I’m a big fantasy fiction nut. TWOK by Sanderson has been recommended to me countless times. I really enjoyed part one, Kaladin and Shallan’s stories.
The interludes were really tough for me to even be interested in, and now in part 2 it’s just really boring me. Idk should I push through? The story telling of the first part was great and it sucked me in, part 2 is proving to be boring and tedious.
Any thoughts?
You must log in or register to comment.
I think this is a very dangerous opinion to have on reddit, so I commend your bravery. I actually got banned from r/fantasy for refusing to praise Sanderson’s work. I enjoyed the first few books, but Rhythm of War is an absolute slog and I stopped there. It’s an entertaining but mediocre story with good but formulaic worldbuilding. It’s very preachy at times, which many books are, but the books are a bit heavy handed and clearly targeted at a YA audience and the richer elements are diluted and offered as low hanging fruit, which I think feels rewarding for the majority who may have otherwise missed these elements. They’re a fun read when they’re fun, and it reminds me a lot of written anime (no, not manga ffs). I don’t think he’s a bad writer, I just think he found his niche and it’s not for me. However, a hilarious thing I noticed when finishing the truly horrendous slog that is The Wheel of Time (worth it though) was that I felt the pace picked up significantly when Sanderson took over. So if you think this is boring, don’t try Wheel of Time, and if you do, don’t feel bad skipping roughly half the content and Crossroads of Twilight in its entirety. A series I can suggest, which reddit absolutely abhors, is The Lightbringer Trilogy by Brent Weeks, or if you’re up for a ride, The First Law Trilogy and subsequent trilogies by Joe Abercrombie. He’s crafted a fun world, fantastic characters, fights, and dialogue along with stronger writing than Sanderson. If you haven’t read Abercrombie’s work yet, I highly recommend doing so.
Good take, wheel of time I didn’t really struggle with because I found Robert Jordan crafted better characters and motivations they were horrendously flawed people, but that’s what made them captivating. Even at the slowest parts of Wheel of time there is enough teasers or Easter eggs to the wider plot to keep you invested.
Stormlight books sag in the middle. The endings are great, like the last couple hundred pages, and Sanderson can capitalize off that momentum for the starting few hundred pages of the next book. The problem is the middle, and the problem with the first book is that you’re not riding off the cool climax of a book prior. I remember very little from the middle sections of the books because the majority of it is set-up. Honestly a lot of it, both text and content, feels redundant. The main characters are fun, though Andolin doesn’t feel like much of a character at all until some point into book 2. If you like the characters I think you should continue
I think the repetitive text is what hurts so much. The prose is simple, but it repeats itself so much, and not in an endearing way like Logen Ninefingers POV in the First Law trilogy either. And I understand the books are 1000 pages too, but it feels like we spend at least 100 pages reitariting the same thing over and over. It’s worse than handholding prose; it’s like someone has you by the neck and is forcing your face exactly where they want it at all times.
And it’s definitely one of those things where most of it is superfluous stuff that you forget afterward, but it’s definitely noticeable during the read through.
I really value a book which trims its fat and maintains a strong pacing throughout. A Wizard of Earthsea has a breakneck pace and zero filler, describing an epic voyage in the span of 185 pages; meanwhile, Titus Groan takes a long time to relate the plot to you…but every scene is important and engrosses you in the depths of the characters. Even that book is shorter than Mistborn.
I feel like that is his thing, and most people give great ratings riding that climax and tend to forget the slog in the middle. I had that feeling already with Mistborn, that’s why I don’t even bother with stormlight. The fact that you used the word climax makes me think of it being a relationship where both partners are bored, have little in common, but have great sex which makes them temporarily forget all the bad.
I am not his target audience. His prose does not work for me. This is fine, there’s no such thing as a universally appealing novel. If a book isn’t working for you, find one that does.
It’s best to ignore those who insist you just have to try harder, that is not how brains work. I have never been glad I forced myself to finish a novel I wasn’t enjoying. It’s not worth it. The older you get, the more you will appreciate using your time wisely.
I just finished the fourth Stormlight book and his prose doesn’t really work for me either, but the story is so interesting that I keep going. It’s definitely not for everyone, for sure. I’ve definitely had to take breaks, especially when he has characters in a fantasy novel saying stuff like “awesome-ness!” But I love it all the same.
I forced myself through the first book of The Malazan Book of the Fallen. Twice.
Best decision I ever made with regards to reading books.
Okay, now that I’ve seen your comment I guess I’m now obligated to try to read this book AGAIN. Thanks a lot
I didn’t care for Gardens of the Moon until my re-read. So I’d just try to read through the first one and then jump on the second one.
The second book, Deadhouse Gates was amazing and began my journey through the series.
Wonderful. It works for some people, with some books.
It’s never benefited me. And I have read thousands of books over six decades, and tried to read thousands more. And did force myself through at least a hundred before I decided that was enough of that.
Yeah, to be fair I didn’t like the book that much the second time. But after continuing the series I found the best series of my life, thus far.
How dare you not like my favorite, tell me who your favorite is so I can say I don’t like them! :P
But yeah. It’s very simple prose. I personally ADORE that - I care much more about the characters and story, though I do appreciate a good turn of phrase as long as it doesn’t get in the way of my ADD addled brain understanding lol.
The series only gets more difficult. I would stop now. I did not like the 4th book and only parts of the 2nd and 3rd.
It’s ok to admit that Sanderson bores you.
Yeah I read a few of his books and realized that I found them highly repetitive and that he just isn’t a great writer at the end of the day.
I got banned from r/fantasy for saying I didn’t like Sanderson and providing reasons why. So just be careful lol.
No you didn’t.
Dude I got down voted to the deepest darkest recesses of hell for saying the same thing.
Downvoted is very different from being banned. One is by users, one is by mods.
Maybe you are not in the mood for it right now?
I thought Mistborn was great, as was Elantris. But I just couldn’t continue with Stormlight after the second book.
I found TWOK pretty hard to get through almost the entire way through, didn’t pick up until 60%.
It might just not be for you. I prefer all other Sanderson books.
If you don’t like it, don’t read it. Not everyone is a fan of the same thing.
Yeah I’m not certain what it is about some fantasy readers, it’s like…“It doesn’t really get going until book five so just hang in there.”
*Cries in Wheel of Time*
Bro, I promise, I know it gets slow after the fifth book, but I promise book 11 is fire bro, please bro, I’m begging you, I swear you’ll love it, you just need to crawl through literally one million words of slog, it’s not that bad bro please
(I’ve read the series twice through and it’s one of my favourite series, but god damn)
i read the first 3 then bailed
just wasn’t good enough, sorry
i actually liked the og mistborn trilogy more, even tho it’s pretty clearly written for young adults
It’s not YA at all though, such a nonsense complaint
Same on both counts. I tapped out at the second long slave caravan story. Like my god, out your characters through suffering? Fine. Put separate characters through the same suffering angle for entire books? Get stuffed, slave caravans are not that interesting.
yeah man
i also read some reviews of Rhythm of War
looks like we made the right choice
I’ve read 4 and I won’t read another. They’re not my thing. Too slow, not letting his characters grow and essentially just torturing their main flaw or issue book after book, and instead of writing tight books he’s adhering to a structure that weakens the overall narrative by making each “novel” a giant, swollen novel sandwiching a handful of completely unrelated short stories.
I came out of the first one optimistic thinking it was depressing as hell but the world seemed cool. I read three more hoping they’d make things better, and they’ve just made me stop reading Sanderson.
I think it’s totally fine to just not be into it.
That being said, a lot of people enjoy Sanderson a lot, and if you happen to end up liking it, it’s a very rewarding series to get into because 1. there are a lot of books in the series 2. Sanderson is really good at churning out more books consistently.
So like, if it was Rothfuss, maybe it’s not worth to try and push through, since even if you ended up enjoying the first book, you’ll end up stuck and disappointed after the second book anyway. With Sanderson, if you happen to “acquire” the taste, you can get a lot more out of it. That being said, if at some point it’s just clear you don’t like it, it’s still fine to give it up.
Part two felt a bit like a slog the first time I read it, but I really think it’s a nice build up.
It definitely goes a bit slow, but it also has to set up the next 9 books plus all the other connected series, it’s understandable that there isn’t much room for action. If you aren’t enjoying yourself, drop it, but I’d recommend pushing through
Having just finished the way of kings a few days ago, I say that some of the interludes do matter, especially with Szeth. During the slow parts, I just borrowed an audiobook from the Libby of Hoopla Digital app and listened. But I can almost promise if you push further , especially towards the middle of part 4, shit hits the fan. The set ups in part 2-3 pays off very well in 4 and 5. You won’t want to put the book down. The “Sanderlanche” I believe his fans calls it. But if you’re not feeling it then that’s okay
The first half of the book is a ton of worldbuilding, but the second half is a massive pay off for it, and is incredible. Definitely try to get to Part 3, 4, and 5, because that’s when it REALLLLLLY picks up. TWoK is a complicated book because it’s setting up a much larger world and story, but you gotta have the faith in it that you’ll be rewarded in the end. It’s one of my favorites of all time, and its sequel book is even better IMO (gonna read Oathbringer at the start of 2024).
“it gets good after 4000 pages, trust me”