The Way of Kings: Book One of the Stormlight Archive

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 - 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.

I just finished my first book of the year, The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson, book one of The Stormlight Archive, and it’s an easy 5 out of 5. This is a massive, well-told story set in a vast world that feels real because the characters drive the plot, not the other way around. Dalinar was my favorite—his struggle to live by honor and do right by his kingdom and king is deeply relatable. Kaladin’s story hit hard too, especially when he speaks the Second Ideal, “I will protect those who cannot protect themselves,” which perfectly captures who he is. Shallan’s chapters were a great change of pace and a smart way to deliver lore without it ever feeling like homework. Even at nearly 1,000 pages, the book never felt daunting. I wouldn’t recommend it as a first Cosmere read, but for any fantasy fan willing to invest the time, this book delivers on everything it promises.

As one of the most popular fantasy series of the last few years, it should be no surprise that the first book in this series sucked me in from the very beginning. It's epic in scope, well-developed, and hard to put down with all of the action and political machinations and, of course, magic. Huge recommendation for fans of high fantasy. It's nearly impossible to summarize a 1200+ page book in a few sentences, as there are so many characters and sub-plots that run through the story, but the main characters stay consistent in their frequency of appearance in the chapters. Kaladin is a young former soldier of prodigious talent with a spear, who we discover through the book was betrayed by his commander and sold into slavery as a "bridgeman," a worker whose sole purpose is to carry portable bridges to span the chasms on the plains where his nation is fighting a war against a strange race of human-like beings; Kaladin is a natural leader with a painful past, but an ability to encourage men to unite and better themselves. Dalinar is a middle-aged highprince, part of the light-eyed nobility of his nation, brother to a king who had been murdered by an assassin a handful of years ago, sparking the current war, and uncle and principle advisor/general to the current king; Dalinar is plagued with strange visions of the past featuring the Knights Radiant, a near-mythological group of ancient knights with magical weapons, armor, and abilities, some of which have drifted down through history to be held by regular individuals in the current age. Adolin, Dalinar's son, is an excellent solider and duelist, and at times a spoiled prince, who tends to rebel against his father's need to stick to outdated Codes outlining the honorable conduct of a soldier. Shallan is a teenaged girl blossoming into womanhood, left with the weight of saving her declining house from total bankruptcy after her father had lost all fortune and the respect of his peers; Shallan has a brilliant mind, a quick wit, and a true talent for artistry that seems almost supernatural, and seeks to gain the trust of Jasnah, niece of Dalinar and sister of the king, who is a respected and erudite scholar, and just maybe a bit of a heretic against her own culture's religion. The cast of characters is voluminous, but most chapters revolve around these main ones, as they seek to understand the world and their roles in it, and possibly avert a world-changing disaster they've just become aware is brewing. The plot is epic in all meanings of the word: big, lengthy, involved, full of emotions and motivations and purpose, stretching to all points of the world that Sanderson has created out of whole cloth. It's clear that the author has spent a great deal of effort planning the millenia of backstory that predates the setting of the novel, and that plan is detailed and rich. There are multiple independent systems (or sources) of magic, each with its own rules and users, some seeming to be created from nature, others seeming to be fabrications of men and women. The history of the novel's world is deep, and trickles out in small bits throughout the long story, such that once the reader feels the dominant religion/mythology is finally understood, a new bit of ancient history is revealed that shows just how that religion has changed over time and may not be fully grasped by either the reader or the religion's current adherents. The characters are very well-developed, each with his or her own motivations and reasons for being where he or she is in life. All told, the plot is thick and convoluted, but in such a good way that the reader feels each character is growing and developing, while the action and plot still move along at a quick pace. This is one of those books that is incredibly hard to put down, so you may find yourself up all night reading. I really did struggle to find something to criticize in this book, but I did find a few things. While I know the author has his main characters trying to build a better world while battling their society's own shortcomings, there is still a startling undercurrent of racism to the culture being described: the main opponents of the war on the Shattered Plains are a mostly dark-skinned race seen as primitive, whose more docile cousins are used by the other nations as slave labor and described as all looking alike, which is viewed as normal and almost necessary for the culture of the mostly light-skinned and -eyed, and supposedly more noble, race on the other side of the war. At one point, the author made the surprising use of the word "moolie," which shocked me -- its use was as a pejorative nickname for a mute, and not a racial slur, but still it's a choice that the author made that perhaps wasn't well thought out and struck me as unnecessarily offensive when he could have used literally any other existing or made-up word. There was also the problem that I find all too pervasive in many fantasy books, a genre I love: there is a stark overuse of names using the letters A, K, L, and N (e.g., Kaladin, Dalinar, Adolin, Adalar, Elhokar, Navani, Jasnah, Shallan, etc.) -- after a while, all the names seem to have come from a standard Boggle tileset with only a few letters or syllables to choose from. I know that this may be passed on as distinctive for the racial/linguistic setting of the novel, but its similarities to many other names in many other fantasy series leaves me with the taste that such overuse of certain syllables is derivative, rather than original. Also, a surprising number of these names, when combined with the character's family name, follow a strange rule that Aleister Crowley (the occultist) set out that the best-sounding names are a dactyl (three syllables with emphasis on the first syllable) followed by a spondee (two syllables of equal emphasis), as if they were all created specifically for fitting in a certain poetic meter -- I'm not sure if I'm impressed by this, or if I view this as another example of derivative names. As for the writing mechanics, the book is incredibly clean. Sure, there are a few split infinitives and a handful of examples of "most everyone" or "most all," but in a book more than 1200 pages long, the number of grammatical or syntactical errors is actually miniscule compared to a lot of books out there these days. I enjoy Sanderson's writing style, which hints at both "high" fantasy writing and colloquial conversational banter. It's nice to read such a long book without wanting to throw it against the wall every few pages because of an egregious writing error. Overall, I'm excited to be into this series at long last. I understand it's intended to be a 10-book series, and so far there are only 3 released (with a fourth maybe coming later this year?), so I fully expect to be enjoying this rich world Sanderson has built for another few years. A huge recommendation for anyone who even kind of likes high fantasy series.

Stormfather! This was one of the best books I've ever read. After hearing so many people praise Brandon Sanderson's books, I decided to jump into his world starting with The Way of Kings. How happy I am to have read this! It's one of those fantasy books that makes you crave more, not allowing you to put it down. It has great characters, a really awesome world and a brilliant plot. I loved all of the characters in this book. Even the horrible and the damned. They all are smashing in a storm of betrayal, chaos and destruction. I wanted to know what was going to happen to each of them. But first off, my favorite of all - Kaladin. He is that character that you want every book to have. Brave, strong and determined to help others. He is a surgeon's son and was a soldier in Amaram's army where he was betrayed. He lost his brother, his friends, his crew. But once led to Bridge Four he finds hope and is determined to rebuild himself. Throughout the book, we learn more about him and about events of the past that influence decisions that he makes in the present day. There is something about Kaladin that makes you like him. We sympathise with him and want him to succeed. Another character I really loved was Dalinar. Dalinar Kholin, is fighting a war in the Shattered Plains for vengeance against the murder of his brother, Gavillar. Dalinar is the most honourable character you will ever meet. He also fights to fulfil his brothers dream - to try and unite Alethkar and bring order bia the Code. His only downfall - visions. Visions he gets of during highstorms that makes him and his house look vulnerable. There are other characters that we could talk about, but that would take forever..! The mythology in this world is what makes you go crazy. Talks of Knight Radians, Heralds, Voidbringers and the Desolation creates a whole new dimension of epicness. This isn't just a story about politics and squabbles between kings, highprinces and brightlords. It's also about mysteries and secrets of the past being unravelled and the consequences that it will bring to the world. There are so many other things that makes this book just brilliant. But if you want an epic fantasy story that will blow you away - this is the book for you. There are so many quotes I loved in The Way of Kings, but this was my favorite: "Life before Death. Strength before Weakness. Journey before Destination."

Książka przyszła szybko i w idealnym stanie, lepszym niż nawet się spodziewałem!

no se si cuente esto como spoiler pero spoiler!!!! ok, si has leido mistborn trilogy, probablemente has encontrado los comentarios que dicen que este libro es muy bueno el mejor de todo los libros de fantasia y demas, y no lo niego, pero vamos primero al punto que quiero tomar. el libro esta muy bueno ( todavia no llego al climax de la historia pero enserio) no esperen un libro como mistborn que es facil de dijerir y facil de entender. the way of kings es demasiado "complejo" en terminos de el mundo, sociedades, religiones e incluso palabras si estas leyendo el libro en ingles... buena suerte ;3 la historia va muy lenta (que no es malo) y los personajes cada uno te lo representan demasiado bien que tienes miedo de que vaya a pasar con ellos. pero como lo vuelvo a mencionar, mistborn es demasiado facil de entender, pero es muy probable que cuando leas el libro The Way of Kings (sin importar el dialecto que lo leas) no entenderas nada, absolutamente nada de nada. y si, es normal, muuuy normal, mistborn te lo presentan con la protagonista(V) y el protagonista (K) y te describen los mundos ( si me permiten decirlo) como el mundo en que vivimos pero que sucede con the way of kings? es JOD*DO de AMADR*ES (osea que es dificil de entender) no solo te enseñan que pasa cada cierto tiempo, que pasa cuando utilizas una cosa que te ayuda (si lo has leido sabras que es), como se utiliza y cual es su efecto (recuerda a D) mistborn te enseña que todo tiene reglas y bases como diria K “Every action we take has consequences, V," pero TWoK te enseña que esto es si una historia del cual hablar. has sentido que sabes que pasara con las peliculas, series o inclusive musica, ese pensamiento de :"creo que ya se como acabara", con mistborn no lo lograras o no lo lograste (si ya lo has leido) con the way of kings sera como si estuvieras jugando ajedrez con un AI del primer mundo(osea windows 7 xd) tl;dr: deberias comprar The Way of King...... absolutamente si, si, si, si, si ojo, es mucho pero muuuuuucho "mundo para construir"(me refiero que tiene muchas cosas que tienes que enterarte para que puedas seguir la historia como los "chulls" o los "cremlings" o inclusive las groserias xd)

From the very first pages of this epic tale, readers are transported into a richly crafted world where each character springs to life with unique struggles and deeply woven backstories. The depth of character development is truly impressive, capturing the essence of their histories and hinting at intriguing futures yet to unfold. Among these captivating figures, Kaladin stands out as a current favorite, yet the narrative is so skillfully woven that one can easily anticipate being equally drawn to other characters as the saga progresses. What sets this story apart is its masterful balance between gripping action and a well-paced storyline. The plot is ingeniously constructed with cliffhangers at the end of each chapter, creating an almost insatiable desire to keep reading. These suspenseful moments are perfectly timed, keeping readers on the edge of their seats and eager to discover what happens next. Adding to the allure of the narrative is its creative magic system, which stands out as a refreshing and innovative element. This magical aspect is unlike anything encountered in previous literary works, making it a unique and imaginative feature that enhances the overall reading experience. The combination of compelling characters, a balanced and action-packed storyline, and a creative magical framework makes this book a must-read. It's a testament to the author's ability to craft a story that not only captivates but also leaves a lasting impression. Readers will find themselves eagerly turning pages, invested in the characters' journeys, and eager to see how the saga unfolds. You will also find yourself staying up later than you should to read the next chapter.