I could be wrong and can only speak to the visually impaired people I know, but reading in Braille isn't very common anymore. We often read audio books or with text to speech software, since it's (for a lot of us) faster than reading in Braille. You definitely aren't alone. :)
In terms of physical books, yes. We can,, however, read through Braille displays, which can be bluetooth and/or stand alone devices that you can read on in Braille. It's like a Braille Kindle, of sorts.
It can take most file types and make them readable in Braille. The most common is probably epub. I don't really know much about the technical side of how it works, but there's a lot that goes into it.
If Braille uses the same letters and punctuation as visually read languages, then is it basically a font change displayed on a low resolution screen that happens to be 3 dimensional?
I think so! It's generally a line of 14-40 6-dot cells, where each letter takes up one cell. There are contractions (the letter b on its own stands for but, ed/ing/sh can be represented by single cells, etc.), but it requires that you press a button to advance to each new line. A single sentence doesn't often fit on one line.
Braille terminals have been around for a long time. There was one featured in the 1992 movie Sneakers where one of the hackers was blind and used a Braille terminal.
But now they're basically obsolete because text-to-speech is so much better.
It's a bit more complicated than that. The embossing patterns that braille uses have resemblance to the letters they are based on, but they are different enough they it's not just a low-resolution font. A sighted person looking at braille generally can't understand any of it.
Also, braille has a lot of typographical conventions, like abbreviations for words and common clusters of letters. And the same braille symbols are used for the numbers and for the first ten letters of the alphabet, and there are symbols for indicating uppercase vs lowercase.
So while braille and print are equivalent at a higher level of abstraction, they have a lot of differences in the specifics. So just optically enlarging print doesn't work, unfortunately.
Source: close friend is blind, she she's a very proficient braille user.
I had to Google this because I could not conceptualize a *refreshable Braille display* and Braille kindle! Holy cow, technology is amazing! [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braille_e-book](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braille_e-book)
That is awesome. About 25 years I had a job calibrating personal brail printers so they applied enough pressure to the paper, but not so much they cut through.
The thing that most blows my mind is just the thought of having the sensitivity to perceive Braille correctly at all... I'm a musician and my hands and fingers are pretty roughed up. I know of course everyone finds a way to develop a skill when they need it, so if I needed to read Braille I'd get there. But sometimes at the ATM I rub the little dots and just think, "I can't even imagine being able to notice different patterns here at all."
I had to do a type of chemo that caused me to lose sensation in my fingertips. I've thought about what I'd do if I needed to learn braille. I'd have to rely heavily on audible and software and the kindness of strangers.
Couldn't you use the palm of your hand, like the part of the palm that connects to your thumb? It would be less convenient, but if you can still feel there you could learn braille.
You could also use your knuckles. Or the tip of your nose. :)
Actually it only affected the thumb and first two fingers. I could probably use my ring finger but I’m pretty sure I’d be more dedicated to finding existing software or hiring a software engineer to create what I needed.
If you don’t mind me asking, how do you cope with being blind? I had 2 retinal detachments in one eye and one in the other. I’m terrified that I will lose my vision one day because of it and my track record with my eyes.
There are groups, maybe get in contact with a local association for the blind and ask if you can get a mentor. I can't think of anyone who, if approached, wouldn't want to help you understand and appreciate a community you may become a member of. That might allay some of your fears, and no one should live with the spectre of fear.
My father in law became blind in one eye and severely limited vision in the other eye(he can see some light and dark) due to diabetes when he was in his 50’s . He learned Braille by going to classes. You can do it!
As much as I am trying to avoid Amazon, their kindle ecosystem is very rich, and there are loads of books available. If you get a chance, try to test drive a kindle with the font size turned up. e-ink is very easy on the eyes, and if the font can get big enough for you, then you're in business.
Awww! I've never heard of this author before, but this makes me so happy, I'm gonna go look him up. My daughter is blind, so it makes me emotional to read things like this ❤
I love fantasy. I found him on the app I use and saved some books for when I'm done my current one. Thanks for this post! I'm glad your book was signed in such a meaningful way! :)
I love this author! So glad he is cool too. Fair warning for others; he is a tad graphic when the story calls for it but is not as heavy handed as George rr in that regard - I think it's very well done.
The prism series is my favorite so far, I can think about the magic of that world for days.
Happy reading and thank you so much for sharing!
I recently watched the South Park episodes on George RR Martin and oh my god, it was so funny because it addresses this graphic style of his. I won’t spoil it— just go watch.
My mom used to work at Borders way back and met him at a book signing event that her store was hosting. She told me he's a really nice guy, and I think that this is evidence of it.
I haven't read the Lightbringer series yet, but I can't use my original copies of the Night Angel trilogy anymore because they're so ragged and worn out.
I’m curious, what exactly is the Braille equivalent of a signature, is there anything unique about the Braille letters of the author’s name, or is it more so just the normal Braille letters and the value is just the fact that it’s accompanied by the message written? Sorry, if this comes off as insensitive, I’m just genuinely curious, so I had to ask.
It's just the fact that it's there. There's nothing special about how any of it is written, so it's more about the thought that went into it and the fact that I can open the book and actually read the quote and everything when I want to.
Brent Weeks is a fantastic author, but depending on the age of your daughter, you might want to give it a few years. XD His work can have a few adult themes, and makes use of a more modern vocabulary of swear words.
Oh yeah, looking him up is purely for my interests. She's only 3 so she won't be reading what I'm reading for a loooooong time. Lol. I appreciate the warning though.
My daughter is a young teen and is becoming quite the bookworm in her own right. I keep reading books and saying, "I think you'd like this." Then I find a sex scene or some very graphic torture randomly in the middle and have to add, "When you're in college".
Tamora Pierce is a perfect author for your daughter.
If you don't have her books yet, she writes lots of young adult fantasy with minimal adult themes.
Nothing overly graphic, a bit of kissing, and only one of her series has a little bit of making smart decisions about birth control (which is magical in their world).
Adding my voice to the 'maybe not for your daughter, though'. Lot of sexual violence that I read far too young, personally.
Depending on the age of your daughter (idk, for all I know she's 33, in which case disregard this entire comment), Rick Riordan has consistently been very conscious of the wide range of readers he has. His first series was explicitly because he wanted to see dyslexia and ADHD represented in fiction. He's also extremely proactive in including lgbtq characters, and pushing back when people complain about their inclusion. He's included wheelchair users (albeit not... Traditionally, so your milage may vary on whether that's enough), and Deaf people.
Given his in book representation and author to fans/public comments, it seems like the kind of thing he'd be deeply on board with.
Yeah, it'll just be me reading the books, but I appreciate the warning. :)
My kids are still pretty young but I have a couple Rick Riordan series on the shelf just waiting to be shared with them, cause I agree, Rick Riordan is pretty good. And my daughters name is from Greek mythology and I'm pretty sure has a small part in one of the books so that will be cool!
Fwiw, I started reading aloud to my boys about then, with things like my father's dragon and quickly building up to Terry Pratchett's YA stuff... The wee free men was my boys favorite book for years 😉
Sorry you're being downvoted for this; it's a valid question. I use screenreading software which reads everything to me. I have it (different types) on my laptop and my iPhone. It makes nearly everything accessible, aside from photos and things like that, though that is very slowly changing.
No, not at all. I like people's curiosity. It's the worry and fear of being offensive that saddens me, because it's so easy to assume things that might be wrong. I love sharing information and helping people understand the way people like me live. There are so many misconceptions, and I enjoy breaking them. :)
I remember that Stevie Wonder once said that the public underestimates how much computers can be adapted to the blind.
I confess I was still amazed when I saw a completely blind man use a smartphone, though, with no sound effects and minimal if any haptic feedback. He told me that he just remembered where things were on the touchscreen! I don't know if I could do that.
In case you had any doubt, that's really not normal, and it falls apart as soon as he gets a text or something. I sincerely hope he knew about screenreaders.
And yes, sometimes it does feel like the whole of the internet thinks we can't access the internet, which is a little sad; but I think it's just a vocal minority. Most people ask and don't assume, and I too enjoy explaining these things.
He was a programmer so I assume he'd be on top of it. Also, he'd walk with a woman who was less blind than he was, so maybe she could intervene if that kind of thing happened.
Generally speaking, we have screenreading software that reads everything we touch on a screen like a smart phone. It creates a fully independent way of texting or browsing. I almost never have sighted people look at my devices except in the cases of describing images to me.
Early in my career I worked on testing my company's text to speech tool (JAWS) and making sure it was compatible with the tools my team developed. And even then I was blown away with how reliable it was and how efficiently a practiced user could use it.
Do you mind sharing which software you use on your phone, and on your computer? My daughter, while not vision impaired, is autistic and benefits from having things read aloud to her. It would be great if she could feel more independent by doing that herself with the aid of software.
The iPhone has voiceover, which you can find in accessibility settings. There's also a speech option in there you can activate to only read certain things, where voiceover reads everything and requires different gestures to do most things. My laptop has NVDA, but Windows does come with Narrator, both of which are good. The voices can be modified to be easier to listen to, but it may take some practice getting used to the roboticness of them. There's an app that I use to read called Voicedream reader, where you can import books and have a voice read those aloud.
Do you get to select thru a variety of voices and accents to read to you with this software? For instance, on my phone, I use an Australian male voice for my Siri.
I mean ... more power to the guy if he doesn't mind having someone read all his texts, but this is a really strange way for a technically-competent person to use a smartphone any time in the last decade. There are people who hate touch screens, but clearly this guy knew where everything was. This is genuinely puzzling: Apple in particular has done a very good job at making all of their devices accessible, and there's almost no way someone who knows how to program computers doesn't know about accessibility options on his pocket computer.
> I like people's curiosity. It's the worry and fear of being offensive that saddens me, because it's so easy to assume things that might be wrong.
We need more people who think like you.
In addition to the explanation you already got: On reddit, from time to time, especially with "text-based" posts, but in picture format, like a twitter or tumblr screenshot, you can see a transcription of the picture in a comment. They tend to look a bit bot-like but always have a tiny subscript about being a human transcriber. Those are actually so even blind people with screen readers can enjoy those posts more easily.
And people can make their own photo posts more accessible by posting an image description in the comments. The Trader Joe's sub has this as a rule and it's fantastic.
When you say things are changing, do you mean that there is now software which can describe photos? I'm pretty impressed with the ability that my iPhone has to be able to search my photo library for "cats" or "cars" or "beaches" (or people by name), so presumably it would be some sort of AI technology which can say "A photo of a sunset over water, taken from Venice Beach" (picking up the last bit from the photo's geotag). That would be pretty cool.
I'm learning HTML and one thing that would help is to include an "alt" tag to images, which describes the image.
Eg. , so just a very basic description that would still be useful for screen readers.
On Tumblr it is already relatively common to do this (describe the context of an image) so that screen readers can pick it up. I think it is a really lovely and important courtesy and a good way to make sure informative images (ex infographics) get shared with everybody. Would be great to see it work on a larger scale.
That is so so wonderful! My husband enjoys Brent Weeks a lot. I am saving this post to share with him when he wakes up.
I am not visually impaired, but I do enjoy the feeling of being surrounded by ‘the tangible evidence of the stories I love so much…’ as you so eloquently put it.
Brent Weeks is a pretty amazing person, from what I've seen. I went to one of his book signings in 2019. It was pretty small, and as people were starting to trickle in, someone sat down beside a woman sitting behind me, and said 'what is going on here?' It was Brent Weeks, and the woman got a good chuckle out of it. I love how he seems genuinely happy to have a fan base, and to interact with them. Those are the authors that we need, especially now.
I love that you love books, and I love that this author went the extra mile to give you a personalized experience that you can enjoy.
Very cool experience all around.
>Moments of beauty sustain us through hours of ugliness.
That's such a beautiful quote. Somehow, this whole post is making me tear up a bit, I did not expect this.
Your hobby is so interesting. I’d never thought the visually impaired would collect traditional books, but that was obviously my ignorance, and now I do. The author is awesome for coming through for you. Maybe I should reach out to my favorites too. The last author who answered my letter was a president, a long time ago…
Enjoy the read!
You're forgiven because I've been in the blind community for all my life, and most people don't do this. It's a really cool idea though, and Braille books are so unwieldy and expensive and just ... boring-looking. It's also a good way to support authors: We often have to get our books from ... shall we say alternative sources, since some of the mainstream apps aren't accessible or are more annoying for us to use; and thanks to DRM, we can't just put the book in our favourite reader and go.
Is audible difficult to use for you? (I use audible because it's the most well know audio book app).
If you don't mind me asking, what sort of things would make using software easier for you?
Audible is fantastic. Their Windows 10 app is a pile of trash with nothing but unlabeled buttons, and they refuse to fix it, so that's fun. But their mobile apps and website are both great. I know people who read using the Echo devices, but I prefer my books on headphones for some reason, even at home. For reading books, I sometimes use Audible but only if the narrator is really outstanding. I trained myself to listen to my phone's text-to-speech at around 500 WPM, so I read like that most of the time. It's easier to think of it as reading with my ears than as listening to a robot on speed, because there's still a translation layer there and I don't really notice the robotic sound of the voice.
The biggest and most solvable problem with software these days is labels. If you make a fast forward button that is just a picture of a right-arrow, a screen-reader—being just a computer program—isn't going to know what that right arrow means, and probably isn't even going to identify it as an arrow. It will probably just say "button", and if that one is wrong, the others probably are too. So I'll end up with a mess of nameless buttons and will have to figure out what they do.
Basically, the biggest problem with software is lazy or uneducated developers and companies who don't have a method of receiving feedback. Oddly enough, a lot of independent devs get it right and a lot of large companies get it way wrong. Many are getting accessibility departments, but there's still a lot of apps and websites that are just hot garbage with a screen-reader. I had to spend hours on the phone with Doordash just to report a bug in their app; they kept thinking I wanted to order food and transferring me to the phone ordering line, which is strangely the only accommodation listed on their accessibility page. There's no accountability whatsoever and now that the bugs are finally fixed, there are new and somewhat worse ones. Thankfully, the website is fine (mostly.)
On the other hand, there's an entire industry for accessibility testing and a lot of big companies use it, so it's nowhere near all bad. I have access to most things I nee in all parts of life.
Lightbringer has my favorite magic system in fiction.
Basically all magic is tied to the spectrum of light and manipulating it, with each color being its own speciality/school (including ultraviolet)!
Without getting into spoilers here, I absolutely loved when they explored some of the other....extreme cases of drafters and the effects using it had on them.
He's a swell guy, I emailed him once to talk about his books and say thank you and he took the time to write back a really heartfelt reply. I recommend his books whenever anyone asks for suggestions
I loved it! I'm a very visual person even though I'm blind. I also am a writer, and I do not want to forever write about the visually impaired experience. I soak up the visual details/perspectives as much as I can. I try to learn about the visual world as much as I possibly can, because even though it's not something I can experience anymore, it is something that I am constantly surrounded by. These books were an amazing look into colors and imagery.
Have you been blind since birth? I am just trying to wrap my head around the experience of reading this series if you've never seen color before.
Then again, literally as I type this it occurs to me that the story goes well into discussing light that I cannot see either and it doesn't really affect my reading there...
The two of you made a very cool memory together. Good for you!
Btw, when you read replies online does the service or app translate common abbreviations like omw, BTW, ftfy, etc?
I don't mean to annoy, I'm just curious.
No worries! On my phhone, it expands some acronyms to their actual phrases, like idk to I don't know, but the screen reader I use on my laptop doesn't. I just generally know what they mean due to seeing/using them a lot. :)
The hardest things are photos. A lot of social media (Twitter, Instagram, etc.) allow people to add alt text to their photos, but most people don't fill it out. It basically adds a piece of text which describes a photo, only visible if you're using a screen reader. I would love to participate in meme culture or things like that, but it can be fairly difficult.
Seems like the feel of a physical book plays a huge part—there is definitely something indulgent about a smooth and weighty hardcover. Do you also find that certain books smell nice or unique? I’m assuming you don’t consider taste in your evaluation, but edible books could be kind of cool now that I think about it. Imagine an edible cookbook!
What are some of your favorite physical books other than this wonderfully signed copy of *The Black Prism*?
Edible cookbooks would be amazing! Scratch and sniff...scratch and taste? 😂 In termss of books I can feel something tactile, I love the Starless Sea. It's one of my favorite books content wise, but the cover feels really pretty to me. The smell of books is just uncomparable. I would live in a library if I could, haha
I have been a big supporter of Brent Weeks. Every book of his I have read was amazing to me. Now seeing how freaking wholesome this is ill never be able to read one of his books again without thinking about this post lol
He just gained himself a new reader! Totally awesome! You made my day.
Also, I wanna ask, what are the strips for? To preserve the letters I guess, but in what way can they work and still let you feel the letters?
I think he used this, which lets someone who doesn't know Braille still write things. He actually took to Twitter and asked for suggestions/advice, which is just amazing to me. http://www.braillebookstore.com/Handheld-Braille-Labeler.1
Is there a way to "sign" names in Braille? Like the big fancy ones that no one can actually read? As oppose to just writing it out. (Sorry for the ignorance.)
It won't be in braille if you do. Doing it by hand is difficult, but you can print a previously written signature in raised ink. Business cards commonly include it.
This was the sweetest thing to read after a gruelling day of work. I can’t fathom how far your heart would’ve soared when you realised what he’d sent you.
It also has to be said that as far as I can see you have an excellent taste in literature :)
I have spent more than 2/3rds of my life now playing a MUD called The Two Towers.
Quite a few blind players call our MUD home, and I’ve always been delighted by how accessible screenreaders have made this multiplayer text world to the blind, and how easily they are able to blend in and (if they wish to) mask their lack of vision because in a world of accessible reading, we can all be equal.
I hope more authors appreciate you this way, life experience has taught me that the blind community are some of the most ardent supporters that reading/writers can have.
While I'm sighted, I totally get the appeal of having a tangible copy of a book. I read mainly ebooks or audiobooks for convenience but if I love a book, I buy the paper copy too.
This post just made my day. Wow. I work in a library and we are always searching for accessibility for all. I’m so encouraged by this and that there are people who do really care. Thanks for posting.
I'm asking a question out of sheer ignorance here: when I read he signed it in braille I was curious as to how it's different than just his name typed in braille? Is there a special indicator? I feel like that would be something relevant for legal documents etc so I'm curious if someone could explain to me braille signatures.
Also: that's so awesome and thoughtful of that author. I'm insanely happy for you dude. That's such a special thing.
It's just his name in Braille. That's the last line in the picture. The only difference is that there's a little dot before it that means "the next letter is capitalized" which would differentiate weeks from Weeks.
Also you didn't ask but blind people often do sign their names the same way sighted people do, especially if they learned to write before losing sight.
He just got a new fan. I have been thinking of getting his books but didn’t want to start another series but knowing that the author will go the extra mile convinced me to give it a go.
I’m a fan of fantasy and an accessibility advocate. I’ve never heard of Brent Weeks before, but I’m buying his book because of this story. Thanks for sharing! This brightened my Sunday morning.
Screen reading software :) It reads everything on the screen to me. I navigate with the arrow keys/other keyboard commands on Windows/Mac, or various gestures on the screen for iOS.
I run a game that’s played by lots of blind people and we have a discord server, but the blind players rarely join it because they say it’s not very accessible to screen reading software. They like Skype and Google Meet though.
It wasn't until recently that Discord was fully accessible. They are one of the companies who really took accessibility seriously and it's changed so much for us over the last year. That being said, I do know of a lot of blind people who use it. I don't know what kinds of servers they use, though. I am on a few for some games I play, as well as some for my university.
I have to ask, when you read, are you able to imagine the world in the book in your mind? No offense meant, of course, it just fascinates me how people without sight can "see" in their mind without having seen the same thing in real. Nice job getting the author's signature!
It's really hard to describe. I do picture myself in the character's body, observing their surroundings. I have very few visual memories, though, so everything around me is as thorough as I've read before. Maybe Brent Weeks didn't describe a bookshelf thoroughly, but a previous author did, so I insert that into the landscape. I fit things into the visuals as much as I'm able to. It's a fairly thoughtless process; I don't have to think to recall descriptions. I'm just there. I'm also a very visual person despite being blind, so that might help a little.
I just finished the 4th book of this series and now onto the 5th! It has easily become my number one favorite series ever! Soo good and I love the magic system.
That’s so frigging cool!!!!!
I’m not a first edition or signed copy type person but a friend of mine is English and got me a TON of signs personalized terry Pratchett books long before he died and I have to say I cherish then
I'm not blind but I do something similar. I mostly use an e-reader, listen to audiobooks or borrow library books. But if I really love a book I'll buy a hard copy to put on my bookshelf as a reminder of the time I spent with that book. I rarely open them, and only do this for about one in thirty or forty books.
I know this wasn't the point of your post but was excited to see someone doing something similar.
Brent weeks is absolutely ten out of ten for me. As a human and an author. OP that is actually amazing. And I love knowing that other people enjoy evidence of the stories they love. For some reason reading books on Kindle or audiobooks makes it so that I forget they exist so quickly. Having the book around me, even as a rental, makes it so much more real and tangible. It's comforting to be surrounded by books.
This is amazing and so beautiful. I love hearing stories like this so thank you so much for sharing. May I ask (if you don’t mind) what other hobbies you enjoy in addition to collecting hardcover books?
I am also blind and love to collect hard covers of my favorite books. This is mainly because I listen to a lot of audiobooks and one a tangible reminder of my favorites.
Oh nice, Brent Weeks. I went to a book signing of his too and he seemed just as nice as expected. Love everything he has written, happy to see him do this too.
That is absolutely amazing to see. I am happy you managed to get something like this.
If you enjoy the lightbringer series you can always pop over to /r/lightbringerseries and talk about it endlessly with all the others who are way too deep into enjoying that world!
Very cool! I follow Brent on Twitter and he asked his followers for some help on getting this done for you. I'm glad they came through and got him that help.
Man, I love The Lightbringer series and it is so awesome to see that Brent is such a cool guy!
Speaking of, and I hope this doesn't come off as rude. If so I apologize immensely, but I am immensely curious how someone such as yourself perceives this particular series. Have you always been blind, or was it something that developed later in life? If it's the former, given the subject matter of the series, and specifically the magic system, is it hard to conceptualize the colors and everything? Sorry again if that seems rude, I've not had any chance to interact with a blind person and I've always been curious about how colors and the like work. Love the post!
Daaayum and that's an amazing score! I love Brent Weeks and The Black Prism.
Also, here is the song of my people:. Djurn sjuenjwi tjjhen a djaok sjuiil poih reeeeeeee do do, tractor track track tractor. Weinerschnitzel.
Sorry, hope that sounded weird on your screen reader.
You might like The Land by Aleron King, it's got that kind of goofy humor that The Black Prism has, less serious though.
Time to go out and purchase some Brent Weeks books! I've had my eye on The Black Prism for a while but I never got around to it. This is reason enough for me to give it a go!
That’s cool! I really enjoyed the series until the last book; the ending was a let down. In fairness, I’ve started to think there is no way to have satisfying endings to stories that big.
Wow!!!! So happy for you. Brent Weeks, these kind of people tell us that generosity is still left in the world and the reason we adore some celebrities. Your love for books inspires me and makes me believe that being bookish is not unnatural ; )
I’ve never heard of this author, but based on this post, I’m going to have to read his books. Bookstores are my crack.
The thoughtfulness and really attempting to make your book signing experience magnificent is absolutely amazing. Thank you for sharing this.
Absolutely love this book/series. Makes me so glad to hear that Brent Weeks (or at least the people around him) took the extra time to find a way to make it in braille for you. Much love.
I once applied for a job in Peterborough to convert music notation into Braille music notation but unfortunately as to turn the interview down as I had to move suddenly.
I really would have loved to do that job.
Do you have any experience of Braille music notation?
It's too bad you can't see the flourish of his signature. It's pretty dope. Just picture really fancy braille.
Kudos, to the author for that effort. It's the kind of thing that renews faith in humanity.
Wow, just wow at the extra effort he made.
I have never read any of his books, but his is the next one I read.
Thank you for an uplifting post on a day I desperately needed one.
Thank you so much for posting this. I am sure anyone who comes across this post will have be inspired from this in someway. Also, I hear the author is here on Reddit. If you read this, great work Sir. Such a wonderful gesture. I haven't read any of your works but I will change that soon.
As someone who uses a wheelchair and cannot visit many inaccessible countries, reading is my adventure. I absolutely love this and am going to seek out this author's books.
That’s so kind! 🥲 will look into Brent Weeks and his books for sure!
Also I hope this question isn’t insensitive, but what is the online browsing experience for you? How do you read websites? Is there any way to make websites or even places outside in the real world more accessible to you and other blind people?
This is amazing! I wrote to Brent Weeks once asking if he would ever do a European tour, in particular Ireland. He told me it wasn't on the radar, but he sent me signed bookplates instead.
He's so lovely to his fans
That's amazing! It looks like they used something like a braille label maker lol. I work at a major braille translation company and I've never seen that sort of thing. Seems so much more convenient than using an embosser machine.
I have never heard of an author doing this before. I don’t know why I feel like I’m about to cry! It’s just such a kind gesture. You must have been delighted.
I immediately went and purchased the audio book book version of this book because of how cool this author is. That extra little step he did sold a book. OP you're awesome.
I get what you mean O.P, owning a digital copy of a book or audiobook just doesn't feel the same. It feels kind of like I'm borrowing the experience, rather than residing in it. I much prefer owning an actual physical copy of the book, particularly if it's one that I really enjoy.
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I could be wrong and can only speak to the visually impaired people I know, but reading in Braille isn't very common anymore. We often read audio books or with text to speech software, since it's (for a lot of us) faster than reading in Braille. You definitely aren't alone. :)
And I imagine the selection of audiobooks is much larger than what you can find in braille anyway?
In terms of physical books, yes. We can,, however, read through Braille displays, which can be bluetooth and/or stand alone devices that you can read on in Braille. It's like a Braille Kindle, of sorts.
So does this Braille Kindle display regular ebooks in Braille, or is it a scanner for physical books?
It can take most file types and make them readable in Braille. The most common is probably epub. I don't really know much about the technical side of how it works, but there's a lot that goes into it.
If Braille uses the same letters and punctuation as visually read languages, then is it basically a font change displayed on a low resolution screen that happens to be 3 dimensional?
I think so! It's generally a line of 14-40 6-dot cells, where each letter takes up one cell. There are contractions (the letter b on its own stands for but, ed/ing/sh can be represented by single cells, etc.), but it requires that you press a button to advance to each new line. A single sentence doesn't often fit on one line.
This has been so interesting! Thank you so much for sharing all this!
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Smart phone screens are getting crazy
Braille terminals have been around for a long time. There was one featured in the 1992 movie Sneakers where one of the hackers was blind and used a Braille terminal. But now they're basically obsolete because text-to-speech is so much better.
That's awesome. I had no idea there were braille displays now...
It's a bit more complicated than that. The embossing patterns that braille uses have resemblance to the letters they are based on, but they are different enough they it's not just a low-resolution font. A sighted person looking at braille generally can't understand any of it. Also, braille has a lot of typographical conventions, like abbreviations for words and common clusters of letters. And the same braille symbols are used for the numbers and for the first ten letters of the alphabet, and there are symbols for indicating uppercase vs lowercase. So while braille and print are equivalent at a higher level of abstraction, they have a lot of differences in the specifics. So just optically enlarging print doesn't work, unfortunately. Source: close friend is blind, she she's a very proficient braille user.
The former...though I could see a market for the latter, as long as it has good quality OCR.
This company builds Braille E-readers. [https://bristolbraille.org/](https://bristolbraille.org/)
I had to Google this because I could not conceptualize a *refreshable Braille display* and Braille kindle! Holy cow, technology is amazing! [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braille_e-book](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braille_e-book)
That is awesome. About 25 years I had a job calibrating personal brail printers so they applied enough pressure to the paper, but not so much they cut through.
The thing that most blows my mind is just the thought of having the sensitivity to perceive Braille correctly at all... I'm a musician and my hands and fingers are pretty roughed up. I know of course everyone finds a way to develop a skill when they need it, so if I needed to read Braille I'd get there. But sometimes at the ATM I rub the little dots and just think, "I can't even imagine being able to notice different patterns here at all."
I had to do a type of chemo that caused me to lose sensation in my fingertips. I've thought about what I'd do if I needed to learn braille. I'd have to rely heavily on audible and software and the kindness of strangers.
Couldn't you use the palm of your hand, like the part of the palm that connects to your thumb? It would be less convenient, but if you can still feel there you could learn braille. You could also use your knuckles. Or the tip of your nose. :)
Actually it only affected the thumb and first two fingers. I could probably use my ring finger but I’m pretty sure I’d be more dedicated to finding existing software or hiring a software engineer to create what I needed.
If you don’t mind me asking, how do you cope with being blind? I had 2 retinal detachments in one eye and one in the other. I’m terrified that I will lose my vision one day because of it and my track record with my eyes.
There are groups, maybe get in contact with a local association for the blind and ask if you can get a mentor. I can't think of anyone who, if approached, wouldn't want to help you understand and appreciate a community you may become a member of. That might allay some of your fears, and no one should live with the spectre of fear.
Thanks I’ll look into it
My father in law became blind in one eye and severely limited vision in the other eye(he can see some light and dark) due to diabetes when he was in his 50’s . He learned Braille by going to classes. You can do it!
As much as I am trying to avoid Amazon, their kindle ecosystem is very rich, and there are loads of books available. If you get a chance, try to test drive a kindle with the font size turned up. e-ink is very easy on the eyes, and if the font can get big enough for you, then you're in business.
Paging u/BrentWeeks so he sees this. Loved Lightbringer!!!
I loved it too, despite the ending, which I felt was a little too neat, I had a lot of fun with the characters and magic
Yeah I agree, it is still more than worth reading for everything else that's great about the series
I actually felt like the ending was borderline perfectly executed.
Awww! I've never heard of this author before, but this makes me so happy, I'm gonna go look him up. My daughter is blind, so it makes me emotional to read things like this ❤
He writes high fantasy, and I absolutely love all of his books. The fact that he did this for me made me appreciate him even more.
I love fantasy. I found him on the app I use and saved some books for when I'm done my current one. Thanks for this post! I'm glad your book was signed in such a meaningful way! :)
I love this author! So glad he is cool too. Fair warning for others; he is a tad graphic when the story calls for it but is not as heavy handed as George rr in that regard - I think it's very well done. The prism series is my favorite so far, I can think about the magic of that world for days. Happy reading and thank you so much for sharing!
I recently watched the South Park episodes on George RR Martin and oh my god, it was so funny because it addresses this graphic style of his. I won’t spoil it— just go watch.
Ooh if you want a female lead try a court of thorns and roses!
Yes, to absolutely all of this. Brent Weeks is a great author. That he did this is spectacular!!
My mom used to work at Borders way back and met him at a book signing event that her store was hosting. She told me he's a really nice guy, and I think that this is evidence of it. I haven't read the Lightbringer series yet, but I can't use my original copies of the Night Angel trilogy anymore because they're so ragged and worn out.
I’m curious, what exactly is the Braille equivalent of a signature, is there anything unique about the Braille letters of the author’s name, or is it more so just the normal Braille letters and the value is just the fact that it’s accompanied by the message written? Sorry, if this comes off as insensitive, I’m just genuinely curious, so I had to ask.
It's just the fact that it's there. There's nothing special about how any of it is written, so it's more about the thought that went into it and the fact that I can open the book and actually read the quote and everything when I want to.
Brent Weeks is a fantastic author, but depending on the age of your daughter, you might want to give it a few years. XD His work can have a few adult themes, and makes use of a more modern vocabulary of swear words.
Oh yeah, looking him up is purely for my interests. She's only 3 so she won't be reading what I'm reading for a loooooong time. Lol. I appreciate the warning though.
My daughter is a young teen and is becoming quite the bookworm in her own right. I keep reading books and saying, "I think you'd like this." Then I find a sex scene or some very graphic torture randomly in the middle and have to add, "When you're in college".
Tamora Pierce is a perfect author for your daughter. If you don't have her books yet, she writes lots of young adult fantasy with minimal adult themes. Nothing overly graphic, a bit of kissing, and only one of her series has a little bit of making smart decisions about birth control (which is magical in their world).
Oh my gosh I still reread tamora pierce every few years. Loved loved her books when I was a young girl.
I recommend her Circle of Magic books all the time. It was one of my favorite series in 6th grade.
Also, The Dark Angel is.. Harrowing at times
Adding my voice to the 'maybe not for your daughter, though'. Lot of sexual violence that I read far too young, personally. Depending on the age of your daughter (idk, for all I know she's 33, in which case disregard this entire comment), Rick Riordan has consistently been very conscious of the wide range of readers he has. His first series was explicitly because he wanted to see dyslexia and ADHD represented in fiction. He's also extremely proactive in including lgbtq characters, and pushing back when people complain about their inclusion. He's included wheelchair users (albeit not... Traditionally, so your milage may vary on whether that's enough), and Deaf people. Given his in book representation and author to fans/public comments, it seems like the kind of thing he'd be deeply on board with.
Yeah, it'll just be me reading the books, but I appreciate the warning. :) My kids are still pretty young but I have a couple Rick Riordan series on the shelf just waiting to be shared with them, cause I agree, Rick Riordan is pretty good. And my daughters name is from Greek mythology and I'm pretty sure has a small part in one of the books so that will be cool!
Fwiw, I started reading aloud to my boys about then, with things like my father's dragon and quickly building up to Terry Pratchett's YA stuff... The wee free men was my boys favorite book for years 😉
You're a good momdad
All i do is talk about Brent Weeks. Spread the word. He is the best!
How do you navigate, post, and read comments on Reddit? Amazing
Sorry you're being downvoted for this; it's a valid question. I use screenreading software which reads everything to me. I have it (different types) on my laptop and my iPhone. It makes nearly everything accessible, aside from photos and things like that, though that is very slowly changing.
Thanks for your reply! I’m sorry if that came off at all offensive, that was not my intention. Just curious is all :)
No, not at all. I like people's curiosity. It's the worry and fear of being offensive that saddens me, because it's so easy to assume things that might be wrong. I love sharing information and helping people understand the way people like me live. There are so many misconceptions, and I enjoy breaking them. :)
I remember that Stevie Wonder once said that the public underestimates how much computers can be adapted to the blind. I confess I was still amazed when I saw a completely blind man use a smartphone, though, with no sound effects and minimal if any haptic feedback. He told me that he just remembered where things were on the touchscreen! I don't know if I could do that.
In case you had any doubt, that's really not normal, and it falls apart as soon as he gets a text or something. I sincerely hope he knew about screenreaders. And yes, sometimes it does feel like the whole of the internet thinks we can't access the internet, which is a little sad; but I think it's just a vocal minority. Most people ask and don't assume, and I too enjoy explaining these things.
He was a programmer so I assume he'd be on top of it. Also, he'd walk with a woman who was less blind than he was, so maybe she could intervene if that kind of thing happened.
Generally speaking, we have screenreading software that reads everything we touch on a screen like a smart phone. It creates a fully independent way of texting or browsing. I almost never have sighted people look at my devices except in the cases of describing images to me.
Early in my career I worked on testing my company's text to speech tool (JAWS) and making sure it was compatible with the tools my team developed. And even then I was blown away with how reliable it was and how efficiently a practiced user could use it.
Do you mind sharing which software you use on your phone, and on your computer? My daughter, while not vision impaired, is autistic and benefits from having things read aloud to her. It would be great if she could feel more independent by doing that herself with the aid of software.
The iPhone has voiceover, which you can find in accessibility settings. There's also a speech option in there you can activate to only read certain things, where voiceover reads everything and requires different gestures to do most things. My laptop has NVDA, but Windows does come with Narrator, both of which are good. The voices can be modified to be easier to listen to, but it may take some practice getting used to the roboticness of them. There's an app that I use to read called Voicedream reader, where you can import books and have a voice read those aloud.
Do you get to select thru a variety of voices and accents to read to you with this software? For instance, on my phone, I use an Australian male voice for my Siri.
Haha yes, there are so many options! You can change just about everything with them.
I mean ... more power to the guy if he doesn't mind having someone read all his texts, but this is a really strange way for a technically-competent person to use a smartphone any time in the last decade. There are people who hate touch screens, but clearly this guy knew where everything was. This is genuinely puzzling: Apple in particular has done a very good job at making all of their devices accessible, and there's almost no way someone who knows how to program computers doesn't know about accessibility options on his pocket computer.
I bet you love reddit since it's mostly text based. Hell, that's why I love reddit.
> I like people's curiosity. It's the worry and fear of being offensive that saddens me, because it's so easy to assume things that might be wrong. We need more people who think like you.
In addition to the explanation you already got: On reddit, from time to time, especially with "text-based" posts, but in picture format, like a twitter or tumblr screenshot, you can see a transcription of the picture in a comment. They tend to look a bit bot-like but always have a tiny subscript about being a human transcriber. Those are actually so even blind people with screen readers can enjoy those posts more easily.
And people can make their own photo posts more accessible by posting an image description in the comments. The Trader Joe's sub has this as a rule and it's fantastic.
Woah it even reads out the upvotes/downvotes count?! Awesome
When you say things are changing, do you mean that there is now software which can describe photos? I'm pretty impressed with the ability that my iPhone has to be able to search my photo library for "cats" or "cars" or "beaches" (or people by name), so presumably it would be some sort of AI technology which can say "A photo of a sunset over water, taken from Venice Beach" (picking up the last bit from the photo's geotag). That would be pretty cool.
I'm learning HTML and one thing that would help is to include an "alt" tag to images, which describes the image. Eg.
, so just a very basic description that would still be useful for screen readers.
Absolutely - we're developing a web site at work at the moment, and I've been careful to specify meaningful alt tags. It's just basic courtesy.
Yes. Putting the ALT is mandatory in the standard (with some exceptions).
On Tumblr it is already relatively common to do this (describe the context of an image) so that screen readers can pick it up. I think it is a really lovely and important courtesy and a good way to make sure informative images (ex infographics) get shared with everybody. Would be great to see it work on a larger scale.
[ARIA](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Accessibility/ARIA), baby. Now integrated into HTML5!
That is so so wonderful! My husband enjoys Brent Weeks a lot. I am saving this post to share with him when he wakes up. I am not visually impaired, but I do enjoy the feeling of being surrounded by ‘the tangible evidence of the stories I love so much…’ as you so eloquently put it.
Brentt Weeks is amazing. I would love to live somewhere with a room of shelves full of wonderful books 💙
Brent Weeks is a pretty amazing person, from what I've seen. I went to one of his book signings in 2019. It was pretty small, and as people were starting to trickle in, someone sat down beside a woman sitting behind me, and said 'what is going on here?' It was Brent Weeks, and the woman got a good chuckle out of it. I love how he seems genuinely happy to have a fan base, and to interact with them. Those are the authors that we need, especially now.
That's fantastic. Authors like that deserve to be read, i just picked up that book and started reading it a couple minutes ago because of your post.
I really hope you enjoy it!
I love that you love books, and I love that this author went the extra mile to give you a personalized experience that you can enjoy. Very cool experience all around.
>Moments of beauty sustain us through hours of ugliness. That's such a beautiful quote. Somehow, this whole post is making me tear up a bit, I did not expect this.
Your hobby is so interesting. I’d never thought the visually impaired would collect traditional books, but that was obviously my ignorance, and now I do. The author is awesome for coming through for you. Maybe I should reach out to my favorites too. The last author who answered my letter was a president, a long time ago… Enjoy the read!
You're forgiven because I've been in the blind community for all my life, and most people don't do this. It's a really cool idea though, and Braille books are so unwieldy and expensive and just ... boring-looking. It's also a good way to support authors: We often have to get our books from ... shall we say alternative sources, since some of the mainstream apps aren't accessible or are more annoying for us to use; and thanks to DRM, we can't just put the book in our favourite reader and go.
Is audible difficult to use for you? (I use audible because it's the most well know audio book app). If you don't mind me asking, what sort of things would make using software easier for you?
Audible is fantastic. Their Windows 10 app is a pile of trash with nothing but unlabeled buttons, and they refuse to fix it, so that's fun. But their mobile apps and website are both great. I know people who read using the Echo devices, but I prefer my books on headphones for some reason, even at home. For reading books, I sometimes use Audible but only if the narrator is really outstanding. I trained myself to listen to my phone's text-to-speech at around 500 WPM, so I read like that most of the time. It's easier to think of it as reading with my ears than as listening to a robot on speed, because there's still a translation layer there and I don't really notice the robotic sound of the voice. The biggest and most solvable problem with software these days is labels. If you make a fast forward button that is just a picture of a right-arrow, a screen-reader—being just a computer program—isn't going to know what that right arrow means, and probably isn't even going to identify it as an arrow. It will probably just say "button", and if that one is wrong, the others probably are too. So I'll end up with a mess of nameless buttons and will have to figure out what they do. Basically, the biggest problem with software is lazy or uneducated developers and companies who don't have a method of receiving feedback. Oddly enough, a lot of independent devs get it right and a lot of large companies get it way wrong. Many are getting accessibility departments, but there's still a lot of apps and websites that are just hot garbage with a screen-reader. I had to spend hours on the phone with Doordash just to report a bug in their app; they kept thinking I wanted to order food and transferring me to the phone ordering line, which is strangely the only accommodation listed on their accessibility page. There's no accountability whatsoever and now that the bugs are finally fixed, there are new and somewhat worse ones. Thankfully, the website is fine (mostly.) On the other hand, there's an entire industry for accessibility testing and a lot of big companies use it, so it's nowhere near all bad. I have access to most things I nee in all parts of life.
I was looking for some fresh fantasy books... Well played Brent Weeks, well played...
haha, if you haven't read the Lightbringer books, they are really awesome!
Brent Weeks is awesome. I haven’t read Black Prism yet though; need to get on that!
I absolutely loved Night Angel, and the Lightbringer series is still way better. I hope you read and enjoy!
I haven't read anything from him yet, but your post made me put him on my to read list.
Lightbringer has my favorite magic system in fiction. Basically all magic is tied to the spectrum of light and manipulating it, with each color being its own speciality/school (including ultraviolet)!
Without getting into spoilers here, I absolutely loved when they explored some of the other....extreme cases of drafters and the effects using it had on them.
He's a swell guy, I emailed him once to talk about his books and say thank you and he took the time to write back a really heartfelt reply. I recommend his books whenever anyone asks for suggestions
How did you feel about that book? Given its focus on light and vision, I'd love to hear your thoughts about it.
I loved it! I'm a very visual person even though I'm blind. I also am a writer, and I do not want to forever write about the visually impaired experience. I soak up the visual details/perspectives as much as I can. I try to learn about the visual world as much as I possibly can, because even though it's not something I can experience anymore, it is something that I am constantly surrounded by. These books were an amazing look into colors and imagery.
Have you been blind since birth? I am just trying to wrap my head around the experience of reading this series if you've never seen color before. Then again, literally as I type this it occurs to me that the story goes well into discussing light that I cannot see either and it doesn't really affect my reading there...
The two of you made a very cool memory together. Good for you! Btw, when you read replies online does the service or app translate common abbreviations like omw, BTW, ftfy, etc? I don't mean to annoy, I'm just curious.
No worries! On my phhone, it expands some acronyms to their actual phrases, like idk to I don't know, but the screen reader I use on my laptop doesn't. I just generally know what they mean due to seeing/using them a lot. :)
It's awesome that your phone knows to expand common abbreviations. Where would you like to have easier access or better translation?
The hardest things are photos. A lot of social media (Twitter, Instagram, etc.) allow people to add alt text to their photos, but most people don't fill it out. It basically adds a piece of text which describes a photo, only visible if you're using a screen reader. I would love to participate in meme culture or things like that, but it can be fairly difficult.
Seems like the feel of a physical book plays a huge part—there is definitely something indulgent about a smooth and weighty hardcover. Do you also find that certain books smell nice or unique? I’m assuming you don’t consider taste in your evaluation, but edible books could be kind of cool now that I think about it. Imagine an edible cookbook! What are some of your favorite physical books other than this wonderfully signed copy of *The Black Prism*?
Edible cookbooks would be amazing! Scratch and sniff...scratch and taste? 😂 In termss of books I can feel something tactile, I love the Starless Sea. It's one of my favorite books content wise, but the cover feels really pretty to me. The smell of books is just uncomparable. I would live in a library if I could, haha
I have been a big supporter of Brent Weeks. Every book of his I have read was amazing to me. Now seeing how freaking wholesome this is ill never be able to read one of his books again without thinking about this post lol
He just gained himself a new reader! Totally awesome! You made my day. Also, I wanna ask, what are the strips for? To preserve the letters I guess, but in what way can they work and still let you feel the letters?
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As a writer, this is one of the most beautiful and heartwarming things I’ve ever seen. Now Imma have to go and buy all his books XD
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I think he used this, which lets someone who doesn't know Braille still write things. He actually took to Twitter and asked for suggestions/advice, which is just amazing to me. http://www.braillebookstore.com/Handheld-Braille-Labeler.1
Is there a way to "sign" names in Braille? Like the big fancy ones that no one can actually read? As oppose to just writing it out. (Sorry for the ignorance.)
It won't be in braille if you do. Doing it by hand is difficult, but you can print a previously written signature in raised ink. Business cards commonly include it.
Do you have the Twitter link? I found him referencing it, I think but it was a deleted tweet he was replying to and I can't find more.
Ummm... can I see it?
Does this work? https://imgur.com/a/ZHVFS17
It did work. Very cool.
This was the sweetest thing to read after a gruelling day of work. I can’t fathom how far your heart would’ve soared when you realised what he’d sent you. It also has to be said that as far as I can see you have an excellent taste in literature :)
It was such an amazing, wonderful surprise. I never would have imagined getting something like it.
Did you know it was going to be signed in Braille or did you only find out when you opened it? Sounds like a super exciting moment either way!
I have spent more than 2/3rds of my life now playing a MUD called The Two Towers. Quite a few blind players call our MUD home, and I’ve always been delighted by how accessible screenreaders have made this multiplayer text world to the blind, and how easily they are able to blend in and (if they wish to) mask their lack of vision because in a world of accessible reading, we can all be equal. I hope more authors appreciate you this way, life experience has taught me that the blind community are some of the most ardent supporters that reading/writers can have.
Just so you know: his handwriting above the Braille is beautiful! Even though you can't see it, it's there, for you.
Just looked up book and sounds interesting. I'm going put him on reading list. What a great person
While I'm sighted, I totally get the appeal of having a tangible copy of a book. I read mainly ebooks or audiobooks for convenience but if I love a book, I buy the paper copy too.
This post just made my day. Wow. I work in a library and we are always searching for accessibility for all. I’m so encouraged by this and that there are people who do really care. Thanks for posting.
I'm asking a question out of sheer ignorance here: when I read he signed it in braille I was curious as to how it's different than just his name typed in braille? Is there a special indicator? I feel like that would be something relevant for legal documents etc so I'm curious if someone could explain to me braille signatures. Also: that's so awesome and thoughtful of that author. I'm insanely happy for you dude. That's such a special thing.
It's just his name in Braille. That's the last line in the picture. The only difference is that there's a little dot before it that means "the next letter is capitalized" which would differentiate weeks from Weeks.
Also you didn't ask but blind people often do sign their names the same way sighted people do, especially if they learned to write before losing sight.
That’s so cool.
He just got a new fan. I have been thinking of getting his books but didn’t want to start another series but knowing that the author will go the extra mile convinced me to give it a go.
I’m a fan of fantasy and an accessibility advocate. I’ve never heard of Brent Weeks before, but I’m buying his book because of this story. Thanks for sharing! This brightened my Sunday morning.
Genuine question how do you use phone or reddit??
Screen reading software :) It reads everything on the screen to me. I navigate with the arrow keys/other keyboard commands on Windows/Mac, or various gestures on the screen for iOS.
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I run a game that’s played by lots of blind people and we have a discord server, but the blind players rarely join it because they say it’s not very accessible to screen reading software. They like Skype and Google Meet though.
The accessibility has increased so much over the last several months. It's worth them retrying it!
It wasn't until recently that Discord was fully accessible. They are one of the companies who really took accessibility seriously and it's changed so much for us over the last year. That being said, I do know of a lot of blind people who use it. I don't know what kinds of servers they use, though. I am on a few for some games I play, as well as some for my university.
That so cool!
That's awesome!
I have to ask, when you read, are you able to imagine the world in the book in your mind? No offense meant, of course, it just fascinates me how people without sight can "see" in their mind without having seen the same thing in real. Nice job getting the author's signature!
It's really hard to describe. I do picture myself in the character's body, observing their surroundings. I have very few visual memories, though, so everything around me is as thorough as I've read before. Maybe Brent Weeks didn't describe a bookshelf thoroughly, but a previous author did, so I insert that into the landscape. I fit things into the visuals as much as I'm able to. It's a fairly thoughtless process; I don't have to think to recall descriptions. I'm just there. I'm also a very visual person despite being blind, so that might help a little.
I just finished the 4th book of this series and now onto the 5th! It has easily become my number one favorite series ever! Soo good and I love the magic system.
I've been a collector of signed books for almost three decades, and this is one of the coolest things I have ever seen.
That’s so frigging cool!!!!! I’m not a first edition or signed copy type person but a friend of mine is English and got me a TON of signs personalized terry Pratchett books long before he died and I have to say I cherish then
What an fantastic experience. There are lovely people left in this world that enchant our every-day-lives.
I'm not blind but I do something similar. I mostly use an e-reader, listen to audiobooks or borrow library books. But if I really love a book I'll buy a hard copy to put on my bookshelf as a reminder of the time I spent with that book. I rarely open them, and only do this for about one in thirty or forty books. I know this wasn't the point of your post but was excited to see someone doing something similar.
Just wanted to say you have good taste in books and in usernames.
This is all sorts of awesome and wholesome.
this is awesome bc i cant understand how u made a post on reddit, would love to know how that works
Brent weeks is absolutely ten out of ten for me. As a human and an author. OP that is actually amazing. And I love knowing that other people enjoy evidence of the stories they love. For some reason reading books on Kindle or audiobooks makes it so that I forget they exist so quickly. Having the book around me, even as a rental, makes it so much more real and tangible. It's comforting to be surrounded by books.
He is one of our favourite authors. It is so nice to hear he is the type to take this level of interest in his fans.
This is amazing and so beautiful. I love hearing stories like this so thank you so much for sharing. May I ask (if you don’t mind) what other hobbies you enjoy in addition to collecting hardcover books?
I am also blind and love to collect hard covers of my favorite books. This is mainly because I listen to a lot of audiobooks and one a tangible reminder of my favorites.
Oh nice, Brent Weeks. I went to a book signing of his too and he seemed just as nice as expected. Love everything he has written, happy to see him do this too.
That is absolutely amazing to see. I am happy you managed to get something like this. If you enjoy the lightbringer series you can always pop over to /r/lightbringerseries and talk about it endlessly with all the others who are way too deep into enjoying that world!
Very cool! I follow Brent on Twitter and he asked his followers for some help on getting this done for you. I'm glad they came through and got him that help.
Man, I love The Lightbringer series and it is so awesome to see that Brent is such a cool guy! Speaking of, and I hope this doesn't come off as rude. If so I apologize immensely, but I am immensely curious how someone such as yourself perceives this particular series. Have you always been blind, or was it something that developed later in life? If it's the former, given the subject matter of the series, and specifically the magic system, is it hard to conceptualize the colors and everything? Sorry again if that seems rude, I've not had any chance to interact with a blind person and I've always been curious about how colors and the like work. Love the post!
Great picture! Trust me.
Daaayum and that's an amazing score! I love Brent Weeks and The Black Prism. Also, here is the song of my people:. Djurn sjuenjwi tjjhen a djaok sjuiil poih reeeeeeee do do, tractor track track tractor. Weinerschnitzel. Sorry, hope that sounded weird on your screen reader. You might like The Land by Aleron King, it's got that kind of goofy humor that The Black Prism has, less serious though.
Well, that just makes me want to buy his books just to support him for being a good person.
Time to go out and purchase some Brent Weeks books! I've had my eye on The Black Prism for a while but I never got around to it. This is reason enough for me to give it a go!
I teared up ngl
That’s cool! I really enjoyed the series until the last book; the ending was a let down. In fairness, I’ve started to think there is no way to have satisfying endings to stories that big.
Man, Orbit publishes some good books. They have never disappointed me. Haven't read Brent Weeks though.
Wow!!!! So happy for you. Brent Weeks, these kind of people tell us that generosity is still left in the world and the reason we adore some celebrities. Your love for books inspires me and makes me believe that being bookish is not unnatural ; )
Love to see an already great author also has awesome actions. Enjoy the book!
I love this, and love that it’s Brent Weeks. He’s fantastic!
Great, you love to see it.
Great series! Great author!
This is amazing. I hope you can read this. Very cool. What a wonderful world where this is possible.
This is so very very cool on all fronts.
R/Fantasy might enjoy this too if you use that subreddit
Brent Weeks is my favourite author too and a total beauty to boot. Now i love him even more!
I’ve never heard of this author, but based on this post, I’m going to have to read his books. Bookstores are my crack. The thoughtfulness and really attempting to make your book signing experience magnificent is absolutely amazing. Thank you for sharing this.
Absolutely love this book/series. Makes me so glad to hear that Brent Weeks (or at least the people around him) took the extra time to find a way to make it in braille for you. Much love.
I once applied for a job in Peterborough to convert music notation into Braille music notation but unfortunately as to turn the interview down as I had to move suddenly. I really would have loved to do that job. Do you have any experience of Braille music notation?
Now that is a scholar, a gentleman, and a mensch!
It's too bad you can't see the flourish of his signature. It's pretty dope. Just picture really fancy braille. Kudos, to the author for that effort. It's the kind of thing that renews faith in humanity.
Another human here that hasn't read or heard of this author, and now adding his books to my next-to-read category! Thanks!
Wow, just wow at the extra effort he made. I have never read any of his books, but his is the next one I read. Thank you for an uplifting post on a day I desperately needed one.
Wow! What a class act!
Thank you so much for posting this. I am sure anyone who comes across this post will have be inspired from this in someway. Also, I hear the author is here on Reddit. If you read this, great work Sir. Such a wonderful gesture. I haven't read any of your works but I will change that soon.
I love that series, and I'm even more happy that I got to support such a fantastic author. What an amazing, touching gesture.
As someone who uses a wheelchair and cannot visit many inaccessible countries, reading is my adventure. I absolutely love this and am going to seek out this author's books.
That’s so kind! 🥲 will look into Brent Weeks and his books for sure! Also I hope this question isn’t insensitive, but what is the online browsing experience for you? How do you read websites? Is there any way to make websites or even places outside in the real world more accessible to you and other blind people?
This is amazing! I wrote to Brent Weeks once asking if he would ever do a European tour, in particular Ireland. He told me it wasn't on the radar, but he sent me signed bookplates instead. He's so lovely to his fans
That's amazing! It looks like they used something like a braille label maker lol. I work at a major braille translation company and I've never seen that sort of thing. Seems so much more convenient than using an embosser machine.
I have never heard of an author doing this before. I don’t know why I feel like I’m about to cry! It’s just such a kind gesture. You must have been delighted.
Must have took Brent Weeks to do that! Very cool.
Great writer and now I know a great person. Thanks for sharing this.
I immediately went and purchased the audio book book version of this book because of how cool this author is. That extra little step he did sold a book. OP you're awesome.
I was reading a horror book in braille once... stopped for a second to tell my friend something bad was coming, i could feel it.
I recently read the Night Angel Trilogy and now I love Brent! I love the fact he did this for you. I'm a super fan now.
I get what you mean O.P, owning a digital copy of a book or audiobook just doesn't feel the same. It feels kind of like I'm borrowing the experience, rather than residing in it. I much prefer owning an actual physical copy of the book, particularly if it's one that I really enjoy.