Chain Reading

The cover art on this book twice dissuaded me from taking it home until I was cajoled into reading it by a friend with a personal connection to the author. Once I read it, I could see clearly that Sanderson has developed significantly as an author from his first novel, Elantris.
It borrows political elements from George Orwell’s 1984, as well as religious overtones that smack of a series by Dave Duncan, The Great Game. From 1984 we find the oppressed proletariat, the ever-vigilant Big Brother, the subversive books (allowed by the “party” because they can be used to find malcontents among the middle class) and an abstract political religion built on the ashes of all other religions. In The Great Game, Duncan also uses an inspiring leader on a mission to overthrow a god who, in the process, finds that he has become one to his followers. I’m not sure it was original there either. The magical system seemed to have a few failings, among them lack of any experts, but at least it was original. It seemed at times to be like a super-power, and at others, barely enough to make the characters able to deal with normal people. Much of the plot was consumed with small group meetings to plan an event. The planning was like reading a Stephen Covey textbook example from 7 habits of highly effective meetings. It could have come straight out of the lavender book of love, and was rather tedious. One of the main characters, Kelsier, seemed to have to continually remind the other characters that they were talented though they vaunted themselves enough when not in the meeting setting. The parts that I did enjoy about that book included those portions of the plot that really tie this book to the series it represents. There is something bigger than this book going on, and we take some very small steps along that path, and that larger path is what kept me reading. I think that despite its shortcomings, the book is well done.