Words of Radiance, Brandon Sanderson
Jul. 7th, 2014 11:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jackSecond in the stormlight saga. I thought it was very comparable to the first one, with the same strengths and the same weaknesses. The characters evolve further, and interact with each other more. We discover more about the magic system and mythology, which is what I really like about Sanderson. I like some of the characters, but many of the characters and emotions felt a bit flat to me, like someone trying to describe emotions second-hand.
I like that we get to play more with the magic system. Shallan exploring what she can do is one of the most Sanderson-y bits that works really well.
I don't know if he can keep this up for 10 books! Few people set out to write an arc of 10 books. He's doing well so far, but it's definitely ambitious.
Nitpicks (with spoilers)
Kaladin's agonising whether to kill Elhokir because he was incompetent as a king was interesting, but I wasn't sure how much I agreed with it. I think "what lets you sleep at night" is very good guide, and there are numerous dangers from parting from it -- the chance that you become hardened to killing people for convenience, the chance that you're found out, the chance that it goes wrong, the chance that chaos is worse than the status quo. It's almost never a good idea.
But here it seems like almost all of the circumstances line up so it IS a good idea. Kaladin would have an extremely good chance of getting away with it. The obvious next-in-line is a much stronger and more ethical ruler and right on site to take over. They have at least one specific murder to avenge, making the king personally guilty, not just incompetent (yes, he didn't deliberately kill them, but he deliberately shirked his responsibility and let them die).
And then the other conspirators... wait until Dalinar marches away, and THEN try to kill Elhokir. That seems like the worst possible arrangement. Elhokir was just mildly well-meaning but selfish and oblivious; without Dalinar there, one of the other highprinces, probably one of the much worse ones (was Saddeus dead yet?) would take over.
Before that point, I think killing Elhokir might actually have been the right thing to do, even though I agree Kaladin is a better person for not doing it (because it's ALMOST ALWAYS a bad thing). Syl reminds me of the phoenix is HP and the Methods of Rationality -- a being who can detect honour, but not when honour is impractical :(
More nitpicks
There's rather too much going on with the mythology. At this point it's introduced almost faster than you can keep track of it, so it never really feels joined up. It definitely does join up, because Sanderson's planned a lot of it which is steadily revealed in the books. But it seems like as soon as there's rules, there's exceptions to them, until the consistency is undermined.
More nitpicks
It's a perennial problem of fantasy books, that in real-world history, Sharpe and Hornblower caught up fighting in wars really obviously don't have any choice, but in fantasy, everyone almost always ends up participating in world-changing events, and when you sympathise with most of the major characters on both sides, it's harder to be proud of their tactics, and easier to think "all these characters are good, reasonable people with no unforgiveable grudges... maybe they could just talk to each other and stop fighting?" There's always a good reason otherwise, but it often seems like "we didn't have enough natural tension, so here's a supernatural incursion of pure evil to act as the antagonist"
I like that we get to play more with the magic system. Shallan exploring what she can do is one of the most Sanderson-y bits that works really well.
I don't know if he can keep this up for 10 books! Few people set out to write an arc of 10 books. He's doing well so far, but it's definitely ambitious.
Nitpicks (with spoilers)
Kaladin's agonising whether to kill Elhokir because he was incompetent as a king was interesting, but I wasn't sure how much I agreed with it. I think "what lets you sleep at night" is very good guide, and there are numerous dangers from parting from it -- the chance that you become hardened to killing people for convenience, the chance that you're found out, the chance that it goes wrong, the chance that chaos is worse than the status quo. It's almost never a good idea.
But here it seems like almost all of the circumstances line up so it IS a good idea. Kaladin would have an extremely good chance of getting away with it. The obvious next-in-line is a much stronger and more ethical ruler and right on site to take over. They have at least one specific murder to avenge, making the king personally guilty, not just incompetent (yes, he didn't deliberately kill them, but he deliberately shirked his responsibility and let them die).
And then the other conspirators... wait until Dalinar marches away, and THEN try to kill Elhokir. That seems like the worst possible arrangement. Elhokir was just mildly well-meaning but selfish and oblivious; without Dalinar there, one of the other highprinces, probably one of the much worse ones (was Saddeus dead yet?) would take over.
Before that point, I think killing Elhokir might actually have been the right thing to do, even though I agree Kaladin is a better person for not doing it (because it's ALMOST ALWAYS a bad thing). Syl reminds me of the phoenix is HP and the Methods of Rationality -- a being who can detect honour, but not when honour is impractical :(
More nitpicks
There's rather too much going on with the mythology. At this point it's introduced almost faster than you can keep track of it, so it never really feels joined up. It definitely does join up, because Sanderson's planned a lot of it which is steadily revealed in the books. But it seems like as soon as there's rules, there's exceptions to them, until the consistency is undermined.
More nitpicks
It's a perennial problem of fantasy books, that in real-world history, Sharpe and Hornblower caught up fighting in wars really obviously don't have any choice, but in fantasy, everyone almost always ends up participating in world-changing events, and when you sympathise with most of the major characters on both sides, it's harder to be proud of their tactics, and easier to think "all these characters are good, reasonable people with no unforgiveable grudges... maybe they could just talk to each other and stop fighting?" There's always a good reason otherwise, but it often seems like "we didn't have enough natural tension, so here's a supernatural incursion of pure evil to act as the antagonist"
no subject
Date: 2014-07-08 08:35 am (UTC)Sadeas dies in Urithiru very near the end; so I think he's still alive when the conspiracy tries to kill Elhokar, but I'm not sure *where* he is at that point, maybe also out.
no subject
Date: 2014-07-08 10:11 pm (UTC)