This was the first of Brandon's four "secret novels" that he wrote as part of his incredibly successful Kickstarter campaign last year (which raised $41.7 million off a $1 million goal), and I was really excited to read it, because I've enjoyed everything I've read of Sanderson's so far. Some more than others, of course, but I've found something to enjoy and/or learn in every single thing I've read of his to date ... but that streak ended with this book, unfortunately.


Here's some additional context Brandon provided with this book:



I share that because he said he wrote it with "no time constraints, no expectations, and no limits on his imagination," which I actually think was a real detriment to this book. Known for his worldbuilding and unique magic systems, I found the fantasy world he created here to be almost bizarro just for the sake of it, with random details and factoids that felt like they were shoehorned in. The book was also written in a style that I found very off-putting, with a lot of sarcasm and asides for the audience, almost in an "I can do whatever I want" kind of way.

Ultimately, I'm bummed that I wasn't feeling this book and usually I'd give a writer I've read for years more of the benefit of the doubt, but sometimes you just get 50 pages into a book and go, "Nope, this isn't working for me and I really don't have any interest in seeing it through," even when it's an author you really like. And, hey, he's still sending me three other books this year as part of my support for his Kickstarter, so I don't really feel bad about skipping this one rather than forcing myself to finish it.

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Created Apr 06, 2024 at 12:16pm • Submit your own review...