EUOLogy: On Pullman and Censorship

(Note: For background on why I wrote this, please read this blog post. Thanks.)

To whom it may concern,

INTRODUCTION

Let me introduce myself. My name is Brandon Sanderson. I have a Master's Degree in English from BYU, where I now teach creative writing. I'm a practicing member of the LDS church, and am a best-selling fantasy novelist.

A couple of weeks ago, I received an email regarding the movie "The Golden Compass," a movie which is being released this Christmas. The email was very critical of the movie and the books it is based on, warning people NOT to go see the movie or read the books because of their anti-religious content. They explained that Philip Pullman, the author of these books, is an atheist, and—with these books—is trying to convert our children away from the worship of God. At the same time, I've heard of local libraries and schools being asked to remove these books from their shelves.

Upcoming Books by Brandon (And Warbreaker deal news)

A little tidbit of news. We just finalized negotiations on a four-book contract, including two books in the Warbreaker series and two books starting a new series. First book of Warbreaker is scheduled for a May 2009 release. Huzzah!

EUOLogy: Emotion vs. Thought, Revisited

So, I just did a signing at the BYU Bookstore. I like signing there, if only because the staff is so nice. Education week is a crazy time. It's a big conference that the school holds between the end of summer semester and the beginning of fall semester, so there are tons of people there taking seminars and the like, very few of whom are actual students of the school. Anyway, the bookstore gets a lot of traffic, and so it's generally a good time to sign.

Review of Doppelganger by David Stahler Jr.

A friend of mine likes to complain about manga (no, this book isn't manga, but stay with me.) He says that all of the plots are the same because they all seem to take place in some high school setting, plus some wacky concept. It's ninjas in high school, or aliens in high school, or robots in high school, etc. At first, when he'd say this, I'd nod my head—it DOES seem like a lot of those mangas take place in the same setting. Why don't they get original already?

EUOLogy: Why We Publish Hardbacks

First off, let me say that this is the third version of this essay. I've rewritten it a couple of times, partially because of feedback I've received, and partially because my own thoughts on it have changed. The original drafts just felt too . . .well, whiny, which I didn't intend.