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The State of Sanderson for 2014 showcases Sanderson pretty well. It recounts, among other things, the story of how he sneakily wrote another Mistborn novel while nobody was looking (totaling 2 new books in the Wax & Wayne series for 2015!), and his extensive and eleborate Cosmere plans for the next, oh, 30 years or so?
It's not only vague plans to do "more books in this or that series" either - his plan includes the order in which the books have to be done (the third mistborn trilogy has to happen after the Elantris sequel, for example) which suggests he actually has a fairly good idea of where these stories are going.
What so impressed me about the man's writing initially is how well planned his books are. The plots are incredibly smart and very well structured, and in reading a trilogy by him you can count on it that there will be a hint to the end of the trilogy within the first pages of the first book. Especially in our current world, where writers of all sorts rarely plan their books well enough to reach a truly satisfying ending, that stood out.
Well it seems that for Sanderson meticulously planning a book is small scale. It's planning a multiverse that would span dozen of books, tens of thousands of pages, spread across an unreasonable number of standalone series along with some connecting series... that's closer to the kind of challenge he envisions.
I have to tip my hat here. I don't think I've ever even heard of an author capable of what Sanderson is doing.
There's going to be a sequel to Elantris? Saweeet!
Unfortunately, Elantris is the only one of Sanderson's books that I have read to date. He is writing so quickly and prodigiously that I'm having a difficult time choosing another entry into his writing. Any suggestions? Mistborn? The Stormlight Archive? Something else, maybe another one-off, like Elantris is/used to be?
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There's going to be a sequel to Elantris? Saweeet!
Unfortunately, Elantris is the only one of Sanderson's books that I have read to date. He is writing so quickly and prodigiously that I'm having a difficult time choosing another entry into his writing. Any suggestions? Mistborn? The Stormlight Archive? Something else, maybe another one-off, like Elantris is/used to be?
If you are looking for another one-of, I would strongly recommend Warbreaker. Structurally I think it's one of the best fantasy books I have ever read, and the story and character are really engaging.
For pure awesomeness I'd go with Mistborn. It's got just about the best magic system ever, and is packed full with action.
Elantris is actually the weakest Sanderson book I've read, and by quite a large margin, so if you liked it I highly recommend checking out some of his other stuff.
To my knowledge, I heard he writes in a single year:
Two 1,000 page books
Three novels
Several novellasThis guy is the definition of prolific author.
I have heard of other authors who can keep pace with that (like Stephen King, for example) but what I find truly unique is that his books are so well thought out. The stories are often complex, many books come with their own setting/magic system, and all of them are planned carefully, and PACKED with plot twists.
I mean, it's absurd. When I'm reading Sanderson I'm about ten times as alert as I usually am while reading fantasy, because I know that not only is a plot twist coming, but that it will be well set up with what would seem like some minor details. It happened in all of his books that I read. And still, time after time, he surprises me. When I finished reading Steelheart the twist was so darned elegant that I lay down my kindle and clapped respectfully when I read it, despite being alone in the room. Other authors may write as fast or (equally rarely) as smart, but not both.
There are others who keep up that kind of pace. What sets Sanderson truly apart is his quality. The only person I can think of who is as prolific, and reliably great is Terry Pratchett.
I mean, it's absurd. When I'm reading Sanderson I'm about ten times as alert as I usually am while reading fantasy, because I know that not only is a plot twist coming, but that it will be well set up with what would seem like some minor details. It happened in all of his books that I read. And still, time after time, he surprises me. When I finished reading Steelheart the twist was so darned elegant that I lay down my kindle and clapped respectfully when I read it, despite being alone in the room. Other authors may write as fast or (equally rarely) as smart, but not both.
It's really quite amazing. In Steelheart, I knew the twists were coming. I even vaguely knew what characters and plot points would be involved in said twists, and still I was unable to fully predict them.
Then with the Stormlight Archive, you have some characters popping between the worlds, and little hints of the crossover that are only apparent if you are paying attention (for example, you might notice a character using Rioting from Mistborn). And it all makes sense. It all fits. I legitimately don't understand how he can keep the entire Cosmere so consistent with so many tiny hints that are almost unnoticeable by the reader.
There are others who keep up that kind of pace. What sets Sanderson truly apart is his quality. The only person I can think of who is as prolific, and reliably great is Terry Pratchett.
Dan Abnett is also as fast, if not faster (counting his comics work actually pushes him ahead of Sanderson), and probably a stronger author overall. Steven Erikson was also faster and more prolific (and certainly better in several key respects) than Sanderson back in the day, but Erikson's dialled it right down now his main fantasy series is complete. Daniel Abraham isn't too far off, with writing three series in three separate genres simultaneously with a new book in each a year, plus lots of short stories, several comic books and now several episodes of a TV series each year as well. He's also a better writer than Sanderson.
I'm a fan of Sanderson's, but his speed does come at a price. The pre-planned nature of his books helps them come out faster, but they sometimes do feel a little too well-oiled and mechanical. He also has a problem with creating really good, compelling characters. Vin, Kelsier and Sazed are definitely up there, but the main STORMLIGHT cast are a bit dull by comparison. Wax and Wayne are more entertaining, and the non-pre-planned nature of that series (which was a short story that got completely out of control) might have contributed to that.
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There are others who keep up that kind of pace. What sets Sanderson truly apart is his quality. The only person I can think of who is as prolific, and reliably great is Terry Pratchett.Dan Abnett is also as fast, if not faster (counting his comics work actually pushes him ahead of Sanderson), and probably a stronger author overall. Steven Erikson was also faster and more prolific (and certainly better in several key respects) than Sanderson back in the day, but Erikson's dialled it right down now his main fantasy series is complete. Daniel Abraham isn't too far off, with writing three series in three separate genres simultaneously with a new book in each a year, plus lots of short stories, several comic books and now several episodes of a TV series each year as well. He's also a better writer than Sanderson.
I'm a fan of Sanderson's, but his speed does come at a price. The pre-planned nature of his books helps them come out faster, but they sometimes do feel a little too well-oiled and mechanical. He also has a problem with creating really good, compelling characters. Vin, Kelsier and Sazed are definitely up there, but the main STORMLIGHT cast are a bit dull by comparison. Wax and Wayne are more entertaining, and the non-pre-planned nature of that series (which was a short story that got completely out of control) might have contributed to that.
Regardless of personal opinion about how the pre-planned nature of Sanderson's books feels for any particular reader, one must acknowledge that Sanderson's plotting is sophisticated, his world building impressive, and his capability to set up suprises matched by very few writers.
Among the authors you mentioned I am only well familiar with Daniel Abraham. While he is much better as a writer, his stories are by far less elaborate than even the simplest of Sanderson's serious novels. What impresses me so about Sanderson is his ability to come up with all of those brilliant twists, magic systems and worlds so quickly. And he doesn't even seem to be exerting himself while doing that, since not only is every one of his books well planned, the man has planned out a mega-series as ambitious as I've ever heard of, which he is slowly setting up and building over the course of what would end up being decades, and across dozens of "unrelated" novels that stand on their own, with their own twists and turns.
Sanderson has been planning his Cosmere mega-series for over 20 years, with early (and far more primitive) versions of many of his books written as far back as the late 1990s. So yes, his worlds, storylines and magic systems are impressive, but he's had a lot of pre-planning going on beforehand. It hasn't come up out of nowhere.
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Sanderson has been planning his Cosmere mega-series for over 20 years, with early (and far more primitive) versions of many of his books written as far back as the late 1990s. So yes, his worlds, storylines and magic systems are impressive, but he's had a lot of pre-planning going on beforehand. It hasn't come up out of nowhere.
Can't see how it's any less impressive if he planned it 20 years ago than if he planned it now. It often happens to me that I have something witty to say in a conversation or something, and someone would ask, "did you just come up with that, or did you think of it beforehand?". The answer is always, "does it even matter? I thought of the joke at some point. Many people wouldn't have at all."
Same scenario here. It's not Sanderson's improvisational skills I'm praising, it's the stunning number of amazingly original and well thought out plots, twists, magic systems, and (to a somewhat lesser degree) worlds. Most people (including most good authors) simply wouldn't be able to come up with even a single one, yet Brandon Sanderson came up with dozens, which are all part of an elaborately gigantic shared universe with a meta plot that moves in a glacial pace between separate book series. That's crazy.
I know you for a George Martin fan. Compare Cosemere to Martin's sci-fi setting (I think it was called the 1000 worlds or something like that). They are simply incomparable, and Martin is no spring chicken when it comes to detailed world building and planning his stories ahead of time.
Sanderson is the motherf~%&ing MAN.
Met him at comic con. He was wonderful.
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Sanderson is indeed a great guy. There's a couple of my blurbs floating around on his books and we've swapped emails and tweets a few times.
However, I think the main criticism stands: he comes up with cool magic systems and enjoyable worlds (although his planet-by-planet worldbuilding can be sketchy and variable, his universe-building is superb), but that's the window dressing. The main course has to be the prose, which in Sanderson's case varies from clunky to reasonable, and the characters, which in Sanderson's case rarely venture above the "okay". For lack of a better term, there's a missing link in his work to date which is the ability to pull the excellent settings together with better prose and characters and deliver something incomparably good.
His plotting is also fairly straightforward, he just tends to put in twists resulting from the magic system or from starting his narrative in a different place to where writers normally start, like for example MISTBORN being set on a world where the Dark Lord won and ruined the world. That's clever and to some extent original, but not quite as mindblowing as is sometimes claimed. He does seem to be getting better at it, though: the plotting and structure in the STORMLIGHT books is a lot better than in MISTBORN, even if the characters are less well-realised.
To follow up on the comparison, the Cosmere is indeed a much more fleshed-out and fully realised setting than GRRM's Thousand Worlds (although you'd hope so, with 8 big novels and several novellas compared to 1 short novel and a few short stories). But nothing Sanderson has written compares in terms of lyrical prose or memorably-defined characters to some of those Thousand Worlds stories like A SONG FOR LYA, SANDKINGS or THE WAY OF CROSS AND DRAGON.
It sounds like I'm down on Sanderson, which isn't the case. I think he's one of the stronger fantasy authors around at the moment, certainly a lot better than the likes of Peter Brett or Pat Rothfuss (Rothfuss is a somewhat better prose writer, but his glacial pace and inconsistent characterisation are much bigger weaknesses), and has an extraordinary imagination. But there are better writers around than him who don't get as much coverage.
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It sounds like I'm down on Sanderson, which isn't the case. I think he's one of the stronger fantasy authors around at the moment, certainly a lot better than the likes of Peter Brett or Pat Rothfuss (Rothfuss is a somewhat better prose writer, but his glacial pace and inconsistent characterisation are much bigger weaknesses), and has an extraordinary imagination. But there are better writers around than him who don't get as much coverage.
Might you recommend some of those writers? I'm always on the loolout for good new stuff :)
As for Rothfuss - the way I see it the man wrote one very good book (especially considering it was his debut novel), and then a much weaker sequel. Despite his claims to the contrary I don't think that means he really gets to be called a professional author yet. You need to prove you are not a one time fluke.
Sanderson has a work ethic that's uncommon among writers. My number one favorite, I was very excited to meet him last year at a WoR signing in San Francisco.
Just started Firefight, I don't think that world is a part of Cosmere.
Wheel of Time slowed Sanderson a lot, he should have finished ASoIaF instead.
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Just started Firefight, I don't think that world is a part of Cosmere.
Wheel of Time slowed Sanderson a lot, he should have finished ASoIaF instead.
Have to disagree there. Sanderson is very good for certain things, but he can't come anywhere close to aping G.R.R.M. Not remotely close.
First three books no, but The Way of Kings is better than ADWD
Sanderson has made it abundantly clear that he would not be able to finish ASoIaF. His writing style is very different from GRRM's (it was much closer to Jordan's to start with) and he won't use graphic sex or swearing. In fact, apparently even aping Jordan made him uncomfortable at times, and Jordan didn't use those things much at all. With Jordan it wasn't too much of an issue, but ASoIaF finishing with two or three PG-13 rated novels after five or six 18-rated ones would be weird.
Martin has said, contrary to some reports, that if he had a medical condition and years of warning, like Jordan did, he would take steps to allow someone else to finish the series, either directly or by publishing his notes. And in either case, I think the most likely candidate is GRRM's friend, and fine fantasy writer in his own right, Daniel Abraham, possibly helped by Abraham's co-writer and GRRM's former assistant, Ty Franck (Abraham and Franck write the bestselling SF series THE EXPANSE as James S.A. Corey).
Might you recommend some of those writers? I'm always on the loolout for good new stuff :)
Well, counting newer as authors debuting from 2006/07 onwards, I'd say Scott Lynch, Daniel Abraham, Joe Abercrombie, Kameron Hurley and N.K. Jemsin to start with.
Just started Firefight, I don't think that world is a part of Cosmere.
It isn't. Earth apparently doesn't exist in the Cosmere (the human race originated on a planet called Yolen instead, where the DRAGONSTEEL series will be set) so if a Sanderson story is set on Earth it automatically takes place outside the Cosmere. That includes the RECKONERS series and the ALCATRAZ books, along with the WHEEL OF TIME books.
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Thanks for the recommendations! I already had a taste of Abraham and Abercrombie, the rest I have not tried yet (but, judging from how much I like the former two, I assume the other three would work for me as well).
Also, about a Song of Ice and Fire... yeah, it really is about more than just the sex and bad words - these are just superficial. What Sanderson never does (while Martin revels in) is really delve deep into the darkness at the hearts of the characters. Even most of the "good guys" in AsoIaF have darker aspects than any Sanderson character I have seen (the evil in his books tends to be somewhat simplistic). I really don't think Sanderson is willing to go there. And, there is the matter of the writing style, that is incomparable between the two authors.
Also, come on guys, Martin can get it done. He doesn't need help.
I hope it's Abercrombie then, from what I've read, Abraham's characters don't really fit, only Geder.
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In Books 2 and 3 there is quite a lot of Tyrion having sex, and at the time you sort of think "OK, enough already" after a while, but what it does is set the scene for the showdown at the end of Book 3 by showing how crazy he is about Shae and basically explains why he does what he does. So it seems a bit gratuitous but actually is quite a major plot driver in the end.
The show has actually taken those scenes out and put in some other ones which are pretty gratuitous, to the extent of inventing the character Ros (she's not in the books) specifically to have gratuitous sex.
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Yes, I have many gripes about the serious mishandling of sex in the show. The books stood out as having sexual elements in them simply because they were fantasy books that didn't shy away from having sex-related elements in them. The sex was never gratuitous, certainly less than the violence. Often the sex *was* violent or messed up in some other way (there's a case of child-murder-twincest in the first 100 pages of book 1). The descriptions, however, were very straightforward and served to advance the plot and build up the characters.
In the HBO show, the sex is a ridiculous, pandering, somewhat off-putting constant presence. It is detailed to the point of pornographic - the kind of pornographic that would appeal to a 14 years-old wanting to prove to everyone just how much he loves boobs.
I hope it's Abercrombie then, from what I've read, Abraham's characters don't really fit, only Geder.
While Abercrombie can come closer to Martin in his writing style than Sanderson can, he has issues of his own. For example, his tendency for very loose, simple plots are not at all in keeping with A Song of Ice and Fire.]
No new Stormlight Archive book till 2016 :(
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Abercrombie's stuff isn't like Martin's for plotting, and his original trilogy has a disappointing ending (in my view). But he's written a series of good standalone novels set in the same world (Best Served Cold is very good). And his stuff has a much stronger strand of dark humour (not Pratchett-like much more cynical) which also distinguishes him from Martin.
Dragonsteel
Hoid’s backstory series is still going to be one of the last Cosmere sequences I do, so don’t expect this until Stormlight is completely done. (Both sets of five books.)
Hoid! I get that I won't see this book for twenty years, but Hoid! I know I'm late to the party here but Sanderson is awesome. I've got to finish reading all his older works in time for his new ones. With how much he plans to write for this universe, his series' will occupy the rest of my life.
On a related note for rather long lived settings: Did you realize that Ender's Game isn't done yet?
On a related note for rather long lived settings: Did you realize that Ender's Game isn't done yet?
If I remember correctly, Card still has one final book to write, tying Ender's series and Bean's series together. Do you know if any more are yet to come?
In addition, Card has seemingly spent years avoiding the writing of the final book in the Seventh Son series, he never got past the first book in the Mayflower trilogy (scheduling conflicts with his co-author, from what I remember), and he has just begun the Mithermages series, which if I remember correctly, is planned for seven books. When Card has a minor stroke a couple of years ago, he promised he would not die with any series unfinished; he needs to get cracking.
Back to Sanderson, though; I'm just beginning to discover Sanderson's work, and I'm looking forward to spending years catching up with his output.