I could not agree with you more! I think people should be empathetic to the situation of readers experiencing burnout, because it's not like we want to! After the amount of money and time I have put into reading Sanderson, I would love nothing more than to 5 star everything he's put out. I think that's what makes it such an uncomfortable situation to discuss because I think a lot of us experiencing a little burnout feel bad for it, which leads to a lot of bottling up until we explode lol. So I appreciate you putting out a measured opinion rather than what I would do, which is lose my mind and scream.
Absolutely. With the release of "Wind and Truth" looming, there's a good chance fans might feel the pressure to binge the entire Cosmere series just to keep up. The fear of missing out or not being up to speed on all the intricate details could be overwhelming. But here's the thing-we sometimes forget that "books aren't going anywhere." It's completely fine to take your time and read at your own pace, even if that means we're a year behind the hype train. The story will still be there, waiting for us, and sometimes, savoring it slowly can make the experience even richer.
I don't understand why book tubers make reading an assignment and try to keep up with everyone else. Just read what you feel like and review those. Much more enjoyable and makes it less of a "job".
It's also part of their job right? Let's say, December rolls around, and all epic fantasy readers want to know about the youtube's opinion of stormlight 5. And not having a video on it will cause RUclips algo to not push said youtuber's video as much causing engagement drop.
It’s their job so it should feel like a job. They aren’t the ones on here to be entertained, we are. A RUclipsr who paced him/herself and reviewed like 2-3 books a year wouldn’t get views
That’s right I want, no, actually I demand all my favorite Booktubers to be reading every moment of the day. While there at the gym, eating dinner or even sleeping. Yes. Unless there recording a video, then they better be reading something.
I love Sanderson, but like anything else, I need to space his books out and read other books in between. As much as I love pizza, if I ate it everyday for months on end, I would get deathly sick of it. Books are meant for our entertainment, we shouldn’t feel obligated to read this or that, but just read because it’s a hobby and we want to escape from the real world for a while.
Its strange that Sanderson gets blamed for this, but even he advocates for people to read other books between his. If you watch his recommended reading order, he tells you to take breaks. He knows that a series like Stormlight Archive is a massive undertaking, and if you read them back to back you will get burnt out. They really aren't intended to be binge read IMO.
Wait to read it when you’re in the mood!! I am a MASSIVE mood reader and cannot force myself to read a book if I’m not in the mood for it. I read the Red Rising trilogy and really enjoyed it! But then I immediately tried to read Iron Gold (4th book/start of the next saga) and it took me weeks to get halfway and just admitted I was only trying to read it because I felt like I *had to* continue, not because I was in the mood for it. So it is a read again later kind of book.
Palate cleansers are a real thing. When I read too much epic fantasy, I just want to never read again. But! If I mix in some lighter stuff or something that doesn't require I pay as close attention to how a world works, it all works out and I don't feel the fatigue
Whenever I feel burnt out on a particular genre or author, I usually read something different. That keeps things fresh and exciting for me. As for when Stormlight 5 releases, I've decided instead of rereading the previous 4 books and 2 novellas to rather just read a catchup summary then jump into no 5. Main reason being that I got into Joe Abercrombie this year so busy enjoying his books.
Definitely agree! I love his writing, but I need to space his books out a bit and read other genres in between. It sounds like Sanderson is going the way of Stephen King (whom I also really love) who wrote The Dark Tower as a way to connect many of his other books together and create a shared universe. And it makes for cool Easter eggs, but if you CAN’T understand a book without reading everything in the multiverse, that is a bit overwhelming
That's what made Dark Tower so great, imo, if you have read other works by Stephen King you get some satisfying easter eggs but if you haven't it doesn't take anything away from your enjoyment, hoping Sanderson takes a similar approach
The issue for me isn't even necessarily the current volume of Cosmere books, but rather the ANTICIPATED volume. There are plenty of 10-20 book series out there. But many of the great ones are finished. The Cosmere looks like its going to turn into a factory churning out the same types of books year after year until Sanderson finally decides it's finished in 2050.
My love for Sanderson cooled dramatically when I discovered the First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. Also, I'm one of the very few people that didn't enjoy the secret projects and all the insane hype surrounding them really soured my perspective
You've almost told my story here, but the difference is that I am just starting cosmere and already feeling VERY overwhelmed. The amount of books are okay but on the top of that these kickstarters and extra books. With that quantity, I am like a little scared, I might not like it that much
@@BookishEmperor OH, Thank you so much! I was so confused about it, wanted to read other stuff in between but was like no, first finish cosmere. But, Now I think I will read other stuff in between. Hopefully, I'll not forget the cosmere tidbits while I read other stuff 😂 Have you read full cosmere?
@@Muhammad_Usman_Raza You can always look up summaries and whatnot if you forget anything later or watch a lore video, there's enough of them out there haha. I've read most of the Cosmere, I just haven't read Stormlight (Waiting for book 5 so I can read it all at once) or the Secret project books yet.
All your argues are valid and I feel the same. I haven't "caught up" on the Cosmere and I doubt I will before W&T comes out, but one thing I'm doing to ensure I don't get fatigue is I'm going very slowly and I'm switching through the subseries to help balance interest. When I finish a SA book, I'll go read an MBe2 book or a standalone or one of the short stories, and then wait a few months before picking up another SA book. I'll also balance this with reading other books or just not reading at all to take a break. I do love Sanderson's books as I'm a character reader first and foremost and his character writing is fantastic, next is theme for me and I adore his themes and ideas on personal/societal growth. Plot isn't make or break for me. While I think he always nails his endings, I do find, especially in the SA, that his plotting can drag and drag. Which is why I generally prefer his shorter books over his longer tomes. My biggest concern with the Cosmere is that it'll go the way of the MCU. Get so big that it'll crumble under its own weight as new fans won't be able to catch up and long time fans will get lost if they miss a book or two along the way. From what I've read, and what he's said, this doesn't seem to be the case - but again I haven't read Lost Metal or Sunlit Man, so perhaps I'll feel it more after those books. It took me 4 years to read Discworld and I still have 8 books left, big series are tough to finish and I don't think anyone should feel bad about fatigue for a series they love as it happens and sometimes we need a little break from something to get back into it. The "Year of Sanderson" helped put him on the map, but I think it also was overwhelming and has attributed to fatigue. While I am excited for future books, I do think he should slow down a bit, do one book a year (maybe 2 if it's a really good second book), bc again the MCU suffered when they released too many films/shows within a year. If Sanderson does the same, I think more of us will find ourselves losing interest or becoming overwhelmed by just how much we have to read to keep up with the story. I can say for sure the RPG being canon really frustrates me bc I don't want to have to play a game to keep up with the bigger story -- doesn't look like we'll have to, but it's a small part in a bigger worry I have that the Cosmere will expand too far too quickly and become impossible to keep up with even for big fans of the story.
Love the channel Johan, and love your level-headedness with reviews. One recurring theme in criticism of the Cosmere that I find really interesting is what you said about the “need” to read everything else to enjoy the books later in the series/universe. You hedged well saying you realize you were kind of contradicting yourself by also loving that they tie in together. But what I find interesting about it is that everyone knows going into the Cosmere now that it is one universe. But then people get burnt by the need to have some knowledge of all the series when you get to later books. But no one would think to say this about Gathering Storm or Memory of Light. No one would say that about the books later in the Realm of the Elderlings (this might be a better example since there are different trilogies following different characters). I know Sanderson says you can start with several different points. So maybe that’s the downfall. I wonder if Sanderson himself came out with a definitive “order,” if it would alleviate some of that criticism since it may be seen more as one series with different parts rather than a “universe” with different intertwining series. Cheers to your hard work on these videos, you have some of the most interesting conversations on booktube. God Bless, and I’ll be praying you have a swift recovery from your Sandersonian Suicide 😂
Ok, I need to preface this comment by saying that I am an avid Brandon fan and owe him so much as both a writer and an editor myself. That said, I feel like burnout with a series or author is absolutely, 100% justified and expected, especially in a genre like fantasy, for which books tend to run so long. Now... Despite me loving Brando's work, there's another side to this argument... The fact that, imo, his prose is dry as sandpaper. 😂 His worlds, characters, plots and magic systems are amazing, but the way he actually writes, at least for me, is dry and grating, and I enjoy his stories despite of his writing. That, over 1000's of pages can also absolutely cause burnout, so I highly recommend taking a Sando break and reading something different, maybe even in another genre, until you feel ready to come back to his style and voice. 👍🏼
Yes. This. Can't agree more. His worldbuilding is so amazing, he created something impressive here. But, to be honest, i can't say the same thing to his prose and dialogue, and his jokes... I read Mistborn era 1, and currently read TWOK and still struggling to finish it (im on page 1000 anyway), and like you said, his prose is not so good for my taste...
Yeah, I definitely agree with you and I’ve been feeling the same as of late. I started reading Sanderson last year when I got back into reading, starting with his Secret Projects. At the very end of 2023, I started the Stormlight Archive and set out to finish it before Wind and Truth. As of now, I’m like halfway through Oathbringer with not much drive to continue. It’s been sitting at the 45% mark for like 2-3 months. I’m trying to push myself to finish Oathbringer soon but I know I’m not getting to Rhythm of War anytime soon, and most likely will not be reading WaT on release like everyone else. The Sanderson fatigue is real. And it’s not like I don’t like his stuff because he’s probably my favorite author.
There's a lot to love where Sanderson is concerned, but I can relate to this video: I've read quite a few of his books over a great many years, and at this point my tastes have changed. I find myself gravitating toward R. Scott Bakker, John Gwynne, Brian Lee Durfee, etc. I think it's perfectly natural to have this kind of evolution, and I'd still recommend Sanderson to new fantasy readers as an accessible and often very fun and enjoyable author.
I hope the comments section is respectful, as I feel you expressed your feelings really well. I think even with our favorite authors, too much at one time can cause this burnout or fatigue. Although I'm also a big fan of Sanderson, I also feel very concerned about Sanderson's plans for the Cosmere. I felt the last book of Mistborn Era 2 embraced the Cosmere interconnectivity so much to the detriment of the novel. I had mentioned in my review that I hoped Sanderson's "gloves off" approach to the Cosmere that he may leave me as a reader at some point. Time will tell!
My reading experience with Sanderson has gone from good to worse. I was a devout fan of his because of how he took on finishing Robert Jordan’s masterpiece series, The Wheel of Time. But ever since then, I have read his Stormlight Archive and have slowly been unconvinced of his writing skills. He builds worlds like no other, but his prose and the way he appears to state the obvious within his writing has been turning me off more and more over the years. Having to reread passages and generally struggle through his sluggish writing style has burnt me out of his fanbase. I keep thinking I should finish the first half of Stormlight, but I just can’t get myself to preorder another book I anticipate to be too big for its own good. He needs a better editor, and I think he needs to write less books, not more. He should clean up so much before publishing, but someone on his team must be advising him differently. Yes, he has the title of “Prolific Author,” but my thought is he can either write tons of books with subpar quality, or he could try to stop and take his time on each one. I’d prefer the latter because he has pretty much lost my support. I applaud the guy, but I just can’t feel motivated to read his stuff any longer. I hate to say it, but it’s just garbage to me (see Oathbringer and Rhythm of War).
It feels like on booktube creators are afraid to say they didn’t enjoy a Sanderson book. I also found Warbreaker just ok. I think I gave it a 2 then read Mistborn trilogy which I enjoyed a lot more. Era 2 however was not as good mostly because of the ‘humour’ . Tress was nice however I really enjoyed the WOK and gave it a 5 and the subsequent books were good too. I feel no pull to read all of his books and I don’t care about the Cosmere enough to do so. Some are too YA for me. He’s not my favourite author but he’s an author that I have on my radar.
I hear you!!! Really enjoyed Mistborn trilogy, though it wasn’t quite five stars for me but a really great read. However, the first two Stormlight books blew my mind. Really didn’t like Mistborn era 2 or the characters so didn’t carry on with it after the first book. Tried to read Umi and had to dnf and ditto with Steelheart and for the same reasons - I can’t stand the teen romance drama or the way he writes it! I thought he was going to be an auto-buy author but turns out, the early ones I read were the best for me. You are not the only one!
Valid. Brandon Sanderson himself has talked about taking breaks from his stories and then coming back to them when he actually wants to. Of course, it's literally his job to write the cosmere, so it would be very difficult to separate himself from it, but he does step away sometimes.
I can relate to you. I feel that same way. I LOVED The Final Empire and have generally been a Sanderson fan. But I tried to get through the Stormlight Archives to get ready for book 5 and just hit a wall halfway through. I didn't want to just power through it and not enjoy/appreciate the work so I put it on hold for a few months and plan to come back to it later.
Definitely don't force it! I was also planning to be fully caught up before Stormlight 5 but after finishing Mistborn Era 1 I needed a change. I took a few months and read other things. I am now reading Era 2 and loving it (an awesome surprise!) and I have also cut down the books that I want to have done before Stormlight 5. And at least for now, I am content.
I used to be a massive sanderfan, but after pushing myself to read all of his books (cosmere and non-cosmere), I am no longer a fan 😂. I'm hoping wind and truth can bring me back, but after rhythm of war, I'm not holding my breath Nothing against Sanderson as a person though. He deserves all the love even I don't care for his books anymore
Warbreaker is the one and only Sanderson book I've read, and I thought it was great! However, I'm a butterfly reader and it isn't uncommon for me to stop reading (or watching) series' just because my focus flutters away. Not because I didn't like something - in fact I put things down even if I absolutely love it! Just there's so more to read and my reading time is limited. So -- in my opinion your food analogy is accurate for my experience.
Sanderson is my favorite author bar none, but I was in a similar place when RoW came out. I did a full Cosmere reread leading into the release of that book, and then ended up not reading it until a year AFTER it came out. Like you said, you, can have too much of a good thing. When I ended up coming back to Sanderson and reading RoW, I absolutely loved it. In fact, it's my second favorite Stormlight book.
As with most "Expanded Universes" they eventually get large enough that you need an "Abridged" list just to keep things manageable. Chop off the bottom 25% that the general public considers to be the "weakest" and only go back and read those if you consider yourself a super fan. I would never suggest someone needs to watch every single Dr. Who season, or everything produced in the Star Wars Universe. I think we could probably consider prolific authors like Sanderson similarly.
I read RoW when it came out and I was experiencing some Sando burnout leading up to that. I read it anyway and didn't enjoy it much. Definitely wait until you're in the mood again!
Mood read puts me in a slump. I adopted the idea of a Picker Wheel from a RUclipsr to make random selections from several literary genres. I rarely read the same genre one after the other.
I have been spacing my sando reading out a lot, simply because there is so much of it. If I want to work through it all, it will take a long time. I'm not going to rush it and not even enjoy what I am reading.
I could see burnout in my future. I read Mistborn 5 or 6 years ago and it was so good I couldn't read the second series for fear it could only take away from it. Since I read 30+ Terry Brooks books from Word and Void to the end of the Shanarra books, went straight into Wheel of Time and thought with Sanderson finishing it, it might be a good time to take on the Cosmere. In the last 6 months I've read Elantris, Emperor's Soul, Warbreaker, Mistborn again and have just started Alloy of Law and to my shock given my disinterest in western themes, I love it. I'm a slow reader, so by the time I reach Stormlight I'll have a big job cut out for me.
I’m re-reading stormlight again. We are not the same. And that’s fine! For me, I love the stormlight characters and can’t wait to find out what’s in store for Kaladin, Dalinar, Shallan and the rest of the cast. I will say that Rhythm of War contains such an epic twist that it reminded me of MB era1 so I wouldn’t sleep on it. Everyone has to read what they enjoy though. Best of luck 👍
Hey, I think you are right. I LOVE Sanderson, I'm in love with Stormlight and Kaladin, but I have also taken a break from Sanderson this summer. I will read him again in a month or less but I wanted to take a break not because I don't like his books or I don't love him, but because I didn't want to be obssesed with him and lose my objectivity. I love Sanderson and I've generally liked all his books, some more than others, but I think it is totally healthy and normal not to like absolutely every book in the same way, becuase that is not possible, and it is completely okey to want to read other authors in between.
I read Elantris first. Now I am on the mistborn trilogy. Once I finish these 3 books then I plan to read a whole different book so that I don't have burnout so easily.
I'd say take a break, especially if you're feeling the burnout. While you might miss out on some things in Wind and Truth, I imagine it won't be anything major. And let's be real, the next Stormlight book is a long way off, so there'll be time to re-read.
Right there with you. I started reading Sanderson 5 years ago, and I still feel way behind. Burnout can happen if you read any author too much and there is simply so much Sanderson out there. Then add in the connecting elements of the Cosmere and suddenly you feel like you HAVE to read everything. I'm still not through the secret projects yet because I had to take a cosmere break.
I agree, reading to much of anything makes me experience a burnout, not just from the same author but even the same genre, I like to keep it varied, as you said with that food analogy. I’ve read almost every Sanderson work out there, but I’ve mingled it with other stuff, even outside fantasy altogether, and I’ve never felt the pressure to catch up to the Cosmere, I’ve decided to take my time while doing it, however long it takes
I started Sanderson in February 2023 (and reading itself as well🙃) so I have already covered: - Mistborn 5 first book (except secret story) - 2 infinity blade - Elantris - emperor's soul - 3 stormlight + only 1st novella between (edgedancer) - now I'm on 60% of rythms of war and I'm preparing for stormlight 5 (before it I wanna also take Bands of mourning) And yeah, the first book I took was thanks to your advice that I found on RUclips 👍🏻 *Exept stormlight till December i wanna take Licanius trilogy (1st book) and 2nd book in Thrawn trilogy (star wars)
Why do you feel the need to force yourself to read? I mean I do understand that rush to catch up with an entire Cosmere, I do it right now, though I’m sure, I won’t be able to finish everything before December. It’s ok, we’ll have enough time after the Wind and Truth release. Such complex stories as we get in Cosmere are to be enjoyed. Take your time, have some rest and enjoy reading to the fullest. We force ourselves every day with all of the things we don’t like, so why spoil the good time we have when reading? I absolutely support you if you want to rest from Sanderson. He’s a great author, but he might be a little bit too much. My friend has read all Cosmere books in 6 months. I could never, it’s too overwhelming, so I take my time. The only regret I have is that I can’t discuss with her the details from the books I haven’t read. I’m rambling a little, but I hope you get my point!
I can recommend two books by the same author that feel completely different if that helps . I may of told about them before I’m not sure . 1. Ellery Queen calendar or crime 2 inspector queens own case by ellery Queen . Which is a book staring Ellery queens farther . The other is collection of mystery stories one for each month.
I never hear anyone talk about Ellery Queen!!!! Their books are some of the best of that era. I don’t know if you know, but Otto Penzler has reprinted the first five (I think it’s five) EQ books. He’s reprinting a ton of the early American golden age authors.
I don't blame you; in high school I read a lot of Stephen King and burned out on him. I don't hate King's writing today, and still read him from time to time, but its like you only listening to your favourite sing/band and no matter how they improve, you start to see their stylistic tricks, their vocal tricks. This is one of the reason I measured my reading with Branderson. I also agree with the second Mistborn series is pretty uneven. And I also didn't care much for 'Warbreaker'.
I've read Era 2 of mistborn, warbreaker and books 2, 3, and 4 of stormlight in the past few months and I've never had so much fun reading! Can't relate to burnout :)
Sounds like a reasonable conclusion, and thanks for being real. Subscriber numbers feel good, but I suspect, knowing RUclips and looking at patterns, some are bots to try to sway your content down the lines of an agenda.
So sad to see young people, having reading as a hobby, and turning it in to a non paid job and saying to thousands of strangers online that you are sorry for not reading specific books. What a chain you put around your neck. Hope one day you can just be free
I completely understand this Johan, I am working my way through Stormlight at the moment before Wind and Truth, and whilst I’m enjoying it, sometimes it feels like a slog. I also did not enjoy Edgedancer, I really don’t like Lift as a character. I have also had to read something non-fantasy to break up all the cosmere books, like a horror or thriller book. That being said, I am still a huge Sanderson fan. But understand that it needs to be broken up.
I read all these just in the past year, but I'm gonna still re-read the stormlight archive to get ready for wind and truth. Maybe I have too much free time lol
agree with your take on the lost metal, the sheer amount of cosmere references seemed a jarring change from his previous books because it really felt like the focus shifted from the mistborn universe to the ENTIRETY of the cosmere
I think it might be because you set yourself a deadline to read all the books you are enjoying it less. I read all the cosmere novels and short stories and novelas earlier this year except the stormlight ones which I read 2 years ago. I managed to read them back to back without any burnout maybe because I didn't set myself a deadline to read before wind and truth I wanted to read all of them because I was generally interested in them. However I have noticed with my reading in the last couple of months that I went through a short of burnout which I think was because I got into the mindset of wanting to read all the books I had at home which made me constantly keep checking which page I was on and made my want to read less in general because I was enjoying the books less. Recently after I had realised that I found I am now enjoying books more again.
Honestly, Sanderson fans can be intense. Me: “I want to try one of those thick books.” Sanderson fans: “Sure, but you’ll need to read these 49 other books too.” Me: “Bruh.” I just finished Words of Radiance and am wrapping up Oathbringer and Rhythm of War, but I’m not reading anything else. I paused to read Warbreaker and Edgedancer, and they felt so optional that I’m not doing that again. Unpopular opinion: Stick to the mainline books!
Unpopular opinion - I like Mistborn Era 2 more :D Shadows of Self, Warbreaker, Tress, Yumi, Words of Radiance, Shadows for Silence and Emperor's Soul are definitely my favorites from Sanderson. Edgedancer is also my least favorite, but it's almost tied with Well of Ascension. I love that The Lost Metal because is so interconnected with the other boks. I am part of the minority of people that want Cosmere to become 1 series instead of completely separate storylines and characters from separate planets
I totally get you, I think you should read rhythm of war when your in the mood for it, i purchased RoW on the release day but i read it a year after and im glad i did because i think i did get a bit of fatigue after i read OB, but when i read RoW last january i really get to enjoy it!😊
I though the Mistborn trilogy was just ‘ok’ Final empire is essentially a heist novel and it takes place on a very small scale basically in 2 cities, the characters aren’t complex, you don’t get a great sense of the wider world and the pacing is really varied. It’s a great setting, dystopian and obviously a really cool magic system but I guess I just like more grand scale stuff. I thought the villains aren’t that great either. They horrible don’t get me wrong but they don’t really do anything horrible to the characters (maybe 1 or 2 out of 10 characters) to actually make you feel personally hateful towards them. Lots of plot devices are just dropped into the books which you understand after re-reading as they are foreshadowed but on first read stuff just happens and appears at random and you’re like ‘oh ok this is happening now’. Also there’s only really 1 POV in the first book and the others don’t link together e.g in HoA the PoV of the character in the city rundown by the citizen never connects to the wider plot.
I was also not a fan of the first trilogy and Well Of Ascension alone burned me out of reading another Sanderson book for a while. (I can't hear the name Zane without physically cringing anymore). I read Yumi a couple months ago and absolutely fell in love with it so maybe he just got better over time or Yumi is just that good
Sounds like you’re caught between wanting to read for enjoyment and the pressure/expectation of being a BookTuber. I think you need to think about not getting burned out, however that works for you.
Right there with you. I got into Sanderson (and really all modern fantasy) about 4 years ago. Jumped in deep with the secret novels and decided to catch up on the Cosmere last year. Read Mistborn Era 2 (which I loved) and also loved Tress. Also read books 2 and 3 or Stormlight, and the secret projects, plus the short stories. Then Warbreaker. Finally, I had to stop. Took a long break before reading Rhythm of War. And now I'm ready for Wind and Truth This year, I started reading Wheel of Time for the first time. My experience last year with Sanderson has me going more slowly through WoT. Plan to read 2-3 books per year, rather than just straight binging them. And I've actually diversified my reading a lot more this year, between nonfiction, mysteries, fantasy, thrillers, etc.
I am on only third book in the Stormlight Archive. I have been taking my time, and slowly savoring the series. Have been reading many in between, too. But you betcha...i will be going into work late on Dec 6th, because i will be standing right outside B&N waiting for them to open that day and grabbing that book! That book will live happily in my TBR group of SA, and i will sit back and savor it all!😅
I've been putting off *starting* Sanderson because of the volume (And the fact that I DNFd Way of Kings because I wasn't in the right headspace for complex fantasy at the time -- picked up something simpler). Books aren't going anywhere, we read them when we read them. I think your Sanderson fatigue is perfectly relatable. Back in my younger days, I got Tamora Pierce fatigue even though she was one of my favorite authors at the time.
My reading list each month is so random for exactly that reason. Life is too short to be unhappy with your reading choices. It is not my job so whatever I pick up, it must bring me enjoyment. Variety, as they say, is the spice of life, and I am very much for a well-seasoned life.
I feel like the Cosmere is less MCU and more Magic: The Gathering. Sanderson clearly loves and is inspired by MTG, Worldhoppers being the same as Planeswalkers in all but name for example. For the longest time MTG had very little connective story, mainly just these Planeswalkers finding themselves caught up in some drama on a Plane they were visiting. MTG has an origin and led up to a climax but it was never like the MCU where you you needed to be caught up on an army of movies and shows to make the latest one make sense.
I basically read all the cosmere in 2 years, except the Secret Novels that came last year that weren't out by the time. No burnout whatsoever, but people need to understand that reading is a pleasure not a job or a badge you need to get. I didn't read Sanderson exclusively and alternated it with other books with different themes like Red Rising, Star Wars and other formats like manga/videogames. I'm sorry but i can't understand your complaints, you decided to read them non-stop and without anything else to alternate besides maybe OTHER fantasy sagas, OF COURSE you are getting tired! you were not reading it for fun but with the mentality of "finishing it" instead of enjoying the journey... Also the complaint about needing to read many books in order to understand one of the latter books seems quite out of place in this conversation... i mean, it happens almost with ANY saga of books. Try to read TWOT #12 without reading the previous 11 books... try to read Malazan #8 without reading the 7 ones before... In the cosmere there's self-contained stories and others that are not, and many of those easter eggs are nothing but that and won't affect to readers that haven't noticed them. So you are asking to understand the easter eggs without reading previous books? how does that work? And the "diversity" that you dislike is specially important to avoid cases like yours, since that diversity with different kinds of stories, characters, voices, and styles is Brandon trying to bring something fresh instead of another carbon copy of the previous books which can burn us and him out if he focused solely on them. Try to read the 15 books of TWOT in a go, without anything else distracting you and tell me after that you don't need to stop for a time, or everything from Tolkien back to back, or everything from Robin Hobb... If you need to force yourself to read something you are already failing yourself, because clearly you are not really in the mood for reading such books, so don't blame the books, take your time and do something else, or never read that again, but don't lie to yourself.
I am absolutely going to try reading all 15 TWOT back to back. I read all of the Cosmere in 7 or 8 moths during 2022 and didn't get burnout from that, really enjoyed just about all of them. Been reading the TWOT for 2 months now and am on book 4, bit of a slow start but I am honestly blown away with how good they are. I tend to do this with most books a read, once I have found a series, I like I can't make myself stop until I have finished it.
Just switch to science fiction for a time, that will change your perspective, have you read Hyperion by Dan Simmons?- blew my socks off, after that you’ll happily come back to Sanderson 😂
I didn't realise how many I'd been reading until you said this but yeah I've been trying to catch up and DNF'd the third Era 2 Mistborn. I took breaks but yeah there's a lot.
You don't have to apologize for taking a break from something that fatigues you! Just read it when you are in the mood again. I learned about Sanderson from his online lectures on writing, then a booktuber recommended to start with Warbreaker. Like you, I gave it 3 stars, it was just okay and I didnt get the hype about his books. (I'm also afraid because they're HUGE and even 250 pages longer in German, also YA is not my thing which makes me hesitate with Mistborn.) Now, after like 2 years, I have Mistborn 1 in my Libby list. Let's hope it's not too YA.
Your spagetti tangent metaphor is more complicated than what you are trying to simplify. You are right however, this applies to everything. Do too much of similar thing in too little time and you will get sick of it. Like I love Dark Souls games, I really do, but I can't even finish one in one go without burning out, the frustrating parts become too much. Taking breaks is super important imo, I'm rotating a lot of my hobbies for this reason. Once you start feeling friction, do something else for a time, before you get so sick of it you will never even want to pick it up again. There is zero pressure to be on top of your game with things like books, once they release you can always read them. Maybe it's different for you as a content creator, but in general this is true.
lets be honest when you pump out stuff as fast as he does the quality is going to suffer. A lot of his books are good but they're not these masterpieces people make them out the be. Also feel bad you had to give disclaimers and keep reiterating your love for the books just to keep the sando weirdos from attacking
I have read 8 Sanderson Cosmere books + all the Arcanum unbounded this year, I'm on Rythm of War right now! I do not feel a fatigue myself, on the contrary but I am not a person who gets sick of things, I prefer to really dive into a world for an extended period of time so I'm still super excited for Wind and Truth. I think Elantris is a 3 star book with a 4 star feel and Warbreaker is the opposite. I liked Elantris better and I'm struggling with reviewing Warbreaker, it is intangible in some ways. I read The Lost Metal having only read Mistborn and I felt completely lost but I enjoyed the Wax and Wayne stuff. I now want to reread it to see all that I missed. Publication order would be a good idea with Sanderson I think. I'm one of the Lift fans so I enjoyed Edgedancer, I know I'm in the minority but I find her super sweet in her own way and Oathbringer is my current favorite because Dalinar is my absolute favorite character. I hope you read Rythm of War when you are ready for it and find some of your enjoyment back just for yourself:)
I’m suffering from some burnout. I wanted to read all of John Gwynne’s stuff before his new book comes out in October, but I haven’t enjoyed Of Blood and Bone and I’ve pushed myself through a book and a half. I enjoyed book one, but A Time of Blood was a chore and A Time of Courage feels like a big undertaking for a story with characters that I don’t really care for.
I get it. I haven't finished Rhythm of War yet and I can't seem to get into it, and I'm a big Sanderson fan. I've read all the Mistborn novels (I actually prefer Era 2), Elantris, and The Reckoners novels.
I really feel like I missed something with Mistborn Book 1. It felt like the worst version of the story it was trying to tell. I enjoyed some of the world building but walked away from the book happy I'd gotten through it and wasn't interested in continuing the series. Just my opinion as I know it was very influential for a lot of people getting their feet wet in the genre. As someone who isn't fully immersed in the Cosmere fandom, I really feel like it's great for super fans who have kept up with him over the years but shouldn't drive your average reader to read one book over the other. Your MCU comparison is spot on. Early MCU understood that the beauty of it was that you could literally start with the 3rd Thor movie and while, yes, there will be references to the previous films and other movies, they weren't required to enjoy it. From what I'm hearing, it sounds like Sanderson is doing the same thing that the MCU is doing, assuming that it's audience has watched/read everything. To end with a book recommendation, I just finished The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty and it is EXCELLENT! It has those Sinbad the Sailor vibes with a middle aged woman back on the sea for "one last job". It's one of those novels where you read the final sentence and hear the end credits music playing in your head. She's relatively new to the scene having written one series prior and it's the first in a series published this year so no pre-reading or major commitment necessary.
I've read almost all Sandersons books. I kinda of understand, but I think he has actually changed his writting style through time. Mistborn was far more serious than Tres of the Emerald Sea and the secons era of Mistborn. I still enjoy the writting but his writting is just not as serious as it once was. (In my opinion of course)
I read Mistborn Era 1 beginning of this year and absolutely loved it!!!Then went straight into stormlight archive. After book 1 of WoK (here the books are split in 2) I thought the point I fall in love with it comes in the second book. After this I thought in words of radiance. After book 1 I thought maybe I am in a reading slump and I am the problem. So continued. I now switched to the first law trilogy and there I found what I was waiting for in stormlight. I will continue stormlight at some point eventually. Maybe it was not the right time for it. But we shouldn’t force ourselves because of some outside or even self made pressure! Reading is suppose to be fun! 😊
I read 5 pierce brown books in just over a month and am finding myself feeling burned out to read Lightbringer and it’s ruining my experience. I absolutely love the series and feel like I’m letting myself down reading Lightbringer right now
This is pretty much my experience with the Wheel of Time. It was my first real fantasy series (I wouldn't recommend jumping into something this big as a first series), and I had pretty much committed myself to finishing it before allowing myself to check out the other stuff I was eager to check out. Before I even got halfway through the series, it started to feel like I was only reading it to get to the end (or at least, caught up, since Memory Of Light was months away from release at the time), which just turned it into work. Gave up on book 7. Years later I decided to give it another go. This time I decided I would allow myself to read something after every few books, but it really wasn't frequent enough, and definitely no series (mostly standalones). I did eventually get to the end, and when I look at the last 4 books critically, I'd say they're great, but that doesn't mean I really enjoyed my experience by the end of it. Took me way too long to realise that you need to allow yourself to mix it up a bit. These days I have several series on the go at a time. It prevents the need to "get a series done" before you can check out other things, but also, it allows well needed breaks. I had to convince myself that it's okay to take a year off from a series. Don't turn reading into work. Rhythm of War and Wind and Truth can wait for when you're ready for them.
I have only read Mistborn Era 1 at this point and I am so worried about getting Sanderson fatigue that I am purposefully reading other books in between Cosmere books. My plan is to follow Sanderson's reading order and go with Warbreaker and another standalone and then probably read a bunch of other stuff before I pick up Way of Kings. But I do not think that you are the only one that feels this way, cause too much of a good thing usually makes you tired of it.
I listened to the entire cosmere in about 4 months and i cannot wait for more. As for the fomo issue some people might be feeling thats a personal problem i beleieve sanderson does his best to write all his books in a way that you dont need to read out of series books to enjoy the experience like i didnt need to read mist born or elantris to enjoy the stormlight series and i didnt need to read white sand or warbreaker to enjoy mistborn
To be honest, I have had a Sanderson burnout for a few years already and I only read Stormlight Archive 1-3 and Mistborn Era 1 😀. For years I have his other books on my TBR but I just can't be bothered really. Even though I gave them all a 4,2 rating on average, I do feel they come across quite similarly and they are a bit bloated. I plan on (re-)reading Stormlight Archive in November and December (incl short stories and novellas) to be completely done with Stormlight Archive era 1. Not sure if I will be touching any other Sanderson book in next two years though...
A book series rather long and still going and may be unlike many if not all the books you have read that I love is “He Who Fights with Monsters.” By Travis Deverell aka Shirtaloon. If you do decide to read this beware the first book takes a few chapters to get into the swing of things as the main character is introduced to world he finds himself in.
I've only read Stormlight books 1 and 2, but I own Edgedancer and Oathbringer. I'm going on vacation soon and I'm bringing Edgedancer. I know Lift isn't a popular character, but I think her abilities are funny, so I'm looking forward to read her story.
Have you tried any of his non-Cosmere books? The Stephen Leeds (Legion) books are quick palate cleansers that are a lot of fun.... perhaps not 5 star books but a good chance to get something different from him.
I support your taking a break from Sanderson until you are ready. Much better to wait and regroup then force the issue and maybe burnout more. Thanks for bringing up the idea of burnout with good articulated points. I get burnout on things as well. Finally, I agree with your words on the Cosmere connections and concern about how that affects reading in future. I have only read Mistborn Era 1 and have heard many booktubers talk about general idea of the connections. Just from what I hear, I all ready have my concerns. This is coming from me personally not liking how the MCU got so connected that it made the movies not enjoyable for me. Hence I worry about how things will go with the cosmere. Thanks for your channel Johan. Maybe I can get to the Faroe Islands some day.
It took me 2 years to read all his stuff after finishing WoT. I did Mistborn all in a row and enjoyed it for the most part. But I started to rotate other series in so I didnt read through it all and have nothing else I was interested in. It ended up being very refreshing! Before this, I would just 100% whatever series I was reading before picking something else up. The cosmere was way too long for that, especially after doing it with WoT. Read the Entirety of WoT back to back without anything else to break it up. While I loved it, it was kindve soulcrushing? I Found The Dresden Files worked PERFECTLY alongside with Brandons Work. Most of Brandons Stuff had Multiple PoVs, longer, more drawn-out stories. Jim Butchers Dresden Files was only a single PoV, short book, action packed from pretty much start to finish. I felt they complemented each other extremely well!
I agree with all the things you said. I wanted to complete all the cosmere books before the release of wind and truth. I am 3/4ths done with oathbringer and I am burned out. I am going to take a break from Sanderson and get back to him after a year.
I read 18 Sanderson books this year so far. Sometimes I need to read other books in between he is by far my favorite author but it gets tiring reading the same style of book.
The burn out is real. After I finished RoW I didn’t touch a Sanderson book until last year with a reread of Mistborn Era 1 & TWoK. Then I didn’t touch another Sanderson book until last month when I started a reread of WoR.
I could not agree with you more! I think people should be empathetic to the situation of readers experiencing burnout, because it's not like we want to! After the amount of money and time I have put into reading Sanderson, I would love nothing more than to 5 star everything he's put out. I think that's what makes it such an uncomfortable situation to discuss because I think a lot of us experiencing a little burnout feel bad for it, which leads to a lot of bottling up until we explode lol. So I appreciate you putting out a measured opinion rather than what I would do, which is lose my mind and scream.
Thanks for the comment! I am glad to hear I am not the only one!
Absolutely. With the release of "Wind and Truth" looming, there's a good chance fans might feel the pressure to binge the entire Cosmere series just to keep up. The fear of missing out or not being up to speed on all the intricate details could be overwhelming. But here's the thing-we sometimes forget that "books aren't going anywhere." It's completely fine to take your time and read at your own pace, even if that means we're a year behind the hype train. The story will still be there, waiting for us, and sometimes, savoring it slowly can make the experience even richer.
I don't understand why book tubers make reading an assignment and try to keep up with everyone else. Just read what you feel like and review those. Much more enjoyable and makes it less of a "job".
Yes. There is a focus on volume of books read, and reading what’s popular on Booktube.
It's also part of their job right? Let's say, December rolls around, and all epic fantasy readers want to know about the youtube's opinion of stormlight 5. And not having a video on it will cause RUclips algo to not push said youtuber's video as much causing engagement drop.
Because it's quite literally his job. It makes perfect sense for booktubers to do so because it's not just a hobby, but a living.
It’s their job so it should feel like a job. They aren’t the ones on here to be entertained, we are. A RUclipsr who paced him/herself and reviewed like 2-3 books a year wouldn’t get views
That’s right I want, no, actually I demand all my favorite Booktubers to be reading every moment of the day. While there at the gym, eating dinner or even sleeping. Yes. Unless there recording a video, then they better be reading something.
Life is too short to read books out of obligation.
I love Sanderson, but like anything else, I need to space his books out and read other books in between. As much as I love pizza, if I ate it everyday for months on end, I would get deathly sick of it. Books are meant for our entertainment, we shouldn’t feel obligated to read this or that, but just read because it’s a hobby and we want to escape from the real world for a while.
Its strange that Sanderson gets blamed for this, but even he advocates for people to read other books between his. If you watch his recommended reading order, he tells you to take breaks. He knows that a series like Stormlight Archive is a massive undertaking, and if you read them back to back you will get burnt out. They really aren't intended to be binge read IMO.
@@upstartmass Same with the Wheel of Time - if I didn't read other books between each book, I'm not sure I would have been able to finish it 😆
Wait to read it when you’re in the mood!! I am a MASSIVE mood reader and cannot force myself to read a book if I’m not in the mood for it. I read the Red Rising trilogy and really enjoyed it! But then I immediately tried to read Iron Gold (4th book/start of the next saga) and it took me weeks to get halfway and just admitted I was only trying to read it because I felt like I *had to* continue, not because I was in the mood for it. So it is a read again later kind of book.
Palate cleansers are a real thing. When I read too much epic fantasy, I just want to never read again. But! If I mix in some lighter stuff or something that doesn't require I pay as close attention to how a world works, it all works out and I don't feel the fatigue
Whenever I feel burnt out on a particular genre or author, I usually read something different. That keeps things fresh and exciting for me.
As for when Stormlight 5 releases, I've decided instead of rereading the previous 4 books and 2 novellas to rather just read a catchup summary then jump into no 5. Main reason being that I got into Joe Abercrombie this year so busy enjoying his books.
I’ve read 9 and I feel the burnout, I can’t imagine 20. Rhythm of War has been sitting on my shelf for 2 years and I just don’t feel compelled.
Definitely agree! I love his writing, but I need to space his books out a bit and read other genres in between.
It sounds like Sanderson is going the way of Stephen King (whom I also really love) who wrote The Dark Tower as a way to connect many of his other books together and create a shared universe. And it makes for cool Easter eggs, but if you CAN’T understand a book without reading everything in the multiverse, that is a bit overwhelming
That's what made Dark Tower so great, imo, if you have read other works by Stephen King you get some satisfying easter eggs but if you haven't it doesn't take anything away from your enjoyment, hoping Sanderson takes a similar approach
The issue for me isn't even necessarily the current volume of Cosmere books, but rather the ANTICIPATED volume. There are plenty of 10-20 book series out there. But many of the great ones are finished. The Cosmere looks like its going to turn into a factory churning out the same types of books year after year until Sanderson finally decides it's finished in 2050.
I’m kinda glad I’m seeing this while reading words of radiance. Gonna take it slow and enjoy breaks between all his books
Words of Radiance is my favourite Sanderson novel! I hope you'll love it!
A necessary video. Thank you for making this. This video and your video on Malazan are ones that I personally ally with very much.
My love for Sanderson cooled dramatically when I discovered the First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. Also, I'm one of the very few people that didn't enjoy the secret projects and all the insane hype surrounding them really soured my perspective
You've almost told my story here, but the difference is that I am just starting cosmere and already feeling VERY overwhelmed.
The amount of books are okay but on the top of that these kickstarters and extra books.
With that quantity, I am like a little scared, I might not like it that much
Just take it slow, and read other stuff in between. Reading 20 books by any author in a row is gonna be too much anyway. There's no need to rush.
@@BookishEmperor OH, Thank you so much!
I was so confused about it, wanted to read other stuff in between but was like no, first finish cosmere.
But, Now I think I will read other stuff in between.
Hopefully, I'll not forget the cosmere tidbits while I read other stuff 😂
Have you read full cosmere?
@@Muhammad_Usman_Raza You can always look up summaries and whatnot if you forget anything later or watch a lore video, there's enough of them out there haha.
I've read most of the Cosmere, I just haven't read Stormlight (Waiting for book 5 so I can read it all at once) or the Secret project books yet.
@@BookishEmperor OH, Yeah!
Thanks Again!
And Best of Luck for your next journey in Cosmere
The fact that you said Oathbringer drags in the "first 600 pages" highlights the need for some serious editing 😳😆
All your argues are valid and I feel the same. I haven't "caught up" on the Cosmere and I doubt I will before W&T comes out, but one thing I'm doing to ensure I don't get fatigue is I'm going very slowly and I'm switching through the subseries to help balance interest. When I finish a SA book, I'll go read an MBe2 book or a standalone or one of the short stories, and then wait a few months before picking up another SA book. I'll also balance this with reading other books or just not reading at all to take a break. I do love Sanderson's books as I'm a character reader first and foremost and his character writing is fantastic, next is theme for me and I adore his themes and ideas on personal/societal growth. Plot isn't make or break for me. While I think he always nails his endings, I do find, especially in the SA, that his plotting can drag and drag. Which is why I generally prefer his shorter books over his longer tomes.
My biggest concern with the Cosmere is that it'll go the way of the MCU. Get so big that it'll crumble under its own weight as new fans won't be able to catch up and long time fans will get lost if they miss a book or two along the way. From what I've read, and what he's said, this doesn't seem to be the case - but again I haven't read Lost Metal or Sunlit Man, so perhaps I'll feel it more after those books.
It took me 4 years to read Discworld and I still have 8 books left, big series are tough to finish and I don't think anyone should feel bad about fatigue for a series they love as it happens and sometimes we need a little break from something to get back into it. The "Year of Sanderson" helped put him on the map, but I think it also was overwhelming and has attributed to fatigue. While I am excited for future books, I do think he should slow down a bit, do one book a year (maybe 2 if it's a really good second book), bc again the MCU suffered when they released too many films/shows within a year. If Sanderson does the same, I think more of us will find ourselves losing interest or becoming overwhelmed by just how much we have to read to keep up with the story. I can say for sure the RPG being canon really frustrates me bc I don't want to have to play a game to keep up with the bigger story -- doesn't look like we'll have to, but it's a small part in a bigger worry I have that the Cosmere will expand too far too quickly and become impossible to keep up with even for big fans of the story.
Love the channel Johan, and love your level-headedness with reviews. One recurring theme in criticism of the Cosmere that I find really interesting is what you said about the “need” to read everything else to enjoy the books later in the series/universe. You hedged well saying you realize you were kind of contradicting yourself by also loving that they tie in together. But what I find interesting about it is that everyone knows going into the Cosmere now that it is one universe. But then people get burnt by the need to have some knowledge of all the series when you get to later books. But no one would think to say this about Gathering Storm or Memory of Light. No one would say that about the books later in the Realm of the Elderlings (this might be a better example since there are different trilogies following different characters). I know Sanderson says you can start with several different points. So maybe that’s the downfall. I wonder if Sanderson himself came out with a definitive “order,” if it would alleviate some of that criticism since it may be seen more as one series with different parts rather than a “universe” with different intertwining series.
Cheers to your hard work on these videos, you have some of the most interesting conversations on booktube. God Bless, and I’ll be praying you have a swift recovery from your Sandersonian Suicide 😂
Ok, I need to preface this comment by saying that I am an avid Brandon fan and owe him so much as both a writer and an editor myself. That said, I feel like burnout with a series or author is absolutely, 100% justified and expected, especially in a genre like fantasy, for which books tend to run so long. Now... Despite me loving Brando's work, there's another side to this argument... The fact that, imo, his prose is dry as sandpaper. 😂 His worlds, characters, plots and magic systems are amazing, but the way he actually writes, at least for me, is dry and grating, and I enjoy his stories despite of his writing. That, over 1000's of pages can also absolutely cause burnout, so I highly recommend taking a Sando break and reading something different, maybe even in another genre, until you feel ready to come back to his style and voice. 👍🏼
Yes. This. Can't agree more. His worldbuilding is so amazing, he created something impressive here. But, to be honest, i can't say the same thing to his prose and dialogue, and his jokes... I read Mistborn era 1, and currently read TWOK and still struggling to finish it (im on page 1000 anyway), and like you said, his prose is not so good for my taste...
Yeah, I definitely agree with you and I’ve been feeling the same as of late. I started reading Sanderson last year when I got back into reading, starting with his Secret Projects. At the very end of 2023, I started the Stormlight Archive and set out to finish it before Wind and Truth. As of now, I’m like halfway through Oathbringer with not much drive to continue. It’s been sitting at the 45% mark for like 2-3 months. I’m trying to push myself to finish Oathbringer soon but I know I’m not getting to Rhythm of War anytime soon, and most likely will not be reading WaT on release like everyone else. The Sanderson fatigue is real. And it’s not like I don’t like his stuff because he’s probably my favorite author.
There's a lot to love where Sanderson is concerned, but I can relate to this video: I've read quite a few of his books over a great many years, and at this point my tastes have changed. I find myself gravitating toward R. Scott Bakker, John Gwynne, Brian Lee Durfee, etc. I think it's perfectly natural to have this kind of evolution, and I'd still recommend Sanderson to new fantasy readers as an accessible and often very fun and enjoyable author.
I hope the comments section is respectful, as I feel you expressed your feelings really well. I think even with our favorite authors, too much at one time can cause this burnout or fatigue. Although I'm also a big fan of Sanderson, I also feel very concerned about Sanderson's plans for the Cosmere. I felt the last book of Mistborn Era 2 embraced the Cosmere interconnectivity so much to the detriment of the novel. I had mentioned in my review that I hoped Sanderson's "gloves off" approach to the Cosmere that he may leave me as a reader at some point. Time will tell!
Variety is the spice of life! No hate you gotta mix it up.
My reading experience with Sanderson has gone from good to worse. I was a devout fan of his because of how he took on finishing Robert Jordan’s masterpiece series, The Wheel of Time. But ever since then, I have read his Stormlight Archive and have slowly been unconvinced of his writing skills. He builds worlds like no other, but his prose and the way he appears to state the obvious within his writing has been turning me off more and more over the years. Having to reread passages and generally struggle through his sluggish writing style has burnt me out of his fanbase. I keep thinking I should finish the first half of Stormlight, but I just can’t get myself to preorder another book I anticipate to be too big for its own good. He needs a better editor, and I think he needs to write less books, not more. He should clean up so much before publishing, but someone on his team must be advising him differently. Yes, he has the title of “Prolific Author,” but my thought is he can either write tons of books with subpar quality, or he could try to stop and take his time on each one. I’d prefer the latter because he has pretty much lost my support. I applaud the guy, but I just can’t feel motivated to read his stuff any longer. I hate to say it, but it’s just garbage to me (see Oathbringer and Rhythm of War).
It feels like on booktube creators are afraid to say they didn’t enjoy a Sanderson book. I also found Warbreaker just ok. I think I gave it a 2 then read Mistborn trilogy which I enjoyed a lot more. Era 2 however was not as good mostly because of the ‘humour’ . Tress was nice however I really enjoyed the WOK and gave it a 5 and the subsequent books were good too. I feel no pull to read all of his books and I don’t care about the Cosmere enough to do so. Some are too YA for me. He’s not my favourite author but he’s an author that I have on my radar.
I hear you!!! Really enjoyed Mistborn trilogy, though it wasn’t quite five stars for me but a really great read. However, the first two Stormlight books blew my mind. Really didn’t like Mistborn era 2 or the characters so didn’t carry on with it after the first book. Tried to read Umi and had to dnf and ditto with Steelheart and for the same reasons - I can’t stand the teen romance drama or the way he writes it! I thought he was going to be an auto-buy author but turns out, the early ones I read were the best for me. You are not the only one!
Valid. Brandon Sanderson himself has talked about taking breaks from his stories and then coming back to them when he actually wants to. Of course, it's literally his job to write the cosmere, so it would be very difficult to separate himself from it, but he does step away sometimes.
sanderson was the author that got me into reading... doesn't stop me from getting burnt out from his work very often, totally get the feeling
Glad someone can relate!
I can relate to you. I feel that same way. I LOVED The Final Empire and have generally been a Sanderson fan. But I tried to get through the Stormlight Archives to get ready for book 5 and just hit a wall halfway through. I didn't want to just power through it and not enjoy/appreciate the work so I put it on hold for a few months and plan to come back to it later.
Definitely don't force it! I was also planning to be fully caught up before Stormlight 5 but after finishing Mistborn Era 1 I needed a change. I took a few months and read other things. I am now reading Era 2 and loving it (an awesome surprise!) and I have also cut down the books that I want to have done before Stormlight 5. And at least for now, I am content.
I used to be a massive sanderfan, but after pushing myself to read all of his books (cosmere and non-cosmere), I am no longer a fan 😂. I'm hoping wind and truth can bring me back, but after rhythm of war, I'm not holding my breath
Nothing against Sanderson as a person though. He deserves all the love even I don't care for his books anymore
This is exactly what I don't want to happen for me. I still consider myself a massive fan! I hope you'll love Wind and Truth!
And here I can't get enough of his writing. I started cytoverse. I already read all cosmere books.
Warbreaker is the one and only Sanderson book I've read, and I thought it was great! However, I'm a butterfly reader and it isn't uncommon for me to stop reading (or watching) series' just because my focus flutters away. Not because I didn't like something - in fact I put things down even if I absolutely love it! Just there's so more to read and my reading time is limited. So -- in my opinion your food analogy is accurate for my experience.
Time for another go at Malazan ;)
Sanderson is my favorite author bar none, but I was in a similar place when RoW came out. I did a full Cosmere reread leading into the release of that book, and then ended up not reading it until a year AFTER it came out. Like you said, you, can have too much of a good thing. When I ended up coming back to Sanderson and reading RoW, I absolutely loved it. In fact, it's my second favorite Stormlight book.
As with most "Expanded Universes" they eventually get large enough that you need an "Abridged" list just to keep things manageable. Chop off the bottom 25% that the general public considers to be the "weakest" and only go back and read those if you consider yourself a super fan.
I would never suggest someone needs to watch every single Dr. Who season, or everything produced in the Star Wars Universe. I think we could probably consider prolific authors like Sanderson similarly.
I read RoW when it came out and I was experiencing some Sando burnout leading up to that. I read it anyway and didn't enjoy it much. Definitely wait until you're in the mood again!
Mood read puts me in a slump. I adopted the idea of a Picker Wheel from a RUclipsr to make random selections from several literary genres. I rarely read the same genre one after the other.
I have been spacing my sando reading out a lot, simply because there is so much of it. If I want to work through it all, it will take a long time. I'm not going to rush it and not even enjoy what I am reading.
I could see burnout in my future. I read Mistborn 5 or 6 years ago and it was so good I couldn't read the second series for fear it could only take away from it. Since I read 30+ Terry Brooks books from Word and Void to the end of the Shanarra books, went straight into Wheel of Time and thought with Sanderson finishing it, it might be a good time to take on the Cosmere. In the last 6 months I've read Elantris, Emperor's Soul, Warbreaker, Mistborn again and have just started Alloy of Law and to my shock given my disinterest in western themes, I love it. I'm a slow reader, so by the time I reach Stormlight I'll have a big job cut out for me.
I’m re-reading stormlight again. We are not the same. And that’s fine! For me, I love the stormlight characters and can’t wait to find out what’s in store for Kaladin, Dalinar, Shallan and the rest of the cast. I will say that Rhythm of War contains such an epic twist that it reminded me of MB era1 so I wouldn’t sleep on it. Everyone has to read what they enjoy though. Best of luck 👍
Hey, I think you are right. I LOVE Sanderson, I'm in love with Stormlight and Kaladin, but I have also taken a break from Sanderson this summer. I will read him again in a month or less but I wanted to take a break not because I don't like his books or I don't love him, but because I didn't want to be obssesed with him and lose my objectivity. I love Sanderson and I've generally liked all his books, some more than others, but I think it is totally healthy and normal not to like absolutely every book in the same way, becuase that is not possible, and it is completely okey to want to read other authors in between.
I read Elantris first. Now I am on the mistborn trilogy. Once I finish these 3 books then I plan to read a whole different book so that I don't have burnout so easily.
I'd say take a break, especially if you're feeling the burnout. While you might miss out on some things in Wind and Truth, I imagine it won't be anything major. And let's be real, the next Stormlight book is a long way off, so there'll be time to re-read.
Right there with you. I started reading Sanderson 5 years ago, and I still feel way behind. Burnout can happen if you read any author too much and there is simply so much Sanderson out there. Then add in the connecting elements of the Cosmere and suddenly you feel like you HAVE to read everything. I'm still not through the secret projects yet because I had to take a cosmere break.
I read 11 Sanderson books in 1 year. I understand the fatigue but coming back to his books now 2 years later I’m falling in love again
I agree, reading to much of anything makes me experience a burnout, not just from the same author but even the same genre, I like to keep it varied, as you said with that food analogy.
I’ve read almost every Sanderson work out there, but I’ve mingled it with other stuff, even outside fantasy altogether, and I’ve never felt the pressure to catch up to the Cosmere, I’ve decided to take my time while doing it, however long it takes
I started Sanderson in February 2023 (and reading itself as well🙃) so I have already covered:
- Mistborn 5 first book (except secret story)
- 2 infinity blade
- Elantris
- emperor's soul
- 3 stormlight + only 1st novella between (edgedancer)
- now I'm on 60% of rythms of war and I'm preparing for stormlight 5 (before it I wanna also take Bands of mourning)
And yeah, the first book I took was thanks to your advice that I found on RUclips 👍🏻
*Exept stormlight till December i wanna take Licanius trilogy (1st book) and 2nd book in Thrawn trilogy (star wars)
Why do you feel the need to force yourself to read? I mean I do understand that rush to catch up with an entire Cosmere, I do it right now, though I’m sure, I won’t be able to finish everything before December. It’s ok, we’ll have enough time after the Wind and Truth release. Such complex stories as we get in Cosmere are to be enjoyed. Take your time, have some rest and enjoy reading to the fullest. We force ourselves every day with all of the things we don’t like, so why spoil the good time we have when reading? I absolutely support you if you want to rest from Sanderson. He’s a great author, but he might be a little bit too much. My friend has read all Cosmere books in 6 months. I could never, it’s too overwhelming, so I take my time. The only regret I have is that I can’t discuss with her the details from the books I haven’t read.
I’m rambling a little, but I hope you get my point!
I can recommend two books by the same author that feel completely different if that helps .
I may of told about them before I’m not sure .
1. Ellery Queen calendar or crime
2 inspector queens own case by ellery Queen . Which is a book staring Ellery queens farther . The other is collection of mystery stories one for each month.
I never hear anyone talk about Ellery Queen!!!! Their books are some of the best of that era. I don’t know if you know, but Otto Penzler has reprinted the first five (I think it’s five) EQ books. He’s reprinting a ton of the early American golden age authors.
I don't blame you; in high school I read a lot of Stephen King and burned out on him. I don't hate King's writing today, and still read him from time to time, but its like you only listening to your favourite sing/band and no matter how they improve, you start to see their stylistic tricks, their vocal tricks. This is one of the reason I measured my reading with Branderson. I also agree with the second Mistborn series is pretty uneven. And I also didn't care much for 'Warbreaker'.
I've read Era 2 of mistborn, warbreaker and books 2, 3, and 4 of stormlight in the past few months and I've never had so much fun reading! Can't relate to burnout :)
Agreed!!! I read 20 pages of his books and was totally burned out!
Sounds like a reasonable conclusion, and thanks for being real. Subscriber numbers feel good, but I suspect, knowing RUclips and looking at patterns, some are bots to try to sway your content down the lines of an agenda.
So sad to see young people, having reading as a hobby, and turning it in to a non paid job and saying to thousands of strangers online that you are sorry for not reading specific books. What a chain you put around your neck. Hope one day you can just be free
It’s the same thing in gaming circles. I still sometimes feel bad because I don’t have the time for certain games.
The real tragedy is that you could have read 20 substantive books
I completely understand this Johan, I am working my way through Stormlight at the moment before Wind and Truth, and whilst I’m enjoying it, sometimes it feels like a slog. I also did not enjoy Edgedancer, I really don’t like Lift as a character. I have also had to read something non-fantasy to break up all the cosmere books, like a horror or thriller book.
That being said, I am still a huge Sanderson fan. But understand that it needs to be broken up.
I read all these just in the past year, but I'm gonna still re-read the stormlight archive to get ready for wind and truth. Maybe I have too much free time lol
agree with your take on the lost metal, the sheer amount of cosmere references seemed a jarring change from his previous books because it really felt like the focus shifted from the mistborn universe to the ENTIRETY of the cosmere
I think it might be because you set yourself a deadline to read all the books you are enjoying it less. I read all the cosmere novels and short stories and novelas earlier this year except the stormlight ones which I read 2 years ago. I managed to read them back to back without any burnout maybe because I didn't set myself a deadline to read before wind and truth I wanted to read all of them because I was generally interested in them. However I have noticed with my reading in the last couple of months that I went through a short of burnout which I think was because I got into the mindset of wanting to read all the books I had at home which made me constantly keep checking which page I was on and made my want to read less in general because I was enjoying the books less.
Recently after I had realised that I found I am now enjoying books more again.
Honestly, Sanderson fans can be intense.
Me: “I want to try one of those thick books.”
Sanderson fans: “Sure, but you’ll need to read these 49 other books too.”
Me: “Bruh.”
I just finished Words of Radiance and am wrapping up Oathbringer and Rhythm of War, but I’m not reading anything else. I paused to read Warbreaker and Edgedancer, and they felt so optional that I’m not doing that again.
Unpopular opinion: Stick to the mainline books!
Unpopular opinion - I like Mistborn Era 2 more :D
Shadows of Self, Warbreaker, Tress, Yumi, Words of Radiance, Shadows for Silence and Emperor's Soul are definitely my favorites from Sanderson. Edgedancer is also my least favorite, but it's almost tied with Well of Ascension.
I love that The Lost Metal because is so interconnected with the other boks. I am part of the minority of people that want Cosmere to become 1 series instead of completely separate storylines and characters from separate planets
I totally get you, I think you should read rhythm of war when your in the mood for it, i purchased RoW on the release day but i read it a year after and im glad i did because i think i did get a bit of fatigue after i read OB, but when i read RoW last january i really get to enjoy it!😊
I though the Mistborn trilogy was just ‘ok’ Final empire is essentially a heist novel and it takes place on a very small scale basically in 2 cities, the characters aren’t complex, you don’t get a great sense of the wider world and the pacing is really varied. It’s a great setting, dystopian and obviously a really cool magic system but I guess I just like more grand scale stuff. I thought the villains aren’t that great either. They horrible don’t get me wrong but they don’t really do anything horrible to the characters (maybe 1 or 2 out of 10 characters) to actually make you feel personally hateful towards them. Lots of plot devices are just dropped into the books which you understand after re-reading as they are foreshadowed but on first read stuff just happens and appears at random and you’re like ‘oh ok this is happening now’. Also there’s only really 1 POV in the first book and the others don’t link together e.g in HoA the PoV of the character in the city rundown by the citizen never connects to the wider plot.
Era 2 is much better with character work. Era 1 is definitely a bit weak there.
I was also not a fan of the first trilogy and Well Of Ascension alone burned me out of reading another Sanderson book for a while. (I can't hear the name Zane without physically cringing anymore). I read Yumi a couple months ago and absolutely fell in love with it so maybe he just got better over time or Yumi is just that good
Sounds like you’re caught between wanting to read for enjoyment and the pressure/expectation of being a BookTuber. I think you need to think about not getting burned out, however that works for you.
Right there with you.
I got into Sanderson (and really all modern fantasy) about 4 years ago. Jumped in deep with the secret novels and decided to catch up on the Cosmere last year. Read Mistborn Era 2 (which I loved) and also loved Tress. Also read books 2 and 3 or Stormlight, and the secret projects, plus the short stories. Then Warbreaker.
Finally, I had to stop. Took a long break before reading Rhythm of War. And now I'm ready for Wind and Truth
This year, I started reading Wheel of Time for the first time. My experience last year with Sanderson has me going more slowly through WoT. Plan to read 2-3 books per year, rather than just straight binging them. And I've actually diversified my reading a lot more this year, between nonfiction, mysteries, fantasy, thrillers, etc.
I am on only third book in the Stormlight Archive. I have been taking my time, and slowly savoring the series. Have been reading many in between, too. But you betcha...i will be going into work late on Dec 6th, because i will be standing right outside B&N waiting for them to open that day and grabbing that book! That book will live happily in my TBR group of SA, and i will sit back and savor it all!😅
I've been putting off *starting* Sanderson because of the volume (And the fact that I DNFd Way of Kings because I wasn't in the right headspace for complex fantasy at the time -- picked up something simpler). Books aren't going anywhere, we read them when we read them. I think your Sanderson fatigue is perfectly relatable. Back in my younger days, I got Tamora Pierce fatigue even though she was one of my favorite authors at the time.
My reading list each month is so random for exactly that reason. Life is too short to be unhappy with your reading choices. It is not my job so whatever I pick up, it must bring me enjoyment. Variety, as they say, is the spice of life, and I am very much for a well-seasoned life.
I feel like the Cosmere is less MCU and more Magic: The Gathering. Sanderson clearly loves and is inspired by MTG, Worldhoppers being the same as Planeswalkers in all but name for example. For the longest time MTG had very little connective story, mainly just these Planeswalkers finding themselves caught up in some drama on a Plane they were visiting. MTG has an origin and led up to a climax but it was never like the MCU where you you needed to be caught up on an army of movies and shows to make the latest one make sense.
I basically read all the cosmere in 2 years, except the Secret Novels that came last year that weren't out by the time. No burnout whatsoever, but people need to understand that reading is a pleasure not a job or a badge you need to get. I didn't read Sanderson exclusively and alternated it with other books with different themes like Red Rising, Star Wars and other formats like manga/videogames.
I'm sorry but i can't understand your complaints, you decided to read them non-stop and without anything else to alternate besides maybe OTHER fantasy sagas, OF COURSE you are getting tired! you were not reading it for fun but with the mentality of "finishing it" instead of enjoying the journey... Also the complaint about needing to read many books in order to understand one of the latter books seems quite out of place in this conversation... i mean, it happens almost with ANY saga of books. Try to read TWOT #12 without reading the previous 11 books... try to read Malazan #8 without reading the 7 ones before... In the cosmere there's self-contained stories and others that are not, and many of those easter eggs are nothing but that and won't affect to readers that haven't noticed them.
So you are asking to understand the easter eggs without reading previous books? how does that work? And the "diversity" that you dislike is specially important to avoid cases like yours, since that diversity with different kinds of stories, characters, voices, and styles is Brandon trying to bring something fresh instead of another carbon copy of the previous books which can burn us and him out if he focused solely on them.
Try to read the 15 books of TWOT in a go, without anything else distracting you and tell me after that you don't need to stop for a time, or everything from Tolkien back to back, or everything from Robin Hobb... If you need to force yourself to read something you are already failing yourself, because clearly you are not really in the mood for reading such books, so don't blame the books, take your time and do something else, or never read that again, but don't lie to yourself.
I am absolutely going to try reading all 15 TWOT back to back. I read all of the Cosmere in 7 or 8 moths during 2022 and didn't get burnout from that, really enjoyed just about all of them. Been reading the TWOT for 2 months now and am on book 4, bit of a slow start but I am honestly blown away with how good they are. I tend to do this with most books a read, once I have found a series, I like I can't make myself stop until I have finished it.
Just switch to science fiction for a time, that will change your perspective, have you read Hyperion by Dan Simmons?- blew my socks off, after that you’ll happily come back to Sanderson 😂
I didn't realise how many I'd been reading until you said this but yeah I've been trying to catch up and DNF'd the third Era 2 Mistborn. I took breaks but yeah there's a lot.
You don't have to apologize for taking a break from something that fatigues you! Just read it when you are in the mood again. I learned about Sanderson from his online lectures on writing, then a booktuber recommended to start with Warbreaker. Like you, I gave it 3 stars, it was just okay and I didnt get the hype about his books. (I'm also afraid because they're HUGE and even 250 pages longer in German, also YA is not my thing which makes me hesitate with Mistborn.) Now, after like 2 years, I have Mistborn 1 in my Libby list. Let's hope it's not too YA.
Your spagetti tangent metaphor is more complicated than what you are trying to simplify. You are right however, this applies to everything. Do too much of similar thing in too little time and you will get sick of it. Like I love Dark Souls games, I really do, but I can't even finish one in one go without burning out, the frustrating parts become too much. Taking breaks is super important imo, I'm rotating a lot of my hobbies for this reason. Once you start feeling friction, do something else for a time, before you get so sick of it you will never even want to pick it up again. There is zero pressure to be on top of your game with things like books, once they release you can always read them. Maybe it's different for you as a content creator, but in general this is true.
lets be honest when you pump out stuff as fast as he does the quality is going to suffer. A lot of his books are good but they're not these masterpieces people make them out the be.
Also feel bad you had to give disclaimers and keep reiterating your love for the books just to keep the sando weirdos from attacking
u know, he read those 20 in 4 years because chose to...right? its not even about brandon quality or not, its about why u forcing that into u 😅
I have read 8 Sanderson Cosmere books + all the Arcanum unbounded this year, I'm on Rythm of War right now! I do not feel a fatigue myself, on the contrary but I am not a person who gets sick of things, I prefer to really dive into a world for an extended period of time so I'm still super excited for Wind and Truth.
I think Elantris is a 3 star book with a 4 star feel and Warbreaker is the opposite. I liked Elantris better and I'm struggling with reviewing Warbreaker, it is intangible in some ways.
I read The Lost Metal having only read Mistborn and I felt completely lost but I enjoyed the Wax and Wayne stuff. I now want to reread it to see all that I missed. Publication order would be a good idea with Sanderson I think.
I'm one of the Lift fans so I enjoyed Edgedancer, I know I'm in the minority but I find her super sweet in her own way and Oathbringer is my current favorite because Dalinar is my absolute favorite character.
I hope you read Rythm of War when you are ready for it and find some of your enjoyment back just for yourself:)
I’m suffering from some burnout. I wanted to read all of John Gwynne’s stuff before his new book comes out in October, but I haven’t enjoyed Of Blood and Bone and I’ve pushed myself through a book and a half. I enjoyed book one, but A Time of Blood was a chore and A Time of Courage feels like a big undertaking for a story with characters that I don’t really care for.
I get it. I haven't finished Rhythm of War yet and I can't seem to get into it, and I'm a big Sanderson fan. I've read all the Mistborn novels (I actually prefer Era 2), Elantris, and The Reckoners novels.
I really feel like I missed something with Mistborn Book 1. It felt like the worst version of the story it was trying to tell. I enjoyed some of the world building but walked away from the book happy I'd gotten through it and wasn't interested in continuing the series. Just my opinion as I know it was very influential for a lot of people getting their feet wet in the genre.
As someone who isn't fully immersed in the Cosmere fandom, I really feel like it's great for super fans who have kept up with him over the years but shouldn't drive your average reader to read one book over the other. Your MCU comparison is spot on. Early MCU understood that the beauty of it was that you could literally start with the 3rd Thor movie and while, yes, there will be references to the previous films and other movies, they weren't required to enjoy it. From what I'm hearing, it sounds like Sanderson is doing the same thing that the MCU is doing, assuming that it's audience has watched/read everything.
To end with a book recommendation, I just finished The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty and it is EXCELLENT! It has those Sinbad the Sailor vibes with a middle aged woman back on the sea for "one last job". It's one of those novels where you read the final sentence and hear the end credits music playing in your head. She's relatively new to the scene having written one series prior and it's the first in a series published this year so no pre-reading or major commitment necessary.
I've read almost all Sandersons books. I kinda of understand, but I think he has actually changed his writting style through time. Mistborn was far more serious than Tres of the Emerald Sea and the secons era of Mistborn. I still enjoy the writting but his writting is just not as serious as it once was. (In my opinion of course)
I read Mistborn Era 1 beginning of this year and absolutely loved it!!!Then went straight into stormlight archive. After book 1 of WoK (here the books are split in 2) I thought the point I fall in love with it comes in the second book. After this I thought in words of radiance. After book 1 I thought maybe I am in a reading slump and I am the problem. So continued. I now switched to the first law trilogy and there I found what I was waiting for in stormlight. I will continue stormlight at some point eventually. Maybe it was not the right time for it. But we shouldn’t force ourselves because of some outside or even self made pressure! Reading is suppose to be fun! 😊
I read 5 pierce brown books in just over a month and am finding myself feeling burned out to read Lightbringer and it’s ruining my experience. I absolutely love the series and feel like I’m letting myself down reading Lightbringer right now
This is pretty much my experience with the Wheel of Time. It was my first real fantasy series (I wouldn't recommend jumping into something this big as a first series), and I had pretty much committed myself to finishing it before allowing myself to check out the other stuff I was eager to check out.
Before I even got halfway through the series, it started to feel like I was only reading it to get to the end (or at least, caught up, since Memory Of Light was months away from release at the time), which just turned it into work. Gave up on book 7.
Years later I decided to give it another go. This time I decided I would allow myself to read something after every few books, but it really wasn't frequent enough, and definitely no series (mostly standalones). I did eventually get to the end, and when I look at the last 4 books critically, I'd say they're great, but that doesn't mean I really enjoyed my experience by the end of it. Took me way too long to realise that you need to allow yourself to mix it up a bit. These days I have several series on the go at a time. It prevents the need to "get a series done" before you can check out other things, but also, it allows well needed breaks.
I had to convince myself that it's okay to take a year off from a series. Don't turn reading into work. Rhythm of War and Wind and Truth can wait for when you're ready for them.
I have only read Mistborn Era 1 at this point and I am so worried about getting Sanderson fatigue that I am purposefully reading other books in between Cosmere books. My plan is to follow Sanderson's reading order and go with Warbreaker and another standalone and then probably read a bunch of other stuff before I pick up Way of Kings. But I do not think that you are the only one that feels this way, cause too much of a good thing usually makes you tired of it.
i'm burnt out and i've only read about 40 pages
I’ve never hear of this of author. But then agin you may not heard of Greg Taylor or John LeMay or Rex stout . Either .
I listened to the entire cosmere in about 4 months and i cannot wait for more.
As for the fomo issue some people might be feeling thats a personal problem i beleieve sanderson does his best to write all his books in a way that you dont need to read out of series books to enjoy the experience like i didnt need to read mist born or elantris to enjoy the stormlight series and i didnt need to read white sand or warbreaker to enjoy mistborn
To be honest, I have had a Sanderson burnout for a few years already and I only read Stormlight Archive 1-3 and Mistborn Era 1 😀. For years I have his other books on my TBR but I just can't be bothered really. Even though I gave them all a 4,2 rating on average, I do feel they come across quite similarly and they are a bit bloated. I plan on (re-)reading Stormlight Archive in November and December (incl short stories and novellas) to be completely done with Stormlight Archive era 1. Not sure if I will be touching any other Sanderson book in next two years though...
A book series rather long and still going and may be unlike many if not all the books you have read that I love is “He Who Fights with Monsters.” By Travis Deverell aka Shirtaloon. If you do decide to read this beware the first book takes a few chapters to get into the swing of things as the main character is introduced to world he finds himself in.
I've only read Stormlight books 1 and 2, but I own Edgedancer and Oathbringer. I'm going on vacation soon and I'm bringing Edgedancer. I know Lift isn't a popular character, but I think her abilities are funny, so I'm looking forward to read her story.
Have you tried any of his non-Cosmere books? The Stephen Leeds (Legion) books are quick palate cleansers that are a lot of fun.... perhaps not 5 star books but a good chance to get something different from him.
I support your taking a break from Sanderson until you are ready. Much better to wait and regroup then force the issue and maybe burnout more.
Thanks for bringing up the idea of burnout with good articulated points. I get burnout on things as well.
Finally, I agree with your words on the Cosmere connections and concern about how that affects reading in future. I have only read Mistborn Era 1 and have heard many booktubers talk about general idea of the connections. Just from what I hear, I all ready have my concerns. This is coming from me personally not liking how the MCU got so connected that it made the movies not enjoyable for me. Hence I worry about how things will go with the cosmere.
Thanks for your channel Johan. Maybe I can get to the Faroe Islands some day.
It took me 2 years to read all his stuff after finishing WoT. I did Mistborn all in a row and enjoyed it for the most part. But I started to rotate other series in so I didnt read through it all and have nothing else I was interested in.
It ended up being very refreshing! Before this, I would just 100% whatever series I was reading before picking something else up. The cosmere was way too long for that, especially after doing it with WoT. Read the Entirety of WoT back to back without anything else to break it up. While I loved it, it was kindve soulcrushing?
I Found The Dresden Files worked PERFECTLY alongside with Brandons Work.
Most of Brandons Stuff had Multiple PoVs, longer, more drawn-out stories. Jim Butchers Dresden Files was only a single PoV, short book, action packed from pretty much start to finish.
I felt they complemented each other extremely well!
20 in 4 years is nothing, I got so invested I read every single book he's published in one year
I agree with all the things you said. I wanted to complete all the cosmere books before the release of wind and truth. I am 3/4ths done with oathbringer and I am burned out. I am going to take a break from Sanderson and get back to him after a year.
My fatigue came around RoW
I read 18 Sanderson books this year so far. Sometimes I need to read other books in between he is by far my favorite author but it gets tiring reading the same style of book.
The burn out is real. After I finished RoW I didn’t touch a Sanderson book until last year with a reread of Mistborn Era 1 & TWoK. Then I didn’t touch another Sanderson book until last month when I started a reread of WoR.
I started reading that Cosmere in August 23 and finished in April 24. It’s not that bad.