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Sanderson's books appeal to a certain reader who is extremely invested in world building and "hard" magic systems. I would say his plots and characters usually

Sanderson's books appeal to a certain reader who is extremely invested in world building and "hard" magic systems. I would say his plots and characters usually play second fiddle to those things, and he infamously has his writing tics. I think the majority of his books would be vastly improved with a better editor, frankly (especially the last Stormlight one, jesus). But I'm generally in the minority in that respect. He has extremely devoted fans. I would set your expectations for the books at about Avengers movie quality, which for some people sounds amazing and that's exactly what they are looking for. Personally, I enjoyed the core Malazan books far more as fantasy with very intense world building sensibilities and a more mature edge. But I don't go to Sanderson looking for fantasy with literary sensibilities.

nottorp 4y ago
Yep, world building and system building is what he does. The only book of his that wasn't like that... and which i liked most... Elantris... was never really continued.
- terafo 4y ago
  It will eventually be continued, just like Warbreaker. And it's not like it is forgotten, there are at least two characters from Sel in Lost Metal(his latest mistborn book).
  - shostack 4y ago
    And don't forget the Warbreaker crossovers in The Stormlight Archives.
aardvark179 4y ago
Yeah. For big fantasy series I much preferred the Malazan books. Sanderson is fine, but if somebody really likes those books I know I can mostly ignore their other recommendations because our tastes just differ too much. That’s not to say hard magic systems can’t be done well, I think Robert Jackson Bennett does a superb job in the Foundaryside books.
frosted-flakes 4y ago
One of his books that actually did have great characters and plot was Skyward, the first book in a series of 4 (#4 is not yet released). It focuses heavily on personal relationships with a small cast of characters, and the plot is tightly centred on the main character. But it was like Sanderson threw all that out the window with book #2 (Starsight) and #3 (Cytonic) in favour of world-building and a weird plot that expanded in scope extremely rapidly, and I heavily disliked those books because of it. #1 was a 9/10 for me, but I rate #2 as 3.5/10 and #3 as 5/10. But that's me; my siblings who also read the books all seemed to love them.

nottorp 4y ago

Yep, world building and system building is what he does. The only book of his that wasn't like that... and which i liked most... Elantris... was never really continued.

terafo 4y ago
It will eventually be continued, just like Warbreaker. And it's not like it is forgotten, there are at least two characters from Sel in Lost Metal(his latest mistborn book).
- shostack 4y ago
  And don't forget the Warbreaker crossovers in The Stormlight Archives.

aardvark179 4y ago

Yeah. For big fantasy series I much preferred the Malazan books. Sanderson is fine, but if somebody really likes those books I know I can mostly ignore their other recommendations because our tastes just differ too much. That’s not to say hard magic systems can’t be done well, I think Robert Jackson Bennett does a superb job in the Foundaryside books.

frosted-flakes 4y ago

One of his books that actually did have great characters and plot was Skyward, the first book in a series of 4 (#4 is not yet released). It focuses heavily on personal relationships with a small cast of characters, and the plot is tightly centred on the main character. But it was like Sanderson threw all that out the window with book #2 (Starsight) and #3 (Cytonic) in favour of world-building and a weird plot that expanded in scope extremely rapidly, and I heavily disliked those books because of it. #1 was a 9/10 for me, but I rate #2 as 3.5/10 and #3 as 5/10. But that's me; my siblings who also read the books all seemed to love them.