Sanderson used to be one of my favorite authors. I can still remember going to his Dragonsteel convention when “The Lost Metal” came out and he gave this speech about “the gloves are coming off” and how he was at a point in his career where he didn’t need to listen as much to the editors in New York who were telling him to keep each book self-contained. I remember feeling sad, because I knew this shift would lead to a lessening of the air mystery and magic that I’m looking for in fantasy. Since that speech, his books have become more scientific than mystic. His themes have become less exploring different historical viewpoints and more enforcing postmodernist ones. His language has gotten clunkier. Every third paragraph of “Wind and Truth” felt unnecessary. I didn’t even finish the book, and “Way of Kings” is one of my all-time favorites.

I doubt this will reach Sanderson. But as one of his former students (who was in his 15-person workshop in 2020) I do watch his career and seek to learn from both the good and the bad I see there. Thanks Don Beck for the great open letter.