Paul
I put this aside after listening to 27% of it. It's not bad, by any means, but it's a classic swords and sorcery epic with warriors and lots of magic, and that's just not my thing. None of the characters are unique or interesting to me: a bookish young woman who won't take no for an answer, a royal who disagrees with the way things are done, a warrior who came up from nothing with an unstoppable will... They all felt very generic to me, as did the whole setup.
I also found the writing style to just be very focused on action; description is saved for magic and the world, and less so the people or dynamics within it. I wouldn't say Sanderson is a bad writer, by any means, but I also wouldn't call him a good writer. He's prolific though, and he knows how to please his audience.
I did enjoy some aspects of the adventure and magic stuff, but that's not enough for me to commit to 5000+ pages / 200+ hours of my attention.
I put this aside after listening to 27% of it. It's not bad, by any means, but it's a classic swords and sorcery epic with warriors and lots of magic, and that's just not my thing. None of the characters are unique or interesting to me: a bookish young woman who won't take no for an answer, a royal who disagrees with the way things are done, a warrior who came up from nothing with an unstoppable will... They all felt very generic to me, as did the whole setup.
I also found the writing style to just be very focused on action; description is saved for magic and the world, and less so the people or dynamics within it. I wouldn't say Sanderson is a bad writer, by any means, but I also wouldn't call him a good writer. He's prolific though, and he knows how to please his audience.
I did enjoy some aspects of the adventure and magic stuff, but that's not enough for me to commit to 5000+ pages / 200+ hours of my attention.