VirtuousTraveller

As a mental health professional, I have been grappling with my reactions to Wind and Truth. Up until this book, I have been incredibly amazed at how the stories told in the first three books of the Stormlight Archive present mental health challenges. Even in Rhythm of War, the impact of The Dog and the Dragon is incredibly powerful. They're immensely inspiring books, and that inspiration happens with this beautiful fantasy backdrop with compelling characters and plot lines. Wind and Truth, in contrast to this, mashes together a bunch of generalizations/boilerplate wisdom about life and presents this as “therapy” – and not just any therapy, but newly invented first of its kind therapy that’s so effective that it heals a lifetime of intensely pervasive trauma in Szeth, thousands of years of trauma in Nale, and supernaturally-Odium Juice-fueled thousands of years of trauma in Ishar. In less than 10 days (and in less than a few moments/exchanges for some of these characters). I’ve seen some folks refer to this as “self-help book” content, or “Tik Tok/Instagram-level therapy,” but I want to present this more cohesively, because the criticism from my opinion is not wrong, but it also makes it too easy to dismiss as “haters gonna hate/Brandon writes his books to be accessible to a wider audience so of course it’s going to sound this way/his prose has always been basic etc etc etc.” As an example, I think a core mental health message Wind and Truth is telling us it’s trying to deliver (yes, read that again because a lot of this content feels "preachy") is captured in the three rules Kaladin gives to Szeth (Chapter 66): You are not a thing. You get to choose. You deserve to be happy. I don’t think this message is executed clearly throughout the book however, and because it’s mixed in with SO MUCH other (air quotes) “mental health stuff” (and some downright eyeroll-level dialogue), it all landed as flat and cringey. Here’s what I mean - this is a list of “mental health stuff” themes I found in reviewing the Kaladin-Szeth Shinovar plot line; there are others in other plot lines, but this illustrates what I’m reacting to: Let’s Just Talk about It (Find someone. Talk. Grow. It’s worth the effort, all right?) Just Listen (this isn’t the part where you talk. Just listen…) Eat Stew Together (the mythical power of stew) Seeing Someone Else Do It Helps Inspire Others to Do It (But stand. Kaladin. DID) Think Differently (Dark Brain/Warrior Thoughts) Life Isn’t Always Black and White (I believe a man can be both) Make Your Own Choices (Tell Your Own Story) Try Something Different (How is that working out for you?) It Might Not Fix It, But It Might Make It Better Your Past/Trauma Isn’t an Excuse, but an Explanation Don’t Give Up (You have to practice it every day) Don’t Be a Bully (This attitude you put on? You think it makes you appear strong, but it doesn’t) Just Be Better (Do better – try to fix the problem) Perspective Makes a Difference (I find it so much easier from the air) Focus on the Now (We need to focus on the now) We All Need Help Sometimes (Sometimes even ruthless assassins need a hug) You are Not a Thing (You. Are. Not. A. Thing.) Self-Care is Important (You’ll do more good if you take care of yourself as well) How Do You Feel? (SO. MUCH. HOW DO YOU FEEL could a more cliché phrase be used) We’re The Same, You and I (I’ve had that same problem; I’ve felt the same) So much softly spoken whispering is exchanged in this book it warrants its own bullet point (that's what therapy is folks - whispering softly) In addition to these mental health/healing fixes, there’s also deus ex machina magic (which isn't therapy, but it mostly performs the same function as this other stuff): Magical Flute and Wind Music 5th Ideal Stormlight Darkness Push-Away Power Nightblood Chapter 139 was the climax of this Kaladin helping Szeth plot line. “Seeing someone else resist helped” was the mental health message that was impacting Szeth, Syl, and even Ishar – all as Kaladin resisted the darkness. When Ishar asks “What are you?” Kaladin responds, “I’m just an old spear who wouldn’t break,” which is a great (and appropriate) callback to Kaladin’s confrontation with Amaram in Oathbringer. A few lines later, though, Ishar again asks (for the second time in a few minutes of time) “What are you?” and this is where the moment – and this arc – falls apart for me. The criticism this book gets for treating mental health differently than earlier Stormlight books is completely valid. This book ditches any subtext or nuance or interwoven flashbacks that tie directly into the tension of the next chapter and replaces it with: Seriously, in Chapter 66, as Szeth is openly weeping, embracing Kaladin in a full moment of complete brokenness, we get this cutesy little exchange: Grinning. Double thumbs-up. Even ruthless assassins need hugs too guys. If anyone draws strength to carry on through times of personal adversity from this book, that’s great (I guess - this book really didn't land for me). But as someone who does actual mental health treatment with real human beings, this book felt very much like a surface level, light dusting of content snow of what dealing with trauma (or any adversity) actually looks like. I don’t use the word cringey lightly – but that “I’m his therapist” exchange between Kaladin and Ishar will always overshadow all the cool cosmere lore we got in this book (mostly in the last 200 pages), at least in my mind. That’s hard to say, especially because I know that Brandon is trying very hard to be genuine (and apparently had professional sensitivity readers sign off on this), but “I deserve peace. I deserve to be happy. I will let myself enjoy living.” "think good thoughts and don’t think bad thoughts" picture of what “therapy” is just lands hollow for me as a practitioner of this way of helping people. I’m not being unfair - literally a quote from the book: And Kaladin as a therapist? Szeth introspected it best: Kaladin kept going, which is inspiring when that means he’s the spear that didn’t break, or when he’s the man standing up in the face of adversity…but it’s the worst when he's the one who won’t stop spitting out every therapy cliché in the book. AND that’s my cue to stop going, because this is a long post. The Way of Kings, Words of Radiance, and Oathbringer will be books I recommend to anyone anywhere (and have had clients share that these books help inspire their own journey of recovery; they’ve certainly helped in my own journey). Rhythm of War is fine if you’re ready to shift away from inspirational character story to more fantasy in the same universe (and has a couple inspirational moments peppered in there). I sadly can’t say the same about Wind and Truth.

Was the power being ripped a “damage” that translated to Taravangian when he took up Odium? We see Rayse struggling to control the power, and what may be allusions to this damage he endured while fighting Ambition, but Taravangian didn’t seem to experience anything related to this yet.

I think that’s the pandering I’m reacting to - not so much "nostalgia-baiting," but what I would define as more of a “fan service” that comes across like “fan fiction” and less as well-executed literature. Kaladin saying “Honor’s dead, but I’ll see what I can do” again in WaT is an example of this - it was meant more as a nod to the fans than it was executed as part of the story. The execution of “easter eggs” in The Lost Metal like "he he Moonlight and her friend Code-Names-Are-Stupid wink did you notice it’s the girl from The Emperor’s Soul nudge nudge." These aren’t allusions to what came before, or subtext, or subtle mystery-building like was executed well, for example, with Azure in Oathbringer. It feels like cheap or poorly executed “hey look see I referenced another cosmere work!” that, to me, feels like "pandering" fan service. Another example of this is the leaning into “humor” that has become more pronounced in characters like Lift and Wayne and Design. Lines like “Adolin were you a slut?” or describing a character as having “edgy tattoos and black fingernails” come across to me as “pandering” to the fans, and not in a way that fit the worldbuilding or story. “Look you can see yourself in my writing!” to me, doesn’t feel genuine when it exists in these throw away one off lines. I do think some of the "look you can see yourself in my writing!" is coming from a good place, but I just don't think it's executed well. While R&R was a little juvenile of a romance (let's be honest, I wouldn't say romance in general is Brandon's strongest tool in his toolbelt), I felt this was less pandering than the forced fan service. R&R's relationship felt less pandering in my opinion than the image of Shallan "hopping up and down, squealing in excitement" seeing them together. That broke the immersion of the moment in an immature way for a character who is in the midst of assassinating two assassins who are trying to release a demigod from thousands of years of imprisonment, while also grappling with remembering...she killed her mother...who triggered the start of this entire conflict/True Desolation....but yes, squealing in excitement. ::shaking my head:: I don't think that's where my observations are coming from. Like I said, I think Brandon is trying to be inclusive from a far more sincere place than how recent MCU productions for example have been executing inclusivity. I don't think he executes it well, but I wouldn't say his efforts of inclusion is pandering (which I admit is a word that is probably ideologically charged these days, and maybe isn't the perfect fit as a result of that ideological charge for what I'm trying to capture with these comments). Since I just referenced Rlain, consider two examples: Rlain telling people he likes to play towers in RoW to show he’s an individual, not just whatever stereotype people see him as, was a nice piece of both worldbuilding, and tapped into the story themes like being your authentic self. That felt relatable to anyone who has been judged for something surface level. In WaT, however, there were SO many repetitive references to "towers" that, while it COULD have just been a lack of editing (which I think in many ways it was, to your point), felt like a set up for the eventual Dragonsteel release of an official set of Towers(TM) rules and products for the fan base so they can play Towers(TM) too. To me, that’s what I mean by the influences of the Shard of Capitalism. Is it what the fans want? Maybe some of them. I love that Brandon is trying to be so responsive to his fans (I cherish my personalized books from days gone by, since that’s just not a thing anymore). But I feel like all the “stuff/merch” is coming at the same time as he’s Ascending into a larger audience/market, and the quality of writing hasn’t been as solid as that’s happened. I as a fan want quality writing more than I do all the other stuff that's been coming along with it. That doesn't mean I don't think it's cool that some of this stuff exists - I just don't want to see the quality of writing fall off as the rest of this stuff becomes more prominent. I certainly hope this is true. I didn't realize Tor wasn't providing editorial support anymore - that provides some meaningful context to the quality of writing we've seen lately (Dragonsteel is doing A LOT of things in house these days). I've seen other folks agree that the increased humor (which is admittedly subjective) just doesn't land for them either, and to me, that isn't exclusively a matter of editing. I stand by some of these examples being cringey. That said, getting feedback from beyond the most dedicated fans who will eat it up no matter what it is would benefit the final product (no matter who the author is). So, all that said - "pandering" meaning Brandon is incorporating more "badly written easter eggs/fan fiction quality execution" in the name of fan service in recent works, and coupled with the lack of editing, this has led to a less than enjoyable experience for me.

Oh man you’re right - it must be because I’m using my phone for some of these posts! I’ll try to edit when I’m on my laptop My friend, your post is beautifully written, and I want to respond more when I’m not on my phone, but I think you’re helping me to fine tune my reactions to WaT. I truly love this author and his creations and have enjoyed being a part of the fandom because of conversations like this I don’t take a respectful back and forth as insulting at all @DiePie, and I appreciate your thoughts and the time you spent responding!

Didn’t Ishar basically confirm that there was nothing to see on the islands in the story of the Wandersail? He said he went looking and didn’t find anything, and as far as a being with powers and abilities to find things, you’d think he’d know. I was hoping to learn what “the Origin” was in this, but now that the storms have changed forever, I don’t know that it matters anymore.

“Buddy, we need to work on your presentation.” This is not how Shallan speaks. I felt that way often in this book too.

While I stand by my comments, I think my post could have benefited from some editing to better articulate my thoughts. Wind and Truth did not feel like a polished book. Because Brandon has an expansive bibliography of high quality work over a decade plus of published books, the distinct differences in polish are easier to notice in recent releases. Because these differences seem less based on intentional, creative purpose (the volume of modern phrases and non-Rosharan swear words, as an example), we have to ask “why?” How does it make the story/worldbuilding better to go from in world swear words like “damnation” and “storms” and…not replace it, but randomly throw in “holy h**l” and “the Passions are absolute horses**t?” Every instance of swear words in this book took me out of the immersion of the story, and it sounded like a kid who doesn’t swear trying to swear to sound cool. The lack of subtext is also disorienting in Wind and Truth - everything is over (or unnecessarily) described. For a series that used themes like mental health with such nuance at the start (think of the windrunner ideals and the moments leading up to their reveal in Kaladin’s story), the polish is absent. The plot line is “Kaladin is going to be a therapist” and so the story is written as “go and talk to Szeth to make him better, wow talking to Szeth is hard, but here’s some surface level generalizations about life” - and in ten days of “talking and stew” this heals a lifetime of trauma in Szeth, it heals thousands of years of trauma in Nale, and in the climax of this “Kaladin as therapist” story, the dialogue between he and Ishar is downright awkward and cringey. There is no subtext. The concept isn’t “wounded warrior as healer” - that would imply a depth that isn’t present in this story as written. It starts as Kaladin “becoming the world’s first therapist” (WaT page 51) and ends with “I’m his therapist” (WaT page 1256). Ishar’s reaction in that moment - “Ishar blinked” - was how I reacted. The moment was clearly building to be “something,” but ended with “…what is that?” and “I honestly have no idea.” Exactly what I thought. If you cut that dialogue out entirely, the scene almost works BETTER. Just leave it at that “seeing someone else resist helped.” We didn’t need a cheesy “You can’t have my pain” styled moment that tells us nothing new - we all knew Kaladin was trying to help Szeth. This moment didn’t spark goosebumps like polished Brandon has done in the past - I rolled my eyes hard. I don’t even know who this dialogue was written for - it’s maybe(?) an attempt at humor, and all it does is dampen the confrontation (and makes it even more cringey when it isn’t talk therapy that helps - but magic infused 5th Ideal Connection surging that “heals” the Heralds). I’m a huge fan of the cosmere, I’ve preordered every book since Oathbringer, and I’ve backed the crowdfunding every time. I’m not coming from a cynical troll perspective - I’m a Yankees fan watching Aaron Judge drop a routine fly ball in the World Series. It just doesn’t make sense. WaT needed more editing, and as a super fan, I would have been perfectly happy to wait another 6 months for a more polished product to release. In my opinion, the shift to “Brand”on Sanderson(TM) is contributing to editorial laxness. Either WaT was rushed through editing, the editing wasn’t taken seriously, or a sense of “it doesn’t matter they’ll buy it anyway” has leaked in as Dragonsteel is caught up trying to fulfill tens of thousands of orders of fans who will pay top dollar for next product (still waiting for my WoR learherbound). My hope is that the next cosmere releases will return to a more polished final product. I say that respectfully, with great appreciation for an author who has helped inspire not just my own love of reading, but so many other people too.

Journey before destination. This is a core message of The Stormlight Archive. But having finished Wind and Truth, as a culmination of my fourth reread of The Stormlight Archive, I am sad to say that it seems the journey no longer seems as important as certain destinations that have emerged as gospel (Shards-pel?) in the stories of the cosmere. The destinations I see as taking over are Production, Product, and Pandering - and these three Intents are all part of (in my opinion) Brandon taking up the Shard of Cap-Ita-Lism (and being sucked in by these Intents hard). Production - It's like the "brand" of Brandon being a high volume author has become more important than the quality of the work he produces. There has been a distinct shift in quality as we've seen so. many. books. being pumped out over the last couple of years. This has led to The Lost Metal reading like poorly written fan fiction, and Wind and Truth reading like a bloated middle school self-help book. We have a release schedule and so WOW LOOK HOW MANY seems to be the target rather than WOW THIS IS SO GOOD. Wind and Truth being so long seemed a more important destination than the journey we take from the first to the last page. Product - Dragonsteel is pumping out more than books; we've got MERCH and EVENTS now. We've got socks. We've got coins. We've got tabletop games and miniature figurines. We've got letter openers and bandaids. We've got crowdfunding that crashes websites and scalpers reselling items at huge markups. The cosmere has been commercialized and as if leatherbound rereleases of his own books wasn't enough, now we learn that Dragonsteel will be rereleasing leatherbound editions of The Wheel of Time. Listen, this is all neat - but considering the decline in writing quality as all of this has increased, it's like the destination of sales is more important than the destination of quality stories. Pandering - So. Much. Pandering. The Lost Metal. The Sunlit Man. Wind and Truth. So many sections of these books read like fan fiction. Brandon's prose has always been "accessible," but now we're throwing in swear words? It isn't "damnation" - now we're throwing out "d*mn" and "horses**t" and "Brightness Navani would never spend so much time staring at my a**". We've got they/them. We've got edgy tattoos and black fingernails. We've got "filled out the proper forms to be a man instead of a woman." "Adolin, were you a SLUT?" Check it out the greatest hits reappear - "Honor is dead but I'll see what I can do" makes a comeback (just like "the next step" and "a hypocrite is just a man in the process of changing" and "the sun isn't shining today but that doesn't mean it won't shine again and there's a bit difference"). He he more Lift poop jokes ha ha oh she's HORNY now tee hee. LOOK MENTAL HEALTH SEE (the amount of cringe I experienced in reading the exchange between Kaladin and Ishar, in what was supposed to be a climax moment, is almost impossible to capture in words: I don't post this to hate on Brandon, but I also think it's important that the fandom call things out when we experience them. Wind and Truth was not a fun journey, and the destination was alright - I'm just sad it took 1,000 pages until the book started reading like Stormlight 5 (and not a bunch of never-ending Adolin internal dialogues playing an imaginary board game that I'm SURE will be sold by Dragonsteel at some point in the future). The destination was alright - I'm not unhappy with the story/plot/character end points at the conclusion of this book, but getting there? This was a hard book to finish. I'll praise Brandon for so many things, and his stories have truly had a significant impact on my life. That said, I can't get behind much positive praise for Wind and Truth. It felt like all of the capitalism with a side of the cosmere. That's coming from someone who owns the leatherbounds and stood in line to meet Brandon years ago at a bookstore. In looking at the State of the Sanderson, I am so relieved that no (substantial) cosmere work is slotted to release for several years. I really hope this pause will give the writing more time to percolate, and for the quality to return to what Brandon gave us in Mistborn Era 1, and the first three Stormlight books, and in Warbreaker, and The Emperor's Soul.

On my reread leading up to WaT, I have felt this way about Shallan more and more. In WoR we learn her backstory, which is great. Except it isn't the whole story. Now in RoW, it's "no, can't think about that right now it's too hard" when it is clearly something related to the plot. Constantly using the "not right now, I'm too busy/distressed to think thoughts" tool also grows a bit overused.

I'm in the midst of my reread of Rhythm of War in preparation for Wind and Truth, and the interaction between Adolin and Shallan in Shadesmar strikes the silly-quality prose balance really well. Adolin's story about his first crush and not understanding the inuendo implied by "sword" is silly, but the prose articulates his conflict about the pretty girl being mean to his disabled brother so beautifully (and not cheap): THAT'S quality literature right there. It melds into the larger themes and philosophy woven throughout the Stormlight Archive about appearances not always being true to what someone (or something) truly is on the inside/at their core/in the Spiritual Realm etc (i.e. slave is a radiant, Blackthorn is a monster, kings doing things that are unkinglike, Shallan being more than the personas/illusions she creates). Brandon is a quirky person - I wouldn't expect this to never shine through in his work, especially as he becomes more comfortable with a larger audience that frees him to be himself more and more (both financially and fandom-wise). I just hope the execution of his writing comes through more consistently like this moment (ha ha sword penis joke ha...BUT ALSO wow it's actually a really impactful moment for the characters that aligns with the logic and emotional development of the story and its characters).

I'm not criticizing manga/anime or video games. I believe these media forms are great for storytelling and I enjoy them myself. I'm describing a shift in tone that leans more into "snippy silly quirky" that has slipped into poorly executed writing that relies on a smaller subset of the fandom for validation that it's "good." I'm also a Stephen King fan, so I'm not above potty humor. That said, seeing that Lift is crackin' stormin' sillies about farting, and then saying this is done to show a contrast between maturity and immaturity - this feels like a cheap way to illustrate that contrast. That doesn't mean some people aren't going to laugh at Lift or Design or didja see didja see he he ho ho poop! If it was just a single character, or even a single story, ok. But it's been an expanding presence in the cosmere, and it's been this "cartoon-y" reduction of stories that stands in contrast to how strong these stories started in earlier books. Quality fantasy literature is different than Spongebob. They can both be enjoyed for what they are - I just hope we see a reverse in the trend that expects a larger population of readers to take it seriously.

I almost think it's the opposite. To be fair, I fully recognize that every group of fans is made up of people from diverse backgrounds, interests, etc, so what doesn't work for me DOESN'T mean it isn't working for SOMEONE. That said, I feel (and boy I don't want this to hit anyone the wrong way) Sanderson is leaning WAY more into the anime culture versus serious prose. Mistborn literally rekindled my love of reading almost a decade ago, and I've held up Brandon's work as our generation's Tolken when talking to other people. That's how well-executed Mistborn Era 1, The Alloy of Law, Stormlight 1 and 2 (arguably even 3), Elantris, Warbreaker, and the cosmere short stories and novellas seemed to be (especially with the interconnectedness of the stories, which didn't feel cheap or gimmicky - it felt like a real mystery I wanted to uncover). Someone else said it above - while all the merch is "kind of" cool, this "commercialization of the cosmere" is cheapening it, and the stories and characters feel more gimmicky and flat as a result. I am so grateful to Brandon for inspiring my love for reading, and I've seen him do the same for so many people in my life. I just hate to see a shift from legitimately quality literature to a very subculture niche that appeals almost exclusively to the quirky and intensely invested fans of this specific author. This shift is bad for everyone - the subculture suffers from content that is basically just fan fiction (and not well executed fan fiction based on recent work), and the broader reading community suffers from a higher threshold for quirkiness to engage with the work. I grumble about Lift a lot, and if it was a one off "let's let Brandon cook and see the payoff" example, I wouldn't feel this way. But reading Edgedancer, watching the quality of Wayne's writing fall in line with the quirky (versus witty), and seeing the chunks of "silly" fan fiction in The Lost Metal (and The Sunlit Man), it's harder to ignore. And I'd say don't get me started on Design (who is the next iteration of "he he ho ho, laugh see are you laughing because funny ha ha") but: So glad we've got more Design in the future (::sarcasmspren appears::). Oh and Lift is a major character in the back 5 of Stormlight? Just watch - we're going to see a KICKSTARTER EXCLUSIVE shardfork (which is just a fork, with some etching), Roshar's favorite 10th variety Aunt Gem-Mai-ma pancakes, and straight from the Noodle Pupil syrup that's SO YUMI it'll RAYSE your BEU by it's over 9,000! (I can say that last bit, because I'm tying this while wearing a Super Saiyan Goku costume today - it's Halloween afterall!) Brandon, I love you, but it's ok (I say, knowing he'll read this). I'm not mad, just worried. The intent of the Shard of Ca-Pi-Talism you're holding is warping your thoughts. You can sell socks. You can host conventions. That's ok - it really is! But I implore you - don't JUST sell us products - write stories to fill the gaps in our spirit webs and make our collective body of human literature better. Mike drop.

AMEN!

I am avoiding the preview chapters so I can get my reread in before Wind and Truth releases, but this has been my experience with Mistborn too. It was SO good, and then we get to The Lost Metal, and the humor, the easter eggs, etc all just felt...forced in there for fan service. That was a real shame, because the plot elements of the story were decent. But characters like Wayne (who was great early in era 2) and Lift and Design are becoming too cartoon-character-esk to the point of obnoxious at worst, and "I guess I just don't think Brandon is very funny" at best. Ugh yeah. Starvin' this and ha ha shard fork that get it because pancakes he he

My reaction to this leaked chapter was a relief that Brandon's writing felt like Stormlight again. The Sunlit Man didn't read or sound like a Stormlight book at all (I know Brandon was experimenting with voice and the Secret Projects were their own thing), but I've had concerns about the quality of cosmere writing becoming more like the way Brandon wrote Alcatraz (not bad, just different and too silly for my taste; The Lost Metal humor etc). This feels like a return to form, or perhaps just a return of the form of Brandon I like best

How this man continues to churn out such imaginative stories with rich world building and characters is magic in itself. Brandon, this secret project was outstanding. Thank you for sharing it with us! My main reactions are captured in what Coriniroc said above, and are less about Yumi and the Nightmare Painter and more about this phase of Brandon’s work in general: I 100% agree! That said, I felt the cosmere references were SIGNIFICANTLY better incorporated than they were in The Lost Metal. Seeing how these references were used in Tress and now Yumi, I feel very confident that Brandon has the ability to pepper with finesse - The Lost Metal was rushed and didn’t live up to the years of waiting, to me specifically because of the cosmere reference dumping that made it almost unreadable in places. I haven’t liked Design from the beginning, and while I admit that she was less obnoxious than she in previous entries, I still just can’t stand the unsubtle “I’m outrageous and annoying but it’s silly so LAUGH HA HA!” trope that became more prominent in Wayne, is becoming so in Lift, and was a primary color throughout Frugal Wizard. Hoid likewise has moments where it’s just too much, not because Hoid isn’t a “too much” character (I think we all know he’s absolutely meant to be “that guy”), but when Brandon seems to be trying too hard to make him sound too much. The little asides (not every one) sound like a fan fiction version of who Hoid has been up to this point. At least no one yelled “hot damn!” in this story! Those points out of the way, there’s really nothing to dislike in Yumi - the tragedy was strong, and the hidden backstory as to why Painter didn’t have any friends was well executed. It felt overly emo at points, but that’s the genre this felt like intentionally, and it came through organically. This is a book I’ll reread again in the future for sure!

I know I'm a bit late to the reaction on this (but to be fair, my book only arrived a week or two ago), but some thoughts I didn't see from others here: Mythology - there was a very cosmere-like mythology presented in this story, however this thought is less about the quality of the mythology (it was ok) and more that I appreciated that my mind has now become primed to question myths BECAUSE of Brandon's use of mythology in other stories. I assumed Black Bear was another "upstream" person who somehow came to this dimension at some point in the past (and if Brandon wrote it that way on purpose, congrats you did great - if not, I'd say missed opportunity, but it didn't take away from the story that this wasn't expanded upon). No Memory Trope - as a big fan of Project Hail Mary, I felt A LOT of the spirit of this story was pulled inspiration-wise from this, and I'm really thankful Brandon highlighted that in the afterword. Language - I swear every time the words "Hot Damn!" or "Hell" appeared it felt out of place and it took me out of the flow of the story (I cringe even typing this). These little interjections didn't feel genuine at all, and so it was swearing for the sake of making a character seem tough because they swear (I guess?) Overall not the worst book I've ever read, and I was generally satisfied at the end. I don't think this needs a sequel or a connection to anything else - it stands alone pretty well for what it tries to accomplish!

I had this exact same reaction when I read this. It felt like it was at least alluding to Kalad's Phantoms!

Absolutely 100% agree - elegance is a fantastic way to contrast how I feel Brandon has done this kind of cosmere connection work when it goes well, and in TLM it did not feel elegant.

I love how long this exchange went on until Brandon was finally like, "fans, just let it go. It was a just a comment I made once."

While I think TLM did a less than stellar job articulating Autonomy's motivations and behaviors, I would say that Autonomy wouldn't just unilaterally destroy Scadrial because that would be a violation of the people who live there's autonomy and agency. It would be ok if Autonomy could influence/manipulate the people into destroying themselves. Maybe? Also, was Trell an actual Avatar/splinter in this book, or was it specifically Autonomy/Bavadin that was meddling directly?

Don't get me wrong - yes, I would love to see the eventual crossover epic Marvel Endgame-like cosmere extravaganza. One of Brandon's best writing qualities is his ability to build up a story (or collection of stories) into a grand climax with incredible payoffs (think about how the flashbacks in any of the Stormlight Archive books feed into the building momentum of how each book finally concludes). Knowing that this is what I think makes Brandon so incredible is what made TLM feel off to me. Instead of building up to anything, the cosmere references felt included for...I don't know, fan service maybe? I know there's a connection to all these stories, but TLM in that middle section of the book managed to include references to Mistborn Era 1, Mistborn: Secret History, Elantris, The Emperor's Soul, Warbreaker, White Sand, The Stormlight Archive, the Aethers, Odium, Autonomy, splintering, slivers, Investiture, perpendicularities, Sho Del, and probably some I'm missing. Weaving storylines together is what Brandon does well. I thought Mistborn: Secret History was a fantastic example of Brandon weaving together crossover moments in a way that added to the story. Consider another example (reference to Stormlight Archive coming): My hope is that the eventual crossover will be more like Avengers Endgame (wow look at that it all paid off), and less like Marvel Phase 4 (leaning almost entirely on crossover and "look it all fits together it's a shared universe" at the expense of everything else). I said it. That's my opinion and it is what it is I totally hear you on this point, and I'm trying to be fair that what didn't work for me might work well for other people. What my "fan fiction" characterization is considering is that rather than Wayne being portrayed as a humorous character, he came across as a caricature of himself (i.e. "he-he fart joke" and "silly Wayne throwing his money away on ridiculous investments like electricity and the sports/entertainment industry!") Wayne had some really, really solid moments in this book, but I felt like where the plot/story wasn't as full as I felt it should be, it was full/stuffed with "oh look at that Wayne character, remember he's the funny one everyone!" content.

I want to say I liked TLM, because there were moments that I truly did enjoy. I think I’m seeing lots of similar feelings though to my overall reaction to some of the “overstuffed/overplayed” nature of the story… The middle section of TLM in particular felt almost like a fan fiction, as did the “big bad” reveal early in the story. Then again, we’ve got a bunch of really committed fans who pour over the books and interviews and Word of Brandon that by the time a book comes out, statistically it’s likely that the fan community will guess at least some of what’s coming next. Consider the difference between: I love Brandon’s writings, and I’ve loved all the cosmere books so far. That said, TLM fell a bit flat. No author will hit it out of the park 100% of the time, and Brandon has certainly spoiled us with nonstop high quality material so far. The argument that he enjoys doing multiple projects all at the same time because it’s his process, when the messy quality of TLM is what we get after waiting six years, makes me question the process a bit now. I’m glad he’s taking more time to get Stormlight 5 right.

@Chaos you may not know this, but as a huge fan of all things Brandon Sanderson, I am very moved by the fact that “Eric from the Shardcast” actually responded to a post I made on here =) I feel so special! Sincerely, thank you good sir, and thanks to all of you who work to maintain this incredible fandom community! It’s so much fun to be a part of a legend of literature like Brandon in real time with other people who love it too!

Hi everyone! I don't recall this being announced anywhere, so I apologize if this is old news, but there's a cyber Monday deal for all three Mistborn leatherbound books right now on brandonsanderson.com!