This was the first Brandon Sanderson novel I read, and boy did it get me hooked. This YA Superhero story is a masterclass in pacing, and pulls readers through the novel at a ridiculous speed. Today, I’ll analyse how Sanderson achieved such a fast pace.
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Shownotes:
In the episode, I mention a table where I categorise each chapter’s ending. I forgot to include this here, but luckily a wonderful listener emailed me to ask about it. So, here it is! (Thanks Nigel!)
| Part | Chapter | Cliffhanger | Rest point | Last Line | Notes |
| Prologue | 1 | I’ve seen Steelheart bleed. And I will see him bleed again. | Prologues can run the risk of providing extraneous infodumps that don’t build momentum. This is an exception. You can’t get a more gripping closing line of a prologue than that. | ||
| 1 | 1 | 1 | It was time to hand the Reckoners my resume | ||
| 1 | 2 | 1 | Curveball reached for his gun | ||
| 1 | 3 | 1 | I took a deep breath, concentrated, and squeezed the trigger, fully expecting to be shot in the head from above. | ||
| 1 | 4 | 1 | Fortuity’s head exploded | ||
| 1 | 5 | 1 | And this deep in the steel catacombs, nobody would notice a scream or a gunshot. | ||
| 1 | 6 | 1 | I had failed. | Mc’s starting goal (to join the reckoners) is shut down by the reckoners themselves. | |
| 1 | 7 | 1 | This was Jon Phaedrus himself. Their leader and founder. | ||
| 1 | 8 | 1 | “We need to talk to Prof,” Megan said, towing me by the arm toward where the others were walking ahead. | ||
| 1 | 9 | 1 | “We give them the thing they’re waiting for. Me.” | ||
| 1 | 10 | 1 | Another Epic eliminated. | Antagonist defeated, but protagonists still inside conflict | |
| 1 | 11 | 1 | I pensively sat down beside the steel table as the others gathered around the pack and began rifling through my life. | 24% point | |
| 1 | 12 | 1 | “Persuade her.” | ||
| 1 | 13 | 1 | “God help us, we are.” | MC accepted into Reckoners. End of part 1 at the 29% point – coninciding with end of act 1 | |
| 2 | 14 | 1 | “Go get your gun, then. They’re leaving soon.” | ||
| 2 | 15 | 1 | “Here we are,” Abraham announced. | ||
| 2 | 16 | 1 | “Neightwielder is here.” | ||
| 2 | 17 | 1 | It was time for a little more improvising. | ||
| 2 | 18 | 1 | I turned the UV light and shined it on Nightwielder. | ||
| 2 | 19 | 1 | I shook my head and jogged after them. | Protagonists have accomplished their goal and are safe for now. F | |
| 2 | 20 | 1 | “Yes sir,” I said, leaving with a quick step out the cloth-covered doorway. | ||
| 2 | 21 | 1 | Two uniformed guards stepped up to the ledge and peered down into the darkness. | ||
| 2 | 22 | 1 | In seconds we were racing down the street in the opposite direction of fire trucks and emergency responders, heading for the rendezvous point with the other Reckoners. | End of the midpoint at 55% – heroes have accomplished another goal (which occurred smack back around the 50% mark) and escaped from immediate danger. End of part 2. | |
| 3 | 23 | 1 | On a whim I climbed in and went to see if I could find Megan. | ||
| 3 | 24 | 1 | “The bank vault.” | ||
| 3 | 25 | 1 | “Let’s get to work; this is going to take a while….” | ||
| 3 | 26 | 1 | “It’s time to kill Conflux,” Prof said. “And bring down Enforcement.” | ||
| 3 | 27 | 1 | At that moment Nightweilder himself flew through the top of the limo, his arms spread wide, lines of darkness stretching from his fingers out into the night. | ||
| 3 | 28 | 1 | Then I fired at the wall. | ||
| 3 | 29 | 1 | Right onto the side where the gravatonics were broken. | ||
| 3 | 30 | 1 | I followed him through the tunnel, and we made our escape. | End of act 2 at 77% mark and end of part 3. Again, heroes have escaped from danger, but this time with big consequences: Megan’s mortally wounded. | |
| 4 | 31 | 1 | Then I finally let the tears come in force. | Megan dies at 78% – lowest of lows; dark night of the soul – marks start of act 3. 2 rest endings in a row allow readers to reflect more deeply on the consequences of Megan’s death. Clever slowing of pacing to allow for more reflectiveness. Can’t always do this – here it works because of its contrast to the other faster-paced chapter endings. | |
| 4 | 32 | 1 | And just like that, he all but shut down Newcago. | ||
| 4 | 33 | 1 | But I would finally get my chance. | ||
| 4 | 34 | 1 | “Let’s do this.” | Final confrontation with Steelheart in the stadium begins. | |
| 4 | 35 | 1 | A shot rang in the air. | ||
| 4 | 36 | 1 | Eyes I knew. Megan. | ||
| 4 | 37 | 1 | A second later, the hallway exploded. | ||
| 4 | 38 | 1 | Or in this case, the battlefield. | ||
| 4 | 39 | 1 | I fired three shots. | ||
| 4 | 40 | 1 | I didn’t really have time to smile in that frozen moment, but I was feeling it nonetheless as the fire came for me. | Steelheart – the main antagonist – has been killed. | |
| 4 | 41 | 1 | I turned and ran for the copter. I didn’t know what else to do. | Sanderson shows the perfect way to structure the first book in a series: accomplish the main goal, vanquish the main antagonist (Steelheart), but leave the problems created by this accomplishment open-ended (Megan’s apparently evil) | |
| Epilogue | 1 | I fought because of his dreams |
Previous Brandon Sanderson Episode: 10 – Mistborn The Final Empire – by Brandon Sanderson – Mastering the Grand Skill of Worldbuilding
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