What Fantasy Author Brandon Sanderson Thinks About The Game Of Thrones Books

Brandon Sanderson is the best-selling fantasy author behind the Cosmere, the fictional universe in which his series "The Stormlight Archive" and "Mistborn" both take place. He's active on YouTube and Reddit, often talking about other popular fantasy series both positively and negatively. For example, he's open about his dislike for certain elements of "Harry Potter," like how he feels that Voldemort is not a well-developed character. However, he's been largely complimentary about George R. R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire," the inspiration for HBO's "Game of Thrones." Sanderson notes on Reddit that he has "enormous respect for GRRM and his talent as a storyteller."

Despite his respect for Martin, Sanderson does find his magnum opus to be a little too pessimistic for his taste. "With Ice and Fire, I specifically found Daenerys's plot too brutal. I'm all for putting characters into terrible situations, and letting horrible things happen. But her plot crossed the line for me," Sanderson continued in the comment thread. "There's a kind of brilliance to the way that plot played out, but when I was done with it, I just felt sick." Sanderson also isn't a fan of all the explicit things that regularly happen in Westeros, but he does note that this is largely down to him being a Mormon.

In addition to his own series, Brandon Sanderson is well known for finishing "The Wheel of Time" by Robert Jordan, and some fans have called on him to finish George R. R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire." Martin is still working on the sixth book, "The Winds of Winter," which will be followed by a seventh and final installment titled "A Dream of Spring." Readers have been waiting for the final books (which Martin has teased will be different to HBO's "Game of Thrones") for many years and there are concerns that he will never get around to finishing them. However, even if that was the case, Sanderson insists that he's not the right author to finish the epic tale.

"I wouldn't be right for the job for many reasons," Sanderson wrote in a Reddit reply. He discusses that they have incredibly different writing styles, particularly regarding their tone and use of magic. "I write darkness into my books, but it is darkness as contrast to light, and there is always a spark of hope," he continued, adding that Martin "prefers his magic to be arcane, unknown, and dark — not a tool, but a force you can sometimes (with great danger) apply." Sanderson respects Martin's style of writing, but it's very different from his own and he doesn't always enjoy reading it. Perhaps someone else will have to step in and finish "A Song of Ice and Fire" at some point, but it won't be him.