Author Recommendation: Brandon Sanderson
While a lot of books and movies have large followings like Harry Potter or Star Wars, there are even smaller, quieter works that are under the radar for many, but to the people who have read or watched them, they treat the work as the end-all-be-all. Cult classics are what we call media with small, devoted followings. One such cult classic author is Brandon Sanderson, author of books like Elantris, Stormlight Archives, and Mistborn.
I’ve mentioned Sanderson’s work before in my other articles, and for good reason. Sanderson is a fantastic author. In his years of writing since his debut in 2005 with Elantris, Sanderson has written 29 full-length books and numerous short stories all within the genre of science-fiction and fantasy. What makes his writing so interesting is his focus on the world and characters. All of his books are bursting with memorable, unique characters that give a lasting impression on the reader. The dialogue in his books is witty and natural, drawing you in like your listening to a real conversation. But the characters aren’t just unique, they all relate to the themes of his books in subtle and innovative ways.
His world-building is also astonishing at how well planned out it all is. The majority of his work fits into a universe he created called the Cosmere, a star system with hundreds of planets all vastly different from the others. All of the works in the Cosmere are connected through a few things, all sharing the same story of how the planets were created and through a few recurring characters known as Worldhoppers- humans from other planets with the ability to travel between worlds. At this time, not many of the stories are tied together, but Sanderson is planning on having them all converge in one futuristic, space opera series with the Cosmere’s most recurring character, Hoid, starring as the main character.
On top of how connected all his stories are, the books standing alone are all in-depth and captivating. While a few of his books may start slow, after the first act, he ramps it up to be action-packed and enthralling. When you get to the final 100 pages of a book of his, you can’t put it down, thinking “just one more chapter” over and over as you tear through the book as quickly as you can to see what happens next.
Now a fair warning on his books- Sanderson writes his books toward a more adult audience, while there is no explicit content in his books, it’s probably best to not choose one of his stories for reading to a child. But besides that, I highly recommend anyone reading this to at least try out one of his books. The best place to start is his Mistborn trilogy or Elantris, his debut novel. The library has a copy of the Mistborn trilogy if you are interested. We hope this can help you find the next cult classic that you can call your own. Go Knights!
