Brandon Sanderson was born in the year 1975 in Lincoln, Nebraska, USA. He joined Brigham Young University as a biochemistry major and consequently took a break to do mission work with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I've been reading Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere books, and when I finished. Que quiere unirse a los Rithmatistas que son una orden capaces de infundir vida a. Solo llevo 7 libros de los cuales solo lei 3, 1 casi a terminar y 3 sin leer.
If you’re new to my books, here’s a primer on where to start.If you don’t typically read fantasy, try or.If you consider yourself a fantasy reader, try or The.If you like romance, try.If you’re a younger reader or want something humorous and lighthearted, try.If you’re looking something that will appeal to young adults, try, or.Recommended Reading Order for Cosmere BooksI recommended reading the books in sequential order rather than trying to dive into the second book in a series without having read the first book. That said, it really doesn’t matter which Cosmere series you start with, which means any of these books are good starting points:There are tidbits in each of the books that inform the other books, but you don’t have to notice these things to enjoy the story by itself. Finding these easter eggs is one of the things that makes re-reading the books so much fun.is an okay jumping in spot for the Cosmere, but keep in mind that this book has spoilers for the original Mistborn trilogy.Recommended Reading Order for Non-Cosmere BooksSince these books aren’t interconnected, reading them in the sequential order of the respective series is recommended.Still not sure?Here are quick descriptions of a couple of my books to help you choose: Story of a man who catches a terrible magical disease, and is thrown into a prison city for those with that disease. He tries to unravel the world’s magic system (which is now non-functional, and potentially the source of the disease) while surviving in terrible circumstances and trying to bring civilization back to those locked in the city with him: Heist story about a young woman recruited into a gang of thieves, trained to use magic and to imitate a noblewoman, then used in a plot to try and rob (and hopefully overthrow) the immortal emperor of the world.
One part Ocean’s Eleven, one part Lord of the Rings, one part Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, one part My Fair Lady.
Brandon’s major books for the second half of 2016 are, the final volume in Alcatraz Smedry’s autobiographical account of his battle against the Evil Librarians who secretly rule our world, and, the collection of short fiction in the Cosmere universe that includes the Mistborn series and the StormlightArchive, among others. This collection features, and a brand-new Stormlight Archive novella, Edgedancer.Earlier this year he released, the finale of the #1 New York Times bestselling Reckoners trilogy that began with.Brandon Sanderson was born in 1975 in Lincoln, Nebraska.
As a child Brandon enjoyed reading, but he lost interest in the types of Brandon’s major books for the second half of 2016 are, the final volume in Alcatraz Smedry’s autobiographical account of his battle against the Evil Librarians who secretly rule our world, and, the collection of short fiction in the Cosmere universe that includes the Mistborn series and the StormlightArchive, among others. This collection features, and a brand-new Stormlight Archive novella, Edgedancer.Earlier this year he released, the finale of the #1 New York Times bestselling Reckoners trilogy that began with.Brandon Sanderson was born in 1975 in Lincoln, Nebraska.
As a child Brandon enjoyed reading, but he lost interest in the types of titles often suggested to him, and by junior high he never cracked a book if he could help it. This changed when an eighth grade teacher gave him by.Brandon was working on his thirteenth novel when Moshe Feder at Tor Books bought the sixth he had written. Tor has published, the Mistborn trilogy and its followup, and and, the first two in the planned ten-volume series The Stormlight Archive. He was chosen to complete ’s Wheel of Time series; 2009’s and 2010’s were followed by the final book in the series, in January 2013. Four books in his middle-grade series have been released in new editions by Starscape, and his novella was an ebook bestseller for Epic Games accompanying their acclaimed Infinity Blade iOS video game series. Two more novellas, and, were released by Subterranean Press and Tachyon Publications in 2012, and 2013 brought two young adult novels, from Tor and from Delacorte.The only author to make the short list for the David Gemmell Legend Award six times in four years, Brandon won that award in 2011 for The Way of Kings.
The Emperor’s Soul won the 2013 Hugo Award for Best Novella. He has appeared on the New York Times Best-Seller List multiple times, with five novels hitting the #1 spot.Currently living in Utah with his wife and children, Brandon teaches creative writing at Brigham Young University. I'm not actually a fast writer, hour by hour, but I am very consistent. I enjoy writing, but I will admit, some days it is hard.
What keeps me going? I'm not actually a fast writer, hour by hour, but I am very consistent. I enjoy writing, but I will admit, some days it is hard. What keeps me going? This has changed over the years. At first, it was a desire to prove myself, and to make a living doing this thing I love.
Eventually, it has transitioned into a feeling of obligation to the readers mixed with a desire to see these stories in my head told. 'it has transitioned into a feeling of obligation to the readers mixed with a desire to see these stories in my head told.'
As much as I hate that any 'it has transitioned into a feeling of obligation to the readers mixed with a desire to see these stories in my head told.' As much as I hate that any author should be put in a situation that obligation is a motivation, I have to say that I respect you for this. If readers have committed to reading a series, I think an author should respect their fans and commit to finishing the series.
It is not wrong for a reader to have expectations for a timely conclusion to a series of novels. Anyway.Thank you Brandon for sharing your stories with us. They are all amazing and I am better for having experienced them.
I look forward to more works from you.May 31, 2018 01:19PM. I thoroughly enjoyed The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal, and so was excited for the release of the sequel, The Fated Sky.
As I suspected it might be, it was that kind of book.You know, that kind of book where you start reading at midnight, I thoroughly enjoyed The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal, and so was excited for the release of the sequel, The Fated Sky. As I suspected it might be, it was that kind of book.You know, that kind of book where you start reading at midnight, knowing full well that this is a very bad idea, and finish at 5:00 AM, knowing you will be sorry for having gotten no sleep, but not at all sorry for having read the whole book at once? The Fated Sky was that kind of book for me.You know that kind of book where you read the last word and can’t quite believe it is a work of fiction because you really want it to be real? The Fated Sky was that kind of book for me.
Well, I don’t really want a meteorite to fall to earth and cause a cataclysmic climate change, which is what happens in an alternate-history 1961 during The Calculating Stars. However, if this were to happen, establishing a colony on the moon and sending an exploratory mission to Mars is exactly what you’d want to happen, right? Kowal describes these events in a convincing and realistic way, but I found that the “hard sci-fi-ish” details were fascinating, rather than boring to me as such things sometimes are. I think this was because of the balance between setting and character.You know that kind of book where several days after finishing it, you find yourself thinking about the characters, wondering how they are doing and wishing you could stop by and say hello? The Fated Sky was that kind of book for me. Elma York is a pilot, wife, mathmetician, and astronaut, and she juggles all these roles in such a familiar and engaging way, she feels like a friend.
Plus, she gets to go to SPACE! After reading about that, I want to be a Lady Astronaut too! Seeing how Elma and her husband, Dr. Nathaniel York, deal with a long, long, long-distance relationship was one of my favorite aspects of the book. Another character, whom I profoundly disliked in the first, book, became someone I really sympathized with, as Elma got to know and understand him better.It seems that that even when people are dealing with the likely end of life as we know it, they still have to deal with their biases, quirks, and blindspots. Mary Robinette Kowal has created a story that makes Apollo-era space travel and the true-to-life characters that undertake it equally fascinating.
Foundryside by Robert Jackson BennettWe’ve been looking for a chance to blurb Robert Jackson Bennett’s fantasy novels since my assistants Peter and Isaac loved City of Stairs when it came out in 2014. Now we have our chance. Bennett’s new novel, Foun Foundryside by Robert Jackson BennettWe’ve been looking for a chance to blurb Robert Jackson Bennett’s fantasy novels since my assistants Peter and Isaac loved City of Stairs when it came out in 2014. Now we have our chance. Bennett’s new novel, Foundryside, releases on August 21st of this year, and it is quite a bit of fun.RJB filled The Divine Cities trilogy with unique world building, and I’ll be honest, the first chapter or two of Foundryside had me wondering if he’d abandoned that for a more-standard fantasy setting. Almost as quickly as I wondered that, intriguing things started happening, and I realized that this wasn’t going to be just another fantasy novel with all the trappings of every other fantasy novel.
RJB wasn’t going to let me down.Foundryside follows the thief Sancia Grado, a very likable character with a mysterious past, magical abilities particularly useful for a thief, and a drive to get a job done and do it well. At the first of the book, she’s sent to steal something from a safe in what she thinks is a pretty straightforward job, albeit a difficult one. Once she finds out what she’s been asked to steal, then things really get cooking.RJB’s work reminds me a bit of China Mieville’s Bas-Lag novels, but RJB’s writing, while beautiful like Mieville's, is a lot more accessible. The story and writing is even more accessible in Foundryside without losing the things that made the Divine Cities series so fascinating, things like: intriguing characters wrestling with important questions. What are the consequences of tinkering with reality? What are the moral implications of doing so?Of course, along with important questions and moral implications, RJB manages to to do some really awesome and fun things with the magic system.For WritersPay attention to RJB’s use of what I call the Grand Skill, which has come a long way since City of Stairs, whose dense first chapter hadn’t quite struck the right balance.In short, the Grand Skill is worldbuilding without readers knowing that you’re worldbuilding.
In a limited third-person viewpoint, everything you see from a character’s eyes must evoke worldbuilding, plot, and character.How do you show character, setting, plot, and a magic system without telling the reader directly about all of these things? How do you let readers know things without explicitly stating them on the page?
RJB can teach you a thing or two, certainly.Aside from a few infodumps about the magic system near the beginning of the book, Robert Jackson Bennett does an excellent job at building the Machiavellian city of Tevanne and the larger world through the viewpoints of a few main characters.Watch how he also meticulously expands the worldbuilding, rarely giving too much at one time, doling out information only as the reader needs it. And little by little the reader gets a more complete vision of the world and the characters in it.The Short VersionFoundryside is the exciting beginning of a promising new epic fantasy series. Prepare for ancient mysteries, innovative magic, and heart-pounding heists.Rating NotesI would give this book a strong PG-13 rating. There are a few somewhat bloody descriptions of horrible deaths. They’re not dwelt on for particularly long, but sensitive readers might be turned off.
There are also some euphemistic references to body parts and sex along with one sex scene seen from afar. It only lasts a few sentences, but it is a disturbing image even if it’s meant to villainize a certain character. As for language, there’s a lot of use of the so-called “s-word,” but otherwise the language is dialed down from much of RJB’s other work. For example, the F-word is not used, but is replaced with the word “scrum,” the meaning of which is explained so there’s no doubt as to its euphemistic meaning.Bias NotesNot only did we receive a copy of this book for free, but my assistants Isaac and Peter are already predisposed to like Robert’s books. (Note: For an explanation of my Goodreads policy, please see.)I blurbed a book! I know, I know.
That doesn’t happen very often these days, but Susan, my YA editor at Tor, approached me with a project she is very excited and passionate about: The (Note: For an explanation of my Goodreads policy, please see.)I blurbed a book! I know, I know. That doesn’t happen very often these days, but Susan, my YA editor at Tor, approached me with a project she is very excited and passionate about: The Accidental Highwayman by Ben Tripp. And after reading it, I have to highly recommend it—Susan has discovered a gem.From the back of the book:In eighteenth-century England, young Christopher “Kit” Bristol is the unwitting servant of notorious highwayman Whistling Jack. One dark night, Kit finds his master bleeding from a mortal wound, dons the man’s riding cloak to seek help, and changes the course of his life forever. Mistaken for Whistling Jack and on the run from redcoats, Kit is catapulted into a world of magic and wonders he thought the stuff of fairy tales.We’ve seen the story of the servant taking up the master’s mantle before.
But the twist caught my attention. Kind of like becoming the Dread Pirate Roberts, only you didn’t mean to, and now all England is looking to put you in prison for the crimes your master committed.
Something in between The Princess Bride and The Fugitive with the charm of Stardust and the snark of Terry Pratchett—if he wrote Robert Louis Stevenson fan fiction. The Accidental Highwayman should be judged on its own merits, of course, but comparing it to those books and authors is the best way to give you the feel of this novel in a way that will catch the attention of those readers who will enjoy it the most.At the beginning of the book, author Ben Tripp purports only to be the editor of notes he found in a chest belonging to one of his ancestors.
The story begins in an affected voice meant to sound like something from the eighteenth century, but laced with enough humor and snark that you feel the author is subtly looking at you from behind the words and shooting you an anachronistic wink. Tripp has mastered the balancing act of making the prose sound archaic while at the same time being palatable to modern readers. Take a gander at —you can tell he’s something of a character.So, yes, I recommend this book. Like I said to my editor, The Accidental Highwayman is “Delightful and charming. A swashbuckling adventure in the vein of Robert Louis Stevenson.”Take a look at what other reviewers have said:“Readers will root for star-crossed lovers, Kit and Morgana, and delight in their ‘opposites attract’ romance, drawn onward by a rollicking plot. Fantasy readers, especially fans of Catherynne Valente’s work, will enjoy the author’s elegant turns of phrase. A first purchase for all fantasy collections.” — School Library Journal, Starred Review“Spells, wishes and fantastical creatures aside, this rollicking yarn owes more to R.L.
Stevenson than J.K. Kit’s wry voice provides a fine pastiche of old-fashioned tale-telling. Enlivened by breakneck pacing, colorful similes and a sly wit aimed at modern sensibilities. Kit himself is as brave, clever and good-natured an orphan lad as ever buckled a swash. The promise of more adventures to come provides happily-ever-after enough. They can still write ’em like they used to; hurrah!” — Kirkus Reviews“While the journey isn’t quick, it never grows tedious—danger, magic, and intrigue wait at every turn. Tripp infuses his story with whimsy, humor, and derring-do, and his miniature spot illustrations and handful of lovely full-page pieces add to the overall charm.” — Publishers Weekly“Tripp builds a richly imagined fantasy world, captured both in Kit’s dry, witty first-person narrative and Tripp’s detailed illustrations.
The complex political machinations. Make for a compelling and quietly sinister background thrum that builds until the exciting concluding battle, which handily leaves room for more adventures in the planned trilogy.
Fans of classic adventure will find plenty to like here.” — BooklistWant to check out an excerpt? The first two chapters are on, and you can read chapters three through eight. Ink and Ashes(Note: For an explanation of my Goodreads policy, please see.)This excellent YA book sits carefully nestled between several genres.
The packaging lists it as a thriller, and that’s not a bad way to present it. The opening chapters f Ink and Ashes(Note: For an explanation of my Goodreads policy, please see.)This excellent YA book sits carefully nestled between several genres.
The packaging lists it as a thriller, and that’s not a bad way to present it. The opening chapters focus more on mystery, by my definition, than thriller. (They are more about the characters discovering secrets than they are about people being in danger.) However, as the story escalates, it does move into thriller territory.However—and few books manage to pull this off as well as Ink and Ashes—it’s also a slice of life drama, mixing family dynamics, friendships, and romance. While many books use these themes as seasoning, I believe that Valynne successfully creates a straight-up hybrid. I was impressed by how well she balanced the growing tension with a girl struggling through day-to-day challenges.
Often when someone tries this, one of the two (either the daily life or the mystery) ends up feeling perfunctory. Not so here, and I thoroughly enjoyed the blend.I can sincerely say this was one of the best books I’ve read this year, and might even be in the top spot. An artful blend of Japanese culture, solid mystery, interesting characters, and an excellent use of viewpoint. I particularly enjoyed how the writer turned a major trope—the single girl in a cast of mostly guys—on its head by making it a feature of the story.I highly recommend the book to anyone who likes Young Adult fiction.For WritersThe first thing I’d highlight for you to examine is how Valynne juggles the genres, and expectations for them, as mentioned above. Pay attention to the solid mystery hook, followed by balancing family life, then the escalation of discovery into true danger. Valynne is very good with promises; watch how she eases the reader through the transitions between family/school life and the action scenes.I’d say the book’s second strong feature is its use of viewpoint. Many first-person narratives rely on snark from the protagonist to give them personality and make their narrative more engaging, but Valynne goes a different direction, making the character powerfully inquisitive, and reinforcing this with the careful use of questions, curiosity, and impulsiveness from the main character.
Valynne is excellent in her use of emotion, and the scenes of tension in particular popped for me—I truly felt that I was in the head of someone who was on the brink of panic, trying to keep herself together. This was done through deft manipulation of the first-person (first-person immediate, as I often call it) narrative.Also pay attention to the pacing, which is very interesting in this novel. It occasionally uses thriller style (short chapters, end on a moment of tension or cliffhanger that you resolve quickly in the next chapter) but often mixes more of a mystery style (end with a tease about a cool secret or clue to pull the reader along) and more of a traditional style (full arc within a chapter, ending on a short bit of falling action to give closure to issues raised early in the chapter).
These help with the transition between action and drama, and vary the storytelling style to allow payoffs and different types of subplots to play out.The Short VersionAn excellent, fast-paced YA mystery/thriller with an engaging character narrative and a nice mix of action, romance, and family drama.Rating NotesI noticed no content in this book requiring specific warning.Bias NotesI’m very good friends with the author’s editor, Stacy Whitman at Tu Books. Goldenhand(Note: For an explanation of my Goodreads policy, please see.)Anyone who hasn’t read, the beginning of the Old Kingdom books by, is missing out. I consider reading it, during the years I was trying to break in, to b Goldenhand(Note: For an explanation of my Goodreads policy, please see.)Anyone who hasn’t read, the beginning of the Old Kingdom books by, is missing out.
I consider reading it, during the years I was trying to break in, to be one of the fundamental experiences that helped me shape my philosophy on magic systems and worldbuilding.Needless to say, I love the magic and worldbuilding of these books—though perhaps someday I’ll do a review of Sabriel itself, and delve into what I love about the worldbuilding in these books. This review is about Goldenhand, a later installment (book five, I believe, though one of those is a prequel) in the series. I found it to be an excellent continuation.I’m impressed that Mr.
Nix has kept my attention and excitement for the series over all these years, doling out new volumes carefully and expanding the magic system at a controlled rate. (And introducing new characters to become the new viewpoints as others close their arcs.) I feel he’s added good flourishes here and there to give the magic depth, but never let it spiral away from him, as was the potential at any given point.For WritersOne highlight for me in this book involved Mr. Nix’s continued ability to introduce compelling characters with a variety of backgrounds. Pay attention to how he gives strong, but different, motives to the primary players—and how he quickly establishes those motives and keeps them central to each character’s through line.I also admire his ability to write a young adult series that is firmly secondary world fantasy, with challenging worldbuilding and politics, while still keeping the narrative focused on younger characters, maintaining the feel that this is correctly shelved in teen. I think the character motivations, the sense that these are people still searching for their exact place in the world, is part of what makes this work.Finally, I would suggest a study of Mr.
Nix’s pacing methods. Sabriel was the first fantasy novel I can remember that used a more intense, “thriller style” method of pacing. (I see this in the works of and as well.)Notice how Mr. Nix writes this book to encompass a relatively short period of time, with constant motion and action. He uses frequent cuts between viewpoints to deemphasize downtime, increase tension, and propel the story. He also consistently employs small chapter-end hooks that are frequently resolved in the early pages of the next chapter, using them to bridge chapter (and character) breaks.
I’m not always a fan of this style of cliffhanger, as it can wear thin by the end of a book, but they work very well with the format and structure of this book.The Short VersionHere’s what I sent the publisher as a blurb for the book. “Garth Nix is one of the best worldbuilders in fantasy, and this book is merely further proof.
I love the Old Kingdom series, and Goldenhand is an excellent continuation, packed with the excitement and passion of a storytelling virtuoso at the height of his abilities.”Highly recommended for anyone. Sabriel, the first in the series, is one of my go-to suggestions, as I feel it does a large number of things very well, and has a broad appeal for a wide variety of readers.Rating NotesI noticed no content in this book requiring specific warning.Bias NotesI have met Mr. Nix several times at conventions, and we are on friendly terms. I received this book for free from his publisher, who was pursuing a cover blurb.
Jed and the Junkyard War(Note: For an explanation of my Goodreads policy, please see.)People tend to be interested in the books my students write, as many of them share some of my storytelling philosophy with me. That’s certainly the case here, Jed and the Junkyard War(Note: For an explanation of my Goodreads policy, please see.)People tend to be interested in the books my students write, as many of them share some of my storytelling philosophy with me. That’s certainly the case here, with Steven Bohls’ Jed and the Junkyard War, a middle grade fantasy with some excellent worldbuilding and some of the same whimsical narrative feel as the Alcatraz Books.Jed is a kid with a mysterious past and parents who push him to be a survivor. He ends up falling through the proverbial rabbit hole, and is sucked into a land coated in a deep layer of junk. Airships soar about, searching the junk for usable refuse, including the cans of food (apparently from our world) that can be found there.The whimsical worldbuilding is imaginative and flavorful, and is mixed with a steampunk setting with most everything being built from the junk in one way or another. (Including mechanical monsters that prowl the junkyard.) This place is somehow connected to Jed’s parents and their past, though Jed is going to wade deep through the broken world to find it.For WritersTwo things stand out to me in the book. The first is the worldbuilding, which I mentioned above.
I find that many books just aren’t audacious enough in their worldbuilding, and a middle grade fantasy is the perfect place for a story like this-which has some pretty evocative worldbuilding imagery. I tend to like fantasy the best when it’s exploiting some insane premise that could never fly in another genre.The other thing to look at here is the balance of danger and whimsy. This is something you don’t ordinarily find anywhere other than middle grade. Series like Harry Potter and the Series of Unfortunate Events are perfect examples-they contain these wonderful, even silly, worlds and somehow mix them with a real and present sense of danger and action.Jed and the Junkyard war is an extreme example on both counts. The junkyard is an outrageous premise, and is full of flying airship pirates.
The prose itself is at times very still, poking at the borders of mocking just how ridiculous the story can get. At the same time, the dangers to Jed are real, even chilling at times. In an adult book, you rarely see this kind of a combination outside of something intended to be humorous.The Short VersionA fun middle grade fantasy with an evocative setting and genuinely thrilling moments.Rating NotesWell below the PG-13 threshold.Bias NotesSteven was a student in my BYU university class a few years back, and as such, I’d say I’m quite biased toward his writing.
He tends to beat me at Magic: the Gathering, though, so some day he deserves his comeuppance.(Note, for other former Sanderson students, check out Janci Lynn Patterson, Brian McClellan, Peggy Eddleman, Charlie N. Holmberg, and others I’m sure I’m forgetting and will have to edit in later.).
The Emerald Circus(Note: For an explanation of my Goodreads policy, please see.)I’ve loved Jane Yolen’s writing since I was a youth. There’s something delicious about the way she takes old tropes, myths, or fairy tales and does a compelling–yet The Emerald Circus(Note: For an explanation of my Goodreads policy, please see.)I’ve loved Jane Yolen’s writing since I was a youth. There’s something delicious about the way she takes old tropes, myths, or fairy tales and does a compelling–yet often twisted–take on them.
(Her book Dragon’s Blood, for example, is the classic “kid raises a dragon egg” story, except here he raises the dragon to compete in brutal cock-fighting-style contests.)In an era where “fairy tell retellings” have become hip and popular, Jane continues to show she’s a master of reimagining old stories with a new context. This collection (named after a story where Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz ended up in a circus instead of a fantasy world) is an excellent sampling of these stories. Often, they are about context. The story of the people who were there at Merlin’s birth, for example, or a fanciful story of how Hans Christian Anderson might have encountered one of the creatures from his tales.Lyrical, at times hilarious, and always poignant, this is the best short story collection I’ve read in years.
It contains not one, but two nebula-award winning stories, and is being released on the year when Jane herself has been named a SFWA Grand Master. (The highest honor the science fiction community can bestow.)I can’t recommend this collection enough. Do yourself a favor and pick it up. It contains some of the best stories by one of the best writers of our time.For WritersJane has an excellent sense for where to start and end a short story, as well as a way of looking beyond the average “retelling” of a folk tale. While I have nothing against many modern fairy tale retellings (and have enjoyed a number of them) it’s much harder (and, I feel, rewarding) to take a few extra steps when telling one of these stories.For example, a lot of modern day fairy tale retellings will do the story straight, but transpose the setting. (Robin Hood in space, or Beauty and the Beast as a Greek tragedy.) As you read this collection, pay close attention to the character Jane decides as the viewpoint character–it’s often not the one you would expect from a “quick and dirty” retelling. Yet, it creates an innate tension which Jane exploits, as in many cases, we know these stories–so the tale itself is not surprising.
It’s the eyes we see it through, and how these perhaps side characters influence the tale, or are influenced by it themselves.What she leaves out is in many ways the most interesting part of this collection. I suggest trying to understand why she began, or ended, each story where she did–and why she often avoided the most obvious pieces.The Short VersionThis excellent collection reimagines folktales, fairy tales, and sometimes historical people in new and surprising light. It is a brilliant example of short-form storytelling by one of the treasures of the science fiction community.Rating NotesThere are a few scenes that step up to the PG-13 line and look across, but none that get explicit.Bias NotesI was given a copy of this book free for review by a publisher who has also done some of my stories. (They know I’m a big fan of Jane’s work.) I’ve occasionally stood in line to get books signed by Jane Yolen, so I didn’t exactly start reading this book with no bias. Brandon Sanderson’s Goodreads policyHello and welcome!
I hope you find the following reviews helpful, though I do want to make you aware that I approach book reviews differently than many you might find.I maintain this page for two reasons. First, to have a list of books I have enjoyed to which I can point readers who ask me for book recommendations. Second, to give some examples of different types of writing, and make some notes on them for writing students.Because of these goals, you will find only favorable reviews on this page. In fact, as I’m only posting on here books that I liked, I will rate everything at an even five-star level. A famous author once said to me early in my career, “Don’t worry. If your book works for me, I’ll talk about it. If it doesn’t, I just won’t say anything.”That has always stuck with me as being the best way for another writer to approach reviews.
The last thing that authors need is to feel that someone prominent in the field is gunning for them. This doesn’t mean I think each of these books is going to be a match for every reader who comes here; I suggest reading the reviews themselves, and focusing less on the star rating.I also won’t focus much on summaries of the books. I’m not a professional reviewer, and my objective is not to tell you what the book is about. Instead, I’ll talk about what I liked in it, avoiding spoilers for the most part.
Every review will have a section talking about what I think the writer does particularly well, and highlight things that I think writing students should study when reading the book, to learn techniques they might apply to their own fiction.At the end of the review, I’ll give a shorter “overview style” recommendation, explaining the types of readers I think will like the story. Included in this will be a brief content warning, if one applies. For this, assume that I’m not going to mention anything that is below a mild PG-13 level rating. Common swear words, action-adventure style violence, and mild sensuality won’t merit a mention here. Not because of a moral judgment in any direction, but because again, the point of this page is not to be a specific review resource-but instead to suggest books I’ve liked, and to talk about writing.Finally, I will mention any ties I have to the author, or biases I might have in suggesting the book, just to be clear and on the record about such things.I hope you find something here you enjoy! Hey sir,I'm sure Mr. Dietz appreciates it, but you should change the link to Steelheart in your 'about this author' section on your Goodreads page as it redirects to his book not yours.I just learned of it as I clicked it to read my old review of Steelheart.
Just wanted to give you a heads up. If you wish to thank me though you could put me on your beta reader list for you Stormlight Archive series perhaps.
Certainly a good idea as you can see that I'm detail oriented and take the time to help in the form of positive feedback.;).Just kidding, but no really, if you want to do that I'm all for it. Flag AbuseFlagging a post will send it to the Goodreads Customer Care team for review.We take abuse seriously in our discussion boards.Only flag comments that clearly need our attention.As a general rule we do not censor any content on the site.The only content we will consider removing is spam,slanderous attacks on other members,or extremely offensive content (eg. Pornography, pro-Nazi, child abuse, etc).We will not remove any content for bad language alone, or being criticalof a particular book.