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A review by isabellarobinson7
Dragonsteel Prime by Brandon Sanderson
adventurous
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.0
Rating: 3 stars
My decision to read this book was almost 100% due to Michael Kramer and Kate Reading's narration. I was uploading the e- and audiobooks to my laptop in order to transfer them to my phone so I could read them (does anyone actually read on their laptop/computer) and when the audiobook finished uploading, it just started to play. I'm not exaggerating when I say I heard Michael Kramer coming out of the speakers and thought, "whelp, I can't stop him now. I guess I'm reading this book." I mean, who am I to switch off Michael Kramer?
Dragonsteel Prime had some good ideas character-wise and thematically, but Sanderson just did not have the skill to execute them in a way that draws readers in, like he does now. I read another one of the "Sanderson Curiosities" a few years ago, The Way of Kings Prime, and most of the criticisms I brought up in my review for that book translate to this one. The characters have none of the complexities that Sanderson is known for, and because of that, if this book had been traditionally published before his other works, I don't think we would have latched on to the characters like we now do.
The same goes for his early plot work. The beginnings of great stories are there in both Dragonsteel Prime and The Way of Kings Prime, but they are really just parts of the design process that lead to us getting the cannon The Way of Kings. In that way, I feel like I read the development of The Stormlight Archive backwards, going from the regular published The Way of Kings, to the prime version, to even earlier in the story's evolution with Dragonsteel Prime. Reading in the opposite direction to the author writing is an interesting experience. There are sections from Dragonsteel Prime that are obviously ripped out and refined before being included in later works, (the idea of the Shattered Plains is just too good a concept for the way it was utilised here) but there are other, more subtle ways this book has helped Sanderson become the author he is today. Some of those ways are probably only known to him.
The best part of Dragonsteel Prime was Hoid/Wit, or Topaz/Cephandrius, as he is called in this book. Reading those sections truly felt like I was reading modern Sanderson writing. Even if the characterisation of the rest of the cast was a bit bland, (Jerick in particular) the charm and, well, wit of Hoid/Topaz/Cephandrius (crikey man, pick a name) was timeless and evidently was something that came naturally to Sanderson early in his career.
Surprisingly for a Sanderson, the ending was the weakest part. The "twist" was obvious from a mile away, and there was no satisfying outer conflict resolution to make up for the severe lack of nuanced inner turmoil. What I am trying to say in so many words, is that the emotional beats Sanderson is known for were certainly no where near as strong as they are now, and there was no Sanderlanche in sight. I know at the time, Sanderson intended for this book to be the start of the series that would become his magnum opus, as he says in the introduction:
My decision to read this book was almost 100% due to Michael Kramer and Kate Reading's narration. I was uploading the e- and audiobooks to my laptop in order to transfer them to my phone so I could read them (does anyone actually read on their laptop/computer) and when the audiobook finished uploading, it just started to play. I'm not exaggerating when I say I heard Michael Kramer coming out of the speakers and thought, "whelp, I can't stop him now. I guess I'm reading this book." I mean, who am I to switch off Michael Kramer?
Dragonsteel Prime had some good ideas character-wise and thematically, but Sanderson just did not have the skill to execute them in a way that draws readers in, like he does now. I read another one of the "Sanderson Curiosities" a few years ago, The Way of Kings Prime, and most of the criticisms I brought up in my review for that book translate to this one. The characters have none of the complexities that Sanderson is known for, and because of that, if this book had been traditionally published before his other works, I don't think we would have latched on to the characters like we now do.
The same goes for his early plot work. The beginnings of great stories are there in both Dragonsteel Prime and The Way of Kings Prime, but they are really just parts of the design process that lead to us getting the cannon The Way of Kings. In that way, I feel like I read the development of The Stormlight Archive backwards, going from the regular published The Way of Kings, to the prime version, to even earlier in the story's evolution with Dragonsteel Prime. Reading in the opposite direction to the author writing is an interesting experience. There are sections from Dragonsteel Prime that are obviously ripped out and refined before being included in later works, (the idea of the Shattered Plains is just too good a concept for the way it was utilised here) but there are other, more subtle ways this book has helped Sanderson become the author he is today. Some of those ways are probably only known to him.
The best part of Dragonsteel Prime was Hoid/Wit, or Topaz/Cephandrius, as he is called in this book. Reading those sections truly felt like I was reading modern Sanderson writing. Even if the characterisation of the rest of the cast was a bit bland, (Jerick in particular) the charm and, well, wit of Hoid/Topaz/Cephandrius (crikey man, pick a name) was timeless and evidently was something that came naturally to Sanderson early in his career.
Surprisingly for a Sanderson, the ending was the weakest part. The "twist" was obvious from a mile away, and there was no satisfying outer conflict resolution to make up for the severe lack of nuanced inner turmoil. What I am trying to say in so many words, is that the emotional beats Sanderson is known for were certainly no where near as strong as they are now, and there was no Sanderlanche in sight. I know at the time, Sanderson intended for this book to be the start of the series that would become his magnum opus, as he says in the introduction:
"In 1999, [...] it was time to do my “big” fantasy. The book that would launch my big series. My Wheel of Time, Lord of the Rings, or Dragonriders of Pern. The work I was confident some day, everyone would know me for.
That never happened."
He goes on to explain how the book never seemed to "click together" for him and he ended up largely abandoning it. Instead he more or less scrapped Dragonsteel for parts, taking out chunks of ideas that he fixed and adapted to fit other works that did succeed in getting published.
And in a similar vein to this book, the ending of this review will be lacklustre and abrupt, because everything I want to say I have said, and I have no concluding thoughts.