Brandon Sanderson Appreciation and Discussion Thread

[Bingboing]

Originally Posted by Hagbard Celine

It's not my intention to bring hate to this thread, I have an honest question. I'm halfway through Elantris right now, which is my first Sanderson book and I'm not sure I love it. His writing seems very naive - his good guys are too good and his bad guys are too bad...there's not a lot of nuance. The plot took a little while to pick up steam, but I think it's going to be interesting as it unfolds.

I guess my question is, I realize this was one of (if not THE) first books he wrote - did he mature as a writer with time? Did anyone have similar feelings about Elantris when they read it? I want to give the guy a chance because of all the love he has here, but if all his books are written like this he may just not be my cup of tea.

I'd say yes. Elantris is probably one I need to re-read sometime, but in other books I think there's a lot more internal conflict within people. I think you generally know if they are good or bad, but they aren't always sure.

[Bingboing]

Originally Posted by MightySchoop

3rd and final book in the Reckoners series comes out next week.

Yep yep, I'm excited about it. This is really only the second series that he's "wrapped up" (Including the first mistborn trilogy) So I'm excited to see the ending.

[Actuary walks into a bar]

Originally Posted by Hagbard Celine

It's not my intention to bring hate to this thread, I have an honest question. I'm halfway through Elantris right now, which is my first Sanderson book and I'm not sure I love it. His writing seems very naive - his good guys are too good and his bad guys are too bad...there's not a lot of nuance. The plot took a little while to pick up steam, but I think it's going to be interesting as it unfolds.

I guess my question is, I realize this was one of (if not THE) first books he wrote - did he mature as a writer with time? Did anyone have similar feelings about Elantris when they read it? I want to give the guy a chance because of all the love he has here, but if all his books are written like this he may just not be my cup of tea.

This is exactly how I felt about the Mistborn series... the characters all seemed so flat. But I'm not sure where that falls as far as his writing order. I also read his conclusion to the Wheel of Time series, which I thought was generally well done given the tangled web he was left with, but I also had some issues with how he wrote certain characters. I've heard really good things about Way of Kings, so I'm also hoping to hear that his style has changed/evolved since Mistborn.

[vividox]

Absolutely obsessed with Sanderson lately. Probably one of the best overall stories I've read. It's just insanely huge in scope.

After reading all the Cosmere novels, I'd honestly say the best way to read them so far is in the order of release. It doesn't necessarily put all the stories together and it kind of jumps around a little bit, but it also breaks up having to read back-to-back 1000 pages books, which can be nice. It also kind of reveals all the behind the scenes connections slowly. Anyway, that order is:

Elantris
The Final Empire (Mistborn #1)
The Well of Ascension (Mistborn #2)
The Hero of Ages (Mistborn #3)
Warbreaker
The Way of Kings (Stormlight #1)
The Alloy of Law (Mistborn #4)
The Emperor's Soul (Elantris Novella)
Shadows For Silence in the Forests of Hell
Words of Radiance (Stormlight #2)
Sixth of the Dusk
Shadows of Self (Mistborn #5)
The Bands of Mourning (Mistborn #6)
Mistborn: Secret History (Mistborn Novella)

[vividox]

Originally Posted by Hagbard Celine

It's not my intention to bring hate to this thread, I have an honest question. I'm halfway through Elantris right now, which is my first Sanderson book and I'm not sure I love it. His writing seems very naive - his good guys are too good and his bad guys are too bad...there's not a lot of nuance. The plot took a little while to pick up steam, but I think it's going to be interesting as it unfolds.

I guess my question is, I realize this was one of (if not THE) first books he wrote - did he mature as a writer with time? Did anyone have similar feelings about Elantris when they read it? I want to give the guy a chance because of all the love he has here, but if all his books are written like this he may just not be my cup of tea.

Yeah, I love Elantris, but there is definitely some "naive writer" going on. He gets a lot better though, and the Stormlight books are where he really shines.

[vividox]

Originally Posted by Actuary walks into a bar

This is exactly how I felt about the Mistborn series... the characters all seemed so flat. But I'm not sure where that falls as far as his writing order. I also read his conclusion to the Wheel of Time series, which I thought was generally well done given the tangled web he was left with, but I also had some issues with how he wrote certain characters. I've heard really good things about Way of Kings, so I'm also hoping to hear that his style has changed/evolved since Mistborn.

Eh, gotta disagree here. There is a ton of character development in Vin, Elend, Sazed, Spook, etc. Vin is kind of obnoxiously mopey at times, but I wouldn't describe any of the characters as "flat".

[Bingboing]

Viv - Comments about Secret History
Spoiler about Secret History and other mistborn books: Don't read this unless you've read all of them

Spoiler:

I didn't get that Kelsier was the guy down in the south part of the world acting as the Lord Ruler until I went on the 17th shard. Did you pick that up?

[Bingboing]

There are so many things I don't pick up about the cosmere until I read about it from another source.

[vividox]

Originally Posted by Bingboing

Viv - Comments about Secret History
Spoiler about Secret History and other mistborn books: Don't read this unless you've read all of them

Spoiler:

I didn't get that Kelsier was the guy down in the south part of the world acting as the Lord Ruler until I went on the 17th shard. Did you pick that up?

Spoiler:

I thought it could be Spook or Kelsier, but the more I think about it I think it has to be Kelsier. He just likes to meddle too much for it not to be him.

But we obviously knew it wasn't the Lord Ruler when he died and immediately went to the Beyond.

[Bingboing]

Originally Posted by vividox

Spoiler:

I thought it could be Spook or Kelsier, but the more I think about it I think it has to be Kelsier. He just likes to meddle too much for it not to be him.

But we obviously knew it wasn't the Lord Ruler when he died and immediately went to the Beyond.

Yeah, I didn't make that connection at all while I was reading it, but it makes sense in retrospect.