Books

There was an introduction to the version of Elantris I listened to where an early member of a writing group (or a teacher or something) was really confused about all his premises for stories just being characters in a setting. They had to "make him" get to the point where the world is at stake, because he was so focused just on the interactions between people. Then, in his notes at the end (of the later edition, with knowledge of its success), he wrote about how much he valued that it worked so well in a world of magic where most of the book minimally interacts with it. You can see that in every scene he writes. They're all just so natural, independent of the stakes of the story.

But Stormlight feels like his real masterpiece. There are so many characters that matter, and on top of that he blends in elements of his other works so seamlessly

Eh, was a little under $100 for something around 375 hours worth of book. It is a lot, but I don't usually see prices at that point for audiobooks I know I like, and I really like when I can read whole series in a row. I've read something like 20 of the Miss Fortune as ebooks, but I'm way slower that way because I have way more time I can listen.

I like the character. The books are just a little brief, especially at the endings, compared to my preference, but I think that's a style choice from the types of stories it's inspired by. She's a little bit crazy, but in the way that maybe we're all a little crazy. She's just direct about it at times. Overall, they're enjoyable enough. It probably won't make my bookshelf, but I would guess that it helped inspire some of the stuff that I prefer a little more, and I would potentially read them again at some point.