The Grim Reaper's Friend

I've recently finished part 2 of The Way of Kings, and since I've decided it will be easier to review the individual sections as I read them, I'll continue with part 2.

Title: The Way of Kings
Author: Brandon Sanderson
As usual, I'll reserve my rating for when I've completed the whole story. The below review is spoiler-free.

Part 2 stars Adolin, Dalinar, and Kaladin. Honestly my overwhelming impression from this section was the extreme need for a family tree. Dalinar and Adolin are introduced alongside 'the king' (I didn't pick up his name for a few pages), another highprince by the name of Sadeas, who we quickly learn is a rival of sorts for Adolin/Dalinar, and Renarin who is Dalinar's son. Adolin is Dalinar's other son. Elohkar, the king, is the son of Gavilar, the previous king, who was Dalinar's brother. Jasnah, who Shallan met in the previous part, is I think the daughter of Gavilar, brother to Elohkar, and niece of Dalinar. Then there's...

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 reasons 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...