Probably unpopular opinion about WaT sample chapters

[Nesh he/him]

I honestly don't see an issue with these chapters.  We're still in Part 1, that's always been a lot of set up in these books.  Yeah, we're at the chapter count where Way of Kings and Words of Radiance part 1 ended, but since I doubt the preview chapters are going to take us into part 2, it's probably going to be closer to the length of Oathbringer's part 1 which was 32 chapters.  Point being, I think things will pick up, we're just in the very early stages.

Edited September 9, 2024 by Nesh

[coolsnow7]

On 9/7/2024 at 4:07 PM, CognitiveShadow said:

I actually meant the opposite: that I think Brandon is great at making the words vanish off the page. I’m of the opinion that these chapters are great and interesting so far. So what I was trying to say is that I don’t understand why people are complaining. These chapters are all set up for the rest of the book, I imagine things will happen later in the book that make any confusing or strange things tie in well and make sense. So I’m just excited to read the rest!

I dunno, everyone’s entitled to their opinion. But it’s difficult for me to imagine anyone reading tWoK or even Oathbringer and saying the writing has held up. I’ve already registered above that I think this isn’t how the whole book will be. But it’s important to note that if it is, it represents a pretty severe deterioration in this series’ writing since even Oathbringer.

[agrabes]

18 hours ago, coolsnow7 said:

I dunno, everyone’s entitled to their opinion. But it’s difficult for me to imagine anyone reading tWoK or even Oathbringer and saying the writing has held up. I’ve already registered above that I think this isn’t how the whole book will be. But it’s important to note that if it is, it represents a pretty severe deterioration in this series’ writing since even Oathbringer.

Yeah, agreed.  I'm still planning a full SA reread ahead of WaT's release and had previously felt like OB was not great but after rereading it I enjoyed it a lot more the second time around.  I do wonder if I'll like RoW better the second time, but I'm not so sure.  I think that what others have said is exactly how I'm feeling too - things feel just a bit fanservicey.  Like in today's chapters, the nod toward fan slash pairings w/ Kaladin hugging Adolin longer than Shallan?  Or him just directly saying his feelings about Shallan unprompted?  Feels a bit awkward.  Though I'm glad he did that one just because I feel like it was a bit awkward that he didn't address that situation at all in RoW.

[Feelosopher]

45 minutes ago, agrabes said:

 the nod toward fan slash pairings w/ Kaladin hugging Adolin longer than Shallan? 

That's not what this scene was lol. I don't think at least. There has been no indication that Kaladin or Adolin are anything but straight. It was because of their brotherhood, and the fact that they're closer than Kaladin and Shallan. She wouldn't be jealous because of some sexual implication, but that Kaladin showed Adolin more affection despite Shallan and Kaladin being the two that "started it all", as she says shortly after. 

[bmcclure7]

On 9/2/2024 at 8:29 PM, Vin(Diesel) said:

I love Brandon Sanderson’s writing. I’ve read everything he’s written, most of it multiple times. I am very excited for the Wind and Truth release.

But the Wind and Truth sample chapters read like Brandon is fan servicing somehow. I’m not sure that’s the right way to put it. Kaladin has a warm moment with his family, cool. Info dump from Wit. We all wanted it. Shallan says another Oath. Check another box on the list of things to make us excited. And now weird Syladin stuff. It seems more like fan fiction to me than like the start of a Stormlight novel. Like it’s just a bunch of stuff we should want all slapped together. 
 

I know, I’m kind of complaining about getting what fans want. But really, it isn’t necessarily what the fans want. We want a novel with these moments, not those moments served us on a cheap platter.

I hope I’m wrong. I hope Wind and Truth will grow on me, and by the end of the book the first chapters will look good in perspective. And I hope I’m not being too negative. Brandon has given us a lot of happiness, and I don’t want to write unfair criticism about his work.

What could you possibly have against Sylain?

[Kfish]

On 9/8/2024 at 8:17 PM, coolsnow7 said:

I dunno, everyone’s entitled to their opinion. But it’s difficult for me to imagine anyone reading tWoK or even Oathbringer and saying the writing has held up. I’ve already registered above that I think this isn’t how the whole book will be. But it’s important to note that if it is, it represents a pretty severe deterioration in this series’ writing since even Oathbringer.

Honestly, Oathbringer is probably the best written of the series so far and nothing in the preview chapters makes me feel this won't be up to par. So far I'm more wondering why we've had so many chapters of kaladin preparing to leave urithuru and saying goodbye. That's a lot of buildup and mood setting.

[Through the Living Shadow he/him]

I think the action packed too much in a scene is purposeful. Remember, they are rushed bc they have naught but ten days. And I don’t mind it. 
That said, I do think this “perfect” situation he is throwing at us is about to fall apart, which is seen by the Felt fiasco.

[Miyabi She/Her]

On 9/16/2024 at 7:46 PM, SpiritOfWrath said:

I think the action packed too much in a scene is purposeful. Remember, they are rushed bc they have naught but ten days. And I don’t mind it. 
That said, I do think this “perfect” situation he is throwing at us is about to fall apart, which is seen by the Felt fiasco.

This ^

All of these characters feel rushed, things that they've become comfortable with are turning on their heads.  We feel that in reading it.  That's one of the things that I enjoy about Brandon's style as it's grown, when you read a character's POV, you can almost feel their state of mind.

It's also important to note that the editing team sees a much bigger portion in a shorter amount of time.  So getting spoon-fed a couple chapters at a time is a much different experience than just sitting with the book, and knowing the whole picture also makes a difference.  And I assure you, when people dislike something, they speak up about it, quite freely.

I would agree that day 1 is probably the weakest, but the book is overall amazing.  This is just that weird catch 22 of getting some preview chapters.

[Bigmikey357 he/him]

While I respect all opinions expressed here, I respectfully disagree (should come as no surprise). I think that the narrative choices expressed in these preview chapters in regards to dialogue between our protagonists makes sense; the patterns are well established.

Personalities tend to change after swearing Oaths. Kaladin being less sadboi than usual after his second escape from the Honor Chasm is what was supposed to happen IMO. Shallan being more powerful and competent after reestablishing her connection with Testament as well as her gaining armor after incorporation with Veil is the right choice. As far as the banter, there has always been a certain amount of that, especially in the Shallan chapters. Banter and wisecracks are her major coping mechanism after all. And Kaladin saying goodbye to his loved ones before going off on a mission he is unsure he will return from, I don't know why anyone would find that objectionable.

Personally I quite enjoyed the sample chapters. I agree with some of the posters in that this is the calm before the storm, a set up for some truly gut-wrenching future scenes. The only thing that felt a bit off to me was Szeth, but even that could probably be justified. I haven't read RoW in awhile. Anyway, I'm not seeing any slippage in Brandon's writing, at least not in this series. For the OP's concerns, I am not sure what you'd have him do differently that would make for a significantly better story. Furthermore, it's a bit premature IMO to judge a work in its entirety based on the first fifth of the book. But of course all opinions are welcome.

[Erklitt]

On 9/9/2024 at 12:15 AM, Nesh said:

Point being, I think things will pick up, we're just in the very early stages.

And BAM... here we are. Still anyone finding things moving too slow? 

[Display-Names-Are-Stupid]

Just a personal take, but I find the way Brandon writes Szeth to be very clunky. I know Szeth has his issues and is a flawed character, but even with that in mind it feels like Brandon doesn't have the understanding of how to write him like h does other characters. Especially in comparison to how smoothly other character's chapters flow. I did get a little of the same vibe with Kaladin, almost like now that Kaladin isn't as broken as before, Brandon doesn't know how to characterise that.

This of course is just my personal opinion, not claiming it as fact

[+Oltux72 he/him]

On 9/7/2024 at 4:35 PM, AquaRegia said:

Completely agree.  I just commented to my honey yesterday that the shift in style and tone - from The Way of Kings to these preview chapters - is ENORMOUS.  tWoK was truly epic, weighty, atmospheric, and THAT'S what I want from a fantasy series.  These chapters feel more like Brandon's juvenile works, e.g., Skyward or Alcatraz.  Nothing wrong with those, of course... but it's not what I want, nor is it what the first two novels promised.

The first two books took place before the war began (save for the very end). They could show a rich, developed world. The whole point of the books since Oathbringer is that Roshar is being destroyed. The characters have been through a horrible war. They have to change. If most of the people you know are either slaves or dead, you do not care about elaborately covering safe hands or putting the correct dyes into your wines.
The first two books being based on being a prelude to a war required a break of tone within the series. A prelude cannot last forever.

[Display-Names-Are-Stupid]

55 minutes ago, Oltux72 said:

The first two books took place before the war began (save for the very end). They could show a rich, developed world. The whole point of the books since Oathbringer is that Roshar is being destroyed. The characters have been through a horrible war. They have to change. If most of the people you know are either slaves or dead, you do not care about elaborately covering safe hands or putting the correct dyes into your wines.
The first two books being based on being a prelude to a war required a break of tone within the series. A prelude cannot last forever.

This is true, but you would think the tone would shift to more serious. I understand needing levity in a stressful situation, but this dialogue is feeling a lot more young adult style than adult fantasy.

[+Oltux72 he/him]

2 hours ago, Display-Names-Are-Stupid said:

This is true, but you would think the tone would shift to more serious. I understand needing levity in a stressful situation, but this dialogue is feeling a lot more young adult style than adult fantasy.

War is a time for young men (and sometimes women), for it is a time of extremes. Compromise is deadly in military plans. Hence its decision making and thus interactions tend towards the stark and brash.

[Dmarie]

On 9/4/2024 at 12:40 PM, Bridge Boy said:

The whole series has been in steady decline since words of radiance. 

It is as if his outline for the series is still extremely good, and his plot secrets waiting to be revealed at various points of the outline are still exceptional. 

But everything that needs to be written to get from one plot point to the next is utter trash.

The pace is rushed, the dialogue is awful, the characters no longer speak or interact as real people do, and the setting is completely lost. Truth be told, these pre-release chapters have been worse than most fanfic. 

I want it to be otherwise. I want these books to be good, but unfortunately, it is not so. 

Where are Brandon's editors on this? Is there no one willing to speak up and say, "Brandon, mate. This stuff is bad. Lets delay the release and get this done better in a rewrite." 

I agree. I feel like the dialogue is getting even worse. The Adolin and Dalinar dialogue in Chapters 19 and 20 read like a bad fan fic.... I've read everything Sanderson has ever written multiple times. He is one of my favorite writers. I want to love this book, but so far it's my least favorite. I don't understand how editors and beta readers were okay with this. 

[Display-Names-Are-Stupid]

36 minutes ago, Dmarie said:

I agree. I feel like the dialogue is getting even worse. The Adolin and Dalinar dialogue in Chapters 19 and 20 read like a bad fan fic.... I've read everything Sanderson has ever written multiple times. He is one of my favorite writers. I want to love this book, but so far it's my least favorite. I don't understand how editors and beta readers were okay with this. 

I think it's just because he is trying to do so much all at once that his character's voices are getting all mixed up. He does write great things, but he doesn't focus on one thing at a time anymore. On the one had it could be great because he puts out so much content, but I've felt that that content is starting to slip in quality as a result. Some people love the more light feel to the dialogue, but for me personally it doesn't fit the genre. It works for Skyward or Rithmatist, but not Stormlight in my opinion. 

[Eluvianii he/him]

Honestly, the superhero comparison is on point, but I don't think it's a bad thing. More like the intended development. This was always going to be a story about hundreds of very powerful characters fighting hundreds of other very powerful characters, almost like a Marvel thing. But of course the heroes' powers were long gone, the teachings lost, and the HQ abandoned. And the process of recovering the powers, regaining some knowledge, and taking back HQ took a whole four books. Now we're just finally seeing the intended tone of the series after such a long preparation period.

As for the character moments feeling fanservicey, good. We've been waiting a long time for this, why shouldn't we be rewarded with those moments? I saw Kal fall back down over and over for four books, why shouldn't I get to see him genuinely ok, if only for a little while (as for Syladin, wouldn't have guessed it in a million years but I'm down if he can pull it off)? I saw Shallan hide herself from everyone out of fear of rejection for four books, why shouldn't I get to see her bask in the love of the people around her once she finally opens up and removes the knife she had to her own throat?

These moments didn't come out of nowhere, there's been buildup. Thousands of pages of buildup. And after this we're skipping 15 years, maybe losing some characters too. These moments have been a long time coming and this may well be the last chance we get to see them, so I'm just grateful we're actually seeing them.

 

As for the general tone, faster pace, less seriousness, I may be sinning here but this is the tone I've been hoping for since WoR. Don't get me wrong, I've loved every book, but they were just so dark. Probably necessary given the focus on mental health, but this back and forth between a character feeling worthless, then feeling slightly less worthless, then feeling even worse than before has been very exhausting. A rollercoaster up and down might be a lot easier to take if the highs were actually high, and, finally, that's what I'm getting here. Kal looks very contented, almost happy. Shallan has found a place to belong to, and isn't just pretending. Szeth is travelling with the world's first therapist. Navani has found her self worth. Etc. I can take another fall after this, because I finally feel like the suffering in previous books was worth it. There's finally something to come back to instead of just vaguely hoping that things aren't as brutal next book. So just in that regard, WaT is setting off to become my favorite.

Edited October 10, 2024 by Eluvianii

[king of nowhere]

I'm on the "quality has been declining" train, but don't get me wrong, this is still a good book. Not as good as the original mistborn or the first two books, which were amazing, but i wouldn't go anywhere near calling this "trash".

There are problems, and they are mostly unavoidable. The first book followed three plot lines with six major characters. Now there are dozens. The plot is more dispersive, the pacing slower, some things are sacrificed. This happened with every major saga that i know of, it's probably a consequence of having a kudzu plot.

I don't like the magic system. Too many soft interactions. The first mistborn, the first stormlight books, they had very definite powers and interactions. Magic was harder. Now magic is softer, because there's so many things that are just "this uses connection and is totally possible, trust us on that". By sanderson's law, the softer the magic, the less you can solve problems with it; sanderson has a softer magic, but still the whole plot relies on it. And the more we go into cosmete crossover, the more the ability of readers to understand magic will be lost in favor of "and then character X comes along and out of nowhere brings out this amazing new power and fixes everything", which is lame. Brandon said to err on the side of awesome, i think he's sacrificing too much internal consistency for it.

I don't like how those books are taking a turn towards feel-good self-motivation. A person with disabilities learning to accept themself and rise above their limitations is good. A whole plot of them is preaching. Every bad person being good at heart and just needing help overshoots into cringe. The scene with kaladin shaming the librarian is a perfect example. Did anyone try that with real bullies? I did, and it doesn't summon shamespren. No, those people will laugh at you for being a whimp encouraging weakness, and will not change their ways. Vorin culture encouraging competition should be even worse. Where is the old "i must present neutrally all points of view, i must represent correctly those who are different from myself"? Every villain is just a weak person in need of help. The books devolve more and more into moralizing (note: that is bad for the books even when i happen to agree with most of the proposed morals).

Those are flaws i see with all later sanderson books.

Still, those flaws are not too pronounced. There is a notable political agenda that wasn't there in the first books, but it's soft enough that it doesn't ruin things too much. We are nowhere near stuff like the sword of truth or some later disney productions, where the agenda does take over. The magic and plotting are not as tight and they used to be, but there are no real plot holes that i'm aware of; just, some things seem too arbitrary, some plot twist seem like coming too much out of nowhere, but still to an acceptable extent.

Worldbuilding is still great. We don't spend as much time on it because we already established roshar. Characters are still great. They followed their arcs over multiple books in satisfying ways. Sanderson is still a damn good writer, and still writes good books.

Yes, some things in his writing got somewhat worse. Panning his later works is way too much of an overreaction

 

[+Oltux72 he/him]

2 hours ago, king of nowhere said:

I don't like how those books are taking a turn towards feel-good self-motivation. A person with disabilities learning to accept themself and rise above their limitations is good. A whole plot of them is preaching. Every bad person being good at heart and just needing help overshoots into cringe. The scene with kaladin shaming the librarian is a perfect example. Did anyone try that with real bullies? I did, and it doesn't summon shamespren. No, those people will laugh at you for being a whimp encouraging weakness, and will not change their ways. Vorin culture encouraging competition should be even worse. Where is the old "i must present neutrally all points of view, i must represent correctly those who are different from myself"? Every villain is just a weak person in need of help. The books devolve more and more into moralizing (note: that is bad for the books even when i happen to agree with most of the proposed morals).

I get what you are saying. Tough I must ask a question: Isn't that a weakness of having a villain, who for practical purposes is evil incarnate and having heroes who are bound to ethical codes by magic oaths? The last books have seen the elimination of House Sadeas, Venli, Eshonai, Raboniel and Moash as acting characters without replacement. Part of that was inevitable. In a war people have to kill enemies.

So what was the alternative?

[Rainier]

3 hours ago, king of nowhere said:

I don't like the magic system. Too many soft interactions. The first mistborn, the first stormlight books, they had very definite powers and interactions. Magic was harder. Now magic is softer, because there's so many things that are just "this uses connection and is totally possible, trust us on that". By sanderson's law, the softer the magic, the less you can solve problems with it; sanderson has a softer magic, but still the whole plot relies on it.

I think this is why the surge of power from swearing an oath bothers me. If it's every time, and it happens so often in critical moments, it just becomes a get-out-of-jail free card for the author. 

I don't know what I expect, but I would guess that more oaths would be said in quiet contemplation, in off moments, unexpected by the person himself who is swearing it. Instead, it's become, again and again and again, a free pass.

It worked fantastically in WoK. It worked OK in Oathbringer. It didn't work at all in the sample chapters. That entire fight could have been skipped. I can understand why Kaladin would only vocalize and internalize the need to protect when faced with someone who needs protection, when faced with the choice to return to captivity because it is the right thing to do, rather than flee with the men to whom he owes loyalty, and who in turn are loyal to him. That was powerful.

Getting jumped by a wild pokemon and then admitting you're scared of yourself just isn't the same, at all.

I'm also not a big fan of the jump-cuts between chapters. Too pithy, too turbulent. I'd prefer a scene to unfold in sequence, rise and fall and conclude, before moving on to something else. If Sanderson were publishing like Dickens, I could forgive. He's publishing giant door-stoppers, I don't need cheap cliffhangers every other chapter.

[king of nowhere]

3 hours ago, Oltux72 said:

I get what you are saying. Tough I must ask a question: Isn't that a weakness of having a villain, who for practical purposes is evil incarnate and having heroes who are bound to ethical codes by magic oaths? The last books have seen the elimination of House Sadeas, Venli, Eshonai, Raboniel and Moash as acting characters without replacement. Part of that was inevitable. In a war people have to kill enemies.

So what was the alternative?

i don't understand what you are saying here.

though thank you for reminding me of raboniel and moash as good (in a narrative sense) villains.

3 hours ago, Rainier said:

I think this is why the surge of power from swearing an oath bothers me. If it's every time, and it happens so often in critical moments, it just becomes a get-out-of-jail free card for the author. 

I don't know what I expect, but I would guess that more oaths would be said in quiet contemplation, in off moments, unexpected by the person himself who is swearing it. Instead, it's become, again and again and again, a free pass.

It worked fantastically in WoK. It worked OK in Oathbringer. It didn't work at all in the sample chapters. That entire fight could have been skipped. I can understand why Kaladin would only vocalize and internalize the need to protect when faced with someone who needs protection, when faced with the choice to return to captivity because it is the right thing to do, rather than flee with the men to whom he owes loyalty, and who in turn are loyal to him. That was powerful.

Getting jumped by a wild pokemon and then admitting you're scared of yourself just isn't the same, at all.

I'm also not a big fan of the jump-cuts between chapters. Too pithy, too turbulent. I'd prefer a scene to unfold in sequence, rise and fall and conclude, before moving on to something else. If Sanderson were publishing like Dickens, I could forgive. He's publishing giant door-stoppers, I don't need cheap cliffhangers every other chapter.

the frequent jumps of point of view is intended to give a sense of urgency. sanderson has always done it in the final part of his books.
the fight... it was mostly just to introduce some concepts, really. but adolin got to finally be able to fight a fused, so it was good.

[Etedbert he/him]

I believe part of the weird feeling of the first few chapters of WaT (about chapters 1-13, all of the ones before the Interludes), is that they were clearly meant as falling action content in RoW, but were moved to WaT to save pages in RoW, and because Brandon wanted to end on the punch of the 10 day countdown. RoW is the first Stormlight book not to have a number of chapters after the last climax of concluding content.

Chapters 1-13 were probably more like 5-6 chapters of content that Brandon then lengthened and added more to (the library scene, etc) to try and make the start of WaT a little more interesting to read because of the time we spend with the characters, even when nothing very plot important is happening. Especially off the end of RoW where people complained about how little time we spent with the characters not in life and death situations.

I definitely agree that those first chapters feel different than the start of other Stormlight books, mostly because they just feel like the end of RoW, not the start of WaT. Now that we’re further into the plot, the writing has definitely returned to the tone of OB and RoW.

 

6 hours ago, king of nowhere said:

Still, those flaws are not too pronounced. There is a notable political agenda that wasn't there in the first books, but it's soft enough that it doesn't ruin things too much. We are nowhere near stuff like the sword of truth or some later disney productions, where the agenda does take over. The magic and plotting are not as tight and they used to be, but there are no real plot holes that i'm aware of; just, some things seem too arbitrary, some plot twist seem like coming too much out of nowhere, but still to an acceptable extent.

 

I’m not sure what political agenda you’re seeing in the preview chapters. It’s really only dealt with the exact same ethical and social dilemmas that have been present since WoK (ie, class systems, the ethics of killing, gender roles, sexism, the position of religious institutions in society, the balance of power between political and religious institutions, etc etc). And WaT still hasn’t even dug into those issues as heavily as the other books have. It hasn’t had time to.

 

The issue of “less world-building” mostly falls on the context of these first chapters. We’re seeing characters try and re-group before setting on their new missions. We no longer hear scribes discuss Azimir’s economics, because the economy is in tatters, and we already know that. The characters are mostly in places we’ve already explored at length, so the world-building is mostly through dialogue (like meeting a new Heavenly Ones leader and his commenting on Lightweaver abilities). I can almost assure you the world-building will be back to what you expect in the next couple chapters, as Kal and Szeth reach Shinovar (this already started in this week’s chapters) and especially when we get to venture into the Spiritual Realm.

 

TLDR: Most of the issues people have, while warranted, are mostly just issues with the fact that the falling action of RoW and the beginning of WaT ended up stapled together at the start of WaT.
And the other issues as others have pointed out above, are the nature of an expanding scope. When we have 12-15+ important characters, we don’t get to spend as much time listening to one of them. 

[king of nowhere]

1 hour ago, Etedbert said:

I’m not sure what political agenda you’re seeing in the preview chapters. It’s really only dealt with the exact same ethical and social dilemmas that have been present since WoK (ie, class systems, the ethics of killing, gender roles, sexism, the position of religious institutions in society, the balance of power between political and religious institutions, etc etc). And WaT still hasn’t even dug into those issues as heavily as the other books have. It hasn’t had time to.

i'm not talking of WaT here, but of a general trend in later books. the dilemmas have always been there, but they shifted from "let's explore this weird alien culture" to "let's show this weird alien culture that our values are actually better". at least that's my perception.

[Etedbert he/him]

29 minutes ago, king of nowhere said:

i'm not talking of WaT here, but of a general trend in later books. the dilemmas have always been there, but they shifted from "let's explore this weird alien culture" to "let's show this weird alien culture that our values are actually better". at least that's my perception.

Sorry I’m confused if you mean diegetically, or metatextually.

By “alien culture” do you mean Brandon’s exploration of a non-earth human culture? As in his exploration of Alethi, Veden, Azish, etc culture? Or do you mean the in-world study of Pardhendi culture we saw in WoK and WoR?

If the former, in what way do you think we’ve stopped exploring those cultures? We see cultural differences and ways of thinking crop up constantly, primarily highlighted in the council scenes of OB and beyond. The difference is we’re now seeing these cultures react to devastation and war, rather than continuing to see how they existed in relative peacetime.

If the latter, it makes sense that we haven’t explored Parshendi culture anymore, especially since until the end of RoW we were under the impression that Venli was the last of her kind, that impression being a cornerstone of Venli’s arc, which in-itself was our viewpoint to explore Fused culture. We’ll probably get to see more of the Parshendi culture in WaT, with Venli reunited with them. 
 

Im not sure I see it the same way as you regarding Brandon’s writing of ethical dilemmas and social dynamics. I think he’s just gotten better at conveying his intent as he’s developed as a writer. Going back to Elantris, you can see the threads of the ideas he wants to express (e.g. religious conflict), but his execution is certainly sloppy at times, and as a result the book reads much more ambiguous than I believe he intended. If Elantris had been written later in his career, I think it would have a much stronger stance on the issues it covers, not because his stance on those issues changed, but because he’s better at conveying his ideas than he used to be.

This translates to Stormlight as well. I certainly don’t read it as though he’s trying to preach his opinions, I think he’s just become much more succinct in his writing of them as the series has gone on. I definitely see the criticism of that choice as valid, taking away the breadth of discussion that WoK had has hurt the later books, but it seems necessary in order to save on page count given the complex plotlines. It’s see it more as a criticism of editing than it is of the writing itself.

[LewsTherinTelescope]

On 10/9/2024 at 5:33 PM, Dmarie said:

I agree. I feel like the dialogue is getting even worse. The Adolin and Dalinar dialogue in Chapters 19 and 20 read like a bad fan fic.... I've read everything Sanderson has ever written multiple times. He is one of my favorite writers. I want to love this book, but so far it's my least favorite. I don't understand how editors and beta readers were okay with this. 

The editors and beta readers don't write the books.

But yeah, it's been... rough, so far. Personally I feel Day 2 has been much better than Day 1 in these regards, but it's still messy.