In what can only be good news for the genre we all love, Brandon Sanderson’s latest book in the Stormlight Archive series, Words of Radiance, has hit #1 on the New York Times Hardcover Fiction Bestseller list!
Though fantasy does make an appearance on the list, only very rarely do authors manage to debut at number 1… The list to date includes just an elite selection of names: Robert Jordan, George R.R. Martin, Neil Gaiman, Terry Goodkind and Patrick Rothfuss. Although Sanderson had made the list for his works set in the Wheel of Time universe and picked up been #1 on the Young Adult Bestseller list, this is the first title set within a world he created for adults to earn the accolade; The Way of Kings made it to a respectable 7th place back in when it was released back in 2010.
What is great about the second book in a series reaching number 1 is that it means the book has picked up an audience as the result of the first book. People have been so impressed by book one of the series that they have leant it to friends or goaded them into buying their own copy. These people have enjoyed the book so much that upon release date they flocked to stores to pick it up. The great thing about fantasy getting such a high place on the list is that people take notice. The Wheel of Time books were probably too far along for a non-fantasy fan to pick up a book in the series upon spotting Sanderson/Jordan at number 1, but The Way of Kings is only two books in, so it could draw more people in towards picking up a book they wouldn’t usually read.
For those of you in the UK, you will be happy to hear that our equivalent, The Sunday Times, has Sanderson’s second novel locked in a firm #2. Don’t quote me on this, but I ‘think’ that might be the highest a fantasy author has reached on the list – Patrick Rothfuss made it to number 2 as well with The Wise Man’s Fear and I’m fairly certain Joe Abercrombie and Trudi Canavan were previously the joint highest at number 3.
Well done to Brandon, Tor US & Gollancz. It will be exciting to see how many times Sanderson hits number one over the course of this ten books series!
Jennie Ivins
He deserves it! He’s better than Rothfuss or Martin 🙂
Agree with him being more readable than Martin – I’m sure many would disagree though. In terms of personal preference, close call between him and Rothfuss when it comes to character development (Rothfuss probably edges it), but I do feel that Sanderson has proved a lot more than Rothfuss has in terms of creating diverse worlds, plots, stories – not to mention consistency.