Not into our world, but a similar setting in Scadrial. Like the original Mistborn trilogy was set in a typical medieval-fantasy setting but then for the Wax&Wayne cycle it moved to a Wild West/Industrial Revolution setting, for the next cycle Scadrial will experience the technological (and one would assume also social) developments similar to those from our mid to late 20th century from what I gather.

Other than that, I'll just say that marketing and plain luck are very much determining factors in what's successful. There's crap that becomes wildly popular because it ends up promoted in the right way and then snowballs from there and there's an immense amount of quality work that remains forgotten in obscurity.

I'll refrain from commenting on the rest of your post...

Well tbh if anyone COULD pull that off in a good way without tainting his previous books, its probably Sanderson!
I will read them all and see how it turns out, regardless of how it plays out, and hope he pulls through.

I was standing in a long queue this morning and the book I'm currently reading is small enough and light-hearted enough for me to pick up and resume reading, particularly in such an inconveniant situation. I've managed to reach page 70 of The Key to Wellbeing: Develop a Happy and Healthy You and much to my surprise, it was pretty much very easy reading. So, no new words for me to share with you here today. xD

But, if I may, I'd like to share two quotes from the book that stuck with me:

"I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship." - Louisa May Alcott

"Not all storms come to disrupt your life. Some come to clear your path." - Paulo Coelho

Not surprising to have retained these specific quotes, as I've always been a lover of storms. :)

Maybe read The Tempest next, by W Shakespeare.

The Currents of Space - Isaac Asimov

Not bad in any way, but I did drop it for months without end before finally coming back and finishing it.

It's a bit of a political triller, with a very light bit of Dune thrown in (there's kyrt, a special and sought after plant fiber that only grows in the planet most of the story takes place), but most of it revolves around the amnesiac protagonist and his ability or not to remember an important discovery, and the mistery of who attacked him in the first place.

It reads at a brisk pace, but as it approaches the conclusion, it sort of slows down to a crawl, and everything ends up in a court room with several important people discussing the plot threads. It's supposed to be a very tense moment, but ends up boring.

It also has a bit of an unreveal moment, because it ends without ever revealing protagonist Rik's real name (he actually stops a character at the very end from saying his name to the reader).

Paladin

This is one of the other three novellas included with The Bard's Tale IV: Barrows Deep, besides the first three, which are novelizations of the original trilogy, and I didn't see any official description and didn't play the game, so I have no idea whether it's directly connected with the game and someone who has played it may well have a different opinion. But, to me, it does appear to fit. And, even on its own, it's a decent enough effort if you keep your expectations in check, portraying what is pretty much a single event, taking place over a short amount of time, and doing little more than setting the stage for an adventure, but doing it well enough, including plenty of lore elements, and being very easy to read and properly edited.
Of course, there are even short stories, not to mention novellas, that include strong character development, generate powerful emotions, and in the particularly notable cases even somehow manage to pack more and better worldbuilding, which is not the case here. But the one specific complaint I have is Alain's inconsistency, being grave and responsible in a few moments but otherwise way too carefree and quick to make light of everything for a paladin. Well, that and the title, which would have deserved at least a minimum amount of effort. And no, the other novellas don't share the pattern, so it couldn't have been some sort of requirement.

Rating: 3/5

Today I finished reading such book. "Varo Edition" THE CASE FOR THE UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECT BY M. K. JESSUP Transcribed by The Quantum Future Group Castelnau-Barbarens, France 2003.

Vertigo: The Rise and Fall of Weimar Germany by Harald Jähner

The brief period between the world wars in Germany is the focus of this excellent, well-researched history title. A very readable, in-depth look at dizzying, transient highs and incredible lows. Politics, emancipation of women, architecture, music, art, fashion, cinema, nightlife, all sorts of aspects of society are featured to form an exciting, kaleidoscopic image of the Weimar Republic and the Golden Twenties.

Mapping the road from a feverish yearning for freedom, wanting newness in everything, and a short-lived economical upswing to falling into despair as the Great Depression from 1929 on helped pave the way to World War II.

Jähner has a rare and outstanding gift of summing up complex matters in a few sentences, sometimes paragraphs, with sharp precision. I cannot recall having read a work by another author who possesses that keen an eye in this regard. Conveying the mood of the times is where Vertigo shines on top: it gets close to the people, the street, everyday life. A fantastic book and a new favorite.

I completely forgot about this thread, so here is my update:

Metro 2034: Metro 2034 takes place one year after the events of Metro, it's a more condensed and straight forward story with enfasis on the characters. It's a simple story the chronicle of one of the most stereotypical russian characters of the Metro universe, yet it's fun and easy to read perfect for relax on a rainy day. It's the book equivalent of a Carpenter movie.

Metro 2035: In this book, Artyom return as the main character in an attempt to contact with other survivers around the world. In this book I noticed a improvement on the autor's writing, it's much better than the other two books, it's not a Dostoyevsky book, but again, it delivers, it's easy to read and you don't have to think a lot or follow a ultra complex plot. A good postapocalyptic book with a detail and decadent world.

In the country of last things: The autor, Paul Auster, wrote this amazing oda to depression, what is worth to live for in a distopian city, isolated from the world, there is no chance to escape, only a protagonist fighting for survival.

Authority by Jeff Vandermeer

There is a shift in perspective as the story continues on from the first book; Authority being the second title in the Southern Reach trilogy+1. The surreal narrative fog sits thicker for the main body of the tale here, and I found myself having to trust that the author was gradually scaffolding away with a plan, and things would fall into place eventually. Vandermeer later does deliver a level of coherence that I am OK with.

There is more conversational dialogue now which is a bit weak in places: a couple of these interactions seemed unrealistic given the context in which they were happening. If you are inclined to (and feel generous), you could still accept them as just unexplained parts of the mystery fabric.

Not as strong as Annihilation, and I suspect — considering the publication schedule of the original trilogy (all three titles hit the market within eight months) — Authority might have been filled up a bit to accommodate the segmented release strategy of what maybe should be one volume instead. Nevertheless, I do want to see how the series will progress with Acceptance, book three.

Fast approaching the end of my current book, The Key to Wellbeing: Develop a Happy and Healthy You. Well, I say "fast" and yet, I reckon this is the type of book that be easily finished during a single lazy afternoon sitting. xD It's extremely light reading. But, in my defense, the book is divided into bite-sized snippets of food-for-thought mini chapters: you read a small bit and then you pause to think about what you just read and how it may or may not apply to your own life. Example: there was a snippet about how meeting new people can contribute to one's wellness and I had to pause my reading to think about how I really love my solitude, but that sometimes there's a sting of loneliness that pokes me in the gut and that perhaps I could try things to meet new people.

Two other snippets that caught my attention: being spontaneous and daydreaming can also contribute to one's mental wellness. I had to pause my reading and, ironically, do some daydreaming about what I had just read. LOL! I also thought about my bestfriend, whom I love very much, about how such a spontaneous person he is and all of the absolute craziness and wild adventures his spontaneity has spawned into our lives!

Oh, and as per my usual tradition, there are no new words for me to signal. Pretty much easy breezy reading, so far.

My reading list has been updated.

Maybe I should comment more on the books I've been reading ... but I don't even bother to grade them anymore these days. After all, how one feels about a story is quite subjective much of the time.

There was a time, when I might have used my gradings for criteria to re-read, but I just cannot keep up with all the new stuff I want to read, so re-reading has taken a mostly back step now.

And to be perfectly honest, I generally only read the comments left by others here, if the book they mention is one I know ... and so have either read or are thinking about it. But then I don't like the risk of spoilers or having someone else's thoughts in my head while reading a story ... especially if they are negative ... I like to make my own mind up, bias and notion free.

I can appreciate discussing a story with others who have read that story, like in a Reading Group for instance, but outside of that it kind of seems pointless ... and I don't like the risk of spoiling things for others.

But hey, each to their own. :)

I will comment on the fact I have read some new to me authors since my last update, and enjoyed them all.

They were the following.

STIEG LARSSON - starting with his THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, which was pretty exceptional. I have the full trilogy, and as you can see in my record, I have now read them all, plus I bought the first follow-on by another author, as it was going cheap.

MARGARET HICKEY - starting with her BROKEN BAY, which was quite good and closer to home than most books I read. I was impressed enough to buy another of her ebooks that was going cheap.

JEFFERY DEAVER - starting with his THE GOODBYE MAN, which was great, but second in that series, which I got cheap, and it inspired me to buy the first and later ebooks in that series.

JOE ABERCROMBIE - starting with his Half A King (free sampler), which is somewhat of a rarity for me, but the blurb grabbed me enough in passing to give it a go, and resulted in me liking the first 7 chapters story enough to buy the full novel and the two sequels.

I have been trying to cut back on reading new authors, because I have enough of them already in my 'too read' backlog. But alas it is hard to miss seeing attractive books in passing ... and some are on my maybe to read list if I see cheap enough.