Loved how you structured this based on the different system/ planets in the Cosmere! Steris is the absolute best! Elantris was also my first Sando book and I agree with the tier ranking! Mandatory yay for Oathbringer being up so high, it’s my favorite in the series!
Great video as always! I actually read Wind and Truth a couple weeks ago. The ending left me shook as well. Oddly enough, the way it was divided into ten days was more easily digestible for me, but we’ll see how that holds up on a second read through. I actually liked all the mental health stuff, but that’s just my personal preference
@valliyarnl I think that kinda has to do with the fact that mental health is literally a non-thing on Roshar. The word "therapist" doesn't even exist there.
This could be a hot take but I think the mental health stuff was done much better through Shallan than Kaladin the therapist. I think Kaladin`s personal battles and growth was great and an accurate representation but its just too unrealistic to change a man like Szeth in 9 days. I don't even want to mention Nale because there was some magic involved but a man who has been tormented for thousands of years... cmon.
I haven't been keeping up to much with your videos since not too many of them have been related to what I read, but it is super impressive to see how much your channel has grown. Like you have 30k subs and you've been absolutely hitting with the witcher videos. You are the go-to person for Witcher content. Also yessss Oathbringer best book. Dalinar GOAT
Great job breaking these down without spoilers. Very clear and concise, and not afraid to add your own opinion even if it might be unpopular. I’m subbing for sure! I’ve read the first Mistborn trilogy, Tress, working on Warbreaker and The Way of Kings right now. I am excited for what’s in store!!
Hey Wera, I'd like to thank you. Your video on the Last Wish finally pushed me to start reading, not just the Witcher series, but in general. I'm now a quarter into the Sword of Destiny after reading the Last Wish the whole day, and I can't stop (send help). I've always wanted to deep dive into the Witcher after watching my dad play Witcher 2&3 when I was younger but I kept putting it off. I played most of the first game, because starting with the third game sounded stupid to me, but I stopped playing due to driver related issues crashing my game. At that point I was burned out from the crashing and troubleshooting so I just gave up and picked up another game. This was also around the same time the Netflix show released season 1, and well, let's just say I put off the world of the Witcher even longer. But this December when CDPR released their trailer during the Game Awards I was hyped. Watching it live I was super excited, I kept listening to the "No Gods, only Monsters" soundtrack from the trailer, and then I found your video. As you were going through the first story I was hooked, but I had to stop watching because I knew I was losing out on the actual experience of reading the books for myself. And after the video you did on the trailer, giving your thoughts on Ciri being the new protagonist, I knew I had to read the books. So, this Christmas, I got myself the Witcher, Dune and LotR books. I've now binge read the Last Wish in one day, which I've never done with any book ever, and I'm now reading the Bounds of Reason in the Sword of Destiny. Thinking back to season 1 of the Netflix show I now understand why everybody was so mad. I'll watch the full video on the Last Wish (after reading the Sword of Destiny) and I really do hope you make more videos like that on the rest of the series. I love hearing extra details and explanations from passionate fans, especially when the original work is in another language and all I can read is the translations. You adding to the stories with your knowledge as a native Polish speaker is really awesome and insightful. Thank you so much for doing content on the things you're passionate about and happy new year. Much love from Germany. (and sorry for the wall of text, lol)
Oh wow this means so much to me 💞 thank you for sharing! And yeah sending help bc when the Witcher addiction starts… it could never end ;) I hope you enjoy the Last wish video when u finish Sword of Destiny! And I hope you love Dune and LOTR. Too ☺️ Happy reading!!!
Ive been subbed to you for a while now, and I am so proud of you and the traction you are getting now. Do not let up, keep your foot on the gas (while keeping yourself sane and life balanced) But you could totally make a huge wave in this space if youre so inclined. Best of luck
I am embarking on a quest: Day 1 of getting Wera to read the Sun Eater series, not just the first book, the entire series. And yes, this will be on every video until she does so. 😅
Hahahaha she has noticed and more importantly TAKEN NOTE. I want to, trust me, I just have a bit of a SFF burn out but when the date for book 7 is announced I’ll get on the grind 😊
@valliyarnl Well, Christopher Ruocchio has said late 2025, and if you know anything about him, you know he is the most prolific writer, on par with Sanderson. In 6 years, he has published 6 main books, 3 novellas, and 3 short story collections. And these are not light reads. Everything is dense and complex. If he says, late 2025, you can be 99% certain the book is coming out then. So you basically have exactly 1 year to catch up. He also posts updates on his channel and actually the book is almost done, he is currently writing the last act so...yeah.
I've read the stormlight archives several times and have been waiting years for the last book. I like Sandersons work and have read most of his books several times.
Honestly, this has become one of my favorite channels. Please don't cut out the moments when you're out of breath. from turkey with love, kebab and cat.
Thank you for this! Lot's of great points. Glad to meet a fellow war-criminal enjoyer!! Spoilers - - - - - - Books 4 and 5 of Stormlight definitely fell off for me too after the highs of 1-3. In my re-read in anticipation of Wind and Truth I basically skipped the entire "Kaladin gets more depressed and punches more people" storyline. Navani's part was a bit hard to re-read too. The first time, it was okay because you were discovering so many mechanics. But with the discovery gone, that part is incredibly dry for me too. Agree with your critiques of Wind and Truth too. I do think Brandon's focus on trying to set-up Book 6 + Cosmere events so much in Book 5 caused some quality issues. I.e. I thought the Shatterplanes plotline felt so unsatisfying because it was less of a complete arc/story but more of just set-up for the future. As a HUGE Shallan fan I also felt like her storyline lost a TON of steam once it went into the Spiritual Realm and was mostly left disappointed. I still liked SA5 more than 4 for sure though. I've read most of the Cosmere and I think my ranking is pretty close to yours. Except I didn't love Elantris and I actually despised Era 1 Mistborn (mostly due to not liking Vin too, and for me it got worst when we lost Kelsier's POV). For Stormlight my ranking is probably WoR > WoK > OB > WaT > RoW.
Yay! I've been totally binging your videos and enjoying your summaries and insights so much. But I have to admit, totally wondering about the books on your bookshelf! Lol Solid video!
"Mistborn: The Final Empire" was the first Sanderson book I ever read, followed closely by Elantris. When I first read Mistborn, it felt like the best thing ever. However, after finishing Elantris, I found myself placing it above Mistborn in my personal rankings. I’m not entirely sure why, but something about Elantris resonates with me more deeply. That said, Mistborn will always hold a very special place in my heart. Also great job on the tier list.
Big wind and truth spoilers: I hated how marvel-esque Dalinar’s ending felt, the way odium/tarvangian/retribution got evil dalinar at the end just feels like a cheap way to keep popular character around
I loved your honest thoughts about the Cosmere and Wind and Truth! Sanderson's strict adherence to the same structure in 1-4 started to grate on me, so I think it's a plus that he attempted something different. I felt the same as you about the mental health discussion in book 4, so I'm nervous that wouldn't work for me in 5. I might read Wind and Truth at some point, but I'm not feeling momentum. Glad it still had some emotional moments for you! 💓
Always enjoy seeing new Cosmere content pop up on my feed! I have completely opposite opinions as you on most everything, though, lol. Yumi- absolutely perfect and absolutely needed that ending. Oathbringer and Dalinar- least favorite.😬 Great video, though, and love that it's getting more people to read Sanderson because ultimately that's what all us fans want!
As someone who's building his own fantasy universe and (very slowly) writing the accompanying books, I feel like I absolutely MUST read Brandon Sanderson's work now after watching this video (p.s. you also turned me on to Cormac McCarthy and HOLY SHIT was I missing out)
I've just finished reading 'Tress of the emerald sea' and I loved it- and now I'm trying to figure out if I want to get into the rest of the cosmere but I probably won't get into it for a long time.
I’ve always been aware of mistborn and the stormlight archives just as super well known works of modern adult fantasy, but I’m intimidated by just how expansive the cosmere is 😂 it’s good to know there are shorter and standalone works too!! I think I’ll give the emperor’s soul a try to see how I like his writing! thanks for such a enjoyable discussion ☺️
Hello, I'm from Germany and I didn't notice Brandon Sanderson here until last year because he's not as famous here as he is in English-speaking countries. The day before yesterday I finished Mistborn. It's been a very long time since a book touched me so emotionally. The ending is so incredibly good and sad. While reading, I never imagined that Mistbron would end in this emotional way. I've now started reading the stormlight archives.
Ok I just wanted to comment on Elantris, because I read it just this year after Stormlight archive (mistborn was too long ago) and I also really enjoyed it. Interesting premise and nicely done, shame Sanderson didn't write more of it - but THEN you insulted our dear sweet Lift - the awesome admirerer of pancakes - unbelievable! :D I enjoyed the comedy of Lift very very much and it gives a wonderful different perspective on the magic of Roshar ^^ P.S.: needed to skip Wind and Truth because I need to wait another 6 months until it's translated D:
@@americanjaybird German, started it this way and I stick to a language during a series - unfortunately it's gonna take until may and then september because they split each book of stormlight archive into two in german xD
This is exactly what I needed. Also I finished Carmilla. I liked it more than Dracula, but I think Dracula is the more interesting character. Also also the Nosferatu movie, pretty good.
Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell is in a tier of it's own for me, just because I enjoyed the setting so much and cannot wait for the actual novels... Threnody is disturbingly fascinating.
Leave it to Wera to casually drop a video on an author's entire bibliography lmao (while also knowing all the little details about the background of the books, how many eras of Mistborn there will be and what they are). My rankings for Stormlight are exactly like yours, Oathbringer I liked the best, Rhythm of War I least liked.
I just finished reading wind and truth and it was a classic sanderson crazy ending, good video I liked remembering cosmere books that I read years ago.
I have read quite a lot of Cosmere books this year after having read my first Sanderson book in the Summer of last year with Elantris. Now I'm "only" missing the whole Stormlight Archive and the Secret Projects as well as White Sand since I am waiting for the novelisation. So I'll be holding off until I read them all but so far I think I am mostly rating them similarly except for The Final Empire, I did enjoy that one quite a bit but maybe it would change if I ever reread it.
exceptional video and very well thought out points for each book. My only disagreement would be about a certain mopey sad boi's (who is my favourite character, so I'm biased) chapters in rhythm of war. As someone who has the displeasure of dealing with similar mental health issues, in addition to having ADHD tendencies like their spren, it felt amazingly close to how some of my own healing journey has gone. Unfortunately, healing isn't a linear path and I prefer that Sanderson showed that with mopey sad boi. Especially in a world where mental health care extends to "lock em up in a dark cell and throw away the key." I understand from a narrative perspective, you want characters to progress and its frustrating having to keep reading what feels like similar beats over and over. However, I feel having that representation did a lot of good for readers with these issues and helped readers without them learn more from a place of empathy. It showed a realistic level of regression of what can happen when you don't take care of yourself and why support structures are so important. I can understand readers may not vibe with it but for me it was powerful enough to get me to go back and try therapy again. I am curious why you hate Nivani though?
I really feel like the four other stormlight books had a theme that mental health doesn’t have a time limit for healing. You will heal if you take the time to work on yourself, no matter how much time you need. I really felt like that the structure of the fifth book was antithesis to that idea. He had ten days to save szeth, and then even worse, like a few hours to save the bondsmith. It just left a bittersweet taste, cause I really enjoyed it, just not the mental health bits. Which were my favorite bits Of the others.
I started reading Sandersons books back in like 2013 during high school. Elantris, Warbreaker and Way of Kings were all great to me back then. I remember being very into Mistborn and I was kind of mind blown by the ending of the trilogy too. I'll be honest though when I say that I found it hard to try to get back into the Stormlight Archive sequels. It's probably just me but I couldn't get myself back into it after all that time, especially after finding some more mature forms of fantasy such as the Witcher series.
I think Taldain does rotate, but being tidally locked, its rotation is equal to its orbital period, meaning one side always faces one of its stars and one always faces away to the other. This makes it appear to not rotate.
I thought I was the only one who had Oathbringer as their favorite Stormlight book! My S tier ranking would be pretty much exactly the same too. The Hero of Ages has one of the best finales to a series in my opinion.
I love listening to your stories about books, especially The Witcher. I love The Witcher game, its stories and events, and I love Yennefer, Ciri and Shani. They are the best characters. I love them very much, and I love you too. I am very lucky that I followed you. You deserve all the support 🤍🔥
I watched this video and then fell asleep, and I had a dream where I met you in person in a book club meeting XD apart from that, great video! love ur work!
I gotta say, you speak very good english for being polish. The Witcher IV video you did was amazing to say the least! As a norwegian we usually tend to butcher the vocal language xD
Also just finished a full cosmere read-through before W&T came out and couldnt agree more. Tress and Oathbringer are serious standouts, though as someone with a fondness for the genre, I would probably have put the Mistborn era 2 stories a little higher. I will also say, I didn't enjoy Navani at all on my first read of RoW, but on my second read as part of the full cosmere read-through, I found the character so much easier to empathise with and that made those sections of the book much better. Even rereading it I felt like I must have skipped parts on my first read-through because I'd very little memory of Navani's relationship with the antagonist for that stretch of the story, but the way they mirrored each other as slightly broken parents had me in tears in the more recent reading. Not suggesting its a must to re-read but I think Sanderson's characters are often a bit marmite like with how much I can take or leave them depending on how I feel when I'm reading them. Wind and Truth Spoilers Below ***** Wind and Truth was an odd book. There was so much to wrap up and I really feel like one or two story lines (particularly in the spiritual realm) should have wrapped up more quickly so we had more time in the world we've come to care about. With so many developed perspectives, we've a huge reason to care about the ongoing conflict but pretty much just Adolin's POV sheds any light on it, and I found the way they left Maya's thread until the last minute a bit weak. If she'd come back one day earlier when the heralds were fighting it couldve been such an epic fight but instead it felt like a forced duel because that is Adolin's thing, rather than him developing into more of a commander. I was also anticipating some fascinating developments with the Listeners and the Wind spirit which really never arrived. I don't think they were bad arcs per se, but just not what I was hoping for. I was happy with where everything ended up but really felt like there was a lot of dropped opportunities for showcasing characters I'd come to enjoy that just ended up blending into the background because I there seemed to be a fear of the other perspectives overshadowing the "main" story. Happy with it overall but definitely not my favorite SA book
Yeah I share your thoughts definitely. I would’ve loved some Listener/Wind sequences esp given the reveals :( And with Navani… I didn’t hate her in WaT so maaaaybe on a reread she wouldn’t bother me as much? We’ll see. Probably will do one before book6. Thank you for watching!
@valliyarnlThanks for replying! I only stumbled across your channel and this kind of video is wildly impressive for someone with only about a years' worth of uploads, will have to catch up with some of the back catalogue. Think you'd enjoy a bit of Becky Chambers at some point too, though will say some of her books live in my head completely rent free and might not hit the algorithm as well as stuff like this with its big presence at the moment, worth saving for the right time
Ouch, that Edgedancer rating... Honestly I didn't care for Lift until that book. And while the novella was fine, that ending was what made me come around to her. As for Oathbringer, I'm so glad to find someone else who relates to Dalinar's flashbacks! Most people's favorite is Words of Radiance, but Oathbringer legit changed the course of my life! I'm not exaggerating when I say I would be a very different person today if it weren't for Oathbringer!
Ahh I was waiting for this video!! Overall I do agree with your rankings, but I personally rated RoW a lil higher than Oathbringer. Although excellent, I felt Oathbringer had some pacing issues in the middle & as much as I adore Dalinar, his flashbacks felt a bit predictable. Edgedancer was def the worst thing I’ve read in the Cosmere so far haha I haven’t had time to read much of W&T over the holidays but I can’t wait to see how it all ends 😭💕 I don’t think I’ve EVER been as attached to fictional characters. I rarely cry during books but there have been several moments already that made me break down during Stormlight, I love it sm 🥹
Sanderson's love for the campy is both his most endearing and most divisive trait, I feel. Interestingly, I feel the same with Orson Scott Card who is also a Mormon. Not sure if that has anything to do with it, or if it just comes with being a scifi/fantasy lover/writer from the Midwest?
That’s an interesting list with some interesting perspectives on certain characters. Vin and Navani being chief among them since those characters are pretty universally loved. We differ on quite a bit while being of a similar mind on quite a bit as well. I have all of your S Tier picks in my S Tier as well but for me Well of Ascension and Elantris that you have in A Tier and Warbreaker that you have in B Tier are 3 of the weaker Full Length Novels in the Cosmere. When it comes to WoA vs. TFE we just have a fundamental difference in what comes to an enjoyment of a book I think lol. Give me the Heist planning and Training Montage of The Final Empire over the Political Slog and Zane the Emo Assassin of Well of Ascension any day of the week and twice on Sunday lol. I actually have Well of Ascension as the weakest Mistborn book overall even behind Alloy which I know is a controversial take whereas The Final Empire is an S Tier book for me. As far as Elantris goes while we both like Hrathen we have a split as to the second best POV of that book. You seem to love Sarene whereas give me more of what Raoden was up to lol. Personally I think like 1/2 of Sarene’s stuff could have been cut and it would have made the book so much better. Warbreaker is just kind of middle of the pack for me save Lightsong and the interactions between Siri and Susebron. I’m glad someone else love Mistborn Era 2 like I do! My rallying cry in the Fandom since I became a fan has been “Era 2 Underrated” lol…
I finished WaT last week and I agree it could have used another pass through. I can sort of forgive the Kaladin mental health stuff being clunky because he's literally been in this new role a few days. Adoulin is my favorite character and his plot is A+, so i loved those parts. Some things i didn't care for were the really noticeable use of modern parlance, like stuff you'd see in a twitter post, "Syl gonna Syl" etc. It really stuck out this book for some reason. Also that library scene and the "chull head" was so weird and offputting. Didn't find it funny or at least charming, which Syl usually is. Overall i still really liked it, but Words of Radiance is still my favorite Cosmere book.
Interesting to see another perspective on Elantris. I personally just found it okay. Since I read it after Warbreaker and Mistborn era 1 I found some of the ideas in Elantris better executed in those books. The magic system in Elantris while interesting, didn't feel as well developed like Breath in Warbreaker or the many facets of magic in Mistborn. I definitely agree that Hrathen was the best character in the book and the stand out part of the story. The perspective he has is truly unique and is one I have never read in fantasy previously. Keep up the good work 👍
I love the books on shelfs behind You: All the Sapkowski's Witcher books, Erikson's Gardens of the Moon and Heller's Catch-22. Some of the best authors I ever read📚
You keep putting out banger videos right when I need them lol, I'm currently reading my first Sanderson book Mistborn, So far I'm enjoying it, I'm not too far only in chapter 4 but I can't wait to read more.
Love the video. I needed to ask something about the Witcher books. I’ve seen so many people say all kinds of stuff like audiobooks & English translations aren’t good, and all these different reading orders. I just wanted to ask how I should dive into the books? Should I buy physical copies? Learn polish and read the originals? Audiobooks? Also I’d appreciate a set reading list because I swear everyone has their own lists (also I heard a new book came out like last month or is about to come out or something).
This is such a fantastic video Wera! I still have the secret projects to get through, but mostly caught up with Cosmere now. I felt similarly to you on Wind & Truth - the prose felt clunkier for sure (even as opposed to ROW which I re-read shortly before), and the approach to mental health that I loved so much in the previous books came off as so heavy handed that it took me out sometimes. Hopefully there’ll be some course correction in terms of nuance in future books!
Sanderson's books always stare me in the face when I see them at Barnes and Noble. Guess once I get through my back log I'll have to finally grab one of them lol
When You can really connect with a character who is almost completely different than You, it’s a good sign, this is the one of the reasons to read books, “live” the lifes that are different than yours. A quote from my favourite writer: “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one.” (George R.R. Martin)
I feel the way you do about Oathbringer for Words of Radiance dude - and i'd have edgedancer at the bottom of the cosmere pile until Wind and Truth turned up. I can't stand the choices he made lol, i miss my characters. RIP Stormlight, it was fun while it lasted :-) **** WAT SPOILERS **** . . . . . . What kind of moron has Kaladin Stormblessed wandering around Shinovar playing lap dog to Szeth while playing a flute.... I still - I just can't fathom it it drove me INSANE. Everytime Szeth told Kaladin to man up i was right there with him. It's his character so he can do what he wants with him obviously, but mr promise and payoff bullshitted me about Kaladin for over a decade so he can absolutely get stuffed. And the neutering of Dalinar became so tiresome, Shallan went on a side plot that amounted to nothing - Adolin was awesome but he got shafted too and OMG he did Dalinar so dirty in the end!!! Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat the hell was that double Dalinar garbage and all this happened because Tanavast was an asshole. I never ever want to hear the phrase 'chull vagina' again, I will have nightmares about that forever. When we found out Kal and Szeth were playing batman and Robin to go cleanse Shinovar I thought this could be amazing, those 2 riding the lightning all the way to Shinovar, nuking fused left right and centre to then land and deal with some kind of demon infestation with Szeths backstory interlaced - man I was pumped for that. Instead we got some bloody pokemon monster of the week quest which had zero stakes (granted some cool fights) with no weight to it at all - and 'Therapist Kal' wandered around playing flute. I could not stand it lol. But the worst crime of this book, was in no way shape or form could you call it 'Szeths book' imo. The entire preview chapter part you could wipe out and who cares. It was so bizarre reading this, ive never felt like this about a book ever!!! It's so strange!!!
Great list and thoughts! Just finished Wind and Truth, and while I understand and mostly agree with your thoughts on the lack of nuance with the mental health stuff, my experience with the structure and story lines was the exact opposite as yours. This was the only book in the SA besides Words of Radiance where there wasn’t a perspective or potion of the story that I thought was dramatically less interesting than the rest (Shallan in WoK, the Shadesmar portion of Oathbringer, and Venli flashback and too much Navani science in RoW); and even when there was a section that was a little less interesting, the frequent POV switches made it so that I didn’t have to struggle through it for super long (e.g., the super long Shallan chapters in WoKs that just killed my momentum). I also loved the 10 day structure; I felt like it added a sense of urgency and pacing not found in any of the other Stormlight books. But hey that’s why it’s great for us to all get to share our opinions!
I just bought Warbreaker, and I know 100% nothing about this whole Cosmere. Something about the way you spoke about it reminded me of a book I read a hell of a long time ago in the Animorphs series, the Ellimist Chronicles. Plus the cover art and summarys look fucking rad.
I haven’t read many interconnected books but I remember how someone said that by knowing we’re reading a book, we place an unconscious bubble around the protagonist, where we let a bit more things slide by because of it. Having that character suddenly appear without that bubble can be jarring because they don’t have that ‘protagonist’ bubble/ plot armor. ( I don’t think I’m explaining it well, but it did make sense I promise 🥲) Edit - this comment somehow ended up on a different video? So I’m putting it back here …
All these readers who have finished Wind and Truth and I'm like, "damn, I'm such a slow reader." 🥲 Great tier list! I actually didn't like Oathbringer as much as you did but I'm really loving Rhythm of War from what I'm reading so far! Cheers and let's see how his newest Stormlight novela turns out!
Warbreaker is Top of S for me. Lightsong is one of my favorite characters ever put to page. I found myself rooting for him in everything. Even if he turned out to be the villain I was still gonna root for him.
big W putting Oathbringer on top, I couldn't agree more, I also agree that WaT seems to be one sanderson's weakest, writing-wise and prose-wise at least. Great video
I agree with almost all of these, though i havent read Wind and Truth or Mistborn era 2 yet. Glad to see someone else give Elantris the love it deserves. I think a lot of my favourite Stormlight scenes are in Oathbringer but it isnt my favourite book as i found some sections to be kind of disjointed/pacy. RoW opinions is where we really differ though, i totally understand a lot of the complaints but i LOVE Navani and find her so relateable, and i loved the science and magic overlapping. I'm probably biased as an engineer though.
Great video as usual :) I mostly agree with your ranking, but some of your choices surprised me, e.g. Edgedancer (I know Lift is misliked by quite a few people, but I didn't realise the hate ran so deep for some🤣) or the Sunlit Man which I liked a lot. Non-spoiler Wind and Truth opinions: that book did NOT need to be 500k words long 😅 Seems like there might be a consensus, i.e. all three RUclipsrs whose opinions I've heard about it (Daniel Greene, Bookborn and yourself) aligned with my own thoughts on the book: it probably has the poorest prose and editing in the series, it drags out at some points, Sanderson made some questionable choices, but the ending/destination rocks and ties up everything nicely + preps us for the next sequence in the series. I also really liked the first 10-15% of the book actually, some scenes really got me emotional as early as that, it really felt like this was the beginning of the end.
Stormlight Archive is a masterpiece, so even if you don't want to read any Cosmere books, read the Stormlight Archive. The Way of Kings - top S tier Words of Radiance - top S tier Oathbringer - top S tier Rhythm of War - top A tier Wind and Truth - A tier (by tier I mean in all fantasy, not just Cosmere books!)
This is a great tier list tbh, I have almost no notes. I personally enjoyed Yumi a little more than Tress but otherwise the main clear points are agreed (Emperor's Soul S tier being the most important).
Wind and Truth I thought was easily worse than Rhythm of War. i would move it down to D. I would bump mistborn 1 up to A. but besides that I agree with most of the other rankings! Thanks for the content.
@valliyarnl I know 😆 But it also is not "a game" per se. More like a left-hand-drawn story with amazing music. If you never tried it. You have to. It will not take a lot of time to finish. I hope you will find story, peace, dedication, sounds and the road in this small title. You will not be disappointed.
I've only read the Final Empire by Sanderson; I really liked it, but glad to know that's on the lower end of his writing. I'll have to get on with reading the rest and maybe his other series.
unpopular opinion but i LOVED mistborn era 2, Wayne is one of my all time favorite characters (i think the audiobooks made me love him more because Michael Kramer really brings him to life) i also do really love Steris, the end of the first book where she comforts wax was so heartwarming Edit: it was the 2nd book not the first! I read them all back to back so it's a jumble to me!
wow. we have very different opinions on some aspects, but very similar opinions on others, lol I'm also a Nightblood fan, and have a tattoo of him. As for Wind and Truth: SPOILERS AHEAD I agree about the ending being great and the journey not as much. I think the 10 day structure really harmed the book, along with the idea of everything hinging on the contest of champions, however, I LOVE that Dalinar refuses to kick the can down the road, renounces his/Honor's oaths, and basically tells the other shards "your problem now, b**ches". I also love everything in Azir with Adolin and Gawx, and while the journey in Shinovar was a mess, it had great moments, and a great ending. the debate was trash, and I hated it. other stuff was generally fine. really liked Tanavast flashbacks, but the rest of the journey in the spiritual realm was underwhelming for all parties
Ah, that's the place to talk about Wind & Truth! SPOILERS!! My least favorite stormlight book is Rhythm of war since it's basically about every character having some sort of mental breakdown (is there even a normal character out there? Wit probably, with some debate - Adolin but that's it) and at some point I was tired and annoyed with reading a lot of pages of inner thoughts and struggles. And while the Wind and Truth kinda follows the same path I think Sanderson managed to write it much less nauseating. I even feel it was too oversimplified at times (the whole Kal's and Szeth's journey to fix herald's leaking rooftop and how simplistic it was in the end). However there were some really cool moments and Dalinar is definitely the GOAT, I actually really liked the Taravangian's character while reading the book even though I didn't have a strong opinion on him during the whole series. And while Sazed is by far my favorite Shard, I'm interested in how Taravangian would try to find a way out of a disaster of a situation he is now (especially given how much more time other worlds have now to prepare to whoop his ass) and hope that Sanderson would be able to write an actually smart character as a smart one (and not the others as idiots how it is often done by authors). Also I really, really enjoyed the time I had reading the book. The final push took me almost all day and I even forgot to eat. Thus maybe I'm still that excited with the book.
Wind and Truth spoiler: Do you think that Brando Sando is going in to Syladin direction, and how do you feel about it? I was always against it, but that dancing scene was to good.
Spoilers I’m still against it. She seems too child like. I mean even in this book the library scene with the … chull head. No no no. The dance scene… tbh when listening to Shardcast I was like ??? Bc I didn’t really find it too romantic but more like nostalgic? Maybe I have to reread. But my stance is still I don’t like it. Mayyyyybe depending how the time jump is handled? But then again for the heralds it’s gonna be just a few months. So. I don’t know :/
@valliyarnl I belive that he can write it in such a way, that I will be ok with it, but in my heart I'm shipping Kaladin and Leshwi, and I'm really sad, that they didn't interact at all in last book.
This has inspired me to get into this series but i struggle for the time. Are the 2 or 3 books that can be read and enjoyed as stand alone books? Thankyou, as i loved the video and the care put into your ranking!
Huh... I personally felt Wind and Truth was the equivalent of Hero of Ages for Stormlight, meaning it was pretty much "Sanderlanche The Book™". To me every moment was "the interesting part" while that definitely wasn't true in every other book in the series which had the first like 25% as a build up (which I'm also fine with). All in all, I liked that the book is structured differently because aside from Words of Radience, every other Stormlight book felt a bit too formulaic in it's structure. I guess at the end of the day it depends on who your favorite/disliked characters are. I can't imagine someone disliking Navani but since you do, it's no surprise RoW and WaT are the lowest ranked SA books in your rankings. Just as Dalinar being your favorite also puts Oathbringer at the top........... just as Szeth being one of my favorites puts WaT on S tier lmao
![Seungmin "그렇게, 천천히, 우리(As we are)" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kAzmhLHePqU/mqdefault.jpg)
absolutely knocking the content out of the park. definitely the type of videos I want to watch!
Awww thank you! 🤩☺️
Wind's howling
"Zaraza..."
Hmm... Looks Like Rain!
Jerald the Witchman strikes again
It’s an honor to meet you, fellow Wiedzimin 🫡
Hoping to get here before the "Wind's howling" guy and I wanted t... Nevermind...Too late😐
Hahaha you can never beat Jerald. He’s such a legend 😅
Maybe next time?
No man can outrun the Wind.
somebody who loves elantris lesgo! honestly loved the ending of that book
SO GOOD. broke my brain
Elantris is probably my favorite after Stormlight archieve. So glad someone finally gave it high praise on their tier list!
Yessssss the Elantris naysayers need to calm down
I'm so happy you ranked Emperor's Soul so high up! It's one of my favorite works of his, and deserves even more love.
yes yes yes!
You're the best wera i never stop watching your content, thanks for all the work you put into your passion.
Thank you Ramsey 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻
She is the best Wera I know.
Loved how you structured this based on the different system/ planets in the Cosmere! Steris is the absolute best! Elantris was also my first Sando book and I agree with the tier ranking! Mandatory yay for Oathbringer being up so high, it’s my favorite in the series!
Thank you Isa!
Great video as always! I actually read Wind and Truth a couple weeks ago. The ending left me shook as well. Oddly enough, the way it was divided into ten days was more easily digestible for me, but we’ll see how that holds up on a second read through. I actually liked all the mental health stuff, but that’s just my personal preference
see. i liked it in Oathbringer and the previous ones but here I felt like it just lacked subtelty and therefore nuance :/
@ That’s fair. I just kind of chalked it up to K being new in his role
@@MultiJoshL good point! could be that definitely
@valliyarnl I think that kinda has to do with the fact that mental health is literally a non-thing on Roshar. The word "therapist" doesn't even exist there.
This could be a hot take but I think the mental health stuff was done much better through Shallan than Kaladin the therapist. I think Kaladin`s personal battles and growth was great and an accurate representation but its just too unrealistic to change a man like Szeth in 9 days. I don't even want to mention Nale because there was some magic involved but a man who has been tormented for thousands of years... cmon.
I haven't been keeping up to much with your videos since not too many of them have been related to what I read, but it is super impressive to see how much your channel has grown. Like you have 30k subs and you've been absolutely hitting with the witcher videos. You are the go-to person for Witcher content.
Also yessss Oathbringer best book. Dalinar GOAT
Awww thank you! I hope what we read crosses paths soon :)
Great job breaking these down without spoilers. Very clear and concise, and not afraid to add your own opinion even if it might be unpopular. I’m subbing for sure!
I’ve read the first Mistborn trilogy, Tress, working on Warbreaker and The Way of Kings right now. I am excited for what’s in store!!
i just bought the stormlight archive books and Im so excited now after watching this video!!
I hope you love it!! 🥰
They are top shelf literature
Princess Bride is a fun watch, super wholesome.
Been trying to convince my family to watch it with me but they’re reluctant :(
@valliyarnl That's funny, it's a super family friendly movie. I'm sure you'd love watching it with Maja.
@ I would!! Unfortunately I won’t see her now for a few months 😭 hope you’re keeping up ok Kevin!
@valliyarnl I will!! I promise 🥺🙏🏻
Thinking about beginning to read Sanderson and this vid comes out. Perfect timing!
Hey Wera, I'd like to thank you. Your video on the Last Wish finally pushed me to start reading, not just the Witcher series, but in general. I'm now a quarter into the Sword of Destiny after reading the Last Wish the whole day, and I can't stop (send help).
I've always wanted to deep dive into the Witcher after watching my dad play Witcher 2&3 when I was younger but I kept putting it off. I played most of the first game, because starting with the third game sounded stupid to me, but I stopped playing due to driver related issues crashing my game. At that point I was burned out from the crashing and troubleshooting so I just gave up and picked up another game. This was also around the same time the Netflix show released season 1, and well, let's just say I put off the world of the Witcher even longer.
But this December when CDPR released their trailer during the Game Awards I was hyped. Watching it live I was super excited, I kept listening to the "No Gods, only Monsters" soundtrack from the trailer, and then I found your video. As you were going through the first story I was hooked, but I had to stop watching because I knew I was losing out on the actual experience of reading the books for myself. And after the video you did on the trailer, giving your thoughts on Ciri being the new protagonist, I knew I had to read the books.
So, this Christmas, I got myself the Witcher, Dune and LotR books. I've now binge read the Last Wish in one day, which I've never done with any book ever, and I'm now reading the Bounds of Reason in the Sword of Destiny. Thinking back to season 1 of the Netflix show I now understand why everybody was so mad. I'll watch the full video on the Last Wish (after reading the Sword of Destiny) and I really do hope you make more videos like that on the rest of the series. I love hearing extra details and explanations from passionate fans, especially when the original work is in another language and all I can read is the translations. You adding to the stories with your knowledge as a native Polish speaker is really awesome and insightful.
Thank you so much for doing content on the things you're passionate about and happy new year.
Much love from Germany.
(and sorry for the wall of text, lol)
Oh wow this means so much to me 💞 thank you for sharing! And yeah sending help bc when the Witcher addiction starts… it could never end ;)
I hope you enjoy the Last wish video when u finish Sword of Destiny! And I hope you love Dune and LOTR. Too ☺️
Happy reading!!!
Ive been subbed to you for a while now, and I am so proud of you and the traction you are getting now. Do not let up, keep your foot on the gas (while keeping yourself sane and life balanced) But you could totally make a huge wave in this space if youre so inclined. Best of luck
That’s very kind 🥹💞 thank you
Exceptionally well thought-out and produced video, Wera! It's a Yes from me!
thanks Brian!!
I am embarking on a quest:
Day 1 of getting Wera to read the Sun Eater series, not just the first book, the entire series. And yes, this will be on every video until she does so. 😅
Hahahaha she has noticed and more importantly TAKEN NOTE. I want to, trust me, I just have a bit of a SFF burn out but when the date for book 7 is announced I’ll get on the grind 😊
@valliyarnl Well, Christopher Ruocchio has said late 2025, and if you know anything about him, you know he is the most prolific writer, on par with Sanderson. In 6 years, he has published 6 main books, 3 novellas, and 3 short story collections. And these are not light reads. Everything is dense and complex. If he says, late 2025, you can be 99% certain the book is coming out then. So you basically have exactly 1 year to catch up.
He also posts updates on his channel and actually the book is almost done, he is currently writing the last act so...yeah.
He will deliver based on his last statement. Fortunately he finished this special edition run.
I've read the stormlight archives several times and have been waiting years for the last book. I like Sandersons work and have read most of his books several times.
Which is your favorite??
Sanderson is on my 2025 TBR. This video helped me figure out where to start my Sanderson journey. Thanks!
Honestly, this has become one of my favorite channels. Please don't cut out the moments when you're out of breath. from turkey with love, kebab and cat.
thank you!
Thank you for this! Lot's of great points. Glad to meet a fellow war-criminal enjoyer!!
Spoilers
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Books 4 and 5 of Stormlight definitely fell off for me too after the highs of 1-3. In my re-read in anticipation of Wind and Truth I basically skipped the entire "Kaladin gets more depressed and punches more people" storyline. Navani's part was a bit hard to re-read too. The first time, it was okay because you were discovering so many mechanics. But with the discovery gone, that part is incredibly dry for me too.
Agree with your critiques of Wind and Truth too. I do think Brandon's focus on trying to set-up Book 6 + Cosmere events so much in Book 5 caused some quality issues. I.e. I thought the Shatterplanes plotline felt so unsatisfying because it was less of a complete arc/story but more of just set-up for the future. As a HUGE Shallan fan I also felt like her storyline lost a TON of steam once it went into the Spiritual Realm and was mostly left disappointed. I still liked SA5 more than 4 for sure though.
I've read most of the Cosmere and I think my ranking is pretty close to yours. Except I didn't love Elantris and I actually despised Era 1 Mistborn (mostly due to not liking Vin too, and for me it got worst when we lost Kelsier's POV). For Stormlight my ranking is probably WoR > WoK > OB > WaT > RoW.
Yay! I've been totally binging your videos and enjoying your summaries and insights so much. But I have to admit, totally wondering about the books on your bookshelf! Lol Solid video!
"Mistborn: The Final Empire" was the first Sanderson book I ever read, followed closely by Elantris. When I first read Mistborn, it felt like the best thing ever. However, after finishing Elantris, I found myself placing it above Mistborn in my personal rankings. I’m not entirely sure why, but something about Elantris resonates with me more deeply. That said, Mistborn will always hold a very special place in my heart. Also great job on the tier list.
Big wind and truth spoilers:
I hated how marvel-esque Dalinar’s ending felt, the way odium/tarvangian/retribution got evil dalinar at the end just feels like a cheap way to keep popular character around
I interpreted it as a maybe almost spren of him being around but not the man himself but yeah I agree I was a bit annoyed at that
I think this is my sign to finally pick up a Sanderson book
He’s not a good writer…
Fantastic breakdown. I disagree with some things, naturally, but you articulated your perspective beautifully. Great! subbed.
Thank you!
I loved your honest thoughts about the Cosmere and Wind and Truth! Sanderson's strict adherence to the same structure in 1-4 started to grate on me, so I think it's a plus that he attempted something different. I felt the same as you about the mental health discussion in book 4, so I'm nervous that wouldn't work for me in 5. I might read Wind and Truth at some point, but I'm not feeling momentum. Glad it still had some emotional moments for you! 💓
Thanks for sharing your thoughts Johanna!
Always enjoy seeing new Cosmere content pop up on my feed! I have completely opposite opinions as you on most everything, though, lol. Yumi- absolutely perfect and absolutely needed that ending. Oathbringer and Dalinar- least favorite.😬 Great video, though, and love that it's getting more people to read Sanderson because ultimately that's what all us fans want!
your channel is amazing. Keep up the great work!
As someone who's building his own fantasy universe and (very slowly) writing the accompanying books, I feel like I absolutely MUST read Brandon Sanderson's work now after watching this video (p.s. you also turned me on to Cormac McCarthy and HOLY SHIT was I missing out)
Agh GLAD you tried McCarthy I’m itching to read more
@valliyarnl super pumped for your Murakami review btw. Norwegian Wood is one of my favs
I've just finished reading 'Tress of the emerald sea' and I loved it- and now I'm trying to figure out if I want to get into the rest of the cosmere but I probably won't get into it for a long time.
I’ve always been aware of mistborn and the stormlight archives just as super well known works of modern adult fantasy, but I’m intimidated by just how expansive the cosmere is 😂 it’s good to know there are shorter and standalone works too!! I think I’ll give the emperor’s soul a try to see how I like his writing! thanks for such a enjoyable discussion ☺️
Hello,
I'm from Germany and I didn't notice Brandon Sanderson here until last year because he's not as famous here as he is in English-speaking countries. The day before yesterday I finished Mistborn. It's been a very long time since a book touched me so emotionally. The ending is so incredibly good and sad. While reading, I never imagined that Mistbron would end in this emotional way. I've now started reading the stormlight archives.
Ok I just wanted to comment on Elantris, because I read it just this year after Stormlight archive (mistborn was too long ago) and I also really enjoyed it. Interesting premise and nicely done, shame Sanderson didn't write more of it - but THEN you insulted our dear sweet Lift - the awesome admirerer of pancakes - unbelievable! :D I enjoyed the comedy of Lift very very much and it gives a wonderful different perspective on the magic of Roshar ^^
P.S.: needed to skip Wind and Truth because I need to wait another 6 months until it's translated D:
In what language? Waiting for translations sounds awful
@@americanjaybird German, started it this way and I stick to a language during a series - unfortunately it's gonna take until may and then september because they split each book of stormlight archive into two in german xD
Very good video. I’m working on getting caught up on the Cosmere, and this is helpful. You killed it with the Witcher videos, and with this ☺️
I was not expecting you to put The Eleventh Metal in S tier but honestly I respect it🔥🔥
Oh yeah so legendary 💐
This is exactly what I needed.
Also I finished Carmilla. I liked it more than Dracula, but I think Dracula is the more interesting character.
Also also the Nosferatu movie, pretty good.
I CANT WAIT TO WATCH NOSFERATU!!
Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell is in a tier of it's own for me, just because I enjoyed the setting so much and cannot wait for the actual novels... Threnody is disturbingly fascinating.
Leave it to Wera to casually drop a video on an author's entire bibliography lmao (while also knowing all the little details about the background of the books, how many eras of Mistborn there will be and what they are). My rankings for Stormlight are exactly like yours, Oathbringer I liked the best, Rhythm of War I least liked.
Hahaha 🫳🎤
Thank you for watching 💞
Erikson and Esslemont one day 🙏
@ 👀
I just finished reading wind and truth and it was a classic sanderson crazy ending, good video I liked remembering cosmere books that I read years ago.
I have read quite a lot of Cosmere books this year after having read my first Sanderson book in the Summer of last year with Elantris. Now I'm "only" missing the whole Stormlight Archive and the Secret Projects as well as White Sand since I am waiting for the novelisation.
So I'll be holding off until I read them all but so far I think I am mostly rating them similarly except for The Final Empire, I did enjoy that one quite a bit but maybe it would change if I ever reread it.
Keep up the great work Wera, don't stop being you
Thank you 🫶🏻🫶🏻
I found your channel two days ago and already binged all the videos pray for me 😭😭
Oh gosh. I hope your sanity is ok 💞
I’m very grateful for your support ☺️
exceptional video and very well thought out points for each book.
My only disagreement would be about a certain mopey sad boi's (who is my favourite character, so I'm biased) chapters in rhythm of war. As someone who has the displeasure of dealing with similar mental health issues, in addition to having ADHD tendencies like their spren, it felt amazingly close to how some of my own healing journey has gone. Unfortunately, healing isn't a linear path and I prefer that Sanderson showed that with mopey sad boi. Especially in a world where mental health care extends to "lock em up in a dark cell and throw away the key."
I understand from a narrative perspective, you want characters to progress and its frustrating having to keep reading what feels like similar beats over and over. However, I feel having that representation did a lot of good for readers with these issues and helped readers without them learn more from a place of empathy. It showed a realistic level of regression of what can happen when you don't take care of yourself and why support structures are so important. I can understand readers may not vibe with it but for me it was powerful enough to get me to go back and try therapy again.
I am curious why you hate Nivani though?
Im currently halfway through Words of Radiance and was hoping the storm light archive series was highly rated because I'm absolutely enjoying it.
WoR is AWESOME
I really feel like the four other stormlight books had a theme that mental health doesn’t have a time limit for healing. You will heal if you take the time to work on yourself, no matter how much time you need. I really felt like that the structure of the fifth book was antithesis to that idea. He had ten days to save szeth, and then even worse, like a few hours to save the bondsmith. It just left a bittersweet taste, cause I really enjoyed it, just not the mental health bits. Which were my favorite bits Of the others.
I started reading Sandersons books back in like 2013 during high school. Elantris, Warbreaker and Way of Kings were all great to me back then. I remember being very into Mistborn and I was kind of mind blown by the ending of the trilogy too. I'll be honest though when I say that I found it hard to try to get back into the Stormlight Archive sequels. It's probably just me but I couldn't get myself back into it after all that time, especially after finding some more mature forms of fantasy such as the Witcher series.
I think Taldain does rotate, but being tidally locked, its rotation is equal to its orbital period, meaning one side always faces one of its stars and one always faces away to the other. This makes it appear to not rotate.
This hurts my smol brain 😅
Thank you for the correction !!
I thought I was the only one who had Oathbringer as their favorite Stormlight book!
My S tier ranking would be pretty much exactly the same too. The Hero of Ages has one of the best finales to a series in my opinion.
Yes!! Oathbringer at the top as it should be!!
Our Dalinar on TOP 💪💪💪
@ absolutely!!😀
Bro im so jealous of that painting on the right where did you find it
i'm sending this to my best friend. she made it for me when my first video popped off. it was about Dune.
@valliyarnl i had a feeling it was from dune, I'm not even kidding I was just looking at the painting the entire time it's genuinely really beautiful
@@JUSTAS210Thank You! ☺️✨
I totally agree with all the tier s, good video
I love listening to your stories about books, especially The Witcher. I love The Witcher game, its stories and events, and I love Yennefer, Ciri and Shani. They are the best characters. I love them very much, and I love you too. I am very lucky that I followed you. You deserve all the support 🤍🔥
I watched this video and then fell asleep, and I had a dream where I met you in person in a book club meeting XD
apart from that, great video! love ur work!
I gotta say, you speak very good english for being polish. The Witcher IV video you did was amazing to say the least!
As a norwegian we usually tend to butcher the vocal language xD
Thank you! I did have the advantage of growing up in an international school setting tho hence the accent ☺️
Also just finished a full cosmere read-through before W&T came out and couldnt agree more. Tress and Oathbringer are serious standouts, though as someone with a fondness for the genre, I would probably have put the Mistborn era 2 stories a little higher.
I will also say, I didn't enjoy Navani at all on my first read of RoW, but on my second read as part of the full cosmere read-through, I found the character so much easier to empathise with and that made those sections of the book much better. Even rereading it I felt like I must have skipped parts on my first read-through because I'd very little memory of Navani's relationship with the antagonist for that stretch of the story, but the way they mirrored each other as slightly broken parents had me in tears in the more recent reading. Not suggesting its a must to re-read but I think Sanderson's characters are often a bit marmite like with how much I can take or leave them depending on how I feel when I'm reading them.
Wind and Truth Spoilers Below *****
Wind and Truth was an odd book. There was so much to wrap up and I really feel like one or two story lines (particularly in the spiritual realm) should have wrapped up more quickly so we had more time in the world we've come to care about. With so many developed perspectives, we've a huge reason to care about the ongoing conflict but pretty much just Adolin's POV sheds any light on it, and I found the way they left Maya's thread until the last minute a bit weak. If she'd come back one day earlier when the heralds were fighting it couldve been such an epic fight but instead it felt like a forced duel because that is Adolin's thing, rather than him developing into more of a commander.
I was also anticipating some fascinating developments with the Listeners and the Wind spirit which really never arrived. I don't think they were bad arcs per se, but just not what I was hoping for. I was happy with where everything ended up but really felt like there was a lot of dropped opportunities for showcasing characters I'd come to enjoy that just ended up blending into the background because I there seemed to be a fear of the other perspectives overshadowing the "main" story. Happy with it overall but definitely not my favorite SA book
Yeah I share your thoughts definitely. I would’ve loved some Listener/Wind sequences esp given the reveals :(
And with Navani… I didn’t hate her in WaT so maaaaybe on a reread she wouldn’t bother me as much? We’ll see. Probably will do one before book6. Thank you for watching!
@valliyarnlThanks for replying! I only stumbled across your channel and this kind of video is wildly impressive for someone with only about a years' worth of uploads, will have to catch up with some of the back catalogue. Think you'd enjoy a bit of Becky Chambers at some point too, though will say some of her books live in my head completely rent free and might not hit the algorithm as well as stuff like this with its big presence at the moment, worth saving for the right time
Steris fans, unite! She's one of my very favorite cosmere characters, too! 😊
Yessss our girl!
Ouch, that Edgedancer rating... Honestly I didn't care for Lift until that book. And while the novella was fine, that ending was what made me come around to her. As for Oathbringer, I'm so glad to find someone else who relates to Dalinar's flashbacks! Most people's favorite is Words of Radiance, but Oathbringer legit changed the course of my life! I'm not exaggerating when I say I would be a very different person today if it weren't for Oathbringer!
Me too. I find so much solace and strength in the things Dalinar says in this book.
Ahh I was waiting for this video!! Overall I do agree with your rankings, but I personally rated RoW a lil higher than Oathbringer. Although excellent, I felt Oathbringer had some pacing issues in the middle & as much as I adore Dalinar, his flashbacks felt a bit predictable. Edgedancer was def the worst thing I’ve read in the Cosmere so far haha
I haven’t had time to read much of W&T over the holidays but I can’t wait to see how it all ends 😭💕 I don’t think I’ve EVER been as attached to fictional characters. I rarely cry during books but there have been several moments already that made me break down during Stormlight, I love it sm 🥹
as a Dalinar stan, i feel violated.
as an Admiral Peach fan, i must let it slide 😭💞
Sanderson's love for the campy is both his most endearing and most divisive trait, I feel. Interestingly, I feel the same with Orson Scott Card who is also a Mormon. Not sure if that has anything to do with it, or if it just comes with being a scifi/fantasy lover/writer from the Midwest?
That’s an interesting list with some interesting perspectives on certain characters. Vin and Navani being chief among them since those characters are pretty universally loved. We differ on quite a bit while being of a similar mind on quite a bit as well. I have all of your S Tier picks in my S Tier as well but for me Well of Ascension and Elantris that you have in A Tier and Warbreaker that you have in B Tier are 3 of the weaker Full Length Novels in the Cosmere. When it comes to WoA vs. TFE we just have a fundamental difference in what comes to an enjoyment of a book I think lol. Give me the Heist planning and Training Montage of The Final Empire over the Political Slog and Zane the Emo Assassin of Well of Ascension any day of the week and twice on Sunday lol. I actually have Well of Ascension as the weakest Mistborn book overall even behind Alloy which I know is a controversial take whereas The Final Empire is an S Tier book for me. As far as Elantris goes while we both like Hrathen we have a split as to the second best POV of that book. You seem to love Sarene whereas give me more of what Raoden was up to lol. Personally I think like 1/2 of Sarene’s stuff could have been cut and it would have made the book so much better. Warbreaker is just kind of middle of the pack for me save Lightsong and the interactions between Siri and Susebron. I’m glad someone else love Mistborn Era 2 like I do! My rallying cry in the Fandom since I became a fan has been “Era 2 Underrated” lol…
I finished WaT last week and I agree it could have used another pass through. I can sort of forgive the Kaladin mental health stuff being clunky because he's literally been in this new role a few days. Adoulin is my favorite character and his plot is A+, so i loved those parts. Some things i didn't care for were the really noticeable use of modern parlance, like stuff you'd see in a twitter post, "Syl gonna Syl" etc. It really stuck out this book for some reason. Also that library scene and the "chull head" was so weird and offputting. Didn't find it funny or at least charming, which Syl usually is. Overall i still really liked it, but Words of Radiance is still my favorite Cosmere book.
Yeah … trying to erase chull head out of my brain
Have you read the The Hussite Trilogy? Would love to hear what you think about it. Great content btw, keep it up!
Thank you! I haven’t yet but I definitely want to one day!
Interesting to see another perspective on Elantris. I personally just found it okay. Since I read it after Warbreaker and Mistborn era 1 I found some of the ideas in Elantris better executed in those books. The magic system in Elantris while interesting, didn't feel as well developed like Breath in Warbreaker or the many facets of magic in Mistborn. I definitely agree that Hrathen was the best character in the book and the stand out part of the story. The perspective he has is truly unique and is one I have never read in fantasy previously. Keep up the good work 👍
I love the books on shelfs behind You: All the Sapkowski's Witcher books, Erikson's Gardens of the Moon and Heller's Catch-22. Some of the best authors I ever read📚
You keep putting out banger videos right when I need them lol, I'm currently reading my first Sanderson book Mistborn, So far I'm enjoying it, I'm not too far only in chapter 4 but I can't wait to read more.
excited to see what you think! please please please marathon the mistborn trilogy. they work so so well together!
Love the video. I needed to ask something about the Witcher books. I’ve seen so many people say all kinds of stuff like audiobooks & English translations aren’t good, and all these different reading orders. I just wanted to ask how I should dive into the books? Should I buy physical copies? Learn polish and read the originals? Audiobooks? Also I’d appreciate a set reading list because I swear everyone has their own lists (also I heard a new book came out like last month or is about to come out or something).
Thank you... waiting anxiously for the witcher part 2 😊
This is such a fantastic video Wera! I still have the secret projects to get through, but mostly caught up with Cosmere now. I felt similarly to you on Wind & Truth - the prose felt clunkier for sure (even as opposed to ROW which I re-read shortly before), and the approach to mental health that I loved so much in the previous books came off as so heavy handed that it took me out sometimes. Hopefully there’ll be some course correction in terms of nuance in future books!
so so so interested in what you will think of The Sunlit Man... let me know!
@ oh absolutely, I’m most excited about that one I think 😊 Thanks Wera, will do!
Sanderson's books always stare me in the face when I see them at Barnes and Noble. Guess once I get through my back log I'll have to finally grab one of them lol
Tress isn't a retelling of the princess pride.... It was inspired by a "what if" question that his wife had after he showed her The princess pride...
When You can really connect with a character who is almost completely different than You, it’s a good sign, this is the one of the reasons to read books, “live” the lifes that are different than yours. A quote from my favourite writer: “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one.” (George R.R. Martin)
I feel the way you do about Oathbringer for Words of Radiance dude - and i'd have edgedancer at the bottom of the cosmere pile until Wind and Truth turned up. I can't stand the choices he made lol, i miss my characters. RIP Stormlight, it was fun while it lasted :-)
**** WAT SPOILERS ****
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What kind of moron has Kaladin Stormblessed wandering around Shinovar playing lap dog to Szeth while playing a flute.... I still - I just can't fathom it it drove me INSANE. Everytime Szeth told Kaladin to man up i was right there with him. It's his character so he can do what he wants with him obviously, but mr promise and payoff bullshitted me about Kaladin for over a decade so he can absolutely get stuffed. And the neutering of Dalinar became so tiresome, Shallan went on a side plot that amounted to nothing - Adolin was awesome but he got shafted too and OMG he did Dalinar so dirty in the end!!! Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat the hell was that double Dalinar garbage and all this happened because Tanavast was an asshole. I never ever want to hear the phrase 'chull vagina' again, I will have nightmares about that forever.
When we found out Kal and Szeth were playing batman and Robin to go cleanse Shinovar I thought this could be amazing, those 2 riding the lightning all the way to Shinovar, nuking fused left right and centre to then land and deal with some kind of demon infestation with Szeths backstory interlaced - man I was pumped for that. Instead we got some bloody pokemon monster of the week quest which had zero stakes (granted some cool fights) with no weight to it at all - and 'Therapist Kal' wandered around playing flute. I could not stand it lol.
But the worst crime of this book, was in no way shape or form could you call it 'Szeths book' imo. The entire preview chapter part you could wipe out and who cares. It was so bizarre reading this, ive never felt like this about a book ever!!! It's so strange!!!
Great list and thoughts! Just finished Wind and Truth, and while I understand and mostly agree with your thoughts on the lack of nuance with the mental health stuff, my experience with the structure and story lines was the exact opposite as yours. This was the only book in the SA besides Words of Radiance where there wasn’t a perspective or potion of the story that I thought was dramatically less interesting than the rest (Shallan in WoK, the Shadesmar portion of Oathbringer, and Venli flashback and too much Navani science in RoW); and even when there was a section that was a little less interesting, the frequent POV switches made it so that I didn’t have to struggle through it for super long (e.g., the super long Shallan chapters in WoKs that just killed my momentum). I also loved the 10 day structure; I felt like it added a sense of urgency and pacing not found in any of the other Stormlight books.
But hey that’s why it’s great for us to all get to share our opinions!
I just bought Warbreaker, and I know 100% nothing about this whole Cosmere. Something about the way you spoke about it reminded me of a book I read a hell of a long time ago in the Animorphs series, the Ellimist Chronicles. Plus the cover art and summarys look fucking rad.
Oooo I never heard of that one!
I haven’t read many interconnected books but I remember how someone said that by knowing we’re reading a book, we place an unconscious bubble around the protagonist, where we let a bit more things slide by because of it. Having that character suddenly appear without that bubble can be jarring because they don’t have that ‘protagonist’ bubble/ plot armor. ( I don’t think I’m explaining it well, but it did make sense I promise 🥲) Edit - this comment somehow ended up on a different video? So I’m putting it back here …
girlie. its here twice haha
@valliyarnl Well, it should have been here three times 🥲😇
@maja.z.pszczola hahaha ofc
All these readers who have finished Wind and Truth and I'm like, "damn, I'm such a slow reader." 🥲 Great tier list! I actually didn't like Oathbringer as much as you did but I'm really loving Rhythm of War from what I'm reading so far! Cheers and let's see how his newest Stormlight novela turns out!
i immersion read it!
Warbreaker is Top of S for me. Lightsong is one of my favorite characters ever put to page. I found myself rooting for him in everything. Even if he turned out to be the villain I was still gonna root for him.
big W putting Oathbringer on top, I couldn't agree more, I also agree that WaT seems to be one sanderson's weakest, writing-wise and prose-wise at least. Great video
I agree with almost all of these, though i havent read Wind and Truth or Mistborn era 2 yet. Glad to see someone else give Elantris the love it deserves. I think a lot of my favourite Stormlight scenes are in Oathbringer but it isnt my favourite book as i found some sections to be kind of disjointed/pacy.
RoW opinions is where we really differ though, i totally understand a lot of the complaints but i LOVE Navani and find her so relateable, and i loved the science and magic overlapping. I'm probably biased as an engineer though.
Great video as usual :) I mostly agree with your ranking, but some of your choices surprised me, e.g. Edgedancer (I know Lift is misliked by quite a few people, but I didn't realise the hate ran so deep for some🤣) or the Sunlit Man which I liked a lot.
Non-spoiler Wind and Truth opinions: that book did NOT need to be 500k words long 😅 Seems like there might be a consensus, i.e. all three RUclipsrs whose opinions I've heard about it (Daniel Greene, Bookborn and yourself) aligned with my own thoughts on the book: it probably has the poorest prose and editing in the series, it drags out at some points, Sanderson made some questionable choices, but the ending/destination rocks and ties up everything nicely + preps us for the next sequence in the series. I also really liked the first 10-15% of the book actually, some scenes really got me emotional as early as that, it really felt like this was the beginning of the end.
Yeah totally agree about the destination! It really delivered. Thank you for the comment :)
Im so intimidated by doing a tier list but i really want to do a full ciamere ranking lol
Do do do!
A bell curve doesn’t need to have a symmetrical normal distribution centered at the mean
True true
Stormlight Archive is a masterpiece, so even if you don't want to read any Cosmere books, read the Stormlight Archive.
The Way of Kings - top S tier
Words of Radiance - top S tier
Oathbringer - top S tier
Rhythm of War - top A tier
Wind and Truth - A tier
(by tier I mean in all fantasy, not just Cosmere books!)
This is a great tier list tbh, I have almost no notes. I personally enjoyed Yumi a little more than Tress but otherwise the main clear points are agreed (Emperor's Soul S tier being the most important).
I can only give my top3 from cosmere here:
1. Elantris
2. Words of Radiance
3. Warbreaker
Have a nice day :)
Thank you for sharing! Glad to see another Elantris lover!
Wind and Truth I thought was easily worse than Rhythm of War. i would move it down to D. I would bump mistborn 1 up to A. but besides that I agree with most of the other rankings! Thanks for the content.
i agree with almost everything you said! great rankings
I'm going to file Mistborn : The Final Empire being only B tier under "Wera's hot takes" :D
haha there are many aren't there 😂
We want the "Machinarium" game streamed!
Not a gaming channel!
@valliyarnl I know 😆 But it also is not "a game" per se. More like a left-hand-drawn story with amazing music. If you never tried it. You have to. It will not take a lot of time to finish. I hope you will find story, peace, dedication, sounds and the road in this small title. You will not be disappointed.
I've only read the Final Empire by Sanderson; I really liked it, but glad to know that's on the lower end of his writing. I'll have to get on with reading the rest and maybe his other series.
And omg watch the Princess Bride! It's pretty different from the book, but sooo good.
Will do 🫡
love your shirt btw! Where's it from?
unpopular opinion but i LOVED mistborn era 2, Wayne is one of my all time favorite characters (i think the audiobooks made me love him more because Michael Kramer really brings him to life) i also do really love Steris, the end of the first book where she comforts wax was so heartwarming
Edit: it was the 2nd book not the first! I read them all back to back so it's a jumble to me!
Wayne is so underrated. I LOVE HIM
Ranking The Final Empire as B tier and then the subsequent books A and S tier is pretty crazy to me. Final Empire > Hero of Ages >> Well of Ascension
wow. we have very different opinions on some aspects, but very similar opinions on others, lol
I'm also a Nightblood fan, and have a tattoo of him.
As for Wind and Truth: SPOILERS AHEAD
I agree about the ending being great and the journey not as much. I think the 10 day structure really harmed the book, along with the idea of everything hinging on the contest of champions, however, I LOVE that Dalinar refuses to kick the can down the road, renounces his/Honor's oaths, and basically tells the other shards "your problem now, b**ches".
I also love everything in Azir with Adolin and Gawx, and while the journey in Shinovar was a mess, it had great moments, and a great ending.
the debate was trash, and I hated it. other stuff was generally fine. really liked Tanavast flashbacks, but the rest of the journey in the spiritual realm was underwhelming for all parties
Ah, that's the place to talk about Wind & Truth!
SPOILERS!!
My least favorite stormlight book is Rhythm of war since it's basically about every character having some sort of mental breakdown (is there even a normal character out there? Wit probably, with some debate - Adolin but that's it) and at some point I was tired and annoyed with reading a lot of pages of inner thoughts and struggles. And while the Wind and Truth kinda follows the same path I think Sanderson managed to write it much less nauseating. I even feel it was too oversimplified at times (the whole Kal's and Szeth's journey to fix herald's leaking rooftop and how simplistic it was in the end). However there were some really cool moments and Dalinar is definitely the GOAT, I actually really liked the Taravangian's character while reading the book even though I didn't have a strong opinion on him during the whole series. And while Sazed is by far my favorite Shard, I'm interested in how Taravangian would try to find a way out of a disaster of a situation he is now (especially given how much more time other worlds have now to prepare to whoop his ass) and hope that Sanderson would be able to write an actually smart character as a smart one (and not the others as idiots how it is often done by authors). Also I really, really enjoyed the time I had reading the book. The final push took me almost all day and I even forgot to eat. Thus maybe I'm still that excited with the book.
Wind and Truth spoiler:
Do you think that Brando Sando is going in to Syladin direction, and how do you feel about it? I was always against it, but that dancing scene was to good.
Spoilers
I’m still against it. She seems too child like. I mean even in this book the library scene with the … chull head. No no no. The dance scene… tbh when listening to Shardcast I was like ??? Bc I didn’t really find it too romantic but more like nostalgic? Maybe I have to reread. But my stance is still I don’t like it. Mayyyyybe depending how the time jump is handled? But then again for the heralds it’s gonna be just a few months. So. I don’t know :/
@valliyarnl I belive that he can write it in such a way, that I will be ok with it, but in my heart I'm shipping Kaladin and Leshwi, and I'm really sad, that they didn't interact at all in last book.
This has inspired me to get into this series but i struggle for the time.
Are the 2 or 3 books that can be read and enjoyed as stand alone books?
Thankyou, as i loved the video and the care put into your ranking!
Then yeah def start with one of the standalones!!
Huh... I personally felt Wind and Truth was the equivalent of Hero of Ages for Stormlight, meaning it was pretty much "Sanderlanche The Book™". To me every moment was "the interesting part" while that definitely wasn't true in every other book in the series which had the first like 25% as a build up (which I'm also fine with).
All in all, I liked that the book is structured differently because aside from Words of Radience, every other Stormlight book felt a bit too formulaic in it's structure. I guess at the end of the day it depends on who your favorite/disliked characters are. I can't imagine someone disliking Navani but since you do, it's no surprise RoW and WaT are the lowest ranked SA books in your rankings. Just as Dalinar being your favorite also puts Oathbringer at the top........... just as Szeth being one of my favorites puts WaT on S tier lmao