TGRF

TGRF Reviews: the Alloy of Law

I was able to get my hands on the continuation of the Mistborn world - the Wax and Wayne series - over Christmas, and was able to sit down and read the relatively short first book recently. I wanted to get my thoughts down before I started the second book.

Since my recent ratings have been generally lower than I felt they should be, I've opted to stop rating individual sections or aspects of media in these reviews, and instead simply provide an overall rating which I feel is more accurate. I'll still offer my thoughts on the individual aspects as usual.

Ratings:
5: Amazing, above flawless.
4: Flawless, but doesn't really stand out.
3: Might have some issues, but works fine.
2: Has some issues which might detract from the media.
1: Flawed, bring the media down noticeably.

Title: The Alloy of Law
Author: Brandon Sanderson
My Rating: 2.85/5 - mostly...

TGRF's Writing Updates - March

It's been a bit of a busy month, and while my writing endeavors took a backseat a few times, they are still there, making progress slowly. So it's time to update you on where we're at.

Fan Fiction
There is sadly no fan fiction planned at this time. The DoD sequel is still there, but I have chosen to remain focused on my novels rather than divert attention to it.

So for now, there is still no fan fiction on the way. That may change with the possible revival of HeroScape and hopefully renewed interest in the fan fiction competition - time will tell.

Novels
Last month we ironed out a lot of the plot for the novels, and spent a good amount of time working on the stakes. This month has been almost entirely devoted to characters.

I have created and developed the main protagonist and main villains (there are two). However, upon attempting to flesh out a supporting cast,...

TGRF's Writing Updates - February

February is nearing it's end, so that means it's time for another writing update. I know, your month is now complete.

Fan Fiction
February started off with an actual idea for a possible fan fiction, namely a sequel to Dawn of Darkness. It's a good idea, with quite a bit of potential. It has some issues which I could likely fix pretty easily, but doing so - and working on it in general - would require me to take time away from working on my novels.

There could of course come a time when I need some time away from my novels, and at that point, a diversion into a DoD sequel might be just what is required. At the moment however, I am not working on the story. I've written down the premise and important details, and will keep it for if I return to fan fiction.

I will say that it would likely feature an adult Taelord, several years into the war, after all the units we know and love have been...

TGRF's Writing Updates - January

It's been a bit, and progress has been made in the realm of writing. So as January comes to a close, it's time for another update.

Fan Fiction
I'm going to start with this section this time, because HS is ultimately what brought us all here. There remains to be no plans for future fan fiction. As always, there are a few random ideas floating around in my head which I never got to fully explore - they may some day turn into something, or not. Right now, focus is completely on my novels, with no room for fan fiction.

I should mention that I removed the last two books of the Dilmir series. The plot is significantly close to the plot of my novels, and I don't want future readers tracking Dilmir down and figuring out what comes next before I've written it. Yes, that means those of you who have read Dilmir have a good idea what is coming, but the general public does not. Don't spoil it for them, please. ...

TGRF Reviews: Rhythm of War

Yesterday I finished Rhythm of War, the fourth book in the Stormlight Archive. My past reviews of these books have been somewhat on the negative side, but I feel like this is probably the best book so far.

As I did last time, I will break the book into sections rather than critiquing areas such as character or plot. This is because each section is vastly different from the last, making it difficult to lump all of 'character' say into one category.

Ratings:
5: Amazing, above flawless.
4: Flawless, but doesn't really stand out.
3: Might have some issues, but works fine.
2: Has some issues which might detract from the media.
1: Flawed, bring the media down noticeably.

Title: Rhythm of War
Author: Brandon Sanderson
My Rating: 3.3/5 (should be higher)

Phase 1
The Stormlight books have followed the same general pattern: they start out...