Dear Brandon Sanderson

An open letter from a Non-Fan & 170+ Readers Who Had a Lot to Say

Dear Mr. Sanderson,

Hello there, Brandon. (May I call you Brandon?) How are you?

We’ve not met–and probably never will, as my schedule is pretty doggone busy with reading, writing, family, feeding dogs, etc. But I wanted to shoot you a quick letter with what I hope is helpful advice.

You’re now entering, I think, the next phase of your career as an author: no longer building (congrats, you’ve made it), but maintaining it—which I imagine is equally tough, though different.

I realize you really have no reason to listen to what anyone else has to say. Especially me personally, as to be honest, I’m not a fan. I’m no hater, either, just a reader with different tastes. I gravitate toward fiction shaped more by clever and beautiful language, by exploration of ideas, by Dostoevsky, Gene Wolfe, Tolkien, and Twain. Neither expansive magic systems nor high-output, plot-driven storytelling attract me.

Now, I have read Mistborn (one of my wife’s and daughters’ favorites, by the way), as well as part of The Way of Kings—enough to understand why so many readers love your work. It’s just not for me.

However, after a recent Substack post of mine used your novels and Tolkien’s to compare “good” to “great” fiction, I received 174 great comments—many of which centered on you. So while you might not listen to me, necessarily, you definitely should pay attention to these intelligent commenters. This sincere, thoughtful, unfiltered feedback from everyday readers–many who admire your work greatly–generously give perspectives you could find helpful.

You have said you maintain a network of feedback partners, including a writing group, beta readers, and the editors on your staff. Great. But I humbly wonder whether the fine folks of Substack might frame things differently for you? You see, while most recognize your influence, many are disappointed. And all—including me—genuinely want you to keep growing.

This letter, then, is a synthesis of those 174 voices. I can’t include everything these fine folks said, but here’s a sampling, offered in the spirit of helpfulness.

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Note: I quote a lot from the 174 commenters below, but do not cite them. This is intentional. While their responses are publicly out there in plain view for all who may want to dig through and discover who said what, I want them to retain the rights to their own attributions—including the ability to change, add, or retract.

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I. What Readers Love

Let’s start with the good, Brandon, because there’s a lot of it.

A dominant theme I noted from the comments is awe at your worldbuilding, your fertile mind. Readers repeatedly called you a “genius” at construction, both of the Cosmere and your magic systems. One put it simply:

“Ultimately, Sanderson’s books are not really about Vin, Kaladin, Sarene, and their lives—they’re about Allomancy, Surgebinding, AonDor, and the overall concept of Investiture.”

Admittedly, I only recognize one of those words, but the idea is loud and clear: you are successfully building a universe from scratch, and your readers respect that. They admire your ambition. They love the big ideas. Another added:

“There is possibly no bigger fantasy author than Sanderson currently… If he manages to complete the Cosmere, he’ll very likely be considered one of the greatest fantasy authors of all time.”

Some praised your plotting, too—your ability to line up dominoes across thousands upon thousands (upon even more thousands) of pages and then knock them down, which they felt, when it works, really works:

“Like a good architect, his construction is sound, if not entirely sublime.”

Still other commenters—some of whom have admittedly cooled on your recent work—express gratitude for how many young writers you’ve inspired. One of the benefits of your long career with such consistently popular novels is that readers have grown up with you. They value you in their personal mythologies–and what an honor that must be.

And, of course, your generosity was mentioned more than once:

“I appreciate Sanderson for providing his university classes for free on YouTube… he seems like a great guy.”

Even I’ve noted this. With astonishing transparency you share freely about the writing process, publishing, and your own experiences. Not for profit. Not for popularity. But simply to be helpful. And it’s all done with a down-home friendliness that draws people to you, even sparking them to follow your lead:

“Sanderson inspires countless new writers to try their hand at fantasy, which makes the genre grow and evolve”

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II. What Readers Struggle With

Okay, so let’s get to the concerns.

The following critiques came up again and again. I’m not presenting fringe gripes here—I’m giving you what commenters clustered around most.

1. Unpolished Prose

Multiple readers critiqued your ham-fisted prose:

“His greatest flaw as a writer, IMHO, is the wooden, clunky prose.”

“There was no care for language… which is what it takes for me to be transported.”

“Juvenile is exactly right. It’s the exact word I have used to describe Sanderson’s writing.” [Note: to be fair, I used “juvenile” in the original article, too.]

Another said:

“He’s a genius at worldbuilding… but I wish he put that same effort into the prose.”

A great author needs a great editor, Brandon, but clearly your novels are showing what a commenter called:

“A lack of editorial rigor.”

Plus, I’m seeing concerns that your writing seems to be getting simpler over time, not richer, which might speak to your drive to publish more, faster (more on that in a moment.)

I know you liken your prose to a “clear glass window” (as opposed to more ornate, “stained glass” prose), but it appears that paradoxically it’s not working. Your prose is simple, but it’s also so plain, so wooden that it’s more like a cracked glass windowpane–it draws attention to itself by its being so clunky.

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2. Functional Characterization at Best

One commenter suggested, quite positively:

“Ultimately… Sanderson is exploring ideas more than developing deep narrative.”

While your “ideas” receive your focus, I’m gleaning that your characterization may be touch and go.

“…his writing is basic and utilitarian. Not my thing, especially since, for me, his characters and stories didn’t pick up the slack.”

While only a few mention your stories like above commenter, a few did point to your characters. Yes, many enjoy your protagonists–in fact, this was one of the strengths I heard frequently before I myself tried your books. But it appears to some readers your characters often feel like delivery mechanisms for your intricate plots and worldbuilding, instead of the organic centers of the story. They’re not real, fully fleshed-out persons, but borderline “types.” Comic book figures. Caricatures.

Sure, simple, flat, one-dimensional characters can work in plot-centric fiction, but it seems yours aren’t. Not always, but sometimes. As a result, your emotional beats sometimes feel engineered rather than earned. A byproduct only.

Furthermore, combining characterization with prose, it’s also pointed out that characters in your fantasy settings often speak and act like contemporary Americans with internet access, which jars the tone and demolishes the fictional dream. One wrote:

“He writes characters whose attitudes and actions are wildly anachronistic at best, and sometimes just don’t make sense in any era.”

Another commenter gave a specific example of the mismatch, too, in which a character (Tress) nonsensically said:

“I dropped it like a streaker’s pants.”

I recall this myself during my own reading, but I heard much, much more after Wind and Truth was published. Some pretty big eye-rollers came from that one book, with culture-war DEI rearing its ugly head and oddly modern diction abounding. To my mind, here’s the best example of both:

“How?” Ishar repeated. “What are you?” He gestured toward Szeth. “Are you… are you his spren? His god?”

“No,” Kaladin said. “I’m his therapist.”

(Chapter 139, p. 125)

I can’t imagine a more jolting sentiment or wording to kill a medieval-style fantasy. You’re better than this modern, angst-filled teenage writing, Brandon. And if you’re not, hire a sober, harsh editor to help you.

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3. Expansive but Overgrown Worldbuilding

This surprised me, because your fans love the Cosmere. As one said:

“Sanderson has moved the genre in new directions with his focus on world building, hard magic systems, and creating his own private Wikipedia to chronicle every detail of the setting.”

But other comments reveal this facet is more and more tinged with concern. Readers admire your ambition, but are beginning to feel a creeping sense that cosmology is overtaking the human story, becoming fat and unwieldy:

“He’s slipped into mediocrity. The thematic insight seems to have been edged out by a Cosmere with more cross-references than Marvel comics.”

One person put it beautifully:

“I find a lot of his ideas (in the Stormlight archive) really intriguing but somehow the sum of the parts feels lesser than each one in isolation.”

You are treading new ground here. Although your readers are fascinated by your intricate, complex, and expansive worldbuilding, it seems it’s in danger of becoming a blob unto itself. Not serving the story, but overgrowing and overshadowing it. Readers obviously love being transported by the adventures you tell, but the cosmology is just an Easter egg. Your fans adore the Cosmere, but they want it to support the stories—not dominate them.

Along with this, I did engage with a few commenters who debated whether your writing has any greater meaning. Some felt it did, others did not. This is a tricky one for a commercial writer of epic fiction such as yourself, and unfortunately I can’t help with this. I’ve not read enough. However, one commenter singled out Mistborn Era 1—especially The Hero of Ages—as containing real emotional and philosophical depth:

“It handled the topic of faith with a surprising amount of nuance.”

I can only imagine readers would appreciate more of that Brandon. The Brandon who had something to say—not just something to build.

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4. Speed Over Craft

This was the most universal critique. A lot of suppositions go into it, I think, but the strong suspicion is that you have become a writing factory, not a caring author.

Now, nobody resents your output. They’re in awe of it. But they clearly worry that production speed is coming at the sacrifice of quality:

“He just isn’t willing to put the necessary time and effort into his writing…Instead of rewriting and refining his prose and characters, he rushes each book so he can get on with the next one.”

One tellingly called out the bloat your massive output engenders:

“I read 600 pages of the first Stormlight novel and dropped it…Everyone told me to keep reading; they said it gets better after that point. I thought, ‘Buddy, if you need more than 600 pages to become engaging, I think something’s wrong with your book’.”

It’s my suspicion that Wind and Truth shook your fanbase most, as I said before. No one mentioned this in the 174 comments per se, but I recall it was all the talk on the Interwebs last year–and I personally know fans who ranged from disappointed to downright enraged. It aligns well with the worries fans mentioned.

Rightly, one commenter framed you as at the crossroads in your career:

“I think some of his earlier works did point toward mastery and meaning… but since then he’s become too much a part of his own fanbase. Interested only in the twist, the technical magic, etc.”

Now this might be just as much about managing your booming popularity as it is your prolific output—and I can’t imagine the pressure that must bring. But either way, your readers are telling you to slow down. Obsess not just over the number of pages published, but what those pages contain. Especially these days when AI can vomit out “content,” readers crave something magical from you, and magic cannot be manufactured. It must be cultivated.

Everyone wants you to succeed (even me, and I’m not even a fan!) This can only happen if you slow down—not like a glacier (*cough* Rothfuss *cough cough* Martin), but like a skilled, caring craftsman.

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Best of Luck, Brandon

Brandon, your readers admire you. They eagerly await your new books. They respect your contribution to the fantasy genre. Some believe you may very well end up a defining voice of 21st-century fantasy. Even the critical comments to my post came from people who, by and large, want to love your work even more than they currently do.

That being said, rising from it all I saw a striking sentiment emerge: Your readers believe you could be something even greater than you are right now.

You’ve already built something enormous. The question I think many, many readers are now asking—often with real affection—is: “What would happen if Brandon Sanderson slowed down, just enough, to craft something not only big… but well made?”

Whatever direction you choose, Brandon, your influence on the genre is secure. Your kindness is admired. And your ambition is unmatched. But 174 commenters—many longtime fans—are rooting for the next evolution in your artistry.

Best of luck.

Sincerely,

Don Beck
…and all the people who cared enough to say all this

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Thanks for visiting the Reading Room! I love exploring fantasy, sci-fi, and classic literature. Let me know what you think—I’m always interested in learning more deeply.