State of the Sanderson 2020

[Snorkel]

18 hours ago, Use the Falchion said:

Children of the Nameless (people seem to forget this threw off his schedule a lot too)

I pointed it out, and it was ignored.  I get the impression that it's not forgotten, people just don't want to acknowledge it. Brandon explicitly states in SotS '18 that it took the Mistborn slot that year, but for whatever reason, people seem to insist on blaming Skyward anyway?  MtG fans who didn't like Skyward? I dunno.

23 hours ago, Mason Wheeler said:

...you completely missed what I said.  There doesn't need to be a shorter project in between Stormlight and the next Wax & Wayne book, because the Wax & Wayne books are the shorter projects!  They were explicitly created as such.

Yes I did miss that, was hard to find the point in among all that stuff about how you've been a fan for so much longer than the rest of us.

The later Era 2 books, however, have all been longer projects than Alloy of Law, so I think it's still a valid point.

[Orlion Blight]

19 hours ago, Use the Falchion said:

Children of the Nameless (people seem to forget this threw off his schedule a lot too)

 

23 minutes ago, Snorkel said:

I pointed it out, and it was ignored.  I get the impression that it's not forgotten, people just don't want to acknowledge it. Brandon explicitly states in SotS '18 that it took the Mistborn slot that year, but for whatever reason, people seem to insist on blaming Skyward anyway?  MtG fans who didn't like Skyward? I dunno.

Oh, I always make that connection when I can, it's infuriated me so! Between the Magic novella and Apocalypse Guard, we had a perfectly reasonable explanation for why The Lost Metal wasn't written. 

I'm now convinced that was a lie Brandon wanted us to believe. I'll say specifically what I mean later, but I believe once it's finally released, we'll have the "true reason". It also fits in with why he wanted to release Shadows of the Past and Bands of Mourning a couple years apart instead of within months of each other as Tor ended up doing. 

I'm still going to hate on the Magic novella and Apocalypse Guard, though

[Use the Falchion]

4 hours ago, Snorkel said:

I pointed it out, and it was ignored.  I get the impression that it's not forgotten, people just don't want to acknowledge it. Brandon explicitly states in SotS '18 that it took the Mistborn slot that year, but for whatever reason, people seem to insist on blaming Skyward anyway?  MtG fans who didn't like Skyward? I dunno.

Ah gotcha. I wasn't specifically referring to you, but I apologize if it felt like I was calling you (or anyone else) out. 

 

[agrabes]

Does anyone else feel like Sanderson is gradually moving away from the things you like the most about his work?  Judging from this thread, probably not many who are reading it, but maybe.  All his plans for ambitious side projects, expanding into multiple media forms, etc just don't seem like my cup of tea.  I'm glad he's able to pursue these ideas because it seems like they are dreams he's had for a long time.  And I definitely want him to go after the things that are most important to him.  But I don't think I will purchase any of these audiobooks that he is putting out through his new platform.  

I think for me, part of the issue is that there was a sense of newness and adventure when he first came into the scene.  For me, his greatest talent was that he could jump into the fantasy establishment and write using the foundations of the greats that came before him, but put in amazing and unexpected spins.  Things like the rules of Allomancy - the magic was cool, but generally in any fantasy novel before there was nothing like the firm set of rules for how it worked.  The fact that Vin, not Kelsier, was the hero of Mistborn felt like it was subverting a trope (of course, I'm sure genre veterans will point out that many authors had done this before and it was probably just the excitement of reading a story like that for the first time myself).  Elantris' system based on fall of the city Elantris and its magic system.  Way of Kings' amazing worldbuilding.  Those are the things that drew me in.  But for me, each new book has had less and less of that excitement.

I think part of it is that as he's become an established author, he can't be the "trope subversion" guy anymore - his works are the mainstream now and a new generation of authors will be creating their own twists on the Sanderson style and another giant in the genre will come out in a few years.  Part of it is that I think over the last few years he's realized he's set himself a nearly impossible task to complete the cosmere and he's really trying to drive plot and keep on his writing schedule at the expense of some quality.

Either way, for me personally, Skyward has been the most interesting and exciting thing he's put out since probably Words of Radiance.  To me it feels the most "Sanderson" of anything he's written recently.  So I'm glad he's giving it a full 4 books.  But these SoS's always worry me a little bit.  It seems like Sanderson's response to stress/possible impending burnout is to add even more to his plate!  Best of luck to him and I hope he's able to keep those creative juices flowing and stay energized doing what he loves!

[Ammanas]

1 hour ago, agrabes said:

 

Does anyone else feel like Sanderson is gradually moving away from the things you like the most about his work?

 

To a certain extent yes, but it depends on your expectations. For me I am thrilled if a author can publish a book a year. Even the most fast and dependable author have occasional lulls and multiple years between books. For example: Joe Abercrombie, James Corey, Jim Butcher, Steven Erikson, Glen Cook. I could go on but you get the point. As long as Brandon can publish one book a year I care about whether it by Skyward or Cosmere I’m very happy. 

[jamesbondsmith]

I feel like this article might be appropriate 

Neil Gaiman's Journal: Entitlement issues...

[Orlion Blight]

Only if you think the readers' feelings don't matter. 

Readers are allowed to be disappointed and frustrated. They're allowed to voice that disappointment and frustration in the proper forums. To say that's wrong or improper is, frankly, akin to gaslighting. 

The "not entitled" state goes both ways. The readers may not be entitled to the next book in a series, but the author is also not entitled to the readers' energetic support of any project or creative direction they embark on. 

[jamesbondsmith]

I don't see how saying readers need to respect the fact that an author is a human being is gaslighting.

Readers can have opinions on what's been published, but to flat out accuse him of lying about why he's writing one thing as opposed to another and expect him to jump onto exactly what you want like a typewriting monkey is a bit much.

Let's just appreciate the fact that he's released the fourth novel in a planned 10 book series (each of which have been as long or longer than the entire Lord of the Rings series), a novella in the same series, as well as his other publications. This as a university lecturer with three kids who regularly communicates with the fans. He might write quickly enough to seem as if he's a machine, but he isn't one.

[Orlion Blight]

Well, I have strong speculative evidence that he has all ready lied about why he wrote the Magic novella instead of the Lost Metal. This makes a strong case that he didn't want to write the Lost Metal until around this timeframe 

Now, the reason he did this is one I can accept, which is why I have not gone into further specifics. I'll seek confirmation once I'm not interfering with what I perceive his intentions are. 

That is to say, none of us quite know as much about his process and intentions as we think. The above is illustrative because I was LIVID that he wrote the Magic novella instead of the Last Metal, a reaction that is reasonable based on what he (I now believe deceptively) said was the reason. Now amount of "just appreciate"-isms would change that. 

No one here is actually harassing Brandon in real life (which is what Gaiman was responding to).

Like I said, like authors are allowed to set their own pace and choose their own projects, readers are allowed to grouse in the proper forums. And no one should challenge that with Gaiman's article that addresses a situation that isn't occurring in this topic or this forum. 

[Orlion Blight]

Illustrative example, since I think we agree on basic principles and only disagree on some applications: 

Take the reaction to the movie The Last Jedi: 

What was acceptable (to me): 

- voicing frustration and dissatisfaction

- analyzing "what went wrong"

- compiling "fixes" and other such "here is how I would have made it better. 

- All the above done on forums and YouTube and the like. 

What was NOT acceptable (to me): 

- Direct harassment of actors, directors, writers, etc. 

 

I've only included what could be considered relevant to "artist-consumer interactions" so I have not included fan to fan interactions. 

[agrabes]

On 12/30/2020 at 3:07 PM, Ammanas said:

To a certain extent yes, but it depends on your expectations. For me I am thrilled if a author can publish a book a year. Even the most fast and dependable author have occasional lulls and multiple years between books. For example: Joe Abercrombie, James Corey, Jim Butcher, Steven Erikson, Glen Cook. I could go on but you get the point. As long as Brandon can publish one book a year I care about whether it by Skyward or Cosmere I’m very happy. 

Yeah - very fair.  You have to admire Sanderson for his dedication to writing.  I'm not one who is upset that Lost Metal has been delayed in favor of a few other projects.  I like most of what he's written, though there are a few things I haven't gotten into like Legion and Alcatraz.  I'm definitely not complaining about him in general or saying he needs to change to suit my personal tastes.  I just feel like the overall writing style of Sanderson's works have changed over the last few years.  I don't think his writing is getting worse, just less my style.  Doesn't mean I won't keep reading the Cosmere and following what he is up to.  But I will be a bit more careful in picking and choosing what books of his I will pick up outside the main Cosmere full length novels. 

[Frustration]

On 12/30/2020 at 0:05 PM, agrabes said:

Does anyone else feel like Sanderson is gradually moving away from the things you like the most about his work?

Quite the contrary I think he's going all in.

I was here for the worlds and with him going deeper and deeper into cosmere lore.

Well, I'm along for the ride.