The most controversial element of fiction
Many people read stories and watch movies not for the visceral descriptions, profound themes, or even the plot itself. Instead, the primary reason they spend hours consuming different forms of media is specifically to experience the character dynamics and compelling emotions that those relationships evoke. Emotion is the glue of human experience, and in literature’s case, it glues you to the page. This is why, although some enjoy the spectacle and tension of a fight scene, most find them cold and devoid of meaning, as they often fail to convey emotion and can become plodding with overwrought descriptions or repetitive actions. In a movie, this is not as much of a problem because you still get to see the characters' faces as they struggle, thereby alleviating this issue. But a good literary fight scene is immensely challenging, and a bad one is unfortunately extremely common. For most of my life, fight scenes in books have just been a segway between plot points, and I had never considered ranking a whole list of them. But Sanerson’s Stormlight Archive has managed to create a harmony that surpasses all other attempts at imaginary violence, tying almost every fight into pivotal character growth. In this article, I will give multiple examples of his fight scenes and how each one avoids a particular pitfall. Then, it will culminate in a discussion of the perfect fight scene.
- Adolin VS Terushal (Rematch): In the Stormlight novels, there is a mystic order of knights called the Radiants. When the True Desolation comes, these are the only beings that stand a chance against the fused and thunderclasts. There is only one character to subvert this fact: Adolin. Adolin fails to become a Radiant, a fact that causes him to doubt himself immensely as his brother, father, and friends all gain powers. He is still an amazing fighter, the strongest mortal swordsman, but that is not enough during his first encounter with Terushal. Terushal is a thunderclast, a thirty-foot-tall stone monstrosity (Similar in strength and height to the stone giants from Middle-earth, but much faster and imbued with pure void energy), who tosses around Adolin like a rag, even despite Adolin’s super-powered armor. He only survives because his brother comes to his rescue with his supernatural powers, in a subversion of the fact that, in their childhood, Adolin had to protect Renarin. Over the next year, he continues to lose his sense of identity as the one-man army in the face of more and more superior monsters. When he is at the end of his rope, he finds himself face to face with Terushal once more, this time with even greater stakes (The deaths of thousands). Good thing he has help from another Shardbearer…until he is almost immediately crushed under an earth-shattering punch. Then, the massive chain he was hoping would hinder the monster is easily shattered. At the end of his rope, he sees his fathers face, and realizes that his father is not perfect, cannot save Roshar, and that Adolin must not compare himself to his father. This heals his simmering biterness, and gives him the desire to see his father’s face at least one more time. He ralies and slays Terushal, losing a leg in the process, but using his newfound ability to accept flaws, he can push past and continue to lend a hand in the defense of the Azish people. This fight includes powerful growth within, but it is lengthy, over ten pages. How does the author keep this from dragging on without compromising on epic scope? He spreads the fight out with perspective shifts, only focusing on the fight for two-page bursts. Thus, the ten-page fight takes place across over eighty pages, giving the reader time to reset their endurance and slowly begin to grasp the magnitude of Adolin’s inner struggle.
- Shallan VS two ghostblood elites: The Ghostbloods are one of the primary elements of stormlight that increases the breadth of the universe a thousand-fold in the eyes of the reader. The Ghostbloods are a massive secret organization spread out across almost every planet in the Cosmere (Universe). One of the main characters, Shallan, has had her footsteps haunted by an accidental entanglement with the conspiracy. In order to cope with the brutal and manipulative tactics they employ, she develops a mental disorder where she gains split personality disorder; as she gains confidence, one by one, she begins to reunify each of these persons into one cohesive person. Upon regaining unity of mind, it is time for her to stop running and overcome her constant paranoia. However, this fight is going to be nearly impossible. For other reasons, Shallan has entered the spiritual realm, where you are constantly thrown into memories from your past. The ghostbloods follow her and take the place of different characters within the memories. Then, they finally strike, fully committing to kill or be killed. But Shallan has become a master Lightweaver and manages to fill them both in a climactic scene. Similar to Adolin’s fight, it is a culmination of her journey thus far, but the difference is that the fight is much shorter, which is fitting and satisfying after being on the run for so long. It is the perfect storm of tension, as Shallan has already fulfilled her main plot role, and the reader is aware that she may actually die in the attempt.
- Kaladin VS Szeth: This fight uses the magic system to the max. The way it works is that you gain an immense amount of power as a result of swearing certain oaths with all your heart, soul, and mind; you lose that power if you break them. At the climax of the second novel, Kalladin has just sworn his third oath, and as a result, he has gained full control over his flight. He faces Szeth, the white assassin, who also has the capability to fly, and has such an immense degree of skill that he has single-handedly killed almost every single world leader, excepting the one under Kalladin’s protection. The fight is the ultimate spectacle, and being at the end of a one-thousand-page-long novel, you have a hunger for absolution that is satiated by this one moment. Fought above the clouds of the largest storm in the history of the world, with island-size boulders getting thrown up into the sky, they clash in a supremely graceful dance. Even someone who hates fight scenes cannot deny its surpassing quality.
These are all epic, quality-inbued clashes. But the thing that Brandon Sanderson is most famous for, and the reason why someone who hates fight scenes can safely enjoy the book, is his signature move: The offscreen fight. This is employed almost most effectively for one character: Talenelat ‘elin, Herald of War and Stone Walker. There is a compelling argument to say that he is the most skilled fighter in fiction. He has fought almost constantly for over seven thousand years, becoming the quintessential weapon. All of his fight scenes are done off-screen, and we only see what is left behind. An impossible battle, an eternally glorious struggle, hundreds of near invincible Fused heaped one on another. This was achieved without him using his powers (he did not have his honor blade at the time). This employs the seventh element of world building as described in the Robert Jordan article: Using the readers imagination, or the skill of Undescription. But in this case, it is not world building, but infamy building, generating excitement. The series is only almost half completed, despite being nearly three million words in length, and it is expected that in the coming books Talenelat will fight an enemy in a battle that is not a washout, one found on the page, a true titan clash which I am excited for in a way I have never anticipated any element of fiction before. The Chase summary: Brandon Sanderson manages to do more than just circumvent one of the hardest parts of writing; he manages to create a monument that redefines what combat can be.