Welcome to Smugglivus 2009 – Day 17!
Throughout this month, we will have daily guests – authors and bloggers alike – looking back at their favorite reads of 2009, and looking forward to events and upcoming books in 2010.
Today’s Guest: Brandon Sanderson, fantasy author. Brandon is the author of Elantris, The Mistborn trilogy (a series both Ana and Thea read this year and LOVED) amongst others. He is also the writer selected to complete the epic Wheel of Time fantasy series by the late Robert Jordan.
Recent Work: Warbreaker (which we have both read and loved as well) and The Gathering Storm, the first of the final three volumes in the Wheel of Time series.
Brandon was kind enough to emerge from the depths of the Deadline Cave to briefly write about his top reads of 2009 and what to expect from him in 2010!
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The year 2009 was an exciting one for me, between Warbreaker and The Gathering Storm, but I did manage to get some reading done! (during plane rides on a four-week author tour)
The books I read and liked in 2009 weren’t all released in 2009. But here’s my list..
Storm Front: Dresden Files Book One.
I find that most who try to do a hardboiled style fantasy novel either lay the dialect on way too thick or end up having a grossly unsympathetic protagonist. Not so here; Jim Butcher’s debut is exactly what I wanted. A fast-moving film-noir style fantasy with an excellent voice and character.
The Tipping Point:
I like peeking into the world of marketing since what I do is, at the distant end, a retail business. This was a fun book, with interesting concepts, that (like many of its kind) tried a little too hard to state its points without mentioning any potential problems. Well worth a read, though.
Watchmen:
I read this because of the hype around the movie. Everyone had been telling me it was a great story. I couldn’t have imagined how much of an understatement that was. Pure genius. Wow.
The Uglies:
I liked it. It’s hard to find a new take on the dystopian novel that feels fresh, and this seemed to get the blend of familiar and original down. Nice job, Scott.
Servant of a Dark God:
An epic fantasy from Tor that I read in manuscript form and enjoyed. Not your average take on the mythology. It starts off looking cliché, and you think it’s yet another generic epic fantasy, then about chapter six or seven it punches you in the face and runs away cackling, and you realize you’ve been reading a dark, GRRM-style heroic epic instead.
For me, 2010 promises to be just as jam-packed with Towers of Midnight (Wheel of Time Book 13)! But also, The Way of Kings, the first volume of a new ten-volume epic fantasy series that involves a huge cast of characters, an unusual take on a magic system and, of course, several other twists as well. This is a project close to my heart and many years in the making, so I’m looking forward to introducing readers to it!
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Thanks, Brandon!
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11 Responses to Smugglivus Day 17 – Guest Author: Brandon Sanderson
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Thanks for featuring Brandon – I love his books! I got to meet him during his recent tour for THE GATHERING STORM, and I’ve got WARBREAKER on my shelf waiting to be read.
I enjoyed getting a peek into what he’s been reading lately.
Ten volume epic fantasy?! Good heavens. I will wait until ALL those books are out to invest in that one. But it does sound good, from my research
I’m in love with the Dresden Files, Harry makes me laugh so much.
& I’ve been dying to read the Mistborn books, only just finding them in books shops in England (the Waterstones in my home town is tiny with a terribly short fantasy section, & I’ve been banned by my Mum from buying books in London as apparently that’s not what a student loan is for). Finger’s crossed, I should be getting the first for Christmas.
x
I was very, very worried about what would happen to Rand, Perrin, Matt, and all their ladies in the hands of someone whose first name wasn’t ‘Robert’ and last name wasn’t ‘Jordan’, so I approached TGS with great caution.
Huge, huge relief when my fears turned out to be groundless! With the single exception of the jarring use of ‘Great!’ as an expression of sarcasm a couple of times, I wouldn’t have been able to tell the story was written by another author than the one who brought us the previous volumes. Well done.
So it may go without saying that the Mistborn books are now on my TBR.
I love all of Brandons Sanderson’s books, especially Warbraker, and I’m excited to see what he comes up with next.
I love Brandon Sanderson’s work – Elantris is still my favourite, but Mistborn is right up there along with Warbreaker!
I’ll have to check out some of these other books. Thanks for posting this up!
Hi
Thank you for sharing here Brandon. I like your selections and I am looking forward to your new Fantasy series.
Happy Holidays,
RKCharron
hey Brandon!
I put the Mistborn trilogy on my Christmas wishlist this year since I heard such great reviews (Ana&Thea’s included) for it
and ur list includes two of my faves: Watchmen and Uglies! Haven’t read the others but Dresden Files Book One is on my tbr list, and though it’s not Tipping Point,so is Outliers by the same author.
Based on these matches, I’m adding all the other books here to my tbr pile! lol
Oh you read some good ones. I want to read Uglies too! I blew through all of the Dresden books this summer. The Codex Alera by Butcher is good too!
Happy Reading!
Heather
http://www.2manygoodbooks.blogspot.com
I’m so glad to have a peek at what Sanderson enjoys for reading! I loved Uglies and Watchmen too, and I definitely want to try Jim Butcher!
Now I definitely need to read Warbreaker, too!
I really like Brandon Sanderson’s work (particularly Elantris). It was nice to see what he has enjoyed reading this year. I’ve read all of Malcolm Gladwell’s books. Tipping Point was great but I think that Blink was even better.