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:


So, here we have the end of the first part of the story-- Mistborn being divided into three parts, it seems. We see trust being built between Vin and Kelsier as they travel to the neighboring town to meet the stooge he has filling in for a nobleman. It starts with Vin messing up her jump from off the wall and Kelsier catching her, then grows as he shows her a Warcraft Abomination-- I mean Mistwraith. More on that later. And then culminates when Kelsier gives her a sum of money and tells her to leave if she wants. Yeah, she says she's staying out of morbid curiosity regarding the fate of the job, but her question to the servant at the end of the chapter is quite telling: He's a good man, isn't he?

So, I'd love to pick Brandon Sanderson's brain to know if Blizzard's Abomination had any influence in his creation of the mistwraith. Both are a conglomeration of parts, though the mistwraith seems a bit better at it-- not that Blizzard likely wanted something as potentially gruesome as Brandon's mistwraith in a game that younger teens play. But still, the similarities are there, so I wonder if the influence is real. I realize it may not be such-- similarities such as these could be common and coincidental. But I do seem to recall that Brandon is familiar with the gaming space (at least Magic: The Gathering). so I do wonder.

Anyway, not much plot really happened in this chapter-- it was very much a character-driven plot, focusing on the developing relationship between Kelsier and Vin-- one of master and apprentice, just to be clear.

More tomorrow. Happy reading.

Jameson