Man it’s refreshing to hear “I’m not a shared universe person”. I’ve grown to really dislike the concept in general. Like you said, the “big picture” takes precedence over the actual story you’re consuming in the moment. I feel like it diminishes and holds back the story potential of each story. It’s frustrating and intrusive at times.
100%, it's such an overrated concept and I lowkey despise Marvel and other popular shows for what they've done tbh. Because most creators can't pull it off; having a series of books is enough tbh.
Read the third book in Mistborn. I find the trilogy is not epic until you read the end cause wow does it all add up...as for the connection with the Cosmere you don't have to read everything but most series are their own thing with just a thread of the broader worlds touching it. That said sometimes others have hyped up stories so much they can't live up to it. I find Sanderson early work to be fine. While I really like MB era 1. On rereads to put the connections together Era 2 just had more readability. Like i needed to read it again to realize how much there was to unpack. But the connection just gives you more to discover and ask whats going to happen next. I will say the final book in SA was disappointing to me, it just missed something. There's a bunch of lore dropped and lots happened but i felt the writing wasn't tight enough plus the pacing changed. I warn that it's not a finally and it's the middle book in a 10 book series. Next book is a decade away as planned. Also it's okay to not like the style of writing orhers seem to really like. I don't like Tolkien or Jordan... just not my thing but i can appreciate the impact they've had on the genre. Currently i think part of Sanderson's appeal is being apart of the fandom and speculation regarding where it's going next.(My same thought regarding WOT) It's really fun and most fans are incredibly nice to new fans. Which is nice cause some fan spaces are kind of toxic.
I'll definitely read the last book; but I can't get over the hype and the actual product. It is baffling to me tbh. I get what you're saying about rereads, I started seeing the value in them last year with other books I've reviewed on this channel. I agree with your comments about writing styles. I appreciate Sanderson for getting people so fired up about reading. And his magic systems are great, I really enjoy exploring them.
You've only read the first 2 Mistborn books? Kinda hard to have a fully fleshed out opinion and analysis on the author with such a small sample size of only his earliest writing. Kinda seems like you're trying to ride the recent wave of Sanderson criticism. Read a bit more then make this video if it still applies... I'm no Sanderson apologist either. I have many issues with his writing and have been disappointed in his last couple books, while also loving some of his other work.
no tress of the emerald sea, the emperor's soul, warbreaker, not understanding the lord ruler wasn't the big villain even... you may get so hyped by a book and won't live up to expectation, anything won't get to live to expectation and saying "connected universe" after mistborn 1 and 2 is just clickbait at best... this is not being critical and i was expecting a critical perspective
I get where you're coming from, but tbh my thoughts in this video follow the same line of thinking I had after I read The Final Empire... I'm essentially struggling to balance the hype with reality - it is what it is. I think you'd agree that authors only get a small window to convince a reader to invest in them. So, even though 2 books is a small sample, it really should be enough. People judge after reading less material. I am open-minded and patient with Sanderson (even with his flaws) because the magic systems are cool and I want to like his books.
I understand your views, are you saying that the cosmere is worth it because of the other books you mentioned? Also, my take on universes is fueled by characters like the lord ruler. He should be a better villian but because he's not the 'big bad' in terms of the universe, his character isn't great and that affects the book and the other characters and their motivations. None of this is clickbait, this has actually changed my perception of the cosmere.
I got into Sanderson through the wheel of time. I read the whole Mistborn series and now I found the first book very good, but it went worse for me from book to book.
Love the video, parallels my own journey with his stories. Sando finished WOT well enough, this earned good will and hope for his independent series. His openers to the Stormlight Archives #1 and #2 actually strike fairly close to being "all-timers" in fantasy, at least for the genre this era. But Mistborn as a whole was far too YA for me. Brandon's prose is Marvel tier, tell not show writing. There are Moments (like Moments in ROW) that make the 1000 pg slog "worth it" I audiobooked Wind and Truth and I don't earnestly think I can rec the Stormlight Archives to any genre fantasy fans who hold doubts after the first two books. Perspective shifting doesn't read as well anymore it is formulaic but serves an ever bloated cast. The story beats are good but surrounded by much needed editting, he is industry man, the industry rn. But is non stormlight stories don't intrigue me and the current ones are 3/5 with questionable choices. I now this is Mistborn, but I want to mention Stormlight since thats the "main cosmere" rn
Thank you for your comment, I’m glad you loved the video. I totally understand where you’re coming from; it’s strange how your views seem to be the common one I see. From all-time best books to his prose, he is definitely ‘the one’ right now lol I’m anticipating if I’ll even like HOA & WOK, lord knows how it’ll play out
It's not like I dislike Brandon's books. I've read all of mistborn and a couple of the stormlight books. But I definitely get the feeling that he is only so popular because of his sheer amount of work. Where other authors might put out an 8 or 9 out of 10 book every 2-3 years. He puts out like 2 7/10 books every. year.
That’s actually a good point about the sheer amount of stuff he publishes. I think he is filling the void George RR Martin has left behind in that aspect
Local man reads 2 thirds of a trilogy and found it didn't stack up to his inflated expectations, more at 8 😂 "I don't like connected universes like this" says guy who hasn't read any of the books that overtly connect to others. I feel secondhand embarrassment listening to you be so proud of ignorance and assumption.
Loooool, I'll have to copy and paste a few comments I've already made... 1. My take on universes is fueled by characters like the lord ruler. He should be a better villian but because he's not the 'big bad' in terms of the universe, his character isn't great and that affects the book and the other characters and their motivation 2. My thoughts in this video follow the same line of thinking I had after I read The Final Empire... I'm essentially struggling to balance the hype with reality - it is what it is. I think you'd agree that authors only get a small window to convince a reader to invest in them. So, even though 2 books is a small sample, it really should be enough. People judge after reading less material. I am open-minded and patient with Sanderson (even with his flaws) because the magic systems are cool and I want to like his books.
I share many of your feelings regarding the shared universe trope and form of story telling. I am a Stormlight fan, but I wouldn’t say I’m necessarily a Cosmere fan, if that makes sense. I read the first era of Mistborn and thought the best book was the first one, with the next two having serious problems. I will warn you, that moving forward, Sanderson’s more recent works are starting to force his readers to read his wider works. Many are complaining about his lack of straight forward narratives. But you can certainly be a Sanderson fan without being a fanatic for his Cosmere or an apologist for his writing flaws. I count myself among the former.
Interesting comments thank you. You made perfect sense, you essentially are doing what I'm now going to do - pick and chose what you actually want to read. I've heard a few things about his most recent books from the Wind and Truth reviews I've seen. It's interesting what happens once someone becomes popular
Man it’s refreshing to hear “I’m not a shared universe person”. I’ve grown to really dislike the concept in general. Like you said, the “big picture” takes precedence over the actual story you’re consuming in the moment. I feel like it diminishes and holds back the story potential of each story. It’s frustrating and intrusive at times.
100%, it's such an overrated concept and I lowkey despise Marvel and other popular shows for what they've done tbh. Because most creators can't pull it off; having a series of books is enough tbh.
Read the third book in Mistborn. I find the trilogy is not epic until you read the end cause wow does it all add up...as for the connection with the Cosmere you don't have to read everything but most series are their own thing with just a thread of the broader worlds touching it.
That said sometimes others have hyped up stories so much they can't live up to it. I find Sanderson early work to be fine. While I really like MB era 1. On rereads to put the connections together Era 2 just had more readability. Like i needed to read it again to realize how much there was to unpack. But the connection just gives you more to discover and ask whats going to happen next. I will say the final book in SA was disappointing to me, it just missed something. There's a bunch of lore dropped and lots happened but i felt the writing wasn't tight enough plus the pacing changed. I warn that it's not a finally and it's the middle book in a 10 book series. Next book is a decade away as planned.
Also it's okay to not like the style of writing orhers seem to really like. I don't like Tolkien or Jordan... just not my thing but i can appreciate the impact they've had on the genre.
Currently i think part of Sanderson's appeal is being apart of the fandom and speculation regarding where it's going next.(My same thought regarding WOT) It's really fun and most fans are incredibly nice to new fans. Which is nice cause some fan spaces are kind of toxic.
I'll definitely read the last book; but I can't get over the hype and the actual product. It is baffling to me tbh.
I get what you're saying about rereads, I started seeing the value in them last year with other books I've reviewed on this channel.
I agree with your comments about writing styles. I appreciate Sanderson for getting people so fired up about reading. And his magic systems are great, I really enjoy exploring them.
I definitely agree that Brandon Sanderson is overrated, but disagree that the first mistborn book is better than the 2nd one.
Fair enough, did you like the 3rd one?
You've only read the first 2 Mistborn books? Kinda hard to have a fully fleshed out opinion and analysis on the author with such a small sample size of only his earliest writing. Kinda seems like you're trying to ride the recent wave of Sanderson criticism. Read a bit more then make this video if it still applies... I'm no Sanderson apologist either. I have many issues with his writing and have been disappointed in his last couple books, while also loving some of his other work.
no tress of the emerald sea, the emperor's soul, warbreaker, not understanding the lord ruler wasn't the big villain even... you may get so hyped by a book and won't live up to expectation, anything won't get to live to expectation and saying "connected universe" after mistborn 1 and 2 is just clickbait at best... this is not being critical and i was expecting a critical perspective
I get where you're coming from, but tbh my thoughts in this video follow the same line of thinking I had after I read The Final Empire... I'm essentially struggling to balance the hype with reality - it is what it is.
I think you'd agree that authors only get a small window to convince a reader to invest in them. So, even though 2 books is a small sample, it really should be enough. People judge after reading less material. I am open-minded and patient with Sanderson (even with his flaws) because the magic systems are cool and I want to like his books.
I understand your views, are you saying that the cosmere is worth it because of the other books you mentioned?
Also, my take on universes is fueled by characters like the lord ruler. He should be a better villian but because he's not the 'big bad' in terms of the universe, his character isn't great and that affects the book and the other characters and their motivations.
None of this is clickbait, this has actually changed my perception of the cosmere.
I got into Sanderson through the wheel of time. I read the whole Mistborn series and now I found the first book very good, but it went worse for me from book to book.
Oh damn, I've still got to read Hero of Ages. What made it go downhill for you?
Love the video, parallels my own journey with his stories.
Sando finished WOT well enough, this earned good will and hope for his independent series. His openers to the Stormlight Archives #1 and #2 actually strike fairly close to being "all-timers" in fantasy, at least for the genre this era. But Mistborn as a whole was far too YA for me. Brandon's prose is Marvel tier, tell not show writing. There are Moments (like Moments in ROW) that make the 1000 pg slog "worth it"
I audiobooked Wind and Truth and I don't earnestly think I can rec the Stormlight Archives to any genre fantasy fans who hold doubts after the first two books. Perspective shifting doesn't read as well anymore it is formulaic but serves an ever bloated cast. The story beats are good but surrounded by much needed editting, he is industry man, the industry rn. But is non stormlight stories don't intrigue me and the current ones are 3/5 with questionable choices.
I now this is Mistborn, but I want to mention Stormlight since thats the "main cosmere" rn
Thank you for your comment, I’m glad you loved the video.
I totally understand where you’re coming from; it’s strange how your views seem to be the common one I see. From all-time best books to his prose, he is definitely ‘the one’ right now lol
I’m anticipating if I’ll even like HOA & WOK, lord knows how it’ll play out
It's not like I dislike Brandon's books. I've read all of mistborn and a couple of the stormlight books. But I definitely get the feeling that he is only so popular because of his sheer amount of work. Where other authors might put out an 8 or 9 out of 10 book every 2-3 years. He puts out like 2 7/10 books every. year.
That’s actually a good point about the sheer amount of stuff he publishes. I think he is filling the void George RR Martin has left behind in that aspect
Local man reads 2 thirds of a trilogy and found it didn't stack up to his inflated expectations, more at 8 😂
"I don't like connected universes like this" says guy who hasn't read any of the books that overtly connect to others.
I feel secondhand embarrassment listening to you be so proud of ignorance and assumption.
"and I took that personally"
Loooool, I'll have to copy and paste a few comments I've already made...
1. My take on universes is fueled by characters like the lord ruler. He should be a better villian but because he's not the 'big bad' in terms of the universe, his character isn't great and that affects the book and the other characters and their motivation
2. My thoughts in this video follow the same line of thinking I had after I read The Final Empire... I'm essentially struggling to balance the hype with reality - it is what it is.
I think you'd agree that authors only get a small window to convince a reader to invest in them. So, even though 2 books is a small sample, it really should be enough. People judge after reading less material. I am open-minded and patient with Sanderson (even with his flaws) because the magic systems are cool and I want to like his books.
I share many of your feelings regarding the shared universe trope and form of story telling.
I am a Stormlight fan, but I wouldn’t say I’m necessarily a Cosmere fan, if that makes sense.
I read the first era of Mistborn and thought the best book was the first one, with the next two having serious problems.
I will warn you, that moving forward, Sanderson’s more recent works are starting to force his readers to read his wider works. Many are complaining about his lack of straight forward narratives.
But you can certainly be a Sanderson fan without being a fanatic for his Cosmere or an apologist for his writing flaws. I count myself among the former.
Interesting comments thank you. You made perfect sense, you essentially are doing what I'm now going to do - pick and chose what you actually want to read.
I've heard a few things about his most recent books from the Wind and Truth reviews I've seen. It's interesting what happens once someone becomes popular
I am Sanderson's Biggest Hater
looooool