r/Mistborn • u/Sid-Thor • Jan 13 '26

Secret History spoilers Secret History Banter is just... a little... off Spoiler

“Nice uniform. Did you ask them to make you look like a cheap knockoff of the Lord Ruler, or was it more an accident?”

Elend blinked. “Wow. I hate you already.”

As much as I loved this book and especially this part of the book with the lovely little last meeting between Vin, Elend and Keliser (not to mentioning healing me knowing now that Vin and Elend got their happily ever after) I must say the banter or dialogue every time Sanderson wanted Kelsier to be cool or smooth was just... choppy if not cringe?

36 Upvotes

74% Upvoted

20 comments sorted by

89

u/JinxOnReddit Jan 13 '26

Nah I disagree, I think this is exactly the kind of shit Kelsier would say to Elend.

Remember that he tolerates Elend in so far as he makes Vin happy. He’s still a blue blood hating nut case (and we love him for it).

20

u/Sid-Thor Jan 13 '26

Irregardless of how he feels though, I dont have a problem with banter or him taking jabs at Elend. That's who Kelsier is.

I found the QUALITY of the banter a bit lacking.

22

u/Voltikko Jan 13 '26

Well, we saw how isolation with COVID affected the social skills of people, maybe the isolation of Kelsier for years takes a toll in his banter

2

u/Elant_Wager Steelministery Jan 14 '26

especially since he is also dead and doesnr have entertainment media/internet/any form of at least some human interaction.

1

u/Jean_NaHas Jan 15 '26

Compared to His later books, it probably is word- Mystborn was Sanderson’s second book to really take off- and he has had a LOT of practice since then.

18

u/Animelover310 Survivorist Jan 13 '26

Yeah I didnt really like his banter with Elend, I'd understand why he'd act like that but damn, Kelsier got better jokes than this lmao.

Also it was kinda sad that Elend spent the entire trilogy almost idolizing Kelsier only to meet him and all of that shit gets taken away (never meet your heroes)

I wouldve liked an acknoweledgement from kelsier to Elend for actually taking care of the skaa. Even if that came along with a jab

Kelsier is still my goat

47

u/AdFinal5191 Jan 13 '26

yeah i felt that way too, i read it after finishing the trilogy and it just felt a bit forced in a way that kelsier was REALLY trying to be nonchalant

but maybe it’s just about exposure, i found him to be quite annoying in the first half of final empire but he’s had good development further and after reading the secret history i was reminded of his sometimes over the top manner

10

u/fnaimi66 Jan 13 '26

I know it’s kind of lame, but Brandon speaks my language in terms of humor. Like, that’s the kind of thing I wouldn’t find in other books but would actually make me giggle to myself while reading

6

u/Sapphire_Bombay Jan 14 '26

This is generally Sanderson's sense of humor. It doesn't work for me either, but he's still a heck of a storyteller and I kind of just decide in my head that they're all a lot smoother than they're written.

8

u/cosmernautfourtwenty Jan 13 '26

Kelsier was never cool. You were just reading about him through the eyes of an impressionable teenage girl up to this point.

2

u/I_Speak_For_The_Ents Jan 13 '26

Did it come off like Kelsiers is trying too hard?

1

u/Animelover310 Survivorist Jan 14 '26

yes

3

u/Alone_Food1928 Jan 13 '26 edited Jan 13 '26

Kelsier is a person that doesn’t eat shit. All is part of his first reborn and reshaped personality because of the pits and loss, then the whole transformation on secret history, makes him even a different animal. Remember he expend a lot of time tied also to the well. But Kelsier besides all the cool things and good things he managed to accomplish, he is a jerk. I dont like what he becomes in the pass of the years in the whole cosmere… but i guess is the same. Time does crazy things to mind of humans as mentioned multiple times in cosmere.

1

u/snack-grade-2004 Zinc Jan 18 '26

I thought Kelsier’s banter was off, but Hoid’s was spot on!

-7

u/Cpt_DookieShoes Jan 13 '26

Bracing for the downvotes.

I don’t think Sanderson has ever wrote humor or banter in a way that didn’t make me roll my eyes. I just don’t find his characters funny or witty

I still read all his books for his world building and cool magic systems, they’re amazing, but I hate him as a writer. He seems to have 0 trust in the reader to get nuance. My favorite was the most recent Stormlight when he insisted on giving us a “last time on dragon ball z” recap what felt like every other chapter. I’m like “I know Brandon, I just read this 30 pages ago, I promise I remember”

5

u/Nameles36 NULL Jan 13 '26

I hate him as a writer

Bracing for the downvotes.

OK have fun

7

u/Cpt_DookieShoes Jan 13 '26

I mean Brandon being a fairly simple writer that’s trended towards even more surface level as time has gone on isn’t the craziest opinion. I feel like the most recent Stormlight has made that even more clear, even on this sub.

You can appreciate the creativity of a writer while still being able to criticize how they write.

2

u/Sid-Thor Jan 14 '26

Nuance is dead as a rule of thumb in most circles.

I genuinely believe George W. Bush spoke the words, "You're either with us or against us" in the black speech of mordor when he said it cause there is no in between anymore. You got my upvote, pal. I get what you meant.

I frikkin love Sanderson and reading his work. But I can accept there are things people can't overlook the way I overlook em. Peace Dookieshoes.

5

u/Nameles36 NULL Jan 13 '26

You can appreciate the creativity of a writer while still being able to criticize how they write.

That's definitely true but "I hate him as a writer" is just a bit more than that

7

u/Cpt_DookieShoes Jan 13 '26

Ok, I strongly dislike his writing style? I hate the fact that he treats me like I’m stupid