After a rocky opening, I have returned to reading The Way of Kings. I have started over, in an attempt to be sure I'm viewing everything in an even light. And now the time has come to review the first two parts.

Now this isn't going to be a normal review. Usually, I would read an entire story, then review it. I could do that with Way of Kings, but honestly I'm finding my thoughts congealing after just reading each part, and it will be easier to break things up that way.

After I've read the entire book, I will likely review it in it's entirety. But I think a lot can be gained from hearing the perspective of readers while they are actually reading, so on the off-chance that Brandon Sanderson ever finds his way to the forum for an obscure discontinued game, here they are.

Title: The Way of Kings (Part 1)
Author: Brandon Sanderson
I'll reserve my rating until I've read the whole thing. I will avoid spoilers.

Now...

TGRF's Fan Fiction Chronicles - Entry #104

Not that long ago, there was a six-month-ish gap in my writing, marked by a strange inability to stick with any one story. I've mentioned this before, and talked about why I believe that happened.

One of those reason was my increasing speed in the development of stories. I had watered down a story to its most basic parts in an attempt to better understand such things as character arcs and the 3-act-structure. And while I definitely gained a new understanding and appreciation for those things, I failed to maintain the other part of stories: the meat on the bones. I had successfully boiled away everything which made the story into a story, leaving only structure behind. This is what caused my 'short story syndrome', which I've mentioned before.

Following the 6-month gap, I turned my attention to the Dilmir series. But while those stories were all respectable lengths, they did not cure the short story...

TGRF's Fan Fiction Chronicles - Entry #103

Since my last update, Archmage of Feylund has been released, concluding Dilmir's tale. If you haven't read it, definitely go check it out. And now that it is completed, it's time to turn my attention to the future. There are two main avenues the future of writing for me is currently comprised of, so I'll break them down separately.

Future Fan Fiction
While I would at the moment say that the release of future fan fiction is quite likely, I won't say it's a certainty (indeed, based on my track record in these FFCs, I should never say anything I might do is a certainty).

I have a story, which is a sequel to Valkyrie, my tale of Utgar's origins. Currently I'm titling it Dawn of Darkness, though that could change. It picks up immediately (give or take a few weeks) after Valkyrie, and centers around Utgar, Taelord, and Runa. Currently it's moving along nicely and starting to take shape. Barring a...

TGRF's Fan Fiction Chronicles - Entry #102

A few things have changed since my last FFC, so the time is right for another one.

The first of these updates has been coming along for quite some time, and that is the completion of book 4 of the Dilmir series, and of the series itself. I finished the writing of the story this morning.

There's still a bit to do - there are some edits I want to make, then I need to proofread it, which will take a few days. A few things need to be added to the beginning and end as well. All together, I would guess that you can expect to see the story posted by next week.

This brings me onto the second update, which concerns the novel I've been planning for awhile. This novel will be fantasy, and as such will have a magic system. The magic system is a very important part of the plot, and as a result, I'm having trouble coming up with one which suits all of my needs. I don't want to proceed with that...

TGRF's Fan Fiction Chronicles - Entry #101

I wanted to write this quick update, because things are stirring and plans are forming. First off though:

Dilmir:
Dilmir 4 is continuing to move along at a decent pace. According to my outline, I'm around 1/4 of the way through, though my guess would be closer to 1/3 through the actual material. Either way, the story is looking to be rather hefty, once again leaning towards the 150 page area. I'm having to rework the outline a bit as I go, because some areas I'm not super happy with from a convenience stand point, but so far everything is working. I'd say a late February/early March release still looks likely.

Writing:
In my last FFC, I wrote down my thoughts about how I've been rushing the development of stories. In summary, I basically haven't been giving story premises enough time to really flesh out, and have instead been going ahead with only parts of the premise, extrapolating...