In my opinion (based on those two books alone) Sanderson is average at most things, and very poor at two particulars: World building, and dialog. Both books remain focused on one very small area, with only a token mention now and then of the world at large. I've read plenty of other stories centered around small geographical areas, but none of them felt so. . .confining. I think it's because most authors unashamedly stick to their spot, while Sanderson makes a half hearted attempt to flesh out his world, and ends up making things worse.

As to his dialog, it's the worst I've ever read. Flat, boring, and unemotional. It's hard for me to describe the technical points of why it's bad, but. . .ugh. There's no life to it at all. Both books have love stories between main characters, and even THOSE are bad. I'm typically pretty forgiving of bad writing, but I don't care for Sanderson's brand at all.

Then again, I really enjoyed the latest wheel of time book. I can only assume it's because Jordan wrote so many of the scenes, and left a ton of notes + 11 books of examples behind. I'm hoping, though, that it's not that at all, and that Sanderson is simply improving.