Name: The Way of Kings
Rating: 4.640370370370371 (675 reviews)
ISBN: 9781427209757

Brandon Sanderson

Kate Reading

Michael Kramer

Book One of the Stormlight Archive

The Way of Kings

Alina

If there was one thing he still let himself long for, it was the chance to hold a spear. To fight again, to try and find his way back to the man he had been. A man who had cared.

So be it. Cutting down trees, building bridges, fighting in the army. None of it mattered. He would just keep living. They’d taken his freedom, his family, his friends, and—most dear of all—his dreams. They could do nothing more to him.

No, this place wasn’t natural. The land had been broken. And now it broke the people who came to it.

No. He’d had no easy fall, like those drops. He’d earned his scars. He’d bounced off walls, bashed his face and hands. He’d killed innocent men by accident. He’d walked beside those with hearts like blackened coals, adoring them. He’d scrambled and climbed and fallen and stumbled.

And now here he was. At the end of it all. Understanding so much more, but somehow feeling no wiser.

She felt guilty for being unable to record his death. And she felt stupid for that guilt.

Watching them stand resolute and capable in stances they had only been just been taught, Kaladin realized something. These men—cast off by the army, forced to work themselves near to death, then fed extra food by Kaladin’s careful planning—were the most fit, training-ready recruits he’d ever been given.

By seeking to beat them down, Sadeas had prepared them to excel.

We are not creatures of destinations. It is the journey that shapes us. Our callused feet, our backs strong from carrying the weight of our travels, our eyes open with the fresh delight of experiences lived.

anya

An excerpt from the letter Shallan leaves Jasnah at the Palanaeum.

Sara

Which would you rather have? A ward who is able to repeat the correct answers because an overpriced tutor drilled them into her, or a ward who had to struggle and fight for everything she has learned? 

I assure you that one of those two will prize your teachings far more than the other.

A blank page was nothing but potential, pointless until it was used.

Jas 🐸

I should have never ripped up the map, Kaladin thought. Bitterness is repaid more often than kindness. 

“Too many of us," she said, "take great pains with what we ingest through our mouths, and far less with what we partake of through our ears and eyes. Wouldn’t you say?”

If I fail to save the bridgemen, that wretch will take control again. This time he'll get his way…

Amelia Reinertsen

“The older we grow,” Jasnah said, “the more we question. We  begin to ask why. And yet, we still want the answers to be simple. We  assume that the people around us—adults, leaders—will have those  answers. Whatever they give often satisfies us.”

A new epic series by the best-selling writer of Robert Jordan's final Wheel of Time® novels introduces the world of Roshar through the experiences of a war-weary royal compelled by visions, a highborn youth condemned to military slavery and a woman who would save her impoverished house.

Yash Mahajan

Dani

I don't usually read fantasy and I loved this. An exciting and very enjoyable journey. Fresh and attentive to detail. Will read the following for sure.

A new epic series by the best-selling writer of Robert Jordan's final Wheel of Time® novels introduces the world of Roshar through the experiences of a war-weary royal compelled by visions, a highborn youth condemned to military slavery and a woman who would save her impoverished house. Reprint. A best-selling novel.

M. Sosotris

You know why Goodreads reviews are amazing? So you can metaphorically run into a crowd of people brandishing the book you just finished screaming, “Holay Craaaap, this here’s a goooood one!” at the top of your lungs. It’s very therapeutic, and helps you get some closure so you can move onto the next book on your To Read pile.

So, okay, this book is really great. I’ll avoid fanboy hyperbole, because I know fantasy is a very personal thing in terms of taste, and yelling at a fan of urban fantasy or dark fantasy to read this book because it’s the Best Ever is a great way to get said person to never ever read it. 

So I’ll just throw out why I personally loved this book.

I am VERY tired of fantasy tropes. And even though this book has a few, the plotting, worldbuilding, and character arcs are engaging enough that they pulled me past the point where I would normally set aside a book for good. And the amazing fireworks display of cliffhangers, resolutions, and revelations at the end was an incredible payoff, well worth the month-long commitment to reading this monstrous 1200 page book.

I love how richly detailed the fantasy world is without pages of Tolstoy-esque description. I love Tolstoy a LOT, but in fantasy often times authors fall so in love with their worlds that they over-describe them and you lose momentum. This world IS very detailed, but the descriptions come to us only when we need them. There are VERY few info dumps, and those that do show up don’t ever feel unnecessary. This book is 1200 pages, and it’s ALL character and plot. Descriptions are used with great economy, and they never bog you down. I think the illustrations that pepper the text help a LOT as well since it allows you to visualize various things without needing complex paragraphs of description.

There are no Dark Lords and no Great Evil Army. There are multiple mysteries, many about the nature of the world and of the murky history that informs so much of the present historical landscape. There are villainous people, but they’re usually misguided or misinformed. The real enemy is ignorance, and everyone is fighting to learn or discover information that they need to understand the present situation.

This book reminds me a lot of playing the Myst game and its sequels. You wander through this beautiful world filled with clues pertaining to a past you don’t understand, and you pick up the pieces and explore the complex symbolism of everything and slowly piece together the truth at the same time as the characters, and the payoff is fantastic.

I did find the characters of Kaladin and Dalinar a little flat at the beginning only because they’re very much the Noble Dudes, and are very closed off emotionally because of past traumas, but once they open themselves up to who they are, you really become invested in their stories. Shallan hooked me right away. Mostly because she’s such a grey character, and also because Jasnah is probably my ALL TIME FAVOURITE character in this book, and the interplay between these two is so fantastic. Szeth is still a bit of an enigma, but I think we’ll get more of him in later books. But he’s fascinating because he’s such a wild card. He only gets four or five chapters, but he feels just as essential as the others. 

I can’t wait for more! The best way to describe this one is, if you liked Power Rangers and Kingdom Hearts in your youth, this is the epic fantasy for you. It does take a bit to really get sucked into all the character’s stories, but don’t rush, and don’t give up, and I swear, it’s worth it.

Wow, now I guess I’ll just lay here absently petting my cat while I try to return to the real world...

The Way of Kings: Bk. 1 (The Stormlight Archive)

Using this to represent the whole series (or the bits i finished): Utterly unique world, to the exception of world building, character, story, relationships or anything remotely resembling a compelling story. got to book 6 in a fugue state before i realised "hold on, this is shit". the respective mental illnesses get more development than the characters they are attached to.

Tristan Currie

Released in two volumes due to size of book. According to mythology mankind used to live in The Tranquiline Halls. Heaven. But then the Voidbringers assaulted and captured heaven, casting out God and men. Men took root on Roshar, the world of storms. And the Voidbringers followed . . . They came against man ten thousand times. To help them cope, the Almighty gave men powerful suits of armor and mystical weapons, known as Shardblades. Led by ten angelic Heralds and ten orders of knights known as Radiants, mankind finally won. Or so the legends say. Today, the only remnants of those supposed battles are the Shardblades, the possession of which makes a man nearly invincible on the battlefield. The entire world is at war with itself - and has been for centuries since the Radiants turned against mankind. Kings strive to win more Shardblades, each secretly wishing to be the one who will finally unite all of mankind under a single throne. On a world scoured down to the rock by terrifying hurricanes that blow through every few days is a young spearman ,forced into the army of a Shardbearer, led to war against an enemy he doesn't understand and doesn't really want to fight. What happened deep in mankind's past? Why did the Radiants turn against mankind, and what happened to the magic they used to wield?

Bala

Roxanne Ramirez

Starting a 1000 pages book could be a daunting task and that's how it feels at the beginning of this book. The writer takes his time in building up his characters, the world around these characters but once you get familiar with them, then the book rewards you massively with a story that keeps getting interesting with every page. 

Every single primary character is fleshed out well with Kaladin and Dalinar being the stand out characters.

Brandon Sanderson is a master of this art. At the end of 1000 pages, he ensures that you would want to spend more time in this world, with these characters.

This book is so good that starting the next massive 1000+ page book in the series is going to be exciting instead of daunting.

Adwait Kulkarni

Starting a 1000 pages book could be a daunting task and that's how it feels at the beginning of this book. The writer takes his time in building up his characters, the world around these characters but once you get familiar with them, then the book rewards you massively with a story that keeps getting interesting with every page. 

Every single primary character is fleshed out well with Kaladin and Dalinar being the stand out characters.

Brandon Sanderson is a master of this art. At the end of 1000 pages, he ensures that you would want to spend more time in this world, with these characters.

This book is so good that starting the next massive 1000+ page book in the series is going to be exciting instead of daunting.

The beginning of a fantasy epic. It‘s a 1000 pages introduction to the characters. It feels long while reading it but after finishing it, I‘m excited to continue the series.

J Fra

3.75. the pacing comes in bursts. some parts are unbearably slow. a few characters are easy to love and that’s the most redeeming part of it.

azza

Impeccable. Honestly left me desiring nothing but the next 9 installments - which is a lot considering how much I enjoy dragons in fantasy. 

Absolutely incredible intro to an incredible series. Took me a while to get thru because of work and life but it left me with so much desire to immediately start the next book. Crazy to read 1000 pages of something and only want more more more.

Sierra Scanlan

a lot of people said that this was 1200 pages of prolog. i could testify to that. 1200 pages and i grasp absolutely nothing from the book 😭😭😭  i devoured it regardless. not a single dull moment from this book. i don’t know what kind of crack does he put on this book but i had a fun times reading all of those 1200 pages despite not grasping a single shit most of the time. stormlight archive was an entirely different experience from mistborn. if u think mistborn’s world building was intense and hard, you’re not ready for this one. an entirely different world. they’ve got their own PLANTS, ANIMALS, even eyebrows structure. and the magic system was far more complex.

never have i ever taking my own notes for a fantasy book (merely just small annotations) but for this one, i almost made an entire guide book for informations and theories and questions.

hana

a lot of people said that this was 1200 pages of prolog. i could testify to that. 1200 pages and i grasp absolutely nothing from the book 😭😭😭  i devoured it regardless. not a single dull moment from this book. i don’t know what kind of crack does he put on this book but i had a fun times reading all of those 1200 pages despite not grasping a single shit most of the time. stormlight archive was an entirely different experience from mistborn. if u think mistborn’s world building was intense and hard, you’re not ready for this one. an entirely different world. they’ve got their own PLANTS, ANIMALS, even eyebrows structure. and the magic system was far more complex.

never have i ever taking my own notes for a fantasy book (merely just small annotations) but for this one, i almost made an entire guide book for informations and theories and questions.

Lots of world building plus great story development but it was a long book that took a while for me to read. All in all, really good

Liam Curson

Great world building as usual from Brandon Sanderson - really developed the characters well and draws you into the plot. Feels like this is the book setting the stage for the actual show - slow paced and detailed. Enjoyable will definitely be carrying on to see what happens to everyone next.

Lorna Rivett

crazzyyyyyyyy cannot wait to read the next one it’s literally 2 am tho i gotta sleep

Daphne Li-Chen

ploral

What the fuck was this? I must read words of radiance immediately.

Ein Muss für alle Fantasy Fans. Tolles World building und high fantasy vom Feinsten.

Braucht aber die ersten 250 Seiten um reinzukommen.

Jeremy Mano

Ein Muss für alle Fantasy Fans. Tolles World building und high fantasy vom Feinsten.

Braucht aber die ersten 250 Seiten um reinzukommen.

Introduces the world of Roshar through the experiences of a war-weary royal compelled by visions, a highborn youth condemned to military slavery, and a woman who is desperate to save her impoverished house.

WOW. Brandon Sanderson truly is a master of his craft. his world-building is unparalleled, the story is unique, and the characters are so full of depth and realness. 

so why only four stars then? I hate to be this person, but these books are so dang long. my ADHD brain struggles even with how great everything else is. I just wish these books were more concise. like, kaladin’s bridge run chapters?? 

 wanted to throw myself into the chasm. anyway, that’s just my personal preference. fantastic storytelling and incredible in literally every other way.

emily learmont

WOW. Brandon Sanderson truly is a master of his craft. his world-building is unparalleled, the story is unique, and the characters are so full of depth and realness. 

so why only four stars then? I hate to be this person, but these books are so dang long. my ADHD brain struggles even with how great everything else is. I just wish these books were more concise. like, kaladin’s bridge run chapters?? I wanted to throw myself into the chasm. anyway, that’s just my personal preference. fantastic storytelling and incredible in literally every other way.

best book ive ever read (kaladin deserves the biggest sloppiest kiss ever)

Each character feels so well developed and each chapter moves the story along at a perfect pace. At no point did it drag or stumble. It didn’t feel like it took 45 hours to listen through but I’m glad there was 45 hours of this wonderful story. Sanderson does it again. 

Alex Shinsky

Stormfather, what a book!

Each character feels so well developed and each chapter moves the story along at a perfect pace. At no point did it drag or stumble. It didn’t feel like it took 45 hours to listen through but I’m glad there was 45 hours of this wonderful story. Sanderson does it again. 

A new epic series by the best-selling writer of Robert Jordan's final Wheel of Time novels introduces the world of Roshar through the experiences of a war-weary royal compelled by visions, a highborn youth condemned to military slavery and a woman.

Luke Harkness

I'm fully in!

As stated in part one review, I have read this book before but cannot remember quite being invested in it enough to leave a respectable review - therefore I have it 5* as I just presumed that was the right thing to do.

Now I've read it fully. Now I've invested over a week into this absolute epic and I'd say this is now in my top books of all time. It tells many stories, offers up such a phenomenal and interesting world and fully grips you in with an unknown history, interesting questions, fascinating theories, deep characters and that feeling of really having lived through these characters' lives. First time round I didn't really get the hype. Second time round, I am all aboard the hype train! 🚂

The brand new epic fantasy series from international bestseller Brandon Sanderson. According to mythology mankind used to live in The Tranquiline Halls. Heaven. But then the Voidbringers assaulted and captured heaven, casting out God and men. Men took root on Roshar, the world of storms. And the Voidbringers followed ... They came against man ten thousand times. To help them cope, the Almighty gave men powerful suits of armor and mystical weapons, known as Shardblades. Led by ten angelic Heralds and ten orders of knights known as Radiants, mankind finally won. Or so the legends say. Today, the only remnants of those supposed battles are the Shardblades, the possession of which makes a man nearly invincible on the battlefield. The entire world is at war with itself - and has been for centuries since the Radiants turned against mankind. Kings strive to win more Shardblades, each secretly wishing to be the one who will finally unite all of mankind under a single throne. On a world scoured down to the rock by terrifying hurricanes that blow through every few days is a young spearman, forced into the army of a Shardbearer, led to war against an enemy he doesn't understand and doesn't really want to fight. What happened deep in mankind's past? Why did the Radiants turn against mankind, and what happened to the magic they used to wield?

It does definitely feel like the first part of a whole story. But the first part of a story I'm very invested in. I remember parts of it from my first read, but as I thought, there's a lot I don't remember and a lot I didn't pick up. Now a now experienced reader, I fan appreciate it so much more. Fascinating and deep world, a couple of REALLY cool characters and it feels a little bit over the top in places which is 100% OK as the rest of the book is so grounded. Look forward to part two!

The Way of Kings Book One of the Stormlight Archive

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