Are you watching the Loki series? I have been getting some serious Hoid vibes from Loki. When he did his fireworks trick in his hand, I immediately thought that the writers of the show are doing a bit more than being inspired by Hoid. Maybe it's just coincidence, but doesn't feel that way. Tom Hiddleston would make a great Hoid, either way.
Way of kings for me is the undisputed king of cosmere, and fantasy books in general. I found mysef more interested in it than any other stormlight book.
Elantris is easily my favorite book in the Cosmere, with Hrathen being my favorite character. I will say I do not rate books based on the quality of the prose or the writing, but by the characters and the story. That being said, Way of Kings was the best written IMO and flowed the best. Kaladin's character arc in the Way of Kings is probably the most compelling character arc I have ever read. I've gone back to reread just his chapters in Way of King multiple times.
Whatever Sanderson writes is amazing, and you did justice by not having anything below C. Respect bro! For me my first Sanderson will always remain my favourite, and that was Final Empire!
Me freaking out and shaking computer screen: Way of Kings is S Tier! Oathbringer is A!! Edit: Okay good. He put Oathbringer in A instead of S. And then bumped Way of Kings up to S! The universe is balanced once again.
your thoughts on the hero of ages are mine exactly! the ending was strong, sazed got... a little tedious... and the spook subplot was surprisingly charming!
I think I'd rank all of the Stormlight books equally. Maybe some had some pacing issues and such, but I didn't really notice. I'm too much of a fan of that series to really notice problems in any of them. Spoilers Below: I read Rhythm of War as it was being released chapter by chapter until it's full release, then finished the rest of the book in two or three days. I loved the Cosmere connections, and was almost sad when Shallan didn't join the Ghostbloods, as I wanted more, and at this point I'm not even sure that the Ghostbloods have truly evil intentions. I was also really proud of myself for figuring out who Thaidakar was. I suppose I'd probably have to place Oathbringer slightly lower than the others, just because I had and continue to have a really hard time following everything that happens in the climax. But overall, I love how each and every book has managed to pretty much successfully make the seemingly high stakes of the previous entries seem small, and yet the conflict around saving a group of Bridgmen still seems to hold up next to saving the entire human race, and probably the rest of the Cosmere if we're being honest. Even when the world is ending, a human life remains priceless to Kaladin, honor and integrity remain crucial to Dalinar, Shallan keeps standing taller, and Adolin somehow manages to keep being likable despite having had his entire understanding of the world constantly rewritten. As someone who doesn't think my own values would fly out the window just because it would be easier to live without them, I really appreciate this kind of story, in which the characters grow to be better versions of themselves in the process of unavoidable conflict, refusing to be torn apart by the storm.
My list: S: Oathbringer, Rhythm of War, Words of Radiance, Way of kings A: Hero of Ages, Final Empire, Well of Ascension I haven’t actually read any of the others yet lol
This made me want to finish the first book of the Final Empire so I can get to more of Sanderson!! I have less than 200 pages left! I’m intrigued by this list.
No, Spook subplot is The Hero of Ages, because... SPOILERS DON'T CONTINUE IF YOU HAVEN'T READ MISTBORN. Spook got a shard through his shoulder and Ruin was manipulating him, that didn't happen in the second book, although I don't remember if there was a Spook POV in TWoA
That's all that matters! :) There's some series that I just find so much fun and really enjoy, even though I know they have flaws-- but really your enjoyment is the most important thing! Wax & wayne is a lot of fun
Words of Radiance The Way of Kings Rhythm of War Oathbringer The Emperor's Soul Warbreaker The Bands of Mourning The Well of Ascension The Final Empire Mistborn: Secret History The Hero of Ages Shadows of Self Elantris Dawnshard The Alloy of Law Shadows for Silence Sixth of the Dusk Edgedancer White Sand
S - words of radiance, shadows of self, warbreaker, hero of ages, A - way of kings, final empire, rhythm of war, edgedancer, B - oathbringer, well of ascension, bands of mourning, legion, C - alloy of law, elantris
Here's my Cosmere ranking: S Tier: - Mistborn: Hero of Ages - Shadows for Silence - The Emperor's Soul - Words of Radiance - Way of Kings A Tier: - Warbreaker - Mistborn: Final Empire B Tier: - Oathbringer - Mistborn: Shadows of Self - Mistborn: Alloy of Law - Sixth of the Dusk - Dawnshard - Mistborn: The Eleventh Metal C Tier: - Mistborn: Secret History - White Sand - Mistborn: Bands of Mourning D Tier (AKA: Why Did You Do This To Me, Brandon?!): - Edgedancer - Rhythm of War
@@learnfromany4064 Because I did not like Rhythm of War. He took the literal worst plot in Oathbringer and made it the whole book! I am over Kaladin's cycle he repeats every book. I still do not care for the Parshendi, I was only in this book for Navani, Jasnah, Wit, Dalinar and Szeth. I felt this entire book was a slog and all the big reveals felt so rushed and sloppy.
@@Kal_Al_Thor In your opinion. But I'm also only ranking Sanderson books that are Cosmere and in relation to themselves, and not in comparison to all fantasy. An F tier Sanderson series like Reckoners (which I did not rank because it isn't Cosmere) is still better than anything Terry Goodkind could even think of.
Am I the only person who doesn't like Words of Radiance? To be honest, it is my least favorite Stormlight book. I don't know how other people felt, but I basically had to skim the entire middle of it because Kaladin was just sitting and doing nothing, being depressed. Sure, Kaladin had done that before, but it felt like every Kaladin chapter gave me no info and more moping. Considering Kaladin was my favorite from the first book, this really hurt. Rhythm of War is my 2nd fav with Oathbreaker being 1st.
My list so far S. Oathbringer, Mistborn, Hero of Ages A. Words of Radiance, Way of Kings, Warbreaker, Edgedancer B. Well of Ascension Havnt read Rhythm of War yet, or any other Cosmere yet. Gonna move on to Wax and Wayne after Rhythm of War.
Personal opinion of Stormlight ranking 1. Words of Radiance 2. Rhythm of War 3. Way of Kings 4. Oathbringer I loved everything about Rhythm of War honestly I loved that we got a lot more Kaladin. Oathbringer was by far the most boring to me. Half the Dalinar background chapters could be taken out and I think it wouldn’t be any worse for wear. The ending made up for it though. Also the journey through Shadesmar the first time around was extremely boring imo. Just a lot of slog fest in oathbringer but immaculate ending.
That's so interesting, Rhythm of War is my favorite one, and Oathbringer was my least favorite. I'll take lady scientists any day over Dalinar's ceaseless nattering
Rhythm is also my favorite in stormlight archives by a lot, but I really enjoyed Dalinar's arc in Oathbringer. My issues with Oathbringer is with Kaladin and Shallan's storylines mostly.
As someone who didn't like Mistborn at all (I stopped reading after about the first half of the second book; I disliked the characters in particular, but didn't much care for the plot and the worldbuilding either), is it worth giving the Stormlight Archive a chance? Or is it just like Mistborn, only in a different world with a different magic system and a little more lenghty?
It is the same style but more mature and well polished, with an increase in complexity and slower in pace in the beginning. I would give it a try (you will need to read a bit tough to really get the feel of the book)
It's really interesting to see where people fall on Rhythm of War seems to be people's favourite or least favourite of SA. For me it is my favourite, followed by RoW, WoK, and OB bringing up the rear
I haven't read the graphic novel version of white sand, but I enjoyed the slightly rough manuscript version you can get for free by signing up for his newsletter. (I had to edit it a little as I read it to fix typos, but I have a side gig editing academic writing, so that's totally in character for me.)
I'm glad you put the way of kings ahead of any of the mistborn books, because my first book that I read of sanderson was the final empire, and it was really good I just think that the way of kings is a step up.
Mostly agree. White Sand is the worst I read from Sanderson by far... I am still reading Stormlight but it's probably his best work. I am really enjoying it so far. Mistborn ERA1 were the first BrandoSando books I finish and those made me a fan. Warbreaker I liked but I read it back to back from Mistborn ERA1 and I was clearly with a hangover because it really took time to grab me and when it did... it was almost at the end LOL. Great list!!!
Jay, your editing is kind of awesome and I feel like you are the most underrated booktuber here on youtube. You deserve more than 200k subscriber man. Make a kingkiller video every week and you'll have 300k subscriber by the end of the year. You do realize there are way more kkc fan than any other fantasy series. Brandon sanderson is a kid compared to Rothfuss when it comes to amazing writing. (Quality > Quantity)
As a huge fan of both and their great magic systems, I love them for different reasons. Of course Rothfuss wins in the prose category and the re-read value is phenomenal. Also his beard is epic. For Brandon, I love his action and it's cool to see how multiple characters and their experiences and viewpoints come together to make such a strong world. And his kindness and openness towards fans + his reliability is definitely an asset.
I'm pretty much with you, though I'd put White Sand as below C, but I'd replace them with the prose version and put that at A. I love the prose version. Shadows for Silence is A or S for me, while Elantris and Warbreaker are C. Not a fan of the latter two, though it's been a while so I'll have to give them a reread and see if my mind has changed.
Overall, I pretty much agree with you. Sometimes I would have changed the order in a tier (e.g. I like The Way of Kings more than Words of Radiance). However, I definitely would have put RoW in A-tier. It had flaws, but I enjoyed it a lot. I also really like Bands of Mourning (it's better than Shadows of Self IMO) and Shadows for Silence. You have to read them!
So far I've read Elantris and Mistborn Era 1. I love Elantris and I have mixed feelings about Hero of Ages. My ranking would be: S- The Well of Ascension, Elantris. A- The final Empire, Hero of the Ages.
So, my list: S - Oathbringer, The well of ascension, Bands of mourning A- Way of kings, Shadows of self, Warbreaker, Words of radiance B- Edgedancer, The final empire C- Alloy of law, The hero of ages
Thanks man, you've helped me decide which Sanderson book to start with! For me, it's definitively going to be The Emperor's Soul! :P I'm currently exploring the fantasy genre as a whole too, especially dark fantasy, and I'm having a blast! ^_^ Btw, have you done a video where you list popular dark fantasy books? And if not, could you consider making one? :) I wish you an awesome day! ^_^
Hi there. Cool video. I have only read and listened to Elantris, The Final Empire, The Well of Ascension and the Emperor's Soul as of right now. Also, last Wednesday after midnight, I finished reading and listening to the Crossroads of Twilight by Robert Jordan. Last night, I started working on Knife of Dreams. I will likely finish the last 4 books in the WoT series by November. After that, I want to get back to reading and listening to the rest of Brandon Sanderson's work.
Favorite to least favorite: Words of Radiance The Way of Kings The Emperors Soul Rhythm of War The Hero of Ages Bands of Mourning Warbreaker Sixth of the Dusk The Alloy of Law Well of Ascension Dawnshard Edgedancer Oathbringer Elantris Shadows for Silence in the Forest of Hell Shadows of Self The Final Empire Secret History
@@CapturedInWords I really hope we get more stories with forgers, preferably a whole novel or even a series but i dont know if Sanderson ever mentioned that he will do anything with that.
Me not writing up a full essay about why Way of Kings should be on S tier for 90% of the video XD My english professor would've been proud XD (pls do a character vid!)
I did still find it to be a really fun read (it was a nice change of pace from the first trilogy) but in my opinion it was weaker than its sequel, Shadows of Self
I read and enjoyed ‘the emperor’s soul’, but I’ll have to reread it to appreciate it more after reading ‘elantris’. Update: I’m on the Brando Sando wagon and I’m eating up his books :) (The only book by him I’ve dnf 2 times is WoK, sorry guys, it’s not for me, but his other books are fantastic!)
After you gobble up the rest of the Cosmere, try WoK again and push through to the ending. I almost dnk WoK myself, and it was my first Sanderson novel (and almost my only one). I am glad I pushed through to Words of Radiance, which hooked me.
I quickly listened to emperor's soul and did not like it lol. Everyone LOVES it though so I think I need to reread. Just got the Arcanum Unbound so maybe I'll do that soon
S : Words of Radiance, Emperor's Soul, Way of Kings, Hero of Ages, Oathbringer A: War Breaker, Dawn Shard B: Final Empire C: Edge Dancer, Well of Ascension Did not read (yet): All other Sanderson works S tier are some of the greatest books I've ever read in any genre. A Tier great reads I'd recommend to anyone B Tier is a testament to how far Brandon has come as an author since he wrote it. The core story is great and I think if he wrote this same story today, it would be at least A tier, maybe even S, but as is you can really feel this was written by a new author who hadn't perfected his craft yet, just isn't a well written story in places and that holds it back from greatness in my opinion. C Tier have great sander-lanches, I'm glad I read them, and I'm certain there's an audience for these type of stories, people who really enjoyed them from beginning to end, but they weren't for me (and my wife disliked Well of Ascension so much it put her off from any of his other works for years before I finally badgered her into giving him another chance and now she's as huge a fan as I am of Sanderson but still refuses to finish WoA which she sadly gave up on right before the lanche started).
I am learning so much about you and the cosmere fans, people don’t like lift?! But I definitely disagree with you quite a bit, but I respect your list and explanation. Great video
Emperor of Souls is such a beautiful and round work, the kind you recommend to anyone, not just fantasy fans. The only other novella I liked almost as much was A Year and a Day in Old Theradane by Scott Lynch.
I’d agree with everything that I have read so far. Haven’t read some novellas & Era 2. I’m also glad to see someone else have the same thoughts regarding Rhythm of War. I was definitely let down by what I read.
I just came from reading emperor's soul for the first time. It was great but I would definitely put it below warbreaker, and to call it sanderson at his best feels wrong, that for me would be way of kings and oathbringer. Warbreaker is S teir for me, it was that great, Emperor's soul is a high b. Also I am finishing elantris for the first time.
Okay, the rating for Rhythm of War is pretty unfair - I mean, it has a conclusion to both Shallan and Kaladin's arcs, and it has such amazing moments. I also loved the whole arc about Venli, and the Singers - though that's pretty contriversial, but anyways I think it deserved to be A tier. Also, in my opinion, lift is a GREAT character and edgedancer was at least B tier Also, I highly recommend reading elantris - it's an amazing book
Ugh. Oathbringer was a drag to me and I've so many comments like this that I'm not looking forward to Rhythm of War. Not until Oct 26 when it comes out in paperback. He needs a better editor, 1300 pages is crazy for too much slop.
I dread the idea of lift getting her own stormlight book. I would've stopped reading stormlight if the ending to words of radiance hadn't been so good.
I wasn't a big fan of Lift until Edgedancer, where I really grew fond of her. Even if you don't like her, you can look forward to getting flashbacks about Cultivation and probably find out more about Lifelight, which I think will be awesome.
It is so weird, how people can talk so highly of Sanderson yet rank many of his books so low. I’ve heard a lot of booktubers say he is so amazing then compare him to other authors and bash him. Not saying you did Jay, you’re very specific with your interest. But that’s just the overall consensus I’m feeling.
Well it's ranking his books with his own books right, so some will be lower then others but If I were to rank him against some other authors, a lot of his books would probably be much higher up there even if they were lower on this list. I think Sanderson is a great writer overall, he's pretty much my favorite author. BUT as a reviewer I still need to be critical and not let myself over-hype my favorite authors. even though I really enjoy his books for the most part, I do notice the flaws here and there and don't want to put him on too much of a pedestal (but I definitely never want to bash on him either)
The ending of Elantris is quite nice. The ending gives a similar feeling to Warbreaker. That said, I still rank Elantris C Tier. It's the hardest of Sando's books to follow and is also the slowest. My greatest challenge with it is that a lot of the words in the book sound very similar (in an audiobook format).
Just finished mistborn 1. My only beef with it was I don’t understand the whole Ska thing, like they all look the same. Vin easily passed as a noble. So how do they tell the difference? They look the same and speak the same language but the ones that are poor get brutally murdered and enslaved
Mistborn was such a letdown for me. It's based on the idea of "what if the bad guys win", which I took to mean, to say it this way, "what if Voldemort defeated Harry Potter in the end?" But that's not how Mistborn turned out at all. Very misleading.
How would you rank the Cosmere books?
EDIT: Ahh sorry there is a spoiler for Mistborn at 3:10 - 3:14
I would put well of ascension as one of my favs, but overall I agree with you!
Are you watching the Loki series? I have been getting some serious Hoid vibes from Loki. When he did his fireworks trick in his hand, I immediately thought that the writers of the show are doing a bit more than being inspired by Hoid. Maybe it's just coincidence, but doesn't feel that way. Tom Hiddleston would make a great Hoid, either way.
I know it's an unpopular opinion, but I'd certainly put Ozma of Oz above a Princess of Mars. That's the Cosmere hill I'm dying on.
Way of kings, oathbringer and well of ascension are my top three in that exact order
You should definitely read Shadows of Silence. I really enjoyed it! Plus, there are some good theories for SA Book five based on some of it’s content.
*Reads Warbreaker*
Why yes, I surely would like to destroy some evil today.
Claims to be spoiler-free.
3:11 Goes on to spoil the most important plot point of the previous book.
EXACTLYYYYY
oops yeah he did :/
yh i just got spoiled
yeah, currently reading mistborn and while i kind of figured it would happen, i just didn't realize it would happen in the first book. :/
Yes this is great you should rank the characters as well
Good idea! That will be a video in the near future!
Way of kings for me is the undisputed king of cosmere, and fantasy books in general. I found mysef more interested in it than any other stormlight book.
fantasy books no. Sanderson wise maybe
Elantris is easily my favorite book in the Cosmere, with Hrathen being my favorite character. I will say I do not rate books based on the quality of the prose or the writing, but by the characters and the story. That being said, Way of Kings was the best written IMO and flowed the best. Kaladin's character arc in the Way of Kings is probably the most compelling character arc I have ever read. I've gone back to reread just his chapters in Way of King multiple times.
Wow well I definitely need to go back and read Elantris! And I agree, Kaladin has a very compelling arc in WoK
I screenshot
Broski what. Elantris was good, but like- not better than any of the Mistborn or Stormlight Archives books.
@@embrownwritesdef better characters than Mistborn
The Emperor's Soul IS top tier. I approve.
Whatever Sanderson writes is amazing, and you did justice by not having anything below C. Respect bro! For me my first Sanderson will always remain my favourite, and that was Final Empire!
Good choice, The Final empire is awesome!
Yes! Emperor's soul is my favorite from Sanderson. I do sincerely hope that you make an indepth video of it! Would love to hear what you have to say
Me freaking out and shaking computer screen: Way of Kings is S Tier! Oathbringer is A!!
Edit: Okay good. He put Oathbringer in A instead of S. And then bumped Way of Kings up to S! The universe is balanced once again.
Oathbringer is my second fav but I was also shaking. Way of Kings is the best one. I shook more because it was below emperor's soul.
Yes! I’ve been looking forward to one of these!
Everyone underrates RoW. In a decade we will all be putting it among the best books in the series
your thoughts on the hero of ages are mine exactly! the ending was strong, sazed got... a little tedious... and the spook subplot was surprisingly charming!
So I'll be starting from - The way of kings 👍
Awesome!! Hope you enjoy!
I think I'd rank all of the Stormlight books equally. Maybe some had some pacing issues and such, but I didn't really notice. I'm too much of a fan of that series to really notice problems in any of them.
Spoilers Below:
I read Rhythm of War as it was being released chapter by chapter until it's full release, then finished the rest of the book in two or three days. I loved the Cosmere connections, and was almost sad when Shallan didn't join the Ghostbloods, as I wanted more, and at this point I'm not even sure that the Ghostbloods have truly evil intentions. I was also really proud of myself for figuring out who Thaidakar was. I suppose I'd probably have to place Oathbringer slightly lower than the others, just because I had and continue to have a really hard time following everything that happens in the climax. But overall, I love how each and every book has managed to pretty much successfully make the seemingly high stakes of the previous entries seem small, and yet the conflict around saving a group of Bridgmen still seems to hold up next to saving the entire human race, and probably the rest of the Cosmere if we're being honest. Even when the world is ending, a human life remains priceless to Kaladin, honor and integrity remain crucial to Dalinar, Shallan keeps standing taller, and Adolin somehow manages to keep being likable despite having had his entire understanding of the world constantly rewritten. As someone who doesn't think my own values would fly out the window just because it would be easier to live without them, I really appreciate this kind of story, in which the characters grow to be better versions of themselves in the process of unavoidable conflict, refusing to be torn apart by the storm.
Words of radiance was my favorite Sanderson book!
Same. Oathbringer is up there for me as well.
My list:
S: Oathbringer, Rhythm of War, Words of Radiance, Way of kings
A: Hero of Ages, Final Empire, Well of Ascension
I haven’t actually read any of the others yet lol
same lol
This made me want to finish the first book of the Final Empire so I can get to more of Sanderson!! I have less than 200 pages left! I’m intrigued by this list.
Wooo! Hope you enjoy the read!
Hope the in depth words of radiance summary is coming out soon! Loved the one for way of Kings! No rush though, the video looks like TONS of work
Just commenting for the analytics. Nice vid as always ✨
You're the best! I appreciate the comment :)
No, Spook subplot is The Hero of Ages, because... SPOILERS DON'T CONTINUE IF YOU HAVEN'T READ MISTBORN. Spook got a shard through his shoulder and Ruin was manipulating him, that didn't happen in the second book, although I don't remember if there was a Spook POV in TWoA
Shadows of Silence is S tier. Gotta read that. So fun to see Sanderson go darker.
I will definitely start it soon! I've had a few comments now from people saying it's one of their favs, so I'm very interested
I don‘t know why but I really, really enjoyed the Wax & Wayne series, even though I agree that it is not Sanderson‘s best work and has its flaws :)
That's all that matters! :) There's some series that I just find so much fun and really enjoy, even though I know they have flaws-- but really your enjoyment is the most important thing! Wax & wayne is a lot of fun
It definitely is one of the funniest series I've ever read.
Words of Radiance
The Way of Kings
Rhythm of War
Oathbringer
The Emperor's Soul
Warbreaker
The Bands of Mourning
The Well of Ascension
The Final Empire
Mistborn: Secret History
The Hero of Ages
Shadows of Self
Elantris
Dawnshard
The Alloy of Law
Shadows for Silence
Sixth of the Dusk
Edgedancer
White Sand
The band of mourning overrated af
@@imtheguy3886 okay.
S - words of radiance, shadows of self, warbreaker, hero of ages, A - way of kings, final empire, rhythm of war, edgedancer, B - oathbringer, well of ascension, bands of mourning, legion,
C - alloy of law, elantris
3:09 SPOILER!!
that strand of hair, you pull it off well.
Shadows for Silence is must read, my favorite short form Cosmere story.
Dang I better read it soon!
Here's my Cosmere ranking:
S Tier:
- Mistborn: Hero of Ages
- Shadows for Silence
- The Emperor's Soul
- Words of Radiance
- Way of Kings
A Tier:
- Warbreaker
- Mistborn: Final Empire
B Tier:
- Oathbringer
- Mistborn: Shadows of Self
- Mistborn: Alloy of Law
- Sixth of the Dusk
- Dawnshard
- Mistborn: The Eleventh Metal
C Tier:
- Mistborn: Secret History
- White Sand
- Mistborn: Bands of Mourning
D Tier (AKA: Why Did You Do This To Me, Brandon?!):
- Edgedancer
- Rhythm of War
Rhythm of war was not that bad. Yea it was a drag but certainly not d tier. In fact not one Sanderson is below b tier.
Wow, why so low on row?
@@learnfromany4064 Because I did not like Rhythm of War. He took the literal worst plot in Oathbringer and made it the whole book! I am over Kaladin's cycle he repeats every book. I still do not care for the Parshendi, I was only in this book for Navani, Jasnah, Wit, Dalinar and Szeth. I felt this entire book was a slog and all the big reveals felt so rushed and sloppy.
@@Kal_Al_Thor In your opinion. But I'm also only ranking Sanderson books that are Cosmere and in relation to themselves, and not in comparison to all fantasy. An F tier Sanderson series like Reckoners (which I did not rank because it isn't Cosmere) is still better than anything Terry Goodkind could even think of.
@@jessi4894 lol true.
Bro, The Well of Ascension is so slept on. It's my favorite non-Stormlight book
Am I the only person who doesn't like Words of Radiance? To be honest, it is my least favorite Stormlight book. I don't know how other people felt, but I basically had to skim the entire middle of it because Kaladin was just sitting and doing nothing, being depressed. Sure, Kaladin had done that before, but it felt like every Kaladin chapter gave me no info and more moping.
Considering Kaladin was my favorite from the first book, this really hurt. Rhythm of War is my 2nd fav with Oathbreaker being 1st.
I've loved the art you used in this video for a long time, but have only seen on BookTubers' videos. Where else can I find it? Who made it?
My list so far
S. Oathbringer, Mistborn, Hero of Ages
A. Words of Radiance, Way of Kings, Warbreaker, Edgedancer
B. Well of Ascension
Havnt read Rhythm of War yet, or any other Cosmere yet. Gonna move on to Wax and Wayne after Rhythm of War.
Personal opinion of Stormlight ranking
1. Words of Radiance
2. Rhythm of War
3. Way of Kings
4. Oathbringer
I loved everything about Rhythm of War honestly I loved that we got a lot more Kaladin. Oathbringer was by far the most boring to me. Half the Dalinar background chapters could be taken out and I think it wouldn’t be any worse for wear. The ending made up for it though. Also the journey through Shadesmar the first time around was extremely boring imo. Just a lot of slog fest in oathbringer but immaculate ending.
I'm surprised Warbreaker isn't higher, that one might be my favourite :)
here before creepy cryptic
in your *face* cryptic
Mission accomplished
Hmmmmmmmmmmmm
@@shannonvermeulen9111 *mission do be accomplished*
*HAHAHA!* You're _too soon_ Monsieur Enigma!
*Creeper! Engage the cryptic PARADOX!* __
That's so interesting, Rhythm of War is my favorite one, and Oathbringer was my least favorite.
I'll take lady scientists any day over Dalinar's ceaseless nattering
Rhythm is also my favorite in stormlight archives by a lot, but I really enjoyed Dalinar's arc in Oathbringer. My issues with Oathbringer is with Kaladin and Shallan's storylines mostly.
Yesss Rhythm is the best
As someone who didn't like Mistborn at all (I stopped reading after about the first half of the second book; I disliked the characters in particular, but didn't much care for the plot and the worldbuilding either), is it worth giving the Stormlight Archive a chance? Or is it just like Mistborn, only in a different world with a different magic system and a little more lenghty?
It is the same style but more mature and well polished, with an increase in complexity and slower in pace in the beginning. I would give it a try (you will need to read a bit tough to really get the feel of the book)
It's really interesting to see where people fall on Rhythm of War seems to be people's favourite or least favourite of SA. For me it is my favourite, followed by RoW, WoK, and OB bringing up the rear
6:40 WoK was my first BS book adn indeed it was a weird one start with and a bit slow to start...but on teh span of a 10K+ series, it is worth it
I would love you to do a tier list for every fantasy series you’ve read
Oooo good idea!
I loved Mistborn and Wok.
Can’t wait for you to read Bands of Mourning! It’s BY FAR the best in era 2
I haven't read the graphic novel version of white sand, but I enjoyed the slightly rough manuscript version you can get for free by signing up for his newsletter. (I had to edit it a little as I read it to fix typos, but I have a side gig editing academic writing, so that's totally in character for me.)
I'm glad you put the way of kings ahead of any of the mistborn books, because my first book that I read of sanderson was the final empire, and it was really good I just think that the way of kings is a step up.
Mostly agree. White Sand is the worst I read from Sanderson by far... I am still reading Stormlight but it's probably his best work. I am really enjoying it so far. Mistborn ERA1 were the first BrandoSando books I finish and those made me a fan. Warbreaker I liked but I read it back to back from Mistborn ERA1 and I was clearly with a hangover because it really took time to grab me and when it did... it was almost at the end LOL. Great list!!!
Jay, your editing is kind of awesome and I feel like you are the most underrated booktuber here on youtube. You deserve more than 200k subscriber man. Make a kingkiller video every week and you'll have 300k subscriber by the end of the year. You do realize there are way more kkc fan than any other fantasy series. Brandon sanderson is a kid compared to Rothfuss when it comes to amazing writing. (Quality > Quantity)
As a huge fan of both and their great magic systems, I love them for different reasons.
Of course Rothfuss wins in the prose category and the re-read value is phenomenal. Also his beard is epic.
For Brandon, I love his action and it's cool to see how multiple characters and their experiences and viewpoints come together to make such a strong world. And his kindness and openness towards fans + his reliability is definitely an asset.
I'm pretty much with you, though I'd put White Sand as below C, but I'd replace them with the prose version and put that at A. I love the prose version. Shadows for Silence is A or S for me, while Elantris and Warbreaker are C. Not a fan of the latter two, though it's been a while so I'll have to give them a reread and see if my mind has changed.
i would not put oath bringer that high, way of kings and oathbringer or in entirely different class of books
Overall, I pretty much agree with you. Sometimes I would have changed the order in a tier (e.g. I like The Way of Kings more than Words of Radiance).
However, I definitely would have put RoW in A-tier. It had flaws, but I enjoyed it a lot.
I also really like Bands of Mourning (it's better than Shadows of Self IMO) and Shadows for Silence. You have to read them!
So far I've read Elantris and Mistborn Era 1. I love Elantris and I have mixed feelings about Hero of Ages. My ranking would be:
S- The Well of Ascension, Elantris.
A- The final Empire, Hero of the Ages.
So, my list:
S - Oathbringer, The well of ascension, Bands of mourning
A- Way of kings, Shadows of self, Warbreaker, Words of radiance
B- Edgedancer, The final empire
C- Alloy of law, The hero of ages
Good ranking!
I love tier list videos! You definitely should do more of these. I believe you’ll like the Bands of Mourning, I prefer it to Shadows of Self :)
I'll do more for sure! Ahh I look forward to starting Bands of Mourning!
Thanks man, you've helped me decide which Sanderson book to start with! For me, it's definitively going to be The Emperor's Soul! :P
I'm currently exploring the fantasy genre as a whole too, especially dark fantasy, and I'm having a blast! ^_^
Btw, have you done a video where you list popular dark fantasy books? And if not, could you consider making one? :)
I wish you an awesome day! ^_^
Finally a tier list I don’t hate.
I know, that Alloy of Law isn't the best, but the action scenes in it are one of the best I've ever seen.
Yeah it did have a lot of great action scenes, and overall was a pretty fun book even though I think the next one is much better
Pretty much exactly how I would have ranked them all aswell.
That final big fight in oathbringer is so very good.
Yessss so awesome!
Hi there. Cool video. I have only read and listened to Elantris, The Final Empire, The Well of Ascension and the Emperor's Soul as of right now. Also, last Wednesday after midnight, I finished reading and listening to the Crossroads of Twilight by Robert Jordan. Last night, I started working on Knife of Dreams. I will likely finish the last 4 books in the WoT series by November. After that, I want to get back to reading and listening to the rest of Brandon Sanderson's work.
Favorite to least favorite:
Words of Radiance
The Way of Kings
The Emperors Soul
Rhythm of War
The Hero of Ages
Bands of Mourning
Warbreaker
Sixth of the Dusk
The Alloy of Law
Well of Ascension
Dawnshard
Edgedancer
Oathbringer
Elantris
Shadows for Silence in the Forest of Hell
Shadows of Self
The Final Empire
Secret History
Ranking kingkiller characters would be a great video
Hear, hear!
The Emperor's soul is in the same world as Elantris, right?
Yup It takes place on another continent on the same planet, but you can read it before or after Elantris
@@CapturedInWords I really hope we get more stories with forgers, preferably a whole novel or even a series but i dont know if Sanderson ever mentioned that he will do anything with that.
Me not writing up a full essay about why Way of Kings should be on S tier for 90% of the video XD My english professor would've been proud XD
(pls do a character vid!)
Breaks my heart with the Alloy of Law ranking. The Church of the Common man chapter was so amazing to me
I did still find it to be a really fun read (it was a nice change of pace from the first trilogy) but in my opinion it was weaker than its sequel, Shadows of Self
Oh also I agree, that chapter was really great!
I read and enjoyed ‘the emperor’s soul’, but I’ll have to reread it to appreciate it more after reading ‘elantris’.
Update: I’m on the Brando Sando wagon and I’m eating up his books :)
(The only book by him I’ve dnf 2 times is WoK, sorry guys, it’s not for me, but his other books are fantastic!)
After you gobble up the rest of the Cosmere, try WoK again and push through to the ending. I almost dnk WoK myself, and it was my first Sanderson novel (and almost my only one). I am glad I pushed through to Words of Radiance, which hooked me.
Yeah I agree that's a solid ranking, and RoW was definitely rushed. He had need editor as well and I think that made suffer as well.
Glad I'm not the only one who felt that way!
I quickly listened to emperor's soul and did not like it lol. Everyone LOVES it though so I think I need to reread. Just got the Arcanum Unbound so maybe I'll do that soon
S : Words of Radiance, Emperor's Soul, Way of Kings, Hero of Ages, Oathbringer
A: War Breaker, Dawn Shard
B: Final Empire
C: Edge Dancer, Well of Ascension
Did not read (yet): All other Sanderson works
S tier are some of the greatest books I've ever read in any genre.
A Tier great reads I'd recommend to anyone
B Tier is a testament to how far Brandon has come as an author since he wrote it. The core story is great and I think if he wrote this same story today, it would be at least A tier, maybe even S, but as is you can really feel this was written by a new author who hadn't perfected his craft yet, just isn't a well written story in places and that holds it back from greatness in my opinion.
C Tier have great sander-lanches, I'm glad I read them, and I'm certain there's an audience for these type of stories, people who really enjoyed them from beginning to end, but they weren't for me (and my wife disliked Well of Ascension so much it put her off from any of his other works for years before I finally badgered her into giving him another chance and now she's as huge a fan as I am of Sanderson but still refuses to finish WoA which she sadly gave up on right before the lanche started).
I am learning so much about you and the cosmere fans, people don’t like lift?! But I definitely disagree with you quite a bit, but I respect your list and explanation. Great video
Tier rank Kingkiller characters!
Yes!
I read secret history alongside hero of ages and that greatly helped me at least appreciate the ending of hero of ages.
Flip HoA and TFE and you got yourself a mighty fine list there
Have a great weekend reading to you!! 📖😊
Thank you! You too!
Emperor of Souls is such a beautiful and round work, the kind you recommend to anyone, not just fantasy fans. The only other novella I liked almost as much was A Year and a Day in Old Theradane by Scott Lynch.
I’d agree with everything that I have read so far. Haven’t read some novellas & Era 2. I’m also glad to see someone else have the same thoughts regarding Rhythm of War. I was definitely let down by what I read.
Dude words of radiance was fuckin amazing. I loved that book so much
Better late than never, indeed
Oathbreaker is one of my favs!
Completely agree with the ranking..
This is about to hit its first anniversary in less than a month 💙
Oh wow, it is! Hmmm I should make another Cosmere video soon
Good video. But hope to see a book review in the next one..
I couldn’t agree more. However, imo rhythm of war is a really bad book, even below C for me xd
FINISH ELANTRIS ITS AMAZING
wheel of time ranking plz!!!!
Oathbringer is S and I will die on this hill
I just came from reading emperor's soul for the first time. It was great but I would definitely put it below warbreaker, and to call it sanderson at his best feels wrong, that for me would be way of kings and oathbringer. Warbreaker is S teir for me, it was that great, Emperor's soul is a high b. Also I am finishing elantris for the first time.
Okay, the rating for Rhythm of War is pretty unfair - I mean, it has a conclusion to both Shallan and Kaladin's arcs, and it has such amazing moments. I also loved the whole arc about Venli, and the Singers - though that's pretty contriversial, but anyways I think it deserved to be A tier.
Also, in my opinion, lift is a GREAT character and edgedancer was at least B tier
Also, I highly recommend reading elantris - it's an amazing book
Ngl hero of ages secured sazed as, in my opinion, the best cosmere character
Rhythm of war was such a drag to read. Also, why not rate all Sanderson books, since there are only 1-2 otuside Cosmere like the Rithmatist?
Ugh. Oathbringer was a drag to me and I've so many comments like this that I'm not looking forward to Rhythm of War. Not until Oct 26 when it comes out in paperback. He needs a better editor, 1300 pages is crazy for too much slop.
@@AK-rq1cz yeah it was a drag because his old editor Moshe retired
Great ranking, though I would probably place Rythm of war higher and Dawnshard lower
White Sands has an awesome audiobook you should listen to that better than the graphic novel.
Hmmm I will definitely check it out!
"The Lopen" lol
Gotta give him his proper respect ;)
I dread the idea of lift getting her own stormlight book. I would've stopped reading stormlight if the ending to words of radiance hadn't been so good.
I wasn't a big fan of Lift until Edgedancer, where I really grew fond of her. Even if you don't like her, you can look forward to getting flashbacks about Cultivation and probably find out more about Lifelight, which I think will be awesome.
“Spoiler free” Massive Mistborn spoiler around 3:10 mark just FYI
Ahhh my bad I totally wasn't thinking, just updated the pinned comment with a spoiler warning!
@@CapturedInWords no worries! I’ve read it so it didn’t ruin anything for me. Just wanted other people to know! Love the content ☺️
It is so weird, how people can talk so highly of Sanderson yet rank many of his books so low. I’ve heard a lot of booktubers say he is so amazing then compare him to other authors and bash him. Not saying you did Jay, you’re very specific with your interest. But that’s just the overall consensus I’m feeling.
Well it's ranking his books with his own books right, so some will be lower then others but If I were to rank him against some other authors, a lot of his books would probably be much higher up there even if they were lower on this list. I think Sanderson is a great writer overall, he's pretty much my favorite author. BUT as a reviewer I still need to be critical and not let myself over-hype my favorite authors. even though I really enjoy his books for the most part, I do notice the flaws here and there and don't want to put him on too much of a pedestal (but I definitely never want to bash on him either)
Me who only read MIstborn era one: hmmm interesting
The ending of Elantris is quite nice. The ending gives a similar feeling to Warbreaker. That said, I still rank Elantris C Tier. It's the hardest of Sando's books to follow and is also the slowest. My greatest challenge with it is that a lot of the words in the book sound very similar (in an audiobook format).
Here's your out-there opinion of the day: Shadows of Self is an S-tier book
Just finished mistborn 1. My only beef with it was I don’t understand the whole Ska thing, like they all look the same. Vin easily passed as a noble. So how do they tell the difference? They look the same and speak the same language but the ones that are poor get brutally murdered and enslaved
Mistborn was such a letdown for me. It's based on the idea of "what if the bad guys win", which I took to mean, to say it this way, "what if Voldemort defeated Harry Potter in the end?" But that's not how Mistborn turned out at all. Very misleading.