The Emperor's Soul... Sanderson clicks on my second attempt
A couple years ago, I DNFed Mistborn for the usual reasons. However, I still wanted to finish something by Sanderson to help me understand these books and discuss them beyond "Mistborn bad".
The Emperor's Soul delivered. It was a breeze to read, and weaved all its magical explanation with an interesting story, solid character work, and even a bit of reflection. The writing flowed much more naturally than in Mistborn. The magic (I have little exposure to hard magic in general) was interesting and presented itself akin to sci-fi concepts, but in a palace rather than a spaceship or wherever.
If anyone wants just a little taste of Sanderson, I can recommend this novella. I probably won't read any more Cosmere, but at least I feel at peace with it now.