As you can see, it was another Sanderson heavy month.
I have finally finished up my Mistborn Era Two read, along with all the side stories related to both series. I have to say, that man is crafty. There were a lot of twists that I did not expect!
I really appreciate how he handled representing autism in this series. As the mother of a child with autism, it made me tear up at times. He treated it like the superpower that it is. We are all wired differently and that isn't a bad thing. As I tell my own children often, if we all thought the same way, it would be so much harder for us to come together and solve the big problems. But we don't. Our wiring, our experiences, and even our traumas shape the way we think and react to things, which means the way we come at tackling hard issues is different. Think back to the pandemic, when we NEEDED a vaccine and all the scientists of the world focused on that one issue in different ways. I can't imagine how much we could accomplish if more of the tough issues were treated like that, with people coming together, sharing knowledge, and using our uniquely wired brains to see all sides. It would be a pretty cool world, in my opinion.
Sanderson has done this with so many neurodivergences. I really admire the work that he puts into understand how people who aren't neurotypical think, function, and process the world. He does all this and weaves it into his story building, his worlds, and even his magic. So many authors just throw neurodivergent characters in, or LGBT characters in, like sprinkles (or jimmies, for those on the other side of the pond) and call it a day. Sanderson is a master who makes them part of the fabric (or cake, if we want to stay with baking terms here).
On to White Sands.... well that one was really hard for me to get into. Perhaps it was the format? I did a graphic audio which included the sounds that the world made and it just was not for me. I am going to come back to this one when the full series is released on some form of audio. Hopefully without whipping wind and crunchy sand.
I will say that I was getting into the story toward the end of Vol. 1, but it was really tough to hand on and finish it. Again, I think the sound effects just aren't for me.
Finally, Percy Jackson and the Chalice of the Gods. Hot damn, but that was a good story. I really enjoyed every second of the tale. Sometimes you just want something that is an easy read, and this was it. I had recently done the Olympians as my bedtime listen, so everything was fresh. Percy, Annabeth, and Grover feel like neighborhood kids that I would bake some blue cookies for and pour them a coke, just to hear about their adventures.
It was a really good reading (and listening) month.