How fitting that my debut post is a post about reading and writing.
As everyone probably already knows, I enjoy reading a lot. Definitely my number one pastime. Being in Long Island for the summer, away from even my school friends I’m given a whole lot of free time. My daily routine consists of waking up at 7:15 in order to get to work at 9. I get off at 3, at which point I go to the gym; the rest of my night is then free. So naturally, what do I do? I’m either on my computer, playing xbox or reading. Mostly reading.
I’ve been thinking about it and I’ve realized that I don’t read simply because I enjoy it. I don’t read simply because I want to expand my vocabulary, or because I enjoy the stories, or because I want to let my imagination run wild. These are all reasons why I appreciate reading, but they are not my primary reason. I enjoy reading because I want to live vicariously through the characters. I like to substitute the ineptitude in my life by experiencing life through someone else’s eyes.
Many people choose to resolve their perceived ineptitude or weaknesses by attempting to fix them or by overcompensating in order to counteract them. I choose not to address them at all, but instead to be so invested in the lives of literary heroes that I forget my inadequacies. This often leaves me frustrated as I feel as though I’m doing nothing to help myself, which is completely true. But at the same time I was never good with confrontation, especially when confronting myself, as strange as that sounds. I’ve never been good about addressing issues that should probably be addressed. At the same time, I feel as though this enhances my experiences when reading.
I get so into the novels that I hurt when a favorite character of mine hurts, I feel anger when they feel anger, I feel sad when the character is sad. Likewise when a rather tyrannical or immoral character says or does something that I don’t like, I am filled with anger. When a character is forced to endure high amounts of pain or sorrow such as orphanhood or rejection I am filled with melancholia.
I appreciate good writing. A good writer is able to evoke emotion in a reader, they are able to draw you in so deep that you’re unaware of things happening around you. This type of author is not just a writer but a world builder, an image crafter, a creator. Every good author should have their own voice. If there is nothing to distinguish your writing from that of another author then you are not writing, you are copying.
Sure, there are many common traits amongst novels and authors from the same genre, but no two writers have the same voice, the same worldview, or the same style. Each author has a different perspective on these common traits or tropes. Each author puts a different spin on it.
My genre of choice is fantasy, particularly high or epic fantasy. For the past two years I have been embarking on a fantastical journey through the works of the greatest epic fantasy authors of today. George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice & Fire is obviously the flagship series. There is no talking about fantasy today without mentioning this monstrous epic. Everyone knows about Game of Thrones, even people that don’t read and people that don’t watch TV. Personally I am not a fan of the show as most of you already know. That is a discussion best brought up in a later post. ASOIAF is a series of such massive proportions that I believe it will take many years or even decades for any author to create a world of this magnitude. Although I think Brandon Sanderson has the best chance out of anybody; I will get to him later.
I have never read anything on as grand a scale as ASOIAF and to my knowledge there is no series even close. The writing is complex, the characterization intricate, descriptions vivid. GRRM has created a world that feels extremely realistic. Each city has its own characteristics and traits, each character has its own personality, each family has distinguishing features. I have nothing to complain about, not even the amount of time GRRM spends on each novel. I would rather him spend two extra years perfecting the story than him releasing a novel prematurely only to have it full of flaws and contradicting timelines. He truly is a master of his craft.
Speaking of masters, I see Brandon Sanderson as the next big thing. He is an author about to hit the mainstream. His versatility and his speed are what distinguish him from other authors. He is one of the fastest authors that I know of, he averages around 2.5 books a year since he was first published in 2005, including 4 novels that are expected to release this year. Mind you, many of these are 500+ page novels. His most impressive publication year was 2010 when he released a 300 page YA novel, 1250 page The Way of Kings, and the almost 900 page penultimate novel in Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series.
He can write novels from basically any genre and for any audience. He writes both adult fantasy and young adult fantasy, although his YA novels are still rather complex. The distinguishing feature is the length of the novel rather than the thematic makeup of each novel. Every series he writes is unique and different. His magnum opus is a proposed series of 10 novels known as the Stormlight Archive which includes The Way of Kings as its opening act. This series reads like a traditional fantasy epic but with a somewhat different take. Roshar is a land ravaged by frequent devastating storms. The armies of this empire have been sent to a broken plain to fight against a mysterious enemy in order to retrieve special crystals. This contrasts vastly with Sanderson’s other major series, the Mistborn Series. This series consists of two trilogies set 300 years apart. The premise of these books is that certain people are able to ingest metals and burn them to release powers, an example is that burning pewter allows an individual to have superhuman strength as well as superhuman speed. Sanderson’s two most prominent YA series currently are The Rithmatist and The Reckoners. The first novels were both released last year. The Rithmatist is a novel where certain students are able to make their drawings come to life. Steelheart, the first novel in the Reckoners series is a post-apocalyptic novel where certain people have discovered that they have super powers. This series takes a non-classical approach to the superhero genre as almost every “superhero” has become corrupted by power and is now utterly tyrannical.
As this post is already longer than I would’ve liked I will try to keep the rest of this rather short. I will simply list each subsequent work with a very brief description. This is an incomplete list of other fantasy authors that I appreciate but it will work just fine because this is the majority of them.
- Patrick Rothfuss The Kingkiller Chronicle (The Name of the Wind; The Wise Man’s Fear; one more forthcoming tentatively named The Doors of Stone). A middle aged man recounts his life to a scribe. Most of it is about his experiences as a student learning to become a wizard. Pretty similar to Harry Potter but not at all. Same premise, completely different story.
- Peter V Brett The Demon Cycle (The Warded Man; The Desert Spear; The Daylight War; two more forthcoming tentatively named The Skull Throne and The Core respectively). Every night, demons spawn from the earth to pillage and plunder as they see fit. The only way humans are able to stay safe is by etching wards into the walls of their buildings. Humans used to have access to fighting wards but those are long lost so all they can do is wait out the night.
- Joe Abercrombie The First Law Series (The First Law Trilogy [The Blade Itself; Before They Are Hanged; Last Argument of Kings]; Best Served Cold; The Heroes; Red Country). A ragtag group of adventurers must journey to the edge of the world in order to save it.
- Scott Lynch The Gentleman Bastard Sequence (The Lies of Locke Lamora; Red Seas Under Red Skies; The Republic of Thieves; four more forthcoming tentatively named The Thorn of Emberlain; The Ministry of Necessity; The Mage & The Master Spy; Inherit the Night). A team of orphans attempt to scam rich folk. Much like the Ocean’s Eleven series but in a renaissance-esque time period in a city much like Venice.
- Mark Lawrence The Broken Empire Series (Prince of Thorns; King of Thorns; Emperor of Thorns). A young child seeks revenge for the murder of his young brother and mother.
Series I would like to start on:
- Brent Weeks The Lightbringer Series (The Black Prism; The Blinding Knife; two more forthcoming tentatively named The Broken Eye; The Blood Mirror) AND The Night Angel Trilogy (The Way of Shadows; Shadow’s Edge; Beyond the Shadows)
- Douglas Hulick Tales of the Kin Series (Among Thieves; Sworn in Steel)
- All things Neil Gaiman
- More Stephen King
- Daniel Abraham The Long Price Quartet; The Dagger and Coin Quintet; The Black Sun’s Daughter (5 books written as M.L.N. Hanover); The Expanse (4 novels written as James S. A. Corey, more sci-fi than fantasy but I’ll include it here)
- David Gemmell, he was a legend in the fantasy genre from the late 1980s to his untimely death in 2006. An award has been named after him.
- Robert Jordan The Wheel of Time (14 novels). Another legend who died too early. 1990-2005. Brandon Sanderson wrote the last three novels of the series.
- Tad Williams, wrote big fat fantasy before it became popular. 1980s-present
- Michael J Sullivan The Riyria Revelations (10 or so volumes, not quite sure)
- Jim Butcher Codex Alera (6 novels) plus finish The Dresden Files
- Miles Cameron Traitor Son Cycle (The Red Knight; The Fell Sword; three more forthcoming)
- John Gwynne The Faithful & The Fallen (Malice; Valor; no idea how many more forthcoming if any)
- Brian McClellan The Powder Mage Series (Promise of Blood; The Crimson Campaign; one or more forthcoming)
Well, if you read this, this means you have reached the end of the first part of my writing experiment. Stay tuned for more essays. I’m sure others will be more interesting and about more relevant topics. I kinda just rambled on this one.
JHUMWRITES—A Mental Health Blog 