Schizm

In advance I'd like to apologise for very long post and for mistakes. English is not my 1st langauge. Also couple of things to clarify at the begining: - I'm a huge fan of Cosmere universe and books and read most of them. - I'll be using some comparision to Malazan Book of the Fallen series by Steven Erikson and Discworld series by Terry Pratchett. After finishing Lost Metal last week I have quite a lot of worries when it comes to future of Cosmere books and how to approach them. Not to mention that LM is 2nd book after Rythm of War that makes it difficult for me to recommend the series to new readers. That's also quite the irony because on the surface Cosmere books are easy recommendation - Not only writing is, as usual, fantastic (that being said - exposition dumps in LM were... overwhelming at some points) but also, I honestly don't know if I love or dislike the "new" approach that B. Sanderson have to his books. On personal level I find it hilarious how I can't decide between the two. So why the negative? And why am I worried? I started my adventure with B. Sanderson books with the Way of Kings. Then I picked up it's sequels, Mistborn and finally shorter novels and older books as well. After reading tWoK I also read some insights into Cosmere and I found it really interesing how B.S decided to create separate stories while at the same time keeping some level of connectivity via shared universe. It reminded me of Terry Pratchett's approach. An author who made a canvas for himself by designing entire world to keep a level of cohesiveness and some loose connections but at the same time made sure that stories within the books don't require in-depth knowlage about entire universe. It made it so each book (or series) could be as good as possible - escaping the issue with share universes where the best is kept for the last - but it also gave long time readers some easter eggs and connections. Best of both worlds. But then Mistborn era 2 and Rythm of War happened... And Cosmere-level of knowlage started to feel like necessity rather than addition. Especially Lost Metal and Rythm of War. I know that some folks disagree and I saw argument that you can still make sense about what's going on without knowlage from other series. Or how Marasi in LM serves as readers avatar and we learn things throught her eyes as we go. Well partially I can see that argument being valid. But it's mostly becasue B. Sanderson is skilled writer not because it's good idea IMO. What I mean by that is that exposition dumps are MASSIVE in LM. We are being fed huge amount of Cosmere lore. We're introduced to brand new planets, new magic concepts, new characters, new powers and so much more. And even tho it's all written well (that's the skill) it's still overwhelming and feels like trying to bite more than the book can chew. And for the 1st time reading B. Sanderson book - I felt that main plot suffered a lot because of it. It lost quite a lot of it's focus that I usually find in his books. The worst thing being - The ending. Instead of feeling like proper closure - In the same way Mistborn era 1 felt. I was left with loose ends that I know will be continued in some way in Mistborn era 3... and Stormlight (among other cosmere books). With Stormlight I'm starting to have similar feelings. Thankfully it's still the more focused series, more interested in it's own story but RoW already was a book in which I knew I'd be missing quite a lot if I haven't read other Cosmere books. Like Kelsier/ghostbloods connection. Again - Some people argued against that but this time I can't see this being valid argument. Imagining not knowing who Kelsier was in context of Stormlight opened my eyes to the problem I'm writing about in this post. I would be missing HUGE amout of potential consequences that might happen in the future books. So - What's the real problem I have? Well let's start with quality of each book. I love B. Sanderson books. I'm always waiting like crazy for new ones, tWoK is one of my favorite books of all time etc. That being said LM was, IMO, one of his weakest books overall and weakest book in the "main" series (Mistborn/Stormlight/Elantris) for the resons I mentioned before - Instead of feeling like a proper closure where author "gave it all" it felt like exposition dump with the best "yet to come". Like one of those Marvel movies before Avengers. Holding back because all budget will to the grand finale. Another problem I have is focus. Stormlight especially was very focused series for the first 2 books. It was dealing with gods, heroes, magic etc. - Sure, but even knowing about Cosmere it always felt like Stormlight is more interested in it's own conflict between protagonists and Odium. Now tho - It also starts to feel like preparation for more cosmic-scale of event with Mistborn and Stormligh coliding in near future. It's especially problematic in LM - There were some points of the book where I could almost see B. Sanderson being more interested in introducing new magic system knowing he'll use it in other book series instead of focusing on the main story. That was... Not good. Then there's complexity. I read Malazan Book of the Fallen multiple times. A series that's famous for it's complexity and depth. It's also perfect example of complexity done right. It requires a LOT of attention but it never feel disjointed or forced. It also counts on readers attention and not on dumping massive amount of info without context expecting reader to just "rememer it all" I don't have that feeling with recent Cosmere books. LM and RoW feel different than previous B. Sanderson books. Almost like he previously wanted to have more separate stories with some loose connections to Cosmere but at some point he decided "actually, I do want a full on crossovers and cosmic level of events between them all!" I don't know if that's true of course. I just get that feeling from his recent books. And finally - Recommendations. Couple years ago if anyone would ask me about book recommendation I'd easly say "anything from B. Sanderson!" but now... I'm reluctant to do so. Instead of "pick up any series and have time of your life!" it became "pick up any series... and then another series... and then a shorter novela" and I find it difficult to honestly say to folks to read all those books knowing just how massive commitment it is. To close this of. The irony - The irony is that like I said at the begining. I don't know if I like it or not. On one hand I love the books, writing, characters and lore. I'm exited for each new book and I'm invested in what's gonna happen next. On the other - I miss the focus and "giving it all" in each series instead of dumping massive amout of information "for the future". Anyway - I know this is the new reality of Cosmere books and my post won't change a thing. I just don't have anyone to share my thoughts with so I hope it's okay to write post this long in here. I do apologise for it's length. Worst case scenario - Use it as a perfect way to go to sleep;)