That's interesting and honestly makes Brandon seem even more likable. I have no interest in commenting or saying anything to Jason. I believe he knows what he did was cruel and unnecessary, but like many article writers, he was trying to submit a successful piece.
“He should’ve just written a goodreads review.” 🤣 Thank you for that one. I read the article yesterday and had trouble wrapping my head around it. At first I was horrified…then just thought it hilariously bad. (Sigh* I had to watch Daniel, Merphy, and Elliot’s vids for therapy.) I just found your video and I thought the take was very calm and fair. As much as I’d like to take up arms, I would much rather see a united and positive response from the fan base. It’s not easy seeing one of my favorite authors bashed for clicks.
Thanks for stopping by my video as well Anna! I appreciate it. I had no idea how many other (great) booktubers would be making videos about this, when I filmed it. If I'd known they were doing it, I wouldn't have even made a video because they all covered the article perfectly 👌 Agreed 100% btw, the best response isn't to feed the narrative of a "toxic fanbase"
"He just writes sentences and not stories" that one line has left me flabbergasted. I had just finished a chapter of oathbringer, the chapter where Skar helps Lyn draw in stormlight. The whole time leading up to this scene you know how much Sark wants to soar. And at the end when he's talking to rock, resigned at possibly never touching the sky, while he was glowing the whole time. And Rock,who knows how badly Skar wants to be radiant, just doesnt say anything about him glowing (till the end) and just keeps talking to him normal. There was SO much feeling and emotion and character development for not one but four bridge four characters in that chapter. Teft, rock , Lyn, and Skar. You're right, his opinion on that is objectively wrong.
Take this excerpt from Tress chapter 16 for example: "That is one of the great mistakes people make: assuming that someone who does menial work does not like thinking. Physical labor is great for the mind, as it leaves all kinds of time to consider the world. Other work, like accounting or scribing, demands little of the body-but siphons energy from the mind. If you wish to become a storyteller, here is a hint: sell your labor, but not your mind. Give me ten hours a day scrubbing a deck, and oh the stories I could imagine. Give me ten hours adding sums, and all you’ll have me imagining at the end is a warm bed and a thought-free evening."
Yeah, no kidding. Brandon Sanderson is one of very few authors who can make me feel THAT strongly about any of his characters. Vin... Zane... Kaladin... Shallan, sometimes... Dalinar and Evi... Hrathen... oh my gosh, Hrathen. He was amazing.
Honestly, as a completely unbiased person who has never read anything by Sanderson, I read the article in its entirety and its tone is just off. Sometimes it comes off as hostile and condescending. Not just toward Sanderson, but also his readers and his family. I can't comment on the quality of his writing, questioning Sanderson's merit as a writer and why his works might not be as discussed as other authors' are, or even ask his readers what they see in him, is fine. There are actually a few things broached that would make for an interesting discussion, but it's overshadowed by everything else, and there were also few weird instances. What I gather from the article is that Sanderson is just a boring person? Well, if that's his only offence, he could be a lot worse. 😅
I'm actually REALLY glad to have an opinion from someone who hasn't read Sanderson before, it makes me feel more valid about feeling the weird tone in the article haha. I agree completely
The thing about his writing is that it really is on the simple side. I personally like it, but I can see why its not everybody’scup of tea. Honestly this is the most common critisisme of his writing. However, the way it was shoved into thus article I kinda got the vibe that it was mentioned because it is a common critisime and not because the author actually wants to discuss his writing. The vibe of the article is just so off. It’s just a collection of negative opinions, without any substanser behind them. Like there are interesting things here. They were simply ignored in favor of pettiness.
Interestingly, the way Jason dumped out his opinion on Brandon's writing is actually the same way the entire article was written! WIRED reports that Jason's keyboard is undergoing standard biohazard treatments that they apply to almost all equipment their writers use.
The only works of Sanderson I have read are his Wheel of Times books. I thought he did a great job with them. I appreciate his work ethic, his openness with fans, and his thoughts on the WOT show. I was both shocked and amazed with his kickstarter because he wrote like 5 books during the pandemic. I feel bad for Sanderson because there were things disclosed that he didn’t want out there. He’s human and has a right to his privacy. Sanderson and his team are gracious. In addition, this article writer seems to be the living embodiment of, “Tell me you are an envious, dysfunctional, human being without saying you are a trash person.”
So much about that article is wrong, but something I've not seen picked up on yet is the bit about reading comprehension being used as a criticism. That immediately made me think of a particular book which went through a number of drafts to effectively lower its reading age so that more people could read it. Can't have a book being read by people, can we? If you can, look for a photo of the first page of the draft of George Orwell's 1984 - it's typed out and then Orwell went through, crossing out longer words and making it easier to read and understand...
...and on a similar note, I wonder if the click-bait article writer realises the Bulwer-Lyons award for purple prose isn't actually something to aim for?
I love Brandon Sanderson's stuff. I am definitely not oblivious and do not blindly love everything he does though. I thought the ending of Mistborn The Final Empire was bad. I hated the middle of Well of Ascension it was a slog and poorly paced. I thought Oathbringer when it wasn't giving Dalinar's backstory was super slow paced as well. The Sanderlanche in that book was possibly the best one ever but I had such a hard time getting there. Sanderson's track record is still phenomenal and I'm a big fan. This article is awful. Jason is reaching for straws and looks like a Kotaku writer. He has no credibility at all in my mind.
Postscript: For the portion where he was comparing those who write sentences vs those who write stories, thought he was saying that Sanderson DOES do good worldbuilding / storytelling, but does so in a non-fancy way as far as the sentences. I did read it quickly, so maybe I misunderstood. I'm too tired to go back and read it again.
Having read it, I think its main fault is, as you mention, how mean it is. As a fan who acknowledges Sanderson's many limitations as a writer, I also felt that focusing on these without any desire to sneer or mock would have been better. My main gripe is that the article writer ends up being incredibly discourteous to someone who invited him to his own home and shared personal time with him. If he had disclosed to Sanderson that he intended to be critical, then maybe he could have just kept his distance. The direct mocking of Sanderson's beliefs, however questionable they might be, is downright rude and uncalled for.
Agreed. I have absolutely no issue with doing an in-depth criticism of Sanderson's writing, but mocking stuff like his clothes and his fans just serves literally no purpose
I really didn’t like the way Kehe addressed Brandon’s family and to a smaller extent his friends, maybe he just didn’t see them as worth naming or kept their names out for ‘privacy’ Reasons. but I, a random person from who knows where, know a good portion of the names of his family and friends, by reading his acknowledgments, dedications, or watching an episode of his podcast, and i can name several life altering events that could have made for an ‘interesting’ story, if explored in a proper way, instead of attacking his faith and the way he salted his food, maybe ask about the two years he spent in south Korea (I think it was Korea where he severed his mission), and how that influenced him. (That example was a lot less personal then what I first planed to write, but even so it is rather personal, Brandon’s life is so well documented, now that I think about it, what type of privacy does the dude have? The dentist/pain and most of the other stuff Kewe brought up I knew about, and more besides…) Back to Brandon’s family-it’s like Kehe only wanted Brandon to stand out as the ‘Other’ and purposely left his family as nameless faceless caricatures. when he said “drop off the kid” I flinched with hurt, kehe is displaying a callous disregard/contempt-which he has perpetrated throughout the article towards most everything he talks about, but it being specifically towards a kid, (any kid really)(who, let me remind you, he brought into the setting to make his stupid point without representing him in any solid way) it really hurts, I can hardly imagine what it must be like for Brandon and his family, if someone referred to me or mine like Kehe has done in the article, well I don’t think I would be so gracious towards them as Brandon has been to Kehe. (Did he name any of Brandon family or friends? I only watch Daniel Greens review on it, I report the article as hatful so I’m not going back to double-check)
I agree with everything you said in your video. I can't imagine inviting someone into my home to interview me for one of my novels and have them write such a hateful article. What a petty person. Hopefully, more people might be interested in checking out his work simply because of how cruel the interviewer was. I hope someone else decides to put Brandon in the spotlight and highlight good things about him. It would be nice to actually learn something new about a popular author. What that guy wrote, with the exception of commenting on what he wore and being invited to his home, could have been written without taking advantage of their host's hospitality. As you said, he could have just written a Goodreads review.
The sixth grade reading level comment is so funny because that is around the average reading level in America and is a smart move if you want your book to be a commercial success..
Haha for sure. Also, why would that even be a bad thing anyway. For me personally, as long as the story is good and the writing isn't distractedly bad, I'm all good
look im not a brando sando fan either i just think the guys kinda aight i dont care too much abt him, but its still unnecessarily cruel for this article writer to treat him like that and definitely hella unprofessional
@@Cam_Wolfe generally i think we should always treat other people with kindness as much as possible, especially when they give us said kindness back, which seems what brandon seems to have done to the article writer. wether i like his work or not should not play into my respectful treating of the man, especially when im engaging with him in a professional manner. sorry im kind of really incensed abt how they treated brandon sdkjfhjsdkfjk i cant fucking stand it when people are unnecessarily cruel
Just the point that he says he "hates Hugh Jackman" tells you alot . he doesn't says he has a problem with his acting style but he "hates" him. Another person known to be an all around nice guy. Thus guy obviously has an agenda. He brings up this up from his passed that Sanderson has actually openly changed his opinion on. This is either his agenda or hate click bate on the part of the guy that wrote the article or both
Gday from the Barossa! Thanks for sharing your thoughts, found this via the youtube recommendations and loved hearing the familiar accent as well as the fair and rational response to such a horrible article.
@@MaxIV77 Definitely sounds like a fun ride, but as someone who has very little time these days it's easier to ask recs from fans than figure out distinct series and their exact order haha.
Warbreaker! It's a stand alone and it's not that long, so it's the best way to find out easily if Brandon Sanderson's writing is your thing. That's what I did 😉
I thought that too. Why ask someone their opinion on something, then be surprised when they are confident about their opinion? Especially someone who literally gives university lectures on those things 😂
His goal was to try and make mormons look goofy and awkward, the irony being that Sanderson, who is a progressive mormon, was extremely generous and kind to him, and the trash author outed himself as the nasty person he is.
Surprise endings are quite literally what Sanderson is known for . I have even heard him being criticized for it. People saying Saying "not every ending has to be a shock or have a huge plot twist" and even people that criticize his writing style admit his stories are great but maybe he's not the best with words and prose. This article just does not make sense. Either made out if hate for his political views or a hate piece meant to drive traffic to his site or something
Sounds like the article was harsh but even though I have been reading fantasy for decades I only found BookTube last year and honestly didn’t know Sanderson other than the writer who stepped in to complete WOT Seeing the absolute adoration of Sanderson on BookTube I was so excited to find some new series. Went and bought the whole Mistborn era one. So excited. However I ended up having to force myself to finish book1 finding that for my tastes Sanderson was too YA for me his characters too cardboard and the plot too obvious. So that was a sad disaster but I still am hopeful for others series. I had figured out the entire 3 book plot and twists by 50% of book 1 and had big issues with how he wrote females. However any author who can encourage people to read is a win for me, I do think many fans are younger and that Mistborn was an early series for them so nostalgia plays a huge part, which is only fair as that is how I view my early fantasy from the 80s Plus Sanderson as with some others was lucky that his writing career commenced around time of socials taking off, so the popularity and awareness in readers younger than me also makes perfect sense. I grew up visiting bookshops a few times a week in the faint hope some new book might be released So here is me hoping I will like some of his other books and agreeing that this article was just unnecessary, the only point I agree on is that not all of us readers knew much about Sanderson. The article has done one thing though which is put Sanderson front and central in the media, and that is smart marketing in this crazy world. So the article is a massive win for Sanderson
It's completely fine to not be a fan of Brandon's stuff! He has a particular writing style that certainly won't work for everything. Just know that despite how popular he is, I talk to lots of people that feel the exact same as you
Some people like easy reading. You don't have to be the greatest writer in the world for people to really enjoy reading a book. People read to immerse themselves in fantasy or to relax away from difficulties. No one can be compared to Tolkien if they haven't created a whole universe, three full languages capable of being spoken as well as read. It's an extremely difficult measure to fling on someone who enjoys writing stories that don't bog people down with language that they have to think about. People like reading books while on the toilet. The critiques of Brandon Sanderson's family and how the writer comes up with the article title are really beyond the pale. You have been invited to hang out with a family ( let's forget that Brandon is a writer for a second) they bring you into their home, have you around their children and extended family, offer you things they think would make you comfortable ( the shower) and you crap on them for all the world to see? I think that's what people are most angry about, not because they are super fans or part of some cult which is what the title tries to imply. It's not a coincidence that Jason asks deeply personal questions about Brandon's faith and his afterlife beliefs and makes a title implying that Brandon is vacant and merely trying to gain a worldly kingdom as practice for future godhood. It's beyond mean and not even calling it snark can save it from being the absolute crapstack that it is. Jason took months to write this? Maybe he's mad that he can not be as prolific as Brandon. It's a mean girl article that doesn't even try to cover it up.
15:33 Oh, I definitely think there was a goal. This guy came looking for dirt and was disappointed that he didn’t find any. He talks about how he never got “the real Sanderson”. Translation: this guy isn’t conforming to my negative presuppositions about him, so he must be faking.
I feel like the dude waited so long to write it because he needed to get distance from how nice Brandon is in person so he could write this clickbait-titled, rude garbage.
This article is so unserious. Yes, there are valid critiques of Sanderson like ANY author. Hell, there are even valid critiques on Tolkien, but this is just a bad faith argument.
100% agree, I'm not even opposed to a "negative" article about Brandon Sanderson, but only if the purpose is to provide productive criticism. Making fun of him, his clothes, his family, and his fans for stuff like "they like spending a lot of money on nerdy things" is just absurd
14:40 not just literary fiction with a profound statement, but one that’s so obtuse and wrapped in purple prose that only self-congratulatory circle-jerking literature snobs can pretend to understand. If people can understand it, it must be bad. Anyway, I really liked the video. A very good and fair analysis of a terrible “article”
I'm not a Sanderson fan, I've never read a single book but I constantly hear about him cause I want to write fantasy so stuff from his lectures always come up in the research I do, I've lost count of how many times I heard about the hard-soft scale of magic systems. Jason not liking simple prose is fine, if the article was just him comparing Sanderson's writing to that of other authors with more complex prose it would have been fine. What he did was paint Sanderson as this egomaniac cult leader that uses his books to turn people into mindless followers, I think this article isn't for us who are even a little bit in the ins and outs of the writing community, I think this article was aimed at people who have never heard about Sanderson before to pass off as an exposé on this writer who was able to become a millionaire even though Hollywood doesn't endorse him. The objective was for people to read this and believe Sanderson is the newest L. Ron Hubbard and his fans are sheep that adore everything he writes.
I kind of get the feeling that the entire article was either bait to get this kind of response and therefore clicks or the writer is a failed author who has a major jealous streak. His antagonistic wording is designed to generate outrage and has clearly succeeded in that, we are now talking about this person and his article, giving him the attention he, clearly, desperately desires. It didn't really matter who the article was about, let's all just ignore him like tired advertisements and he will go away
I would say you're likely right. I do hate the idea of drawing more attention to stuff like this, but I also think it's really important to call out poor behavior like this
Wow, okay, this article is so unprofessional. I've never read anything Sanderson, but I know of his writing. I mean, as an example, I'm not a fan of Beyonce but I wouldn't be rude and condescending if I met her. Why have someone who doesn't know Mr. Sanderson or who doesn't know of fantasy writing to interview him?
I am not a Sanderson guy, but I'm fully aware that's just my taste. With that in mind, I think this article was so unnecessarily mean-spirited, nasty and seemed written with the pure intent of hate-clicks. Like you said, the purpose of an interview is to try and get some information from the writer so that we can understand their thoughts on X, Y or Z better. This guy seemed to have absolutely no interest in what Sanderson thought or felt about anything, using it as an excuse to write this rubbish seemingly just to make himself feel superior. I don't for one second believe the author had no idea who Sanderson was, either. After all, the exposure this article on some "no name" writer produced almost certainly eclipses everything else he's ever written about, making Brando Sando likely the only reason most people have ever heard of _him_ . And I think he knows that. Sorry for the rant, but I just think this kind of attitude of being nasty about people just for the clicks - particularly people who by the sounds of things have been wholly decent towards you - is something that rubs me the wrong way.
Seems it is so mean spirited that it almost makes no sense, but it has guaranteed Sanderson hitting top of socials and reving up his base, and any fantasy book reader. Perhaps that was the aim of the article, yep I can be very cynical about what we see on socials Ot could just be the journalist wrote it to rev up the fans in order to get his name out there, but still a very very odd article as based on it the journalist is unlikely to ever be trusted again by any author. The only winner from this is Sanderson, and that was always going to be the only result from an article like this. Even those who don’t fit with Sabdersons writing style would not support an article like this, In fact I can’t think of any reader of any kind of books that would support an article like this So bizarre
This interviewer seems like the type of person who claims to only read "Classics" and considers books of any other kind to be "mediocre" or just "bad writing". Also, the type of things he wrote about him just seems like he went into this interview with a closed mind. Not a very good look for an interviewer if you ask me.
I get it, the author of the article hates Mormons. He hates Brandon, because he's Mormon. He hates Utah, because Mormons live there. Their food is bad, they are weird, they can't dress and they have body odor. Brandon's family is weird, because they are all Mormons. The author went on and on and on about all the ways he hated Mormons. This article was more an attack on the Mormon church by an activist, cloaked as an attack on Sanderson himself. In the article he keeps going back to Sanderson's religion again..and again...and again...and again... That's what the article was really about. Now imagine if the author were to write a hit piece, attacking someone because they were Jewish or Muslim. He would be fired immediately, but Mormons are easy targets. It's OK to attack and denigrate Mormons.
For sure, I have my own misgivings about a lot of religions, Mormons included, but why do a hit piece on the religion and then literally not specify what your issues with them actually are. Silly stuff
I theorize the whole thing is something along the lines of clickbait, because the guy can't write good articles on his own, so he hates on the probably most spoken modern fantasy author name, just to creates controversy & clicks... Because the sad truth is that a lot of people have read the article, simply to see for themselves if it's actually that twisted - meaning wired gets confirmation that he writes "interesting" articles. I won't go have a look, but I hope a lot of people commented on the absurdity of it all, on the article itself.
@@Cam_Wolfe definitely! Absurdity in journalism is already rampant as is, so just letting it fly by would only be more detrimental to it, as well as running the risk of some people accepting articles like this as truth, so I couldn't agree more.
What a pretentious, condescending, bitter, mean hit piece that article is. I hope the author enjoys his five minutes of fame. He will soon be forgotten. Sanderson will not.
I'm NOT a fan of Brandon Sanderson's writing, but this article was completely unfair and cruel. Completely unprofessional for WIRED to publish this. Just for the clicks I guess. YUCK!
See, I think Brando Sando's writing is okay (and thanks to you we need to make sure that this becomes his name from now on because I can think of him as nothing else) and I do think his fans can overlook the religious aspects of his writing that they wouldn't in anyone else's writing, but... The writer of the article is a douche. It's like he thinks he's better than Sando. I mean, giving sartorial criticism and complaining that Sando state his opinions with confidence WHILE stating his own opinions with such arrogance makes me want to a stand and defend Sanderson.
It would help if you linked the article. People are lazy. Okay, maybe I'm just lazy. To be fair, aren't all fandoms pitchforky if you so much as hint at something that could be perceived as negative about their Precious? It seems that's especially true in the fantasy / SF side of fandom. NerdRage is scary. I started listening to this but then read the article for myself so that my views were not influenced by yours. My take: The title connects to the Mormon theology thing. There's also something to be said about people who make their fandom their entire life. There are people who go way overboard, to the point where they get over their heads in debt because they're buying All the Things, neglect their families, etc. Some go as far as literally not wanting to live when their show ends or movie goes out of the theaters. "Avatar" was like that. I also got the sense that Sanderson wasn't very talkative? Maybe that's why the author of the article found it difficult to write? I'm a casual Sanderson fan. I read Way of Kings and loved it. At that time, I had no idea it was going to be a long series. By the time the 2nd book was coming out, I would've had to reread at least parts of Book 1 to refresh my memory. I would've had to wait even longer for the books to be available at the library. I cannot afford nor do I want to pay hardcover prices. Nor do I want to invest my time and emotions into a long series until I know it's complete! As much as I enjoyed Book 1 and hate being left out, I have to force myself to wait until the darned thing is done. The last thing I want is to be left hanging if it isn't. Or worse, to invest all that time and money, and the later books end up being rushed out and subpar in quality. I read the Mistborn books. They didn't do a whole lot for me, but I was distracted by real life stuff at the time. I'm open to giving them a second chance. I read some other book... the colorful one with the elf/fairy on the cover? I don't even count that one because I read it solely to make my book goals for that year before it hit midnight. I flew through it. I remember nothing about it, including the title. All of that to say, he seemed to characterize Sanderson's writing in an okay manner. He's not brilliant, but he is enjoyable. What stood out way more to me was that Sanderson seems a bit unbalanced. I always did wonder how he possibly gets so much writing done, especially with having a family and other professional responsibilities. I can't remember now if the article said he takes sleeping pills on a regular basis, or if he was just relating one instance when he did that. If it's on a regular basis and that's the only way he can sleep, I would be concerned. That is not healthy. I don't know. The whole thing made it sound like he's unbalanced, obsessive, pretty much a writing machine to the exclusion of everything else. I don't think I've ever watched interviews or lectures from Sanderson. Maybe some clips here and there. Not enough to recall or determine if he comes across that way. I hope he's okay. Yes, some people are higher functioning can have a huge output like that. But they're still human. They can burn out mentally and/or physically. Those close to him are the ones who can determine that and try to help if it is a problem. Strangers can't do much. It's also a turnoff if he's using his writing to intentionally push the Mormon cult. That's what it is, a cult. I'm not an expert in LDS but I do know some. But since the main book I've read is the first Stormlight book and that was years ago, I didn't pick up on anything like that. As to his fans, as I said, they're all like that. Gather them into a convention and what else would you expect?
I did consider linking the article, but I decided to not drive more traffic towards their page and their ads etc. You're right, a lot of fans (ESPECIALLY in the fantasy community) can be like a cult, but I personally found the article to be 90% unnecessary bad faith insults, based almost entirely on the article Author's subjective feelings about what makes "good fantasy"
“It’s okay not to be a fan of Sanderson.” Duh, why even say this? Why are youtubers so scared of stupid comments that they feel the need to waste words on something so obvious. That’s as bad as putting out an analysis video but couching it with “in my opinion.”
@@Cam_Wolfe because it makes you seem scared to offend someone who is too sensitive to be in youtube comments. It comes off as if you are scared of your own audience. I'm not saying you are a poor youtuber or anything, just take it as constructive criticism you are welcome to ignore.
On the same point, you keep throwing out "subjective" with regard to Kehe's opinions on Sanderson's writing. Some of what he's saying is definitely subjective (disliking someone's prose or disliking the lack of explicit depictions of sexual relationships or disliking certain character archetypes he lists), but then he uses that to make an objective statement when he explicitly says "Sanderson is a bad writer." There are 100% objective ways to evaluate literature to determine its quality: consistencies within character, plot, setting, grammar, etc., so he's conflating those two properties. When he says Sanderson doesn't write well, the subtext is clear that he means that Sanderson doesn't produce work of high quality (he infers it multiple times throughout the article even more times than he explicitly states it). I believe it is important to make that distinction because his defense of this drivel will be "It's like, my opinion, man," but we can point out that, objectively, Kehe's article is of terrible quality.
As someone who thinks Sanderson is everything that’s wrong with the modern fantasy genre, I feel conflicted. Of course, the article is mean spirited and cruel in tone - but it contains a lot of truth, at least in my opinion. I think where the article fails is in going overboard with “attacking” Sanderson’s person; that being said, he’s completely right about the bad quality of his writing and worldbuilding (in my opinion). He touched on many of the things that many of us have criticized Sanderson for; so in a way this article didn’t give me any new insights. This whole thing made me think of Michael Riedel’s writing (Broadway shows stuff), which many people found aggressive.
I can absolutely understand people having issues with his writing, even though I haven't personally had the same problem. It was all the unnecessary comments on his personal life and the fanbase that was just too out of pocket. Especially publishing a rumor about Brandon's medical situation that Brandon asked him not to, just uncalled for
Since filming this, Sanderson has responded to the article www.reddit.com/r/brandonsanderson/comments/1200dzk/on_the_wired_article/?context=3
His response was extremely gracious!
That's interesting and honestly makes Brandon seem even more likable. I have no interest in commenting or saying anything to Jason. I believe he knows what he did was cruel and unnecessary, but like many article writers, he was trying to submit a successful piece.
this was a very fair read of this - thanks for this!
Hey, @ManCarryingThing
Just wanted an update on the deborah situation
Thanks mate! Your tweet was one of the first ones I saw about this whole mess
1 min comedy sketch on rage click journalism coming?
The entire time I was reading the article, I just couldn't help but think... WHO HURT YOU???
It did come off as pretty bitter, which is a sad waste of an opportunity to really dive deep into Brandon's impact on pop culture
It's more the privilege of a fulfilled life that provides luxury of excess negativity in this case.
i cant believe sanderson went out of his way to meet this guy and this is the result of his time, such a weird article.
As a person, honestly, would feel offended, but maybe Sanderson is above it, I don't know.
that's the saddest part, the "journo" literally spent the day with Sanderson's family, then mocked them
@@Cam_Wolfe yes, that really irked me!
It's the Weird magazine.
@@bfkc111And that is a bad joke. Just like this article.
“He should’ve just written a goodreads review.” 🤣 Thank you for that one. I read the article yesterday and had trouble wrapping my head around it. At first I was horrified…then just thought it hilariously bad.
(Sigh* I had to watch Daniel, Merphy, and Elliot’s vids for therapy.) I just found your video and I thought the take was very calm and fair. As much as I’d like to take up arms, I would much rather see a united and positive response from the fan base. It’s not easy seeing one of my favorite authors bashed for clicks.
Thanks for stopping by my video as well Anna! I appreciate it. I had no idea how many other (great) booktubers would be making videos about this, when I filmed it. If I'd known they were doing it, I wouldn't have even made a video because they all covered the article perfectly 👌
Agreed 100% btw, the best response isn't to feed the narrative of a "toxic fanbase"
Wow. Sounds so mean spirited.
The article. Not you. ❤
😂 it's okay Regina, I knew what you were referring to ❤
"He just writes sentences and not stories" that one line has left me flabbergasted.
I had just finished a chapter of oathbringer, the chapter where Skar helps Lyn draw in stormlight. The whole time leading up to this scene you know how much Sark wants to soar. And at the end when he's talking to rock, resigned at possibly never touching the sky, while he was glowing the whole time. And Rock,who knows how badly Skar wants to be radiant, just doesnt say anything about him glowing (till the end) and just keeps talking to him normal. There was SO much feeling and emotion and character development for not one but four bridge four characters in that chapter. Teft, rock , Lyn, and Skar.
You're right, his opinion on that is objectively wrong.
If anything, I would say he writes stories, not sentences.
Take this excerpt from Tress chapter 16 for example: "That is one of the great mistakes people make: assuming that someone who does menial work does not like thinking. Physical labor is great for the mind, as it leaves all kinds of time to consider the world. Other work, like accounting or scribing, demands little of the body-but siphons energy from the mind. If you wish to become a storyteller, here is a hint: sell your labor, but not your mind. Give me ten hours a day scrubbing a deck, and oh the stories I could imagine. Give me ten hours adding sums, and all you’ll have me imagining at the end is a warm bed and a thought-free evening."
Couldn't have said it better myself 👏
Yeah, no kidding. Brandon Sanderson is one of very few authors who can make me feel THAT strongly about any of his characters. Vin... Zane... Kaladin... Shallan, sometimes... Dalinar and Evi... Hrathen... oh my gosh, Hrathen. He was amazing.
Honestly, as a completely unbiased person who has never read anything by Sanderson, I read the article in its entirety and its tone is just off. Sometimes it comes off as hostile and condescending. Not just toward Sanderson, but also his readers and his family. I can't comment on the quality of his writing, questioning Sanderson's merit as a writer and why his works might not be as discussed as other authors' are, or even ask his readers what they see in him, is fine. There are actually a few things broached that would make for an interesting discussion, but it's overshadowed by everything else, and there were also few weird instances. What I gather from the article is that Sanderson is just a boring person? Well, if that's his only offence, he could be a lot worse. 😅
I'm actually REALLY glad to have an opinion from someone who hasn't read Sanderson before, it makes me feel more valid about feeling the weird tone in the article haha. I agree completely
The thing about his writing is that it really is on the simple side. I personally like it, but I can see why its not everybody’scup of tea. Honestly this is the most common critisisme of his writing. However, the way it was shoved into thus article I kinda got the vibe that it was mentioned because it is a common critisime and not because the author actually wants to discuss his writing. The vibe of the article is just so off. It’s just a collection of negative opinions, without any substanser behind them. Like there are interesting things here. They were simply ignored in favor of pettiness.
What got “exposed” was Jason’s desperate need for therapy.
Interestingly, the way Jason dumped out his opinion on Brandon's writing is actually the same way the entire article was written! WIRED reports that Jason's keyboard is undergoing standard biohazard treatments that they apply to almost all equipment their writers use.
😂 I'd be willing to bet on it
The only works of Sanderson I have read are his Wheel of Times books. I thought he did a great job with them. I appreciate his work ethic, his openness with fans, and his thoughts on the WOT show. I was both shocked and amazed with his kickstarter because he wrote like 5 books during the pandemic. I feel bad for Sanderson because there were things disclosed that he didn’t want out there. He’s human and has a right to his privacy. Sanderson and his team are gracious. In addition, this article writer seems to be the living embodiment of, “Tell me you are an envious, dysfunctional, human being without saying you are a trash person.”
So much about that article is wrong, but something I've not seen picked up on yet is the bit about reading comprehension being used as a criticism. That immediately made me think of a particular book which went through a number of drafts to effectively lower its reading age so that more people could read it. Can't have a book being read by people, can we? If you can, look for a photo of the first page of the draft of George Orwell's 1984 - it's typed out and then Orwell went through, crossing out longer words and making it easier to read and understand...
...and on a similar note, I wonder if the click-bait article writer realises the Bulwer-Lyons award for purple prose isn't actually something to aim for?
Well said Sheridan! I read Deltora Quest a little while ago, which is middle grade, but still holds up better than a ton of adult fantasy
I love Brandon Sanderson's stuff. I am definitely not oblivious and do not blindly love everything he does though. I thought the ending of Mistborn The Final Empire was bad. I hated the middle of Well of Ascension it was a slog and poorly paced. I thought Oathbringer when it wasn't giving Dalinar's backstory was super slow paced as well. The Sanderlanche in that book was possibly the best one ever but I had such a hard time getting there.
Sanderson's track record is still phenomenal and I'm a big fan. This article is awful. Jason is reaching for straws and looks like a Kotaku writer. He has no credibility at all in my mind.
Well said Elijah, also, I'm VERY interested in your mention of Oathbringer 😂 I don't even disagree, it just made me think
Postscript: For the portion where he was comparing those who write sentences vs those who write stories, thought he was saying that Sanderson DOES do good worldbuilding / storytelling, but does so in a non-fancy way as far as the sentences. I did read it quickly, so maybe I misunderstood. I'm too tired to go back and read it again.
It's not about fancy, brandon sanderson literally puts no imagination into his language, that's why his writing seems quite bad
@@amiram4608It seems bad to you. Other people have a different opinion.
Having read it, I think its main fault is, as you mention, how mean it is.
As a fan who acknowledges Sanderson's many limitations as a writer, I also felt that focusing on these without any desire to sneer or mock would have been better.
My main gripe is that the article writer ends up being incredibly discourteous to someone who invited him to his own home and shared personal time with him. If he had disclosed to Sanderson that he intended to be critical, then maybe he could have just kept his distance.
The direct mocking of Sanderson's beliefs, however questionable they might be, is downright rude and uncalled for.
Agreed. I have absolutely no issue with doing an in-depth criticism of Sanderson's writing, but mocking stuff like his clothes and his fans just serves literally no purpose
Thanks for talking about this! Such a disappointing and frankly disturbing article
Thank YOU for watching 😀
I really didn’t like the way Kehe addressed Brandon’s family and to a smaller extent his friends, maybe he just didn’t see them as worth naming or kept their names out for ‘privacy’ Reasons.
but I, a random person from who knows where, know a good portion of the names of his family and friends, by reading his acknowledgments, dedications, or watching an episode of his podcast, and i can name several life altering events that could have made for an ‘interesting’ story, if explored in a proper way, instead of attacking his faith and the way he salted his food, maybe ask about the two years he spent in south Korea (I think it was Korea where he severed his mission), and how that influenced him. (That example was a lot less personal then what I first planed to write, but even so it is rather personal, Brandon’s life is so well documented, now that I think about it, what type of privacy does the dude have? The dentist/pain and most of the other stuff Kewe brought up I knew about, and more besides…)
Back to Brandon’s family-it’s like Kehe only wanted Brandon to stand out as the ‘Other’ and purposely left his family as nameless faceless caricatures. when he said “drop off the kid” I flinched with hurt, kehe is displaying a callous disregard/contempt-which he has perpetrated throughout the article towards most everything he talks about, but it being specifically towards a kid, (any kid really)(who, let me remind you, he brought into the setting to make his stupid point without representing him in any solid way) it really hurts, I can hardly imagine what it must be like for Brandon and his family, if someone referred to me or mine like Kehe has done in the article, well I don’t think I would be so gracious towards them as Brandon has been to Kehe.
(Did he name any of Brandon family or friends? I only watch Daniel Greens review on it, I report the article as hatful so I’m not going back to double-check)
The comments about Sando's family and fans was one of the filthiest parts of the article, agreed
I agree with everything you said in your video. I can't imagine inviting someone into my home to interview me for one of my novels and have them write such a hateful article. What a petty person. Hopefully, more people might be interested in checking out his work simply because of how cruel the interviewer was. I hope someone else decides to put Brandon in the spotlight and highlight good things about him. It would be nice to actually learn something new about a popular author. What that guy wrote, with the exception of commenting on what he wore and being invited to his home, could have been written without taking advantage of their host's hospitality. As you said, he could have just written a Goodreads review.
Absolutely. On the plus side, this article brought on a ton of support for Sanderson, and probably a lot more positive attention too
The sixth grade reading level comment is so funny because that is around the average reading level in America and is a smart move if you want your book to be a commercial success..
Haha for sure. Also, why would that even be a bad thing anyway. For me personally, as long as the story is good and the writing isn't distractedly bad, I'm all good
I think someone should show this Jason a video of Brandon signing thousands of books an hour to ship out to the kickstarter supporters.
Right?!
look im not a brando sando fan either i just think the guys kinda aight i dont care too much abt him, but its still unnecessarily cruel for this article writer to treat him like that and definitely hella unprofessional
Absolutely, I'm glad that even some people who aren't fans, or even straight up don't like him, are able to see how out of pocket this article is
@@Cam_Wolfe generally i think we should always treat other people with kindness as much as possible, especially when they give us said kindness back, which seems what brandon seems to have done to the article writer. wether i like his work or not should not play into my respectful treating of the man, especially when im engaging with him in a professional manner.
sorry im kind of really incensed abt how they treated brandon sdkjfhjsdkfjk i cant fucking stand it when people are unnecessarily cruel
I had a similar experience reading it. I just kept thinking "who is this for, and why was it written?" I still have no answer.
Just the point that he says he "hates Hugh Jackman" tells you alot . he doesn't says he has a problem with his acting style but he "hates" him. Another person known to be an all around nice guy. Thus guy obviously has an agenda. He brings up this up from his passed that Sanderson has actually openly changed his opinion on. This is either his agenda or hate click bate on the part of the guy that wrote the article or both
Gday from the Barossa! Thanks for sharing your thoughts, found this via the youtube recommendations and loved hearing the familiar accent as well as the fair and rational response to such a horrible article.
Oh good! Finally an excuse to read a Brandon Sanderson book. I know he has a guide on where to start on his website, but what would you recommend?
The standard answer is Mistborn. And I would echo that.
Literally any book 1 of a series. The crossovers between books are only like
@@colin1818 That's his most popular work, yes?
@@MaxIV77 Definitely sounds like a fun ride, but as someone who has very little time these days it's easier to ask recs from fans than figure out distinct series and their exact order haha.
Warbreaker! It's a stand alone and it's not that long, so it's the best way to find out easily if Brandon Sanderson's writing is your thing. That's what I did 😉
They were lucky to have met Brandon. Some people are just born mean I guess.
What’s funny is that many of his contemporaries seem to have a lot of respect for Sanderson.
Saying someone feels pretty sure about his insights is a pretty cheap way to dismiss all of someone's insights.
I thought that too. Why ask someone their opinion on something, then be surprised when they are confident about their opinion? Especially someone who literally gives university lectures on those things 😂
How can you not like Hugh Jackman?
Pretty messed up the personal attacks he throws at him. Ridiculous article
His goal was to try and make mormons look goofy and awkward, the irony being that Sanderson, who is a progressive mormon, was extremely generous and kind to him, and the trash author outed himself as the nasty person he is.
Well said
Surprise endings are quite literally what Sanderson is known for . I have even heard him being criticized for it. People saying Saying "not every ending has to be a shock or have a huge plot twist" and even people that criticize his writing style admit his stories are great but maybe he's not the best with words and prose. This article just does not make sense. Either made out if hate for his political views or a hate piece meant to drive traffic to his site or something
Sounds like the article was harsh but even though I have been reading fantasy for decades I only found BookTube last year and honestly didn’t know Sanderson other than the writer who stepped in to complete WOT
Seeing the absolute adoration of Sanderson on BookTube I was so excited to find some new series. Went and bought the whole Mistborn era one. So excited.
However I ended up having to force myself to finish book1 finding that for my tastes Sanderson was too YA for me his characters too cardboard and the plot too obvious. So that was a sad disaster but I still am hopeful for others series.
I had figured out the entire 3 book plot and twists by 50% of book 1 and had big issues with how he wrote females.
However any author who can encourage people to read is a win for me, I do think many fans are younger and that Mistborn was an early series for them so nostalgia plays a huge part, which is only fair as that is how I view my early fantasy from the 80s
Plus Sanderson as with some others was lucky that his writing career commenced around time of socials taking off, so the popularity and awareness in readers younger than me also makes perfect sense.
I grew up visiting bookshops a few times a week in the faint hope some new book might be released
So here is me hoping I will like some of his other books and agreeing that this article was just unnecessary, the only point I agree on is that not all of us readers knew much about Sanderson.
The article has done one thing though which is put Sanderson front and central in the media, and that is smart marketing in this crazy world. So the article is a massive win for Sanderson
It's completely fine to not be a fan of Brandon's stuff! He has a particular writing style that certainly won't work for everything. Just know that despite how popular he is, I talk to lots of people that feel the exact same as you
Envy
Some people like easy reading. You don't have to be the greatest writer in the world for people to really enjoy reading a book. People read to immerse themselves in fantasy or to relax away from difficulties. No one can be compared to Tolkien if they haven't created a whole universe, three full languages capable of being spoken as well as read. It's an extremely difficult measure to fling on someone who enjoys writing stories that don't bog people down with language that they have to think about. People like reading books while on the toilet. The critiques of Brandon Sanderson's family and how the writer comes up with the article title are really beyond the pale. You have been invited to hang out with a family ( let's forget that Brandon is a writer for a second) they bring you into their home, have you around their children and extended family, offer you things they think would make you comfortable ( the shower) and you crap on them for all the world to see? I think that's what people are most angry about, not because they are super fans or part of some cult which is what the title tries to imply. It's not a coincidence that Jason asks deeply personal questions about Brandon's faith and his afterlife beliefs and makes a title implying that Brandon is vacant and merely trying to gain a worldly kingdom as practice for future godhood. It's beyond mean and not even calling it snark can save it from being the absolute crapstack that it is. Jason took months to write this? Maybe he's mad that he can not be as prolific as Brandon. It's a mean girl article that doesn't even try to cover it up.
15:33
Oh, I definitely think there was a goal. This guy came looking for dirt and was disappointed that he didn’t find any.
He talks about how he never got “the real Sanderson”. Translation: this guy isn’t conforming to my negative presuppositions about him, so he must be faking.
I feel like the dude waited so long to write it because he needed to get distance from how nice Brandon is in person so he could write this clickbait-titled, rude garbage.
I can't believe he (Jason) admitted himself that it took him 5 months to write something that says almost nothing at all 😂
This article is so unserious. Yes, there are valid critiques of Sanderson like ANY author. Hell, there are even valid critiques on Tolkien, but this is just a bad faith argument.
100% agree, I'm not even opposed to a "negative" article about Brandon Sanderson, but only if the purpose is to provide productive criticism. Making fun of him, his clothes, his family, and his fans for stuff like "they like spending a lot of money on nerdy things" is just absurd
14:40 not just literary fiction with a profound statement, but one that’s so obtuse and wrapped in purple prose that only self-congratulatory circle-jerking literature snobs can pretend to understand. If people can understand it, it must be bad.
Anyway, I really liked the video. A very good and fair analysis of a terrible “article”
Agreed, and thanks Jon!
I'm not a Sanderson fan, I've never read a single book but I constantly hear about him cause I want to write fantasy so stuff from his lectures always come up in the research I do, I've lost count of how many times I heard about the hard-soft scale of magic systems. Jason not liking simple prose is fine, if the article was just him comparing Sanderson's writing to that of other authors with more complex prose it would have been fine. What he did was paint Sanderson as this egomaniac cult leader that uses his books to turn people into mindless followers, I think this article isn't for us who are even a little bit in the ins and outs of the writing community, I think this article was aimed at people who have never heard about Sanderson before to pass off as an exposé on this writer who was able to become a millionaire even though Hollywood doesn't endorse him. The objective was for people to read this and believe Sanderson is the newest L. Ron Hubbard and his fans are sheep that adore everything he writes.
I kind of get the feeling that the entire article was either bait to get this kind of response and therefore clicks or the writer is a failed author who has a major jealous streak. His antagonistic wording is designed to generate outrage and has clearly succeeded in that, we are now talking about this person and his article, giving him the attention he, clearly, desperately desires. It didn't really matter who the article was about, let's all just ignore him like tired advertisements and he will go away
I would say you're likely right. I do hate the idea of drawing more attention to stuff like this, but I also think it's really important to call out poor behavior like this
Wow, okay, this article is so unprofessional. I've never read anything Sanderson, but I know of his writing. I mean, as an example, I'm not a fan of Beyonce but I wouldn't be rude and condescending if I met her. Why have someone who doesn't know Mr. Sanderson or who doesn't know of fantasy writing to interview him?
Couldn't have said it better myself
I am not a Sanderson guy, but I'm fully aware that's just my taste. With that in mind, I think this article was so unnecessarily mean-spirited, nasty and seemed written with the pure intent of hate-clicks.
Like you said, the purpose of an interview is to try and get some information from the writer so that we can understand their thoughts on X, Y or Z better. This guy seemed to have absolutely no interest in what Sanderson thought or felt about anything, using it as an excuse to write this rubbish seemingly just to make himself feel superior.
I don't for one second believe the author had no idea who Sanderson was, either. After all, the exposure this article on some "no name" writer produced almost certainly eclipses everything else he's ever written about, making Brando Sando likely the only reason most people have ever heard of _him_ . And I think he knows that.
Sorry for the rant, but I just think this kind of attitude of being nasty about people just for the clicks - particularly people who by the sounds of things have been wholly decent towards you - is something that rubs me the wrong way.
No apology necessary, I completely agree 😀
Seems it is so mean spirited that it almost makes no sense, but it has guaranteed Sanderson hitting top of socials and reving up his base, and any fantasy book reader. Perhaps that was the aim of the article, yep I can be very cynical about what we see on socials
Ot could just be the journalist wrote it to rev up the fans in order to get his name out there, but still a very very odd article as based on it the journalist is unlikely to ever be trusted again by any author. The only winner from this is Sanderson, and that was always going to be the only result from an article like this.
Even those who don’t fit with Sabdersons writing style would not support an article like this, In fact I can’t think of any reader of any kind of books that would support an article like this
So bizarre
I tried reading one of his books. It wasn't for me. Unclear why anyone needs to bash the guy, though. I didn't like Elric either.
This interviewer seems like the type of person who claims to only read "Classics" and considers books of any other kind to be "mediocre" or just "bad writing".
Also, the type of things he wrote about him just seems like he went into this interview with a closed mind. Not a very good look for an interviewer if you ask me.
My thoughts exactly
I get it, the author of the article hates Mormons. He hates Brandon, because he's Mormon. He hates Utah, because Mormons live there. Their food is bad, they are weird, they can't dress and they have body odor. Brandon's family is weird, because they are all Mormons. The author went on and on and on about all the ways he hated Mormons.
This article was more an attack on the Mormon church by an activist, cloaked as an attack on Sanderson himself. In the article he keeps going back to Sanderson's religion again..and again...and again...and again... That's what the article was really about.
Now imagine if the author were to write a hit piece, attacking someone because they were Jewish or Muslim. He would be fired immediately, but Mormons are easy targets. It's OK to attack and denigrate Mormons.
For sure, I have my own misgivings about a lot of religions, Mormons included, but why do a hit piece on the religion and then literally not specify what your issues with them actually are. Silly stuff
It’s full of unnecessary editorialising. It’s gross
I theorize the whole thing is something along the lines of clickbait, because the guy can't write good articles on his own, so he hates on the probably most spoken modern fantasy author name, just to creates controversy & clicks... Because the sad truth is that a lot of people have read the article, simply to see for themselves if it's actually that twisted - meaning wired gets confirmation that he writes "interesting" articles. I won't go have a look, but I hope a lot of people commented on the absurdity of it all, on the article itself.
I think you're absolutely right Linn. Although, I do think calling out lame behavior like this is important too
@@Cam_Wolfe definitely! Absurdity in journalism is already rampant as is, so just letting it fly by would only be more detrimental to it, as well as running the risk of some people accepting articles like this as truth, so I couldn't agree more.
What a pretentious, condescending, bitter, mean hit piece that article is. I hope the author enjoys his five minutes of fame. He will soon be forgotten. Sanderson will not.
Well said 👌
I'm NOT a fan of Brandon Sanderson's writing, but this article was completely unfair and cruel. Completely unprofessional for WIRED to publish this. Just for the clicks I guess. YUCK!
See, I think Brando Sando's writing is okay (and thanks to you we need to make sure that this becomes his name from now on because I can think of him as nothing else) and I do think his fans can overlook the religious aspects of his writing that they wouldn't in anyone else's writing, but...
The writer of the article is a douche. It's like he thinks he's better than Sando. I mean, giving sartorial criticism and complaining that Sando state his opinions with confidence WHILE stating his own opinions with such arrogance makes me want to a stand and defend Sanderson.
😂 I should confess I definitely didn't coin the name Brando Sando, but as an Aussie, it's almost all I'm going to call him now
It would help if you linked the article. People are lazy. Okay, maybe I'm just lazy.
To be fair, aren't all fandoms pitchforky if you so much as hint at something that could be perceived as negative about their Precious? It seems that's especially true in the fantasy / SF side of fandom. NerdRage is scary.
I started listening to this but then read the article for myself so that my views were not influenced by yours. My take:
The title connects to the Mormon theology thing. There's also something to be said about people who make their fandom their entire life. There are people who go way overboard, to the point where they get over their heads in debt because they're buying All the Things, neglect their families, etc. Some go as far as literally not wanting to live when their show ends or movie goes out of the theaters. "Avatar" was like that.
I also got the sense that Sanderson wasn't very talkative? Maybe that's why the author of the article found it difficult to write?
I'm a casual Sanderson fan. I read Way of Kings and loved it. At that time, I had no idea it was going to be a long series. By the time the 2nd book was coming out, I would've had to reread at least parts of Book 1 to refresh my memory. I would've had to wait even longer for the books to be available at the library. I cannot afford nor do I want to pay hardcover prices. Nor do I want to invest my time and emotions into a long series until I know it's complete!
As much as I enjoyed Book 1 and hate being left out, I have to force myself to wait until the darned thing is done. The last thing I want is to be left hanging if it isn't. Or worse, to invest all that time and money, and the later books end up being rushed out and subpar in quality.
I read the Mistborn books. They didn't do a whole lot for me, but I was distracted by real life stuff at the time. I'm open to giving them a second chance. I read some other book... the colorful one with the elf/fairy on the cover? I don't even count that one because I read it solely to make my book goals for that year before it hit midnight. I flew through it. I remember nothing about it, including the title.
All of that to say, he seemed to characterize Sanderson's writing in an okay manner. He's not brilliant, but he is enjoyable. What stood out way more to me was that Sanderson seems a bit unbalanced. I always did wonder how he possibly gets so much writing done, especially with having a family and other professional responsibilities. I can't remember now if the article said he takes sleeping pills on a regular basis, or if he was just relating one instance when he did that. If it's on a regular basis and that's the only way he can sleep, I would be concerned. That is not healthy.
I don't know. The whole thing made it sound like he's unbalanced, obsessive, pretty much a writing machine to the exclusion of everything else. I don't think I've ever watched interviews or lectures from Sanderson. Maybe some clips here and there. Not enough to recall or determine if he comes across that way. I hope he's okay. Yes, some people are higher functioning can have a huge output like that. But they're still human. They can burn out mentally and/or physically. Those close to him are the ones who can determine that and try to help if it is a problem. Strangers can't do much.
It's also a turnoff if he's using his writing to intentionally push the Mormon cult. That's what it is, a cult. I'm not an expert in LDS but I do know some. But since the main book I've read is the first Stormlight book and that was years ago, I didn't pick up on anything like that.
As to his fans, as I said, they're all like that. Gather them into a convention and what else would you expect?
I did consider linking the article, but I decided to not drive more traffic towards their page and their ads etc.
You're right, a lot of fans (ESPECIALLY in the fantasy community) can be like a cult, but I personally found the article to be 90% unnecessary bad faith insults, based almost entirely on the article Author's subjective feelings about what makes "good fantasy"
@@Cam_Wolfe Ah, understandable. I didn't think about that angle/aspect.
“It’s okay not to be a fan of Sanderson.” Duh, why even say this? Why are youtubers so scared of stupid comments that they feel the need to waste words on something so obvious. That’s as bad as putting out an analysis video but couching it with “in my opinion.”
Why does it matter? It’s like 3 seconds of me saying words, it’s not that deep
@@Cam_Wolfe because it makes you seem scared to offend someone who is too sensitive to be in youtube comments. It comes off as if you are scared of your own audience. I'm not saying you are a poor youtuber or anything, just take it as constructive criticism you are welcome to ignore.
On the same point, you keep throwing out "subjective" with regard to Kehe's opinions on Sanderson's writing. Some of what he's saying is definitely subjective (disliking someone's prose or disliking the lack of explicit depictions of sexual relationships or disliking certain character archetypes he lists), but then he uses that to make an objective statement when he explicitly says "Sanderson is a bad writer." There are 100% objective ways to evaluate literature to determine its quality: consistencies within character, plot, setting, grammar, etc., so he's conflating those two properties. When he says Sanderson doesn't write well, the subtext is clear that he means that Sanderson doesn't produce work of high quality (he infers it multiple times throughout the article even more times than he explicitly states it). I believe it is important to make that distinction because his defense of this drivel will be "It's like, my opinion, man," but we can point out that, objectively, Kehe's article is of terrible quality.
As someone who thinks Sanderson is everything that’s wrong with the modern fantasy genre, I feel conflicted. Of course, the article is mean spirited and cruel in tone - but it contains a lot of truth, at least in my opinion. I think where the article fails is in going overboard with “attacking” Sanderson’s person; that being said, he’s completely right about the bad quality of his writing and worldbuilding (in my opinion). He touched on many of the things that many of us have criticized Sanderson for; so in a way this article didn’t give me any new insights.
This whole thing made me think of Michael Riedel’s writing (Broadway shows stuff), which many people found aggressive.
I can absolutely understand people having issues with his writing, even though I haven't personally had the same problem. It was all the unnecessary comments on his personal life and the fanbase that was just too out of pocket. Especially publishing a rumor about Brandon's medical situation that Brandon asked him not to, just uncalled for
The author of this article sounds like a narcissist lmao!