Brandon Sanderson says fantasy learned the wrong lesson from Lord of the Rings

Sanderson was the speaker at this year's Tolkien Lecture on Fantasy Brandon Sanderson is one of the world’s most successful and prolific fantasy authors. Since the early aughts, he’s published numerous books, novellas and short stories, among them, the Mistborn series and The Stormlight Archives. And after Robert Jordan’s death in 2007, he stepped in to complete the 14-book The Wheel of Time. Needless to say, Sanderson is an expert on fantasy and also one of the genre’s biggest fans. He’s also a bit of a scholar on J.R.R. Tolkien. This year, Sanderson was the speaker at the Tolkien Lecture on Fantasy Fiction, a yearly event hosted at Oxford University meant to foster conversation about the genre of fantasy, its future and its legacy. In an hour-long lecture, available on YouTube and on his website, Sanderson discussed some of Tolkien’s contributions to the genre. He also revisited one of his most controversial essays: “How Tolkien Ruined Fantasy.” Sanderson himself admits that the title was a bit of clickbait, but the point he raises remains. The author argues that Tolkien was so skilled with his work and cast such a large shadow on fantasy that he held back the genre from innovati