Best Fantasy Books Subgenre Reading Challenge discussion

I'm listening to The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson on audiobook, and it's 36 discs/45.5 hours long. This is the second longest book I've ever listened to, the longest being 1Q84 (almost 47 hours long = practically 2 full days' worth of listening).

We have a double prologue in this book: a prelude that takes place 4,500 years before the main story, and a prologue that sets up the king's death as well as showing us the magic the characters can use. The majority of the prologue was a huge fight that enables Zeth (bear with me on names - I can't see the spelling in the audiobook version) to reach and kill the king. What he wrote on the wall at the end in the king's blood will probably set up the rest of the story, maybe the king's brother or another relative seeking revenge and using the king's blood-written advice.

The difference between epic fantasy and high fantasy is relatively minimal, but the biggest thing we're supposed to notice is that epic fantasy focuses on the scale of the conflict while high fantasy focuses on the setting and change/growth of the protagonist throughout the book. The prologue is too early to really see the difference, although in Eye of the World, we saw epic fantasy defined immediately. I'm assuming we'll meet the main character soon now in Part 1.

*This thread is dedicated to all The Way of Kings discussions, and spoilers are allowed. Discussions won't be broken down by chapter, so comment as you go.*

"Storm you!" One thing that I love about fantasy is the replacement of curse words with something that doesn't count as a curse in real life. It's usually indicative of an important power or godly entity in the story. Many fantasy books seem to have these, but I'm undecided about them. I do think it draws the reader more into the story, but I think the author has to be careful that the curse sounds like a curse and isn't too "light" sounding. I'm not sure how I feel about this one.

I have to say I really love this Brightness and Brightlord thing, terms that seem to denote nobility or at least wealthy families in good positions.

Also, I wanted to share with you that if the characters start to get confusing, there's a wiki for that! Character list and details here: http://bit.ly/1l2Sz9t. Beware: there are spoilers and the character list includes characters from the whole Stormlight Archive series. Still, it could be helpful!

This is a great depiction of Kaladin and Syl:
http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/s...

I also listened to both books and really liked them both. Almost wished I read them because I couldn't listen to them fast enough.

Colin, I know what you mean - I'm eating this one up! What did you think of the voice talent? At times I really like him, especially the timbre of his voice, but during action scenes sometimes I feel they're read too much like the calm parts, not enough urgency. I like the female voice talent too.

Whenever I start listening to a new book, it always takes me a bit to get use to the reader. I find I have to listen more intently or I will miss thing, until I kind of get in sync, with the flow and the reader becomes the voice of the characters.

With the two different readers, it took me even longer to get into it. There was also a point where the character crossed over into each others stories and to me lose their voices a bit being read by a different reader.

With that said both voices were good, I thought he was a great reader. As far as "reading with enough urgency", I feel he lets the dialog guide that. The rest he reads in hes steady "matter of fact" cadence.

As far as the woman who read, in the beginning I found I had a hard time getting into the story line and her style of reading. However I felt her reading and story got stronger and stronger as I listen, so much so I couldn't wait for her part to start again. I felt she really brought the characters to life.

Sorry bit of a longer answer then what you were looking for there

Colin wrote: "Whenever I start listening to a new book, it always takes me a bit to get use to the reader. I find I have to listen more intently or I will miss thing, until I kind of get in sync, with the flow a..."

You brought up a pain point for me. I haven't gotten to the part where either of the narrators speaks the part of the other's character, but I've listened to audiobooks where this happens and the character is read differently. I've ever heard ones in which the character is read with an accent that doesn't exist with the original narrator! That really drives me nuts, not that that's what's going to happen in this audiobook. I'll see when I get there.

Right now I've heard the male voice talent read for a really long time and I can't wait to hear what's going on with the female character who's disappeared from the story for a little bit, which is probably appropriate for the timeline. So I can definitely relate to looking forward to her parts - I really like her reading style.

I just added a video to the video section of our group! In it, I talk about the brilliant integration of realism into The Way of Kings. I've been pleasantly surprised by the great balance of heavy magic and parallels to real life in this book.

You can watch the video in our group or on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/XsEi1kxf-7k.

Awesome video, Christie! It really makes me want to read it...

Jason wrote: "Awesome video, Christie! It really makes me want to read it..."

Thanks! You'd also appreciate the careful character development in this one, Jason. :)

"One of his long white eyebrows was tucked behind his ear, and he let the other trail down beside his face."
Oh dear...

The world-building in this book is one of the most fluid I've read, and I think that's due to how Sanderson fits it into conversations and regular narrations so nicely. He tries to avoid spelling out a description for much of it, although sometimes that's necessary, so I gradually felt very much a part of The Way of Kings world without feeling like the author broke in multiple times to explain to me what the world is like. All the fine details are not lost on me. I think I'd have to study this kind of book closely if I wanted to write something this smooth myself. Beautifully done.

There are a lot of things in the fantasy genre, that are often borrowed from previous stories, lore, and writings. From story likeness, to magic systems, and creatures to name a few. While all of this is completely acceptable, I always welcome a writer that can add some newness to these stories.

I read a few reviews about Sanderson as a writer, often readers were quick to point out, his world building and creating magic systems as a strength. After reading these two books I would agree.

I also always enjoy a writer who can create characters that aren't just "good" or "bad", that have a little depth and realness to them. Characters that as readers we may really like or be pulling for and in the next chapter completely want to strangle because we find certain aspects about them infuriating.

Colin wrote: "There are a lot of things in the fantasy genre, that are often borrowed from previous stories, lore, and writings. From story likeness, to magic systems, and creatures to name a few. While all of t..."

Yes, realistic characters are one of Sanderson's greatest strong points and there are good sides and bad sides to them, just as you said. I also really appreciate that as it makes them more relatable and less predictable. Sometimes I'm really conflicted over whether I like or dislike a character and the actions they've taken, just like what happens in real life with real people. I feel this way especially with the three main characters - there are gray areas for all of them, even if it's only for a little while. I really like this style of writing and bringing characters to life. Less stereotypical, more original.

I finished this last week and was BLOWN AWAY! I'll do my analysis of whether it fits into the subgenre soon, but without looking carefully, high fantasy does suit it well.