I couldn't get into Mistborn, but it's much more reasonably sized (overall series). Too much "world-building" and time spent explaining the allomancy magic system. I'm not big on "brick by brick" world-building in fantasy. It feels like the authors who practice it (I'm looking right at you Tad Williams) are micro-managing my reading experience. Like they can't trust
my imagination with regard to
their vision. I may get something
wrong. I like authors who
world-suggest and trust me (the reader) to do my
own world-building. I do wish more authors in the genre were as prolific as Sanderson, though. The guy's a writing machine! I'm still hoping that someday, he'll write something I can love.
I agree that that by today's standards, Martin's series may be a tad bit over-rated, but when
A Game of Thrones came out in 1996?? Nothing in the genre really compared. It was simply ground-breaking. But yeah... time marches on and the series has taken a bit of dip in quality since
A Storm of Swords, and I'm running a little thin on "what have you done for me lately." Plus I don't have a lot of patience for series' that go beyond two - three books anymore. It's like the entire genre (reader, writer, publisher) is scared to death of "The End." I love "the end." So much so, that I'd prefer every book I read to have some semblance of one.
