I kinda attributed the “silliness” of these books to the fact that he was trying something that had no pressure and real life conflict for him and he just wasn’t taking it super seriously. They’re not life changing, but they are cute. My husband and I enjoyed reading them together especially with all the illustrations in the special first editions. I don’t get why people would assume these are a reflection of his whole body of work.
I understand that the lengthy review of The Frugal Wizard's Handbook may have some valid points, but it seems unfair to criticize Sanderson's entire career based solely on this book. Sanderson has an impressive portfolio of outstanding works, and it's natural for a creative mind to experiment with new ideas. While these works may not be part of a series, they serve as an opportunity for Sanderson to grow and connect with a new audience. As a fan, I trust that Sanderson's intention as a writer is clear, and I am eagerly anticipating the next phase of The Stormlight Archive. The Wind and Truth will undoubtedly provide more clarity, but I appreciate Sanderson's willingness to take risks and try new things.
You are so right - as a light fantasy reader (ie, not into times of world-building and series that endure for books and books). Frugal Wizard was my first Sanderson and I quite enjoyed it, and continued with Tress and Yumi, truly loving those! It has me considering trying other books of his, despite my initial reticence.
@@hysteriablackThanks! Now I need to watch Brandon's video I saw where he gives ideas of where to begin with his books. It is a little intimidating, yikes!
@@happyfamily1298 I hope you enjoy whatever series you decide to begin with. It just looks intimidating, but once you attach to his incredible world-building and characters, it will be easier :)
So, I'm not only one of the people who's only read Tress out of all the secret projects, but also Tress is/was my first Sanderson. Haven't read anything else by him. And I absolutely loved Tress of the Emerald Sea. I can't even entirely pinpoint why, but I think I just really needed something a little chaotic and charming at the time, something different from the things I'd been reading, and Tress was perfect for that. Even not being familiar with Sanderson's usual works/writing style, I kinda figured Tress was a little bit different from his norm and went into it expecting it to be that way. I wasn't shocked or disappointed in any way with it. And, since I'm currently about 40% of the way into the first Mistborn book, it definitely didn't turn me off to reading any more Sanderson. I'm enjoying it immensely and can't wait to continue on. Maybe it helps that I'm a VE Schwab fan who also has a book or two that are outside of her norm, so I'm used to being more flexible and going in to different books by the same author with slightly tempered expectations. Either way, Tress will not be and is not my last Sanderson, and from what I've read out of Mistborn so far, I'm pretty sure I'm going to like his works overall.
My only experience reading Sanderson was "Tress", and I loved it. I was always intimidated by Sanderson's massive tomes and seemingly complicated universe, so I never felt inclined to read his work. The secret projects are the perfect way for me to dip my toes in. Besides, I don't really enjoy reading series as much as stand alones. I'm still interested in "Yumi" and "The Wizard's Handbook". I hope I love them. 🤞🏻
Warbreaker and Elantris don't have sequels yet and work as a standalones. Of the secret projects the Sunlit Man might suffer a bit if you haven't read Mistborn and Stormlight Archive.
I think that massive review was very interesting. I've read Warbreaker and have stopped and started multiple times with The Final Empire, so I haven't read most of Sanderson's books. (And as you may guess, his books aren't exactly my fav - though I will keep trudging because the overarching story makes me curious.) And what I have read, this reviewer did like. But I do appreciate that it sounded like they were genuinely giving the review and aren't trolling. I know Sanderson fans who disagree with that review will be saying things like "do they hear themselves" or "they're not an actual fan" - because the didn't like the secret projects - but this kind of review is more helpful than 100 "oh my god I love it" reviews that all sound the same. Full disclosure. I have no interest in the secret projects. But the fact that the projects are different to the Cosmere (like secret projects would be, like you said) solidifies that I wouldn't really like them anyway, since I have to keep stopping and starting The Final Empire. I hope the Sanderson fan[atic]s can stop and appreciate that not everyone has to like the books. And that's okay. Just my two cents. Cheers. :)
Yeah. I read the Final Empire and just never picked up the rest of the series because Sandersons writing doesn't really appeal to me. I think he has interesting ideas but the execution could be so much better. I wanted to love his books, but alas.
I guess I love dad humor. Because Frugal Wizard was my favorite. 🤣. (I love Stormlight Archive as well. And Elantris. And Warbreaker. Haven’t actually read Mistborn yet.) I just found Frugal Wizard to be a breath of fresh air and really loved all of it.
The secret projects were my introduction to Sanderson, Tress was slightly better than okay for me but Yumi really hooked me. Now I'm reading Hero of ages and might pick up the stormlight archive before going into MB era 2
Yumi was my first Sanderson book and I dnf'd. I really didn't like the writing style and, from what I've seen, that's how he might write all his books? I wanted to love it, I did, but it appears he is not the author for me 😭😭 spouse is a fan, though!
the problem with stormlight novellas is the same problem as Words of Radiance. No one, NO ONE, ever encounters them unless they are already a fan. By filtering out 1st at way of kings, and then again by not being core series required reading, only true fans read them. This gives you a survivorship bias of reviewers. No one has ever just picked up dawnshard, book 3.5 in a series, and was like "eh, I'll just start here, as a tributary work mid series." This definitely gives them a bias towards higher scores. So, This just means that you've filtered out all the 1 star reviews by the nature of the work.
I think the one star reviews are my favorite videos of yours to watch! These reviews, my gosh. Especially that Frugal Wizard's one. 😂 I haven't read any Sanderson, but I really want to read Tress and Yumi, as well as the others that you've talked about. I've heard (I think from you as well as others) that Elantris is a good place to start. Also, as someone who's part of that certain group you mentioned (except I didn't go to BYU), I appreciate that you said that person doesn't represent everyone in that group, because not all of us are like him/her. Actually a lot of us aren't. Being an agent for change is a good thing, taking feedback from your readers is a good thing, and it sounds like that person is stuck in their ways. That homeless remark had me laughing hard though.
To be honest, I complete agreed with your reviews of the secret projects! Especially sunlit man. However the upside of the secret projects for me was Yumi and tress, loved those books!
A lot of people seem to be analyzing Sanderson's style and works at the moment - to be expected I think, after the YoS - but I honestly think in the end it just comes down to taste. I've been a fan of Sanderson for anout 6 or 7 years now, and have read almost everything he's written. I loved his earlier works (Mistborn) and I love his newer stuff as well (Sunlit Man). In between there have been things I did not care for at all (like the Reckoners, Elantris, etc). So when I didn’t like Frugal Wizard at all, I saw it as really just my taste. I don't see Sanderson going downwards in quality or any of the stuff people seem to be saying. Sure the secret projects were a bit different than his usual stuff, but as many others have pointed out, I think that was a given? Some people are going to like his books. Some people are not. Some people are going to like his earlier stuff more than his recent. Its just your taste. Thats really all there is to it
Every author's style changes over time just like the author themselves. Some fans move on, some become bitter because they want the thing they loved about the first novels in every novel. To be honest that is probably not very realistic. However, there is also a problem where authors get too comfortable and start phoning in their efforts. I won't name names but there is a famous horror author that burst onto the scene in the 70s that sold a lot of disappointing books on his name alone later in his career. Sometimes when things are too easy it also becomes much easier to neglect the things that we used to put a lot of effort into. I suspect Sanderson is starting to show a bit of this as he leans into a more casual approach to his work. This is one of the reasons that we're seeing more humor and less deep characters with heavy subject matter as their conflicts. I would suspect it's also in part due to the volume of works he's producing. As a certain Hobbit once said, "...too little butter spread across too much bread..." Just like when anyone rushes through their work quality suffers. At least it hasn't gotten to the point where plots and characters are rubber-stamped but that isn't too far off. Each book the characters are getting thiner and world building is starting to look a bit formulmatic. I'm with Mrs. Brooks on this, I'm a fan of his earlier work and less so of his later. In my case, it's dwindled to the point where I have to make time and put in effort to pick up his works.
Saying that empathy is a theme "hostile to his values" is... Yikes. And then he says he feels "homeless" as to say the people who think like him are being ignored, but eMpAtHy Is LaMe. Dude, YOU'RE looking for empathy. Some people never cease to amaze me.
I used to be in the bubble, but now I think I’m more skimming the edges. With Sanderson I’m in an odd situation where my introduction to him was via the Reckoners trilogy. I liked the first 2 but the third one fell flat. The same could be said for The Final Emoire, which, magic system aside, was very bland and did not encourage me to pick up the series. I hear a lot of good things about Stormligjt, but like with The Wheel of Time, I don’t really need another epic fantasy world outside of Middle Earth. And yet, despite all this, I do want to love Sanderson. I just don’t know how. Has anyone any suggestions? Thank you!
It might just not be to your taste. I love Sanderson, but if you didn't really enjoy Mistborn and was disappointed by the ending, I wouldn't want to recommend an even longer series. If you really want to give it another go, you could try reading The Emperor's Soul, which is very short. But it might just be that his books don't match up with your taste.
I have read 7 already, and I didn't love any of them , nor did I hate them. They were average. Every time I watch fantasy recommendations, everyone recommends sanderson books as the most brilliant thing ever written, but I fail to see what the hype is.
The comment on Yumi and the Nightmare Painter I feel like brings up an interesting topic I would love to hear your thoughts on. I don't the author of that comment gave that book a fair review. Mostly because i loved that book but by his homeless content I think I can relate. More and more it seems like every book is the same. Outside of the world building I am starting to see we get Heroine A who no one took seriously or put down because she was a women but give her a couple weeks of training and she can overcome and obstacle or people who have dedicated their lives to a certain art (maybe I just see a lot of Mary Sue's). But their male characters are shallowly written and are either dark and broody with a hidden kindness or they lack a spine (but remain super hot). Its like a switch in fantasy from previous eras with poorly written females reversed. I would love to see more books with the Dalinar, Navani relationship because although they both have a culture that look down on their actions they break the mold together. It was refreshing. If we could get a book that did did not demonize men or make women objects would be a more satisfying read. And maybe I am just looking for male main characters as well because as I have grown I do not relate more and more to the female mcs.
I enjoyed all of the secret projects except for sunlit man coz I haven't read that one yet because I feel I need a bit more cosmere knowledge :) and I really loved them, yumi and tress are two of my favourite books that I've read last year because I love epic heroism as much as cute sweet storylines and both can become favourite stories for me :D
I've never read Frugal Wizard, but I do think it's funny that the reviewer cited the Jason Kehe Wired article, saying it was unfair towards Sanderson, and then wrote entire paragraphs focused on their own constructed image of "the two Sandersons." It's not quite as weirdly judgmental as Kehe's article was, of course, but there's en echo there.
I will be honest, I dont care for Sanderson. I've tried to read several of his books and his style is just not for me. But I've never left him a 1 star review. When it comes to Sanderson, he is so large and has such a fan base that if you dont like him you are either screaming into a void or treated like you just dont understand how great he is.
So far I've read Sunlit Man and Tress. Tress was excellent, though if I didn't know about Hoid it would probably rank lower. Sunlit Man was ok but would probably have been better after whatever happened with the Dawnshard was out.
Thank you for the video, I do love it, even I disagree with the reviews. XD I didn't love Frugal Wizards. But I don't think it's the worst Sanderson book out there. I could enjoy Frugal Wizard, but I really didn't enjoy Steelheart. I do enjoy his more serious works more than the 'humorous', lighthearted ones. I think Sunlit Man is probably my favorite of the secret projects, but Tress is still up there. I understand people not liking any of them, but I also don't think we should try to pigeonhole Sanderson into one thing. Otherwise, his writing would grow stagnant. (I don't know for sure, I've loved almost everything he's written or at least enjoyed others.) And I think that even I can be a bit judgement about the secret projects. I read Frugal Wizard expecting it to be another easy five star, and it wasn't. (Four stars, maybe should be a three.) I knew Sanderson could do better. I knew the things that I thought weren't great could have been done better by Sanderson. I thought the ending was rushed and didn't feel as satisfying or foreshadowed as in his other novels. But at the end of the day, Sanderson wrote the story he wanted to tell. And if I'm remembering the little foreword correctly, he wrote Frugal Wizards for himself. Tress and Yumi were for his wife. And he wrote Sunlit Man for the Cosmere fans. Only one of these stories, he went into with the intent to publish. Edit: I am not saying that if you dislike the book or think things could have been done better that you are judgmental. I was just commenting on my own thoughts I had and how like at the end of the day, I am not a published author (hope to be one day) and I just kinda forget that Sanderson wrote these for fun.
I haven't read any of the secret projects because I haven't read anything else in the Cosmere and given how long the books are, I'm not likely to pick one up soon.... The only thing of Sanderson I've read is the Skyward series, which I absolutely loved.
I've read the sunlight man and yumi and the nightmare painter. Neither of them are mistborn era one or the Stormlight archives, But they're both quite solid and enjoyable. I'm going to check out Tress soon... I started reading It briefly but given the pros, and the narration... I'm tempted to consume that one in audiobook. From everything I've heard about frugal wizard... I might skip that one.
I liked Tress of the Emerald Sea, and I like it when authors push themselves outside their usual wheelhouse. But I can see that a lot of his usual fans might not like it. In addition to being written in a very different voice, it's a little different in its target market, because he originally wrote it for his wife. So I think it just appeals to different readers.
I generally agree with you. These are good eye opneners for people in the genre to realize there are planty of people who havent hesrd of him or didnt like his works. These reviews were fair in that lens generally. I liked Tress and Yumi simply because they were different but i agree, if Sanderson continues down this "funny" path, then i will get tired of it and end up not liking his works anymore. I hope he keeps the serious tones in the rest of the cosmere books. I really like the Stormlight Archive and Mistborn so i want to see more of that personally.
Yumi was my favorite, but I actually preferred Frugal Wizard over Tress 😅 I haven't read sunlit man and probably won't unless there's an audio book and I'm super bored 😂 the only other books I've read is his Skyward series, which I really loved
Not every book will resonate with every reader. I've read most of Sanderson's works and I enjoyed them. I think one problem is that if a "serious" reader starts with The Final Empire, Elantris or The Stormlight Archive and then that "serious" reader picks up one of his less "serious" books, like Alcatraz, without knowing it is not in the same 'flavor' as the "serious" works, the reader gets disproportionally disappointed.
Tress of the emerald sea one of my favorite books and so beautiful and wonderful characters and I hope he writes more of these books sequels ❤️🩵🩵🩵❤️💕❤️✨🩵🌸🩵✨❤️📙📖📚📖📙📖📚📙📙📖📖❤️✨🩵🌸🌸🌸🌸🩵✨❤️❤️❤️📖📚📚📖📙📙📙📖📖📙📙💕❤️✨✨🩵🌸🌸🩵🩵❤️❤️❤️📚📚📖❤️❤️✨🩵🩵🩵✨✨
I'm the same in that I think his best work is always the serious stuff. I don't mind the occasional (usually dry) joke that he throws in even in the more serious books but some of the almost forced buddy cop humor in wax and wayne was a bit too much, although I still enjoyed the heck out of those books. And I know that's rather the point of the dynamic in those books but still. One thing I do agree with a lot of the detractors of Sanderson that I've read is that there's perhaps a bit too much emphasis on trauma and mental health in SA now. SA is my favourite, but I'm much more interested in the world and its history and politics than every characters specific syndrome. I empathize with the characters but especially after book 4 I've felt like this whole mental health thing has taken center stage in a story that in my mind is supposed to be about something bigger. It also doesn't help that mental health as a topic has become lame and stale (never thought I would say that out loud) since it's actually finally getting some proper examination in the cultural zeitgeist.
I think it’s unfair to say that these books aren’t like Mistborn Era One or Stormlight because I think that wasn’t never the intention of the books. Sanderson wrote those books mainly for his wife and himself and then decided to share it with us. It’s fair to not like them but I think it’s important to realize they were never meant to be those books
I've read all but Sunlit Man, and gave them all 3 stars. If it were not for the KS, I don't think very many people would have read these and then demanded deluxe illustrated editions of them. So in a way, he made millions off of some of his more mediocre books.
Happy weekend Elliot and your family hope you are having a great Sunday thanks for this wonderful video 📖🩵❤️❤️📖📚📙📖❤️🌸🌸✨✨❤️❤️🩵📙📚📚📚🩵❤️❤️🌸🌸✨✨💕📙📚📙🩵❤️📖📙📚📚📖🩵❤️🩵📙📙✨✨🌸🌸✨💕📖📖📙📚📚📙🩵❤️❤️🩵📖💕✨🩵🩵✨🩵🩵
The Frugal Wizard book reviewer loses all credibility when he says that it isolates non nerd-dads. I'm sooooo sick and tired of people getting mad about a book that didn't speak to them and accusing the author of isolating them from their work or ignoring the reader's existence. Grow TF up. Not every book (or movie, or TV show, or pasta dish, or car) will appeal to every single person on the planet! To think that it's a slight against them personally shows how incredibly self-centered and narcissistic those reviewers are. If I can't resonate with an author's style or certain characters in a book.... I can pick up one of the 160 million other books on this planet. Imagine that!
The secret projects were super boring. I agree with the pratchett review haha. It did seem like he was trying too hard to be funny, which made it very NOT funny.
Tress was my first Sanderson and I dnf’d. The book requires more indulgence from readers than a newbie can be expected to give. Really over-written (too much repetition) and - seriously? - a whole chapter about poo. And no matter how many people say it can be a standalone, I do think that you can’t find the storytelling charming unless you recognize the narrator.
Hi, I picked up the year of Sanderson out of curiosity and hadn’t read anything else by this author. I adored Tress and enjoyed Yumi, the other two were eh. After reading Tress I picked up the first three of Stormlight. I didn’t care for them as I felt they wandered and needed a good edit. I didn’t want to know anymore about the cosmere so I was fine with dropping the series after the third one. I liked some of the characters but I just wanted a tighter story with fewer rabbit trails. I won’t be picking up anything else on my own but if YOU recommend a future stand alone I could be persuaded to take a look.
Agreed. Sanderson is just missing that 'something something' that I search for in my high fantasy authors, and I find his writing pretty meh. Sanderson's fans can be very intense!
I have read 7 of his books so far and I don't understand the hype, while I didn't hate any, all books were average, not these brilliant books sanderson fans make it out to be.
@@IzzyZil20Accessible can go together with good and enjoyable prose. Sandersons prose is accessible, but also at the cost of any nuance, subtlety, and art in the prose and if you care about that the books arent as enjoyable to read.
None of these books were for me and that was really frustrating. On top of that this was around the time he was pitching the mistborn movie and it just felt like he was getting away from the stuff that was. The fans are what make me cringe most about these books
I tried giving Sanderson a chance, but I could just not get into it. One of my biggest issues is that he leaves nothing to the imagination. There's no subtlety or nuance, no room for an individual's interpretation of what's happening. And don't worry, he'll remind you of everything in case you forgot. And the writing in general just feels impersonal, distant, like it was written by a robot following line code. At the end of the day, he is a mediocre, mechanical, YA author that for some reason gets to market himself as an adult fantasy author (most likely because he's a man, I guarantee this gets him a pass on all of that). Bet my life savings he would have been lumped into the twilight/hunger games YA fantasy category if he was a woman. And it's disturbing how he has such a cult-like, almost religious, following.
As for "the bubble", I watch a lot of your videos, have little knowledge of Fantasy or Sanderson (except that you mention him a lot). Enjoy your obvious intelligence and humor.
Tess was my first and LAST book from Sanderson. Just awful. Can't say anything good about it. I'm not a fantasy person so maybe that's why. I just don't get the popularity of this guy.
How do you feel about The Princess Bride? Having read both, I think they are similar and if that tone doesn't work for you it would probably be tiring.
@@tayh.6235 I read The Princess Bride a few weeks after, and LOVED IT! Found it hilarious, way better than the movie 😆 and exactly what I was looking for in a fantasy book. It deserves all the hype. Sanderson tried too hard to be funny imo and I never reached the point where I cared about what happened to any of the characters.
A book reviewer who continues to botch the title of a book that she has mentioned on her channel several times. For the record it's: THE Frugal Wizard's Handbook FOR Surviving Medieval England. 1 - star.
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I kinda attributed the “silliness” of these books to the fact that he was trying something that had no pressure and real life conflict for him and he just wasn’t taking it super seriously. They’re not life changing, but they are cute. My husband and I enjoyed reading them together especially with all the illustrations in the special first editions.
I don’t get why people would assume these are a reflection of his whole body of work.
I understand that the lengthy review of The Frugal Wizard's Handbook may have some valid points, but it seems unfair to criticize Sanderson's entire career based solely on this book. Sanderson has an impressive portfolio of outstanding works, and it's natural for a creative mind to experiment with new ideas. While these works may not be part of a series, they serve as an opportunity for Sanderson to grow and connect with a new audience. As a fan, I trust that Sanderson's intention as a writer is clear, and I am eagerly anticipating the next phase of The Stormlight Archive. The Wind and Truth will undoubtedly provide more clarity, but I appreciate Sanderson's willingness to take risks and try new things.
You are so right - as a light fantasy reader (ie, not into times of world-building and series that endure for books and books). Frugal Wizard was my first Sanderson and I quite enjoyed it, and continued with Tress and Yumi, truly loving those! It has me considering trying other books of his, despite my initial reticence.
@@happyfamily1298 I am glad for you! Both Tress and Yumi proved to be good entry points to Sanderson’s works as of recently :)
@@hysteriablackThanks! Now I need to watch Brandon's video I saw where he gives ideas of where to begin with his books. It is a little intimidating, yikes!
@@happyfamily1298 I hope you enjoy whatever series you decide to begin with. It just looks intimidating, but once you attach to his incredible world-building and characters, it will be easier :)
Appreciate it!
So, I'm not only one of the people who's only read Tress out of all the secret projects, but also Tress is/was my first Sanderson. Haven't read anything else by him. And I absolutely loved Tress of the Emerald Sea. I can't even entirely pinpoint why, but I think I just really needed something a little chaotic and charming at the time, something different from the things I'd been reading, and Tress was perfect for that. Even not being familiar with Sanderson's usual works/writing style, I kinda figured Tress was a little bit different from his norm and went into it expecting it to be that way. I wasn't shocked or disappointed in any way with it.
And, since I'm currently about 40% of the way into the first Mistborn book, it definitely didn't turn me off to reading any more Sanderson. I'm enjoying it immensely and can't wait to continue on.
Maybe it helps that I'm a VE Schwab fan who also has a book or two that are outside of her norm, so I'm used to being more flexible and going in to different books by the same author with slightly tempered expectations. Either way, Tress will not be and is not my last Sanderson, and from what I've read out of Mistborn so far, I'm pretty sure I'm going to like his works overall.
My only experience reading Sanderson was "Tress", and I loved it. I was always intimidated by Sanderson's massive tomes and seemingly complicated universe, so I never felt inclined to read his work. The secret projects are the perfect way for me to dip my toes in. Besides, I don't really enjoy reading series as much as stand alones. I'm still interested in "Yumi" and "The Wizard's Handbook". I hope I love them. 🤞🏻
Warbreaker and Elantris don't have sequels yet and work as a standalones. Of the secret projects the Sunlit Man might suffer a bit if you haven't read Mistborn and Stormlight Archive.
@@cathsaigh2197 Thanks for the recs, I am definitely adding those to my TBR. Let's hope I like them! 🤞🏻😊
Yumi is as fantastic as a standalone can get!
I think that massive review was very interesting. I've read Warbreaker and have stopped and started multiple times with The Final Empire, so I haven't read most of Sanderson's books. (And as you may guess, his books aren't exactly my fav - though I will keep trudging because the overarching story makes me curious.) And what I have read, this reviewer did like. But I do appreciate that it sounded like they were genuinely giving the review and aren't trolling.
I know Sanderson fans who disagree with that review will be saying things like "do they hear themselves" or "they're not an actual fan" - because the didn't like the secret projects - but this kind of review is more helpful than 100 "oh my god I love it" reviews that all sound the same.
Full disclosure.
I have no interest in the secret projects.
But the fact that the projects are different to the Cosmere (like secret projects would be, like you said) solidifies that I wouldn't really like them anyway, since I have to keep stopping and starting The Final Empire.
I hope the Sanderson fan[atic]s can stop and appreciate that not everyone has to like the books. And that's okay.
Just my two cents. Cheers. :)
Yeah. I read the Final Empire and just never picked up the rest of the series because Sandersons writing doesn't really appeal to me. I think he has interesting ideas but the execution could be so much better. I wanted to love his books, but alas.
I guess I love dad humor. Because Frugal Wizard was my favorite. 🤣. (I love Stormlight Archive as well. And Elantris. And Warbreaker. Haven’t actually read Mistborn yet.) I just found Frugal Wizard to be a breath of fresh air and really loved all of it.
The secret projects were my introduction to Sanderson, Tress was slightly better than okay for me but Yumi really hooked me. Now I'm reading Hero of ages and might pick up the stormlight archive before going into MB era 2
Yumi was my first Sanderson book and I dnf'd. I really didn't like the writing style and, from what I've seen, that's how he might write all his books? I wanted to love it, I did, but it appears he is not the author for me 😭😭 spouse is a fan, though!
I read the Final Empire but I agree, I dont like his writing style. Its too bad because I really wanted to get on the hypewagon!
the problem with stormlight novellas is the same problem as Words of Radiance.
No one, NO ONE, ever encounters them unless they are already a fan. By filtering out 1st at way of kings, and then again by not being core series required reading, only true fans read them. This gives you a survivorship bias of reviewers. No one has ever just picked up dawnshard, book 3.5 in a series, and was like "eh, I'll just start here, as a tributary work mid series." This definitely gives them a bias towards higher scores.
So, This just means that you've filtered out all the 1 star reviews by the nature of the work.
This is really important to remember when looking at ratings and reviews!
I think the one star reviews are my favorite videos of yours to watch! These reviews, my gosh. Especially that Frugal Wizard's one. 😂 I haven't read any Sanderson, but I really want to read Tress and Yumi, as well as the others that you've talked about. I've heard (I think from you as well as others) that Elantris is a good place to start.
Also, as someone who's part of that certain group you mentioned (except I didn't go to BYU), I appreciate that you said that person doesn't represent everyone in that group, because not all of us are like him/her. Actually a lot of us aren't. Being an agent for change is a good thing, taking feedback from your readers is a good thing, and it sounds like that person is stuck in their ways. That homeless remark had me laughing hard though.
I personally really liked sunlit man. The other two cosmere ones were just eh to me. Frugal wizard was actually a dnf to me.
To be honest, I complete agreed with your reviews of the secret projects! Especially sunlit man. However the upside of the secret projects for me was Yumi and tress, loved those books!
A lot of people seem to be analyzing Sanderson's style and works at the moment - to be expected I think, after the YoS - but I honestly think in the end it just comes down to taste. I've been a fan of Sanderson for anout 6 or 7 years now, and have read almost everything he's written. I loved his earlier works (Mistborn) and I love his newer stuff as well (Sunlit Man). In between there have been things I did not care for at all (like the Reckoners, Elantris, etc). So when I didn’t like Frugal Wizard at all, I saw it as really just my taste. I don't see Sanderson going downwards in quality or any of the stuff people seem to be saying. Sure the secret projects were a bit different than his usual stuff, but as many others have pointed out, I think that was a given?
Some people are going to like his books. Some people are not. Some people are going to like his earlier stuff more than his recent. Its just your taste. Thats really all there is to it
Every author's style changes over time just like the author themselves. Some fans move on, some become bitter because they want the thing they loved about the first novels in every novel. To be honest that is probably not very realistic.
However, there is also a problem where authors get too comfortable and start phoning in their efforts. I won't name names but there is a famous horror author that burst onto the scene in the 70s that sold a lot of disappointing books on his name alone later in his career. Sometimes when things are too easy it also becomes much easier to neglect the things that we used to put a lot of effort into. I suspect Sanderson is starting to show a bit of this as he leans into a more casual approach to his work. This is one of the reasons that we're seeing more humor and less deep characters with heavy subject matter as their conflicts.
I would suspect it's also in part due to the volume of works he's producing. As a certain Hobbit once said, "...too little butter spread across too much bread..." Just like when anyone rushes through their work quality suffers. At least it hasn't gotten to the point where plots and characters are rubber-stamped but that isn't too far off. Each book the characters are getting thiner and world building is starting to look a bit formulmatic.
I'm with Mrs. Brooks on this, I'm a fan of his earlier work and less so of his later. In my case, it's dwindled to the point where I have to make time and put in effort to pick up his works.
Saying that empathy is a theme "hostile to his values" is... Yikes. And then he says he feels "homeless" as to say the people who think like him are being ignored, but eMpAtHy Is LaMe. Dude, YOU'RE looking for empathy. Some people never cease to amaze me.
I used to be in the bubble, but now I think I’m more skimming the edges. With Sanderson I’m in an odd situation where my introduction to him was via the Reckoners trilogy. I liked the first 2 but the third one fell flat. The same could be said for The Final Emoire, which, magic system aside, was very bland and did not encourage me to pick up the series. I hear a lot of good things about Stormligjt, but like with The Wheel of Time, I don’t really need another epic fantasy world outside of Middle Earth. And yet, despite all this, I do want to love Sanderson. I just don’t know how. Has anyone any suggestions? Thank you!
It might just not be to your taste. I love Sanderson, but if you didn't really enjoy Mistborn and was disappointed by the ending, I wouldn't want to recommend an even longer series.
If you really want to give it another go, you could try reading The Emperor's Soul, which is very short. But it might just be that his books don't match up with your taste.
I have read 7 already, and I didn't love any of them , nor did I hate them. They were average. Every time I watch fantasy recommendations, everyone recommends sanderson books as the most brilliant thing ever written, but I fail to see what the hype is.
The comment on Yumi and the Nightmare Painter I feel like brings up an interesting topic I would love to hear your thoughts on. I don't the author of that comment gave that book a fair review. Mostly because i loved that book but by his homeless content I think I can relate. More and more it seems like every book is the same. Outside of the world building I am starting to see we get Heroine A who no one took seriously or put down because she was a women but give her a couple weeks of training and she can overcome and obstacle or people who have dedicated their lives to a certain art (maybe I just see a lot of Mary Sue's). But their male characters are shallowly written and are either dark and broody with a hidden kindness or they lack a spine (but remain super hot). Its like a switch in fantasy from previous eras with poorly written females reversed. I would love to see more books with the Dalinar, Navani relationship because although they both have a culture that look down on their actions they break the mold together. It was refreshing. If we could get a book that did did not demonize men or make women objects would be a more satisfying read. And maybe I am just looking for male main characters as well because as I have grown I do not relate more and more to the female mcs.
I enjoyed all of the secret projects except for sunlit man coz I haven't read that one yet because I feel I need a bit more cosmere knowledge :) and I really loved them, yumi and tress are two of my favourite books that I've read last year because I love epic heroism as much as cute sweet storylines and both can become favourite stories for me :D
I've never read Frugal Wizard, but I do think it's funny that the reviewer cited the Jason Kehe Wired article, saying it was unfair towards Sanderson, and then wrote entire paragraphs focused on their own constructed image of "the two Sandersons." It's not quite as weirdly judgmental as Kehe's article was, of course, but there's en echo there.
I will be honest, I dont care for Sanderson. I've tried to read several of his books and his style is just not for me. But I've never left him a 1 star review. When it comes to Sanderson, he is so large and has such a fan base that if you dont like him you are either screaming into a void or treated like you just dont understand how great he is.
So far I've read Sunlit Man and Tress. Tress was excellent, though if I didn't know about Hoid it would probably rank lower. Sunlit Man was ok but would probably have been better after whatever happened with the Dawnshard was out.
Thank you for the video, I do love it, even I disagree with the reviews. XD
I didn't love Frugal Wizards. But I don't think it's the worst Sanderson book out there. I could enjoy Frugal Wizard, but I really didn't enjoy Steelheart. I do enjoy his more serious works more than the 'humorous', lighthearted ones. I think Sunlit Man is probably my favorite of the secret projects, but Tress is still up there. I understand people not liking any of them, but I also don't think we should try to pigeonhole Sanderson into one thing. Otherwise, his writing would grow stagnant. (I don't know for sure, I've loved almost everything he's written or at least enjoyed others.)
And I think that even I can be a bit judgement about the secret projects. I read Frugal Wizard expecting it to be another easy five star, and it wasn't. (Four stars, maybe should be a three.) I knew Sanderson could do better. I knew the things that I thought weren't great could have been done better by Sanderson. I thought the ending was rushed and didn't feel as satisfying or foreshadowed as in his other novels. But at the end of the day, Sanderson wrote the story he wanted to tell. And if I'm remembering the little foreword correctly, he wrote Frugal Wizards for himself. Tress and Yumi were for his wife. And he wrote Sunlit Man for the Cosmere fans. Only one of these stories, he went into with the intent to publish.
Edit: I am not saying that if you dislike the book or think things could have been done better that you are judgmental. I was just commenting on my own thoughts I had and how like at the end of the day, I am not a published author (hope to be one day) and I just kinda forget that Sanderson wrote these for fun.
I haven't read any of the secret projects because I haven't read anything else in the Cosmere and given how long the books are, I'm not likely to pick one up soon.... The only thing of Sanderson I've read is the Skyward series, which I absolutely loved.
The Yumi review with the “homeless” comment. My word 😂
I've read the sunlight man and yumi and the nightmare painter. Neither of them are mistborn era one or the Stormlight archives, But they're both quite solid and enjoyable. I'm going to check out Tress soon... I started reading It briefly but given the pros, and the narration... I'm tempted to consume that one in audiobook. From everything I've heard about frugal wizard... I might skip that one.
I thought frugal wizard is one of sanderson's best works.
I liked Tress of the Emerald Sea, and I like it when authors push themselves outside their usual wheelhouse. But I can see that a lot of his usual fans might not like it. In addition to being written in a very different voice, it's a little different in its target market, because he originally wrote it for his wife. So I think it just appeals to different readers.
I generally agree with you. These are good eye opneners for people in the genre to realize there are planty of people who havent hesrd of him or didnt like his works. These reviews were fair in that lens generally. I liked Tress and Yumi simply because they were different but i agree, if Sanderson continues down this "funny" path, then i will get tired of it and end up not liking his works anymore. I hope he keeps the serious tones in the rest of the cosmere books. I really like the Stormlight Archive and Mistborn so i want to see more of that personally.
I haven't read sunlit man yet, but if the other 3 Frugal Wizard's handbook has been my favorite. Didn't really care for Tress and Yumi as much.
Yumi was my favorite, but I actually preferred Frugal Wizard over Tress 😅 I haven't read sunlit man and probably won't unless there's an audio book and I'm super bored 😂 the only other books I've read is his Skyward series, which I really loved
Not every book will resonate with every reader. I've read most of Sanderson's works and I enjoyed them. I think one problem is that if a "serious" reader starts with The Final Empire, Elantris or The Stormlight Archive and then that "serious" reader picks up one of his less "serious" books, like Alcatraz, without knowing it is not in the same 'flavor' as the "serious" works, the reader gets disproportionally disappointed.
Tress of the emerald sea one of my favorite books and so beautiful and wonderful characters and I hope he writes more of these books sequels ❤️🩵🩵🩵❤️💕❤️✨🩵🌸🩵✨❤️📙📖📚📖📙📖📚📙📙📖📖❤️✨🩵🌸🌸🌸🌸🩵✨❤️❤️❤️📖📚📚📖📙📙📙📖📖📙📙💕❤️✨✨🩵🌸🌸🩵🩵❤️❤️❤️📚📚📖❤️❤️✨🩵🩵🩵✨✨
The Hoid pov would be strange and not interesting if I hadn’t read all the cosmere before.
I'm the same in that I think his best work is always the serious stuff. I don't mind the occasional (usually dry) joke that he throws in even in the more serious books but some of the almost forced buddy cop humor in wax and wayne was a bit too much, although I still enjoyed the heck out of those books. And I know that's rather the point of the dynamic in those books but still.
One thing I do agree with a lot of the detractors of Sanderson that I've read is that there's perhaps a bit too much emphasis on trauma and mental health in SA now. SA is my favourite, but I'm much more interested in the world and its history and politics than every characters specific syndrome. I empathize with the characters but especially after book 4 I've felt like this whole mental health thing has taken center stage in a story that in my mind is supposed to be about something bigger. It also doesn't help that mental health as a topic has become lame and stale (never thought I would say that out loud) since it's actually finally getting some proper examination in the cultural zeitgeist.
When is book 2 coming out ?
I loved the secret projects except for Frugal Wizard. It wasn't a bad book, just didn't personally vibe with it.
I disliked Frugal Wizard but I loved Yumi and the Nightmare Painter.
I think it’s unfair to say that these books aren’t like Mistborn Era One or Stormlight because I think that wasn’t never the intention of the books. Sanderson wrote those books mainly for his wife and himself and then decided to share it with us.
It’s fair to not like them but I think it’s important to realize they were never meant to be those books
I've read all but Sunlit Man, and gave them all 3 stars. If it were not for the KS, I don't think very many people would have read these and then demanded deluxe illustrated editions of them. So in a way, he made millions off of some of his more mediocre books.
Happy weekend Elliot and your family hope you are having a great Sunday thanks for this wonderful video 📖🩵❤️❤️📖📚📙📖❤️🌸🌸✨✨❤️❤️🩵📙📚📚📚🩵❤️❤️🌸🌸✨✨💕📙📚📙🩵❤️📖📙📚📚📖🩵❤️🩵📙📙✨✨🌸🌸✨💕📖📖📙📚📚📙🩵❤️❤️🩵📖💕✨🩵🩵✨🩵🩵
Tres of the emerald sea what's my gateway book to wanting to read Sanderson 😊🥰
The Frugal Wizard book reviewer loses all credibility when he says that it isolates non nerd-dads. I'm sooooo sick and tired of people getting mad about a book that didn't speak to them and accusing the author of isolating them from their work or ignoring the reader's existence. Grow TF up. Not every book (or movie, or TV show, or pasta dish, or car) will appeal to every single person on the planet! To think that it's a slight against them personally shows how incredibly self-centered and narcissistic those reviewers are. If I can't resonate with an author's style or certain characters in a book.... I can pick up one of the 160 million other books on this planet. Imagine that!
The secret projects were super boring. I agree with the pratchett review haha. It did seem like he was trying too hard to be funny, which made it very NOT funny.
Tress was my first Sanderson and I dnf’d. The book requires more indulgence from readers than a newbie can be expected to give. Really over-written (too much repetition) and - seriously? - a whole chapter about poo. And no matter how many people say it can be a standalone, I do think that you can’t find the storytelling charming unless you recognize the narrator.
I love Brandon Sanderson! He is my favorite author! 💕🩵🩵🩵🐴🩵🩵🌸✨✨✨🌸📚📚📖📖📖📖📙📙📚📖📖📖🩵🩵💕💕🩵🩵🩵📖📖❤️📖💕🩵🌸🌸✨📙📙📚📚📚❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️🩵💕❤️❤️❤️❤️💕❤️🩵❤️✨✨✨✨🩵❤️💕❤️🩵
Hi, I picked up the year of Sanderson out of curiosity and hadn’t read anything else by this author. I adored Tress and enjoyed Yumi, the other two were eh. After reading Tress I picked up the first three of Stormlight. I didn’t care for them as I felt they wandered and needed a good edit. I didn’t want to know anymore about the cosmere so I was fine with dropping the series after the third one. I liked some of the characters but I just wanted a tighter story with fewer rabbit trails. I won’t be picking up anything else on my own but if YOU recommend a future stand alone I could be persuaded to take a look.
I'm reading Mistborn and it's just okay. The language is very YA. I don't get the craze around this author.
Agreed. Sanderson is just missing that 'something something' that I search for in my high fantasy authors, and I find his writing pretty meh.
Sanderson's fans can be very intense!
I think he just writes very accessible fantasy, if you’re well read in fantasy you’ll probably like him less than others. Nothing wrong with that tho
I have read 7 of his books so far and I don't understand the hype, while I didn't hate any, all books were average, not these brilliant books sanderson fans make it out to be.
@@IzzyZil20Accessible can go together with good and enjoyable prose. Sandersons prose is accessible, but also at the cost of any nuance, subtlety, and art in the prose and if you care about that the books arent as enjoyable to read.
None of these books were for me and that was really frustrating. On top of that this was around the time he was pitching the mistborn movie and it just felt like he was getting away from the stuff that was. The fans are what make me cringe most about these books
True, and if you write negative reviews, they'll bully you.
I loved Tress and thought all the others were trash
I tried giving Sanderson a chance, but I could just not get into it. One of my biggest issues is that he leaves nothing to the imagination. There's no subtlety or nuance, no room for an individual's interpretation of what's happening. And don't worry, he'll remind you of everything in case you forgot. And the writing in general just feels impersonal, distant, like it was written by a robot following line code.
At the end of the day, he is a mediocre, mechanical, YA author that for some reason gets to market himself as an adult fantasy author (most likely because he's a man, I guarantee this gets him a pass on all of that). Bet my life savings he would have been lumped into the twilight/hunger games YA fantasy category if he was a woman. And it's disturbing how he has such a cult-like, almost religious, following.
Sanderson's male protagonists are "always immature goofballs".... it is a good thing he created Vin then...
I've never read Sanderson. 😂
As for "the bubble", I watch a lot of your videos, have little knowledge of Fantasy or Sanderson (except that you mention him a lot). Enjoy your obvious intelligence and humor.
Oh my goodness let’s not over think it. The year of sanderson was iconic period
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What does your husband think about these books 📚 please 🙏
Tess was my first and LAST book from Sanderson. Just awful. Can't say anything good about it. I'm not a fantasy person so maybe that's why. I just don't get the popularity of this guy.
How do you feel about The Princess Bride? Having read both, I think they are similar and if that tone doesn't work for you it would probably be tiring.
@@tayh.6235 I read The Princess Bride a few weeks after, and LOVED IT! Found it hilarious, way better than the movie 😆 and exactly what I was looking for in a fantasy book. It deserves all the hype.
Sanderson tried too hard to be funny imo and I never reached the point where I cared about what happened to any of the characters.
Mistborn is kind of an overrated stuff….yeah!…there I said it 😅….am I goona get crucified or something 😅😙
Do these people even hear themselves when they write their reviews?! XD
What's wrong with how they've written their reviews?
People are allowed to have opinions 🙄
A book reviewer who continues to botch the title of a book that she has mentioned on her channel several times. For the record it's: THE Frugal Wizard's Handbook FOR Surviving Medieval England. 1 - star.
Sanderson himself refers to the book as “Frugal Wizard”, dude. 🙄
@@raquelmarcalsantos I don't have a problem with that. But if you're going to say the entire title, at least get it correct!
@@Avid_Reader okay, sure. Whatever suits your standards, o mighty commenter.