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Well, you've seen the books I tend to read and those are unusual in regards to dialogue quality Larry Send a noteboard - 24/08/2010 05:22:10 PM
It is no longer poor (Elantris) or serviceable (Mistborn, Warbreaker), but certainly not memorable.

See, this is were I rate nearly all fantasy dialogue... most dialogue in all literature in fact. It's a nature of words on a page that differ from the actuality of real conversation... much is lost. Most literary conversation is somewhat like over-pronouncing vowels/words when signing to get the sound right for the audience. There are very few true masters at dialoge... your mention of Beagle is certainly applicable.


It is a difficult thing to get "just right." Most of the masters I'd cite wouldn't be considered to be even remotely related to secondary world/epic fantasies.

A bit of both. Don't want to write a précis of my review right now, to be honest, but the comparison will be mostly between his works, while noting that there are certain touches that could have possibly made certain scenes better. I wouldn't go so far as to say it matches Martin or Bakker, much less a Peter Beagle, but noting that the dialogue has improved only to the point where it doesn't drag down the rest of the narrative is damning with faint praise almost, isn't it? :P

Certainly not... and I am looking forward to your review... (will be adding mine to the Blog tomorrow by the way). I did a fair bit of comparisons between Martin's writing and Sanderson's right after finishing WoKs... and I maintain that Martin isn't any better at dialogue in ASOIAF than Sanderson is in WOK, and both fluctuate quality throughout. Bakker is more consistent, and at times very good. However, I get the sense that since Elantris, the book on Sanderson has been 'poor dialogue', so many reviewers bring that up. The simple fact is that his dialogue is much improved, and better than average. Why then is it a key talking point when dialogue is nearly never mentioned in reviews of other authors except when it is quite awful? That is more a rhetorical question, certainly not implying that of you.


By the way, tomorrow is the Blog's 6th anniversary, so it'd be great timing, to say the least. As for the other authors you cite, I tend to apply this simple, if sometimes prone to distortion, rule: If I can remember anything of note "said" within the novel a week after finishing it, something was done right. With Martin, I can remember some of the conversations between the characters (then again, I've read the first three books three times each, the fourth only once). With Bakker, I remember the ideas behind the conversations best - it isn't dialogue in a pure form that I remember. With Sanderson, I remember cringing with the first, not cringing with the next three, thinking a few things were off in his last two original novels.

But I usually think the best at dialogue tend to be those who started out writing short fiction and learned to master the skills necessary in those. I think that's why several of my favorite writers have made a mark writing short fiction as well as novels, such as Caitlín Kiernan, Catherynne Valente, Jeff Ford, and Jeff VanderMeer. The dialogue in their fictions tends to be much stronger than what I've encountered in epic fantasies on the whole. I just don't think Sanderson is anywhere near that level of proficiency. His dialogue, along with several other issues I'll address next week, are distinctly MOR, which for this subgenre is a desirable trait, after all.
Illusions fall like the husk of a fruit, one after another, and the fruit is experience. - Narrator, Sylvie

Je suis méchant.
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The Way of Kings - Brief Review - 24/08/2010 12:54:39 AM 1346 Views
As someone who could not finish Misborn through multiple tries I have to say... - 24/08/2010 02:57:01 AM 703 Views
On the upside of starting a 10 book series... - 24/08/2010 04:33:06 AM 774 Views
I'm excited. - 24/08/2010 03:54:26 AM 686 Views
Re: I'm excited. - 24/08/2010 04:35:04 AM 740 Views
Sounds promising! - 24/08/2010 04:38:47 AM 713 Views
I didn't quite have such a positive reaction to the book - 24/08/2010 04:55:04 AM 763 Views
You know... - 24/08/2010 02:07:04 PM 694 Views
Re: You know... - 24/08/2010 02:46:16 PM 833 Views
Okay, that makes better sense. - 24/08/2010 05:07:56 PM 633 Views
Well, you've seen the books I tend to read and those are unusual in regards to dialogue quality - 24/08/2010 05:22:10 PM 737 Views
Thanks for the review! - 24/08/2010 06:51:00 AM 649 Views
The only Sanderson I've read is Elantris - 24/08/2010 11:56:28 AM 696 Views
Elantris is a very poor example of Sanderson's work. - 24/08/2010 01:59:05 PM 674 Views
Re: Elantris is a very poor example of Sanderson's work. - 24/08/2010 03:55:59 PM 759 Views
I really liked it until the ending *NM* - 24/08/2010 05:02:49 PM 314 Views
Elantris has a truly great concept... - 24/08/2010 05:17:32 PM 624 Views
A very good review, and thank you. - 24/08/2010 02:01:05 PM 635 Views
When does it come out officially? *NM* - 24/08/2010 02:17:07 PM 296 Views
Next Tuesday. *NM* - 24/08/2010 02:18:41 PM 313 Views
My WoK reaction - 24/08/2010 03:14:58 PM 775 Views
I call bullshit on the Erickson comments! - 24/08/2010 03:34:20 PM 693 Views
Yes there is a very big difference between the two... - 24/08/2010 04:58:55 PM 608 Views
And I think that books 5, 6, and 8 are among Erikson's better novels - 24/08/2010 05:06:43 PM 648 Views
Well... - 24/08/2010 05:13:52 PM 698 Views
Maybe I'll write out my thoughts in full later this week - 24/08/2010 05:26:01 PM 732 Views
Yes, I wondered why you stopped doing those... you've only posted up to HoC, I believe. - 24/08/2010 05:22:17 PM 615 Views
BAF 4 deadlines at the time - 24/08/2010 05:32:53 PM 624 Views
Funny, I'd had TtH in mind when referencing Erikson. - 24/08/2010 05:40:12 PM 604 Views
Fixed. *NM* - 24/08/2010 05:30:34 PM 291 Views

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