People who doesn't like Brandons books

[Toaster Retribution]

I wonder if anyone here knows someone who dislikes Brandons works (hard to imagine such a person, but they exist). And if you do know someone who doesn't like his books, it would be interesting to hear why. To get another perspective (and maybe some fun stories too).

However, I don't want this to turn into a thread where people bash others for their criticisms of Brandons books. We are not here to get mad at people (I probably don't need to say this, considering the nice-level of this forum).

That said, lets get started. Anyone who knows anyone who dislikes Sanderbooks?

Edited August 31, 2017 by Toaster Retribution

[CaptainRyan]

40 minutes ago, Toaster Retribution said:

I wonder if anyone here knows someone who dislikes Brandons works (hard to imagine such a person, but they exist). And if you do know someone who doesn't like his books, it would be interesting to hear why. To get another perspective (and maybe some fun stories too).

However, I don't want this to turn into a thread where people bash others for their criticisms of Brandons books. We are not here to get mad at people (I probably don't need to say this, considering the nice-level of this forum).

That said, lets get started. Anyone who knows anyone who dislikes Sanderbooks?

My sister read the original Mistborn trilogy and said she ended up hating the story overall because of the ending; specifically she hated that 

Spoiler

Vin and Elend die. She wants her heroes alive and happy at the end of a series.

Other than that, I do not have any personal experiences with people who dislike Brandon's works. I have, however, spent a bit of time reading 1 and 2 star reviews of his books and, let me tell you, they are sometimes pretty hilarious. 

[Unknowingly]

5 minutes ago, CaptainRyan said:

 

  Hide contents

 

Other than that, I do not have any personal experiences with people who dislike Brandon's works. I have, however, spent a bit of time reading 1 and 2 star reviews of his books and, let me tell you, they are sometimes pretty hilarious. 

I treat 1 star ratings on basically every book as rubbish. There just has to be some redeeming quality that can at least raise it to a 2 star. 

As a fun story, years ago I was reading the 1 star reviews for WoK on Amazon, and there was this guy who had rated the book as 1 star because Amazon had delivered the book to him a day late. He even said he enjoyed the book. I was just... So shocked at his logic. I burst out laughing at that.

[CaptainRyan]

4 minutes ago, Unknowingly said:

I treat 1 star ratings on basically every book as rubbish. There just has to be some redeeming quality that can at least raise it to a 2 star. 

As a fun story, years ago I was reading the 1 star reviews for WoK on Amazon, and there was this guy who had rated the book as 1 star because Amazon had delivered the book to him a day late. He even said he enjoyed the book. I was just... So shocked at his logic. I burst out laughing at that.

I agree that 1-star ratings are usually rubbish. I generally try to read the 2, 3, and 4 star reviews of things. I find them to be more honest haha

[Mason Wheeler]

I have a friend (named Brandon, ironically enough) who's a huge fantasy fan but hates Sanderson's work.  He's never been able to give a good explanation of why; just "I don't like it" or "he's just not a good writer."

Somehow, we are still friends.

[shadowwisp]

Mistborn Era 1 Spoilers: 

Spoiler

"The biggest complaint I've had from readers is not about the sacrifice scene in Mistborn. It's not the noble society in Mistborn, nor is it the dark edge Kelsier has. It's the fact that my characters occasionally curse. This has really bothered some readers, which I'll admit, kind of dumbfounds me. I use only the most tame of curses (the Biblical swear words, you might call them). The other things readers have mentioned above are far more worrisome to me. It bothers me that people email me with outcries when a character says "damnation," yet don't bat an eye at the fact that that same character just murdered someone in cold blood."

That might be one reason. 

http://faq.brandonsanderson.com/node/253

 

And ironically,  I wouldn't be surprised if some people gave the exact opposite answer to why they didn't like the books. 

Edited August 31, 2017 by shadowwisp

[Unhinged]

2 hours ago, Unknowingly said:

I treat 1 star ratings on basically every book as rubbish. There just has to be some redeeming quality that can at least raise it to a 2 star. 

As a fun story, years ago I was reading the 1 star reviews for WoK on Amazon, and there was this guy who had rated the book as 1 star because Amazon had delivered the book to him a day late. He even said he enjoyed the book. I was just... So shocked at his logic. I burst out laughing at that.

I actually read some of the one star reviews on Amazon for WOR and I have to say that I found them kind of funny, literally over half of the reviews I read said the same thing that the series was young adult fantasy and no adult would possibly enjoy the book even funnier quite a few of these people said that the lack of any sex in the book meant it was obviously meant for teens not adults. I found this hilarious because if these people had actually read the book (which I doubt) they might have noticed Pattern talking about some "interesting noises" between Dalinar and Navani. the other one star reviews were of similar nature and really just boiled down to people either having problems with the delivery company or basically complaining that it wasn't a clone of a song of Ice and fire.

[Ammanas]

Well I can go along with the spirit of the thread and say how I originally disliked a Sanderson book and how ended up loving it.

For Way of Kings it originally really bothered me that nothing happened in the story. Kaladin was going on bridge run after bridge run and Shallan spent her entire time doodling and worrying about a soul caster. I actually switched to audiobook and focused on world building rather than plot and now Stormlight Archives is one of my favorite series!

For Words of Radiance I got really annoyed that when the slave caravan picked up Shallan that the master was bowing and scrapping to her when they were in the middle of nowhere. That's not realistic. I thought why didn't the master throw her to his men to have their way with her and slit her throat? My next thought was: that's pretty dark and twisted. Perhaps I have been reading too many "grimdark" books. One thing I enjoy about Sanderson books is the sense of optimism in it. Its also nice to escape from the real world into a "better place" (yes I know Roshar still has its problems). 

So anyways what were originally perceived of as flaws became strengths!

Edited September 1, 2017 by Ammanas

[Draginon]

3 hours ago, shadowwisp said:

Mistborn Era 1 Spoilers: 

  Hide contents

"The biggest complaint I've had from readers is not about the sacrifice scene in Mistborn. It's not the noble society in Mistborn, nor is it the dark edge Kelsier has. It's the fact that my characters occasionally curse. This has really bothered some readers, which I'll admit, kind of dumbfounds me. I use only the most tame of curses (the Biblical swear words, you might call them). The other things readers have mentioned above are far more worrisome to me. It bothers me that people email me with outcries when a character says "damnation," yet don't bat an eye at the fact that that same character just murdered someone in cold blood."

That might be one reason. 

http://faq.brandonsanderson.com/node/253

 

And ironically,  I wouldn't be surprised if some people gave the exact opposite answer to why they didn't like the books. 

XD Maybe I've been desensitized to it but some swearing is part of fantasy. The violence gets more of a reaction, just a wide eyed look of "what???" while the language doesn't get me unless it's very strong, like Dorothy Must Die used very strong language that I wasn't expecting in a YA fantasy story.

As for the topic at hand, I haven't met anyone like that yet.

[Steeldancer]

I met someone who vaguely disliked mistborn. Another who didn't like warbreaker for morals.

But anyone who I've actually convinced to sit down and read his books loves them. 

But never a true hater. But I'm sure there's someone out there. 

[Asrael]

A girl I work with read the Mistborn trilogy and hated the ending so she hasn't read another Sanderson book since. She says she didn't like the way any of the major characters arcs concluded. Seems crazy to me but she's a likable and agreeable enough person. I keep trying to persuade her to read Stormlight anyways.

[Toaster Retribution]

I'll comment on my own thread. My dad didn't enjoy TFE much, and prefers more cynical, darker fantasy-stories (Abercrombie and Martin). He didn't think it was outright bad, but he didn't like the ball scenes and the only character he liked was Vin.

I also have a friend who doesn't like epic fantasy in general. She has looked at some Cosmere-books, but never read any. She likes prose, so Sanderson isn't really her thing. 

[Penumbra]

One fantasy loving friend of mine read Way of Kings and was not particularly fond of it. I think it's because he's a bit less into fantasy politics and worldbuilding and more into cool, grand fantasy battles and snappy humor if I am to judge his earlier choices. I think the whole Kaladin-being-a-slave-buildup kinda deterred him from enjoying the rest of the book sadly.

I should mention I told him to read Wax and Wayne and he seems a bit more interested in that, but is not really into reading Era 1 for the foundation so he hasn't gotten into it.

Edited September 1, 2017 by Penumbra

[Botanica]

I haven't met any Sanderson haters in my life, but they exist online. There's a user who's got quite "infamous" among the fandom here, due to their horribly subjective and negative ratings and reviews on a site which is the analogue of Goodreads, like, they just want to criticize Brandon's books out of no reason and sometimes there're even terrible personal attacks, which really piss me off. Since there're not many people rating Brandon's books here, their bad ratings just influence the overall look, and make people wonder if Brandon is a bad writer. That's just too bad, because they would rate *every book* Brandon writes and give one stars.

Why would they do this? We believe the real reason is that they are a hardcore fan of Jordan's WoT books and dislike Brandon's take to a degree that they must hate every Sanderson book. This really drives us mad but it's just weird, because why would they bother continuing reading cosmere and others? Just take criticizing those books as a hobby, and praising the original WoT books at the same time? Wow, that even earns our "respect". Happy reading those books that you just can't put up with! 

About the personal attack part: I strongly disapprove of this. Brandon doesn't deserve this. For this I could fight them everytime.

Heck, I finally found an outlet for my fury, but not quite 

Edited September 3, 2017 by Botanica

[Archer]

I've never known anyone who's had an issue with his writing. Sometimes the length of time you have to wait for books to get published (*ahem* Dark Talent) can be frustrating though. 

[Shqueeves]

5 hours ago, Archer said:

I've never known anyone who's had an issue with his writing. Sometimes the length of time you have to wait for books to get published (*ahem* Dark Talent) can be frustrating though. 

did you mean Elantris 2?

[Bookfly]

 There are so many ways to react to a book as there are people, so of course there is a lot of  variety in responses to Brandon's work.

I seen a lot of  negative reposes  hanging out on Reddit  book related subreddit's. Some people  dislike the prose, some prefer more messy chaotic   style of plot which they consider to be more  organic, and so for them neatness and symmetry of Brandon's   books is a demerit.  Some just like stuff like grimdark and dislike that Bradon's  protagonist's aren't more gray /morally ambiguous.  

 

  And those are just some of the the criticisms  I do not share  but understand that someone with different taste could think that way. There are also some really irritating ones   like "everything he writes is YA"  crowd  or "Sanderson is bad at worldbuilding and all his worlds all feel fake" crowd.

 

Then once in a while you see some which are just   plain weird, like one guy that said  he hate's  Well of   Ascension because of the main reveal of that book, as he felt that it constituted Author lying to him. 

Edited September 3, 2017 by Bookfly

[Sunbird]

4 hours ago, Bookfly said:

Then once in a while you see some which are just   plain weird, like one guy that said  he hate's  Well of   Ascension because of the main reveal of that book, as he felt that it constituted Author lying to him. 

How are authors supposed to do plot twists without "lying" to readers, then??

[Elenion]

7 hours ago, Bookfly said:

 Then once in a while you see some which are just   plain weird, like one guy that said  he hate's  Well of   Ascension because of the main reveal of that book, as he felt that it constituted Author lying to him. 

Unreliable narrators have been a staple of the classics for a long time now. Especially when you're dealing with Sanderson and history, never trust the author.

[Ammanas]

3 hours ago, Sunbird said:

How are authors supposed to do plot twists without "lying" to readers, then??

Most people seem to love the unreliable narrator. It certainly seems to be working for the Kingkiller Chronicles and countless other form of entertainment. Oh well, as the say, "des gustibus non est disputandum"

[Sparkrunner]

On 8/31/2017 at 8:29 PM, Draginon said:

XD Maybe I've been desensitized to it but some swearing is part of fantasy. The violence gets more of a reaction, just a wide eyed look of "what???" while the language doesn't get me unless it's very strong, like Dorothy Must Die used very strong language that I wasn't expecting in a YA fantasy story.

As for the topic at hand, I haven't met anyone like that yet.

I, for one, do not like all the language. I rather think it would not subtract from the book if, like in a lot of classic fantasy, made up his own swear words. "Light!" "Belar!" etc.

[Nethseäar]

I met a devout atheist who loved Mistborn, but decided they would never read another Sanderson book after the end of Era 1, because of (Mistborn: Hero of Ages spoilers)

Spoiler

Sazed deciding to choose faith. In their opinion, faith is so extremely dangerous and ethically wrong that any book in which a character you're meant to like embraces faith is unconscionable.

I recommended that they give The Way of Kings a try, because I thought they'd appreciate Jasnah, but I haven't met them again since (We worked in different departments of a seasonal job which ended not too long afterward), so I don't know whether they did.

Otherwise, the most commonly cited reason for disliking Sanderson's writing that people give me in person is that his writing isn't poetic. Those people point to sentence-level issues that they have. In most cases (I discover after hours of discussion), it's just that they prefer stained-glass prose, but I do occasionally agree that Sanderson's sentence-level writing is less refined. More so in his older works, though -- his prose has been improving every book.

Lastly, I encounter some people in person who stop reading Sanderson's books because they are too violent or sexually explicit for them (the former usually with Mistborn, usually The Well of Ascension; the latter usually with Warbreaker).

Online, it's all over the place, as has been mentioned. Most frustrating are people who make false assumptions and stop reading because of them. For example: (potential Way of Kings spoilers)

Spoiler

horses exist on Roshar, therefore troop deployments in Amaram's army don't make sense because they don't account for cavalry, therefore the military strategy is poorly thought out.

Another example: gems are the currency on much of Roshar, and gems are difficult to mine and too valuable to be used so commonly as currency, therefore Roshar's economy doesn't make sense.

In each case, the explanation comes along a little later -- horses are extremely rare, and most are being used in the war at the Shattered Plains; gems are easier to obtain because they can be obtained by hunting animals, and their value isn't necessarily the same as here on Earth, where their value is all kinds of weird because of advertising and control of the gem supply. Plus, the culture of Roshar has been influenced by the Heralds and the existence of the Knights Radiant.

 

[Draginon]

12 hours ago, Roadwalker said:

I, for one, do not like all the language. I rather think it would not subtract from the book if, like in a lot of classic fantasy, made up his own swear words. "Light!" "Belar!" etc.

There are some fantasy worlds where made up swears don't exist. Like for a story I'm writing they don't use real swears but their equivalent is done by referring to the goddess of the world. Because of how their mythology is swearing revolves around how 'clean' or 'dirty' her womb is. Long story short some say she has given birth and some say she hasn't so it evolved into its own swear system. Pretty much them saying "by the goddess' imacculate womb" is their version of damnation and the more defiled they make it gets it more to the worst ones out there. So outside of that there is practically no swearing in this world at all. Then you have stories like Dorothy Must Die where it is a fairy world but uses real world swears because of how Oz is connected to Kansas.

[Sparkrunner]

"Blood and bloody ashes!" From WoT, I think that is an actual curse, like in bangladesh or somewhere, but t'sall greek ta me!

[Mierinx]

What I'm going to say will be quite different what's discussed here.. I'm a huge fan of Sanderson. I like how he thinks and how novel he is, blending the original with the mundane, if I may say so. I cannot find any single thing that makes me dislike the dude.

However!

Completely out of his Cosmere works, I really disliked and hated some parts even, what he did with Wheel of Time. In my view, he changed every single thing that is and was Wheel of Time. I read the series more than five times and the last couple of books more than that. I can see Jordan in the books; he's there, his voice and image is there... It's understandable how Sanderson had to put his own voice in there if he were to complete the series; but what he did... I was totally crushed... Nothing that I read after WoT has come to an end has given me the pleasure in the style, the brains, the imagery (yes, lots of laces) etc... Sanderson killed that mood and for that I am angry at God that He has taken Jordan from me before he accomplished to write more sequels and prequels and I dislike Sanderson dearly because of what he did.

I think this should be a "offmychest" topic. I don't want to offend anyone who likes Sanderson, I do too, but what I am feeling is something else... 

D.