Just Stating the Obvious

Well, if you can’t guess, I went to Dragonsteel Con 2023 this week, and it was amazing! I’d been expecting to see lots of cool people in Cosmere Cosplay, Cytoverse Cosplay, and other Brandon Sanderson-related cosplays. The attendees certainly didn’t disappoint. I was expecting opportunities to enjoy nerding out about some of my favorite books. Once again, the reality did not fall short. There were a lot of amazing people who came, and it was such a blast to be surrounded by others who appreciate awesome fantasy stories like I do.

Unexpected Awesomeness

While I’d been expecting much of what made the convention so fun, I hadn’t foreseen the half of it. Forged Foam was generous enough to give anyone who wanted the chance to spar both with boffer swords and shields as well as foam Shardblades and Shardspears! That was so much fun! And, wow! Even the foam versions of Shardblades are still unwieldy due to the combination of a distant center of mass as well as the fact that the wide blade turns the entire thing into a giant propeller. Clearly, magic must be involved for them to be useful in combat. 

There was even a free virtual reality short film with M-Bot!

I hadn’t considered how many authors would be setting up exhibition booths, and how much fun it would be to talk to them. I even had some friends with booths! (Yes, I should have taken a picture. I’m still working on that. It’s a minor miracle I even thought to get the pictures I did take. You can thank my wife for most of them!)  It was also exciting to see many independent (aka self-published) authors “making good art”, as Neil Gaiman would say.

Talking to these authors did give me a rather disappointing wake-up call. Looks like I’ve still got a long road until this whole writing thing can actually support my family. Still, it’s better to know sooner than later. I might have to slow down while I brace up for the long haul, but I’m still writing!

My Verdict on Dragonsteel Con 2023

In classic Sanderson fashion, I was expecting good and this was incredible! There was so much to see and do. Dragonsteel Con 2023 easily has my vote for the best convention I’ve gone to all year. 😉 There’s a reason this convention appears to be growing exponentially, and I don’t think it’s done growing yet. Dragonsteel Con 2023 was amazing, but Dragonsteel Con 2024? With Stormlight Archive 5 coming out next year, I’ll be flabbergasted if Dragonsteel Con 2024 isn’t at least twice as big.

Oh, and Thanksgiving also happened this week. You can enjoy my Thanksgiving-Themed Dominion Kingdom if you like.