Mistborn Liveblog 10

Chapter 9

I've come to the end of my second week. My Kindle shows about 30% finished (184 pages). It's a slow pace, sure, but one I can keep without too much trouble. I've endeavored to do recurring things before, but it's always been overly ambitious and something unsustainable. But this, while needing commitment, is proving far closer to what I can reasonably do.

On to the Spoilers:

Mistborn Liveblog 9

Chapter 8

In this chapter, I discovered a creature that was reminiscent of something I'd seen in a video game. And it led me to wonder about the newest generation of writers (including Brandon Sanderson) and how the video game space influences their writing (or at least their creative engines). I go into spoecifics in the spoiler section, but here I'm just musing about external influence on writing.

I imagine every new medium has a strong influence on those writers who grow up alongside it. The advent of movies, television, video games, etc. all likely play a role in shaping the writer. And I think a good writer knows how to use those influences to draw in a different audience. There are certainly the social commentary stories like those of Orwell that show clear influences of technology (1984) and politics (Animal Farm), but those are pretty textbook examples, and I'm not as broadly read as I eventually would like to be, so am not certain of others. But it makes me think of my own writing and what may be influencing my work in progress. Other than the things I've already recognized, that is.

On to the spoilers:

Mistborn Liveblog 8

Chapter 7

It's getting to the point that I want to read a bit more of this book each day. But, I'm keeping myself to a chapter each day for this blog, though. It's a very different experience to read through a chapter and then think through it before going onto the next chapter. I'm considering and noticing things that I don't think I would have otherwise-- things like a foil character (more on that below).

In fact, I think doing this blog is actually transforming the book for me. It's not just about being entertained, it's about peering deeper. It's like one of those images that are actually made up of hundreds of tiny still frame pictures. Reading a book is like admiring the image as you walk past, but it feels like stopping and considering each chapter is like looking at each still frame picture instead.

Some may argue that it means I'm missing the real point of the story-- and there's validity to that argument, particularly since I've never read this story before, so I don't really know the bigger picture. But on the flip side, I am seeing writing construction and story pacing in a depth I never would have otherwise. Which is better? Perhaps some of both would be ideal.

Onto the spoilers:

Mistborn Liveblog 7

Chapter 6

I've had a few thoughts about what the point of all of this is for me. I mean, for someone who's already read Mistborn, it may not be very interesting to read someone discuss the book chapter by chapter in this manner. And for someone who's not read the book, the bulk of what I've written has had spoilers, so there's not much point for them to be here.

So, what is the purpose, I ask myself. And I think I've come to an answer. You see, I'm an unpublished writer myself. I took over a decade off of writing to explore more "traditional" employment. I currently work as a public school teacher. Anyway, my decade away coincided with a decade of less reading. Now that I'm back into both, I need a bit of extra spurring and commitment to make myself devote the time to reading and writing-- otherwise the rest of life just gets in the way.

So, for me, that's the point. Now, onto the Mistborn Spoilers:

Mistborn Liveblog 6

Chapter 5

Welcome back to a new week. Five chapters in, roughly a hundred pages and I finally get to see Brandon Sanderson work a fight scene, plus see some major Allomancy at work. This chapter is easily my favorite so far, but before I dive into it, there's something I've been neglecting.

At the beginning of each chapter, there's a bit of text from the view of some hero. I didn't think much of it at first, but now that a second story is starting to take shape, I have a few thoughts on it.

Bur first, the requisite warning. Spoilers:

Mistborn Liveblog 5

Chapter 4

Ah, plans. They always seem so simple when you talk about them, yet so complex in pulling them off. My plan was to blog a chapter of this book a day, and after only a week, I'm just realizing the kind of commitment I've made to time and punctuality. Yeah, I'm hoping my plan comes off better than Kelsier's plan is likely to-- just knowing how heist stories work.

I'm taking Saturday and Sunday off, so I"ll be back with Chapter 5 next Monday.

Spoilers:

Mistborn Liveblog 4

Chapter 3

It's getting a bit harder to think about writing this section of the liveblog without spoilers. I imagine the deeper in I get, the less there will be that's spoiler-free. Let's just say that I'm starting to see some Star Wars imagery; I'm just hoping the eqivalent of midichlorians don't show up-- or if they do, it'll be a bit better than how Lucas did it.

Spoilers:

Mistborn Liveblog 3

Chapter 2

I'm glad to see the story has picked up. Brandon's descriptions of the city are excellent. He notes just enough detail to build a picture but leaves a lot of the periphery to the reader. My favorite was how he referred to the ash stains on the sides of buildings as dripping paint on a canvas. So few words, yet so vivid a picture.

The story is starting to grow on me now-- there's been some tense moments and some witty banter between friends. Plus the world is filling out nicely. Also, I'm glad to see that Kelsier is back. Yay!

On to the spoilers...

Mistborn Liveblog 2

Mistborn Chapter 1

I'm settling on a schedule of one chapter each day, Monday through Friday for my liveblogging. That will give anyone following along plenty of time, and will complete the book in just about a month and a half. Not to mention that I'm not trying to push this through in a sprint, though that could be fun for another time.

This first Chapter did not really grab me so far. I know it's a lot of setting up characters and backgrounds, and the prologue did give me enough of interest to keep me going. It's just that I'm not too sure how much I like the characters so far, and there's been like six new ones-- Vin, Camon, Reen, Ulef, Theron and Laird. Phew.

I found myself reminding me that I didn't get into The Eye of the World until page 68, so I can wade through some world building and scenario setup before I get hooked-- no biggie. I am kinda sad, though, that the story didn't keep up with the skaa from the Prologue or follow Kelsier after his escapade with them. I did sneak a peak on the first line of Chapter 2 and saw that Kelsier is back, so I'm glad for that.

But let's dive in a bit further.

Mistborn Liveblog 1

Mistborn - Porlogue

I know very little about this world right now. It's been a long time since I dove into an epic fantasy. Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time would be the most recent, and I've been working my way through that series for over a decade, it feels like. I've actually never read any of Brandon Sanderson's work before, so this will also be a new style for me.

As I said before, I only know that burning metal is involved in the magic system, but there is one other thing I know, and I seem to recall hearing this from Brandon himself on his podcast or at a writer's conference-- the premise of robbing the Dark Lord.

I think the premise sounds good, though I'm not much of a heist-story reader, so I doubt that alone would have convinced me to read it. A two-hour movie-- sure. But a 600 page book? It was only after multiple recommendations and a recent increase in my available reading time that I decided to give it a go. My sister and her husband spoke very highly of it, giving me their paperback copy. But I decided for the Kindle version instead. Here's hoping it's as good as I've heard, and I decent use of my $8, though my sister's got good taste, so I'm pretty confident there.

Now, on to the story.

Fair warning-- There will be spoilers. I'll try to keep all spoilers after the break, and hopefully I'll be able to label the biggest spoilers as such, when I find them. But be warned, I will discuss the book openly, though I don't know what's coming, so I can't spoil any of the foreshadowing and such.

Live Blogging Mistborn

I am beginning to read Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson for the first time, and I wanted to do a bit more than just read it. I have heard many good things about the book, so I thought I would share my experience. Be warned, I will not shy away from spoilers. I will try to be kind about warning of them before they come-- though with a story as complex as Mistborn promises to be, who knows but what may seem innocent will become a spoiler later on.

As of right now, I only know one thing about the story: burning metals is the magic system. That was told to me by my brother-in-law who recommended it.

I will be reading the Kindle version of the book, for easy portability as well as the highlight and share functionality. You can follow more specific progress, including links to quotes from the book (which may contain spoilers) on my twitter: @jamesonkirtley.

If there is interest, I will post a schedule for any who would like to read along. I'm going to try to keep a steady pace, but also one that others could keep to as well. Happy reading!

Jameson

Witty title here

I've never liked that first post on a blog-- the way it claims the tone for the entire rest of what is written.

My name is Jameson Kirtley. I'm an aspiring writer. I have no idea what you will find here in the months to come, but in the immediate future, I will be live-blogging my progress through Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson.

Details will be posted soon.

Jameson