The Way of Kings (2010)

I finally finished this! And I liked it. This book did take me a while to get through, mostly because there were long stretches where I didn't touch this at all. While I was reading I did really like this and the ending definitely had me hooked.

This book has all the things that makes fantasy seem intimidating to me: it's very long, it had a lot of POVs, there a lot of world-building happening, and more. However, once I got into this story, I didn't find any of this to be that intimidating (except for how long this was, that never stopped being intimidating). This story was written in a way that was very engaging. Even though this book is over 1200 pages long, I can't recall many moments where I was bored by the book, which is pretty impressive. Even though I do think this book is a bit stretched out, I was surprised by how little fluff there seemed to be in this very long book.

I think of all the perspectives in this book, Kaladin's was the most cliche and most similar to other fantasy stories. It was very easy for me to predict where his story would go, which wasn't the case for some of the other perspectives. Nevertheless, Kaladin was one of my favorite characters. I think I liked him partially because he was the one lower class character we got a perspective from and this is a perspective I really appreciate in fantasy stories. But I also just kind of like really cliche fantasy stories. I think they're fun! I also thought his perspective embodied a character that has experienced a lot of dark things but is also a good person and I love that type of character.

Dalinar also became one of my favorite characters for similar reasons. He wasn't at the beginning but his actions at the end made me really like his character. I think the most interesting plot points will come from the outcome of his decisions and I'm excited to see that.

This is a pretty sprawling plot but in some ways this felt solely like set-up for the rest of the series. I recognized that some of this is necessary in the start of a long fantasy series and as I said, this set-up never bored me. I did find that sometimes I figured out plot points long before the characters figured it out in a way that was more frustrating than interesting. This was especially a problem with Kaladin but showed up in a couple of places. Another thing that was probably more a problem with me taking to so long to read this than a book issue but I would forget certain characters. Like I reached a part at the end and when it said who's perspective would be in that section I was like "wait, who's Navani?" Again, I recognize most of that is a me issue but was also in part because this book was very long in a way I found to be unnecessary sometimes.

I don't want to compare this to the other long fantasy book I've read, Game of Thrones, too much because they're actually not that similar but I will say when I finished Game of Thrones I had no curiosity about what would happen next. I had no desire to read book two. When I go to the end of this book I needed to know what happened next! The last third of this book was especially excellent. I was so engaged the entire time. This is especially impressive to me because there were battle scenes, which I usually find very boring and hard to follow but I found them very easy to follow here. I'm still very intimidated by the length of the books in this series but I know I want to continue.

Reading this has really been a journey and a long time coming. I am very happy I finally finished this because I liked the last bit so much. I think now that most of the set up is done the books are just going to just get more interesting. Hopefully it won't take me 3/4 of a year to read the next book. ( )

I absolutely loved this book. I can't wait for the next in the series.

I bought it in hardback instead of on my kindle because I'd heard there were lots of maps in the print that were unreadable in the digital versions. Well, I think that sentiment is completely right, but it's more than maps. Character journals, sketches, and all sorts of things are spread in the pages. It's great to flip back to the awesome maps in the beginning too. It's certainly possible to enjoy the book without all the pictures, or to look them up online for reference. The book is really big and cumbersome too, so there's that to worry about. I guess if the worst thing you have to worry about with this book is what version to buy, that says something in itself. ( )

Spring 2020 (Book Club: January);

Full rating: 4.5

I have to admit I definitely fell in love with this series. I have so many thoughts about everything happening in this world. I have so many respects for the subtle way you can tell this whole first 1200 page novel is still an introduction into this 10 Book Series. Yet, you fall in love with everyone. You get involved in their failures and their successes.

As with many books, I predicted most of what happened in this book, except for two large things. One, I assumed Jasnah already knew everything Shallan was doing, and was waiting her out to call her on it (especially once it had happened and she was still there). Two, I was absolutely shocked at the big move Sadeas made in the biggest fight of the book. My heart it bleeds for this fallout.

I love that there is not a lot of explanation of anything in this book that isn't part of characters talking or the world being describing. The writing congratulates on being smart and expects you to put it together as it is all going on, and it's such a gorgeous breath of fresh air in that.

Highlights - The found family of the Bridge Crew. Team Girl Researchers. Friendships striding strong, and friendships betrayed out of nowhere. Having my two noblest men meet before the end of the book. Feeling heartbroken for an assassin. The pricelessness of a life conversation. ( )

Tell … tell my brother … he must find the most important words a man can say.

First, the worldbuilding and magic systems.

Sanderson is well known for his magic systems for a reason. The book opens with a blithely rewriting the laws of gravity in order to kill a king with a six plus foot long sword. If that doesn't drag you into a book wanting more, I'm not sure what would.

Unfortunately (or not, depending on what you're looking for), for every answer you get on how things actually work on Roshar (the name of the world [b:The Way of Kings|7235533|The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive, #1)|Brandon Sanderson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1507307887s/7235533.jpg|8134945] takes place on), you get even more questions. What

And the worldbuilding doesn't stop there. It's fascinating to read about a world that feels quite as alien as Roshar does--and yet manages to feel real. To me, it feels like an ocean without water. Most of the native animal life is crustacean in form[^1] and the planetlife has a tendency to move around and hide from danger. There's a huge battle taking place on the Shattered Plains--which in my mind at least feel like someone dropped a plate the site of a continent and shattered it into millions of pieces.

And the seasons / storms. Seasons fly by much more chaotically and quickly than we're used to, with storms (accurately named Highstorms) that can cause all sorts of damage sweeping across the continent semi-regularly. It really makes me wonder why--especially since in Sanderson's [b:The Final Empire|68428|The Final Empire (Mistborn, #1)|Brandon Sanderson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1480717416s/68428.jpg|66322] etc the strange weather and geography had a perfectly sensible astrological reason for much of it. So what in the world happened / is happening to Roshar?

And finally, spren and the Shardblades. Take two ideas: one, that thoughts / feelings / ideas can manifest as tiny beings (fearspren, angerspren, rotspren, windspren). Two, that you want to have a world where six foot long basically anime style swords make sense. Take both of these and fill in the details in the way that Sanderson does.

Second up, the characters.

As Truthless, there was only one life he was forbidden to take. And that was his own.

Despite having a relatively minor part in this book--mostly just in the interludes, Szeth-son-son-Vallano / The Assassin in White is absolutely fascinating. He knows more about how at least one branch of magic works on this world than just about anyone and uses it as a nigh unstoppable--but not a willing one. He's a fascinating character and I sorely want to know more about him.

“Yes,” [Syl] said. “That was sarcasm.”

She cocked her head. “I know what sarcasm is.”

Then she smiled deviously. “I know what sarcasm is!”

Stormfather, Kaladin thought, looking into those gleeful little eyes. That strikes me as ominous


Next up, one of the main point of view characters, Kaladin is an interesting combination of extremely competent and depressed (rightfully so). He has a chip on his shoulder better described as a boulder, but--as we learn throughout the book--there's a good reason for that.

Kaladin really becomes an interesting character as he begins to really bond with his spren Syl (see above) and starts to move towards his destiny, whatever that happens to be. It's fascinating watching him take his men and build them up, even if you know that everything is just going to come tumbling down again before all is said and done.

“Sometimes,” Dalinar said, “the prize is not worth the costs. The means by which we achieve victory are as important as the victory itself.”

And then you have Dalinar. Uncle to the (current) king, he's a Good Man. He lives by a code of honor even when it really would be much easier to go another way and he's starting to have visions of what Needs To Be Done. He could use a bit more character development, but he's got time[^2].


“I see. And this is how you’d respond if the Almighty himself appeared to you here? All of this formality and bowing?”

She hesitated. “Well, no.”

“Ah, and how would you react?”

“I suspect with screams of pain,” she said, letting her thought slip out too easily. “As it is written that the Almighty’s glory is such that any who look upon him would immediately be burned to ash.”


Shallan is hilarious. She's a fiery redhead (of course) with a wonderfully snarky sense of humor on a mission far beyond her comfort zone in order to save her family. There's something very dark in her past, but we'll have to wait to figure out what it is.

“It wasn’t an admonition,” Jasnah said, turning a page. “Simply an observation. I make them on occasion: Those books are musty. The sky is blue today. My ward is a smart-lipped reprobate.”

Jasnah herself (the king's brother / Dalinar's niece) is also fascinating. She's an atheist in a world where almost no one is and a scholar that might just know more about what's actually going on / how everything works in Roshar than just about anyone else.

And finally, the plot / structure. It starts hard hitting with the prologue, but settles down for the long run. There are a number of independent plot lines (the main characters never end up in the same place at the same time) set all over a complicated world. Settle and and don't expect any quick answers--or even answers at all in some cases--and it works.

There are a few end of chapter cliff hangers, but for the most part, it doesn't feel that bad to switch from one point of view to another. The main counterpoint is Shallan completely missing in part 3, after a rather intense cliffhanger. I'm still annoyed about that--even if when we finally do get back to her in part 4, things escalate dramatically.

Overall, it's a wonderful book. The best epic fantasy that I've ever read. My only regret? That the series won't be finished for a decade or more.

Sometimes we find it hardest to accept in others that which we cling to in ourselves.

Amusing aside: I've now read Way of Kings twice. The first time, I read it one chapter at a time, discussion it with my wife over email. We finished it 6 February 2015. This time I read it by myself (and thus somewhat more quickly). I finished it just after midnight... on 6 February 2018. Something amusing about that.

[^1]: And even the exceptions are interesting. Why are there horses? Why does Shinovar seem to have all the features of our own Earth when everything else is so very strange? Our grass is so alien to them:

She was not going to ruin a good dress for a pot of drooling, wall-staring, imbecile grass.

[^2]: So far as I know, the Stormlight Archives are planned as two series of five books each. Given just how massive the Way of Kings is... we will likely get to know these characters rather well by the end. ( )

Went straight to the second one. Fantastic world building and a BIG world with lots of characters and complexity. Unique magic system that continues to be revealed. ( )