Unpopular Brandon Sanderson Opinions

[NotarySojac]

This is probably kind of a weird opinion even for this thread, but while I will concede that the cosmere books are probably better written, I like reading the Reckoners books more and come back to them way more often for rereads.

[revelryintheart she/her]

Wayne is a terrible character and a terrible person and one of the main reasons I didn't like Era 2.

And I didn't like any of the other Era 2 characters but Wayne bears the overwhelming force of my hatred.

[Aspiring Writer]

16 minutes ago, revelryintheart said:

Wayne is a terrible character and a terrible person and one of the main reasons I didn't like Era 2.

And I didn't like any of the other Era 2 characters but Wayne bears the overwhelming force of my hatred.

5 hours ago, Aragorn said:

I did not enjoy Shadows for Silence in the Forest of Hell or Sixth of Dusk.

*Kneels down in pain as if was shot*

 

Calamity is a horrible book with a crap and rushed ending, and Megan's powers are horrible and confusing should've just been left as an illusionist rather than a manipulator of infinite universes

 

[Chanarach]

3 hours ago, Aspiring Writer said:

*Kneels down in pain as if was shot*

 

Calamity is a horrible book with a crap and rushed ending, and Megan's powers are horrible and confusing should've just been left as an illusionist rather than a manipulator of infinite universes

 

I feel that pain. 

[Ghanderflaffle she/her]

14 hours ago, Aragorn said:

I did not enjoy Shadows for Silence in the Forest of Hell or Sixth of Dusk.

You wound me.

[jamesbondsmith He/him]

Judging by the reaction I got in a writers group, this is unpopular.

People write and talk very differently. You only have to look at the people who talk somewhat simplistically and then toss out the 'howevers/therefores/one must' like candy in a written argument on social media. My opinion is that a frustrating amount of writers don't fully understand that, and Sanderson is sometimes one of them. I've read several patches of dialogue that quite definitely felt written, as opposed to what someone might say off the cuff.

[Truthless of Shinovar he/him]

14 hours ago, revelryintheart said:

Wayne is a terrible character and a terrible person and one of the main reasons I didn't like Era 2.

And I didn't like any of the other Era 2 characters but Wayne bears the overwhelming force of my hatred.

I... you... why....

...to each their own, I suppose. And you got good reasons for not liking him anyways.

[Orlion Blight he/him]

Some people don't like hats, I suppose...

[Use the Falchion]

On 10/30/2020 at 0:33 AM, Aspiring Writer said:

Calamity is a horrible book with a crap and rushed ending, and Megan's powers are horrible and confusing should've just been left as an illusionist rather than a manipulator of infinite universes

I don't disagree entirely, as Calamity is easily my least favorite Reckoners book and probably my least favorite YA book of his; but I'm also willing to wait and see if he can make sense of it in The Apocalypse Guard...assuming it ever comes out. (But yeah Megan's powers were really confusing and should have been simplified.) 

 

On 10/30/2020 at 10:39 AM, jamesbondsmith said:

Judging by the reaction I got in a writers group, this is unpopular.

People write and talk very differently. You only have to look at the people who talk somewhat simplistically and then toss out the 'howevers/therefores/one must' like candy in a written argument on social media. My opinion is that a frustrating amount of writers don't fully understand that, and Sanderson is sometimes one of them. I've read several patches of dialogue that quite definitely felt written, as opposed to what someone might say off the cuff.

Yup. In screenwriting (and writing) classes and whatnot you're warned about the difference between what actually say and how dialogue is written. There's a fine line to toe between sounding realistic and being realistic. Sanderson doesn't always toe this line well ("stretch forth thy hand" comes to mind), but "medieval" fantasy is dealt an even harder hand, because you have to factor in how people think characters should sound now. Audiobooks are probably blurring the lines even more now, since they might expect the books to sound more like spoken dialogue instead of the written dialogue they were intended as. There are exceptions of course, and audio-originals are turning that exception into a niche. 

[Mason Wheeler]

49 minutes ago, Use the Falchion said:

Yup. In screenwriting (and writing) classes and whatnot you're warned about the difference between what actually say and how dialogue is written. There's a fine line to toe between sounding realistic and being realistic. Sanderson doesn't always toe this line well ("stretch forth thy hand" comes to mind), but "medieval" fantasy is dealt an even harder hand, because you have to factor in how people think characters should sound now. Audiobooks are probably blurring the lines even more now, since they might expect the books to sound more like spoken dialogue instead of the written dialogue they were intended as. There are exceptions of course, and audio-originals are turning that exception into a niche. 

IMO "stretch forth thy hand" worked perfectly, precisely because that's not how people normally talk.  It really helped to drive home the point that something really significant was happening.

[Use the Falchion]

38 minutes ago, Mason Wheeler said:

IMO "stretch forth thy hand" worked perfectly, precisely because that's not how people normally talk.  It really helped to drive home the point that something really significant was happening.

I'll try reading it that way next time! I didn't mind it, but it always threw me out because I couldn't remember a time before that moment where the characters spoke that formally/archaic. I usually don't mind when it's not how people talk, simply that it's consistent in-universe. This...didn't feel as consistent. I guess one could call it the inverse "Lift effect," lol! 

[Orlion Blight he/him]

1 hour ago, Use the Falchion said:

I'll try reading it that way next time! I didn't mind it, but it always threw me out because I couldn't remember a time before that moment where the characters spoke that formally/archaic. I usually don't mind when it's not how people talk, simply that it's consistent in-universe. This...didn't feel as consistent. I guess one could call it the inverse "Lift effect," lol! 

I would say it depends on the context/who said it. Due to Brandon's Mormon-Christain background, "thees and thous" would, to him, have the air of divine authority or ritual. So long as it was something like a Spern extending a connection or ritual, it'll be fine. If Kaladin is trying to save someone from falling off a cliff in the midst of battle? That would be out of place and it's a shame it wasn't caught in revisions. 

[Aspiring Writer]

3 hours ago, Use the Falchion said:

I don't disagree entirely, as Calamity is easily my least favorite Reckoners book and probably my least favorite YA book of his; but I'm also willing to wait and see if he can make sense of it in The Apocalypse Guard...assuming it ever comes out. (But yeah Megan's powers were really confusing and should have been simplified.) 

YES. When I heard Megan's power were reality shifting rather than just illusions, I was like "You just stormed up big time. Stay away from that Sanderson. Stay away! It never works!" There are things you do not add to your universe lightly, time travel being the biggest one, but dimension traveling and manipulating is just as bad.

[Mason Wheeler]

2 hours ago, Aspiring Writer said:

YES. When I heard Megan's power were reality shifting rather than just illusions, I was like "You just stormed up big time. Stay away from that Sanderson. Stay away! It never works!" There are things you do not add to your universe lightly, time travel being the biggest one, but dimension traveling and manipulating is just as bad.

Besides the in-world purpose, I think that was there specifically to establish the concept of parallel realities.  Brandon already has a shared universe for stories that don't involve Earth: the Cosmere.  With this, he can set up a shared multiverse for stories that do involve Earth, with each one having its own Earth to be set in.  We've already got Snapshot taking place in a world with the snapshot device said to be powered by something that sounds a lot like a dead Epic.  Apocalypse Guard is part of the same overall system, and I think he's said Skyward and Rithmatist are in their own parallel realities (but don't quote me on that one.)

Edited November 1, 2020 by Mason Wheeler

[Orlion Blight he/him]

I just think ending the trilogy as essentially an advertisement for a series of parallel universe shenanigans was...unwise...

It is particularly problematic when the series it was "advertising" never originated and might never be a thing (certainly not in the original intended form).

[Aspiring Writer]

16 minutes ago, Mason Wheeler said:

Besides the in-world purpose, I think that was there specifically to establish the concept of parallel realities.  Brandon already has a shared universe for stories that don't involve Earth: the Cosmere.  With this, he can set up a shared multiverse for stories that do involve Earth, with each one having its own Earth to be set in.  We've already got Snapshot taking place in a world with the snapshot device said to be powered by something that sounds a lot like a dead Epic.  Apocalypse Guard is part of the same overall system, and I think he's said Skyward and Rithmatist are in their own parallel realities (but don't quote me on that one.)

While the concept of that is interesting, it was not handled well and did affect the Recknor's trilogy negatively, making the ending abrupt and making Megan's powers weird and overpowered.

 

8 minutes ago, Orlion the Platypus said:

I just think ending the trilogy as essentially an advertisement for a series of parallel universe shenanigans was...unwise...

It is particularly problematic when the series it was "advertising" never originated and might never be a thing (certainly not in the original intended form).

I agree it's unwise and should be handled carefully. It being an advertisement is not necessarily bad, but BS did not handle it well and it ruined the ending of Calamity with a villain we had no investment in. Calamity was centered around Prof, not Calamity, and so adding Calamity's defeat felt contrived and just... there. It didn't feel triumphant. And it also felt a bit contrived at the end, where we clearly see BS moving pieces where he wants them to have that ending. Especially since he technically didn't need it, as Megan's power already confirmed alternate realities, we didn't need the god for that.

[Orlion Blight he/him]

@Aspiring Writer I agree, Calamity should have felt like so much more... but somehow, it felt like a dud. 

[Aspiring Writer]

Just now, Orlion the Platypus said:

@Aspiring Writer I agree, Calamity should have felt like so much more... but somehow, it felt like a dud. 

yeah, Steelheart was great, and firefight was a little less so, but still great and could've been made better by the sequel. I think BS tried to do too much in one book. Maybe he should made more, or just let it end with Prof's... Oh, I just realized another reason It's bad. Prof recovers in five minutes, which certainly helped the rushed feeling.

[NameIess]

I like Moash. Does that count as controversial?

Edited November 3, 2020 by Nameless

[+Doomstick he/him]

3 hours ago, Nameless said:

I like Moash. Does that count as controversial?

very

[The One Ring she/her]

6 hours ago, Nameless said:

I like Moash. Does that count as controversial?

Not really, I mean I don't hate him

[Snorkel]

12 hours ago, Doomstick said:

very

 

9 hours ago, The One Ring said:

Not really, I mean I don't hate him

Apparently the question of whether it's controversial is controversial!

[+Doomstick he/him]

1 hour ago, Snorkel said:

 

Apparently the question of whether it's controversial is controversial!

if two people like someone, it can still be controversial, Ring's reasoning is flawed

[Mason Wheeler]

40 minutes ago, Doomstick said:

if two people like someone, it can still be controversial, Ring's reasoning is flawed

I don't remember who said this, but "just because you're not alone doesn't mean you're not wrong."  

[+Doomstick he/him]

giving rise or likely to give rise to public disagreement (definition of controversial) Moash is certainly controversial