Attn fantasy readers: What do you think of Brandon Sanderson?

[Sycho Sid]

I am really enjoying his stormlight stuff. And I like what he did with The Wheel of Time books.

Have not read the mistborn stuff as I tend to not read books with young teenaged protagonists.

 

[ThulsaDooom]

Always heard good things about him. Is the Mistborn trilogy or the Stormlight one a good place to start?

I really liked the first First Law Trilogy book and need to get back into that series. Been too lazy.

 

[Sycho Sid]

Always heard good things about him. Is the Mistborn trilogy or the Stormlight one a good place to start?

I really liked the first First Law Trilogy book and need to get back into that series. Been too lazy.

Mistborn is probably an easier start, and has been around for a while.

Stormlight started a few years ago and the third book is coming out in a few weeks. Stormlight books are massive kind of in the vein of Wheel of Time, Sword of Truth, and Kingkiller stuff.

 

[Deleted member 220895]

I have to be honest, despite my best efforts I have failed to get through Way of Kings.

I think Sanderson, and the Stormlight series, may just not be for me.

Its lengthly and can drag early on with Shallan, but it still develops into my favorite story ever. If you ever go back to give it a shot, try it's audiobook on audible. I've read both books and listen to both of the audiobooks, and I have to say that the audiobook in entirely more engaging. Sanderson has chosen the two best narrators, a male and a female, and since the books are constantly changing perspectives, the the narrators work even more with with them being two different genders.

I am really enjoying his stormlight stuff. And I like what he did with The Wheel of Time books.

Have not read the mistborn stuff as I tend to not read books with young teenaged protagonists.

I thought the same thing, but it's definitely not about kids. I was getting impatient this year on waiting for stormlight 3, and I also read that all of Sanderson's original stories exist in a multiverse where at some point he might merge a story, or have characters from 2 different stories interacting briefly, so I gave mistborn a shot because I didn't want to miss out. It's amazing, and if you love the characters in the Stormlight Archive, you will find equally as lovable people in Mistborn. Sanderson is the king of making likable and relatable characters. I'm actually just finishing up the second mistborn this week and I'm rushing to finish it. Its so engaging and you constanlty forget the main character is 16 because she's basically the only young person in the book.

 

[Deleted member 220895]

Always heard good things about him. Is the Mistborn trilogy or the Stormlight one a good place to start?

I really liked the first First Law Trilogy book and need to get back into that series. Been too lazy.

I'd say mistborn just because it's not a 1300 page behemoth like the storlight books, and I know how that could be intimidating. They both are addictive, but stormlight is more rewarding because of what it develops into.

 

[ThulsaDooom]

Mistborn is probably an easier start, and has been around for a while.

Stormlight started a few years ago and the third book is coming out in a few weeks. Stormlight books are massive kind of in the vein of Wheel of Time, Sword of Truth, and Kingkiller stuff.

Appreciated. I kind of got bummed out by fantasy books in general once I realized ASOIAF will never be finished and I've never been that knowledgeable about less famous than GRRM authors. Abercrombie, and to a lesser extent The Witcher books, brought me back and then it seemed like a whole new world opened up with a lot of really talented writers putting out books.

I already told myself no way to Wheel of Time as that is just too much and. I tried to read the first Malazan book numerous times yet always quit after a few chapters. That was years ago and I (somewhat) have more refined reading skills nowadays so I should give that one a go as well.

 

[Sycho Sid]

Appreciated. I kind of got bummed out by fantasy books in general once I realized ASOIAF will never be finished and I've never been that knowledgeable about less famous than GRRM authors. Abercrombie, and to a lesser extent The Witcher books, brought me back and then it seemed like a whole new world opened up with a lot of really talented writers putting out books.

I already told myself no way to Wheel of Time as that is just too much and. I tried to read the first Malazan book numerous times yet always quit after a few chapters. That was years ago and I (somewhat) have more refined reading skills nowadays so I should give that one a go as well.

Man, I have treid that Malazan book so many times, and I just cannot get into it. I know it is supposed to be like a GOAT series and all, but fuck, I can barely get halfway through before I tap out.

 

[ThulsaDooom]

Man, I have treid that Malazan book so many times, and I just cannot get into it. I know it is supposed to be like a GOAT series and all, but fuck, I can barely get halfway through before I tap out.

Haha, glad to hear I'm not the only one. An old friend recommended it to me and I went back to him asking how to get through it because it seemed incredibly dense and quite....boring at times. Just overflowing with worldbuilding and incredibly hard to get a sense of anything. He told me to try and power through it because the later books are amazing. One of these days...

 

[Sycho Sid]

Its lengthly and can drag early on with Shallan, but it still develops into my favorite story ever. If you ever go back to give it a shot, try it's audiobook on audible. I've read both books and listen to both of the audiobooks, and I have to say that the audiobook in entirely more engaging. Sanderson has chosen the two best narrators, a male and a female, and since the books are constantly changing perspectives, the the narrators work even more with with them being two different genders.


I thought the same thing, but it's definitely not about kids. I was getting impatient this year on waiting for stormlight 3, and I also read that all of Sanderson's original stories exist in a multiverse where at some point he might merge a story, or have characters from 2 different stories interacting briefly, so I gave mistborn a shot because I didn't want to miss out. It's amazing, and if you love the characters in the Stormlight Archive, you will find equally as lovable people in Mistborn. Sanderson is the king of making likable and relatable characters. I'm actually just finishing up the second mistborn this week and I'm rushing to finish it. Its so engaging and you constanlty forget the main character is 16 because she's basically the only young person in the book.

I am re-reading Feist right now, but once I am done with that and Oathbringer, I will give Mistborn a shot.

 

[Halifax]

Mistborn is probably an easier start, and has been around for a while.

Stormlight started a few years ago and the third book is coming out in a few weeks. Stormlight books are massive kind of in the vein of Wheel of Time, Sword of Truth, and Kingkiller stuff.

Please never mention that series with these other great series again.

Sword of truth had a terrific first book(Albeit with a Mary sue main), a decent 2nd book and it kept going downhill.

 

[Halifax]

I intend to check out Wheel of Time eventually. 14 massive books is pretty intimidating though, I have to say.

I felt the same. But only for the first 200 pages of book 1. Once they get to Shadar Logoth I enjoyed the heck out of it. Book 2 I powerread in 1 day, same with 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,

8 was a bit of a step down and his slow pacing was in full effect, but he fixed that in book 9. book 9 ended with the biggest cliffhanger in the series. Ever.

10............Book 10 is one of the worst books ever written and you can actually skip it. More happened in the first 50 pages of book 11 than all of book 10 combined. When I say skip it, I literally mean it. Every friend I have ever gotten to read the series said "Nah, I won't skip it, you must be exaggerating" only to finish the series and say "JESUS, you are right, you can literally skip that book and not miss a beat. You are literally left in the same place with no major plot movement at the start of book 11 after that cliffhanger in book 9"

Sanderson's books were a breath of fresh air to finish the series. Book 8 started to drag a bit with how Martin wanted to tell his story and it continued like that. Dragging.

Sanderson read the notes of what he wanted to accomplish and literally said "there is no way to finish this in one book." and did it in 3 books of nonstop action and plot resolution.

Book 14, the final book is amazing. nobody I know could put it down. It was the stamp of absolute satisfaction. I never believed the series could be resolved to my satisfaction and I was wrong.

 

[Sycho Sid]

Please never mention that series with these other great series again.

Sword of truth had a terrific first book(Albeit with a Mary sue main), a decent 2nd book and it kept going downhill.

Agreed 100%, I was just using a popular (sadly) series with a similar scale.

 

[Guestx]

I felt the same. But only for the first 200 pages of book 1. Once they get to Shadar Logoth I enjoyed the heck out of it. Book 2 I powerread in 1 day, same with 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,

8 was a bit of a step down and his slow pacing was in full effect, but he fixed that in book 9. book 9 ended with the biggest cliffhanger in the series. Ever.

10............Book 10 is one of the worst books ever written and you can actually skip it. More happened in the first 50 pages of book 11 than all of book 10 combined. When I say skip it, I literally mean it. Every friend I have ever gotten to read the series said "Nah, I won't skip it, you must be exaggerating" only to finish the series and say "JESUS, you are right, you can literally skip that book and not miss a beat. You are literally left in the same place with no major plot movement at the start of book 11 after that cliffhanger in book 9"

Sanderson's books were a breath of fresh air to finish the series. Book 8 started to drag a bit with how Martin wanted to tell his story and it continued like that. Dragging.

Sanderson read the notes of what he wanted to accomplish and literally said "there is no way to finish this in one book." and did it in 3 books of nonstop action and plot resolution.

Book 14, the final book is amazing. nobody I know could put it down. It was the stamp of absolute satisfaction. I never believed the series could be resolved to my satisfaction and I was wrong.

Interesting. You may just be the first person I've seen rave about the WoT series like that.

It seems that most people who have read them say something like, "Wellllll, I read them all but the series is actually not that good after the first couple of books." Or something along those lines.

Too much detail and not enough plot seems to be a common criticism.

 

[thoughtsone]

I will check him out, I always see him around but with all the positive reviews here I think its worth a shot.

My favorite author for an easy read used to be David Gemmel but he died.

 

[GergreG]

Interesting. You may just be the first person I've seen rave about the WoT series like that.

It seems that most people who have read them say something like, "Wellllll, I read them all but the series is actually not that good after the first couple of books." Or something along those lines.

Too much detail and not enough plot seems to be a common criticism.

Yep. I tried so hard to get through the entire series but by book 10 or 11 (possibly 10 from kojiw's description) I'd seriously had enough. Skipping whole chapters because it was just complete and utter horse shit. That is not a good book or series and I threw the book back in the bookcase with disgust and have never picked it up again. The genre has so many great authors and books to waste so much time on 10,000 pages of waffle. He spent more time describing what outfits people were wearing than battle's.

 

[Guestx]

He spent more time describing what outfits people were wearing than battle's.

LOL. This is what I have heard.

You will know about every piece of clothing. . . The thread of every bed curtain. . . Every curl in each girl's hair. . .

I also heard that he has a tendency to elevate the female characters and make every male character an idiot.

 

[Sycho Sid]

Interesting. You may just be the first person I've seen rave about the WoT series like that.

It seems that most people who have read them say something like, "Wellllll, I read them all but the series is actually not that good after the first couple of books." Or something along those lines.

Too much detail and not enough plot seems to be a common criticism.

If it helps, I am also a big fan of the series. And feel his summation is pretty spot on.

 

[Halifax]

Interesting. You may just be the first person I've seen rave about the WoT series like that.

It seems that most people who have read them say something like, "Wellllll, I read them all but the series is actually not that good after the first couple of books." Or something along those lines.

Too much detail and not enough plot seems to be a common criticism.

People seem to want the nonstop action of book 14 every single book. Like any big books, they have slower sequences where paying attention to minor details pays dividens later.

Mind you his portrayal of women gets tiresome repetitive. Min aside, they are almost all the same people, but with a bit more temper on some. Those are the chapters people tend to get hung up on being boring. But a lot of important shit happens.

I usually am absolutely flabbergasted when people say they did not like book 4, 5 or 6. So much awesome happens I wonder if they just could not follow it.

You are also dealing with cookie cutter good guys and bad guys for the most part ala Lord of the rings style. None of the dastardly twists of GoT

 

[Halifax]

Yep. I tried so hard to get through the entire series but by book 10 or 11 (possibly 10 from kojiw's description) I'd seriously had enough. Skipping whole chapters because it was just complete and utter horse shit. That is not a good book or series and I threw the book back in the bookcase with disgust and have never picked it up again. The genre has so many great authors and books to waste so much time on 10,000 pages of waffle. He spent more time describing what outfits people were wearing than battle's.

Almost certainly 10.
NOTHING happens.

Just skip it straight to book 11(Which is also down around book 8 level in terms of my enjoyment) and then get ready for the amazing ride of books 12, 13 and 14.

 

[Guestx]

People seem to want the nonstop action of book 14 every single book. Like any big books, they have slower sequences where paying attention to minor details pays dividens later.

Mind you his portrayal of women gets tiresome repetitive. Min aside, they are almost all the same people, but with a bit more temper on some. Those are the chapters people tend to get hung up on being boring. But a lot of important shit happens.

I usually am absolutely flabbergasted when people say they did not like book 4, 5 or 6. So much awesome happens I wonder if they just could not follow it.

You are also dealing with cookie cutter good guys and bad guys for the most part ala Lord of the rings style. None of the dastardly twists of GoT

At some point I'll probably pick up the first book and see how it goes.

I wish they weren't so fucking long though. For me, 400 or 500 pages is about right, since I'm a slow reader.

That's my biggest problem with the Storm light books . . . too many fucking pages for a story I'm only kinda interested in!