Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Publication
Tor Fantasy (New York, 2010). 1st edition, 4th printing. 1008 pages. $27.99.
Description
Fantasy. Fiction. HTML: From #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson, The Way of Kings, Book One of the Stormlight Archive begins an incredible new saga of epic proportion. Roshar is a world of stone and storms. Uncanny tempests of incredible power sweep across the rocky terrain so frequently that they have shaped ecology and civilization alike. Animals hide in shells, trees pull in branches, and grass retracts into the soilless ground. Cities are built only where the topography offers shelter. It has been centuries since the fall of the ten consecrated orders known as the Knights Radiant, but their Shardblades and Shardplate remain: mystical swords and suits of armor that transform ordinary men into near-invincible warriors. Men trade kingdoms for Shardblades. Wars were fought for them, and won by them. One such war rages on a ruined landscape called the Shattered Plains. There, Kaladin, who traded his medical apprenticeship for a spear to protect his little brother, has been reduced to slavery. In a war that makes no sense, where ten armies fight separately against a single foe, he struggles to save his men and to fathom the leaders who consider them expendable. Brightlord Dalinar Kholin commands one of those other armies. Like his brother, the late king, he is fascinated by an ancient text called The Way of Kings. Troubled by over-powering visions of ancient times and the Knights Radiant, he has begun to doubt his own sanity. Across the ocean, an untried young woman named Shallan seeks to train under an eminent scholar and notorious heretic, Dalinar's niece, Jasnah. Though she genuinely loves learning, Shallan's motives are less than pure. As she plans a daring theft, her research for Jasnah hints at secrets of the Knights Radiant and the true cause of the war. The result of over ten years of planning, writing, and world-building, The Way of Kings is but the opening movement of the Stormlight Archive, a bold masterpiece in the making. Speak again the ancient oaths: Life before death.Strength before weakness.Journey before Destination.and return to men the Shards they once bore. The Knights Radiant must stand again. Other Tor books by Brandon Sanderson The Cosmere The Stormlight Archive The Way of Kings Words of Radiance Edgedancer (Novella) Oathbringer The Mistborn trilogy Mistborn: The Final Empire The Well of Ascension The Hero of AgesMistborn: The Wax and Wayne series Alloy of Law Shadows of Self Bands of Mourning Collection Arcanum Unbounded Other Cosmere novels Elantris Warbreaker The Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians series Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians The Scrivener's Bones The Knights of Crystallia The Shattered Lens The Dark Talent The Rithmatist seriesThe Rithmatist Other books by Brandon Sanderson The Reckoners Steelheart Firefight Calamity.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member atimco
Brandon Sanderson's The Way of Kings is the first installment of the Stormlight Archive, a projected ten-volume series in the tradition of the Wheel of Time and other epic high fantasy series. The audiobook version was published in 2010 by Macmillan Audio and is read by Michael Kramer and Kate
At 45.5 hours, The Way of Kings is quite a commitment. It starts off slowly; Sanderson is creating a complex world with history, traditions, and religions for multiple cultures, and things necessarily feel a little heavy as he lays down the basic groundwork for the action. But once all the characters and their backgrounds are established, the pace picks up quite a bit. And Sanderson certainly knows when to pull a punch in his narrative — right at the end. I was surprised by almost every twist, and of course nothing's really resolved. The revelations of the final chapters leave the reader with more questions than answers, as Sanderson upsets our assumptions and sets up the events of the next book.
The world Sanderson builds is vast, complicated, and old. The powerful Alethi princedoms are held together by an uneasy alliance, but lack the unification of a strong ruler after the infamous assassination of their first king a decade ago. Military power is determined by Shardblades and Plate, magically enhanced weapons and armor that kingdoms battle to possess. Society is divided in a rigid caste system based on eye color; if you're a lighteyes, you are part of the ruling class, while darkeyes are consigned to the lower orders. Under the darkeyes are the parshmen, humanoid slaves who rarely speak and never display any hint of rebellion. Religion is a big player in this world, with a full range of denominations, doctrines, heretics, and even atheists. Women are the guardians of knowledge and science; men don't even read, and spend their energies generally on war. And on a cosmographical level, the world is subject to brutal "high storms" that cause even the plants to retreat into the ground. The scope of the world-building is ambitious, to say the least.
I did have a few quibbles. For one, Sanderson is extremely wordy and could do with a merciless editor to pare down the scenes and descriptions that lag. He also tends to overuse particular words and phrases; everyone, it seems, "cocks" their heads during conversation. And why is every female character is described as wearing a dress that is tight around her breasts and flares at the hips? I don't see the male characters being described in terms of how tightly their clothing fits around certain body parts!
One thing that does not translate well to audiobook is the snippets in front of each chapter. In print they can be given a different font treatment, bold and set away from the beginning of the actual chapter, but the only tools a reader has for this are pauses and possibly a slightly different tone of voice. I found them a bit confusing to listen to until I realized what they were.
A work of this size and scope benefits greatly from two readers, and Michael Kramer and Kate Reading (who also read the Wheel of Time audiobooks) narrate their sections well. Kramer took a little getting used to, but once I became accustomed to his voice I found it a fitting style for the chapters he read. Reading's voice is very pleasant and she does a good job, especially with Shallan's character.
I'm new to Sanderson's work, and what struck me most about him is his imaginative power and the complexity of the world and relationships he portrays. I think he still has some growing to do as a writer, but the raw materials are impressive. Overall, I enjoyed The Way of Kings and will probably seek out the rest of the Stormlight Archive as it is published. Recommended for readers looking for the next big fantasy saga — but be warned, this one still has nine books to come!
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Reading.At 45.5 hours, The Way of Kings is quite a commitment. It starts off slowly; Sanderson is creating a complex world with history, traditions, and religions for multiple cultures, and things necessarily feel a little heavy as he lays down the basic groundwork for the action. But once all the characters and their backgrounds are established, the pace picks up quite a bit. And Sanderson certainly knows when to pull a punch in his narrative — right at the end. I was surprised by almost every twist, and of course nothing's really resolved. The revelations of the final chapters leave the reader with more questions than answers, as Sanderson upsets our assumptions and sets up the events of the next book.
The world Sanderson builds is vast, complicated, and old. The powerful Alethi princedoms are held together by an uneasy alliance, but lack the unification of a strong ruler after the infamous assassination of their first king a decade ago. Military power is determined by Shardblades and Plate, magically enhanced weapons and armor that kingdoms battle to possess. Society is divided in a rigid caste system based on eye color; if you're a lighteyes, you are part of the ruling class, while darkeyes are consigned to the lower orders. Under the darkeyes are the parshmen, humanoid slaves who rarely speak and never display any hint of rebellion. Religion is a big player in this world, with a full range of denominations, doctrines, heretics, and even atheists. Women are the guardians of knowledge and science; men don't even read, and spend their energies generally on war. And on a cosmographical level, the world is subject to brutal "high storms" that cause even the plants to retreat into the ground. The scope of the world-building is ambitious, to say the least.
I did have a few quibbles. For one, Sanderson is extremely wordy and could do with a merciless editor to pare down the scenes and descriptions that lag. He also tends to overuse particular words and phrases; everyone, it seems, "cocks" their heads during conversation. And why is every female character is described as wearing a dress that is tight around her breasts and flares at the hips? I don't see the male characters being described in terms of how tightly their clothing fits around certain body parts!
One thing that does not translate well to audiobook is the snippets in front of each chapter. In print they can be given a different font treatment, bold and set away from the beginning of the actual chapter, but the only tools a reader has for this are pauses and possibly a slightly different tone of voice. I found them a bit confusing to listen to until I realized what they were.
A work of this size and scope benefits greatly from two readers, and Michael Kramer and Kate Reading (who also read the Wheel of Time audiobooks) narrate their sections well. Kramer took a little getting used to, but once I became accustomed to his voice I found it a fitting style for the chapters he read. Reading's voice is very pleasant and she does a good job, especially with Shallan's character.
I'm new to Sanderson's work, and what struck me most about him is his imaginative power and the complexity of the world and relationships he portrays. I think he still has some growing to do as a writer, but the raw materials are impressive. Overall, I enjoyed The Way of Kings and will probably seek out the rest of the Stormlight Archive as it is published. Recommended for readers looking for the next big fantasy saga — but be warned, this one still has nine books to come!
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LibraryThing member reading_fox
Imaginative and vast but not without it's flaws. It's a long long book at over 1000 pages, all of which Brandon claims are necessary, and for which he thanks his publishers and readers' tolerance. I'm not convinced it need be quite that long, but there isn't that much room to cut scenes either.
The
The next chief character is one Saasha a young girl masquerading as a scholar trying to steal enough magic to help her family. She is the most interesting way we learn about the world and it's social mores, and unfortunately we don't spend much time in her world. In this plotline we experience a few more incidental characters the main re-occurring one being an Assassin in White who precipitated the war that so intimately concerns Kaladin.
I don't like multi-character narrations. The jumps from character to character - even when as clearly signalled as this, are always disconcerting. They also break up the flow of reading, so that the momentum and importance of some characters is lost. In a book this long, the plot really can't afford to drag anywhere, and these jumps don't do it any favours. Brandon is perhaps the current master at Avalanche style of writing where the action gets progressively faster and more intense all the way through until you can barely stand the tension. Unfortunately this just doesn't work with eh discontinuous jumps in view.
Brandon is also the most inventive creature of magical systems I've ever read, and in this area he has again worked wonders. In the beginning it feels slightly like his Mistborn work where rare individual gets to play with gravity in amusing and destructive ways, but gradually we learn the important differences. Especially how there is more than one scheme which works on different principles and both are related to the history of the world. The rest of the world building is equally inventive and cohesive. Brandon doesn't fall into Trudi Canavan's problem of renaming familiar creatures, so horses remain horses - but he does introduce swathes of beings fulfil similar niches to those on earth, mostly based on some crustacean concept. There is one glaring hole in the world however. The bridges are described as being pushed out over chasms of great width - not once is any mention made of how the free end is kept from falling in. This is minor but it annoyed me everytime (many) the situation occurred.
Finally there is also a lot of dialogue - characters discussing the weaknesses and strengths of religion, morals, ethics and honour. To those readers who regularly participate in online fora, none of the arguments will be unfamiliar, although some of the questions are of importance. As yet Brandon offers no Answers, although there is sufficient implication that the fate of the world depends on the characters finding suitable compromises. These sections, while interesting, do retard the pace of the action, and some readers may well find them dull.
Even at it's length this is only the first part of a series. It was crafted over 10 years and while I hope the sequel won't take 10 years to follow, I must also hope that speed doesn't become the enemy of quality. It does read well enough as a standalone, while many questions aren't answered the characters' lives all come to suitable resting positions. Long but eminently enjoyable- for all fans of Epic Fantasy.
The
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plot - is as complex as one might expect from an Epic Fantasy novel, following the lives of three or four main characters, which don't turn out to intersect as one might have expected. The main hero is one Kaladin, ex-surgeon, ex-soldier and currently slave and bridgeman in his betters' armies. Bridgemen have the job of carrying "portable" bridges to the warfront to allow the cavalry an easy charge. This is extremely dangerous and unglamourous work, but Kal finds a way to motivate his team in face of hardship. Within the same plot line we follow a few lords and king as they make the decisions for war, and Kal also experiences flashbacks to his youth 'explaining' how he came to be where (but not what) he is.The next chief character is one Saasha a young girl masquerading as a scholar trying to steal enough magic to help her family. She is the most interesting way we learn about the world and it's social mores, and unfortunately we don't spend much time in her world. In this plotline we experience a few more incidental characters the main re-occurring one being an Assassin in White who precipitated the war that so intimately concerns Kaladin.
I don't like multi-character narrations. The jumps from character to character - even when as clearly signalled as this, are always disconcerting. They also break up the flow of reading, so that the momentum and importance of some characters is lost. In a book this long, the plot really can't afford to drag anywhere, and these jumps don't do it any favours. Brandon is perhaps the current master at Avalanche style of writing where the action gets progressively faster and more intense all the way through until you can barely stand the tension. Unfortunately this just doesn't work with eh discontinuous jumps in view.
Brandon is also the most inventive creature of magical systems I've ever read, and in this area he has again worked wonders. In the beginning it feels slightly like his Mistborn work where rare individual gets to play with gravity in amusing and destructive ways, but gradually we learn the important differences. Especially how there is more than one scheme which works on different principles and both are related to the history of the world. The rest of the world building is equally inventive and cohesive. Brandon doesn't fall into Trudi Canavan's problem of renaming familiar creatures, so horses remain horses - but he does introduce swathes of beings fulfil similar niches to those on earth, mostly based on some crustacean concept. There is one glaring hole in the world however. The bridges are described as being pushed out over chasms of great width - not once is any mention made of how the free end is kept from falling in. This is minor but it annoyed me everytime (many) the situation occurred.
Finally there is also a lot of dialogue - characters discussing the weaknesses and strengths of religion, morals, ethics and honour. To those readers who regularly participate in online fora, none of the arguments will be unfamiliar, although some of the questions are of importance. As yet Brandon offers no Answers, although there is sufficient implication that the fate of the world depends on the characters finding suitable compromises. These sections, while interesting, do retard the pace of the action, and some readers may well find them dull.
Even at it's length this is only the first part of a series. It was crafted over 10 years and while I hope the sequel won't take 10 years to follow, I must also hope that speed doesn't become the enemy of quality. It does read well enough as a standalone, while many questions aren't answered the characters' lives all come to suitable resting positions. Long but eminently enjoyable- for all fans of Epic Fantasy.
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LibraryThing member pwaites
The main issue with The Way of Kings is the same one I had with The Lies of Locke Lamora and co. It's necessarily long and has too many flashbacks which throw off pacing. The third prologue? The countless descriptions of Kaladin's childhood? Some of the interludes? All could go. What this book
As other reviewers have pointed out, things don't really start coming together until page 800 or so. And even by the end of the book, the main characters haven't all converged or interacted. But at least they've been set on the path for the next book.
Speaking of the next book, this is supposed to be the first in a ten book series. So much felt like it was building up for the books to come. Other reviewers have said that this book stands on it's own, but I don't agree. Yes, it ended with a few major revelations instead of a cliffhanger, but there are still so many of questions that are left unanswered and so many things just about to occur. WoK had the feel of the start of an avalanche, but it was only in the last few hundred pages that the avalanche started to gain momentum.
My recommendation for anyone interested in the series would be to wait. Wait until more of it has been written, so you won't have to keep the details of the world and plot in your mind before the next book comes out. Plus, then you'd have something tangible ahead of you.
Multitudes of characters make up WoK, but the three most important are Shallan, Dalinar, and Kaladin.
Kaladin was my favorite of part one, probably because he was in a much worse situation than Shallan. Shallan's trouble was months away, Kaladin's was with him every day. That being said, I noticed some similarities between Kaladin and Raoden from Elantis. Both struggle to bring hope and humanity back to people at their lowest. Both have a sense of optimism. Both seem to be the hero who will Do The Right Thing.
At some point, I also found some suspicious parallels between Kaladin and Jesus. I'm thinking he's a Christ figure.He goes to great lengths to save the bridgemen. He's presumed dead after being left in a high storm as punishment, but then he miraculously survives when he should by all accounts be dead. Just wanted to point this out, as I haven't seen any other reviews saying it.
The world building is phenomenal but can be hard to wrap my head around. For one thing, there's the sheer strangeness of the land and creatures. Grass that retreats into holes in the rock, and crustaceans taking the place of cattle? What illustrations present help, but I think the book could use some more of them.
On the whole, I really enjoyed The Way of Kings and I would recommend it. But wait until you can dive right into the next book.
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needs is to be honed and sharpened. It's begging for an editor's knife to take out some of the flab.As other reviewers have pointed out, things don't really start coming together until page 800 or so. And even by the end of the book, the main characters haven't all converged or interacted. But at least they've been set on the path for the next book.
Speaking of the next book, this is supposed to be the first in a ten book series. So much felt like it was building up for the books to come. Other reviewers have said that this book stands on it's own, but I don't agree. Yes, it ended with a few major revelations instead of a cliffhanger, but there are still so many of questions that are left unanswered and so many things just about to occur. WoK had the feel of the start of an avalanche, but it was only in the last few hundred pages that the avalanche started to gain momentum.
My recommendation for anyone interested in the series would be to wait. Wait until more of it has been written, so you won't have to keep the details of the world and plot in your mind before the next book comes out. Plus, then you'd have something tangible ahead of you.
Multitudes of characters make up WoK, but the three most important are Shallan, Dalinar, and Kaladin.
Kaladin was my favorite of part one, probably because he was in a much worse situation than Shallan. Shallan's trouble was months away, Kaladin's was with him every day. That being said, I noticed some similarities between Kaladin and Raoden from Elantis. Both struggle to bring hope and humanity back to people at their lowest. Both have a sense of optimism. Both seem to be the hero who will Do The Right Thing.
At some point, I also found some suspicious parallels between Kaladin and Jesus. I'm thinking he's a Christ figure.
The world building is phenomenal but can be hard to wrap my head around. For one thing, there's the sheer strangeness of the land and creatures. Grass that retreats into holes in the rock, and crustaceans taking the place of cattle? What illustrations present help, but I think the book could use some more of them.
On the whole, I really enjoyed The Way of Kings and I would recommend it. But wait until you can dive right into the next book.
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LibraryThing member VictoriaStrauss
I've gotten out of the habit of reading Fat Fantasy--the storylines/worlds/characters often seem too familiar, and it often feels like too much effort to trudge through hundreds of pages only to wind up a third of the way (or less) through the story.
So I wasn't planning on reading this book at
So I wasn't planning on reading this book at
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all, and probably never would have if I hadn't been stuck in a situation where there was nothing else to do. Well, within ten pages I was hooked. Solid world building and plotting anchor the story, but what raises this book above the ordinary run of Fat Fantasy is the fully-realized characters and Sanderson's expert pacing, as well as the hints of the larger saga (I have a feeling this will run well beyond a trilogy) parceled out at exactly the right intervals. I was sorry to finish (and at 800+ pages, that's saying something) and can't wait for the next installment. Show Less
LibraryThing member MrsLee
Welcome to another world. World building is one of the things which I love about Sanderson's works, and this one doesn't disappoint. The Way of Kings, first in The Stormlight Archive, is a fine introduction to what looks to be a wonderful saga. At first there seemed to be many little snippets of
I love the way the ideas of atheism, faith, honor, endurance, loyalty, subterfuge and darkness are presented in this story. The reader is challenged to think about them, without having them shoved down your throat. I also love the natural history of the world, the sketches, illustrations and of course, the "magic" which is presented to us, but never fully explained. This book would have been better for me if some of the history (flashbacks) of Kaladin were cut. They didn't really reveal anything the reader hadn't already come to the conclusion of and their elimination would have made the book much easier for me to hold!
I will be eagerly awaiting further revelations in The Stormlight Archives.
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disjointed information, each interesting in and of themselves, but as the story builds the reader begins to make connections and become and established citizen. The world is peopled with fine characters, some you know well by the end of the book, others are still a mystery, but one you look forward to reading more about in the next saga.I love the way the ideas of atheism, faith, honor, endurance, loyalty, subterfuge and darkness are presented in this story. The reader is challenged to think about them, without having them shoved down your throat. I also love the natural history of the world, the sketches, illustrations and of course, the "magic" which is presented to us, but never fully explained. This book would have been better for me if some of the history (flashbacks) of Kaladin were cut. They didn't really reveal anything the reader hadn't already come to the conclusion of and their elimination would have made the book much easier for me to hold!
I will be eagerly awaiting further revelations in The Stormlight Archives.
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LibraryThing member fyrefly98
Summary: The Alethi army has been fighting the Parshendi army for control of the Shattered Plains for the past five years, ever since the Parshendi sent an assassin in white to kill the Alethi king. But the war is dragging on and on, with no resolution in sight, and its effects are beginning to
Review: I'm going to start this review with a contradiction, and then attempt to work my way through it: I liked this book, but I was also disappointed by it. Because while I absolutely did like it - really liked it, in fact - I was expecting to love it. I wanted to love it, kept waiting to love it, and it never quite got there... hence the disappointment.
Before I try to tease apart the reasons why, let's focus on the good things. And make no mistake, this book has a plethora of good things. The characters are well-drawn and for the most part really engaging. I liked Shallan's story better than Kaladin's or Dalinar's, probably because I'd rather read about science than war, but I was certainly caught up in the lives of all three main characters. The plot(s) are original and compelling, the prose is smooth and unobtrusive, but the real star of the show is Sanderson's worldbuilding. I've read a fair amount of fantasy, and I've never come across another one with the depth, detail, and creativity of worldbuilding that Sanderson packs into this one. Geography, natural history, culture, religion, magic - everything is accounted for, and about the only thing common to our world is gravity... and even that only sometimes. And apart from the broad sweeping differences, there were a number of smaller details that absolutely caught my attention... the crustacean based fauna, the idea that scholarship is a womanly art (and therefore almost all men are illiterate), the omnipresence of spren, the twisted landscape of the Shattered Plains... All vividly realized, and all just so cool.
So, while all of the necessary pieces for me to enjoy a story - characters, plot, writing, worldbuilding - were all well done, my problem was that there was a LOT of each of those things. I know I whine about the prevalence of pigboy stories (where the orphan has to leave his uncle's farm to go save the world) in fantasy, but the reason that it's such a common trope is because as a narrative device, it works: you can introduce your reader to the broader scope of your world gradually, at the same rate as your naïve farmboy protagonist. The Way of Kings has no hint of clichéd pigboy about it, instead taking a sharp turn in the opposite direction. There's no gradual introduction to anything; Sanderson throws you straight into the deep end of his world, tossing four POV narrators at you in the first five chapters, and providing little-to-no exposition about any of the elements of his worldbuilding, instead leaving the reader to glean these things from context. (And because I've read other of Sanderson's novels, I fully expected some easily over-looked detail to become massively important later on, so I was reading very, very closely.) It took me some 400 pages to feel like I was at least minimally conversant in how Sanderson's world worked; even now I'm not sure I understand more than half of what's going on in the story writ large.
That lack of understanding of "what's really going on" is a large part of my disappointment with this book. Sanderson plans for this to be an epic series - ten books this size, I think, was the last count. That, in and of itself, is not a problem, but I feel like in any series, each book has to have a complete story arc and a satisfying payoff. And while The Way of Kings does have its story arcs intact, I felt like the amount of payoff that I got, in terms of increased understanding of larger threads of the series, wasn't sufficient to satisfy after how long it took to get there. There are a number of things - too many things - regarding how Sanderson's world works that I remain just as confused about as I was 100 pages in. So, I guess, in brief: the journey's a great one, but the destination was not as great as I'd hoped. Still, it was an interesting read, and hopefully now that most of the initial worldbuilding has been accomplished, future installments might provide some more satisfying answers. 4 out of 5 stars.
Recommendation: This book is not for the casual fantasy reader: it's a chunk, and it requires a major investment of time and mental energy to get into. But for those dedicated epic fantasy fans, The Way of Kings is unlike anything you've ever read before.
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tell on Alethi politics and society. Kaladin used to be a soldier in the king's army, but is now a slave, and has been sold into Highlord's Sadeas's forces as a bridgeman - the lowest position in the army, with the highest mortality rate. Highlord Dalinar, brother to the late king, tires of the war, even as he must deal with the young king's paranoia, his own son's chafing at the strict codes of morality and conduct Dalinar imposes, and the violent fits that come upon him during every highstorm, complete with cryptic visions and dire warnings from the ancient past. Elsewhere on the continent, Shallan has set out to become a pupil of the great scholar Jasnah, despite the woman's reputation for aloofness and prickly temper. But it's not learning she seeks, so much as the opportunity to steal Jasnah's Soulcaster, a powerful magical artifact that Shallan can use to rescue her family from the brink of destruction.Review: I'm going to start this review with a contradiction, and then attempt to work my way through it: I liked this book, but I was also disappointed by it. Because while I absolutely did like it - really liked it, in fact - I was expecting to love it. I wanted to love it, kept waiting to love it, and it never quite got there... hence the disappointment.
Before I try to tease apart the reasons why, let's focus on the good things. And make no mistake, this book has a plethora of good things. The characters are well-drawn and for the most part really engaging. I liked Shallan's story better than Kaladin's or Dalinar's, probably because I'd rather read about science than war, but I was certainly caught up in the lives of all three main characters. The plot(s) are original and compelling, the prose is smooth and unobtrusive, but the real star of the show is Sanderson's worldbuilding. I've read a fair amount of fantasy, and I've never come across another one with the depth, detail, and creativity of worldbuilding that Sanderson packs into this one. Geography, natural history, culture, religion, magic - everything is accounted for, and about the only thing common to our world is gravity... and even that only sometimes. And apart from the broad sweeping differences, there were a number of smaller details that absolutely caught my attention... the crustacean based fauna, the idea that scholarship is a womanly art (and therefore almost all men are illiterate), the omnipresence of spren, the twisted landscape of the Shattered Plains... All vividly realized, and all just so cool.
So, while all of the necessary pieces for me to enjoy a story - characters, plot, writing, worldbuilding - were all well done, my problem was that there was a LOT of each of those things. I know I whine about the prevalence of pigboy stories (where the orphan has to leave his uncle's farm to go save the world) in fantasy, but the reason that it's such a common trope is because as a narrative device, it works: you can introduce your reader to the broader scope of your world gradually, at the same rate as your naïve farmboy protagonist. The Way of Kings has no hint of clichéd pigboy about it, instead taking a sharp turn in the opposite direction. There's no gradual introduction to anything; Sanderson throws you straight into the deep end of his world, tossing four POV narrators at you in the first five chapters, and providing little-to-no exposition about any of the elements of his worldbuilding, instead leaving the reader to glean these things from context. (And because I've read other of Sanderson's novels, I fully expected some easily over-looked detail to become massively important later on, so I was reading very, very closely.) It took me some 400 pages to feel like I was at least minimally conversant in how Sanderson's world worked; even now I'm not sure I understand more than half of what's going on in the story writ large.
That lack of understanding of "what's really going on" is a large part of my disappointment with this book. Sanderson plans for this to be an epic series - ten books this size, I think, was the last count. That, in and of itself, is not a problem, but I feel like in any series, each book has to have a complete story arc and a satisfying payoff. And while The Way of Kings does have its story arcs intact, I felt like the amount of payoff that I got, in terms of increased understanding of larger threads of the series, wasn't sufficient to satisfy after how long it took to get there. There are a number of things - too many things - regarding how Sanderson's world works that I remain just as confused about as I was 100 pages in. So, I guess, in brief: the journey's a great one, but the destination was not as great as I'd hoped. Still, it was an interesting read, and hopefully now that most of the initial worldbuilding has been accomplished, future installments might provide some more satisfying answers. 4 out of 5 stars.
Recommendation: This book is not for the casual fantasy reader: it's a chunk, and it requires a major investment of time and mental energy to get into. But for those dedicated epic fantasy fans, The Way of Kings is unlike anything you've ever read before.
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LibraryThing member Queensowntalia
Hugh in size and equally huge in story, 'Way of Kings' equals Sanderson's previous efforts both in story scope, readability and utter genius. I was hooked within the first two pages and I feel anyone else who enjoys a good epic fantasy will be too.
The base of the plot seems to center around two
Lengthy? Yes. Too long? No way. For a world this complicated and fascinating, it's just long enough.
The base of the plot seems to center around two
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peoples: the Alethi, outraged at the murder of their leader and seeking vengeance, and the Parshendi, seemingly responsible for that assassination, for reasons that are unclear. The book centers around three main protagonists: a disgraced young warrior, a desperate young artist with a perhaps foolish plan to save her family, and a noble prince who's started having visions. Or are they hallucinations? Set in a world whose greatest heroes abandoned them centuries ago, and for some countries, who find themselves in a state of perpetual war, the stories weaves this trio's tale in with the tale of other interesting people: the assassin slave, the heretic noblewoman, the prince's concerned sons. As a result, the reader gets to see many different angles of this complicated world from a variety of viewpoints. It's fascinating to follow each storyline and see how their fates develop. As usual, Sanderson has created characters you really care about, so each of their tales is gripping.Lengthy? Yes. Too long? No way. For a world this complicated and fascinating, it's just long enough.
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LibraryThing member bhss_book_club
Brandon Sanderson's epic novel, The Way of Kings, is quite a fantasy novel. Number one (of ten!) planned in his new series, The Stormlight Archive, he tells the tales of four people; a reluctant assassin, a surgeon forced into battle, a thief who works under the guise of a scholar, and a warlord
Nick
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who is starting to feel lost and displaced in a world of violence. In the land of Rothar, the Alethi, a dominant race, has taken war to the Shattered Plains to avenge the death of their king. Building upon this conflict, both in its history and in its perusal, Sanderson weaves the four main characters’ stories together, to create a story that is unlike any other I have ever read. He develops a whole system of magic and battle, along with unique and distinct cultures for the various races that inhabit the land of Rothar. With an understanding of what drives mankind to fight and struggle unprecedented in any fantasy writer I have ever read, Sanderson creates a compelling and riveting story that I found hard to put down. Though his work can only be described as a brick (at over 1000 pages it will last any reader of any speed quite awhile), The Way of Kings is easily one of the best fantasy books on the market today.Nick
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LibraryThing member jessica_reads
The Way of Kings is a massive epic fantasy adventure that is just beginning. This book stands in at 1006 pages with 75 chapters and 3 interludes. Sanderson immerses you in his world from the get go, so there’s no big info dump in the beginning. There are 3 main characters in this book whose POV
Even if this seems too much to handle, Sanderson included drawings to bring to visual life the plants, animals, and scenery. If that isn’t enough, there’s also a huge wikia that breaks down everything. The world building is fantastic, the prose is smooth and transitions great. I can’t wait to hunker down with the second one and wait out the highstorm until the third gets here.
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we read from of Kaladin, Dalinar, and Shallan, but there are also 15 others who’ll tell a small part of their own tale. These different viewpoints are relevant on a broader scale and they mostly will tie in to each other. For some, this is a set back and makes them want to put the book down. For me, I like it. I get to see a world and story build from these different perspectives. I don’t have to decide if I like the main character or not from just them. I get to see their actions and how they affect others from those others’ eyes. What seems right to one character isn’t to another, and I get the reasoning behind both.Even if this seems too much to handle, Sanderson included drawings to bring to visual life the plants, animals, and scenery. If that isn’t enough, there’s also a huge wikia that breaks down everything. The world building is fantastic, the prose is smooth and transitions great. I can’t wait to hunker down with the second one and wait out the highstorm until the third gets here.
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LibraryThing member DWWilkin
Where's the next book Brandon?
Starting a series when there were more than half a million words left to write for Robert Jordan's massive epic series may be a disservice to all us. No, it is a disservice.
In a previous look at Sanderson's work, I noted how ingenious the man was about magic. He
There is a feeling though that we are given part of the world as Sanderson thinks it up. Not that it was done before he started to write.
This I think may cause confusion and lead to paradoxes. There may even have already been such, but with so much meat, hard for me to follow. The end was a surprise and thus, my need for more. More that his other commitments don't allow him to write.
That is something I think that should have been considered. Perhaps Tor holding this book and releasing it late this year before the end of the Jordan saga with books two and three to follow within months would have been much more fair and I would have given this a ten. I feel used by the process and so downgrade my review. It is a multi book epic and when will it end? How long will it take? Ten books and ten years? That is too much and too long.
Starting a series when there were more than half a million words left to write for Robert Jordan's massive epic series may be a disservice to all us. No, it is a disservice.
In a previous look at Sanderson's work, I noted how ingenious the man was about magic. He
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still is. One of the things he does really well is Magic, though this book has less of that and much more of a world building feel to it. Gods who have really screwed things up a really long time ago it seems to me. Now the slow development of people whose agendas are one thing but morph as they are shaped into something else works well.There is a feeling though that we are given part of the world as Sanderson thinks it up. Not that it was done before he started to write.
This I think may cause confusion and lead to paradoxes. There may even have already been such, but with so much meat, hard for me to follow. The end was a surprise and thus, my need for more. More that his other commitments don't allow him to write.
That is something I think that should have been considered. Perhaps Tor holding this book and releasing it late this year before the end of the Jordan saga with books two and three to follow within months would have been much more fair and I would have given this a ten. I feel used by the process and so downgrade my review. It is a multi book epic and when will it end? How long will it take? Ten books and ten years? That is too much and too long.
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LibraryThing member jenreidreads
First of all, I am pretty much in love with Brandon Sanderson. His writing, his ideas - genius. I look forward to re-reading this, the first installment of his Stormlight Archive. It's very epic and dense, and I confess I sometimes found myself a bit lost. His world-building is so intricate that
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occasionally it was written as if we should know it already. For instance, I wish there had been an appendix explaining how the Stormlight gems are used for currency. Sanderson's characters were, as always, fantastic. I love love LOVE the way he writes women; Shallan, particularly in the first part of the book, is brilliant. Sadly, we don't get to see very much of her in this book; I really hope her character is more prominent in later installments. Sanderson is truly a master of dialogue! The dialogue and the characters were what I loved in Warbreaker; this book was just as great. The Way of Kings is obviously the first book in a larger series; much of this installment felt like set-up, and for the most part, there wasn't a lot of action. But I definitely enjoyed immersing myself in Roshar, and was sad when it ended. And writing aside, the book itself is GORGEOUS. The art, the maps, the icons...well worth the hardcover price. Although I'll probably have to buy it again in paperback to make re-reading easier, and to keep my hardcover copy nice. :) Highly recommended. Show Less
LibraryThing member DuncanMoron
"The Way of Kings", written by Brandon Sanderson, is just a touch over 1,000 pages long. The entire time I am reading it I was thinking, is this too much. It just kept going and going, running into so much detail. Not that it was boring in any part, it was just so much. Do we really need all the
It has been years since I have read a book as in depth and intricately woven as "The Way of Kings."
The story focuses on Kaladin, a dark eyed boy who finds his way to becoming a man in the hardest and cruelest way possible. Everyone he knows or comes in contact with dies in one way or another. Even with him constantly trying to do the right thing, it always ends up leading him down a path towards doom. What he doesn't realize is by the time he finally reaches the end of his path, at least in this volume, he has acquired knowledge and skills far beyond his years. He has become a leader of men and someone others instantly respect.
Even the high prince Dalinar owes a great debt to the lowly slave named Kaladin. Dalinar who, with his son Adonlin, strive to live the life you would expect from a high prince. He respects others, lives by the code and insists that everyone be treated with kindness. He believes in all of these things, except when he is on the battlefield, killing Parshendi. Then he is a master in the art of death. Only when his visions begin to affect his judgment does he suddenly question why killing so many can ever be the right thing to do. The only real question is, will Dalinar's trust be the end of him, his son and his entire family.
His family which includes his niece, Jasnah, the daughter of the king, who has taken on a new ward named Shallan. Shallan is a low level aristocrat, but she is doing everything in her power to save her house, even if it means lying and stealing from the woman she has grown so quickly to respect. The real question is not what Shallan is doing, or not even what she has learned, but in the end, what really is Shallan and do we understand her hidden capabilities?
The dueling issues with fantasy writing are keeping the story moving while opening our eyes to a brand new world. Brandon Sanderson has done this masterfully. His vision is filled with sprens, and contracting vegetation. There are highstorms which can kill, and the Parshendi mutes, who are both slaves and slayers of the king, as a splinter group of them form into an orchestrated wave of fighting death. There are betrayals and twists where you believe you know what role a person might be playing, only to be surprised to find out they are on the other side. You really have to keep your wits about you as you plow through page after page effortlessly entertained.
Bottom line is, I really enjoyed this book. But in the end I was debating on whether to give it four or five stars. I still think some of the detail is not warranted and you have to force yourself to read through it, but then again, I enjoyed it overall so much, I really didn't care. Excellent novel for the fantasy world and I would imagine great things will come for the series.
Can't wait to read volume II.
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detail of a "safe-hand"? By the time I reached the final page, in just less than a week mind you, I continued to flip through the back cover hoping there might be more. Brandon Sanderson did an amazing job envisioning a world of fantasy, leading me through the window to view it, and then opening my eyes to the amazing things he had created.It has been years since I have read a book as in depth and intricately woven as "The Way of Kings."
The story focuses on Kaladin, a dark eyed boy who finds his way to becoming a man in the hardest and cruelest way possible. Everyone he knows or comes in contact with dies in one way or another. Even with him constantly trying to do the right thing, it always ends up leading him down a path towards doom. What he doesn't realize is by the time he finally reaches the end of his path, at least in this volume, he has acquired knowledge and skills far beyond his years. He has become a leader of men and someone others instantly respect.
Even the high prince Dalinar owes a great debt to the lowly slave named Kaladin. Dalinar who, with his son Adonlin, strive to live the life you would expect from a high prince. He respects others, lives by the code and insists that everyone be treated with kindness. He believes in all of these things, except when he is on the battlefield, killing Parshendi. Then he is a master in the art of death. Only when his visions begin to affect his judgment does he suddenly question why killing so many can ever be the right thing to do. The only real question is, will Dalinar's trust be the end of him, his son and his entire family.
His family which includes his niece, Jasnah, the daughter of the king, who has taken on a new ward named Shallan. Shallan is a low level aristocrat, but she is doing everything in her power to save her house, even if it means lying and stealing from the woman she has grown so quickly to respect. The real question is not what Shallan is doing, or not even what she has learned, but in the end, what really is Shallan and do we understand her hidden capabilities?
The dueling issues with fantasy writing are keeping the story moving while opening our eyes to a brand new world. Brandon Sanderson has done this masterfully. His vision is filled with sprens, and contracting vegetation. There are highstorms which can kill, and the Parshendi mutes, who are both slaves and slayers of the king, as a splinter group of them form into an orchestrated wave of fighting death. There are betrayals and twists where you believe you know what role a person might be playing, only to be surprised to find out they are on the other side. You really have to keep your wits about you as you plow through page after page effortlessly entertained.
Bottom line is, I really enjoyed this book. But in the end I was debating on whether to give it four or five stars. I still think some of the detail is not warranted and you have to force yourself to read through it, but then again, I enjoyed it overall so much, I really didn't care. Excellent novel for the fantasy world and I would imagine great things will come for the series.
Can't wait to read volume II.
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LibraryThing member SwampIrish
One thousand pages of setup for a 10-book series. That being said, the characters and the back-story are meticulously drawn out and detailed. Kaladan Stormbelessed is shaping up to be one of the coolest fantasy characters ever written. The magic system has also been mapped out carefully and
A lot of reviews have been mixed due to the dearth of action, but I found it easier to read than other large series, because Sanderson does so well at dreaming up new worlds and characters. There is no mindless braid-tugging or skirt straightening in this book. This book is also not as dark other new fantasy offerings by other authors, but there are some hints of dark things to come, a certain dread that is following various characters. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series.
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promises some interesting conflicts later on in the story. A lot of reviews have been mixed due to the dearth of action, but I found it easier to read than other large series, because Sanderson does so well at dreaming up new worlds and characters. There is no mindless braid-tugging or skirt straightening in this book. This book is also not as dark other new fantasy offerings by other authors, but there are some hints of dark things to come, a certain dread that is following various characters. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series.
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LibraryThing member cmbohn
Great opening to what looks like a really good series. I am a little surprised at some of the bad reviews on here. I know not everyone likes every book, but some of the objections strike me as a little odd. For one thing, why even pick it up if you aren't willing to read a really, really long book?
I won't give a plot summary, just my thoughts.
What I loved: Kaladin - my favorite character. Can't wait to see what happens with him. And I couldn't help caring about the assassin. I am really hoping he gets released from his oaths. Dalinar is also an amazing character.
The worldbuilding. Yeah, it takes a while, but it is volume 1, so what did you expect? It is so well drawn.
The hints. Plenty of clues to puzzle over. Some mysteries were solved in this first volume, but most just got more complicated. That's what you want from a first book.
What I liked: Shallan. She was interesting, but so naive! She struck me as still a little too passive. Yes, she took a big risk leaving her home and setting off on her quest to help her family, but something about her just didn't connect with me the way the other main characters did.
I did, however, really like her sketches and the other pictures in the book. I would have loved them if:
What I hated: if I could have read the writing! What's with that? Why put the pictures in there if the writing about the pictures is going to be so hard to read? Please, fix that in the next book.
All in all, if you like epic fantasy and don't mind a really, incredibly long book with prospect of more long books to come, I recommend this series. I can't wait for volume 2!
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Don't start it and then complain that it's too long. You could see that before you started. And I don't get what the problem is with the characters either. I was completely drawn into their stories and their world.I won't give a plot summary, just my thoughts.
What I loved: Kaladin - my favorite character. Can't wait to see what happens with him. And I couldn't help caring about the assassin. I am really hoping he gets released from his oaths. Dalinar is also an amazing character.
The worldbuilding. Yeah, it takes a while, but it is volume 1, so what did you expect? It is so well drawn.
The hints. Plenty of clues to puzzle over. Some mysteries were solved in this first volume, but most just got more complicated. That's what you want from a first book.
What I liked: Shallan. She was interesting, but so naive! She struck me as still a little too passive. Yes, she took a big risk leaving her home and setting off on her quest to help her family, but something about her just didn't connect with me the way the other main characters did.
I did, however, really like her sketches and the other pictures in the book. I would have loved them if:
What I hated: if I could have read the writing! What's with that? Why put the pictures in there if the writing about the pictures is going to be so hard to read? Please, fix that in the next book.
All in all, if you like epic fantasy and don't mind a really, incredibly long book with prospect of more long books to come, I recommend this series. I can't wait for volume 2!
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LibraryThing member Karlstar
I enjoyed this book, and it was good, but not THAT good. Sanderson has placed his people on a world that the reader can't quite place - is it a planet settled by humans who then lost all technology and replaced it with magic? Is it just an alternate Earth, and space travel isn't involved at all?
The book does do a reasonable job of making an interesting feudal society, around which are a whole set of other societies (chinese/asian, african, etc) and creating conflict out of that. His characters are interesting and well developed, even if they are a bit cliched. Overall interesting to read, but not great.
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There seems to have been a periodic descent into anarchy (a very old concept) and civilization is rising up again, but also possibly about to fall back down again. New magic skills are being discovered, or re-discovered. The problem is that the magic relies heavily on Sanderson's idea that the primary use of magic is to fly around and beat people up, ninja style, basically the same system used in Mistborn. This time, instead of the cumbersome consumption of metal, it just requires the wielder to suck in some light. Or communicate with invisible creatures, its not quite clear yet if that's a different system or the same one. The book does do a reasonable job of making an interesting feudal society, around which are a whole set of other societies (chinese/asian, african, etc) and creating conflict out of that. His characters are interesting and well developed, even if they are a bit cliched. Overall interesting to read, but not great.
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LibraryThing member willowcove
This book is AWESOME!!
LibraryThing member stefferoo
Let me just preface this by saying I don’t read a lot fantasy, and I certainly do not consider myself an enthusiast of the genre as I get through only about a handful of fantasy-themed books every year. I find my preferences gravitate towards historical fantasy, but I’ve pretty much given up on
Not so with The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. In fact, I was overcome with a sense of contentment soon after I turned the last page. It’s the sort of feeling you get after finishing a satisfying read, complete with just the hint of sadness at the fact the book has finally come to an end. That’s saying something, seeing as the hardcover version of the book is a whopping 1008 pages. And this is just the first of what is planned to be a 10-novel series! Considering the author has other projects to work on, including finishing the Wheel of Time series, I’ll probably be in my early 40s by the time the last book comes out. Ah well, I’ve always known that committing myself to an epic fantasy series often means a whole lot of waiting.
The Way of Kings takes place in Roshar, a land affected by powerful weather phenomenons called Highstorms, which are pretty much hurricanes on steroids. The flora and fauna have all adapted to these conditions, resulting in bizarre creatures like heavily-shelled animals or plants that can suck themselves back into the ground when disturbed. All around the world are also these spirit-like things called spren, which are either caused by or attracted to emotions or particular circumstances. It is a fantastical setting, but one that is still very believable at the same time. Sanderson spends the time to craft an in-depth environment with his writing, and it’s clear the ideas for this world weren’t just thrown together overnight.
The book has four main characters who are all connected in some way — Kaladin, Shallan, Dalinar and Adolin, though there’s a rather large cast of other background characters to get acquainted with. Kaladin is the most prominent protagonist, and his story almost feels like a comic book hero’s journey. Indeed, he reminds me of Peter Parker/Spider-man in many ways — a young man in bad times who has had to deal with the deaths of people close to him, who’s constantly struggling to save everyone around him with his big heart that cares way too much for others when it should be caring for himself. That said, at times the characters in the book can feel a bit one-dimensional, but this is made up for by some interesting plot turns and the great lead-up to the novel’s climax. Towards the end I could scarcely put the book down, when all the story groundwork that has been laid down finally comes to fruition.
I also appreciate the author for his efforts to constantly keep the reader in the characters’ heads. I felt that this aspect was a huge improvement over his Mistborn series that I couldn’t get into, even though I tried. In those novels, it got too tedious to read pages upon pages of description about the gravity-defying stunts, which would have been much more captivating if I was watching it happen on-screen in a movie or video game. But the nice thing about books — and their greatest strength — should be the way they allow you to peer inside a character’s head to see what they are feeling or experiencing. Without that emotional aspect for me, reading about the combat or action-filled scenes simply feels bland. However, I never once felt this way while reading through The Way of Kings‘ many battle scenes, and I realized it was because Sanderson has managed to keep me sufficiently in touch with the characters this time around.
And while we’re on the subject of Sanderson’s writing, I have to say I enjoy his style. He’s a good storyteller, and his writing, while not too terribly elegant, is straightforward and undisguised without being too simplistic. I mean all that as a compliment; sometimes you just want to get to the meat of the story without poring over a page multiple times to contemplate all its artsy-ness or symbolic meanings. That stuff is for another time, another book. But when all I want to do is sit back and relax to enjoy an epic fantasy with a good story, The Way of Kings delivers.
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the magical, heroic, or epic sub-genres. Maybe I’ve just had bad luck choosing titles on my own, but most of what I’ve read have either made me sick or bored me to tears.Not so with The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. In fact, I was overcome with a sense of contentment soon after I turned the last page. It’s the sort of feeling you get after finishing a satisfying read, complete with just the hint of sadness at the fact the book has finally come to an end. That’s saying something, seeing as the hardcover version of the book is a whopping 1008 pages. And this is just the first of what is planned to be a 10-novel series! Considering the author has other projects to work on, including finishing the Wheel of Time series, I’ll probably be in my early 40s by the time the last book comes out. Ah well, I’ve always known that committing myself to an epic fantasy series often means a whole lot of waiting.
The Way of Kings takes place in Roshar, a land affected by powerful weather phenomenons called Highstorms, which are pretty much hurricanes on steroids. The flora and fauna have all adapted to these conditions, resulting in bizarre creatures like heavily-shelled animals or plants that can suck themselves back into the ground when disturbed. All around the world are also these spirit-like things called spren, which are either caused by or attracted to emotions or particular circumstances. It is a fantastical setting, but one that is still very believable at the same time. Sanderson spends the time to craft an in-depth environment with his writing, and it’s clear the ideas for this world weren’t just thrown together overnight.
The book has four main characters who are all connected in some way — Kaladin, Shallan, Dalinar and Adolin, though there’s a rather large cast of other background characters to get acquainted with. Kaladin is the most prominent protagonist, and his story almost feels like a comic book hero’s journey. Indeed, he reminds me of Peter Parker/Spider-man in many ways — a young man in bad times who has had to deal with the deaths of people close to him, who’s constantly struggling to save everyone around him with his big heart that cares way too much for others when it should be caring for himself. That said, at times the characters in the book can feel a bit one-dimensional, but this is made up for by some interesting plot turns and the great lead-up to the novel’s climax. Towards the end I could scarcely put the book down, when all the story groundwork that has been laid down finally comes to fruition.
I also appreciate the author for his efforts to constantly keep the reader in the characters’ heads. I felt that this aspect was a huge improvement over his Mistborn series that I couldn’t get into, even though I tried. In those novels, it got too tedious to read pages upon pages of description about the gravity-defying stunts, which would have been much more captivating if I was watching it happen on-screen in a movie or video game. But the nice thing about books — and their greatest strength — should be the way they allow you to peer inside a character’s head to see what they are feeling or experiencing. Without that emotional aspect for me, reading about the combat or action-filled scenes simply feels bland. However, I never once felt this way while reading through The Way of Kings‘ many battle scenes, and I realized it was because Sanderson has managed to keep me sufficiently in touch with the characters this time around.
And while we’re on the subject of Sanderson’s writing, I have to say I enjoy his style. He’s a good storyteller, and his writing, while not too terribly elegant, is straightforward and undisguised without being too simplistic. I mean all that as a compliment; sometimes you just want to get to the meat of the story without poring over a page multiple times to contemplate all its artsy-ness or symbolic meanings. That stuff is for another time, another book. But when all I want to do is sit back and relax to enjoy an epic fantasy with a good story, The Way of Kings delivers.
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LibraryThing member jcorrea
Unbelievable, I cannot wait to read what the genius of Sanderson will develop with this storyline. I'm looking forward to this story being a successful epic that is has the potential to be. A must for any fan of Sanderson's Mistborn epic with regards to his character development.
LibraryThing member bibrarybookslut
Another top-notch effort from Sanderson. I would have loved to explore more of the mythology behind the story, but (as we find out at the end) that mystery is key to the plot.Great characters, each of them flawed in their own way, and extremely well developed. Some of the fight scenes are
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reminiscent of the Mistborn trilogy, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.Definitely recommended. Show Less
LibraryThing member KT_3
Yes this is an amazing Epic Fantasy and I loved it - can't believe how much it just grabbed me! I have read the Sword of Shannara series and while I very much enjoyed it I fear Sanderson has spoiled reading for me for a while! This reminds me of Stephen Kings Tower series? One problem is that Book
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2 isn't due until end of next year! Show Less
LibraryThing member ChristopherKurrus
This is an amazing Epic Fantasy book. It is literally the best book that i have ever read. It offers multiple plots, which is a feature that I immensely enjoy, and also includes great characterization and world building. It is quite simply a wonderful book. I have already read it twice and I look
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forward to seeing where Sanderson takes the series after he finishes the Wheel of Time. Also, if you like this book, you should look into Terry Brooks and the Sword of Shannara series. It is a similarly styled book that you would probably enjoy if you liked this. I would recommend this to all epic fantasy fans and people everywhere in need of a doorstop, a set of weights, or a rat squasher. It is BIG. That is one of my favorite parts about it. I think that the larger a book is, the better it is as a general rule. Overall, it is great read it! Show Less
LibraryThing member BeckahRah
It’s been a long time since I’ve enjoyed a good epic fantasy. The operative word being “enjoyed.”
The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson may have been over 1,000 pages long, but it didn’t read like it. He’s one of my favorite authors – I’ve read Elantris 7 or 8 times by itself –
The main storyline revolves around the war sparked when the black-and-red-skinned Parshendi assassinated the Alethi King. Ten years after the war began, it has devolved into a competition between the Alethi princes for the gemstone hearts of the giant crustacean-like monsters who inhabit the battlefield. Only one of the princes, the Brightlord Dalinar Kholin, sees a problem with this, but his nightmarish visions of the end of the world have alienated him from his peers and made his judgment suspect.
The plot was incredible complex, mostly following the stories of several main characters: a former soldier turned slave, forced to labor under the infamous “bridge crews” who are essentially human shields to protect the real warriors from enemy arrows. A thief masquerading as a scholar to steal a priceless magical artifact and save her family. A paranoid young king who sees assassination plots in even his most trusted of advisors. An enslaved assassin with the ability to manipulate the forces of gravity who despises the murderous acts his masters force him to commit. A spren – largely unintelligent, fairy-like creatures attuned to very specific elements like pain, wind, or glory – who is becoming sentient as the human she is fixated with grows back his soul.
All the worldbuilding is detailed and very well done, but it does make for a somewhat slow start. So if you mean to dive into it, bring your patience.There was a good amount of repetition throughout the book; for example, I lost count of how many times Sanderson repeated that the Parshendi were not the same creatures as the enslaved parshmen, even though they looked exactly alike. I kept waiting for that to become relevant, but it didn’t – at least in this book. There isn’t much action for it being 1,000 pages long, and, as it is apparently the first novel in an anticipated 10-novel-long series, nothing is really wrapped up by the end. It’s a thousand pages long, but at the end you feel like nothing’s happened yet.
That being said, it was brilliantly written and engaging, I cared about all of the characters, and it read very quickly despite its length. I’m definitely going to read the next one even if it’s 2,000 pages. The world itself was staggering in scope but not so unfamiliar that it alienated the reader; humans are humans and dogs are dogs, although most other life forms seem to be giant crustaceans (which is actually kinda cool; the last time I encountered any kind of giant crustacean was in Stephen King’s The Drawing of the Three). Each nation was well-crafted and explored, and each vastly different that the last. One nation is plagued by 'Highstorms' so powerful that they whip building-sized boulders through the air likfe confetti and the plants themselves have learned how to move out of the way. Another is filled with creatures who consider all forms of stone holy.
I could go on for a long, long time about this book. But if you enjoy epic fantasy, you’ll enjoy this. I really liked it, and I'll probably read it again just before the next book comes out.
The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson may have been over 1,000 pages long, but it didn’t read like it. He’s one of my favorite authors – I’ve read Elantris 7 or 8 times by itself –
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and I’d been looking forward to this book for some time. The main storyline revolves around the war sparked when the black-and-red-skinned Parshendi assassinated the Alethi King. Ten years after the war began, it has devolved into a competition between the Alethi princes for the gemstone hearts of the giant crustacean-like monsters who inhabit the battlefield. Only one of the princes, the Brightlord Dalinar Kholin, sees a problem with this, but his nightmarish visions of the end of the world have alienated him from his peers and made his judgment suspect.
The plot was incredible complex, mostly following the stories of several main characters: a former soldier turned slave, forced to labor under the infamous “bridge crews” who are essentially human shields to protect the real warriors from enemy arrows. A thief masquerading as a scholar to steal a priceless magical artifact and save her family. A paranoid young king who sees assassination plots in even his most trusted of advisors. An enslaved assassin with the ability to manipulate the forces of gravity who despises the murderous acts his masters force him to commit. A spren – largely unintelligent, fairy-like creatures attuned to very specific elements like pain, wind, or glory – who is becoming sentient as the human she is fixated with grows back his soul.
All the worldbuilding is detailed and very well done, but it does make for a somewhat slow start. So if you mean to dive into it, bring your patience.There was a good amount of repetition throughout the book; for example, I lost count of how many times Sanderson repeated that the Parshendi were not the same creatures as the enslaved parshmen, even though they looked exactly alike. I kept waiting for that to become relevant, but it didn’t – at least in this book. There isn’t much action for it being 1,000 pages long, and, as it is apparently the first novel in an anticipated 10-novel-long series, nothing is really wrapped up by the end. It’s a thousand pages long, but at the end you feel like nothing’s happened yet.
That being said, it was brilliantly written and engaging, I cared about all of the characters, and it read very quickly despite its length. I’m definitely going to read the next one even if it’s 2,000 pages. The world itself was staggering in scope but not so unfamiliar that it alienated the reader; humans are humans and dogs are dogs, although most other life forms seem to be giant crustaceans (which is actually kinda cool; the last time I encountered any kind of giant crustacean was in Stephen King’s The Drawing of the Three). Each nation was well-crafted and explored, and each vastly different that the last. One nation is plagued by 'Highstorms' so powerful that they whip building-sized boulders through the air likfe confetti and the plants themselves have learned how to move out of the way. Another is filled with creatures who consider all forms of stone holy.
I could go on for a long, long time about this book. But if you enjoy epic fantasy, you’ll enjoy this. I really liked it, and I'll probably read it again just before the next book comes out.
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LibraryThing member smitkevi
Strong characters, an engaging plot, and trademark Sanderson imagination drive an incredibly entertaining book.
LibraryThing member Asata
Sanderson's book shows influence from Robert Jordan, yet it stands on its own. The women leads in the book are strong, extremely intelligent and resourceful, while the men are equally strong, mentally anyway. Personal growth and change is shown There are several storylines going at once, as in
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Jordan's books, which make the beginning chapters confusing and slow to capture the interest. But it's worth the effort. The world Sanderson has built is unique and very intriguing, if some features seem a little contrived or predictable. The fauna of this world are crustaceans, even the domestic pets, but they vary in size from miniscule to huge giants bigger than dinosaurs. There are "human" species which also grow shell-like armor. What they really are remains to be discovered in the second book! I'm looking forward to it! Show Less
LibraryThing member etoiline
This book is a MONSTER fantasy. On one hand, I love the detail that Brandon Sanderson goes into with the worlds, the magic system, the people. On the other hand, sometimes it's SO MUCH that you get lost in it instead of the story. There are a lot of characters in this one, which is to be expected
The presentation of this book is spectacular. You don't see a lot of fantasy with illustrations nowadays, but this book not only has color endpapers, it has sketches and maps throughout. They really did a good job with the design.
I took a long time with this one, with a few long breaks between sessions--but not because it was slow reading. I just had other things I had to read first (like books from the library, with a due date). I got back into it just fine, though someday I'd like to reread it and appreciate how the story fits together.
If you have a fondness for epic fantasy at all, you'll like this book.
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in a book that has more than 1000 pages. I don't doubt this took BS ten years to write--it shows. The story is there, sometimes buried underneath the detail, and usually it's quite a good story. I have ...moreThis book is a MONSTER fantasy. On one hand, I love the detail that Brandon Sanderson goes into with the worlds, the magic system, the people. On the other hand, sometimes it's SO MUCH that you get lost in it instead of the story. There are a lot of characters in this one, which is to be expected in a book that has more than 1000 pages. I don't doubt this took BS ten years to write--it shows. The story is there, sometimes buried underneath the detail, and usually it's quite a good story. I have to say I liked Kaladin's sections much better than Shallan's, but both stories receive a kick in the pants by the end of the book, and will make you want to know what will happen next.The presentation of this book is spectacular. You don't see a lot of fantasy with illustrations nowadays, but this book not only has color endpapers, it has sketches and maps throughout. They really did a good job with the design.
I took a long time with this one, with a few long breaks between sessions--but not because it was slow reading. I just had other things I had to read first (like books from the library, with a due date). I got back into it just fine, though someday I'd like to reread it and appreciate how the story fits together.
If you have a fondness for epic fantasy at all, you'll like this book.
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Awards
David Gemmell Legend Award (Winner — 2011)
Whitney Award (Winner — 2010)
Chesley Award (Nominee — 2011)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2010-08-31
Physical description
1007 p.; 49.28 x 6.5 inches
ISBN
9780765326355
Local notes
Signed (San Francisco, February 2013).