The Way of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson: A Review

If you've frequented this blog for any length of time, you already know that I am a big Brandon Sanderson fan. His Mistborn series sits near the top of my Favorite Fantasy Stories of All Time, in spite of the fact that he is not the most skilled of writers. I take that back - he's very skilled at not standing in the way of his stories. His style is very straight-forward, and he doesn't seem to try to wow his readers with polished prose, flowery presentation, clever turns of phrase... he just loads up both barrels and lets loose with a great ride. It is very effective and (to me) very enjoyable.

When The Way of Kings was released in late August 2010, I bought it immediately. The thought of a massive new series (to include a dozen books, I think?) being cranked out by Sanderson seemed a dream come true, not just because I've enjoyed everything of his that I've read before, but because his work ethic sees him releasing new books at a pace far more frequent than most of my other favorite authors. But a funny thing happened after buying the book... I waited. And waited. I loaned the book out, got it back and loaned it out again. I read and re-read the prologue, marveling at how well it set up an epic tale in so few pages. It seemed to forever sit there, begging me to read it. But I wouldn't pick it up. I could say it was the sheer overwhelming size of the thing, but I'd read books that big before it (Martin, Rothfuss) without issue. I don't know why I waited - and I still don't.

But the wait ended last week, when, with an odd mixture of dread and anticipation, I dove in.

To spare you having to wade through this post, I'll cut to the chase first. I ended up really enjoying this book, in spite of some obstacles.

I suppose if I had a chief complaint about fantasy books in general, it would be having to keep track of dozens of odd names, for characters and places and events in histories. Along this line, it was really hard to get my feet under me with this book. Ultimately, Sanderson kept the bulk of the tale alternating between two story lines, so by the time the book was half done, I was able to track the people well enough. The names of the countries and cities, on the other hand, I still am unclear on.

The story is fairly traditional, as far as fantasy goes. The world is threatened by an impending doom. A young man from a backwoods village (Kaladin) is swept up into world events and is forced to mature far faster than he should have. An aged noble warrior (Dalinar) struggles to keep control of his family, his lands and his sanity, in the face of incompetent peers, disgruntled heirs and divine visitations. A young, sheltered woman (Shallan) with a talent for art and research comes to a big city on an impossible mission to help save her family from destruction - and uncovers mysteries both personal and international that set her on a new, dangerous path. The heretical daughter of a slain king (Jasnah) seeks to find out why her father was killed, and discovers a plot that may bring about the end of the world. An extremely skilled assassin (Szeth) employs ancient arts to make him an unstoppable killing machine, all the while conflicted and guilty over the blood he must spill.

The story is sound, and the chapters involving Kaladin were especially captivating. There are supernatural elements, time travel elements, magical monsters, extreme weather, anthropological discoveries, theological discussions, historical puzzle-solving, elemental magics and more battlefield action than you can shake a spear at.

My main beef would be that the book felt bloated. There are odd chapters wedged in that introduce new characters/places, and then are not heard from again. There are occasional stretches of boring description, and scenes with dialog that doesn't seem to accomplish anything. Many characters began to blend into one another in my mind, since they were so similar, in speech and in personality. Many occasions of "Wait, who is this guy again?" Many occasions where I read exchanges between two characters, only to realize that I had them mixed up, and when I re-read the scenes, accurately assigning statements to the right characters, it made no difference, as far as my understanding what was happening.

However, there were far more scenes that were very memorable. The bridge runs on the Shattered Plains were all memorable. As was the fight with the chasmfiend that saw The Blackthorne come out of hiding (so to speak). Kaladin's transformation, followed by his transformation of Bridge Four, was definitely memorable. Dalinar's visions during the storms were fascinating. Watching Szeth the Truthless manipulate gravity was great fun.

So, ultimately, my opinion is mixed but favorable. There is plenty to love about The Way of Kings, but it isn't entirely smooth sailing. Perhaps you have no problem keeping track of many weirdly-named people. Perhaps you don't mind stretches of description and inconsequential dialog. Perhaps you're not a big fan of violent confrontation and exhibitions of extreme martial skill. Perhaps you enjoy a faster pace with your fantasy tales. In my case, the positives far outweighed the negatives, and I ended up greatly enjoying the book. I will likely buy the sequel as soon as it is released... and then wait half a year or more to crack it open and continue the tale.

Summary: 4/5 A quality ride, and a solid beginning to an epic fantasy series that I will hopefully spend the next decade or two enjoying. Nothing too original, but well done (for the most part) and enjoyable nonetheless.

And Then There Were None

So, we meet again. It has come to this. At long last, all else is said and done, and lo, here we are. The logical conclusion. The moment we've been waiting for... hoping it would never arrive, but knowing it had to, sooner or later. That moment... is now.

Wait, what are we talking about again?

Oh, nevermind.

Greetings, everyone!

So, remember a post or two (or three?) ago, when I told you about an opportunity I had to submit some questions to author Greg Hamerton, so he could do an "author interview" post for my bloggie? And, if you recall, the only stipulation was that the questions not contain or refer to story spoilers. And that, after writing the questions out, I realized that they all violated the stipulation. And that I submitted them anyway, content that Greg would at least read them, and know what this goofball thought about after reading his great books.

Well, after slightly massaging the wording of the questions to make them less spoilerish, he answered them all, and is posting them to his website! How cool is that! The first set of questions/answers can be seen at his site right now, with the remaining two posts scheduled to go live on his site on 3/9 and 3/16! If you'd like to check it out, go over to his site and give it a read! Thanks a ton to Greg for taking the time to answer my questions so thoroughly. I hope there are others who find both his books and his answers to be fascinating reading.

Oddly enough, I was thinking about "author interviews", and decided to contact another author I know, asking him if I could interview him for my blog! And he said yes, so I submitted several questions to him a couple days ago. I expect to receive his answers soon, and I'll post them here, for your entertainment. I won't tell you who -- that's a surprise! You'll just have to check back soon and see! MUAHAHAHA!!!

Of course, in the interim, I am in continuous contact with one of my very favorite authors EVER, and thought I'd ask him a few questions for tonight's post.

Dave Wagner interviews Author and All-Around Goofball David Wagner!

Dave: Greetings, Dave, and thank you for letting me interview today. I wanted to-- 

David: No comment. 

Dave: Um... I-- 

David: I said no comment. Leave me be, or I'll give you a hearty swat. 

Dang. I was hoping to find out what my favorite color was... I guess I'll try to catch me another time, when I'm in a better mood. Maybe I should have told me that I'm my biggest fan. Oh well, it just gives me more time to gather questions to ask myself. If you want to help, you can submit questions in the comments section. I'll add them to the question list and maybe I will answer them (without giving you a hearty swat).

Ahh, nothin' like a good pun.

So I'm about halfway through A Way of Kings (Brandon Sanderson) and I have to admit, I'm fairly underwhelmed. I was soooo prepared to love it, but it just isn't doing it for me -- and I've given it a very healthy chance. Other than a character named Kaladin, the people are of little interest to me, the world-building is clunky, the flashbacks disruptive, the pace plodding, and all the promise shown in the prologue and first chapter unfulfilled, for the most part. Oh, I'll certainly finish it, I'm just a little bummed is all. It's surprisingly bloated. I doubt I'll write a full review of it, even if it finishes well, since I don't want to be down on Brandon -- he is a terrific author, and has penned some of my favorite fantasy moments. So I'll cut him some slack. It will be interesting to read reviews of the book after I finish reading it, to see what others say about it.

Sorry about the shaky camera work in this next video. But the video is cool, nonetheless.



That would have been great to see in person. Man, good thing there wasn't a sailboat in the way when that thing splashed down.

My mind keeps going back to the "interview" thing... it might be fun to start a blog, and just do interviews of the people in my life. Friends, family, etc., and just ask fun/funny questions. I wonder if anyone would agree to be interviewed? I wonder if anyone not in my little circle would even read such a blog? It might be fun - people, as a rule, seem to like talking about themselves.

I recently edited an interview that Joe Polish did with a man named Dave Logan, and he had an interesting idea, called a "Reputation Audit"... here's a snippet...

Dave Logan: I realize that people listening to this are probably waiting for the steps. Number one, if you want to get specific, you can do things like a reputation audit, which is where you go up to people and say, "Joe, I'm trying to get a sense of how I come across. It's one of those things that's in a blind spot for most people. So, just tell me, what is my reputation?" Write down what they say. Go do that with 10 people. Don't correct them, don't agree, don't get a smile on your face. Just write it down. That will show you how you "occur" to people, assuming they're being honest. Then the questions is, what shifts would you like to make?

I have to admit, this idea of doing that is at once fascinating and frightening. Honestly, I'm not sure I'd want to know the clear, unadulterated truth. I'd only want to hear good things. I'd like to think I'd be able to handle the good and the bad, but I'm not sure. Interesting idea, though...

I decided to see what all the fuss was about, and watched the first couple episodes of The Walking Dead, which is a zombie TV show on AMC, currently in its second season. They have season one on Netflix Watch Instantly, so I gave it a go. I was a bit surprised at the cliche opening, as far as setting the story in motion... the main character wakes up in a hospital, and the place is deserted (except for decaying carnage, of course), with no idea what has happened. He stumbles out into a decimated world, and tries to figure out what the heck happened while he was "out". Meh, how unoriginal. But it takes off well, and the first two episodes carry themselves well. I'll probably keep watching, though honestly, zombies aren't really my thing.

Blog Round-Up:
Logan is preparing to travel.
Diz recounts some recent miracles, and prepares a book review.
Rebecca has reviewed her 2011.
Josh is doing a chapter-by-chapter review of a book called Beautiful Outlaw.
Rory lost power while researching his latest book.
Naader is eating everything he sees.
Peter is discussing book discussing!
Shellie shows us some upcoming books to grab.

I'm thinking of pulling the plug on my Wagnervana site. Not sure the point of it anymore, really. I could build a comparable site on a free platform if I wanted to, instead of paying $14/month for the Squarespace site that it's on now. Been looking for ways to save $$$, so everything's on the table for consideration.

OK, I think that's it for now. If I think of anything else, I'll hit the EDIT button and sneak it in. You'll never know! MUAHAHAHA!!!

Dave the Sneaky

"All That I Know I Learned After I Was Thirty." -- Georges Clemenceau

You see, here's the problem. Yes, I know you're seriously bummed that I haven't updated in a while... but what's a man to do when he is both busy and has little to say? Well, apparently, a man waits until he can't take it anymore, and then makes a post anyway! Because, dangit, I have fans to please! If you all are unhappy, who will buy all that great Dave merchandise in the Dave Store? You know, the T-shirts, the coffee mugs, the custom Zippo lighters (for all you smokers out there), plus the autographed copies of all the novels and movies I've done...

Oh, wait, what year is it again? 2012? Oh, sorry. With all the time travel I've been doing lately, I sometimes lose track of where I am. No novels/movies just yet... but soon... and THEN I'll autograph them, and you can buy them. Since... you know... you love me so much...

So, where to begin when you have nothing to say?

The Easter program is evolving nicely, I think. We've got 3 skits and a short film in the works... but not the film script I wrote. We've shelved that for now, and Todd has written a new one - much lighter, mostly comedy with a dash of poignancy at the end. It's about Lazarus, should be a hoot. I hope that we'll film my script during the summer. It will be difficult - it's about a Christian guy dealing with the sudden death of his best friend. Normally I stick to humor, but in this case it's a strong, serious piece, and we decided we didn't want to condense it (to make it fit the arbitrary 5-7 minute run-time limit) or try to rush it through production. We'll take our time with it, and do it right, no matter the length it ends up being. Those that know me will understand why I'd write such a thing - there's some things I'd like to say, as you can imagine.

And now, crazy tornado footage...



There's apparently some dispute as to when/where this was filmed, but to me it matters little. It's crazy regardless. I can't imagine how terrifying that would be to experience firsthand.

Hmm... what else?

My Youngest (6 yrs) and Middle Daughter (16 yrs) share a room, and every night they play music on their ipod (hooked up to an iHome) to listen to as they sleep. Christian music, mostly (maybe entirely), the kind of songs they listen to on the local Christian radio station (KLOVE). Anyway, there's a song in the playlist called "Going Through the Motions" by Matthew West. The other night, mom went in their room to tuck the little one in for the night, and the song was playing, and I heard Youngest ask, "Mom, what are 'motions'?" It was fun trying to hear mom explain to a 6 year old the meaning of the phrase "going through the motions"... definitely one of those moments that are cool as they are happening, rather than in the re-telling.

I don't want to spend my whole life asking, "What if I had given everything instead of going through the motions"? -- Matthew West

It's a good song, actually, both musically and lyrically. Food for thought, for sure.

I initiated a discussion on my facebook status the other day that yielded some interesting input. The question was about the idea that "We aren't what we do". The idea being that who we are, as a person, has little-to-nothing to do with what we do each day. Also factored in are beliefs. I don't know... the more I've pondered it, the more I've come to think that "what we believe" can be more accurately identified by watching our actions each day, rather than by listening to what we say (or what we claim to believe). In a real sense, you can get a rather clear picture of who a person is, and what they believe, by what they do.

I balk a bit at people saying, "Well, yeah, I did/do that, but God knows my heart." I guess it's the whole Romans 7 thing (it's not me, it's the sin in me!), and I can certainly see that point. Still, it seems kind of schizophrenic to me. I suppose if it's couched in the idea that "I'm trying, and making progress, but I'm not there yet", rather than an excuse for sin, it seems more palatable to me. Still, I can't help but think that if I made a detailed list of everything I did throughout a day, without reference to what I was thinking at the time, I might be shocked at the type of person I'd see portrayed.

Throughout Old and New Testaments, there are verses that prove (to me, anyway) that God is VERY interested in "what we do" each day. It seems we should be as interested, if at all possible, in making sure "what we do" is either in line with what He'd want us to be doing, or at least inoffensive in the interim.

Bah, who knows.

A billboard for a fitness center overseas. Wonder if it yielded any new clients?

I'm thinking about paring down my involvement with Mark, my personal trainer. I've been training with him since last June, and I love it, but the costs are starting to become prohibitive. I think by this time, theoretically, I *should* have accumulated enough knowledge to be able to do more and more of the workout stuff at home, with the equipment I have here. My problem is the open nature of solo workout time... when I have a set appointment, I do it, no problem. It's set in stone, I've paid for it, it needs to be done. When I have to set my own schedule, it is sooooo easy for me to skip a day, two, three... etc., then a week would go by without me doing anything. Yeah, I'm flaky like that. If it costs me something, I'll do it, even if it's something I love and enjoy... if I had a "writing personal trainer" and I worked with him/her twice a week at $40/session, I'd be done with my novels by now - because it would have cost me to do it. But when I'm on my own... well... you know.

I could pay myself, I guess. If I set appointments 3 times a week (for example), and if I transferred a certain amount of $ into a account that I couldn't touch until certain writing goals were met, maybe that would give me the incentive to push past the resistence. Kinda pathetic, that I can't just do it, even though I love it. I need to pay myself? Really? My problem, with writing anyway, is that when it's easy, I tear through it. When I hit road blocks, I get frustrated and find something else to do. Lazy. I need to read Just Do The Work (S. Pressfield) again... I suppose that doesn't look very good on my Daily List Of Actions... "Yeah, but God knows my heart." Bleh.



Hey, a little Kieth Green never hurt...

OK, what else?

Still reading The Way of Kings (B. Sanderson), and having a hard time with all the names again... people and places - so much to keep track of! Grrrr! Drives me a little crazy. Yeah, I know, epic fantasy series, it needs a butt-load of characters. Still, it detracts from the enjoyment, having to spend so much brain power trying to remember who everyone is, instead of just enjoying the ride.

First World Problem, I know.

By the way, the HBO series Band of Brothers is amazing. Just in case you didn't know. Currently watching the episodes with The Wagner Women again, since getting the series on BluRay for Christmas.

OK, one more Funny Picture and then I'm out...

Oddly, that's the thought I always have when seeing signs in the audience of big events like that. "How annoying that must be for the people behind him!" At least that guy is self-aware. Oh, man, that reminds me of that crazy Nicks fan with the sign of his own face. Lemme go get that, BRB...

LOL, I love that! How cool, to be willing to do that... Classic.

OK, fine, I'm done. Hopefully, at least some of tonight's post came close enough to "interesting" to justify you reading through it.

Have a great week, dangit! That's an order!

Dave the Meanderer

It Was A Dark and Stormy Night... (Where's My Hoodie?)

Greetings, y'all! Dave the Goof here, with another blast of hot air, to warm you up on those chilly Winter nights... but during the day, you're on your own! My hot air is ineffective when the sun is up. I know that leaves a burning question in your hearts, though... and that is... "Why on earth did you capitalize "Winter", Dave?"

I don't know... I just don't know...

As I type this, it is cold and rainy and a little windy here in San Diego. In fact, in Ramona, it is snowing tonight... I know what you're thinking... "Big deal!" And yes, you're right. But remember... in San Diego, we get exactly 3 days of bad weather per year. So consider yourself lucky! Yes, lucky! Lucky that I live in the best place on earth (weather-wise) and that you live in some other sucky town/state! How lucky you must be, to be able to think of how it feels to be me... living in a place that is paradise for 360+ days of each year... only to have to suffer through a mildly-miserable rainy night like tonight! O, the humanity! You're so lucky!

Only one thing could be worse...

*Shudder* Great... now I won't be able to sleep tonight! Such shocking imagery! How inconvenient that would be... to have to go an extra block to the next Starbucks, to get a cup of overpriced coffee!

Man, this post is just filled with horrors tonight... I can't believe you haven't run screaming for the theater door yet. You must be a glutton for punishment. Or a putton for glunishment, one of the two...

A button for banishment? Or maybe you'll eat mutton to finish Lent...

I don't know... I'll never figure out women...

So I had a rare opportunity given to me recently, which I promptly blew. Now I will tell you about it (in brief), so you can mock me mercilessly (as though I don't get mocked enough for wearing briefs!). The author Greg Hamerton said he'd answer some questions for a "author interview" post for my blog if I wanted -- only if the questions didn't involve story spoilers! It would have been my first legitimate interview in my blog's history! Of course, I immediately took him up on it, and set out to write some questions. Funny thing was, when I wrote out the novel- and craft-related questions I wanted to know most, all of them dealt with things that would reveal things about the story/characters, etc. All the "safe" questions I might have asked have already been answered by interviews more official than I...

So I submitted the questions anyway, knowing that none of them will make it out here, for others to read. And you know what? I'm ok with that. It was awesome that he even offered to begin with. And even if he doesn't answer any of my questions, knowing that he at least read through them is truly enough for me, if only to let him know the types of things I wondered about as I read his books. As an author, I'd kind of like to know that myself. But my chance at a real, official "author interview" was DOA, because of my own lack of creativity, I suppose, in finding benign-yet-interesting questions to ask him.

Ah, well, there's always next time.

That reminds me, the friend that was primarily responsible for getting me my autographed copy of Steven Pressfield's Gates of Fire (my all-time favorite book) told me late last year that he'd be interviewing Pressfield again sometime this spring, and that if it happens out here in SoCal again, he'd invite me along to lunch, to meet the author. How cool would that be? We'll see if it actually happens or not... not many celebrities I'd get a kick out of meeting, but Pressfield is on that short list. Along with ... um...

Holy cow... I've just sat here for several minutes, mouth agape, pondering Famous People I'd Like To Meet... I can't think of a blessed soul! Who? Michael Savage? Maybe, but he already knows he's a genius, he doesn't need me telling him. Kurt Angle? One of the greatest wrestlers ever, but probably not. Frank Caliendo? Maybe, if only to beg him to please come up with some new material. Daniel Day Lewis? Amazing actor, but apparently a bit of an odd reclusive type... hmm... well, I guess my list is one name long after all...

So since finishing I Know Not (JD Ross), I've dabbled with a couple more titles, and dismissed them. Alice in Deadland (M. Dhur) is a zombie novel, which was too corny for me, so I abandoned it. Taming Fire (A. Pogue) was a bit too shallow and cliche (not to mention it decided to dive into Chaos vs Order... unfortunate mistake, especially since I've just finished reading the masterful Second Sight) so I abandoned that one as well. Embedded (D. Abnett) is a sci-fi yarn, but it was too gimmicky and self-impressed for my tastes, so out it went. Of Blood and Honey (S. Leicht) is an urban-fantasy book that had an interesting premise, but it lost me after the prison rape scene, so I abandoned that as well.

So I took a deep breath, and began the mammoth The Way of Kings, by master author Brandon Sanderson. Didn't know if I was going to be up for a giant book, but I pulled the trigger anyway.

Are you proud of me?

You are? Good, let us move on, then...

And now, a video that some creative yahoo made using in-game footage from Skyrim...



Awesome (IMHO). I wonder how he crafted that?

Not into fake, epic computer-generated battles, eh? Well, SORRY! Gee, aren't you picky! You're just too classy for me, aren't you!? Oh, look at you, all "I'm far above being taken in by some dumb Skyrim battle video, Dave! Try again! Cater to me! Post a video that matches my level of classiness! Or I won't be your friend anymore!"

Fine, here... an Aussie with a mohawk in a kilt, doing a cover of Queen's "We Will Rock You" on a set of bagpipes...



It doesn't get any classier than that... see? Now we can remain friends!

Well, I believe I've expelled enough hot air for one evening. Gonna go lay in bed and listen to the rain, and contemplate life and all that hipster/psuedo-philosophical/spoiled-American nonsense...

Adios,

Dave the Sleepy