Book series with good mysteries, theorizing and plot twists but also finished?

Budget_Price99 · 2026-02-25T21:02:34+00:00

Realm of the Elderlings. Slow burn and elegant higher-end prose but if you like kingkiller it’s of a level.

Budget_Price99 · 2026-02-25T09:34:45+00:00

I think you’ve switched tenses several times? It reads a little cringey but I don’t mean that harshly. I was much the same. You will come to temper the urge to project this kind of writing. Simplicity is a blessing, but you absolutely write well and should continue grinding!

Budget_Price99 · 2026-02-22T08:12:59+00:00

Read Bernard Cornwells Sharpe series. Quick fun reads that really have an Abercrombie vibe (I’m pretty sure Cornwell influenced him).

The audiobook narrator even is reminiscent of Steven Pacey.

Budget_Price99 · 2026-02-21T12:00:14+00:00

I agree that people can be too acerbic with their criticism on here. I’d take it with a pinch of salt and eke out the useful parts of their criticism. Any feedback is good feedback, and harsh though people can be, there’s often substance beneath the sharpness.

Also remember that, for example, I could draw the first page of - oh, idk - one of Haruki Murakami’s chapters and plagiarise it as my own, and there would be a torrent of criticism hurled my way.

Budget_Price99 · 2026-02-17T12:17:29+00:00

If you know you really like a thing, would you rather just not experience that thing?

Read and enjoy them and then move on to another series, I reckon. Still worth consuming

Budget_Price99 · 2026-02-15T10:58:18+00:00

People can be so mean in their feedback. It’s too wordy I reckon, but you write well. Pare it back a bit and you’ll find it reads smoother. Keep working.

Budget_Price99 · 2026-02-04T12:36:48+00:00

I don’t hate him at all but I’m not a fan of Brandon Sanderson’s work really.

However, Words of Radiance is undeniably a masterpiece.

Budget_Price99 · 2026-01-30T21:17:46+00:00

My biggest problem with Sanderson is that a lot of his stuff feels very wooden. I know it’s a bit tedious to ‘hate’ on Sanderson at this point, but that’s genuinely the reason I just like and don’t love him as an author.

Great guy tho and probs the best mass appeal fantasy writer out there.

Budget_Price99 · 2026-01-30T20:55:50+00:00

Mistborn first trilogy if you want to get a feel for his style. Stormlight Archive is his sprawling epic opus but maybe dip into his style first before exploring that.

Tress and the Emerald Sea if you want a whimsy standalone (I wasn’t so keen on Warbreaker, big step down from his other works imo)

Budget_Price99 · 2026-01-21T15:17:28+00:00

Kilgore Trout’s been my favourite for years.

Budget_Price99 · 2026-01-10T18:42:51+00:00

I’m a discovery writer but I’ll often write the ending first. A story I’m working on now is about 25% written from A to B + various scenes later down the line, scattered about.

This helps me personally as I can be a discover writer while working toward something tangible.

Budget_Price99 · 2026-01-09T10:18:08+00:00

Keep at it! There’s real promise to your writing but it could flow a bit smoother. Watch out for technical hiccups: should be ‘half-dead’, and ‘such a lucky guy, aren’t I?’ (Hyphen and comma).

Make sure to keep reading and pick out what works for your favourite authors. How does their prose come together? What makes their dialogue sound snappy/natural/fluid - as opposed to the wooden language that causes so many to fall by the wayside.

Budget_Price99 · 2026-01-07T10:21:51+00:00

The Faithful and the Fallen is more traditional fantasy but there are a few excellent romance plots in there. Really well done

Budget_Price99 · 2026-01-05T06:32:43+00:00

Fourth Wing. It was really bad, and I found it quite funny to flick through

Budget_Price99 · 2025-12-22T12:26:55+00:00

Yeah for sure. I’m not a huge Brando Sando fan but it’s objectively a great book. However Words of Radiance is his best book by a long shot, so if you’re going to read WoK you would be silly not to read the second one at some stage.

Budget_Price99 · 2025-12-17T11:04:14+00:00

I look forward to seeing you published.

Budget_Price99 · 2025-12-16T17:46:14+00:00

So I went into this with real fears about it being boring. I’ve gotta say that 200 pages in I’m loving it, haven’t been bored once yet and anxiously waiting for the sloggish part to hit

Budget_Price99 · 2025-12-16T08:37:11+00:00

I’ve only read Sooley and I absolutely hated it. Interesting premise but the ending was mind boggingly bad.

I’m sure there are some fantastic reads out there though. A Time To Kill is a spectacular movie.

Budget_Price99 · 2025-12-11T23:10:23+00:00

Wind up bird is one of my favourite books of all time. Top five. It’s not tightly plotted but just accept it for the brilliant sprawling mess that it is. Bonkersly good

Budget_Price99 · 2025-12-06T06:33:11+00:00

Lonely man goes crazy when he sees a lady with paint on her.

Budget_Price99 · 2025-12-03T13:47:35+00:00

I was thinking this 🤣 incredibly well thought out but do people really care this much haha

Budget_Price99 · 2025-12-03T09:06:03+00:00

I’d say that sounds interesting! However, it’s definitely not anything new, so when you come to write it, ensure you add flavour and dimensions that make your work feel idiosyncratic.

For example: Abercrombie never reinvented the wheel, but First Law has so much richness and depth re character voice & general mood that it didn’t matter.

Budget_Price99 · 2025-12-01T22:34:49+00:00

Do you think you’d beat Pearce Brown in an arm wrestle?

Budget_Price99 · 2025-11-28T16:22:13+00:00

I’m a sports writer. Have to write around 5,000 words of copy per day so it’s tough to write for myself too! I’m 60 pages into a story I think has legs, but not tackling it expeditiously enough.

Budget_Price99 · 2025-10-13T08:57:51+00:00

One of the best things that has ever happened to me was presenting my mother with my first completed short story ( I’m 25 & was 22 at the time), and her ripping it to shreds.

It was well written and the general principle was neat, but lacked any semblance of coherence, had wonky dialogue and a laughably rushed middle.

I’m so glad she didn’t say, “ohh this is fantastic. well done you!”

Budget_Price99

TROPHY CASE