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Four Secret Novels by Brandon Sanderson

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Re: Four Secret Novels by Brandon Sanderson

#61

Post by phreack »

kbutler wrote: post #54
ryantgtg wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I enjoyed this blog post where he talks about his writing process. https://www.brandonsanderson.com/my-work-life-balance-as-a-w... He seems very disciplined. Hate to say but I'm glad I'm not one of his kids. He wakes up around noon and then writes for five hours, and _then_ he hangs out with his family. So basically his kids don't see him all day until shortly before they go to bed.

Compared to what? "Dad goes to work at an office 9-5, then has a commute to come home, then focuses on his own hobbies"? Frankly, this sounds like a lot of focused family time: """ At 5:00 I stop, and 5:00 until 10:00 is family time for me. And that is walled off. I don’t work on books, even in the back of my brain. It’s got to be a really steep wall for me to make sure I am there for them. And I have to mentally say…

I literally have never met anyone who spent that much time daily with their family while also having an intense job. Taken at face value it's nothing short of marvelous.

Re: Four Secret Novels by Brandon Sanderson

#62

Post by olvy0 »

zargon wrote: post #32
veganjay wrote: post #13

First time hearing about this author - what's the hacker news angle here? From what I gather it is that: 1) he's a very popular sci-fi/fantasy writer, 2) it's an incredible amount of funding for a kickstarter campaign I'm genuinely interested - for someone new to his work, where is a good book to start? Edit: as mentioned in other comments: https://www.brandonsanderson.com/where-do-i-start/

An option no one has mentioned yet is Skyward. It's a "girl and her spaceship" type of story. It's how I got started down the Sanderson rabbit hole. Some may say it's it's not representative, as his first scifi work, but I think I got a better introduction to a more experienced Sanderson by starting there. (Without embarking on the 10-book series of thousand-page books, Stormlight Archive. Though there are also stand…

I also enjoyed Skyward very much, I read it with my kids at the same time and they loved it.

Re: Four Secret Novels by Brandon Sanderson

#63

Post by trey-jones »

edgyquant wrote: post #35
TylerE wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except King can actually write dialog that isn't 100% cringe. Sanderson's refusal to have characters ever actually curse is just infuriating.

I wasn’t saying King and his are the same quality, just that the speed of writing is similar. With that said King writes his fair share of cringe dialogue.

I have only ever read the Wheel of Time by Sanderson, but the dialogue was enough to convince me I never needed to bother with him again. Meanwhile, I find King to be probably the best American English writer that I've encountered. By that I'm really only talking about his use of the language, and what a pleasure it is to read. And of course, dialogue is a part of that. This is all subjective of course - that's just how I feel about it.

Re: Four Secret Novels by Brandon Sanderson

#64

Post by [deleted] »

ars wrote: post #60
ryantgtg wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I enjoyed this blog post where he talks about his writing process. https://www.brandonsanderson.com/my-work-life-balance-as-a-w... He seems very disciplined. Hate to say but I'm glad I'm not one of his kids. He wakes up around noon and then writes for five hours, and _then_ he hangs out with his family. So basically his kids don't see him all day until shortly before they go to bed.

How is that any different from someone with a regular job? Especially someone who has to leave before the kids are up? And how is 5PM "shortly before bed"?

[deleted]

Re: Four Secret Novels by Brandon Sanderson

#66

Post by Semaphor »

Why is this blowing up so much? It’s been on the frontpage of /r/fantasy since it happened, and now here. I mean, I like Sanderson, and I might eventually read those 4 novels, but isn’t this just an announcement of 4 unnamed novels in 2023? And nothing else?

I feel like I’m missing something here, or maybe everyone else is just way more of a Sanderson fan than I am ;)

Re: Four Secret Novels by Brandon Sanderson

#67

Post by ryantgtg »

ars wrote: post #60
ryantgtg wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I enjoyed this blog post where he talks about his writing process. https://www.brandonsanderson.com/my-work-life-balance-as-a-w... He seems very disciplined. Hate to say but I'm glad I'm not one of his kids. He wakes up around noon and then writes for five hours, and _then_ he hangs out with his family. So basically his kids don't see him all day until shortly before they go to bed.

How is that any different from someone with a regular job? Especially someone who has to leave before the kids are up? And how is 5PM "shortly before bed"?

I don’t know man, you tell me.

The context is everyone at home during covid, by the way. And the context of my comment was assuming the child’s perspective.

Re: Four Secret Novels by Brandon Sanderson

#68

Post by ryantgtg »

kbutler wrote: post #54
ryantgtg wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I enjoyed this blog post where he talks about his writing process. https://www.brandonsanderson.com/my-work-life-balance-as-a-w... He seems very disciplined. Hate to say but I'm glad I'm not one of his kids. He wakes up around noon and then writes for five hours, and _then_ he hangs out with his family. So basically his kids don't see him all day until shortly before they go to bed.

Compared to what? "Dad goes to work at an office 9-5, then has a commute to come home, then focuses on his own hobbies"? Frankly, this sounds like a lot of focused family time: """ At 5:00 I stop, and 5:00 until 10:00 is family time for me. And that is walled off. I don’t work on books, even in the back of my brain. It’s got to be a really steep wall for me to make sure I am there for them. And I have to mentally say…

No, the context is WFH covid times. This sounds like my dad sleeping in until noon while I ran around the house, had brekkie, etc, and after waking up he locked his door and didn’t come out until 5pm.

But sure yeah, that’s some good focused time at the end there.

I regret making my original comment.

Re: Four Secret Novels by Brandon Sanderson

#69

Post by cturtle »

Semaphor wrote: post #66

Why is this blowing up so much? It’s been on the frontpage of /r/fantasy since it happened, and now here. I mean, I like Sanderson, and I might eventually read those 4 novels, but isn’t this just an announcement of 4 unnamed novels in 2023? And nothing else? I feel like I’m missing something here, or maybe everyone else is just way more of a Sanderson fan than I am ;)

I see a couple reasons.

First, Brandon planned this well. He made a video Monday heavily implying bad news. For loyal fans waiting a day to hear the news caused quite a stir I assume. Then making such a huge unexpected announcement the next day caught many people off guard.

Second, announcing four new books is not common! Especially considering he wrote them while working on many other books over the last two years. I think people are just excited and happy to share something positive.

Re: Four Secret Novels by Brandon Sanderson

#70

Post by eslaught »

stormcode wrote: post #3
m348e912 wrote: post #2

I hadn't heard of Brandon Sanderson until I went to a book store in Provo, Utah. He is a very much a big deal there and had two complete bookshelves dedicated to his work. He went to BYU so there is a local connection, but it caught me by surprise because I wasn't aware of his popularity.

You should check out the Stormlight Archive. It's really good.

The magic system in Stormlight is astonishingly good. About halfway through the most recent book, Rhythm of War, I said to someone: when did Stormlight turn into sci-fi? Because the magic is so logical, and so deep, and so specific, that it feels more like science than magic at times.

On the other hand I've been put off by the pacing of the last three books. It feels like the basic structure is that there's a build up to a huge conflict at the end of the book, and the vast majority of the pages are spent waiting for it to arrive. In my opinion, the second book, Words of Radiance, was the best so far in terms of balancing character, plot and action.

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