Book Review: Steelheart

Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm pretty convinced by now that Brandon Sanderson is the best author out there. For one thing, he writes really well. His books are interesting, and I haven't read a bad one yet (and I've read them all).

Sure, there are plenty of other authors out there who also write really well, but they take years to write those good books. Brandon Sanderson doesn't suffer from that problem. It's possible that somewhere along the way, he made a deal with the devil, and that's how he's able to write so often and so well.

As for reviewing this particular book, it's really good. The whole time I was reading, I was thinking I could totally picture this as an action-packed movie. So I wasn't too surprised to see, in the acknowledgements, that they were working towards making it into a film.

The pace never really slowed down, and although I thought sometimes the characters were a little too quirky, I didn't hate any of them. Except the bad guys, of course.

I would definitely recommend this book, and I think it would be a great one to get your teen or pre-teen boy reading, if they aren't already.

Book Review: The Rithmatist

The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Most of this book felt incredibly slow moving to me. In general, I think I prefer Brandon Sanderson's epic fantasy. One thing Sanderson does well is come up with detailed and complex magic systems. But his greatest strength might also be the thing I like least about his writing.

His magic systems are very creative, for sure. But when he starts going so detailed into them in the story, I start to get bored. For me, it's like someone going over a very long and complex math problem step by step. Good for them for being so smart, but I just don't care about all that.

Would that stop me from reading his books? Of course not. He's one of my favorite authors, and even when I'm not super into his detailed explanations, I still mostly enjoy the reading.

So why did I give this book four stars if all I'm doing here is complaining? Because of the end. Seriously, the last 30 pages (or thereabouts) of the book was enough to redeem the whole thing for me. I wish the whole thing had felt as exciting, though.

I'm definitely looking forward to seeing where things go from here, and will forgive what I felt was a slow set up to the series, because it seems things will definitely be quite interesting from here.

Review: Alcatraz vs. the Shattered Lens

Book Details

Title: Alcatraz Versus The Shattered Lens

Author: Brandon Sanderson

Genre: YA Fantasy

Page Count: 304

Publishing Info: December 1st 2010 by Scholastic Press

My Review

Why I read it: 4th in a series

The Plot: The boy with all the wrong Talents has a lot to prove and, as always, little time in which to do it.  In this final adventure, Alcatraz faces an army of librarians--and their giant librarian robots--as they battle to win the kingdom of Mokia.

The Characters: Alcatraz seems to grow up a bit in this book, and as a narrator he is very likable and fun.  Throughout the series, though, I've never really been able to connect with any of the characters to the point where I really cared what happened to them.

The Setting: In this book, we are mostly in the fantasy land of Mokia.  The setting is fine, and Sanderson is capable of doing incredible world-building, but I think he saves that for his adult fantasy, and this is more about being clever and punny.

A Sample of the Writing:
Change.
It's important to change.  I, for instance, change my underwear every day.  Hopefully you do too.  If you don't, please stay downwind. 

Who Should Read This? People who have already read the first three books in the Alcatraz series--this series is for those looking for really, really light YA fantasy.

Final Thoughts: I've commented before on the humor in these books, and how some people might find it over the top.  Well, in this fourth book, it got to me.  There were some funny parts still, but a lot of the time it felt forced, and I actually got bored.  This is the first time I've felt like skimming while reading a book by Brandon Sanderson. 

Grade: C

Cover Thoughts: The covers in these are always fun.  And what's even more fun is that Alcatraz (as the narrator) refers to a cover from a previous book during the story.

 

Alcatraz Versus the Scrivener's Bones

Book Details:
Genre: YA Fantasy
Page Count: 322
Publication Date: Nov. 1, 2008
Why I read it: 2nd in series
Grade: B

The plot:
In this second Alcatraz adventure, Alcatraz finds himself on a mission to meet Grandpa Smedry when he gets swept up by a flying glass dragon filled with his unusual and mouthy Smedry cohorts.

Their mission? A dangerous, library-filled one, of course!

They are on their way to the ancient and mysterious Library of Alexandria (which some silly people think was long ago destroyed!) where they must find Grandpa Smedry, look for clues leading to Alcatraz's potentially undead dead father, and battle the creepy, dangerous soul-sucking curators who await them.

My review:
I think that my sense of humor meshes pretty well with Brandon Sandersons. It would have to, otherwise I'd find this book incredibly annoying. There is humor throughout, and sometimes I think it's almost trying too hard to be funny. But at the same time, I think that's part of the charm of this book.

There isn't a ton that happens here--it's really just one adventure, but I didn't feel like the book lacked plot at all. It was actually really interesting, and not at all predictable, which is nice. The story always seems to be going in one crazy direction after another. I honestly think it might be a bit much for some people. I can easily see how people could find the writing over the top, especially the humor. But it was right up my alley, and it was a quick fun read, especially for someone in a book slump.

I think if you had teen boys who wanted to find something to read, they would love this series. It would also be a fun bedtime story to read with your kids, if you like to do that kind of thing. This is nothing like Brandon Sanderson's other fantasy novels. It seems like whatever he writes is good, so as long as he keeps writing, I'll keep reading.

Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians

Book Details:
Genre: Juvenile Fantasy
Page Count: 308
Publication Date: Oct. 1, 2007
Why I read it: I like the author
Grade: B

The plot:
A hero with an incredible talent...for breaking things. A life-or-death mission...to rescue a bag of sand. A fearsome threat from a powerful secret network...the evil Librarians.

Alcatraz Smedry doesn't seem destined for anything but disaster. On his 13th birthday he receives a bag of sand, which is quickly stolen by the cult of evil Librarians plotting to take over the world. The sand will give the Librarians the edge they need to achieve world domination. Alcatraz must stop them!...by infiltrating the local library, armed with nothing but eyeglasses and a talent for klutziness.

My review:
Brandon Sanderson is one of my favorite authors. So I was curious to see what this childrens fantasy series would be like. I can't say I like it as well as his adult fantasy, but it was highly enjoyable for sure. It's written in the style as if the main character is writing his story, and there are a lot of instances of the character (as the author, or is it the author as the character?) talking to the reader. This type of thing can be done well or it can be incredibly annoying. Fortunately, it was done well and was very fun.

Alcatraz is a great character, and I think one that older children especially will love. The whole book is very clever and creative. Here's a quote that I particularly liked:

Now, actual torture is frowned upon in civilized society. Fortunately, the authorial community has discovered in storytelling an even more powerful--and more fulfilling--means of causing agony in others. We write stories. And by doing so, we engage in a perfectly legal method of doing all kinds of mean and terrible things to our readers.
Take, for instance, the word I used above. Propondity. There is no such word--I made it up. Why? Because it amused me to think of thousands of readers looking up a nonsense word in their dictionaries.

This is the writing style of the book, so if the above quote sound fun to you, you'll probably like it. If it seems annoying, steer clear. This is not a book for everyone. I would say that just because you enjoy Sanderson's adult fantasy does not mean you will like this. It's completely different in style. But if you like silly, fun children's fantasy, or you're looking for something fun for your kids to read, this is a great choice.

The Way of Kings

Book Details:
Genre: Epic Fantasy
Page Count: 1001
Publication Date: Aug. 31, 2010
Why I read it: favorite author
Grade: A+

Cover thoughts:
Beautiful cover! The artwork is amazing, and what's even cooler is there is artwork throughout the book. I love this cover!

About the author:
Brandon Sanderson is the author of Elantris, Warbreaker, and the Mistborn Trilogy. He's also finishing the Wheel of Time series. And he also wrote a middle grade fantasy series. He's a great author, and one every fantasy reader should read.

The plot:
Oh goodness, where do I even start? This is the first of ten planned books in The Stormlight Archive. I assume every serious fantasy reader has already read a plot summary, if not the book itself. The author himself has a hard time introducing the series, so, since I like to keep my blog posts fairly short, if you want to know what the book is about, check out this synopsis on goodreads.

Characters:
With a fantasy novel of this size, you'd think there'd be so many characters that it'd be hard to keep track of them. That's what I've generally found in these doorstopper epic fantasies. Not so in The Way of Kings. There really is only a small handful of main characters, and with the depth and detail in this book, you really get to know and love them, even the lesser characters. Kaladin was my favorite in the story, which I think it fitting since this book is mostly about him.

Setting:
This is the most amazing part of the book. The amount of worldbuilding that went into this book is quite possibly the best I've ever seen. Down to the smallest detail, Sanderson has created a world so different from ours, but not so alien that we can't relate to or care about the characters. I'll admit, I don't understand everything about how this fantasy world works, but I'm looking forward to reading more books and finding out.

Notable quotes:
"Too many of us," she said, "take great pains with what we ingest through our mouths, and far less with what we partake of through our ears and eyes. Wouldn't you say?"

"Let the Vorin believe as they wish--the wise among them will find goodness and solace in their faith; the fools would be fools no matter what they believed."

"'And so, does the destination matter? Or is it the path we take? I declare that no accomplishment has substance nearly as great as the road used to achieve it. We are not creatures of destinations. It is the journey that shapes us. Our callused feet, our backs strong from carrying the weight of our travels, our eyes open with the fresh delight of experiences lived.'"

Read this if you're in the mood for: an epic fantasy that has it all.

Continue or part ways? This one's obvious. Brandon Sanderson is one of my favorite authors, and I'll continue to read everything he writes, especially this series. The second book can't come fast enough for me. I can't wait to see what happens next.

Warbreaker

Title: Warbreaker
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Genre: Fantasy
Page Count: 588
Why I read it: one of my favorite authors
Grade: A

Synopsis:
Warbreaker is the story of two sisters, who happen to be princesses, the God King one of them has to marry, the lesser god who doesn’t like his job, and the immortal who’s still trying to undo the mistakes he made hundreds of years ago. Their world is one in which those who die in glory return as gods to live confined to a pantheon in Hallandren’s capital city and where a power known as BioChromatic magic is based on an essence known as breath that can only be collected one unit at a time from individual people. By using breath and drawing upon the color in everyday objects, all manner of miracles and mischief can be accomplished. It will take considerable quantities of each to resolve all the challenges facing Vivenna and Siri, princesses of Idris; Susebron the God King; Lightsong, reluctant god of bravery, and mysterious Vasher, the Warbreaker. 

My review:
This was an excellent book.  The world building that Brandon Sanderson does is incredible.  Every novel of his I've read has been top notch in this area.  But the good thing is, his characters don't suffer for it.  They're complex and interesting, and while not always likeable, I can understand their motivations.

The plot moved along at a nice pace, except for I feel like it was a bit rushed at the end.  That's my one complaint about the book.  There were too many important things going on at once, and we flipped back and forth, and something important would be revealed, and before I had any time to digest it, we were on to something else.  It was a long book to begin with, but I really wouldn't have minded if it was a little longer, with the ending drawn out a bit more.

I would highly recommend Brandon Sanderson to fantasy lovers.  He's getting his name out there for sure from finishing the Wheel of Time series, but his earlier novels definitely deserve a read.   Also, how beautiful is this cover?  I just love it!

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson

I finally finished Mistborn this morning. This book took me a really long time to read, and I think part of that was because it wasn't one that I couldn't put down. There are some books that, when I'm reading, I have to go on to the next chapter to see what happens. But with this book, I never had that problem.

That being said, it was a great book. There were parts that were a little more detailed than I like, but that was mostly at the beginning, and I think the author was just trying to explain how things worked. Mistborn was different than any other fantasy I've read. That's one thing I like about Brandon Sanderson--that his books are not the normal fantasy fare. I'd compare his writing to China Mieville in it's originalitly.

When I was around 200 pages in, I wasn't sure if I was going to continue on with this series right away. But as soon as I finished this morning, I wanted to start reading the second book. The problem is that I don't have the second book, and I also have a few other books I need to finish this week for reading groups. Overall, I would give Mistborn an A-. For a description of the book, check out the Amazon link here.