15 ms·

Brandon Sanderson is my go to recommendation for fantasy nowadays. Mistborn is a great place to start but The Way of Kings is the real meat and potatoes. He als

Brandon Sanderson is my go to recommendation for fantasy nowadays. Mistborn is a great place to start but The Way of Kings is the real meat and potatoes. He also links all these books together in the same universe and it's fun to notice the connections.

climb_stealth 5y ago
I haven't heard of these, thanks for the recommendation! According to Wikipedia he hasn't finished writing them yet. Is it worth reading them already or does it feel unfinished? It's not clear from a quick glance, Mistborn and The Way of Kings take place in the same universe?
- spamalot159 5y ago
  I'd say it's worth it to start now. Sanderson is writing at a blistering pace right now and doesn't seem to be slowing down. Mistborn and Way of Kings are in the same universe but separate worlds. I don't want to spoil too much but there is some crossover involved.
  - climb_stealth 5y ago
    Makes sense, thanks! I appreciate the non-spoiler. These days I don't even read the description on the back of books anymore to try and experience it openly. It just makes it a bit hard to work out where to start sometimes.
- bhntr3 5y ago
  >Is it worth reading them already or does it feel unfinished? Mistborn is a complete trilogy although he continues to publish other novels set in the same world. Way of Kings is ongoing. It's on book four now. Each book is over a thousand pages so there's a lot there. I don't think it's a problem to start. Books 1-3 are great and stand alone pretty well. It's started to drag with book 4 in my opinion. Like so many other huge epic fantasies, it has too many characters, too many plotlines, too huge of a world, and it's difficult to maintain the epic feel with all that sprawl. I'm worried for book 5. > Mistborn and The Way of Kings take place in the same universe? They take place in the same universe (literally) but they are on different worlds. So they don't have anything (much?) to do with each other (yet?)
  - climb_stealth 5y ago
    Thanks for the details! Mistborn is going on my list to read next.
  - harveynick 5y ago
    There's another Sanderson Cosmere book called Warbreaker which crosses over with Stormlight pretty heavily from book 2 onwards (it's also very possibly there are references in book 1 which totally passed me by). You'll definitely have a better handle on why a particular object which shows up in the Stormlight books is so scary if you read Warbreaker first. Book 4 of Stormlight does have some pretty big references to the original Mistborn trilogy, too. On the whole I try to read books in the order I bought them (ish), but Sanderson is one of the authors I'll just drop everything for when a new book comes out. Disclaimer: he does have some bad habits (mainly inserting "wise ass" characters who don't fit the tone or setting, and who I strongly suspect carry the author's voice a little _too_ directly). But he does epic world building incredibly well, and very different to just about any other author I've read. He also writes action exceptionally well.
    - hacker1134 5y ago
      Warbreaker is a very amateurish effort though - I think a lot of people would bounce off it. I'd definitely suggest starting with Way of Kings, if that grabs a new reader then they can delve into the Cosmere before continuing on to Words of Radiance.
- zargon 5y ago
  Same universe -- the Cosmere. But we really are talking about "universe" here. Different planets (galaxies?) that know nothing about each other, just happen to share some laws of nature (and some mysterious characters that seem to travel around). I don't even pick up on most of the connections without having them pointed out to me. Stormlight Archive is 10 books in two 5 book arcs. 4th book is out now, 5th book will be out in 3 years. So probably a decent time to get into Stormlight. (Sanderson makes a schedule for each of his projects and has an incredible talent for hitting his targets.)
  - sanedigital 5y ago
    Different solar systems. And they definitely know about each other. Or at least, there are factions and individuals present in each system who do.
- humps 5y ago
  His first book Elantris is also very good and well worth your time. A good starting point for his work and a self-contained novel (although he had mentioned writing two more Elantris books in the distant future).
  - climb_stealth 5y ago
    I see, noted as well. Thanks!
  - harveynick 5y ago
    The Emperor's Soul is set on the same world as Elantris, though is more or less completely unconnected to it.
  - Arete314159 5y ago
    FYI - Robin Hobb is a lady.
    - fredophile 5y ago
      Since GP is talking about Elantris it's safe to say the "he" in this case is Brandon Sanderson and not Robin Hobb.
      - humps 5y ago
        quite correct, I was referring to Brandon, not Robin
        Arete314159 5y ago
        Ah sorry, my bad.
GordonS 5y ago
I'm reading Rhythm of War (Stormlight Archive Book 4) just now, and am really enjoying the Stormlight series - the "split personality" of Shallan is really interesting, and I'm enjoying Shadesmar much more than I did in Oathbringer.
8fGTBjZxBcHq 5y ago
A friend of mine once joked about hacker news that "if you mention any author, within three comments someone will recommend a Sanderson book." I appreciated the joke without taking it too literally. But here we are.
- astrange 5y ago
  That happens on /r/books too. They're also obsessed with Stephen King, so I've just assumed Sanderson is also an airport novel writer.
  - burnished 5y ago
    I don't know what 'airport novel writer' means, but Sanderson comes up with some really inventive worlds and the magic in his fantasy setting has a high degree of internal consistency that really resonates with some people. His writing is also approachable in the sense that it isn't full of references to other books that are required reading in order to understand a passage. If you've got a working knowledge of the english language and maybe a dictionary you can approach the story on its own merits.
    - 8fGTBjZxBcHq 5y ago
      Yeah "high degree of internal consistency" and "approachable" are things I want in a test suite not a novel.
SunlightEdge 5y ago
At the risk of being downvoted I don't find Brandon Sanderson a very good fantasy writer. For me, The way of kings started well (even if the characters were all pretty 2-D) in book one. Interesting plot with it mixing ww1/dune computer game themes in a fantasy setting. But by book 3 it was an incredible chore to get through and I stopped after about 10% in. I even got bored reading the plot summary of the third book. I guess it wasnt dark enough for me. But I know other like it. The king killer chronicles however. e.g. The name of the wind. I really like this book series.
- selykg 5y ago
  Too bad you will never see the end of The King Killer Chronicles. It has been something like 10 years since the last book. Rothfuss is in the exact same situation as Martin for me. I won't buy any books of his until the series is complete. You may not like Sanderson's writing, but the man publishes books. He will get my money for anything he writes because I know I'm going to enjoy it (personally, I really enjoy his books) and I know he's going to complete what he starts.
  - SunlightEdge 5y ago
    Unfortunately, I agree with you. The stone door I've almost given up on. And I was reading GOT way before it became famous on TV. Again stopped expecting a new book. He's passed away now. But I did quite like the British fantasy writer David Gemell. He knocked out books too. His books are violent and personally I like dark and gritty.
    - selykg 5y ago
      Check out Mark Lawrence if you like dark and gritty. He's pretty good at knocking out books as well. Also, you've probably heard of it already but The First Law series by Joe Abercrombie
    - vaughandroid 5y ago
      "Personally I like dark and gritty." On the offchance you haven't given Joe Abercrombie a try, you really ought to.

climb_stealth 5y ago

I haven't heard of these, thanks for the recommendation! According to Wikipedia he hasn't finished writing them yet. Is it worth reading them already or does it feel unfinished? It's not clear from a quick glance, Mistborn and The Way of Kings take place in the same universe?

spamalot159 5y ago
I'd say it's worth it to start now. Sanderson is writing at a blistering pace right now and doesn't seem to be slowing down. Mistborn and Way of Kings are in the same universe but separate worlds. I don't want to spoil too much but there is some crossover involved.
- climb_stealth 5y ago
  Makes sense, thanks! I appreciate the non-spoiler. These days I don't even read the description on the back of books anymore to try and experience it openly. It just makes it a bit hard to work out where to start sometimes.
bhntr3 5y ago
>Is it worth reading them already or does it feel unfinished? Mistborn is a complete trilogy although he continues to publish other novels set in the same world. Way of Kings is ongoing. It's on book four now. Each book is over a thousand pages so there's a lot there. I don't think it's a problem to start. Books 1-3 are great and stand alone pretty well. It's started to drag with book 4 in my opinion. Like so many other huge epic fantasies, it has too many characters, too many plotlines, too huge of a world, and it's difficult to maintain the epic feel with all that sprawl. I'm worried for book 5. > Mistborn and The Way of Kings take place in the same universe? They take place in the same universe (literally) but they are on different worlds. So they don't have anything (much?) to do with each other (yet?)
- climb_stealth 5y ago
  Thanks for the details! Mistborn is going on my list to read next.
- harveynick 5y ago
  There's another Sanderson Cosmere book called Warbreaker which crosses over with Stormlight pretty heavily from book 2 onwards (it's also very possibly there are references in book 1 which totally passed me by). You'll definitely have a better handle on why a particular object which shows up in the Stormlight books is so scary if you read Warbreaker first. Book 4 of Stormlight does have some pretty big references to the original Mistborn trilogy, too. On the whole I try to read books in the order I bought them (ish), but Sanderson is one of the authors I'll just drop everything for when a new book comes out. Disclaimer: he does have some bad habits (mainly inserting "wise ass" characters who don't fit the tone or setting, and who I strongly suspect carry the author's voice a little _too_ directly). But he does epic world building incredibly well, and very different to just about any other author I've read. He also writes action exceptionally well.
  - hacker1134 5y ago
    Warbreaker is a very amateurish effort though - I think a lot of people would bounce off it. I'd definitely suggest starting with Way of Kings, if that grabs a new reader then they can delve into the Cosmere before continuing on to Words of Radiance.
zargon 5y ago
Same universe -- the Cosmere. But we really are talking about "universe" here. Different planets (galaxies?) that know nothing about each other, just happen to share some laws of nature (and some mysterious characters that seem to travel around). I don't even pick up on most of the connections without having them pointed out to me. Stormlight Archive is 10 books in two 5 book arcs. 4th book is out now, 5th book will be out in 3 years. So probably a decent time to get into Stormlight. (Sanderson makes a schedule for each of his projects and has an incredible talent for hitting his targets.)
- sanedigital 5y ago
  Different solar systems. And they definitely know about each other. Or at least, there are factions and individuals present in each system who do.
humps 5y ago
His first book Elantris is also very good and well worth your time. A good starting point for his work and a self-contained novel (although he had mentioned writing two more Elantris books in the distant future).
- climb_stealth 5y ago
  I see, noted as well. Thanks!
- harveynick 5y ago
  The Emperor's Soul is set on the same world as Elantris, though is more or less completely unconnected to it.
- Arete314159 5y ago
  FYI - Robin Hobb is a lady.
  - fredophile 5y ago
    Since GP is talking about Elantris it's safe to say the "he" in this case is Brandon Sanderson and not Robin Hobb.
    - humps 5y ago
      quite correct, I was referring to Brandon, not Robin
      - Arete314159 5y ago
        Ah sorry, my bad.

GordonS 5y ago

I'm reading Rhythm of War (Stormlight Archive Book 4) just now, and am really enjoying the Stormlight series - the "split personality" of Shallan is really interesting, and I'm enjoying Shadesmar much more than I did in Oathbringer.

8fGTBjZxBcHq 5y ago

A friend of mine once joked about hacker news that "if you mention any author, within three comments someone will recommend a Sanderson book." I appreciated the joke without taking it too literally. But here we are.

astrange 5y ago
That happens on /r/books too. They're also obsessed with Stephen King, so I've just assumed Sanderson is also an airport novel writer.
- burnished 5y ago
  I don't know what 'airport novel writer' means, but Sanderson comes up with some really inventive worlds and the magic in his fantasy setting has a high degree of internal consistency that really resonates with some people. His writing is also approachable in the sense that it isn't full of references to other books that are required reading in order to understand a passage. If you've got a working knowledge of the english language and maybe a dictionary you can approach the story on its own merits.
  - 8fGTBjZxBcHq 5y ago
    Yeah "high degree of internal consistency" and "approachable" are things I want in a test suite not a novel.

SunlightEdge 5y ago

At the risk of being downvoted I don't find Brandon Sanderson a very good fantasy writer. For me, The way of kings started well (even if the characters were all pretty 2-D) in book one. Interesting plot with it mixing ww1/dune computer game themes in a fantasy setting. But by book 3 it was an incredible chore to get through and I stopped after about 10% in. I even got bored reading the plot summary of the third book. I guess it wasnt dark enough for me. But I know other like it. The king killer chronicles however. e.g. The name of the wind. I really like this book series.

selykg 5y ago
Too bad you will never see the end of The King Killer Chronicles. It has been something like 10 years since the last book. Rothfuss is in the exact same situation as Martin for me. I won't buy any books of his until the series is complete. You may not like Sanderson's writing, but the man publishes books. He will get my money for anything he writes because I know I'm going to enjoy it (personally, I really enjoy his books) and I know he's going to complete what he starts.
- SunlightEdge 5y ago
  Unfortunately, I agree with you. The stone door I've almost given up on. And I was reading GOT way before it became famous on TV. Again stopped expecting a new book. He's passed away now. But I did quite like the British fantasy writer David Gemell. He knocked out books too. His books are violent and personally I like dark and gritty.
  - selykg 5y ago
    Check out Mark Lawrence if you like dark and gritty. He's pretty good at knocking out books as well. Also, you've probably heard of it already but The First Law series by Joe Abercrombie
  - vaughandroid 5y ago
    "Personally I like dark and gritty." On the offchance you haven't given Joe Abercrombie a try, you really ought to.