The King of Fantasy Sounds Off

Sanderson has been extremely popular among fantasy readers for more than a decade, but last year, he made international headlines for raising $41 million on Kickstarter to self-publish four secret books and deliver them directly to 185,341 fans. No publisher, no Amazon, no bookstores. “I think some of the things [traditional publishing companies] do in New York are wrong-headed,” he says. But some critics expressed concerns that backing the project was tantamount to proxy-donating to the Mormon Church. Another Sanderson critic emerged just a few hours before this story was originally scheduled to go live: Jason Kehe, a senior editor at WIRED magazine, who spent even more time in Sanderson's orbit than I did. In his viral profile, “Brandon Sanderson Is Your God,” Kehe criticized Sanderson’s prose, reputation, clothing, eating habits, state of residence, faith, fans, friends, and family for being—among other adjectives—“depressingly, story-killingly lame.” Unsurprisingly, a legion of fans came to Sanderson’s defense on social media. [View in Browser]( [Esquire]( [SHOP]( EXCLUSIVE [SUBSCRIBE]( [Welcome to Brandon Sanderson's Fantasy Empire]( [Welcome to Brandon Sanderson's Fantasy Empire]( Sanderson has been extremely popular among fantasy readers for more than a decade, but last year, he made international headlines for raising $41 million on Kickstarter to self-publish four secret books and deliver them directly to 185,341 fans. No publisher, no Amazon, no bookstores. “I think some of the things [traditional publishing companies] do in New York are wrong-headed,” he says. But some critics expressed concerns that backing the project was tantamount to proxy-donating to the Mormon Church. Another Sanderson critic emerged just a few hours before this story was originally scheduled to go live: Jason Kehe, a senior editor at WIRED magazine, who spent even more time in Sanderson's orbit than I did. In his viral profile, “Brandon Sanderson Is Your God,” Kehe criticized Sanderson’s prose, reputation, clothing, eating habits, state of residence, faith, fans, friends, and family for being—among other adjectives—“depressingly, story-killingly lame.” Unsurprisingly, a legion of fans came to Sanderson’s defense on social media. [Read More](   [What To Read if You Miss Daisy Jones & The Six]( [What To Read if You Miss Daisy Jones & The Six]( If you're looking to read another music drama or simply want to brush up industry history, we've got ten groovy recommendations. [Read More]( [Mike Pence Will Have to Testify About...Some of His Role in January 6]( [Mike Pence Will Have to Testify About...Some of His Role in January 6]( Curiously, the judge bought half his argument. 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