Most Overrated and Most Underrated Sanderson Story

[Moash]

Self explanatory title, which do you think deserves more credit, and which book do you think is considered better than it is?

[Curious Anamaximder]

Warbreaker deserves more credit, and Mitosis gets to much credit.

[Mailliw73]

I actually don't think Mitosis gets any credit. 

 

I think WoR gets too much hype. (don't kill me) It's good, but I personally enjoyed WoK more. I think Elantris is underhyped. So is Emperor's Soul.

Edited October 22, 2015 by Mailliw73

[Lindel]

In my opinion, Elantris really isn't quite on the same level as his other books. The increase in Sanderon's skill as a writer between Elantris and Mistborn was quite striking to me. Elantris is great, but I don't feel that the story was as perfectly crafted as his later works, and the characters aren't as strong. Both Raoden and Sarene are too perfect; neither really experience much growth over the course of the story. In addition, the magic system, while interesting, isn't nearly as unique or awesome as most of his others. I don't think it necessarily deserves as much hype as some of his other books.

 

I totally agree with you on Emporer's Soul, though. Emporer's Soul is basically the pinnacle of everything Sanderson is good at, enclosed within one simple, beautiful story.

 

One that I think might be a tad overrated is The Reckoners series. Don't shoot me, but I just can't help the feeling that he basically... how do I put this... I feel like he dumbed down his writing to appeal to a different audience. The characters have less depth, the plot's more predictable, and the magic is less compelling. Compare that to Rithmatist, which I think is rather underrated. The Rithmatist is perfectly accessible to younger audiences, but is also still engaging for an older and more intellectual audience, with a complex, intricate magic and solid characters.

 

Steelheart and Firefight are super fun, don't get me wrong. I thoroughly enjoyed them. But I enjoyed them in much the same way that I enjoy a Marvel sequel. A diverting, entertaining adventure, but not something life-changing, not something that will have a lasting impact on me. Like a tasty snack, I'm perfectly happy with it for what it is, but when I'm actually hungry, I need something with more substance.

Edited October 23, 2015 by Lindel

[Bucephalus]

I think Elantris is overrated- again, it's good, but I don't think it's a masterpiece or even is his top five works. Oh, and Warbreaker is crazily underrated.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles]

I'll have to disagree with you, Lindel, and call the Reckoners books underrated. 

 

Since I can't share my reasoning without spoiling some major plot points of Firefight, I'll post them below. You have been warned. 

 

I found Steelheart after a long search for a superhero novel I could really get into. I know there are others I haven't read that are probably just as good, but for me, Steelheart was the Holy Grail. It had depth, action, well-rounded characters, women who weren't objectified in some way, and some interesting thoughts on tyranny and revenge. 

 

And then I read Firefight, and the series' true depth was revealed. 

 

If you've read the book, you know that Epic weaknesses are tied to their pasts, but it goes deeper than that. Essentially, every Epic has some form of past trauma, and their weakness is their own personal trigger. The Reckoners series, then, is about the role of fear in tyrannizing others—either through dictatorships or simple bullying. Their trauma doesn't excuse their actions, not at all, but it does cast the actions of many Epics in a different light. Sanderson succeeded at making the super villains, by and large, sympathetic. 

 

I suppose my love of this twist is more than just admiration of a clever addition. It's personal. If Calamity rose tomorrow, I'm pretty sure I'd be an Epic. I won't go into the details here, but I know what it's like to be driven by past trauma. I know what it's like to avoid anything that reminds you of it, to lash out at others who come close to triggering you. Like Megan, I know what it's like to want nothing more than freedom from that pain you can't quite place; and like Megan, I know what it's like to face that pain and find, to your complete surprise, that most of it is gone. That you don't want to hurt others anymore. That you don't need to feel powerful anymore. 

 

I'll agree that the Reckoners books are more fast-paced than Sanderson's other works. I'll even agree that he doesn't devote as much time to character development as he does in longer books like Way of Kings and The Final Empire. But I would never call it lacking in depth, dumbed down, or the opposite of life-changing. Firefight helped me understand what was going on in my own head, and for that, it is anything but overrated.

[Voidus]

I think Elantris is overrated- again, it's good, but I don't think it's a masterpiece or even is his top five works. Oh, and Warbreaker is crazily underrated.

I think the opposite tbh, I never really got into warbreaker even though about half the forum lists it as their favourite book.

Elantris on the other hand gets too little attention I think, the writings not as solid (Particularly the pacing) but it's got some great story and characters.

[Lindel]

I'll have to disagree with you, Lindel, and call the Reckoners books underrated. 

 

Since I can't share my reasoning without spoiling some major plot points of Firefight, I'll post them below. You have been warned. 

 

I found Steelheart after a long search for a superhero novel I could really get into. I know there are others I haven't read that are probably just as good, but for me, Steelheart was the Holy Grail. It had depth, action, well-rounded characters, women who weren't objectified in some way, and some interesting thoughts on tyranny and revenge. 

 

And then I read Firefight, and the series' true depth was revealed. 

 

If you've read the book, you know that Epic weaknesses are tied to their pasts, but it goes deeper than that. Essentially, every Epic has some form of past trauma, and their weakness is their own personal trigger. The Reckoners series, then, is about the role of fear in tyrannizing others—either through dictatorships or simple bullying. Their trauma doesn't excuse their actions, not at all, but it does cast the actions of many Epics in a different light. Sanderson succeeded at making the super villains, by and large, sympathetic. 

 

I suppose my love of this twist is more than just admiration of a clever addition. It's personal. If Calamity rose tomorrow, I'm pretty sure I'd be an Epic. I won't go into the details here, but I know what it's like to be driven by past trauma. I know what it's like to avoid anything that reminds you of it, to lash out at others who come close to triggering you. Like Megan, I know what it's like to want nothing more than freedom from that pain you can't quite place; and like Megan, I know what it's like to face that pain and find, to your complete surprise, that most of it is gone. That you don't want to hurt others anymore. That you don't need to feel powerful anymore. 

 

I'll agree that the Reckoners books are more fast-paced than Sanderson's other works. I'll even agree that he doesn't devote as much time to character development as he does in longer books like Way of Kings and The Final Empire. But I would never call it lacking in depth, dumbed down, or the opposite of life-changing. Firefight helped me understand what was going on in my own head, and for that, it is anything but overrated.

 

I guess it's a different experience for each of us, depending on where we're coming from. Lacking that personal connection with the underlying themes, I saw The Reckoners as simply a unique spin on the popular Distopian and Super Hero genres, and basically missed all of that depth. I saw those themes, but to me they were just a interesting twist.Though I can't connect with the series on the same level you do, I'll admit that what you said has actually increased my respect for it a lot.     

Edited October 23, 2015 by Lindel

[KidWayne]

I'm limiting my post to cosmere stories only.

I think Sanderson himself underrated Aether of Night (one of his unpublished early novels - he will send a copy to those who send him an email requesting it) since he trunked it and cannibalized certain elements of it. In terms of narrative style and quality, Aether is easily equal to Elantris. However, Aether's story, setting, and magic system are (in my opinion) much more captivating. My favorite - as a stand-alone story - is easily Alloy of Law but I'm not familiar enough with how it is regarded by others to say whether it is over or under rated. The best story Brandon has told in a single book is the first Mistborn novel followed closely by Warbreaker. I'm sure that The Stormlight Archive will as a whole eclipse either of these individually, but I think that is where we are at right now.

I was the least impressed with Shadows of Silence in the Forests of Hell. When compared to The Emperor's Soul - his other cosmere novella of note - it is simply underwhelming. Also, I feel like The Well of Ascension is a little slow; getting more time with Elend as a Mistborn would have been satisfying.

[KidWayne]

SHADOWS OF SILENCE IN THE FORESTS OF HELL SPOILERS:

I said in my previous post that I thought this story was weak. That's not all, I also think it's also a total tease. There is almost no new information in the story and it's a no-hum tale about a stubborn small business owner with a heart of gold who moonlights as a bounty hunter. There almost no new information about the cosmere except for [a] the revelation that ghosts exist ghosts/shades can be affected by events & objects in the physical realm on Threnody and [c] silver is useful on Threnody (interesting only because it's supposedly useless/inert on Scadrial).

Edited November 5, 2015 by KidWayne

[Purelake Earthquake]

I don't think Emperor's Soul is underrated, that story gets praised to the high heavens (deservedly), especially after it's Hugo award.  I've just heard tons and tons of hype and praise for it.  So much so that the other two Cosmere novellas get overshadowed, I think those two are underrated.  I thought both stories were brilliant; they have some of my favorite locations and characters.  I've tried to rank all three of them in my head, but I just can't.  Maybe after I read them a second time.

 

This post got longer than I was intending, so I'm putting the rest under spoilers to save space.  This section is dealing with how you deal with the concepts of over/under rating as a whole.

 

Overrated and underrated are both interesting terms and can be tricky to deal with.  If you look at a lot of the underrated whatever lists some items will appear all the time, to the point where you ask if they can really count as underrated anymore.  For example, I think Warbreaker was underrated for a while, but then a bunch of people starting championing it, and especially with certain recent events, interest in the world has grown again.  There's also books like Elantris, where a lot of people cite it as the weakest, but there's still a fair contingent of people for whom it is their favorite.  So it's just hard to say how well something is rated in the first place.

 

There are different ways you could look at overrating and underrating.  You could have a sort of comparative ranking, based on how the works in a set are viewed in relation to the rest of the set.  For example if the general consensus was that Mistborn 12 was the best Sanderson book, but you thought that should be it should be third and Stormlight 7 was the true best book, then you might say MB12 was overrated and SL7 was underrated.

 

Another method of judgment is more qualitative.  If everyone thought Dark One 2 was mindblowingly amazing, but you thought it was so-so, you would call it overrated.  And if the general feeling was that Dragonsteel 4 was kind of bad, and only you recognize it for the true literary masterpiece it is, then you might call it underrated.  These are just some of the ways I try to think of things.  I tend to prefer this method and it seems to be the kind referred to in the original post, what deserves more credit and what is considered better than it is.

 

But, viewed with this definition I honestly don't think any of his stories are overrated.  Sanderson is such a great writer that all of his stories deserve more credit.  I'm sure there are a lot of individuals rating things way to highly.  Maybe there's someone who thinks Centrifugal is the best story ever written, but you can't really deal with personal rankings, because they're personal  and subjective and all that, so I'm just going to deal with what I perceive the average views about something to be.

 

While some Sanderson stories have certainly been better than others, none of them fell flat for me.  The ones that I think are worst I would still place in the very good category.  And so I don't think from what I've seen the general consensus has been higher than where I rank things.  Here in the fandom we tend to see the highest rankings, but more people should be reading Sanderson, he should be a name that non fantasy readers will recognize, darn it.

 

Sorry that this got so long.

 

Tl;dr: Determinding overratedness and underratedness is hard.  By my own weird system, I don't think any of his books are overrated.

[Mestiv]

I personally don't get what everyone loves so much about Warbreaker. For me it is the least favourite of Sandersons books. But that is not really that important.

 

The important thing is that Alcatraz is totally underrated and doesn't get enough love from the fans The mixture of brilliant and crazy in this series made me LoL in public places many times and I don't think that any other book has managed that. I know that it's "a book for kids" and I totally agree that kids can and should read it. However, just like with Harry Potter, adults can have a lot of fun with it too.

[Left]

I've never loved The Emperor's Soul, unlike most other people who've read it, so I do find it somewhat over rated.

I think that the Legion and Alcatraz books do get acknowledged as excellent most of the time, but don't get talked about very often.

[Blaze1616]

I doubt this will come as a surprise, but I feel the original Mistborn trilogy, as a whole, is overrated, though if I had to narrow it down to one book it would be Hero of Ages. Of the three novels, only The Final Empire was on the level of most his other novels, for me.

 

As for underrated, I'll list both Warbreaker and Reckoners. Warbreaker because, even though the members who list it as their favorite are rather vocal about it, the fandom as a whole seems to just look over it, not giving it a passing thought. As for Reckoners, I feel most people think "oh, it's just a superhero story. I get enough of those from movies." Considering the commentary on the human condition alone is superb, the series deserves more credit.

[RippleGylf]

I don't know about the most overrated, but for me the most underrated is "I Hate Dragons." I so wish there was more...

[maxal]

It is hard to dissociate the "over-rated" and "under-rated" books from the "I prefer" and the "I liked less" book topic... 

 

I disliked Firefight, so I will say the Reckoners are over-rated.

I have  mixed feelings over Warbreaker, so I will say it is over-rated.

I liked the Emperour's Soul, but I don't get the hype over it, so I'll say it is over-rated.

I liked Mistborn first Era, but I was not blown away with it, so I'll say it is over-rated.

I am very found of the Rithmatist, so I'll say it is under-rated.

I LOVED Stormlight, so I'll say it is under-rated.

 

Point is, I cannot dissociate the question from my personal tastes, so truly I don't think I can answer.

[the winter system]

Why did you dislike Firefight? It was totally underrated. Like, Steelheart was good but Firefight blew it away. It's also not overrated, even if a few very very loud people like it. (Hint: We have too many Questions)

 

Not trying to contradict you, just curious. 

[maxal]

Why did you dislike Firefight? It was totally underrated. Like, Steelheart was good but Firefight blew it away. It's also not overrated, even if a few very very loud people like it. (Hint: We have too many Questions)

 

Not trying to contradict you, just curious. 

 

Oh I did not like the main protagonist.

 

I thought David was a bad character. He was a Gary-Stu who embraced all the worst tropes and cliches while managing to always be right about everything and I disliked him from the first page until the last 

 

The setting and the premises of the story are good, but the main protagonist... I just cannot stand him. I felt the other characters were much more interesting and I wanted to read about them and not David. I also felt 3/4 of the book was about a bunch of love-struck teenagers which I did not find endearing at all. I don't usually mind these things, but here... I couldn't.  Sorry. I also hated how David was portrayed to be right about everything, to figure out about every Epics weaknesses (even the logic behind them), to learn how to master every weapon better than anyone.  I could hardly stand his arrogance for most of the book.

 

I sincerely wanted him to be wrong and to fail   I was so happy when it nearly happened, for a short time. IMO, he perhaps fail in one aspect, but it was overshadowed by his overwhelming triumph later on.

 

So yeah, I did not enjoy it so much. I thought it may be because I was too old or something   There was actions and the story was not bad... or would have been a good one, if carried by any other character than David   It could be I am uselessly hard on it, I was riled against it on page 2 when David started acting like the "oh tragic reluctant hero". I somehow did not want this trope into that story.

 

So sorry, I did not like Firefight, but I liked Steelheart. Perhaps Calamity will find a way to breech it all.

 

So sorry... We can't like them all, but as I said, I won't say it is under-rated simply because I didn't like it.

[vineyarddawg]

It's so hard to say anything of Sanderson's is overrated, since I like even my least-favorite Sanderson story more than pretty much any other author I've ever read. 

 

With that said, though...

 

I don't know how "rated" Perfect State is, but if I'd call anything "overrated," it would be that. It was entertaining, don't get me wrong, but it just didn't "do it" for me like so much of Brandon's other work does. I feel like someone sitting around a campfire (or something... I don't know where people tell stories anymore) could have told that story in about 10 minutes and hit all of the important plot points.  And the world-hopping stuff just didn't feel really right.  The ending (and "twist") was good, but I just didn't think it was at the same level as the rest of his work.

 

As for "most underrated," I'll go with The Rithmatist, because I think it gets less attention due to being a non-cosmere story. It's a magnificent bit of storytelling that's engaging for both kids and adults, and that's a hard thing to achieve.

 

On a note some other folks have been mentioning, I don't think Reckoners is overrated, because I've always thought of them as novelizations of a superhero "comic book style" story, and they deliver on that point. No, the world isn't built out as much as a Stormlight Archive book, but no superhero story is built that way.

Edited October 24, 2015 by vineyarddawg

[Curiosity]

As for "most underrated," I'll go with The Rithmatist, because I think it gets less attention due to being a non-cosmere story. It's a magnificent bit of storytelling that's engaging for both kids and adults, and that's a hard thing to achieve.

 

Completely agreed. On this site, it is easy to see that there is a core of people that LOVE the Reckoners, which is not a problem. However, just in terms of advocating a balanced view, The Rithmatist is my favorite of the non-Cosmere novels, followed closely by the ridiculous adventures of Alcatraz. Rutabaga. 

 

The Cosmere gets the most hype, closely followed by the Reckoners. Honestly, I'm not sure about Shadows of Self yet. I understand the story and appreciate it, but I suppose I was expecting something with a little more world-changing consequences, not simply the struggles of one man as the city burned. (This is my current gut feeling, not actually what I intellectually assent to as having happened during the story.) I may appreciate the end of this trilogy more than the beginning, in contrast with Era 1. (See Blaze's note above.)

[maxal]

Completely agreed. On this site, it is easy to see that there is a core of people that LOVE the Reckoners, which is not a problem. However, just in terms of advocating a balanced view, The Rithmatist is my favorite of the non-Cosmere novels, followed closely by the ridiculous adventures of Alcatraz. Rutabaga. 

 

The Cosmere gets the most hype, closely followed by the Reckoners. Honestly, I'm not sure about Shadows of Self yet. I understand the story and appreciate it, but I suppose I was expecting something with a little more world-changing consequences, not simply the struggles of one man as the city burned. (This is my current gut feeling, not actually what I intellectually assent to as having happened during the story.) I may appreciate the end of this trilogy more than the beginning, in contrast with Era 1. (See Blaze's note above.)

 

The Rithmatist was an adorable novel which highlighted everything you should do right in a young adult novel. It also avoid the most common traps found in such novels in the sense it refuses to make his young characters all knowledgeable and all powerful. The young heroes succeed in the end because they team up together, each using their strength to overcome the odds. It was brilliant, smart. An intelligent book which I always recommend to people looking for books aimed at a younger audience.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles]

Oh I did not like the main protagonist.

 

I thought David was a bad character. He was a Gary-Stu who embraced all the worst tropes and cliches while managing to always be right about everything and I disliked him from the first page until the last 

 

The setting and the premises of the story are good, but the main protagonist... I just cannot stand him. I felt the other characters were much more interesting and I wanted to read about them and not David. I also felt 3/4 of the book was about a bunch of love-struck teenagers which I did not find endearing at all. I don't usually mind these things, but here... I couldn't.  Sorry. I also hated how David was portrayed to be right about everything, to figure out about every Epics weaknesses (even the logic behind them), to learn how to master every weapon better than anyone.  I could hardly stand his arrogance for most of the book.

 

I sincerely wanted him to be wrong and to fail   I was so happy when it nearly happened, for a short time. IMO, he perhaps fail in one aspect, but it was overshadowed by his overwhelming triumph later on.

 

So yeah, I did not enjoy it so much. I thought it may be because I was too old or something   There was actions and the story was not bad... or would have been a good one, if carried by any other character than David   It could be I am uselessly hard on it, I was riled against it on page 2 when David started acting like the "oh tragic reluctant hero". I somehow did not want this trope into that story.

 

So sorry, I did not like Firefight, but I liked Steelheart. Perhaps Calamity will find a way to breech it all.

 

So sorry... We can't like them all, but as I said, I won't say it is under-rated simply because I didn't like it.

 

I actually didn't find David to be a Stu-type protagonist. He was often right about things others were wrong about, but it didn't come across as arrogant to me. So far as the pattern behind Epic weaknesses is concerned, I got the sense that Tia was hiding something she knew, and David simply figured it out, thanks to his continual study of Epics and association with Megan. It didn't feel like Sanderson was dropping hints into his brain, the way it does with protagonists I would consider to be Stus; it felt like someone who has studied a code all his life finally making a breakthrough. 

 

As for the romance. I'm usually the reader rolling her eyes at teen romance in dystopian novels, but not so here. Yes, David's crush on Megan happened quickly, but the relationship itself was developed to a point where it was believable. They talked about their shared interests. They talked about themselves. They had trust, and neither one took advantage of it. It felt like a true-to-life depiction of romance between two older teens, against a backdrop of danger and mayhem. 

 

However, I'll admit: It wasn't those two aspects of the book that sold Firefight as the even better sequel for me, but rather the realistic depiction of how trauma messes you up. That was what really rang true for me, and that is what made me love the book.

[maxal]

I actually didn't find David to be a Stu-type protagonist. He was often right about things others were wrong about, but it didn't come across as arrogant to me. So far as the pattern behind Epic weaknesses is concerned, I got the sense that Tia was hiding something she knew, and David simply figured it out, thanks to his continual study of Epics and association with Megan. It didn't feel like Sanderson was dropping hints into his brain, the way it does with protagonists I would consider to be Stus; it felt like someone who has studied a code all his life finally making a breakthrough. 

 

As for the romance. I'm usually the reader rolling her eyes at teen romance in dystopian novels, but not so here. Yes, David's crush on Megan happened quickly, but the relationship itself was developed to a point where it was believable. They talked about their shared interests. They talked about themselves. They had trust, and neither one took advantage of it. It felt like a true-to-life depiction of romance between two older teens, against a backdrop of danger and mayhem. 

 

However, I'll admit: It wasn't those two aspects of the book that sold Firefight as the even better sequel for me, but rather the realistic depiction of how trauma messes you up. That was what really rang true for me, and that is what made me love the book.

 

Well, I agree I was going slightly hard by using the Gary-Stu term. I guess my feelings sprouted from an annoyance at seeing 19 years old David managing to gather more detailed notes on all Epics than an organized affiliation with little means nor connections. I thought this was not realistic. I would have preferred if he has found out how much he was missing out, but I felt it was the opposite, everyone marveled at how he managed to gather items they never heard of.

 

I was also annoyed he always seemed to be the one to figure out the weaknesses. Towards the end of the book, he was fighting Newton and suddenly, he grasps what her weakness was based on one sentence he over-heard from Regalia. Of course, he kills her 5 seconds later. That was too much for me. I would have preferred is someone else puzzled it out, if the team worked as... a team where each contributed, instead I watched David running the show from day one and I was annoyed by it.

 

I was fine with him taking out Steelheart in the first book. It made sense, he had a past history with him, it was logical he'd be the one to figure it out. However I thought the idea was carried too far within the second book.

 

I understand why he crushed on Megan, even if I found her to be the most bland person ever, but that's personal. I can ever understand why he blindly defends her, but I also wanted him to be wrong. I wanted him to be used, because it would have taught him a valuable lesson. Instead, I watch the love story come true and it got too cheesy for me. I mean, the part where they spiriled, wet and holding close or the part where they stand naked in front of each other... I rolled my eyes. Really Brandon? Really??? Again, people have the same reaction towards Adolin and Shallan while I think they are super cute.......  so.... it really is a persona issue.

 

All in all, most of my complains are with respect of the main protagonist, David. I hated who everyone just loved David when I personallt wanted to slam his head into the wall for being this obnoxious  And Megan. She reminded me exactly of the type of girls boys used to crushed on when I was their age and it made bad feelings rose up. I guess I should congratulate Brandon here: he made me feel as a teenager once again     Of course, guys will always prefer Megan to anyone else and it unnerved me to no end. I personally thought MIzzy was a much more interesting character and I wished there was more of her. 

 

The take on super-hero though was super fun. I should perhaps give the book a second chance and try to ignore David. I guess the reason we grow attach to one particular book is personal. I certainly will not dispute the book qualities, simply the choice of protagonist did not work out for me  We never know, I may change my mind about it.

[Edgedancer]

Well, I agree I was going slightly hard by using the Gary-Stu term. I guess my feelings sprouted from an annoyance at seeing 19 years old David managing to gather more detailed notes on all Epics than an organized affiliation with little means nor connections. I thought this was not realistic. I would have preferred if he has found out how much he was missing out, but I felt it was the opposite, everyone marveled at how he managed to gather items they never heard of.

 

I was also annoyed he always seemed to be the one to figure out the weaknesses. Towards the end of the book, he was fighting Newton and suddenly, he grasps what her weakness was based on one sentence he over-heard from Regalia. Of course, he kills her 5 seconds later. That was too much for me. I would have preferred is someone else puzzled it out, if the team worked as... a team where each contributed, instead I watched David running the show from day one and I was annoyed by it.

 

I was fine with him taking out Steelheart in the first book. It made sense, he had a past history with him, it was logical he'd be the one to figure it out. However I thought the idea was carried too far within the second book.

 

I understand why he crushed on Megan, even if I found her to be the most bland person ever, but that's personal. I can ever understand why he blindly defends her, but I also wanted him to be wrong. I wanted him to be used, because it would have taught him a valuable lesson. Instead, I watch the love story come true and it got too cheesy for me. I mean, the part where they spiriled, wet and holding close or the part where they stand naked in front of each other... I rolled my eyes. Really Brandon? Really??? Again, people have the same reaction towards Adolin and Shallan while I think they are super cute.......  so.... it really is a persona issue.

 

All in all, most of my complains are with respect of the main protagonist, David. I hated who everyone just loved David when I personallt wanted to slam his head into the wall for being this obnoxious  And Megan. She reminded me exactly of the type of girls boys used to crushed on when I was their age and it made bad feelings rose up. I guess I should congratulate Brandon here: he made me feel as a teenager once again     Of course, guys will always prefer Megan to anyone else and it unnerved me to no end. I personally thought MIzzy was a much more interesting character and I wished there was more of her. 

 

The take on super-hero though was super fun. I should perhaps give the book a second chance and try to ignore David. I guess the reason we grow attach to one particular book is personal. I certainly will not dispute the book qualities, simply the choice of protagonist did not work out for me  We never know, I may change my mind about it.

Eh, after the Mitosis incident I'd say that figuring out the connection was pretty easy, plus he had insider information comming from Megan so that part doesn't really bother me.

 

I'd agree with you on Mizzy being a better character than Megan though. It always kind of bothered me how the stars pretty much aligned for the later. Though wishing her to have been using David is kind of like hoping that Kaladin would have assassinated the king, an unexpected twist but goes against the deeper themes of the series.

 

On the topic of underrated, I think the entirety of the non-cosmere works could use some more love.

Edited October 24, 2015 by Edgedancer

[maxal]

Eh, after the Mitosis incident I'd say that figuring out the connection was pretty easy, plus he had insider information comming from Megan so that part doesn't really bother me.

 

I'd agree with you on Mizzy being a better character than Megan though. It always kind of bothered me how the stars pretty much aligned for the later. Though wishing her to have been using David is kind of like hoping that Kaladin would have assassinated the king, an unexpected twist but goes against the deeper themes of the series.

 

On the topic of underrated, I think the entirety of the non-cosmere works could use some more love.

 

I did not read Mitosis, so it may be it. Still I was bothered it was David and always David who seems to come up with the solution. I wished the other team members would play a larger role.

 

Actually, I loved MIzzy, but I did not see her as a love interest to David. I simply liked the "bouncing over-eager girl hoping to prove herself, but who gets dismiss for fear she'd ruin it by being clumsy". This being said, I would have been fine with a love triangle between her, David and Megan, but I did not necessarily wish for it. I wanted to read more about her and less about David. I had little positive feelings towards Megan which I thought has always been kinda blend. She was a con-woman so it fitted, in my book, she would manipulate David. I didn't necessarily see her as a good character.

 

I never really liked Megan, even in Steelheart. I felt as if David started loving simply because she was, well, hot with an air of mystery. Oh I can't state how much I HATE Megan. Gee, but at this point, it is really getting personal.