The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson, why is this an anime?

So, I've never really read anything by Mr. Sanderson. I tried Elantris and Mistborn but never finished because my copies disappeared. Dunno where or why, but there you have it.

I'm only about one hundred and fifty pages into this thousand page monster, but I can't help but wonder, has Mr. Sanderson watched an inordinate amount of anime? Because so far, this is like reading and epic fantasy version of an unholy combination of Saint Seiya and The Vision of Escaflowne...and maybe some Power Rangers thrown in for good measure.

I guess I'm mentioning this because this is the first time a mainstream work of fiction has read like this to me. I've read a few books, most notably Guillermo del Toro's The Strain and Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians series* and have thought, "Hmmm, this will be better as a movie, I think." In fact, I posit that these two particular titles were probably written with a movie in mind. But I've never read something and thought "Huh, this needs to be an anime. In fact, I think this writer WANTS to have an anime based off of their book."

Lest you think that I think this is a bad thing, I don't. I loved, loved both the Percy Jackson series and The Strain, I just thought that they read more like a movie than a novel. I don't have an opinion on Mr. Sanderson's book yet, but wanted to get this out there, mainly because I haven't been reading much lately, and thus have had nothing to talk about with anyone.

I picked up his book because all the older sci-fic/fantasy patrons at work are reading it and I wanted to read a title that they had actually heard of for once. So I'm looking forward to reading this with them*. None of them, with one exception and he comes to my manga and anime program religiously with his daughters, is very familiar with anime. So it will be interesting to see what they say. I really don't have point, more musing, but has anyone else read stuff lately and been like, "This is an anime/manga in novel form?"




*The actual movie made from the Percy Jackson series shall be ignored. I've already ranted and raved about why it sucked and will not get angry any more, though I still cannot understand how the producers screwed up adapting The Lightning Thief for the screen. Riordan pretty much tailor wrote that book to be a movie.


*It was funny. There were like six copies of this sitting on the holds shelf on release date and I knew exactly who they were for. I love this part of my job.

I watch too much TeeVee

I have seen every episode of River Monsters, on multiple occasions, and sometimes twice in a single day. I love Jeremy Wade and his geeky love of fish that much.

However, even I can't watch the polite, British man fish all the time. I do get bored. So I watched Man Woman Wild on Discovery last night. I was actually avoiding this show because the commercials read something like this: Super-awesome, ex-special forces dude is super awesome at surviving in the wilderness. But for this show, he has his blond, bitchy wife with him...and she screams alot and it not as super-awesome as him. Let's watch.

Which isn't the show at all! Ruth and Mykel are actually darling, let's survive in the wilderness with each other and not die sort of way. They function well as a team and are supportive of each other, and while Ruth clearly isn't super-awesome ex-military, she's smart, enthusiastic, and very, very helpful. Did I mention adorable? Ruth Hawkes is probably the cutest thing I have seen to date of Discovery and that includes puppies and Jeremy Wade.

Last night I watched her hunt coconut crabs with a sharpened stick and thought: She can't get more darling, can she? Yup, she can.

I mean, watching a blond British lady stab things with a sharpened stick shouldn't be adorable, but it was. Which is not meant in a demeaning way at all, because Mykel is cute, too. The way he talks to her isn't quite my cup of tea (he has a "little lady" sort of tone and reminds me too much of how John Wayne spoke to women), but he clearly loves her and their relationship was actually nice to see. It wasn't dysfunctional and they weren't horrible to each other. Both seemed to be making the best of bad, gross situations. It's just that she's so damn enthusiastic and clearly smart and I'm a sucker for British accents. When she does stuff, even stabbing crabs with sharpened sticks, it sounds so proper and authoritative...and cute.

Sorry, but I had to get that out there because the TV hasn't entertained me in awhile.