John Harris
1280 pages and it only took about 800 of those to draw me in. The reason I persevered though hundreds of pages of male bravado, "honor", back and forth crisis of conscience, and relative absence of female characters is because the reviews were just so damned spectacular.
My primary disappointment with this book is that it was written in 2010 and, despite the creative creatures and imaginative landscapes, Sanderson still chose to incorporate a strict stereotypical masculine/feminine dichotomy into his alien world. The book is dominated by conversations between and about men from all walks of life and their inner turmoil. There's only 2 female characters in 1280 pages that talk to each other.
The stormlight archives takes place on an alien planet with multiple moons, many different races and species of humanoids, giant crustacean monsters, faeries, mysterious ancient mist swords, "storm-infused" rocks, a gemstone currency system, moving plants, storm magic, cultures and architecture that are shaped by massive recurring storms, deities and angel-like people, and dreaded void bringers but envisioning something other than deeply entrenched gender roles and misogyny appears to fall beyond the scope of Sanderson's vast imagination. Even the most well-educated, wealthy, and elite women in this alien world can't own property, hold positions of authority, go to war, or sit at the same table as men. The extent of their greatest accomplishments are to marry well and serve as glorified secretaries for men.
I've learned to not expect ground breaking feminist masterpieces from male authors, but stormfather, this was just painful.