Brandon Sanderson’s Perfect State mocks his own fantasy world-building

Perfect State includes a lot of Sanderson’s favorite tropes. It follows Kairominas, aka Kai, the immortal god-emperor of the world of Alornia. The character is reminiscent of the godlike king Raoden from Elantris, or the divinely empowered king Dalinar Kholin of the Stormlight Archive. Kai is a master of his world’s unique form of magic, Lancing, which allows him to connect to the celestial energy of the Grand Aurora, a shimmering light that surrounds Alornia. He uses those powers to fly and transport his army and followers on floating platforms powered by special stones that can hold a charge of Lancing energy. All of it feels extremely reminiscent of how the Knights Radiant channel Stormlight in the Stormlight Archive, the series Sanderson launched in 2010.