He's a hack, I tell you! A hack!

He used to be my favorite author, but even while he was my favorite, I thought he spent too much time "explaining" the magic, and I felt his "magic" was pseudo science pretending to be magic, and my thoughts were correct! Now that I know he's a hack and I won't read him, I can look on with clarity. Even outside of the science-magic in his stories it's clear he's utterly obsessed with science and not with magic, as he explains in his lectures that the "magic in his world" must "make sense," explaining why creatures are so large and that gravity is lighter, alloying them to grow big, etc, etc. This is not magic. This is science fiction.

To hell with you Sanderson!

And the proof!

“A ‘fairy-story’ is one which touches on or uses Faerie, whatever its own main purpose may be: satire, adventure, morality, fantasy. Faerie itself may perhaps most nearly be translated by Magic — but it is magic of a peculiar mood and power, at the furthest pole from the vulgar devices of the laborious, scientific, magician. There is one proviso: if there is any satire present in the tale, one thing must not be made fun of, the magic itself. That must in that story be taken seriously, neither laughed at nor explained away.”—J.R.R. Tolkien

Vindicattttiiiooon!

Suck iiitttttttt!!!!!!!

I'm glad you discovered that you prefer 'soft' magic systems, but that doesn't mean the others are invalid.  

What CrowsCrowCrow said. Soft and hard magic systems - both are valid, as is any point along the spectrum. 

So what if he has a preference for his magic systems. That is part of his writing style for better or for worse.

Here's a fun thing about fantasy, you can write it the way you want it. No one said that fantasy has to be this one thing, yet from what I have seen over the years, everyone has this idea of what fantasy should be.

You should write fantasy with big worlds like Tolkien. It's all about grim dark now, it is superior to all fantasy stories. Fantasy should have a dragon, it's not a real fantasy if it doesn't. There shouldn't be a magic system, magic should do everything. Every fantasy needs to be epic. Your urban fantasy story should be about a badass woman. Fantasy can't have realism, it must always be about escapism. 

I can go on forever summarizing some of the stuff I've read from fantasy writers and fantasy fans who all have an opinion of what fantasy should be.

Can we as fantasy fan, for once, just acknowledge, that fantasy is a broad genre. Not everything needs to be the same and not all of it needs to fit one's tastes.

LambentTyto Wrote: He's a hack, I tell you! A hack!
He used to be my favorite author, but even while he was my favorite, I thought he spent too much time "explaining" the magic, and I felt his "magic" was pseudo science pretending to be magic, and my thoughts were correct! Now that I know he's a hack and I won't read him, I can look on with clarity. Even outside of the science-magic in his stories it's clear he's utterly obsessed with science and not with magic, as he explains in his lectures that the "magic in his world" must "make sense," explaining why creatures are so large and that gravity is lighter, alloying them to grow big, etc, etc. This is not magic. This is science fiction.
To hell with you Sanderson!
And the proof!
“A ‘fairy-story’ is one which touches on or uses Faerie, whatever its own main purpose may be: satire, adventure, morality, fantasy. Faerie itself may perhaps most nearly be translated by Magic — but it is magic of a peculiar mood and power, at the furthest pole from the vulgar devices of the laborious, scientific, magician. There is one proviso: if there is any satire present in the tale, one thing must not be made fun of, the magic itself. That must in that story be taken seriously, neither laughed at nor explained away.”—J.R.R. Tolkien
Vindicattttiiiooon!
Suck iiitttttttt!!!!!!!

lol. I love trolls. 

I personally prefer Firm/Hybrid/Mixed or Soft magic systems to hard, but I can still enjoy the latter. 

I also believe that fantasy is a broad genre where anything can be written in it.

No offense meant, but how this thread's OP was written seems like it was prepping for a gruesome debate where no one comes away looking good.

Sam Wrote: No offense meant, but how this thread's OP was written seems like it was prepping for a gruesome debate where no one comes away looking good.

Nah, I'm not interested in debate. I also know all about hard vs soft systems. Just a personal vindication for an opinion of mine. I'm actually reading Lord of the Rings right now, and I'm very much enjoying it. The way writing teachers and essays talk about Lord of the Rings, they make it sound like the story is a plotless stroll through a fantasy wonderland, but so far that concept I've found to be wholly untrue. Definitely a slow burn, but so if The Wheel of Time.

There's advantages and disadvantages to all the different magic systems. In my opinion soft power usually contain noticable Deus Exs (not bad if done right) at some point. That isn't say hard magic isn't immune but I perhaps just notice them less.

I personally enjoy all them lol.

Oh oh! While we're stating opinions as facts, here's mine:

Sanderson is a far better author than Tolkien (and also most definitely a fantasy writer)

KittraMcBriar Wrote: Sanderson is a far better author than Tolkien (and also most definitely a fantasy writer)

All his characters have regression arcs, like they're recovering crack addicts or something. I found this tiresome while I thought he could do no wrong. Have you not noticed? I killed him off in one of my books, actually, just like George RR Martin killed off Harry Potter in A Feast for Crows.

LambentTyto Wrote:

KittraMcBriar Wrote: Sanderson is a far better author than Tolkien (and also most definitely a fantasy writer)

All his characters have regression arcs, like they're recovering crack addicts or something. I found this tiresome while I thought he could do no wrong. Have you not noticed? I killed him off in one of my books, actually, just like George RR Martin killed off Harry Potter in A Feast for Crows.

Show me on the doll where the Brandon Sanderson hurt you lol 

And you know, it’s a shame that I get so focused on the actual story when I write stories. Maybe I should start working my real-world gripes into every narrative, too. Really stick it to those Kingdom Hearts characters for having such big, stupid clown feet. Seriously, worst character designs ever. 

I haven't read all of Sanderson's stuff, I think I'm on mistborn 3 right now, but it's pretty good. I don't think he's the best fantasy author ever, but I don't think he's a hack either. I like the magic systems though, as I'm a hard magic enjoyer myself ;) Not that they're without faults, of course.

Tolkien is good too, he's definitely OG and nobody can take that from him, but he's not walking on water either. Both good authors, who do some stuff really well and other stuff... is debatable, obviously. In the end, we like what we like. 

If there was an author out there who wrote exactly the stories I like to read, I wouldn't have to write them myself.

KittraMcBriar Wrote: Show me on the doll where the Brandon Sanderson hurt you lol

And you know, it’s a shame that I get so focused on the actual story when I write stories. Maybe I should start working my real-world gripes into every narrative, too. Really stick it to those Kingdom Hearts characters for having such big, stupid clown feet. Seriously, worst character designs ever.

I've done so much writing I never have to strain myself to "work" anything into the stories. As I write more and more, I want my writing to say things rather than to be nothing more that a consumable throwaway piece of entertainment where the author who wrote it is completely invisible. I've been experimenting a lot with author voice and narrative style lately.

To put it simply, where he "hurt me" if that's what you want to call it, I would say he went from being an unobtrusive writer to one that slaps the reader in the face from time to time with his annoying worldviews, views he didn't even have when I started reading his books, views he accepted for no other reason than that people publicly complained. Instead of having some artistic integrity, he gave in to the mob. I read other authors that write things I'm wildly apposed to, but I don't feel like they're trying to slap me with them.

I'm not going to get into specifics. There's no need. It's just a cathartic rant that my feelings on this matter, which I have had for a few years now, are more fully realized. Go ahead and enjoy Sanderson. I'll warn you though, he's a hack. :p

Wagenar Wrote: If there was an author out there who wrote exactly the stories I like to read, I wouldn't have to write them myself.

You just said it! You are that author!

Nah, I'm not telling anyone that Sanderson shouldn't be enjoyed. I really loved Mistborn.

Even knowing the nature of the post, reading this thread hurts me on a deep level. In spite of that,

Quote:You cannot have my pain.

Ziggy Wrote: You cannot have my pain.

I own all of your pain.

LambentTyto Wrote:

KittraMcBriar Wrote: Show me on the doll where the Brandon Sanderson hurt you lol

And you know, it’s a shame that I get so focused on the actual story when I write stories. Maybe I should start working my real-world gripes into every narrative, too. Really stick it to those Kingdom Hearts characters for having such big, stupid clown feet. Seriously, worst character designs ever.

I've done so much writing I never have to strain myself to "work" anything into the stories. As I write more and more, I want my writing to say things rather than to be nothing more that a consumable throwaway piece of entertainment where the author who wrote it is completely invisible. I've been experimenting a lot with author voice and narrative style lately.

To put it simply, where he "hurt me" if that's what you want to call it, I would say he went from being an unobtrusive writer to one that slaps the reader in the face from time to time with his annoying worldviews, views he didn't even have when I started reading his books, views he accepted for no other reason than that people publicly complained. Instead of having some artistic integrity, he gave in to the mob. I read other authors that write things I'm wildly apposed to, but I don't feel like they're trying to slap me with them.

I'm not going to get into specifics. There's no need. It's just a cathartic rant that my feelings on this matter, which I have had for a few years now, are more fully realized. Go ahead and enjoy Sanderson. I'll warn you though, he's a hack. :p

 “I've done so much writing I never have to strain myself to "work" anything into the stories. As I write more and more, I want my writing to say things rather than to be nothing more that a consumable throwaway piece of entertainment where the author who wrote it is completely invisible. I've been experimenting a lot with author voice and narrative style lately.”

So basically, your complaint is that he is doing exactly what you do/say you want to do—he is making stories that reflect his (probably ever-changing) views and him as a person. Smart people change their opinions based on new information. That’s very much a thing. But you’re angry because those views no longer align with yours. 
That’s kinda funny, actually 

KittraMcBriar Wrote: So basically, your complaint is that he is doing exactly what you do/say you want to do—he is making stories that reflect his (probably ever-changing) views and him as a person. Smart people change their opinions based on new information. That’s very much a thing. But you’re angry because those views no longer align with yours.

no

I mean, to each their own of course. But, that's a bold claim against one of the current best-selling fantasy writers. Sounds like you dislike "hard" or "law and limit" magic systems. 

Seems like in online SFF circles, saying Sanderson is good has almost become a more controversial statement than saying he sucks lmao (FWIW I think he is firmly in what young'ins would call the 'mid' category).