Brandon Sanderson

  I recently downloaded an application on my phone that allows me to read whole novels on it. I've been reading a lot of books lately, and it has been glorious. Though I've been reading many different books and genres lately, the works of Brandon Sanderson have been the most impactful so far. 

Author of the Mistborn Series, as well as the Steelheart trilogy, Sanderson is clearly a master of the action-fantasy genre. While he shows a clear skill for writing fantastically detailed action scenes, part of his talent alsoseems to lie in the diversity of his work. The two series' by him that I have read, though both technically fitting into the action-fantasy category, are so vastly different (in terms of setting, plot, and character motivation) that his skill as a writer is clearly showcased. 

   In the Mistborn series, we're brought into the Realm of the Lord Ruler, an immortal tyrant whorules with a (literally) Iron fist over his subjects. He has subjugated the ancestors of his enemies, creating a race know as skaa- hopeless,helpless, and easily manipulated. While the upper class (those who are the ancestors of his allies) parties night after night, the skaa live in slums, fiorced to work until they die or make their living on thievery. Enter Vin. A young  skaa girl, strong and hiding behind a facade of weakness, is part of a crew of other thieves. They are not a family, they are not friends. Each of them expects nothing less than eventual betrayal from each-other, but they make do, to survive. Vin has seen countless thieves die, caught by agents of the Lord Ruler, or simply unlucky. She, however, has an advantage: 'Luck'. A power she doesn't quite understand, she is able to manipulate the emotions of her targets and make them more easily manipulable. This gift has carried Vin-and her entire crew,really- for quite some time, until she mistakenly uses her ability on a member of the Lord Ruler's personal staff, who are trained to detect emotional interference. This is an offence especially punishable for Vin because the Skaa are forbidden from using any sort of magic.

 There's more, but if I tried to encompass all of the detail that Sanderson puts into this book, I might as well just give you the book itself. It’s a great read, taking place in a dark world, with shady antagonists, gruesome violence, and a gritty yet endearing main character. Mistborn is a great example of the  Sanderson’s prowess ion this genre.

This makes it all the more amazing that the other series I read by Sanderson, the Steelheart Trilogy, has a completely different feel to it. It takes place in a world where Eopics-extremely powerful, superpowered beings- have taken over. There are no good Epics. Somehow, the process of becoming Epics (which is just as mysterious as where they came from) makes people evil. The first book of the Trilogy takes place in Newcago, the remnants of what was once Chicago. However, ten years ago, an Epic with  a slew of powers arrived in Chgicago, took over, and turned everything to steel. In addition, another Epic has used his powr to make it perpetual night. So, you’ve got this dark, noir-type setting in which the characters are perpetually afraid of just randomly being offed by superpowered beings. And yet….the book is hilarious, a completely different feel from Mistborn.Sanderson’s tonal range never ceases to amaze.  

Worm

     An antisocial (though not by choice) teenage girl with an unconventional superpower, Taylor Hebert (later to be named Skitter) goes out in costume to find escape from a deeply unhappy and frustrated civilian life. For months, her sole salvation from the bullying and social torment that fills her life is the hope of being a hero. She hopes to finally 'show them', prove her tormentors wrong and emerge a true hero one to be pointed at as a Paragon of goodness and strength. Instead, her first attempt at taking down a supervillain sees her mistaken for one, thrusting her into the midst of the local ‘cape’ ( a term for any super-person, or person with powers) scene’s politics, unwritten rules, and ambiguous morals. As she risks life and limb, Taylor faces the dilemma of having to do the wrong things for the right reasons. 

     The story, titled Worm, has taken the form of a  serial, published in large chapters that, over the course of the story's run, have culminated in sevral novel's worth of words. Worm started in June 2011, updating twice a week, and finished in late November, 2013. It totals roughly 1,750,000 words; roughly 26 typical novels in length (or 10-11 very thick novels).  

     The actual work is divided into a number of story arcs, each containing five to sixteen individual chapters.  Interludes (side stories) are inserted between each story arc to showcase events from different perspectives or provide some background information that the reader wouldn’t get from Taylor’s point of view. From the standpoint of a writer, I wouldn't normally advise doing this sort of thing, the perspective switches have no explanation. It simply switches from Taylor's First-person narration in one chapter, and is suddenly someone else's in another. However, this was done in such a beautiful way in this story that I can't complain. The author uses the perspective switches to bring sympathy to sociopathic villains (never an easy task), as well as really drive home the severity of situations that the reader wouldn't be able to fully comprehend from Taylor's Sole viewpoint. 

     Readers should be cautioned that Worm is fairly dark as fiction goes, and it gets far darker as the story progresses.  Morality isn’t black and white, Taylor and her acquaintances aren’t invincible, the heroes aren’t winning the war between right and wrong, and superpowers haven’t necessarily affected society for the better.  Just the opposite on every count, really.  Even on a more fundamental level, Taylor’s day to day life is unhappy, with her clinging to the end of her rope from the story’s outset.   There’s graphic language, descriptions of violence and sex does happen (albeit offscreen).  It would be easier to note the trigger warnings that don’t apply than all the ones that do;most atrocities that you can imagine not only havehappened in the Wormverse, but  do so in excess. 

     This isn't your Grandpa's Golden Age Superhero Comic. In fact, unlike many pieces of 'superhero fiction' (of which there is an unsurprisingly large genre) the powers and abilities shown in Worm are almost all of the surprisingly brutal variety. Even Taylor, who's power to control insects seems harmless enough at first, bends it to nauseatingly brutal ends. Think about it, insects can get into most places, and many of them are poisonous. How dangerous would someone be if they could harness that,  retain the natral horror of Insect's, but with a human's cold logic and malignant,  forcing the insects to go exactly where they wanted. Anywhwere.  

Think about it. 

Think about it. 

Yeah. 

     All in all, this probably isn’t a story for the sensitive or the young. Personally, I would give it an NC-17 rating, but it's such a fantastic story that I'd hate to restrict it to one age group, or from a certain age group, horror or otherwise.