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bel017's review against another edition
I finished! The trilogy took me 36.4 hours.
The sexism was just so frustrating. Here's one non-spoilery example:
"The Allomancer following her obviously believed himself--or herself--invisible to Vin's senses. He moved with quick, easy bounds, following at a safe distance. He ... He ... He ... He ....". Vin acknowledges that the person following her may not be a man, then calls them He repeatedly. The characters call 'natural forces' He. Everyone with power is He. Humans are 'man', all the soldiers are men. The women and children must be protected by the men.
The argument that Vin is a Strong Female TM does not detract from the sexism of the book. She's not the character that the intended readership want to be, she's the one they want to be with. It's actually more gross. The only other named women are love interests.
It's such a shame, as I enjoyed the rest of the story. Such creative world building. And yes, the prose are simple, but that makes for speedy reading. The books are unnecessarily long so speedy reading was important!
I (accurately) guessed the 'twist' on thethird word of the first chapter epitaph . The foreshadowing is heavy handed.
I've been told that Sanderson's more recent books are much less problematic. I really did enjoy the world building and the story so I might check out something more recent.
The sexism was just so frustrating. Here's one non-spoilery example:
"The Allomancer following her obviously believed himself--or herself--invisible to Vin's senses. He moved with quick, easy bounds, following at a safe distance. He ... He ... He ... He ....". Vin acknowledges that the person following her may not be a man, then calls them He repeatedly. The characters call 'natural forces' He. Everyone with power is He. Humans are 'man', all the soldiers are men. The women and children must be protected by the men.
The argument that Vin is a Strong Female TM does not detract from the sexism of the book. She's not the character that the intended readership want to be, she's the one they want to be with. It's actually more gross. The only other named women are love interests.
It's such a shame, as I enjoyed the rest of the story. Such creative world building. And yes, the prose are simple, but that makes for speedy reading. The books are unnecessarily long so speedy reading was important!
I (accurately) guessed the 'twist' on the
I've been told that Sanderson's more recent books are much less problematic. I really did enjoy the world building and the story so I might check out something more recent.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Blood, and War
Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Gore, Kidnapping, Grief, and Suicide attempt
madzie's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism
anelya's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, and Slavery
anothersarah's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
Amazing world building, but I am SO sick of the sexism and misogyny! I mean seriously, 13 main characters and only one is female??! And not even an adult woman, but a (married) teenager- groan. (I didn't count Shan because she gets killed off too quickly for me to county her- but even if you wanted to make that case.... 2 of 14 is still a clear sign that Sanderson is writing with only a male audience in mind.) I loved the magical system so much I pushed through the constant sexism to find out what happened next, just wish the author would have been able to imagine capable women as well as magic- somehow still an epic fantasy struggle.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny and Sexism