Favorite Brandon Sanderson Story

[Bloodfalcon]

Let's do it. Let's get in this deep.

The big question, as stated in the title: What is your favorite Brandon Sanderson story?

I used the word "story" on purpose. It does not have to be a full novel. Heck, it doesn't even have to be a book. But make sure that whatever it is that you name, you prefer it to all other Sanderson stories. 

Let's hold to these rules:

- You can name up to three stories, but they need to be ranked. First, second, third.

 

- No middle ground answers like "I can't decide between ___ and ____." If you can't decide, don't name them. If that is the case, just name your favorite two, or one, or NONE. Feel free to include details on reasoning for those you do end up ranking.

 

- Take it easy on yourself. It is not a crime to love some things more than others. You can play favorites here without hurting anyone's feelings. 

 

I'll start

 

1: The Gathering Storm: Not 100% Brandon work, but he wrote it and the writing was noticeably helpful with my enjoyment of the story. I cannot even explain how relieved I was when I looked up from the book about 30% in and realized things were going even better than expected. It began a much needed increase in pace and held one of my favorite scenes of all 14 books - the reveal of a certain Aes Sedai's double agency. It felt like more than a desperate attempt to finish up a story to appease fans. It really felt like a book filled with enough attention to truly honor Robert Jordan. A feeling that earned Brandon my respect and ultimately hooked me on the rest of these great stories. 

 

2: The Way of Kings (e-book format) - Definitely my favorite Brandon original. Probably has something to do with the raw content amount. Both in the number of pages and level of detail built into each concept. I like the characters, world, magic- everything. E-book format allows jumping from chapter to chapter (which can be difficult with a hardcover when the book is so big) and my favorite tool in the world: CTRL+F!!!!!

3. The Alloy of Law - Takes what I love about the first trilogy and speeds it all up. Fast paced, full of action, and has characters I deeply enjoy (while keeping a tidy cast list). It delivers on a dream I have for many of the universes I love; it gives a glimpse of what the results and consequences are years after some original world changing events. 

I could write and write on why I love these books, but I tried to keep it as brief as possible. 

[Argent]

The Way of Kings, hands down. That book is a piece of art.

[Mailliw73]

Well, according to Bloodfalcon's rules, I cannot post any favorites here. Too many to decide from. But...

1.The Way of Kings- a masterpiece

2. The Final Empire- the way it introduces the magic system and the characters in that one. Plus it's the "overtake the empire" plot, which in like how he implemented it.

3. Everything else.

[bartbug]

1. Way of Kings, Hardcover. There's just something about that massive fantasy book in your lap that almost seems magical. Oh, and the book is fantastic, too.

2. Alloy of Law. Literature, I think the mistborn trilogy is better, but AoL gives this strange sense of catharsis and nostalgia that it feels like coming home to your mother's homecooked food, all while you are reading something hilarious and immensely entertaining.

3. Emperor's Soul. This book's message about art is just profound. It has all of Brandon's skill and message in writing, but condensed and made concise, which really is the goal of novel telling.

[Kurkistan]

1. The Way of Kings

-It's quite nice. Brandon keeps getting stronger and stronger as a writer, and this is the book that really let him stretch his legs.

 

2. Mistborn: The Final Empire

-A head above the rest of the Mistborn books, in my opinion, and still one of my favorites.

 

3. The Emperor's Soul

-Simply a thoroughly excellent work. The pacing is tight, the writing fluid, the characters and magic interesting...

Edited December 5, 2013 by Kurkistan

[bookspren]

1. The Way of Kings. The first Sanderson book I ever read, and it was enough to make me a dedicated fan of me. The worst thing I can say about it is that it's too short.  I have not read anything in contemporary fantasy half as immersive and mind-blowing. And I thought Syl was the most wonderful sidekick.

 

2. The Final Empire. Kelsier is one of my all-time favorite characters: on the good side, with good motives, but not always good methods. He really got me thinking.

 

3. The Hero of Ages. I really enjoyed Spook's POV and realizing how much was going on in his head all the time I had dismissed him as just another side character. And Sazed; he may not have many action sequences, but I loved the depth of his character. He has such strength and courage under a calm, gentle exterior.

[FeatherWriter]

I used to say that my favorite Branderson book was whichever one I'd read most recently, and while that's still kinda true I do have a few stand out faves.

 

1. The Way of Kings - Not only is it a wonderful book with characters and plot points that blow my mind (and only the first of greatness to come) but it's also shaped a lot of my personal philosophy. Kaladin's struggle to help Bridge 4, Dalinar's dedication to what is right in the face of a society that is convinced he's mad for it, the parables of the in-universe The Way of Kings, all of them are now things which I have actively allowed to affect the way that I act and interact with the world. (And then I discovered Renarin... but we're not going into that here. Y'all are well aware of my feelings on Renarin, I'm sure.)

 

2. Mistborn: The Final Empire - My first Branderson novel and it still holds a very close spot in my heart. I think it's Brandon's "tightest" novel, so to speak. It's almost always the one I recommend to others when trying to get them into the cosmere. It's gripping, fast, funny, epic, powerful, and unexpected. Dramatic highs and lows, a hook that grabs immediately, a fascinating magic system, plot twists that no one sees coming, character development for everyone, a sweet romance if that's your thing, and a killer female protagonist. The narrative arc is nigh-well perfect and everything's just exactly in the right place. Superb novel execution.

 

3. Infinity Blade: Redemption - This one should probably be Warbreaker, but I'm gonna do IB for reasons. It's one of Brandon's works that I know not a lot of people have read and I just love it. Honestly, I thought Brandon making me feel sympathetic for TLR was bad in HoA, but it's got nothing on the Raidriar arc. (UGH RAIDRIAR FEELS NO BRANDON WHY.) Siris and Isa are just wonderful together and Siris and Raidriar's relationship is so interestingly complex. Also, I'm a sucker for sci-fi that looks like high-fantasy. Also the games are completely fantastic (especially in their handling of Isa as a female character), not to mention incredibly fun, and the novellas just take that and tell these wonderful stories with them. Really guys. Check out Infinity Blade. It's incredible.

[Bloodfalcon]

Well, I know it is a small sample size, but I think Brandon can take comfort in his decision on which series should be his focus. After you tell the world you are going to write ten of them, it must feel like hitting the lottery when it is at the top of everyone's list.

[Ete'ni]

.

Edited June 10, 2014 by Ete'ni

[Aether]

Ok, time for my list:

1. The Way of Kings: No doubt. The book was a Christmas present from my sister, who had heard me babble about the death of Robert Jordan and how Brandon Sanderson would finish it for him. She recognized the name at a book store right after tWoK came out, and bought the book thinking I would like it. I thought it was a kind gesture, but I didn't really know Brandon apart from his work on tWoT, so I didn'te really know what to think. When I finally opened it a few days before new years, I read it in almost one sitting. The massive world, great character development and huge learning curve drew me in from page one.
2. The Emperors Soul: I read this just two weeks ago. It's short, concise and absolutely brilliant. I liked the look into Forgery, Shai's persona and her growing respect for Gaotona (and visa versa). It ever so slightly annoyed me that we didn't get a map of the Rose Empire, though.
3. The Words of Radiance: I love most of his finished Cosmere books, but I know this one will trump them all - if only because of the squee-factor. Another possible candidate for third place is Sixth of the Dusk, whose preview has me absolutely drawn in.

I haven't read Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell, The Rithmatist, the Alcatraz books, Legion, Firstborn or Defending Elysium.

 

On another note, which of Brandon's books do you think is his weakest? For me, it is definitely Steelheart. It's good, but doesn't have the depth of his Cosmere books. And honestly, I didn't really like neither David nor Megan all that well. Prof was cool though.

Edited December 6, 2013 by Aether

[Claincy]

Ok, let's do this

 

1. Mistborn The Final Empire, It was my first Brandon book and to this day has seen more rereads from me than any other book I can think of. I love the characters, Kelsier, Vin and to a lesser degree Elend and the others just really resonate with me. I love the world and the imagery, and there simply has never been as cool a magic system as allomancy IMO.

 

2. The Way Of Kings, Fairly inevitable that this would be up here. The reasoning has been pretty well covered by now; good characters, huge, ambitious and original world, excellent writing etc etc. However it still doesn't top the final empire for me. Sure it's bigger and got more in it, but the final empire was the perfect length for the story it had to tell.

 

3. The Emperor's Soul, Beautifully written, awesome, intriguing and highly original magic system, interesting philosopy discussions and interesting characters, short (obviously) but it doesn't feel at all rushed. It deserved the recognition it got.

 

Not unusual choices but a slightly different order to most

[Ete'ni]

On another note, which of Brandon's books do you think is his weakest? For me, it is definitely Steelheart. It's good, but doesn't have the depth of his Cosmere books. And honestly, I didn't really like neither David nor Megan all that well. Prof was cool though.

 I agree. Nothing actually stroke me in this book. Characters are nice but nothing special. Epics abilities are fine. And everything are just fine. Fine but it doesn't make me squeel while reading. And I haven't got any favourite moment I'd re'read a hundred times

[Aether]

 I agree. Nothing actually stroke me in this book. Characters are nice but nothing special. Epics abilities are fine. And everything are just fine. Fine but it doesn't make me squeel while reading. And I haven't got any favourite moment I'd re'read a hundred times

I've read the Way of Kings from page 1 to page 1001 two times, at least four more times if you add up all the viewpoint specific read-throughs, and there are individual passages I've read over a dozen times. I've read other Cosmere books only once (not long since I started dipping deeper into Brandon-verse) but I will reread them in the future. I read Stealheart once and that will probably be all. I think I'll read Firefight though.

[Ete'ni]

Yup, same here. Though I didn't like first book of Alcatraz, when I read it for the first time. Now I'm impatiently looking forward to th final book. Things change. Still I'm going to read them all.

[Aether]

Hey, did you recently change your name tag? Didn't it use to be Ae-something?

[Ete'ni]

Yeah... but it looked like yours too much. So I changed it. Do you like it?

 

Just as I change my hair color and got a laptop... It does remind me of something

[Aether]

Wait, I was the reason you changed it? Sorry, I didn't even know about your (old) name before I created my user profile here. Aether is part of a tag I've been using for a while now in other contexts. I can change it to my full tag to differentiate between us if you want your other name back.

[Ete'ni]

Well, that was the reason but I took that name only because I didn't manage to create an account with my usual nickname. So, both names are equally fine to me or this suits me even better. See, I didn't know Sanderson invented Aether-named charecter. Aetae is my friend personal fiction character that I gave a proper Latin writing, it's not entirely my thing.

 

So, it's better is everything stays as it now Agreed?

[Aether]

Sure! If your curious, the full tag would be

Aether Draconis

which I used in a game a while back. I am quite happy with Aether, though, as I now find the full tag to be a bit juvenile, and everyone just referred to me as Aether anyway. So thank you=)

 

And it is not an Brandon based name. It is in the name of one of his unpublished books, Aether of the Night, but I chose it independently of that.

 

EDIT: Added spoiler tags. For fun! MUAHAHAHA!!!!

 

EDIT 2: Added crazy laughter. FOR EVEN MOAHR FUN!!!

Edited December 6, 2013 by Aether

[Ete'ni]

Well, I myself like to pull the stunt with nicknames, no one can pronounce. And eventually I end with a shortened version...

 

Though this off-topic reminds me of Wayne... Have I told enough frequently enough, how i love the bloke?

Edited December 6, 2013 by Ete'ni

[Aether]

Yes, but do tell! MOAHR WAYNE, PLZ!

EDIT: I think we might very well have hijacked this thread now, Ete'ni...   

Edited December 6, 2013 by Aether

[Bloodfalcon]

There are still several books that I have not read as well. Mostly the shorter ones. 

 

However, I can say that I thought the weakest was Elantris. I enjoyed a couple of the characters, but I really thought the description was lacking in a few areas. I have only read it once, and I am not proud of this next point, but I still don't understand the magic system past probably 30% comprehension. Things would happen and I would think "why is the POV character acting like they understand that event. I have no idea how that is allowed." 

Runner up for weakest, I thought, was Final Empire. There are a lot of things that I like about it, but the relationship between Vin and Elend just did not hit home for me. It felt really really awkward. And I know the awkward/endearing feeling, but I did not have it there. But then again I have never been good at accepting really fast transitions from stranger to fight-through-a-crowd-to-save-my-true-love.

All that said, I still really enjoyed both of those books. if you asked me to name one that I didn't like or felt neither way on, I wouldn't have anything for ya.

[The Count]

I started with Elantis, and thought is was excellent.

 

However, I recently went back and read it again (having read most of Brandon's other works) and it is weaker than I remember.

 

Not bad by any stretch (still better than most of the books I have read recently in the SF&F genre), but I can really see how far Brandon has developed as a writer in the interim.

 

So my Favourites.. in order...

 

1/ The Way of Kings. As others have said, it is truly great. Probably the best Fantasy book I have read. Completely original setting and really Epic in scope. It does get a little bogged done in the 3rd quarter (but not much) but the end really sparkles.

 

2/ The Rithmatist. I know it is a YA novel (I am 32), but it really had me hooked. Overslept and was late for work the next day due to being up late to finish it. The hallmark of a great book.

 

3/ The Emperor's Soul. Probably the best written of all Brandon's work to date. A wonderful novella.

[Ete'ni]

Yes, but do tell! MOAHR WAYNE, PLZ!

EDIT: I think we might very well have hijacked this thread now, Ete'ni...   

Nah... we can create the thread for squeeling over Wayne. The guy deserves this. His attutide toward his friend is so blasting cute...

 

Do you think, BS would like to read what book are least popular and why? should here be a thread for that? I wonder...

[Bloodfalcon]

Nah... we can create the thread for squeeling over Wayne. The guy deserves this. His attutide toward his friend is so blasting cute...

 

Do you think, BS would like to read what book are least popular and why? should here be a thread for that? I wonder...

I thought the same thing and decided on Yes. He has been writing those Wheel of Time blog posts that talk about what he has learned as a writer throughout the process, and much of it is based off of fan opinions and reactions. I think that sort of criticism is helpful to him, especially when he knows it comes from some fairly hardcore fans who have positive opinions overall.