I have six co-workers that sit near me that are roughly a similar age to me. (We all happen to be male, so I don't have to worry about any pronoun he/she-shenanigans.) And at our age and gender is about where the similarities stop. There are two specific areas where I really stand out.
Other guys:
Years married: 4.5
Children: 1.9 (due in a month)
Me:
Years married: 10
Children: 2
The discrepancy doesn't seem so large unless you remember that those are the totals between the six of them. Apparently I'm really living up to my Utah stereotype of being married and having lots of kids. I certainly got married younger than the national average, but having 2 kids by age 32 isn't some sort of crazy Utah-County birth rate. It's a bit odd though when we all go out to lunch or something and I make a comment and then realize that most of the people I'm with aren't married, and almost none of them have kids.
Don't worry though, if ever I feel to abnormal, I can just go to church where everyone got married at 19 and has 5 kids.
Friday, May 30
Saturday, May 24
6 photons walk into a bar . . .
These are Feynman diagrams for every way 6 photons can interact. There are 120 of them. Sum over every possible outcome to discover what really happens!
Saturday, May 10
2 minutes later . . .
Thursday, May 1
The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance
Despite hearing good things about him for several years (mostly from my sister), I hadn't read any books by Brandon Sanderson until I got to the last 3 books in the Wheel of Time. Those were an exciting conclusion to a series that had dragged on too long, but it wasn't clear how much of the credit should go to Sanderson and how much still belongs to Robert Jordan. I could spend a few hours researching this on the internet, but I don't care that much. I got some good books out of the deal.
But it did inspire me to pick up another Sanderson book (Mistborn) when I was looking for something to read a few months later. Which lead to me plowing through those 4 books in quick succession. And then word got out that I'm a Brandon Sanderson fan. I'm not one of those hardcore fantasy nerds - I don't own a cape or a sword with a name - but I do like good stories. Anyway, Sanderson was in town a month or two ago, but because we live in Chicagoland now, "in town" still means an hour away. A friend told me about his book signing multiple times, but I wasn't interested in making the trip out that far. (And for what? To get him to sign my library book?) But then the next day at church I found myself the new owner of a signed copy of "Words of Radiance" which is book 2 of the Stormlight Archive.
"Well, crud" I said to myself. Not that I didn't appreciate such a thoughtful gift, but because I wasn't sure that I wanted to dive into another massive fantasy quest. A ream of David McCullough talking about the 1800s cured me of that, so I got "The Way of Kings" from the library and started in.
The thing about fantasy writing, is that it's epic. The key phrase in fantasy is "world building". (Think of all that blathering on that Tolkein fans do about the names of swords and rings.) Only in fantasy books are there novels containing stories that come from myths that speak of legends. Even the Harry Potter series spawned "The Tales of Beedle the Bard". It's epic in scope, detail, preparation and length. And the stormlight archive fits right in.
The two books (thus far) are a hair over 1000 pages each, and I was particularly struck by the way that Sanderson takes his time to develop both the story and the universe it happens in. There's no handy moment early on where a character happens to explain the workings of magic glowing gems, the layout of kingdoms, the periodic destructive storms or the ancient mythology of the world. Instead, we're following the story of characters that know more about their world that we do, and only learning more as their lives make things evident. It's an interesting way to do things, and a testament to his talent as a writer that he can do it without making me frustrated. And it does take time - it takes 1500 pages before all of the main characters even meet each other.
Another characteristic of Sanderson's writing is his ability to provide a satisfying climax at the end of each book. While there are still plenty of loose ends and larger plots to follow, the final pages of his books don't leave me wanting to throw them across the room frustrated that he's in any way stringing me along. I don't know how many books there will be, or how long it will take him to write them, which is one hesitation I had before starting the series. I've been waiting 20 years to see how OSCs "Seventh Son" is going to turn out, and I don't have any hopes of finding out any time soon. (Other than, you know, the fact that it's kinda obvious how it will turn out. It's complicated . . .) So maybe my suggestion is to that you stick this series on your to-do list and come back to it in a few years, unless you're more patient than me.
I realize that I haven't really told you what the books are about, despite all these words I've written. Sanderson himself has a hard time explaining what it's about. Superficially, it's pretty predictable: main character is a "common man" who goes through a rough life, and yet will find himself in a position to influence big events and discover some capabilities that no one would have suspected. On the way the story picks up some ruling elite that are slime-balls, and others that are good-hearted. Of course we have some magic, assassins, wars, demons, visions, natural disasters, duels, and even a trip to the zoo in there. But, you don't have to take my word for it.
But it did inspire me to pick up another Sanderson book (Mistborn) when I was looking for something to read a few months later. Which lead to me plowing through those 4 books in quick succession. And then word got out that I'm a Brandon Sanderson fan. I'm not one of those hardcore fantasy nerds - I don't own a cape or a sword with a name - but I do like good stories. Anyway, Sanderson was in town a month or two ago, but because we live in Chicagoland now, "in town" still means an hour away. A friend told me about his book signing multiple times, but I wasn't interested in making the trip out that far. (And for what? To get him to sign my library book?) But then the next day at church I found myself the new owner of a signed copy of "Words of Radiance" which is book 2 of the Stormlight Archive.
"Well, crud" I said to myself. Not that I didn't appreciate such a thoughtful gift, but because I wasn't sure that I wanted to dive into another massive fantasy quest. A ream of David McCullough talking about the 1800s cured me of that, so I got "The Way of Kings" from the library and started in.
The thing about fantasy writing, is that it's epic. The key phrase in fantasy is "world building". (Think of all that blathering on that Tolkein fans do about the names of swords and rings.) Only in fantasy books are there novels containing stories that come from myths that speak of legends. Even the Harry Potter series spawned "The Tales of Beedle the Bard". It's epic in scope, detail, preparation and length. And the stormlight archive fits right in.
The two books (thus far) are a hair over 1000 pages each, and I was particularly struck by the way that Sanderson takes his time to develop both the story and the universe it happens in. There's no handy moment early on where a character happens to explain the workings of magic glowing gems, the layout of kingdoms, the periodic destructive storms or the ancient mythology of the world. Instead, we're following the story of characters that know more about their world that we do, and only learning more as their lives make things evident. It's an interesting way to do things, and a testament to his talent as a writer that he can do it without making me frustrated. And it does take time - it takes 1500 pages before all of the main characters even meet each other.
Another characteristic of Sanderson's writing is his ability to provide a satisfying climax at the end of each book. While there are still plenty of loose ends and larger plots to follow, the final pages of his books don't leave me wanting to throw them across the room frustrated that he's in any way stringing me along. I don't know how many books there will be, or how long it will take him to write them, which is one hesitation I had before starting the series. I've been waiting 20 years to see how OSCs "Seventh Son" is going to turn out, and I don't have any hopes of finding out any time soon. (Other than, you know, the fact that it's kinda obvious how it will turn out. It's complicated . . .) So maybe my suggestion is to that you stick this series on your to-do list and come back to it in a few years, unless you're more patient than me.
I realize that I haven't really told you what the books are about, despite all these words I've written. Sanderson himself has a hard time explaining what it's about. Superficially, it's pretty predictable: main character is a "common man" who goes through a rough life, and yet will find himself in a position to influence big events and discover some capabilities that no one would have suspected. On the way the story picks up some ruling elite that are slime-balls, and others that are good-hearted. Of course we have some magic, assassins, wars, demons, visions, natural disasters, duels, and even a trip to the zoo in there. But, you don't have to take my word for it.
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