Brandon Sanderson

I was introduced to Brandon Sanderson's works about a year ago and have loved everything I have read. The first book I read of his was "Warbreaker". I have read through most of the rest of his books (still working through the Alcatraz series...) and am looking forward to others that are coming out. In general, the plots hold your attention, the story lines are believable (assuming you look past that his books are fantasy with magic and fictional creatures...), and his characters are well developed and deep. I usually have a very hard time putting down any of his books. Most of his books seem to target adults and older teenagers (Alcatraz being the exception). As a word of caution with his books, there tend to be a couple of very violent scenes in each of his book that will make most of them PG-13, if not border-line R in the violence category.

One of the most interesting aspects of his writing is that every world he creates in a given book or series has a different magic system. In one series, magic is based on ingesting specific metals and drawing powers from them. In another, you can collect partial "souls" of other people (they can only be passed to someone else voluntarily) and the more souls you have the stronger your magic abilities. In another, glasses that you wear contain different magic properties and the more you collect the greater your array of weapons/tools in your arsenal. And on and on. Often, when reading one of his books, I find myself wanting to read more simply to better understand the system.

Oddly enough, his style of different magic systems in each book is also a pet peeve of mine. In at least one of his books that I read, I felt I was playing a Pokeman game with people leveling up, etc. Along that line, much of the book revolves around the different systems. I would love to see him write a book without a new system. It has nothing to do with not liking his books. I am just curious to see how a book would turn out that had a system that is familiar to most people (or no magic at all) and see him focus all his attention on the storyline or characters. But like I mentioned, that is one of his hallmarks

Two series of books need to be called out as very different from the rest of his writings. First, his work with the late Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" series. Before Jordan passed away of cardiac amyloidosis, he worked on completing as much as he could and sharing plot lines with family. After Jordan's passing, Sanderson was selected by the family to finish the series using the notes and details from Jordan. I will eventually re-read that book and get it into my blog. But the point being, this series has a very different feel to it than any of his other books. It seems that Sanderson tried hard to stay true to Jordan's characters and writing styles, and the books (at least the first) match closely with the previous books in the series. That must be a very tough assignment for a writer to build on a series that is so critically acclaimed, but Sanderson did a great job. In the series, this last book is one of my favorites.

The second is his Alcatraz (a youth, not the prison) series. The books are written in a light comical voice. The book is written in a first person style with the "author" being Alcatraz with a pen name of Brandon Sanderson. Then, throughout the book, Alcatraz gives some commentary to the reader. For example, often Alcatraz will tell us how how evil and bad authors are. This is because if you read a book and enjoy it, you feel bad there isn't more to read. If you read a book and don't enjoy it, you feel like you have wasted your time. So the point of reading, no matter how much you enjoy it, is to torment the reader. If you are looking for a serious read, these are not your books. But if you are looking for something light and quick, and don't mind a very interesting sense of humor, these are great.

Bibliography

• Elantris - 2005 (Stand alone novel, have read)
• Mistborn - Series
  • The Final Empire - 2006 (have read)
  • The Well of Ascension - 2007 (have read)
  • The Hero of Ages - 2008 (have read)
• Alcatraz - Series
  • Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians - 2007 (have read)
  • Alcatraz Versus the Scrivener's Bones - 2008
  • Alcatraz Versus the Knights of Crystallia - 2009
  • Alcatraz Versus the Shattered Lens - 2010 (Not yet released)
• Warbreaker - 2009 (Stand alone novel, have read)
• Wheel of Time - Series
  • The Gathering Storm - 2009 (have read)
  • Towers of Midnight - 2010 (Not yet released)
  • A Memory of Light - 2011 (Not yet released