Hi, reader friends!
Did you see the article written about Brandon Sanderson this week? It was published in Wired. I hate to even link to it (or give it more views), but it was such a bizarre article. The author of the article went out to Utah to spend several days learning about why Brandon Sanderson is so popular. He stayed in Sanderson's home, met his friends and family, went to his fan convention, and even went with his family to an amusement park. He had pre-conceived notions and a clear intent to uncover dark secrets and write a hit piece on Sanderson, but he got there and found Sanderson is everything everyone claims he is - a hard working guy who loves his family and his company and loves to write. Instead of changing his agenda and writing a real story from all of the insight he should have gained while having all of that personal access, he wound up writing a mean-spirited article with no direction and no point that insulted not only Sanderson and his family but everyone in the Fantasy community.
What I really want to point out is Sanderson's response to the article. He is so very kind and so much can be learned from his response.
Posted Last Week
Book Review | The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Book Review | Book Lovers by Emily Henry ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Two 5⭐ reviews! Go check them out!
Finished Reading
Book Lovers by Emily Henry ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - I finished Book Lovers shortly after posting last week, and the ending was exactly what I wanted. Book Lovers turned out to be such a good read.
Currently Reading
Chlorine by Jade Song - I am about halfway through Chlorine. I am very invested in the characters, but I'm starting to wonder about the promise of "horror" in this debut. Sometimes books that are strange get classified as horror and that's fair here (I guess) since it's being compared to The Vegetarian which falls to that same categorization.
This post is being shared as part of The Sunday Salon at Readerbuzz, Book Date’s It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Caffeinated Book Reviewer's The Sunday Post.
It's so sad that people have to be mean and tell lies to get clicks. And after being invited into the man's life too. SMH
ReplyDeleteAt least, thanks to the Wired article, I now have a name for my condition!!!! Graphomania: the constant compulsion to get words out, down, as much and as quickly as possible.
ReplyDeleteI had never heard of Sanderson before so here are my takeaways from the Wired article:
Fans do not care about the quality of Sanderson's writing. They are not there to judge whether he's a great writer or not. It doesn't matter. They love his books for two main reasons: Characters & World Building.
“As I build books,” Sanderson says, as I sit there, for once entirely enraptured, “God builds people.”
Wow! Chills! I'd say that's some good writing right there!
"Sanderson is bigger than ever. A good writer? Who knows. What I do know, now, is this: So many of us mistake sentences for story, but story is the thing. Things happening. Characters changing. Surprise endings.
"The surprise is that it was Sanderson’s ending all along, the ending of his best books. A character becomes a god, and the god beholds his planet below. If Sanderson is a writer, that is all he is doing. He is living his fantasy of godhead on Earth."
I understand why fans have issues with the article (Jason Kehe drilling Brandon about his religion is as annoying as journalists continuing to ask Jon Bon Jovi about his hair, DECADES after he cut it off and even though he has had normal, gray, dad-hair for ages.) but the article made me very interested in learning more about Brandon and checking out his books, so there's that!
I did see something about that but haven't read it. I'm going to though and especially the response. It's nice to see that Sanderson apparently kept his class in spite if a mean spirited attack.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you pointed out the Sanderson response to the article. It makes me feel a little hope for the world when I see such a classy response to criticism and bashing.
ReplyDeleteYour review of The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi makes me want to start reading it today.
Jason Kehe needs to grow up!
ReplyDeleteSanderson is a good guy. It's too bad the writer of that article isn't as classy.
ReplyDeleteWow access to his home and family and he acted like that. Asshole. Thanks for sharing the info.
ReplyDeleteAnne - Books of My Heart This is my Sunday Post
It's a shame that some people are willing to make a nice person look bad. I just don't know why people want to hurt other people so badly.
ReplyDeleteHere’s my Sunday Post
And my Sunday Watch for movie and TV fans!
Rabbit Ears Book Blog: WORLD’S WEIRDEST BOOK BLOG!
I'll have to look up the Sanderson controversy as I'm not aware of it.
ReplyDeleteI started Chlorine but since I'm not normally a fantasy/speculative fiction reader, it didn't hold my interest. But I'm willing to try again. Good to know it's not horror!
I haven't read much fantasy lately so the Sanderson thing had escaped my notice. I did enjoy his reasoned and reasonable response. I liked Book Lovers too. Come see my week here. Happy reading!
ReplyDeleteI really need to read Emily Henry!!
ReplyDeleteI hadn't heard anything about Sanderson, I'll have to look it up now.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed Book Lovers too but have forgotten so much, need to reread it!
ReplyDeleteIt was hard to miss the Wired article, everyone was talking about it. I'm just wondering if that type of article isn't par for the course with Wired?
ReplyDeleteI'm dying to read Chlorine!
I adored Book Lovers! And Amina Al Sirafi too!
ReplyDelete