Trizee II

This was amazing. Personally I felt that it was Brandon's best short fiction piece yet. It combined great worldbuilding, characterization and action to make a beautiful story. My only issue with it was that, not having played the game, I was a bit confused by the beginning, but I soon got into the story (though there are still some events that I'm missing.) Here's an interesting thing I noticed:

Spoilers, obviously: Sanderson: When Kelsier and the Inquisitor are fighting towards the end of Mistborn, the tension is super- high and then it says : "And ash fell from the sky"- for some reason I thought this was so awesome I remember jumping up and down with excitement. Other great scenes are when Sazed figures out he's the Hero (it just makes so much sense) and basically the whole climax of The Well of Ascension. Guy Gavriel Kay: In Sailing to Sarantium - the chariot race was just amazing. In The Lions of al- Rassan, the duel at the end between Belmonte and Ibn Khairan was just so beautifully written. I love the way you never new who was who, which showed just how close they really were. Wheel of Time: I'll agree on Dumai's Wells, especially Taim yelling "Asha'man kill!" Also, the fight between Rand and Lanfear in Fires of Heaven was superb, and I loved the first scene in Lord of Chaos where Demandred goes to see Shai'tan. Its the first time we meet the Dark One in person and it is just as chilling as one could have hoped. Stephen R. Donaldson: The twist endings of both Runes of the Earth and Fatal Revenant just blew my mind. Martin: I agree about Martell's duel (You killed her, you raped her, you murdered her children!"). Also, Robb's coronation ("The King in the North!") and Daenerys freeing Astapor ("Dracarys! Dracarys") That's just what I can think of right now, there are probably lots more...

I've finished all four of Terry Pratchett's Tiffany Aching books and loved them all; I think A Hat full of Sky was probably my favorite. I also read his book Hogfather, and while it was pretty good, I don't think it was up to Pratchett's standards- the plot didn't make much sense to me. Now I'm reading Empire in Black and Gold by Adrian Tchaikovsky, the first in his Shadows of the Apt series. There are parts of it I think are great- the original setting, great action, and subtle wisdom. I especially like how some of the characters claim not to believe in magic while they perform acts that we would perceive as magical on a daily basis- they just don't see that as magic. However, at times this book reads like a bad Terry Brooks novel, and I find myself rather frustrated; but none of it is terrible enough for me to put the book down. My only other issue is that Tchaikovsky's prose isn't too great, but I understand that this improves later in the series... Aethling: If you're referring to Eddings's Hidden City, what did you think of it? Personally I felt it was a big let down- I never felt like the characters were actually in danger.