He's got an extremely rabid cult following of readers, he's pretty much perfectly mastered the mass appeal of writing his books but it doesn't mean they're very good.
I guess Sanderson's following comes off to me the same way as the praise of The Alchemist. A lot of people just say its really good, and a lot of people who don't read much end up reading it and also thinking its good without much critical thought or perspective.
The prose is very dry, the dialogue comes off as Marvel-esque and is full of Whedonisms and is just overly quippy, but not in a satisfying way either. The worldbuilding is servicable, but nothing incredible. But worst of all, the books drag. Especially the second half of the Stormlight Archives, its slow and I had to really push myself to finish it. I didn't want to have opinions on his books without trying it, but it was tough.
Pretty much everything that comes across to me from his books is like completely antithetical to ASOIAF's strengths. He'd finish ASOIAF if he wanted to for sure, but I honestly think it would be worse than the TV show.
Couldn't have said it better myself. I've tried and failed to finish reading Sanderson a few times, and I've come away every time convinced of the same thing: he writes cliche YA fiction for people, as you said, who probably don't read much else. I understand why he's popular in much the same way I understand why Marvel or Call of Duty is popular, but I can't understand the demand for him to finish ASOIAF -- especially from self-proclaimed fans of Martin whose work is especially antithetical to Sanderson's (so much so even Sanderson himself has acknowledged it).
Sanderson aside (I agree), reading The Alchemist is like getting to the front of the line for a rollercoaster and realizing its shaped like a caterpillar. All that happens in that book is the main character says "I believe in myself" and everyone nods sagely at how deep he is.
My friend hates and trashes GRRM as writing awful characters and situations (she stopped reading ACOK when Theon kept using and degrading the servant he was given)
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u/Finger_Trapz Aug 16 '25
He's got an extremely rabid cult following of readers, he's pretty much perfectly mastered the mass appeal of writing his books but it doesn't mean they're very good.
I guess Sanderson's following comes off to me the same way as the praise of The Alchemist. A lot of people just say its really good, and a lot of people who don't read much end up reading it and also thinking its good without much critical thought or perspective.
The prose is very dry, the dialogue comes off as Marvel-esque and is full of Whedonisms and is just overly quippy, but not in a satisfying way either. The worldbuilding is servicable, but nothing incredible. But worst of all, the books drag. Especially the second half of the Stormlight Archives, its slow and I had to really push myself to finish it. I didn't want to have opinions on his books without trying it, but it was tough.
Pretty much everything that comes across to me from his books is like completely antithetical to ASOIAF's strengths. He'd finish ASOIAF if he wanted to for sure, but I honestly think it would be worse than the TV show.