Reading makes for better writing, or so they say, and I can certainly say that I'm more inspired to write the more I read.
I recently finished the newest Wheel of Time book, "Towers of Midnight" by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson and was generally pleased with the overall effort. Sanderson has done a masterful job of taking over where Jordan left off though there are a number of scenes, most notably those
involving Mat, that don't quite ring true.
As a result of that read I decided to pick up the
Mistborn trilogy and so far have been reasonably impressed. The magic system isn't as ridiculous as it sounds when you
initially hear about it (burning metals in your stomach?) and the characters are well-developed. I'm halfway through the second book and while I'm not liking it quite as much as the first, Sanderson has a distinctive style that I quite enjoy.
It
doesn't involve as many descriptions of female clothing as Jordan's works, thank god, but still has several strong female characters and host of interesting male ones. His take on the standard "hero/quest" paradigm is really interesting and that in combination with good writing makes this one a steal of deal and one I tend to read for far too long far too late.
Hope is, someday, someone will say that about my work.
- D
