The first 500 people to use my link will get a 1 month free trial of Skillshare: skl.sh/capturedinwords03241 What are your favorite/least favorite Sanderson book? Also who's going to Dragonsteel this year??? I'm planning on finally going!
Fav Sanderson is a hard choice. Its Between Lost Metal, Yuumi and Words of Radiance for me. (I wanted to add Tress too, but 3 already felt like stretching it😅)
your “why you should read stormlight archive” video randomly popped on my feed one day a couple months ago. now im 200pgs in oathbringer. this is my first experience with sanderson and im glad i found your page
@@unkotempest I'm so happy to hear you're enjoying Stormlight! And glad my video was able to introduce you to the series 😀 it is definitely up there in my favorite series of all time
English is not my first language and I find reading english books like by Adrian Tchaikovsky pretty hard. But Sanderson's books were the first epic fantasy books I could read in English with ease. Sometimes I forgot that I am bad in that language because I could grab such world building and magic system :D
That's so cool! And for what it's worth your english is pretty good. Some grammar errors but who cares anyone reading it can understand tour meaning. You should try reading the wheel of time by Robert Jordan:) Edit: grammatical 😅
I agree. English is not my native language either and Sandersons books is a nice breeze compared to some books I've read. Sure I like a challenge from time to time but every once in a while is nice with something that dosen't require too much effort in translating and understanding 🙂
Wow thanks for sharing that. I was having second thoughts about buying Mistborn because I thought it might be hard to keep up with world building and the hard magic system, English is my first language either
Exactly, Brando Sando is the first author that I can read on the same pace on English and on my native language respectively. I find his prose as greatest pro of his writting.
Fun fact: Brandon Sanderson was roommates in college with none other than the current host of Jeopardy: Ken Jennings! Two dorks who were destined for success!
“I never regret having read a Sanderson book”. That line has motivated me, thank you! I gravitate generally to science fiction, I read the skyward series and really enjoyed the ride. But I wasn’t sure about jumping into the fantasy/magic world of Sanderson. I definitely feel more encouraged now. Very nice video.
Sanderson’s Cosmere is somewhat of a blend between fantasy and sci fi. And as it moves forward in time, the sci fi elements are likely to become more prominent.
I’m glad you won’t stop recommending Sanderson. Your channel got me into fantasy and your recommended reading order for the Cosmere made it impossible to put his books down.
Writing lyrical and poetic prose doesn’t always mean that that writer is better. I love how straight forward Sanderson’s writing is. It makes his books more accessible. Sanderson is a great storyteller and no one can convince me that he’s not. If I wanted to indulge myself with beautiful prose, I’d read LitFic instead.
His insight into the human condition and dealing with serious issues like cptsd, PTSD, abuse, trauma, suicide, guilt, shame....but there's always a note of hope. He's not depressing to read like grimdark novelists.
I was always scared to read his books when people kept raving about how he handles mental health because I've been burned so many times. But he... gets it. He genuinely gets how it effects people and how they cope. It's not perfect but no depiction will be but this at least feels like he has empathy and isn't writing it for the shock/sad factor.
I recently started reading the stormlight archive and one thing that I absolutely love about those books is how there's barely any exposition on how the world and what's in it works, sanderson throws you in that world and is up to you to figure out everything, he shows how things work and trusts his audience to be smart enough to put the pieces together
i actually love sanderson's prose, especially in the stormlight archives. there are so many lines that caught my attention and made me feel/think a lot of things, he is great at choosing words and conveying emotions/thoughts and descriptions, it's not too much or too little, very balanced. idk how to explain it but i really like it. like even little things like there was one line in the way of kings that navani thinks about dalinar having no wives and no daughters so she must write a prayer for him, and it just affected me so much for some reason?? even something small like that?? it's because his language is very effective. anyway great video, your videos are always a delight to watch. :)
Haven’t read a Brandon book yet, but was looking up his Yumi book and Emerald Sea. Came across this video, and you convinced me to fall down the Brandon Sanderson rabbit hole. Thank you! Subscribed, too!❤
I am on the 2nd book of the Mistborn Trilogy, and I think my husband is sick of stanning Sanderson in my house, even though he has started the Stormlight Archive. I think Sanderson is an easy auto buy for me so the hype is warranted for me personally. That and he's pretty darn wholesome, he has acknowledged his past criticisms and I truly believe he is always working to do better. I respect the man.
I started with Yumi and the Nightmare Painter and have been devouring all of his books since then. I barely knew who he was and picked that book up on a whim because I liked the cover art and now it's one of my favorite books I've ever read. His books can definitely drag in the middle, but like you said, the end always makes up for it and I never regret it.
Man, the last few years have been a great time to be a Sanderfan. Started with the way of kings in 2014 and have been hooked ever since. Can't wait to see what he surprises us with next!
Thank you so much. I just discovered your channel and I'm loving it. I had not heard of this author before today and I'm really looking forward to reading his work.
I started with Warbreaker and was so impressed with the magic system! I also loved Sanderson's world building and dialogues. I'm currently finishing Mistborn era 1 and also read Elantris. I can't wait to start Stormlight!! The Way of Kings is my most anticipated book of all times!
My man you are the best in hyping me into reading. Thanks to you I read Mistborn, Elric, First Law and other books. I never thought I would read so many books in one year, I've never read books for fun before (with only few exeptions). And what I mean this hype is so good that you dont spoil anything yet I know what to expect of the books. Gonna send this vid to my friends, I love Brando Sando and more people need to know about him here in Czech
I'm writing this comment even before I watch the video just to say that this came in the perfect time, I was thinking whether I should begin reading Sanderson or not, I opened YT to search for it and found your fresh uploaded video, thank you Jay! ❤️
Dude, you are one of the best here on yt, seriously. I´m initiating in cosmere now, and can´t thank you enough for the order recommendattion you suggested in other video, mistborn is incredible(elantris is ok), starting the emperor´s soul now!(loved the stories in arcanum unbounded until now,btw). English is not my first languague, struggling a bit for being a brazilian interested in sanderson, there are not so many translations here unfortunately..
I love how thoughtful this video was. Well paced, nuanced, and very fair. Your editing and production quality have absolutely improved quite noticeably, and that’s exciting to see as well. For each of your constructive critiques in regard to his particular brand of writing, you supply numerous qualities of strength to his unique style that you appreciate or even love. Beyond his world building and magic systems, you highlight his underrated characters, his ability to pace his novels very well, and his endearing habit of tackling mental health issues and familial issues with empathy. You acknowledge his much debated prose issue (something I’m glad you addressed as not really being an issue at all, and most people indeed don’t know what “prose” is) as well as the toxic hype around his increasingly popular works. It’s unfortunate to see how a writer so big in the industry yet seemingly ordinary but somehow fervently loved by fans might be a bit unfairly off-putting to a lot people who think they’re above Sanderson. I know that, as he’s grown more popular and put himself more in the limelight (which he very much deserves), he’s been increasingly exposed to people who seek purely to undermine or belittle his talents and efforts without having read a single page or given what they do manage to read half an honest chance. I always argue that if half of his vehement detractors read a book he wrote that was instead penned under an unknown alias, they would likely be singing that newcomers praises. 😂 Envy is a wretched thing, and especially in a field of art/entertainment where so many of us have tried to break through ourselves and not managed it or come up short. Hope more people give Sanderson a chance. He’s definitely not for everybody, but he is the right author for a lot of people.
Hello, I'm one of those aforementioned "readers who have been burned by Rothfuss"... I got back into reading after a long time because of Kingkiller, but not having that 3rd book made me drop reading again... I didn't feel like I could find something else as addicting and with such beautiful prose, and the world/magic system was also fantastic for me. I just started reading Warbreaker a few days ago and I'm really enjoying it. I'm not a fantasy reader at all but I'm glad there is so much Brando Sando content out there for me to enjoy in the future!
I recently started my Sanderson journey. Read the Mistborn trilogy so far. After I finish reading The Age of Madness and Three Body Problem I plan to continue with Elantris. Really liking his stuff so far. Thanks for the informative video. I really enjoy and get a lot from your videos.
Love Sanderson, Mistborn Trilogy is what got me back into reading. I haven't started Stormlight Archive because I wanted to wait until it was closer to being done. I think I might try to get into now with book 5 coming out this year so I can read through the part 1 of it. Also looking forward to digging into more of The Cosmere, I really liked your other video about reading order and am probably going to start reading through it that way with some rereads in there because its been a while since I read the first Mistborn. Right now I gotta finish my re-read of Codex Alera. Keep the great videos coming!
So far I’ve only read his Mistborn Era 1 Trilogy and The Emperor’s Soul and I love those books! I have a couple books I plan to read, like right now I’m starting Golden Son by Pierce Brown! But after I finish it and Morning Star I’ll be starting Warbreaker before I begin my journey through the Stormlight Archives ❤
Almost finishing "The way of kings". It took me SO much to finished it but I am elated and the story has touched me in deep and unknown corners inside. Can't believe that masterpiece is from a living author, what a privilege to our generation! Thank you for the video, I thought is was well balanced, insightful, informative and inspiring.
I don’t read books with spicy scenes or cussing. I can’t stand to read a book where the f-word is used on every single page. There is no point in it. That is why I love Brandon Sanderson. I wish more people wrote like him. I used to read strictly YA books. Because of my reasons above. And I found that there were clean adult novels. So I quickly switched and hardly ever read YA now. (Though, now YA is full of smut too).
My first books by Sanderson was legion which is not in the cosmere. I didn't know about his other work at the time. I have recently started mistborn and I am really enjoying it.
Couldnt agree more when it comes to expostitional prose in stories. More does not always equal better. The perfect example of this for me is in the hypeion cantos books. Especially parts of endymions story line. Like i dont need a 10 page description of his surroundings while falling through an endless sky. Parts of his story were great, while the long expositions made me want to throw the book out a window 😂. Overall loved the series tho.
My favourite thing about the Mistborn trilogy is that it feels epic without being too complex or long. Excellent way to get started with reading fantasy books for those are getting into reading or into the fantasy genre.
you were one of the main reasons why I started reading sanderson last year. now I read everything in the cosmere but lost metal. Can't wait for wind and truth!
I read the first Mistborn trilogy back in 2020 when I first discovered Booktube and was a little underwhelmed especially given how hyped it was. I'm planning to give Sanderson a second try this year with the Stormlight Archive because I'm quite jealous of his fans - he's such a prolific author and a positive force in the publishing industry so I want to like him! There are multiple reasons Mistborn didn't work for me, but I'd say the main reason is that his writing is all text and no subtext - everything is stated so plainly and without room for ambiguity that it felt like I was being babied, like he didn't trust me to think for myself and draw my own conclusions. I also don't think that good prose is synonymous with flowery prose or long descriptions. Like you said, Ursula K Le Guin is one of the best writers the genre has ever seen and I don't think anyone could accuse her of being long-winded - just compare the page counts of A Wizard of Earthsea and The Way of Kings!
I know what you mean about stating everything plainly without any subtext. While I enjoyed Mistborn a lot, that was one thing that bothered me. There's still a bit of that in Stormlight but it is a big improvement in my opinion
I just started reading my first Sanderson book, that being the first Mistborn book. From the very little that I've read so far, I honestly really enjoy it so far. I am very intrigued by the prologue (that's all I've read so far hahaha). What I like so far is certainly his prose. It's very approachable and is not all that fluffy. Since I haven't read much, I don't have much more to say, but maybe I will return to this comment after finishing book one of Mistborn for more thoughts on Sanderson. I cannot wait to delve deeper into his literature!
Hey cheers for this great video….ive had a bit of a reading slump and for some reason I’ve avoided Brandon Sanderson’s work…..as in seems somewhat overwhelming…..but intrigued now and picked up Mistborn today….got to start somewhere and this seems to be the place…….cheers again from uk.
Thanks for the awesome overview of Sanderson’s worlds and writing. My first Sanderson novel was “Skyward”, because I’m both a sci-fi and fantasy reader. That’s (imo) not a great story, very YA, very simple, and did not make me think he was a great writer… so it took me a bit to move on to Mistborn and then to understand his realm is rocking great fantasy. With your help, I’ll start my deep dive into the rest of his writings.
Thank you for articulating the thoughts about his worldbuilding. I enjoy Sanderson but yes, the worlds don’t quite have that lived in feeling of places like Middle Earth.
I'm reading elantris right now and i can't believe how much I'm loving it...I wasn't expecting to like it so much because I've heard it's not the best...and I've read stormlight archive too
Wow that's actually so cool you're a world champion cup stacker! I recently watched this video by Jordy Mcneil about cup-stacking which reminded me of that "oh my gosh" sound effect which is why I had to use it 😂 Here's the video I'm referencing if you're curious: ruclips.net/video/w-iSGG3uD6s/видео.htmlsi=pRxggf-8vKBXupiC
@@CapturedInWordsI watched that video recently too! Small world 😅. Yeah, I'm the fastest cup stacker in the world unofficially right now, but trying to become the official number 1. Also, just wanted you to know that your Kingkiller Chronicle vids inspired me to re-read "The Name of the Wind" this year. It was even better the second time around! I also love your vids on Mistborn and the Stormlight Archive. They are 2 of my favorite series. Keep up the good work man. Exemplary content 👏
here's my pitch - Incredible dialogue Incredible character depth - Strong but broken characters, development, arch, mental awareness, relatable incredible world building - but not too much to drag on and overwhelm and take away from the story line Unpredictable - I can't really predict what will happen there has been maybe once I have done that Magic Systems - the magic systems are usually great and you can picture them very well.
Versitality --> versatility 😅 and prosaic means simple, not flowery prose ehe But other than the funny slips of language, i completely agree with your points! I always recommend mistborn to friends who want to get into fantasy, and SA for fantasy fans who want non-classics. I have no fear reading SA even if it's stillin progress because he writes so fast and consistently lol i almost want him to slow down
My coworkers got me started with Mistborn; I love the Skyward series as well and have embarked on the audiobooks of Stormlight Archive. I am really hoping for a sequel to The Rithmatist....
Tbh, I think it is very very easy to select any specific aspect of Sandersons writing and find an author or series that does it better. But when you take his writings as whole and add the fact that he's a consistent writer, not many can compete. I do think his consistency and his business decisions are the biggest contributions tho, also readable/passable quality as a minimum. Like I can think of quite a few series that can compete with Sanderson and his multiple series in both quality and consistency, but I can only think of like maybe 2 authors with multiple series who can compete with Sanderson in both quality and consistency.
finished final empire and eleventh metal. started The Well of Ascension today. I made up my mind that I wanted to complete the cosmere universe this year
6:50 I think only because we haven't had any live action or animated series from Sanderson yet. Those other books have adaptations where you can visually see landscape and environment the movie or show is portraying.
I started Sanderson last year with The Way of Kings then followed up with Warbreaker > Words of Radiance > Mistborn Era 1 > currently reading Oathbringer
When it comes to Sanderson’s prose, I equate it to being accessible. He doesn’t talk down to you, he can make massive epics easy for anyone to get into and enjoy. You don’t feel like you’re tugged along for needless details, but you’re given a lot to remember. I compare this often to Rothfuss, who really makes you feel like you’re at a campfire being told a story. There is almost a sing-songy feeling when Rothfuss weaves the story. It’s flowery at times, but in the right spots. It’s descriptive, but not too descriptive. I will say where Rothfuss excels at prose, his world building is very subpar especially when compared to Sanderson. When I finished book 2 of the Kingkiller Chronicle, I had a very broken, unclear vision of his world, the countries, where they are at, etc. I feel like Rothfuss has good ideas for his world, but they don’t make it so well to paper; however, his interpersonal writing is fantastic. Specifically, I remember when Kvoth is finally able to leave to go to University, and the whole bit where he is trying to get everything he needs to leave he ends up at a cobbler to get shoes. That scene ripped my heart out with how great the emotional gravitas was, with how Kvoth hadn’t had shoes in years, and here this man was recognizing his plight and showing him compassion by giving him the shoes. It floored me.
Im not an avid reader but wanted to get into fantasy books. The first trilogy I read was mistborn. I enjoyed it so much than I bought more fantasy books from other authors
First off, great video. Love this kind of content. I'm not the biggest Sanderson fan (didn't like Elantris, but mostly liked Mistborn), and I agree with much of what you said. BUT! I actually agree with those that say his prose isn't good. For me, it's not that his word choice or sentence structures are too simple. It's that the ideas expressed within a sentence are sometimes oversimplified. It feels at times like he has a complex idea or a message or a plot point that he wants to get across, but he tries to tell it in too simple a way, and that makes it feel wrong. In other words, he takes something that might be best expressed over two or three or four sentences and tries to make it into one. I think that's also why he can feel like a YA author at times. I noticed this kind of writing regularly in Elantris, but only a handful of times in Mistborn, thankfully.
Elantris is far from his best book. I won't call it bad, but it is outshined. As far as oversimplification, don't people do that all the time irl? Anyone who says they're an addict just oversimplified the complexity of how that works and they feel throughout it. Often times the first time people see someone do something, especially mistakes, they basically oversimplify by writing that person off as bad, deficient, or incompetent. A lot of writing kind of feels like psychological analysis rather than representative of what people tend to do or think
Sanderson fan here... It's not that we ONLY read the Cosmere.. some of us are still trying to keep up with the man! My TBR is mostly in perpetual stasis thanks to Brandon Sanderson... I am able to smoosh some small books but it is a titanic task 🤣 To think that is all started when I was reading Wheel of Time and at book 3 I realized Robert Jordan was not able to finish it, but this guy "Brandon Sanderson" did... I though... 15 books is a big commitment I might as well read something from this Sanderson guy before I continue with Wheel of Time... it's been 84 years...
Sanderson’s prose is not pompous. I like it. I never thought Dean Koontz could be deposed as my all time favourite author, then Brandon Sanderson came along…
Speaking of modern and more classic fantasy- is there a video you would recommend which talks about the classic fantasy books? I have found that all my wish lists and books consist of modern fantasy mostly promped by booktube recommendations.
I've been wanting to get into Brandon's books for a bit now and was wondering if it's still possible to get the "secret projects" he released on kickstarter or are those books out of print?
@CapturedInWords, you say the cosmere worlds don't appear to have a long history. That's because they don't. They appear to be created by the shards. Zahel mentioned to Kaladan that there are no fossils on Rohshar. He showed him a fossil from a world that does (Yolin?)
Exactly! Yes, I didn't want to spoil much in this video but many of the cosmere worlds are actually quite young. But Roshar actually existed prior to the shattering of Adonalsium, and had much of the same ecology like spren and highstorms. So it likely existed for about 12 to 13 thousand years by the time of the True Desolation. In Chapter 15 of RoW Zahel talks about fossils, and how Nalthis doesn't have any, and Roshar likely doesn't either (but I believe he was specifically tlaking about cephalopods fossils?). I feel like if any of the cosmere planets would have fossils it would be Roshar, as it was created by Adonalsium and not a shard 🤔 Despite Roshar being older than a lot of the other planets, I feel like we do not learn a lot about the history of the cultures and kingdoms of the people living on Roshar (besides the mysterious events of the oathpact), though I suspect a lot of this has to do with the desolations almost restarting history. And humans aren't natural to Roshar in the first place, so I suppose there's reasons as to why there isn't a sprawling ancient history of cultures and kingdoms.
I am a new Sanderson fan but loved all of Mistborn and recent started my way through Stormlight (read 1 & 2 so far). I decided to invest in the leatherbounds and purchased the Mistborn era 1/Elantris/Warbreaker from Dragonsteel. It was supposed to be delivered yesterday but hasn’t be scanned for 3 days and I’m so worried it’s lost in the mail 😫. I hope it’s just delayed but I’m worried. That’s a lot of money just lost out there.
I think another strength is the way he can genre bend - you want mystery - check, western - check, sci-fi - check, romance - check, political intrigue - check. No matter what you normally read he has something related. There is a reason no matter the topic a fan can be sure to find a book of his that fits the bill. The other strength is the wide range of ages and life experience he can write: Silence Montane, Taravangian, Wax's child, Lift, Dalinar. He has men, women, children, young adult, middle aged adults, older adults, parents, eunuchs, servants, rulers, physical disabilities. His characters come from a wide range of backgrounds. I also want to say I'm someone who appreciates not having the spicy scenes and the graphic violence. I enjoy the stories, but don't like the grimdark trend. I will always be grateful that the stories are accessible for someone who doesn't want to read those scenes.
You would love John Gwynne ! The perfect combination of Sanderson and Abercrombie ! :D I love most Sanderson books but I love Stormlight the most no doubt ! :D
Have not read a single Sanderson book, most I have read is him describing meeting Victor Wembayama. Where would be a good place to start? I am currently reading Malice by John Gwynne and once I am done (maybe tomorrow or friday) I will start Stone of Farewell by Tad Williams. So which would you recommend to take a bite out of Sanderson?
as someone who has just recently been diagnosed with autism, I've started to really feel seen with the few autistic characters Sanderson has written; but I really would love to see more how some Magic systems interact with autism (like mistings or ferrigns using Tin). I understand an autistic main character wouldn't necessarily be the most interesting for the overall community, but a secondary character, who's a magic user, would be neat!
I'm not much of a fantasy fan, but I just finished The Way of Kings. I really enjoyed it! Sanderson is like Frank Herbert when it comes to world-building. I was a little disappointed in Sanderson's prose, but loved his characters. I went to B&N and purchased the next three books in the series and I'm really looking forward to the second (after I finish my current Bosch novel by Michael Connelly, which never takes long).
I finished The Lost Metal 2 days ago, i've read everything in the Cosmere except the 2023 novels and Stormlight. Gonna wait with the secret project stuff until i'm caught up on Stormlight. Been anticipating Stormlight since last year when i first read The Final Empire so exciting times ahead
If you found Prasanva's abilities and just the general lore around him being an aetherbound interesting, you can try Tress of the Emerald Sea. It's about a planet with aether spores, one of which is Roseite - the one he uses for his abilities. It also has really nice connections with Elantris. The world already has kandras, meaning it's after the events of Lost Metal (based on the ending part with MeLaan). And of course even if you don't care about connections, it's still a pretty good book :D I just felt like mentioning it since it's more standalonish and the biggest connections are to Lost Metal and Elantris, so it's not a bad idea to read it before Stormlight, if you just want to read more about aethers. I'd highly recommend reading Stormlight before Yumi and Sunlit since they are much more closely related to it
The only time his prose had me rolling my eyes was in the prologue of Words of Radiance when he info dumps random cultural attributes about the Parshendi after the king's been assassinated, and then its framed as Jasnah's musings when her father's just been assassinated in front of her. And then she berates herself for getting distracted too easy. I smirked at that cause it took me out of the story and Sanderson is usually good about not doing that.
The first 500 people to use my link will get a 1 month free trial of Skillshare: skl.sh/capturedinwords03241
What are your favorite/least favorite Sanderson book? Also who's going to Dragonsteel this year??? I'm planning on finally going!
Petition for me to go as Tress and you to go as a teacup
@@thesunshineseekers I agree to be a teacup as long as I get to see you be Tress 😂 You would make a PERFECT Tress ❤
Fav Sanderson is a hard choice. Its Between Lost Metal, Yuumi and Words of Radiance for me. (I wanted to add Tress too, but 3 already felt like stretching it😅)
your “why you should read stormlight archive” video randomly popped on my feed one day a couple months ago. now im 200pgs in oathbringer. this is my first experience with sanderson and im glad i found your page
@@unkotempest I'm so happy to hear you're enjoying Stormlight! And glad my video was able to introduce you to the series 😀 it is definitely up there in my favorite series of all time
English is not my first language and I find reading english books like by Adrian Tchaikovsky pretty hard. But Sanderson's books were the first epic fantasy books I could read in English with ease. Sometimes I forgot that I am bad in that language because I could grab such world building and magic system :D
Oh, wow, that's awesome. Thanks for sharing! Glad you found and enjoyed the book. That's so cool.
That's so cool! And for what it's worth your english is pretty good. Some grammar errors but who cares anyone reading it can understand tour meaning. You should try reading the wheel of time by Robert Jordan:)
Edit: grammatical 😅
I agree. English is not my native language either and Sandersons books is a nice breeze compared to some books I've read. Sure I like a challenge from time to time but every once in a while is nice with something that dosen't require too much effort in translating and understanding 🙂
Wow thanks for sharing that. I was having second thoughts about buying Mistborn because I thought it might be hard to keep up with world building and the hard magic system, English is my first language either
Exactly, Brando Sando is the first author that I can read on the same pace on English and on my native language respectively. I find his prose as greatest pro of his writting.
Fun fact: Brandon Sanderson was roommates in college with none other than the current host of Jeopardy: Ken Jennings! Two dorks who were destined for success!
“I never regret having read a Sanderson book”. That line has motivated me, thank you! I gravitate generally to science fiction, I read the skyward series and really enjoyed the ride. But I wasn’t sure about jumping into the fantasy/magic world of Sanderson. I definitely feel more encouraged now. Very nice video.
Ah,you should.You could try Mistborn trilogy,Elantris and Warbreaker than jump into the Stormlight Archive,they are worth reading ! :D
@@noname3609 Thank you! I definitely will!
Sandersons magic system tend closer to a science with predictable outcomes when you have the same inputs.
Sanderson’s Cosmere is somewhat of a blend between fantasy and sci fi. And as it moves forward in time, the sci fi elements are likely to become more prominent.
I’m glad you won’t stop recommending Sanderson. Your channel got me into fantasy and your recommended reading order for the Cosmere made it impossible to put his books down.
I'm happy to hear that!! Glad I got you into fantasy and you're enjoying the Cosmere
Writing lyrical and poetic prose doesn’t always mean that that writer is better. I love how straight forward Sanderson’s writing is. It makes his books more accessible. Sanderson is a great storyteller and no one can convince me that he’s not. If I wanted to indulge myself with beautiful prose, I’d read LitFic instead.
His insight into the human condition and dealing with serious issues like cptsd, PTSD, abuse, trauma, suicide, guilt, shame....but there's always a note of hope. He's not depressing to read like grimdark novelists.
I was always scared to read his books when people kept raving about how he handles mental health because I've been burned so many times. But he... gets it. He genuinely gets how it effects people and how they cope. It's not perfect but no depiction will be but this at least feels like he has empathy and isn't writing it for the shock/sad factor.
@@SpacemanTheo Exactly, he handles it with honestly but grace. Something I've never, ever seen before from an author.
I recently started reading the stormlight archive and one thing that I absolutely love about those books is how there's barely any exposition on how the world and what's in it works, sanderson throws you in that world and is up to you to figure out everything, he shows how things work and trusts his audience to be smart enough to put the pieces together
i actually love sanderson's prose, especially in the stormlight archives. there are so many lines that caught my attention and made me feel/think a lot of things, he is great at choosing words and conveying emotions/thoughts and descriptions, it's not too much or too little, very balanced. idk how to explain it but i really like it. like even little things like there was one line in the way of kings that navani thinks about dalinar having no wives and no daughters so she must write a prayer for him, and it just affected me so much for some reason?? even something small like that?? it's because his language is very effective.
anyway great video, your videos are always a delight to watch. :)
Perfect timing, I’m starting Mistborn (my first Sanderson book) today
Hope you will enjoy it ! Mistborn is a great place to start with Sanderson's books !
"I am hope" :D
What did you think?
Haven’t read a Brandon book yet, but was looking up his Yumi book and Emerald Sea. Came across this video, and you convinced me to fall down the Brandon Sanderson rabbit hole. Thank you! Subscribed, too!❤
I’ve read every Sanderson book and yet here I am 😅
Stormlight archive is a blast to read. I’m eager to read the next installment
So stoked for book 5!!! 🙌
I am on the 2nd book of the Mistborn Trilogy, and I think my husband is sick of stanning Sanderson in my house, even though he has started the Stormlight Archive. I think Sanderson is an easy auto buy for me so the hype is warranted for me personally. That and he's pretty darn wholesome, he has acknowledged his past criticisms and I truly believe he is always working to do better. I respect the man.
I started with Yumi and the Nightmare Painter and have been devouring all of his books since then. I barely knew who he was and picked that book up on a whim because I liked the cover art and now it's one of my favorite books I've ever read. His books can definitely drag in the middle, but like you said, the end always makes up for it and I never regret it.
For me it was Tress and the Emerald Sea
Man, the last few years have been a great time to be a Sanderfan. Started with the way of kings in 2014 and have been hooked ever since. Can't wait to see what he surprises us with next!
I've read every Brandon Sanderson and cannot wait for more!
This sentence is impossible.
Why? As soon as you wrote that sentence, SandoBrando wrote another book.
At least with Sanderson, you don't need to wait long 😉
Thank you so much. I just discovered your channel and I'm loving it. I had not heard of this author before today and I'm really looking forward to reading his work.
I started with Warbreaker and was so impressed with the magic system! I also loved Sanderson's world building and dialogues. I'm currently finishing Mistborn era 1 and also read Elantris. I can't wait to start Stormlight!! The Way of Kings is my most anticipated book of all times!
I started with Warbreaker too! I LIVED for the banter! Stoked to read more!
My man you are the best in hyping me into reading. Thanks to you I read Mistborn, Elric, First Law and other books. I never thought I would read so many books in one year, I've never read books for fun before (with only few exeptions). And what I mean this hype is so good that you dont spoil anything yet I know what to expect of the books. Gonna send this vid to my friends, I love Brando Sando and more people need to know about him here in Czech
This made me love Cosmere all over again!
Sanderson's prose is great for his books. And his books make me feel and think. Big, intricate, flowery words don't equal strong emotions after all
100% agree!
his characters and dialogue are definitely subpar but that doesn't mean the books aren't enjoyable
@@toastyman111
I'm not sure why you feel his characters and dialogue aren't good...
Help me understand
@@jacksonhorrocks4281 (just my opinion) no one talks like an actual person, and the characters lack believability as actual people, to me.
I'm writing this comment even before I watch the video just to say that this came in the perfect time, I was thinking whether I should begin reading Sanderson or not, I opened YT to search for it and found your fresh uploaded video, thank you Jay! ❤️
Dude, you are one of the best here on yt, seriously. I´m initiating in cosmere now, and can´t thank you enough for the order recommendattion you suggested in other video, mistborn is incredible(elantris is ok), starting the emperor´s soul now!(loved the stories in arcanum unbounded until now,btw). English is not my first languague, struggling a bit for being a brazilian interested in sanderson, there are not so many translations here unfortunately..
You better get working on them stormlight summaries, the views you would get the week of the new drop would be insane
Working on the summary for Words of Radiance right now 😉
I love how thoughtful this video was. Well paced, nuanced, and very fair. Your editing and production quality have absolutely improved quite noticeably, and that’s exciting to see as well.
For each of your constructive critiques in regard to his particular brand of writing, you supply numerous qualities of strength to his unique style that you appreciate or even love. Beyond his world building and magic systems, you highlight his underrated characters, his ability to pace his novels very well, and his endearing habit of tackling mental health issues and familial issues with empathy.
You acknowledge his much debated prose issue (something I’m glad you addressed as not really being an issue at all, and most people indeed don’t know what “prose” is) as well as the toxic hype around his increasingly popular works. It’s unfortunate to see how a writer so big in the industry yet seemingly ordinary but somehow fervently loved by fans might be a bit unfairly off-putting to a lot people who think they’re above Sanderson. I know that, as he’s grown more popular and put himself more in the limelight (which he very much deserves), he’s been increasingly exposed to people who seek purely to undermine or belittle his talents and efforts without having read a single page or given what they do manage to read half an honest chance.
I always argue that if half of his vehement detractors read a book he wrote that was instead penned under an unknown alias, they would likely be singing that newcomers praises. 😂 Envy is a wretched thing, and especially in a field of art/entertainment where so many of us have tried to break through ourselves and not managed it or come up short.
Hope more people give Sanderson a chance. He’s definitely not for everybody, but he is the right author for a lot of people.
I'm about to start Oathbringer. Words of Radiance is my Book of the Year so far. Huge fan of this man.
Hello, I'm one of those aforementioned "readers who have been burned by Rothfuss"... I got back into reading after a long time because of Kingkiller, but not having that 3rd book made me drop reading again... I didn't feel like I could find something else as addicting and with such beautiful prose, and the world/magic system was also fantastic for me. I just started reading Warbreaker a few days ago and I'm really enjoying it. I'm not a fantasy reader at all but I'm glad there is so much Brando Sando content out there for me to enjoy in the future!
I recently started my Sanderson journey. Read the Mistborn trilogy so far. After I finish reading The Age of Madness and Three Body Problem I plan to continue with Elantris. Really liking his stuff so far. Thanks for the informative video. I really enjoy and get a lot from your videos.
Love Sanderson, Mistborn Trilogy is what got me back into reading. I haven't started Stormlight Archive because I wanted to wait until it was closer to being done. I think I might try to get into now with book 5 coming out this year so I can read through the part 1 of it. Also looking forward to digging into more of The Cosmere, I really liked your other video about reading order and am probably going to start reading through it that way with some rereads in there because its been a while since I read the first Mistborn. Right now I gotta finish my re-read of Codex Alera. Keep the great videos coming!
So far I’ve only read his Mistborn Era 1 Trilogy and The Emperor’s Soul and I love those books! I have a couple books I plan to read, like right now I’m starting Golden Son by Pierce Brown! But after I finish it and Morning Star I’ll be starting Warbreaker before I begin my journey through the Stormlight Archives ❤
Goodluck with Stormlight Archive ! It's Sanderson at his best ! :D
Loved the way of kings. I'm going to spend the year catching up on all stormlight archive books so I'm ready for five when it comes out.
That's what my nerd group is doing! We are on Oathbringer now!
I love the Reckoners!!!! Steelheart, firefight, and calamity were amazing reads!
Almost finishing "The way of kings". It took me SO much to finished it but I am elated and the story has touched me in deep and unknown corners inside. Can't believe that masterpiece is from a living author, what a privilege to our generation! Thank you for the video, I thought is was well balanced, insightful, informative and inspiring.
I actually loved Elantris and read it every second or third year. Don't know why it gets so much hate.
I've read Elantris twice,I love it ! Have you read Stormlight yet ?
Elantris definitely gets way too much hate, I really enjoyed it
@@Joyce-d9v If you love Elantris im fully confident you will love most Sanderson's books! 🙏
Would love to, but you recommended Wheel of Time and now I'm on book 2, see you guys in a year.
Well you'll get to preview Sanderson at the end!
I don’t read books with spicy scenes or cussing. I can’t stand to read a book where the f-word is used on every single page. There is no point in it. That is why I love Brandon Sanderson. I wish more people wrote like him. I used to read strictly YA books. Because of my reasons above. And I found that there were clean adult novels. So I quickly switched and hardly ever read YA now. (Though, now YA is full of smut too).
Brandon Sanderson is my favorite author of all time!
My first books by Sanderson was legion which is not in the cosmere. I didn't know about his other work at the time. I have recently started mistborn and I am really enjoying it.
Wow Legion is an interesting one to start with! Glad you're enjoying Mistborn!! :)
Fan of Brandon Sanderson too!! 🎉
Me2 ! I still have more books to read though :D
@@noname3609 I have a long TBR lol 😂
@@safinan8008 same, same 🙏
My favourite author rn and I haven't even read any of his books yet
I love Brandon Sanderson's scientific approach to magic systems.
Same here!!
Couldnt agree more when it comes to expostitional prose in stories. More does not always equal better. The perfect example of this for me is in the hypeion cantos books. Especially parts of endymions story line. Like i dont need a 10 page description of his surroundings while falling through an endless sky. Parts of his story were great, while the long expositions made me want to throw the book out a window 😂. Overall loved the series tho.
The king of the Cosmere 🤴🏼
My favourite thing about the Mistborn trilogy is that it feels epic without being too complex or long. Excellent way to get started with reading fantasy books for those are getting into reading or into the fantasy genre.
you were one of the main reasons why I started reading sanderson last year. now I read everything in the cosmere but lost metal. Can't wait for wind and truth!
So happy I helped you get into Sanderson :D Yesss, so excited for wind and truth!
I read the first Mistborn trilogy back in 2020 when I first discovered Booktube and was a little underwhelmed especially given how hyped it was. I'm planning to give Sanderson a second try this year with the Stormlight Archive because I'm quite jealous of his fans - he's such a prolific author and a positive force in the publishing industry so I want to like him!
There are multiple reasons Mistborn didn't work for me, but I'd say the main reason is that his writing is all text and no subtext - everything is stated so plainly and without room for ambiguity that it felt like I was being babied, like he didn't trust me to think for myself and draw my own conclusions.
I also don't think that good prose is synonymous with flowery prose or long descriptions. Like you said, Ursula K Le Guin is one of the best writers the genre has ever seen and I don't think anyone could accuse her of being long-winded - just compare the page counts of A Wizard of Earthsea and The Way of Kings!
I know what you mean about stating everything plainly without any subtext. While I enjoyed Mistborn a lot, that was one thing that bothered me. There's still a bit of that in Stormlight but it is a big improvement in my opinion
I just started reading my first Sanderson book, that being the first Mistborn book. From the very little that I've read so far, I honestly really enjoy it so far. I am very intrigued by the prologue (that's all I've read so far hahaha). What I like so far is certainly his prose. It's very approachable and is not all that fluffy. Since I haven't read much, I don't have much more to say, but maybe I will return to this comment after finishing book one of Mistborn for more thoughts on Sanderson. I cannot wait to delve deeper into his literature!
I mark this as the hopeful start of my Sanderson journey
Hey cheers for this great video….ive had a bit of a reading slump and for some reason I’ve avoided Brandon Sanderson’s work…..as in seems somewhat overwhelming…..but intrigued now and picked up Mistborn today….got to start somewhere and this seems to be the place…….cheers again from uk.
Thanks for the awesome overview of Sanderson’s worlds and writing. My first Sanderson novel was “Skyward”, because I’m both a sci-fi and fantasy reader. That’s (imo) not a great story, very YA, very simple, and did not make me think he was a great writer… so it took me a bit to move on to Mistborn and then to understand his realm is rocking great fantasy. With your help, I’ll start my deep dive into the rest of his writings.
because he is Brandon Sanderson that's all there is to it.
Thank you for articulating the thoughts about his worldbuilding. I enjoy Sanderson but yes, the worlds don’t quite have that lived in feeling of places like Middle Earth.
I am one of those people who likes one thing and one thing only. Fortunately it is Sanderson so I have a lot to read 😂
I'm reading elantris right now and i can't believe how much I'm loving it...I wasn't expecting to like it so much because I've heard it's not the best...and I've read stormlight archive too
I'm gonna start reading brandon sanderson very soon . This video made me more excited 🔥.
Awesome!! I hope you enjoy!
As the fastest cup stacker in the world and a fellow Sanderson fan, I appreciate how you used Speedstackinggirls "oh my gosh" at 0:20 😅
Wow that's actually so cool you're a world champion cup stacker! I recently watched this video by Jordy Mcneil about cup-stacking which reminded me of that "oh my gosh" sound effect which is why I had to use it 😂 Here's the video I'm referencing if you're curious: ruclips.net/video/w-iSGG3uD6s/видео.htmlsi=pRxggf-8vKBXupiC
@@CapturedInWordsI watched that video recently too! Small world 😅. Yeah, I'm the fastest cup stacker in the world unofficially right now, but trying to become the official number 1. Also, just wanted you to know that your Kingkiller Chronicle vids inspired me to re-read "The Name of the Wind" this year. It was even better the second time around! I also love your vids on Mistborn and the Stormlight Archive. They are 2 of my favorite series. Keep up the good work man. Exemplary content 👏
Dude the most awesome Cosmere reveal was showing us without telling us why the Ghostbloods are called the Ghostbloods...so awesome
I only found out about Sanderson a 6 months ago, mistborn got me back into fantasy.
I thought you should have mentioned Steelheart for younger readers on where to start.
Great video.
here's my pitch -
Incredible dialogue
Incredible character depth - Strong but broken characters, development, arch, mental awareness, relatable
incredible world building - but not too much to drag on and overwhelm and take away from the story line
Unpredictable - I can't really predict what will happen there has been maybe once I have done that
Magic Systems - the magic systems are usually great and you can picture them very well.
I love Brandon Sanderson's stories ♥️
I've read about 80 book in the past 3 years and MISTBORN is still my favorite
It took me 5 years and 3 tries to get into Mistborn. Maybe it was just a wrong book wrong time scenario but I’m glad I stuck it out !
Versitality --> versatility 😅 and prosaic means simple, not flowery prose ehe
But other than the funny slips of language, i completely agree with your points! I always recommend mistborn to friends who want to get into fantasy, and SA for fantasy fans who want non-classics. I have no fear reading SA even if it's stillin progress because he writes so fast and consistently lol i almost want him to slow down
My coworkers got me started with Mistborn; I love the Skyward series as well and have embarked on the audiobooks of Stormlight Archive. I am really hoping for a sequel to The Rithmatist....
Going to share this video with everyone
Tbh, I think it is very very easy to select any specific aspect of Sandersons writing and find an author or series that does it better. But when you take his writings as whole and add the fact that he's a consistent writer, not many can compete. I do think his consistency and his business decisions are the biggest contributions tho, also readable/passable quality as a minimum. Like I can think of quite a few series that can compete with Sanderson and his multiple series in both quality and consistency, but I can only think of like maybe 2 authors with multiple series who can compete with Sanderson in both quality and consistency.
finished final empire and eleventh metal. started The Well of Ascension today. I made up my mind that I wanted to complete the cosmere universe this year
I'm a simple guy, I see Brandon Sanderson in the title, I click
That's me all day.
6:50 I think only because we haven't had any live action or animated series from Sanderson yet. Those other books have adaptations where you can visually see landscape and environment the movie or show is portraying.
I started Sanderson last year with The Way of Kings then followed up with Warbreaker > Words of Radiance > Mistborn Era 1 > currently reading Oathbringer
When it comes to Sanderson’s prose, I equate it to being accessible. He doesn’t talk down to you, he can make massive epics easy for anyone to get into and enjoy. You don’t feel like you’re tugged along for needless details, but you’re given a lot to remember.
I compare this often to Rothfuss, who really makes you feel like you’re at a campfire being told a story. There is almost a sing-songy feeling when Rothfuss weaves the story. It’s flowery at times, but in the right spots. It’s descriptive, but not too descriptive. I will say where Rothfuss excels at prose, his world building is very subpar especially when compared to Sanderson. When I finished book 2 of the Kingkiller Chronicle, I had a very broken, unclear vision of his world, the countries, where they are at, etc. I feel like Rothfuss has good ideas for his world, but they don’t make it so well to paper; however, his interpersonal writing is fantastic. Specifically, I remember when Kvoth is finally able to leave to go to University, and the whole bit where he is trying to get everything he needs to leave he ends up at a cobbler to get shoes. That scene ripped my heart out with how great the emotional gravitas was, with how Kvoth hadn’t had shoes in years, and here this man was recognizing his plight and showing him compassion by giving him the shoes. It floored me.
Im not an avid reader but wanted to get into fantasy books. The first trilogy I read was mistborn. I enjoyed it so much than I bought more fantasy books from other authors
First off, great video. Love this kind of content. I'm not the biggest Sanderson fan (didn't like Elantris, but mostly liked Mistborn), and I agree with much of what you said. BUT! I actually agree with those that say his prose isn't good.
For me, it's not that his word choice or sentence structures are too simple. It's that the ideas expressed within a sentence are sometimes oversimplified. It feels at times like he has a complex idea or a message or a plot point that he wants to get across, but he tries to tell it in too simple a way, and that makes it feel wrong. In other words, he takes something that might be best expressed over two or three or four sentences and tries to make it into one. I think that's also why he can feel like a YA author at times.
I noticed this kind of writing regularly in Elantris, but only a handful of times in Mistborn, thankfully.
Elantris is far from his best book. I won't call it bad, but it is outshined.
As far as oversimplification, don't people do that all the time irl?
Anyone who says they're an addict just oversimplified the complexity of how that works and they feel throughout it. Often times the first time people see someone do something, especially mistakes, they basically oversimplify by writing that person off as bad, deficient, or incompetent.
A lot of writing kind of feels like psychological analysis rather than representative of what people tend to do or think
22:03 wait I had no idea who this guy was but I do remember watching this. I didn't finish it but got far.
Sanderson fan here... It's not that we ONLY read the Cosmere.. some of us are still trying to keep up with the man!
My TBR is mostly in perpetual stasis thanks to Brandon Sanderson... I am able to smoosh some small books but it is a titanic task 🤣
To think that is all started when I was reading Wheel of Time and at book 3 I realized Robert Jordan was not able to finish it, but this guy "Brandon Sanderson" did... I though... 15 books is a big commitment I might as well read something from this Sanderson guy before I continue with Wheel of Time... it's been 84 years...
You got me into THE COSMERE and i really love it.💫💫💫
Is Warbreaker a standalone??
So far. I've heard there may be more coming
I've been getting into Mistborn & honestly couldn't have asked for a better time for this video.
Awesome!!! Hope you enjoy Mistborn!
Very interesting 🤔... Havent read anything of him.... Are there also audiobooks of him?
Yes
@@havenschade8174 ok, I will look him up! 😃
@@havenschade8174 ok! Great... Will look him up.🙂😎
You could try the Cosmere universe.Start with Mistborn trilogy,Elantris or Warbreaker than get into the Stormlight Archive series :)
@@noname3609 hey! Ok mistborn it will be 🙂
Sanderson’s prose is not pompous. I like it. I never thought Dean Koontz could be deposed as my all time favourite author, then Brandon Sanderson came along…
Speaking of modern and more classic fantasy- is there a video you would recommend which talks about the classic fantasy books? I have found that all my wish lists and books consist of modern fantasy mostly promped by booktube recommendations.
Honest question. Why does he need fund raisers? He is a very successful author. I am looking forward to reading his books.
I've been wanting to get into Brandon's books for a bit now and was wondering if it's still possible to get the "secret projects" he released on kickstarter or are those books out of print?
@CapturedInWords, you say the cosmere worlds don't appear to have a long history. That's because they don't. They appear to be created by the shards. Zahel mentioned to Kaladan that there are no fossils on Rohshar. He showed him a fossil from a world that does (Yolin?)
Exactly! Yes, I didn't want to spoil much in this video but many of the cosmere worlds are actually quite young. But Roshar actually existed prior to the shattering of Adonalsium, and had much of the same ecology like spren and highstorms. So it likely existed for about 12 to 13 thousand years by the time of the True Desolation. In Chapter 15 of RoW Zahel talks about fossils, and how Nalthis doesn't have any, and Roshar likely doesn't either (but I believe he was specifically tlaking about cephalopods fossils?). I feel like if any of the cosmere planets would have fossils it would be Roshar, as it was created by Adonalsium and not a shard 🤔
Despite Roshar being older than a lot of the other planets, I feel like we do not learn a lot about the history of the cultures and kingdoms of the people living on Roshar (besides the mysterious events of the oathpact), though I suspect a lot of this has to do with the desolations almost restarting history. And humans aren't natural to Roshar in the first place, so I suppose there's reasons as to why there isn't a sprawling ancient history of cultures and kingdoms.
I am a new Sanderson fan but loved all of Mistborn and recent started my way through Stormlight (read 1 & 2 so far).
I decided to invest in the leatherbounds and purchased the Mistborn era 1/Elantris/Warbreaker from Dragonsteel. It was supposed to be delivered yesterday but hasn’t be scanned for 3 days and I’m so worried it’s lost in the mail 😫. I hope it’s just delayed but I’m worried. That’s a lot of money just lost out there.
Would you make a list of that "high prose" that you mentioned? I am a song of ice and fire orphan and I'm finding difficult to click with Sanderson. 😢
I think another strength is the way he can genre bend - you want mystery - check, western - check, sci-fi - check, romance - check, political intrigue - check. No matter what you normally read he has something related. There is a reason no matter the topic a fan can be sure to find a book of his that fits the bill.
The other strength is the wide range of ages and life experience he can write: Silence Montane, Taravangian, Wax's child, Lift, Dalinar. He has men, women, children, young adult, middle aged adults, older adults, parents, eunuchs, servants, rulers, physical disabilities. His characters come from a wide range of backgrounds.
I also want to say I'm someone who appreciates not having the spicy scenes and the graphic violence. I enjoy the stories, but don't like the grimdark trend. I will always be grateful that the stories are accessible for someone who doesn't want to read those scenes.
I love to write fantasy stories but my English is not good I don't what to do how to improve my English
Brandon Sanderson changed my life and that is not an exaggeration. read his books I beg you
"Born in December 19-"
Oh what a night!
"-75"
Oh.
You would love John Gwynne ! The perfect combination of Sanderson and Abercrombie ! :D
I love most Sanderson books but I love Stormlight the most no doubt ! :D
Stormlight is my favorite too! I just started reading Malice by John Gwynne, and I'm loving it so far!
@@CapturedInWords Really? That's fantastic news! 😀
Have not read a single Sanderson book, most I have read is him describing meeting Victor Wembayama. Where would be a good place to start? I am currently reading Malice by John Gwynne and once I am done (maybe tomorrow or friday) I will start Stone of Farewell by Tad Williams. So which would you recommend to take a bite out of Sanderson?
as someone who has just recently been diagnosed with autism, I've started to really feel seen with the few autistic characters Sanderson has written; but I really would love to see more how some Magic systems interact with autism (like mistings or ferrigns using Tin). I understand an autistic main character wouldn't necessarily be the most interesting for the overall community, but a secondary character, who's a magic user, would be neat!
''why should you read Sanderson'', me as someone who read all of the cosmere: ''ohh a video for me!''
I'm not much of a fantasy fan, but I just finished The Way of Kings. I really enjoyed it! Sanderson is like Frank Herbert when it comes to world-building. I was a little disappointed in Sanderson's prose, but loved his characters. I went to B&N and purchased the next three books in the series and I'm really looking forward to the second (after I finish my current Bosch novel by Michael Connelly, which never takes long).
I finished The Lost Metal 2 days ago, i've read everything in the Cosmere except the 2023 novels and Stormlight. Gonna wait with the secret project stuff until i'm caught up on Stormlight. Been anticipating Stormlight since last year when i first read The Final Empire so exciting times ahead
If you found Prasanva's abilities and just the general lore around him being an aetherbound interesting, you can try Tress of the Emerald Sea. It's about a planet with aether spores, one of which is Roseite - the one he uses for his abilities. It also has really nice connections with Elantris. The world already has kandras, meaning it's after the events of Lost Metal (based on the ending part with MeLaan). And of course even if you don't care about connections, it's still a pretty good book :D I just felt like mentioning it since it's more standalonish and the biggest connections are to Lost Metal and Elantris, so it's not a bad idea to read it before Stormlight, if you just want to read more about aethers. I'd highly recommend reading Stormlight before Yumi and Sunlit since they are much more closely related to it
I is a very good year to Read.
The only time his prose had me rolling my eyes was in the prologue of Words of Radiance when he info dumps random cultural attributes about the Parshendi after the king's been assassinated, and then its framed as Jasnah's musings when her father's just been assassinated in front of her. And then she berates herself for getting distracted too easy. I smirked at that cause it took me out of the story and Sanderson is usually good about not doing that.
Now make the versionwith spoilers and opinions 😊