Unpopular Brandon Sanderson Opinions

[AerionBFII he/him]

• I love all the Cosmere books but I've never been able to finish any of Brandon's non-Cosmere works.
• Most of the humour Brandon writes is just not landing for me, there have been funny moments but when the characters are trying to be 'witty'..yeesh. 
• Some dialogue is clunky or straight out of an action movie, Kaladin's speech to <A certain character> feels like Kal was rehearsing it in his room for such an occasion. I read Joe Abercrombie  after a Cosmere book and for me personally the character dialogue it felt more natural, like a human interaction.

All that being said I've read these books for years and for all my moaning I'll be picking up the next.

Edited August 27, 2022 by AerionBFII

[Kallor]

On 05/05/2022 at 4:58 AM, Nerd3.14159265358979 said:

Szeth is my favorite Sanderson character. Hands down. Has been since book 1. 

He had one hell of an entrance, I stan him unconditionally lmao

[+Child of Hodor]

I don't like Tien. He comes across more as the personification of innocence than a character or person.

Brandon has given WoBs about stuff that was going on with him (He's afraid of people finding out he's not as good as people think he is) but I react to that stuff like I do with Rowling saying Dumbledore is gay "OK, but it's not really in the books". I believe Brandon had this in his mind the whole time, but it's not on the page in a meaningful way. Every time we see Tien he's trying to cheer Kaladin up or he's nauseous because he saw some blood (innocence personified). 

Even long after he's dead Tien shows up just to cheer Kaladin up like he always does and talk about the bright side of children dying in a war. "It's sad but we just got dropped off earlier. When you die you'll float TOO!" OK, he didn't say the last part.  

[SymphonianBookworm she/her]

Jasnahoid is the best ship.
I am known for my support of it, and also people hate it.

[GroundPetrel]

I've never been a huge fan of any Sanderson romance except Dalinar/Navani.  Elend/Vin works but mostly because it's not about them as a couple, it's about Vin.  Adolin/Shallan feels more like Shallan got adopted by the Kholins and Mr. "My dad was a useless alcoholic for a decade so I'm the best big brother ever" made it his personal mission to take care of her. 

IMO, Hrathen is the only really well-rounded character in Elantris.  Raoden doesn't really have enough insecurities to be compelling on reread and Sarene's plot often feels like "girlboss vs. the cartoon sexist realm of Misogynyland".  The social worldbuilding also feels the most shallow and the religious and political messaging comes off as a bit West Wing-y at times.  And I say this as someone who really likes Elantris. 

The Way of Kings is the best Sanderson book. 

Vin deserves an Adolin Kholin hug.  (this is not an opinion)

Lift and The Lopen are the only really funny jokesters in Sanderson's work, nobody else's comedic style really hits consistently. 

MeLaan is the best character in the Cosmere, followed by Adolin, Lift, The Lopen, and Kaladin.  (fight me)

Leshwi and the Shanay-im should defect from Odium's side and Leshwi and Kaladin should have an awkward "fellow honorable warrior, I do not wish anyone to kill you but myself, though of course I will never seriously attempt to kill you because I don't want to lose such a great opponent" relationship that turns into romance that literally everybody BUT them can see until the Windrunners and Heavenly Ones bond by getting their team leaders together out of sheer mutual frustration. 

I want to be MeLaan. 

While Sazed is objectively the most human-rights conscious Vessel, he is also hamstrung by the inherent contradictions of being a quasidivine being who respects individual autonomy and universal basic rights, and the best way out of this is to collect all the other shards and find a way to yeet them right out of the universe. 

[Frustration he/him]

Brandon just isn't funny.

Lift is the only character that can even get a chuckle out of me anymore.

Hoid isn't even that insulting, most of his roasts are surface level name-calling at best.

[Cinnamon]

Um, don’t hate me but when I first started reading mistborn I totally missed that Ham was married for like the entire first book. 
I shipped him and Breeze and I kind of still do, I mean their bantering is adorable and they work as bros but … it could’ve happened in another world.

[Lego Mistborn he/him]

On 9/27/2022 at 10:29 PM, Frustration said:

Brandon just isn't funny.

Lift is the only character that can even get a chuckle out of me anymore.

Hoid isn't even that insulting, most of his roasts are surface level name-calling at best.

I have to disagree, but everyone has differing senses of humor, so it's not surprising there are many people who aren't as amused.

[JessK]

My unpopular opinion is that Mistborn to me is the least engaging of the Cosmere works. The first Mistborn book was my first introduction to Sanderson, but I found it a fairly average fantasy installment and I felt it was fine as a standalone and didn't even read books 2 and 3. Then two years later my cousin introduced me to Stormlight Archive, and it was my true love, lol. Stormlight hooked me on Brandon as an author, so I went back and gave Mistborn another shot and read the rest of the series. I did enjoy it more the second time around knowing its Cosmere significance (and I am very fond of Sazed and TenSoon, and Kelsier is an icon in more ways than one), and Era 2 brought some interesting ideas to the table, but it still ranks lower for me than most of not all of the Cosmere works.

[Frustration he/him]

Add another to my WoK prime opinions

All of the characters in WoK prime are better than their canon counterparts.

Except Szeth, Szeth is perfect.

 

Merin is better than Kaladin

Shinri is better than Shallan in every possible way

Prime Jasnah is better than Jasnah

Dalinar is actually mostly the same.

Edited December 2, 2022 by Ookla the Frustrated.

[Ookla the worldhopper]

Dalinar would have been awesome as Odiums champion

[Frustration he/him]

Mistborn's magic system is the only interesting thing about it's world.

[NameIess]

On 12/2/2022 at 4:37 PM, Ookla the Frustrated. said:

Add another to my WoK prime opinions

All of the characters in WoK prime are better than their canon counterparts.

Except Szeth, Szeth is perfect.

 

Merin is better than Kaladin

Shinri is better than Shallan in every possible way

Prime Jasnah is better than Jasnah

Dalinar is actually mostly the same.

I'm curious: why do you like Merin more?

[Frustration he/him]

Just now, Ookla the Untitled said:

I'm curious: why do you like Merin more?

He's so simple, most characters these days feel like they have miles worth of problems and twenty-three different motivations for everything. It was kind of refreshing to have someone without all the angst.

Just to show what I'm talking about: Spoilers for WoK Prime

Spoiler

When Merin goes to save Elhokar, he learns that two assassins are being sent and goes with his friend to defend his king.

When Kaladin goes to save Elhokar he spends several chapters agonizing over whether he should save him or not.

It's not to say Kaladin is bad, I really like him, but I found Merin's simplicity relaxing, ordinary as it was.

Does that make any sense?

[NameIess]

Just now, Ookla the Frustrated. said:

He's so simple, most characters these days feel like they have miles worth of problems and twenty-three different motivations for everything. It was kind of refreshing to have someone without all the angst.

Just to show what I'm talking about: Spoilers for WoK Prime

  Reveal hidden contents

When Merin goes to save Elhokar, he learns that two assassins are being sent and goes with his friend to defend his king.

When Kaladin goes to save Elhokar he spends several chapters agonizing over whether he should save him or not.

It's not to say Kaladin is bad, I really like him, but I found Merin's simplicity relaxing, ordinary as it was.

Does that make any sense?

Yeah, that makes sense.

[caminante_blanco he/him]

Mistborn Era 2 never clicked for me. 

It's not that I dislike them. They just feel kinda meh. I love pretty much all of Brandon's other books, but I have a hard time pushing through ME2. I think it's because the stakes are so much lower, plus the characters don't work that well for me. 

 

[Captain Coffee]

Warbreaker is my favorite Brandon book.

Oathbringer is his best written book.

Mistborn Era 2 is way better than era 1.

Wax is the second best Character in the Cosmere.

And, I didn't realize this might be unpopular until reading this thread, complaining about Brandon's output when we get at least a book every year (even if it isn't the one we want) feels pretty entitled. Outside of romance novels, no fandom gets books as regularly as we do.

[Frustration he/him]

12 hours ago, Captain Coffee said:

Outside of romance novels, no fandom gets books as regularly as we do.

I mean, all romance novels are the exact same so that's really saying something.

[Returned]

My unpopular opinion (apologies if it's somewhere upthread, this topic is long!):

Sanderson's prolific output is increasingly driven by writing formula and schedule, not inspiration or artistic drive, and it's showing more and more with each release. Quality is subjective, but the books are becoming more simplistic in plotting and structure, less immersive, and more similar to each other. I don't have any problem with more YA-focused books, like the Reckoners, but I'd rather not have that style in Stormlight or Mistborn.

There is still a lot to like in everything he writes, and he's still a top writer in the genre. But the scope of the Cosmere isn't well served by more simplistic characters, more simplistic representations, more simplistic plots and scenarios, more lists of magic rules (in a tell-rather-than-show sense), or more catch phrases and fan service. My feeling is that the Cosmere books are tipping ever further in that direction with each release, and that that's largely a result of the packed and punishing schedule he's set for himself. I am concerned for future books, particularly past SA 5.

I'd much rather have less frequent releases, even if that means fewer Cosmere releases each year, than get less polished works more often.

[NAIRB360 he/him]

I think Warbreaker and Elantris are phenomenal. 

Edited December 8, 2022 by NAIRB360

[Quivil she/her]

I like almost all of the jokes in Sanderson's books.

There are some of Wit's that I hate tho, because they're immature and feel icky to me. (like the "my job is to give insults" one)

[AltonicKeys he/him]

Oathbringer really wasn't that bad

[Spearguy]

I'm going to be brutally honest and say that Brandon is not a good writer, what he is good at is storytelling and world building. I would say that the difference between being a storyteller and a writer is that a storyteller is good at grand sweeping arcs and themes, while a writer is good a prose and making the individual words together.

[11thHerald]

Other than Mistborn itself, I wasn't a huge fan of Mistborn Era 1.

Also Kaladin and Dalinar are my least favorite POV characters in Stormlight; Adolin and Shallan (especially WoK and WoR Shallan) are my favorite primary POV characters.

Rsyn's interludes, especially in WoR, are probably my favorite parts of SA. Honestly, I think a large part of this is because I really like Brandon's world building so storylines like Rsyn's that explore the different parts of the worlds are really compelling for me. 

[KaladinWorldsinger]

On 12/3/2022 at 3:07 AM, Ookla the Frustrated. said:

Merin is better than Kaladin

Can you expand on this?