Chain Reading

The writing style could be improved, but the plot is different than any of the many other fantasy books I've read. It's hard to be inventive as a fantasy writer, and for that I applaud Brandon Sanderson

As a first novel, this was really impressive. A refreshing new idea, told at a great pace for a very satisfying read. The strength of the novel was the plot, supported by timing while the characters seemed to lack some essential elements for greatness. The characters themselves were the only real failing of the book. Most of them were cookie cutter characters and all spoke with the same voice, vocabulary, and sentence structures. The communication often felt more like monologue than dialogue and throughout the book characters used expressions clearly out of character for the novel but fully in character for a relatively young product of the 21st century. Character motivation was sometimes difficult to understand. The plot was remarkably refreshing. It is difficult to find new ideas in the fantasy genre but this was well done. The plot development was gripping enough that the shifts from one character to another leave the reader anxious to return to the previous character to follow his/her story. The involvement of religion in the plot can be a difficult challenge but it is one Sanderson uses with great success. Some of the twists of the plot were predictable, and it was moderately frustrating to feel that the characters should have realized things. As a development error, this could have been Sanderson simply trying to be sure that the reader made the connection so that when the character did, he wouldn't have to spend too much time on it at a crucial point in the plot, or it could also simply be a lack of connection with the characters’ mindsets.
All in all, though, it is a book I would recommend fully.