revelation that Taravangian sent Szeth originally, has the most potential to completely break apart the coalition. The Skybreakers switching sides is pretty scary for them, but it is an external threat, while Szeth's history is an internal conflict that makes both Taravangian and Dalinar less able to be trusted by the other members of the coalition.

I started worldbuilding my universe well before I started reading any Cosmere stuff, but it has definitely had an influence on how my different worlds interact and how I've made my magic function. What elements of the Cosmere have you taken into your own worlds? Mostly the idea of having self contained stories set on different worlds but with an overarching story happening in the background for readers who are paying close attention. There are people/beings that appear on different worlds in different stories kind of like worldhoppers. I also have a single source of magic that permeates the whole universe, a bit like investiture - probably closer in function to saidar and saidin from Wheel of Time. How did you twist them and change them so that they aren't as similar? These 'worldhopper' characters are much more immediately dangerous than any we've really seen in the Cosmere thus far. My most active 'worldhopper' character is Willow the Hunter, and he is one nasty fellow. His MO is to arrive on worlds, shoot 'gods', then trick people into joining his army. My magic is different in that it is an actively finite source (though it would be pretty difficult to drain it completely, it is fractured and unusable in some systems). The magical source is refilled by death, or a person's soul. The way I think about it is that people have potential energy and if they are killed that potential energy becomes the source of magic. This mechanic obviously results in some galactic level governments committing mass genocides to accrue more magical power. Nasty stuff. I like the idea of creating a much darker Cosmere than Sanderson; something closer to a Cosmere written by George RR Martin. I'm also incorporating a lot more sci-fi and space opera elements earlier on in the timeline. The Galactic Confederate basically sparked most of the stories because of a pretty big screw up. Thus, we have fun scenes with characters in fantasy worlds admiring moving star constellations in the sky that are actually just space battles. What elements did you add or remove at different stages? I don't remember all the changes I've made over the years. I do remember having a character that I was thinking of as my equivalent of Hoid, but he is definitely not that anymore. You could call him a worldhopper, though he isn't in the same league as Willow the Hunter, and he has been stuck on one planet for several thousand years now. It's more his personality that makes him similar to Hoid. What elements of the Cosmere did you actively try not to copy, and what alternatives did you come up with? No Shards. No gods of that calibre. The gods you see are magic users that are being revered as gods. They have no inherent divinity, and most of them were soldiers before they wound up on their respective worlds. The only beings that could be as powerful as Shards are the ones like Willow the Hunter, though he and his companions have been tricked into enslavement by the Confederacy. I won't reveal what Willow actually is, but rest assured that it is awesome and terrifying. (You should read my book if you want to find out more *wink wink nudge nudge* I'm running a beta read at the moment, PM me if you're interested)

I will probably use a pen name if I ever get a book published. They're a marketing tool and a powerful part of a writer's brand image, so they need to be distinctive and match the tone of what you're writing. Also, it's probably best for me to separate my writing from my work as a musician to stave off confusion. I have no clue what I would actually use for my pen name though. Probably something involving my middle name in some way.

Autonomy. I was given an award in school by my literature teacher for not conforming. Cultivation could be fun too. The divine ability to scheme and manipulate worlds on a grand scale would be like playing lego.

Kaladin has been the most consistently enjoyable for me to read. Although I loved Shallan in WoR, and Dalinar was pretty awesome in OB.

I loved how vivid the setting was and I think a lot of cool stories could be told there. It was also really interesting hearing Brandon brainstorm it on an episode of writing excuses.

I write books! Always happy to find other writers I had a bit of a look at your book. It seems to be coming along consistently and you seem passionate about it, which is really good. I would be happy to give specific feedback once you've finished a complete first or second draft. If you haven't already, check out Brandon Sanderson's writing lectures on youtube and maybe listen to a few episodes of writing excuses. Even if you only listen with half an ear while doing other stuff, lots of useful knowledge will seep into your brain that will make you're writing tighter and more impactful. It helped my writing so much that I can't recommend it enough. Keep up the good work!

@Showman I have a pdf version divided up into small(ish?) chunks. I've been sending each chunk out with a questionnaire to get specific feedback for that section. I'm looking for the reactions of general readers and fans of the genre, so there is no need to be an expert. If you're writing, you've already got more experience than my other beta readers. If you're interested, let me know

Those lectures are honestly some of the best resources out there for writers. My writing before watching them isn't even comparable to my writing now. Well done on getting your novel published too!

I'll go with Odium. Seems like he would be more interesting to talk to than Ruin. Would you rather Stormlight books keep getting longer but have to split into two volumes each? Or would you rather the rest stay shorter than WoR?

Thankyou @Ammanas, I appreciate the support

So I recently finished the second draft of my first novel (currently titled Prophecy of the Vengeful) and have been looking for some people to beta read it. Brandon Sanderson has had a huge impact on my development as a writer and the development of this story, so I thought the 17S would be a good place to find some good beta readers. I've had trouble distilling the book into a pithy elevator pitch (I'm working on it), because of how complicated the plot became over its development, but responses to early chapters so far have been positive. Here is a 3ish paragraph pitch, spoilered for length: I will also add a content warning. This book gets quite violent, and sex -- while not overly graphic -- does occur. There are smatterings of foul language too. It's not George RR Martin level stuff, but reading George inspired me to begin writing this book and it will probably show throughout. Another warning: This book is pretty long -- about 300k words (the length of Eye of the World) -- and is technically the beginning of a trilogy. I never anticipated it being this long when I first began writing. I knew my beginning, I knew my ending, I just had to fill in the gaps and set things in motion that would impact later books. Still, I've tried to make sure everything in the book is relevant. It's not long for the sake of being long; it's long because that is what I feel it needs to be at the moment. Hopefully a beta read will reveal to me the things I can cut. I'm conducting the beta read in chunks of a couple chapters each (generally between 10k and 15k words each), to keep things moving quickly. Even at the pace of about a chunk a week (which is reoughly the pace of my other beta readers), this process will take about 6 months. I know it is a big commitment, but I would appreciate it dearly if some of you are keen to help me with this. I've put a lot of time into this book already and I really want it to do well. I am more than happy to read and critique work in exchange for this. Hit me up if you're interested. I'll post the prologue too, so you can get a feel for my writing: Cheers all!

I don't have much experience with ensemble stories but my instinct would be to focus on how they are being assembled in the beginning. If one character is bringing them all together, focus on that character and introduce the other ones gradually as they join the team. I would be wary about giving a separate scene to each character at the beginning, because too much head hopping might disengage a reader that early in the book, unless perhaps each scene was only a couple of paragraphs long so it reads more like a montage. I hope this helps

Heya all I'm long time lurker, and thought now would be a good time to join up after finishing uni for the year. I'm an aspiring author and musician and Brandon's work is a huge influence on me. Hopefully I'll be able to share some stuff with you once I finish the current draft of my first novel, or get some stuff recorded.