I mean, they weren't LoTR-level, but they were still enjoyable. Wheel of Time ending and Stormlight 1/2 may still be his best works, but the Alloy of Law stuff was still solid, at least in my opinion.
His B-reel books are usually decent ideas, but you can tell when it's Brandon's voice leaking through the characters instead of the characters themselves. He tends to take a bit more care of his larger, mainline books.
I'm a big fan of the Stormlight Archive where all main characters have some form of mental disorder. That said the last book was getting a bit repetitive, always waiting for the same character to snap out of his seasonal depression in order to save everyone just in time. I'm still a fan, I even watched some of his lectures on creative writing but there is definitely a formula to how he works.
Hate to say but I'm glad I'm not one of his kids. He wakes up around noon and then writes for five hours, and _then_ he hangs out with his family. So basically his kids don't see him all day until shortly before they go to bed.
Compared to what? "Dad goes to work at an office 9-5, then has a commute to come home, then focuses on his own hobbies"?
Frankly, this sounds like a lot of focused family time:
"""
At 5:00 I stop, and 5:00 until 10:00 is family time for me. And that is walled off. I don’t work on books, even in the back of my brain. It’s got to be a really steep wall for me to make sure I am there for them. And I have to mentally say, “You are there for them.” When your kids ask you to do something, that’s the time you say, “Yes, I’m going to go do that.”
"""
> He wakes up around noon and then writes for five hours, and _then_ he hangs out with his family.
This sounds like an awesome schedule. Sleep in, work for a very reasonable number of hours, and then have plenty of energy left to hang out with your kids (somewhat earlier than most commuters get home).
Someone asked him during his Q&A livestream how they were able to get around the right of first refusal with his main publisher (Tor), and his answer was essential a polite version of “we can sort of do what we want as long as we keep giving them the big series”
It's only the fact that he's such a prolific writer makes that sort of agreement possible, it's not like George RR Martin where he keeps writing smaller side projects instead of finishing the books that actually make him and his publisher money. These four books are on top of what, two main series, a series of YA books and fairly regular standalone/minor series books as well...
How does right of first refusal work with respect to price? Could you fulfill this obligation by offering them the option at a very high price? I'm guessing price isn't a negotiable parameter.
I hadn't heard of Brandon Sanderson until I went to a book store in Provo, Utah. He is a very much a big deal there and had two complete bookshelves dedicated to his work. He went to BYU so there is a local connection, but it caught me by surprise because I wasn't aware of his popularity.
The magic system in Stormlight is astonishingly good. About halfway through the most recent book, Rhythm of War, I said to someone: when did Stormlight turn into sci-fi? Because the magic is so logical, and so deep, and so specific, that it feels more like science than magic at times.
On the other hand I've been put off by the pacing of the last three books. It feels like the basic structure is that there's a build up to a huge conflict at the end of the book, and the vast majority of the pages are spent waiting for it to arrive. In my opinion, the second book, Words of Radiance, was the best so far in terms of balancing character, plot and action.
He had an open creative writing course I took once. It really helped see how he is so prolific. He has a very good creative writing system, but does not force his novel writing style in his students. The way he explained things changed how I view all fiction in a pretty profound way in terms of how stories are created.
You're free to dislike the books, but this is an extremely unfair characterization. Sanderson's books bear very little resemblance to Tolkien's beyond the genre and the elaborate nature of the worldbuilding.
First time hearing about this author - what's the hacker news angle here? From what I gather it is that: 1) he's a very popular sci-fi/fantasy writer, 2) it's an incredible amount of funding for a kickstarter campaign
I'm genuinely interested - for someone new to his work, where is a good book to start?
There's other replies in this thread linking to [0]. My personal recommendation is his Mistborn trilogy. He wrote all three before publishing any, so the books feel like a cohesive whole, but he wrote it in a way that the first book ends in a manner that you could feel satisfied with a good story after only reading one book.
Mistborn is my favorite trilogy ever. I've read it multiple times and I know the plot very well. The reason I love it is the characters. They feel so real, and you get genuinely invested in their growth through the books.
One-line description from the website: It’s a hybrid epic fantasy heist story with a focus on political intrigue and powerful action scenes.
The best recommendation for reading order I can give is this:
* Start with the Mistborn trilogy. This series probably has the best magic system he ever designed, and they're not as long as the main opus magnum that is the Stormlight Archive series, so if you don't like them, you can discover that much more quickly. It also gives you probably the best window into the general writing style of Sanderson, I believe.
* The next book is probably Stormlight Archive book 1, The Way of Kings. If you liked the Mistborn trilogy, reading this book next is probably the right thing to do to know if you're going to be invested into the entire shared literary universe or if you just want to stick to some series.
* After this point, it's probably best to read the books closer to their original publication order. In particular, the Stormlight Archive books start drawing on the other Cosmere novels so that familiarity with them is helpful, although definitely by book 4 (Rhythm of War), it's necessary to be familiar with Mistborn's magic system for maximum enjoyment.
* The thing with starting with Elantris is that Elantris is Sanderson's first novel, and it that really comes across in the writing. For that reason, I'd move it away from a general publication order recommendation.
* Another reason to generally favor publication order is that the wiki actually lets you browse it as it was right before the major books were published (https://coppermind.net/wiki/Special:TimeMachine), which lets you use it to catch up on information in reading the newer books without spoiling them for you.
If you prefer novellas/standalone to get a feel, I'd recommend "Emperor's Soul" and "Warbreaker". He's known for good magic system and Sanderlanche (things coming together at the end in a hurry).
I went on a binge read when I started reading his work about 4-5 years back. I still enjoy his books, but I'd recommend giving gaps between books. As they say "Too much of anything is bad".
I appreciate your question here is genuine, rather than critical. But just a reminder of the guidelines [1]:
> On-Topic: Anything that good hackers would find interesting. That includes more than hacking and startups. If you had to reduce it to a sentence, the answer might be: anything that gratifies one's intellectual curiosity.
> Off-Topic: Most stories about politics, or crime, or sports, unless they're evidence of some interesting new phenomenon. Videos of pratfalls or disasters, or cute animal pictures. If they'd cover it on TV news, it's probably off-topic.
(And I'm commenting here as someone who's never read this author, i.e. not speaking defensively.)
An option no one has mentioned yet is Skyward. It's a "girl and her spaceship" type of story. It's how I got started down the Sanderson rabbit hole. Some may say it's it's not representative, as his first scifi work, but I think I got a better introduction to a more experienced Sanderson by starting there. (Without embarking on the 10-book series of thousand-page books, Stormlight Archive. Though there are also standalone cosmere novels that could work well, like Warbreaker.)
Skyward was great. The 2nd book in the series, Starsight, less so. I believe those are considered YA novels though. I think Elantris would be a better recommendation. Its a standalone book and probably one of his best works.
I'd say the first Mistborn Trilogy is as good a place to start as any. Warbreaker is another one that is a good starting point. Or you could dive right into The Stormlight Archives like I did (unknowingly). There may be other ways to do it too.
I would start with the stormlight archive series. Honestly, I think when it’s all said and done, that series would overtake LOTR in its cultural significance. It already surpassed a song of ice and fire (game of thrones).
I'd disagree and recommend the mistborn books as a better starting point. The mistborn trilogy is finished. You can buy all three books today. The stormlight archive is not.
> 2) it's an incredible amount of funding for a kickstarter campaign
This isn't really a "kickstarter campaign" - it's a preorder which is for whatever reason being organized through kickstarter. Kickstarter shows a disclaimer that says "you may never receive anything", but the odds of that happening here are 0%.
Stuff like Mistborn feels fun, but is amateur hour in terms of writing quality compared to Stormlight. So if writing quality can be a turn-off for you, start with Stormlight.
Why is this blowing up so much? It’s been on the frontpage of /r/fantasy since it happened, and now here. I mean, I like Sanderson, and I might eventually read those 4 novels, but isn’t this just an announcement of 4 unnamed novels in 2023? And nothing else?
I feel like I’m missing something here, or maybe everyone else is just way more of a Sanderson fan than I am ;)
First, Brandon planned this well. He made a video Monday heavily implying bad news. For loyal fans waiting a day to hear the news caused quite a stir I assume. Then making such a huge unexpected announcement the next day caught many people off guard.
Second, announcing four new books is not common! Especially considering he wrote them while working on many other books over the last two years. I think people are just excited and happy to share something positive.
Readit News
I was certain he is announcing he's working with a team of ghost writers given his extraordinary writing speed.
He seems very disciplined.
Hate to say but I'm glad I'm not one of his kids. He wakes up around noon and then writes for five hours, and _then_ he hangs out with his family. So basically his kids don't see him all day until shortly before they go to bed.
Frankly, this sounds like a lot of focused family time:
""" At 5:00 I stop, and 5:00 until 10:00 is family time for me. And that is walled off. I don’t work on books, even in the back of my brain. It’s got to be a really steep wall for me to make sure I am there for them. And I have to mentally say, “You are there for them.” When your kids ask you to do something, that’s the time you say, “Yes, I’m going to go do that.” """
And how is 5PM "shortly before bed"?
This sounds like an awesome schedule. Sleep in, work for a very reasonable number of hours, and then have plenty of energy left to hang out with your kids (somewhat earlier than most commuters get home).
https://monsterhunternation.com/2021/05/17/why-are-there-so-...
On the other hand I've been put off by the pacing of the last three books. It feels like the basic structure is that there's a build up to a huge conflict at the end of the book, and the vast majority of the pages are spent waiting for it to arrive. In my opinion, the second book, Words of Radiance, was the best so far in terms of balancing character, plot and action.
But I came years later and found the series quite good and very enjoyable.
He teaches at BYU as well (still).
You're free to dislike the books, but this is an extremely unfair characterization. Sanderson's books bear very little resemblance to Tolkien's beyond the genre and the elaborate nature of the worldbuilding.
Sanderson's refusal to have characters ever actually curse is just infuriating.
I'm genuinely interested - for someone new to his work, where is a good book to start?
Edit: as mentioned in other comments: https://www.brandonsanderson.com/where-do-i-start/
Mistborn is my favorite trilogy ever. I've read it multiple times and I know the plot very well. The reason I love it is the characters. They feel so real, and you get genuinely invested in their growth through the books.
One-line description from the website: It’s a hybrid epic fantasy heist story with a focus on political intrigue and powerful action scenes.
[0]: https://www.brandonsanderson.com/where-do-i-start/
* Start with the Mistborn trilogy. This series probably has the best magic system he ever designed, and they're not as long as the main opus magnum that is the Stormlight Archive series, so if you don't like them, you can discover that much more quickly. It also gives you probably the best window into the general writing style of Sanderson, I believe.
* The next book is probably Stormlight Archive book 1, The Way of Kings. If you liked the Mistborn trilogy, reading this book next is probably the right thing to do to know if you're going to be invested into the entire shared literary universe or if you just want to stick to some series.
* After this point, it's probably best to read the books closer to their original publication order. In particular, the Stormlight Archive books start drawing on the other Cosmere novels so that familiarity with them is helpful, although definitely by book 4 (Rhythm of War), it's necessary to be familiar with Mistborn's magic system for maximum enjoyment.
* The thing with starting with Elantris is that Elantris is Sanderson's first novel, and it that really comes across in the writing. For that reason, I'd move it away from a general publication order recommendation.
* Another reason to generally favor publication order is that the wiki actually lets you browse it as it was right before the major books were published (https://coppermind.net/wiki/Special:TimeMachine), which lets you use it to catch up on information in reading the newer books without spoiling them for you.
If you prefer novellas/standalone to get a feel, I'd recommend "Emperor's Soul" and "Warbreaker". He's known for good magic system and Sanderlanche (things coming together at the end in a hurry).
I went on a binge read when I started reading his work about 4-5 years back. I still enjoy his books, but I'd recommend giving gaps between books. As they say "Too much of anything is bad".
I appreciate your question here is genuine, rather than critical. But just a reminder of the guidelines [1]:
> On-Topic: Anything that good hackers would find interesting. That includes more than hacking and startups. If you had to reduce it to a sentence, the answer might be: anything that gratifies one's intellectual curiosity.
> Off-Topic: Most stories about politics, or crime, or sports, unless they're evidence of some interesting new phenomenon. Videos of pratfalls or disasters, or cute animal pictures. If they'd cover it on TV news, it's probably off-topic.
(And I'm commenting here as someone who's never read this author, i.e. not speaking defensively.)
[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
This isn't really a "kickstarter campaign" - it's a preorder which is for whatever reason being organized through kickstarter. Kickstarter shows a disclaimer that says "you may never receive anything", but the odds of that happening here are 0%.
It was handled well.
I feel like I’m missing something here, or maybe everyone else is just way more of a Sanderson fan than I am ;)
First, Brandon planned this well. He made a video Monday heavily implying bad news. For loyal fans waiting a day to hear the news caused quite a stir I assume. Then making such a huge unexpected announcement the next day caught many people off guard.
Second, announcing four new books is not common! Especially considering he wrote them while working on many other books over the last two years. I think people are just excited and happy to share something positive.
Deleted Comment