I’m a big fantasy fiction nut. TWOK by Sanderson has been recommended to me countless times. I really enjoyed part one, Kaladin and Shallan’s stories.
The interludes were really tough for me to even be interested in, and now in part 2 it’s just really boring me. Idk should I push through? The story telling of the first part was great and it sucked me in, part 2 is proving to be boring and tedious.
Any thoughts?
by yushi397
6 Comments
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I like Sanderson a lot, and I absolutely love the Stormlight Archive, but pacing is definitely not his strong suit, and the Stormlight books in particular tend to drag in the middle, especially on a first-time read.
It’s definitely worth continuing; Sanderson may be bad at pacing, but he’s great at pay-off, and his books tend to shine the most in the last 20% or so, but most of that shine comes from the sometimes-sloggy build-up.
That said, don’t force yourself through it to the point of making it a chore. Treating each act as a separate book, and taking a break to read something else in between isn’t a bad idea. Or listening to the audiobook instead/in addition is another thing I’ve heard suggested.
Stormlight books sag in the middle. The endings are great, like the last couple hundred pages, and Sanderson can capitalize off that momentum for the starting few hundred pages of the next book. The problem is the middle, and the problem with the first book is that you’re not riding off the cool climax of a book prior. I remember very little from the middle sections of the books because the majority of it is set-up. Honestly a lot of it, both text and content, feels redundant. The main characters are fun, though Andolin doesn’t feel like much of a character at all until some point into book 2. If you like the characters I think you should continue
I am not his target audience. His prose does not work for me. This is fine, there’s no such thing as a universally appealing novel. If a book isn’t working for you, find one that does.
It’s best to ignore those who insist you just have to try harder, that is not how brains work. I have never been glad I forced myself to finish a novel I wasn’t enjoying. It’s not worth it. The older you get, the more you will appreciate using your time wisely.
The middle of the book felt a bit like a slog the first time I read it, but I really think it’s a nice build up.
This might be weird but it helped me a lot. I skipped chapters when they move to POV/storylines I am not interested in until I’m ready to go back to them. I bookmark when I skip.
The problem is you can go too far ahead where you realize you need to go back in case you missed something relevant. So I only use it when I need it and I will stop and go back quickly if I think I went too far. This issue isn’t that common though.
I can only really remember needing this for Stormlight and Game of Thrones 4/5.