I finished a book yesterday and I'm pretty mad about it. Not at the book (it was great) but at myself. I’d long resisted Brandon Sanderson’s work. Now, I see what I’ve been missing.
Reading more than one book at a time gives me variety, sure, but it also adds rhythm. I even have a little system. There's my morning coffee companion, which is usually some kind of business strategy, personal growth, or other non-fiction type book for a bit of thinking to start off my days. Then there’s my pre-bed read. Those rotate between fantasy and other serialized fiction so my days wind down with the freedom to dream a little.
Which, I usually love.
But not right now.
Coming to the end of Mistborn 2 by Brandon Sanderson, I find myself conflicted.
It's not even that big of a deal. In fact, it's admittedly a great problem to have. Because when I read something from Brandon Sanderson, I get pulled out of the story A LOT. But never in a bad way. Because I'm someone who dissects storylines from anything—books, TV shows, movies... (even marketing campaigns).
For example, when I'm reading something by Fredrik Backman, I often forget I'm reading anything at all... his writing structure's that good. I'm always fully immersed in the story. The way he writes just sort of mirrors my internal monologue, I guess. I consume lines of text without the need to decipher anything. It's like everything lines up with my first-person POV, regardless of character, tense, or environment.
Fredrik Backman's writing sounds like how I think. But Brandon Sanderson's writing sounds like how I want my writing to sound. It's a case of what is compared to what could be. I get pulled out of Brandon's stories because I routinely stop to admire his sentence structure. Or some literary device he used, like hiding critical context in dialogue between characters rather than shoving chunks of narration in your face. But that's because I'm looking for it.
Brandon and Fredrik might be very different, but I love both of their styles.
Their skill is masterful. So turning to the final page of Mistborn 2, I was frustrated. Instead of "wow, what a great ending to a superb story!", my thoughts sounded more like "How the fuck did he do that???"
Because he managed to tie up the loose ends of 10+ major character arcs, the primary plot throughline, and two(ish) sub-plots, but left justttt enough out to tee-up the next book. That evil genius even did it without opening or stepping into any discernible plot holes. Yes, I'm throwing a bit of shade to the likes of J.R.R. Tolkien, J.K. Rowling, and George R. R. Martin. But only because I'm completely blown away by Brandon's work.
I really wish I'd squashed my ego sooner. I could've been learning from him for years by now. Oh, and yes—of course I ordered Mistborn 3. Now, at least, I have time to read Fredrik Backman's new book My Friends before it gets here.
What's something your ego has been keeping you from?
What happens if you give it a shot anyway?
onward.
-dmac