The Sword and Laser discussion

Tor posted a nice piece on the various starting points of Brandon Sanderson's works. I've seen a few people ask which novel is best. Hopefully Tor's post can help out.

Steelheart was my first Sanderson book. This list is helpful since I am considering reading some of his other works next.

I just bought the first Mistborn-book and I'm very excited about it!

The Mistborn Trilogy, and after that, The Way of Kings. Both are magnificent.

Elantris was my first, but after reading The Final Empire I wished I just went straight to that! It is probably what I would recommend to most people, but this is a very handy article.

Everyone says 'The Mistborn Trilogy', but when I look on Goodreads, there's seven books. Can anyone explain this to me? Is it like Foundation which was a trilogy until the author suddenly took it up again, writing more books?

Felicia wrote: "Everyone says 'The Mistborn Trilogy', but when I look on Goodreads, there's seven books. Can anyone explain this to me? Is it like Foundation which was a trilogy until the author suddenly took it u..."

There are going to be way more then 7 books.

Mistborn was originally going to be a trilogy of trilogies all fantasy in the same world. One set in the standard fantasy past, another set around the present another set in the far future.

So complete cast purging does occur, and it's very much a new story that does not require the reading of the previous ones.

Right now however,
*We have the first trilogy in the "past" (out)
*Stand alone in the "Wild West" (out)
*Trilogy in the "Wild West" (this year)
*Trilogy in the "Present" (No date)
*Trilogy in the "Future" (No date)

I know there are rumors as well about another trilogy but I can't remember where.

Aaron wrote: "Felicia wrote: "Everyone says 'The Mistborn Trilogy', but when I look on Goodreads, there's seven books. Can anyone explain this to me? Is it like Foundation which was a trilogy until the author su..."

Ah, like that! Thanks for helping (:

And Brandon always recommends to start with Mistborn.

The first Mistborn book is quite a good place to start. If you like it you can finish that story arc in 3 books. Way of Kings is the start of a LONG series (BS once claimed he had 10 books planned) and that has its own issues. Elantris is standalone, but is also his first book. I quite liked it though.

I need to read more Sanderson, certainly. But I would recommend the one I started with: the Alloy of Law. Although, it's in the middle of the Mistborn series, it's the start of it's own subseries with a new set of characters.

Besides that, X-Men type super powers in the wild west -> that's hard to beat. It is awesome.

If you want a stand-alone that exemplifies his work pretty well, try Warbreaker. The Mistborn trilogy will probably always be my favorite, but I really liked Warbreaker.

I've read everything Sanderson has done.

Like Sanderson and many others have said, start with Mistborn.

The problem with Sanderson is that as wildly imaginative as his magic systems are, his characters are rather formulaic which you especially start to notice once you've read a lot of his books. All his females feel the same, every book has a similar quirky cast of supporting characters, etc.

So start with his best book, Mistborn, so you can truly enjoy it before the formula wears you down. I happen to be re-reading Mistborn right now and while its still amazing for its plot, I'm very distracted noticing how all the characters feel just like the characters from other books which is something I didn't notice the first time since Mistborn was my 2nd Sanderson book ever (my first was Elantris).

I did find this free sampler, if you're interested in previewing a few things.
http://www.amazon.com/Brandon-Sanders...

I wouldn't recommend Alloy of Law to start, because it spoils the first trilogy... though maybe for someone that doesn't remember names, it can be fine. I didn't like it much but I am not fan of westerns.

Mistborn is also the one I would recommend first, or The Emperor Soul if someone wants a short story, or the rithmatist for a children or teenager.

Just to be different, I started with The Way of Kings, because I was looking for a looooong audiobook to spend my Audible credit on. I went back and read Mistborn later, and then I learned about Warbreaker.

Mistborn is a great starting point, but I loved The Way of Kings so much more.

I'm not into his YA stuff, so I think that just leaves Elantris to try.

There are still his novellas left.

I was more irritated by his first YA serie (the Alcatraz one, probably because the MC thinks about so many random things) and didn't really like his 3rd one (Reckoners) but I love the Rithmatist. Though my lack of Sanderson readings will probably send me on reading the second Reckoners.

I still refrain to recommend The Way of Kings to someone who enjoyed Mistborn because even if Sanderson releases one Stormlight Archive every two years, that's still 2030 before it ends.

Jennifer wrote: "There are still his novellas left.

I was more irritated by his first YA serie (the Alcatraz one, probably because the MC thinks about so many random things) and didn't really like his 3rd one (Rec..."
And he puts out other work in between Stormlight Archive books. While I'm not that interested in some of them, The Alloy of Law was a lot of fun and the next two Wax and Wayne Mistborn novels should be fun while waiting for the next Stormlight Archive book.

I actually started with Way of Kings. I saw all the excitement about Words of Radiance on here last year and I gave it whirl and immediatly went to Words after that. Absolutely love them. There's no reason you can't start with this series except for the fact that you'll be waiting possibly till 2017 before we get the next book. I since jumped back to the original Mistborn Trilogy and actually just finished Hero of Ages yesterday. I adored all three books as well and have Alloy of Law as one of my next possible audio reads.

So - I guess for me - where should I jump to once I'm all caught upon Misborn - with Sanderson.

If you want to stick with his Cosmere books, Elantris would be the next place to go. One thing to keep in mind about Elantris is that is was Sanderson's first published book. From what I've heard (I'm currently reading Elantris), is that it is one of his weaker novels (as to be expected from his first published novel). There is also a novella in the Elantris universe.

His other stuff is non-Cosmere YA novels. I haven't read any of them.

Jennifer wrote: "There are still his novellas left.

I was more irritated by his first YA serie (the Alcatraz one, probably because the MC thinks about so many random things) and didn't really like his 3rd one (Rec..."

I thought Firefight was fantastic even better then Steelheart...but I also really liked Steelheart so there is that.

I also thought the Steelheart and Firefight were great. I am really excited that I don't have to wait very long for Calamity.

Also, I've enjoyed all of Brandon's YA stuff. The Alcatraz series is my least favorite of his YA books just because they are so very different from everything else he has written. But I still found them to be very funny and enjoyable. I think the series is really a medium for Brandon to make fun of authors and the writing process.

Dezideriu wrote: "The Mistborn Trilogy, and after that, The Way of Kings. Both are magnificent."

Ditto. Mistborn is the poop.

Sometimes I wish people would come back and check in, tell us which one they went with and what they thought.

I started with Stormlight Archive, than ran back and read all of Mistborn. Both are great, start with either.

I started with the Mistborn trilogy, I was instantly captivated and read it in one week. Then I read Alloy of law, Way of kings and some of his one shots novels (Elantris, Warbreaker) and some of his books when they were released Steelheart, Rhitmatist.

I still like better the first Mistborn trilogy, found other interesting enough but maybe enough to advise them. I really like Rhitmatist.

Everyone says you should start with Mistborn, yet he was just another author I had to get around to at some point. Then I somehow picked up his short story "Legion". I remember it as highly entertaining and an interesting thought, but I still didn't get around to Mistborn.

I went to Scotland last year for some months, picked up Steelheart in a sale. Got Firefight on my shelf atm. STILL haven't gotten around to Mistborn.

I also listened to the Rithmatist on audiobook.

Some day, I swear, some day.

Edit: Also, any of those were highly entertaining in my book (hah), so I wouldn't have a favourite to recommend starting with.

I like Mistborn a lot. I have a copy signed by "Scalzi-bane" the pen he stole from Joshua (his agent) at Anaheim WorldCon with orders to take it and stab John Scalzi through the heart.

That was back when we used to joke that Scalzi was his nemesis. Dan Wells and Isaac (I think, Brandon's cartographer) bought a lego rocket to give to him as a substitute Hugo.

He told Scalzi not too long ago about the nemesis thing. Scalzi said, "That worked out well for you."

That was a tangent.

I have several books signed by Sanderson as I've been to two of his signings. I find it amusing that during the signings he got distracted by questions I was asking him so he signed my Way of Kings book with a Wheel of Time reference and my Wheel of Time book with a Way of Kings reference. He tried to apologize thinking I'd be upset but I told him I thought it was cool.

Rik wrote: "The problem with Sanderson is that as wildly imaginative as his magic systems are, his characters are rather formulaic which you especially start to notice once you've read a lot of his books. All his females feel the same, every book has a similar quirky cast of supporting characters, etc. "

Sanderson seems like a nice guy who thinks critically about genre, but so far I think his ideas are better than his writing.

He released a preview of some of his work on Tor a few months back and I couldn't believe how amateurish it was. It was beyond rough. I assume he'll clean it up, but I couldn't imagine showing anyone something in that state.

My problem with his books I've read is that he mixes some interesting original ideas with things that are straight-up rip-offs from other authors. Warbreaker's magic system had a nice spin on the sort of color-based magic we've seen elsewhere with the "breath of life" element... but then he just cuts-and-pastes Elric's Stormbringer from Moorcock's novels. (And Sanderson's "Cosmere" sounds somewhat like Moorcock's "Eternal Champion".)

That's probably the secret to Sanderson's success: like George Lucas, he's giving us the familiar tropes with a slightly different spin on them, updated for a modern audience. It's neither high art nor great art, but it's comfort food art.

Trike,

I tend to agree with you, I'd say most of his writing that I've read, would be at a YA level for the prose. But what I like is how tight he keeps his world building and magic systems. I also have enjoyed the stories themselves, like you said good comfort food writing.

I will say the one thing of his that I read that seemed to elevate his writing style, while keeping the strict magic system, was "The Emperor's Soul", but that was a much shorter story then most of his other ones.

Warbreaker was my 1st.... a single book that showed all of his considerable talents was perfect IMO :)

I think it depends on how much do you want to immerse yourself in what the cosmere is (and on what it promises to be). If such is the case, then the sequence I would suggest would be:

Elantris
Mistborn 1-3
Warbreaker
Way of Kings
Words of Radiance

John (Nevets) wrote: "I'd say most of his writing that I've read, would be at a YA level for the prose."

Hmm. I'd say the same of J.D. Salinger, and of Mark Twain in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. But they both knew how to tell a good story, that's for sure.

I guess I have issue with the word "level," which implies the concept of above and below. I don't think "simple" prose is necessarily inferior or deserving to be interpreted as being targeted at a younger audience. Nor is "YA" fiction necessarily at a "lower level" than "adult" fiction. *shrug*

But carry on... sorry... I don't mean to derail the conversation by going off on a tangent there :-)

I honestly didn't mean it in a negative way. I think Sanderson is a good writer overall. It does seem to be a choice Sanderson made to write in a "populous" style (probably closer to what I meant then YA level). I would say that is a choice Salinger and Twain made as well. While it seems Twain made that choice, I also think he was a bit more particular about his word choices then Sanderson, but otherwise I think they both do a pretty good job in world building, and staying true to the logic of the worlds they create (although it's been a while since I've read A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court: Webster's Swedish Thesaurus Edition, and I may have that wrong).

I guess my main point is to me there isn't a stigma attached with "Young Adult" writing, so I really didn't mean that as a negative thing, but thank you for making me think about what I meant by that.

Fair enough :-)

Twain's prose varies from book to book; the language used in Huck Finn is very different from that used in Life on the Mississippi.

I understand what you mean now :-) Thanks for explaining. I personally think the Young Adult sections of many bookstores are a bit confusing in terms of what authors & works they include and don't include, but oh well. I guess the primary impetus behind forming such categories is marketing. After all, whatever sells books most efficiently is what works best for booksellers.

But let's get back to a discussion of Brandon Sanderson's works :-) Sorry again for the tangent!

Felicia wrote: "Everyone says 'The Mistborn Trilogy', but when I look on Goodreads, there's seven books. Can anyone explain this to me? Is it like Foundation which was a trilogy until the author suddenly took it u..."

Heh, I'm just about to start Foundation.

I'm going to be the contrarian and that you don't need to read Mistborn. I much prefer his stand alone novels. In fact, I'm glad I decided to give him a second chance after the Mistborn trilogy bored me to death. I'm reading Stormlight Archive, but I can easily see it going the same way that the Mistborn Trilogy did (in that it lost me, not plotwise), and I think he's a lot stronger in his stand alone novel.s

Melani who wanders and is lost wrote: "I'm going to be the contrarian and that you don't need to read Mistborn. I much prefer his stand alone novels. In fact, I'm glad I decided to give him a second chance after the Mistborn trilogy bor..."

I actually think the first Mistborn book works as a standalone, same with Alloy of Law.

I didn't see anyone mention that Brandon Released Warbreaker for free on his website, for people who wanted to get a taste of what he was all about before committing.