MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn, Stormlight, Reckoners)

taosaur · 12-20-2015, 04:36 PM

For the Brandon Sanderson fans out there, what do you think of his recent work?

For me the The Way of Kings and Alloy of Law seemed like real turning points in his skill as a writer, particularly in conveying the mechanics and history of his worlds without getting bogged down in infodumps. I was on the fence with Steelheart, largely because of the YA tropes, but it finished well, then Firefight expanded that world and solidified the characters to an extent that totally redeemed the goofier elements of the first book for me.

On the whole, I'd say he's been hitting it out of the park on this last several books. Now, I'm about 1/3 of the way into Shadows of Self (Wax & Wayne 2, Mistborn 5), and it is not grabbing me. Maybe I just need to put it down, maybe give Alloys a re-read/listen, and come back to it from a different place. So far though, both main and supporting characters seem very broad and shallow, and the plot has a police procedural, going-through-the-motions feel to it.

Without going into spoilers, does anyone else have impressions, reading it now, having finished, or failed to finish? Does it come together later on? Any thoughts on the rest of the Cosmere?

12-20-2015, 04:36 PM	#1
taosaur intelligent posterior Posts: 1,562 Karma: 21295618 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Ohiopolis Device: Kindle Paperwhite 2, Samsung S8, Lenovo Tab 3 Pro	Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn, Stormlight, Reckoners) For the Brandon Sanderson fans out there, what do you think of his recent work? For me the The Way of Kings and Alloy of Law seemed like real turning points in his skill as a writer, particularly in conveying the mechanics and history of his worlds without getting bogged down in infodumps. I was on the fence with Steelheart, largely because of the YA tropes, but it finished well, then Firefight expanded that world and solidified the characters to an extent that totally redeemed the goofier elements of the first book for me. On the whole, I'd say he's been hitting it out of the park on this last several books. Now, I'm about 1/3 of the way into Shadows of Self (Wax & Wayne 2, Mistborn 5), and it is not grabbing me. Maybe I just need to put it down, maybe give Alloys a re-read/listen, and come back to it from a different place. So far though, both main and supporting characters seem very broad and shallow, and the plot has a police procedural, going-through-the-motions feel to it. Without going into spoilers, does anyone else have impressions, reading it now, having finished, or failed to finish? Does it come together later on? Any thoughts on the rest of the Cosmere?