Brandon Sanderson

This review contains spoilers for this book and for Warbreaker. Above the spoiler fold, I will provide a content warning for eye gore in Chapter 89.

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For me, this book read much more quickly than The Way of Kings, despite its size (over 1300 pages in my mass market paperback edition). I think it’s because I’d had The Way of Kings to get me used to the scale of the Stormlight Archive series and introduce the characters.

As with The Way of Kings, Shallan’s storyline was my favourite. show more She’s really grown into a brave scholar and has developed quite a talent for espionage. She is doing brilliantly, even if she doesn’t think so, and I am very proud of her :)

I also like that she is betrothed to Adolin, who is perfectly suited for her and although there is a teeny bit of a potential love triangle between her, Adolin, and Kaladin, it’s not an obnoxious one, or at least I don’t find it obnoxious, and I have a very low tolerance for that sort of thing. Maybe for me it’s OK that there is potential to insinuate a love triangle because I like every single person in that triangle. Kaladin can be a bit of a grumpy pants, but I am a grumpy pants myself and can relate.

I also really liked the view of the Listener/Parshendi camp, particularly the perspective of Eshonai, the female Shardbearer for the tribe.

Also wow, what an ENDING! The talking sword from Warbreaker is back!!!! I am SO hyped. I literally screamed out loud when I read that part.

And how the heck did Jasnah survive that attack on the ship? Or is she an illusion or recording? Can’t wait to find out in the next book. show less

Stayed up late to finish this one, and it was worth it! Loved seeing Marasi and Steris both play key roles in the action in Part 3, particularly Steris, who rates herself a 7 of 100 in terms of usefulness to the expedition but makes those 7 points count. Steris’s endless lists and plans, made so that she can feel that even if the plans go wrong she has done everything she can, are super relatable.

The end of this book felt like the end of The Hero of Ages in terms of the epic action and show more heart-in-throat suspense. Lots of “Holy shit!” and “No!” and “What?!”

On lighter notes, Wayne continues to ask the important questions (to ReLuur: “Can kandras turn themselves into bunnies?”) and act supremely immature (the bank manager’s name cracks him UP). I also enjoyed the Easter eggs: a Cosmere-related one and an author-related one (if “B. Sablerfils” in the broadsheet classifieds is NOT a code name for B. Sanderson, I will eat Wayne’s hat).

On to The Lost Metal! show less

A+ (One of my favorites).

A boy and a girl from different worlds get their souls entwined. Who'd have thought Sanderson would write a romance novel and absolutely knock it out of the park? I mean, it's also fantasy and adventure, but the core of the story is romance, and it had me in tears.

Most creatives by this stage in their careers are content to repeat themselves and ride on their reputations. You've got a hit series or four, you're at the top of your field, why rock the boat? But show more Sanderson keeps developing and correcting and Having Fun. He just keeps getting better. And he started out as one of the best.

(Jun. 2024) show less

4.5/5

this book is the definition of exposition. i’m not saying there isn’t a lot of action - oh baby, there’s action to sPARE! but everything that happens in this book (and i mean EVERYTHING) feels like it’s leading up to something bigger. given that this is a series, that makes sense, but in a book as long as this one it makes it feel like the action is dragging. i almost wish we had a more cohesive plot arc here in the first act. the interlude chapters were a bold decision, and show more honestly they were so hit or miss. but all of this makes it sound like i’m writing a negative review, which I AM CERTAINLY NOT!

THE WAY OF KINGS is gargantuan. in word count, page count, and scope. this book literally crafts a brand new world right in front of your eyes. it doesn’t hold your hand, but leads you through the basics carefully and evenly - there’s no endless info-dumping, and all the countries and political allegiances start to make more sense as the book goes on. the magic system makes sense (because SANDERSON is an absolute heavyweight champion of magic systems) and is not only believable, but actually cool.

i have this gripe about a lot of books … but *pounds table with credit card* pLEEEEAAASe give me more women. WOMEN?! HELLO?! can we PLEASE have moRE WOMEN! when women are forgotten in fantasy, or not centered the way they should be, then it makes the story less believable! you’re telling me the ladies wear a long ass sleeve over their left hand? and read and write when the men can’t? that’s SO much more interesting than war … had this been a different novel, i would have loved to see more female perspectives of the culture, caste system, etc. i guess this is just the first installment but. y’all gotta give me more women.

okay: i want to talk about the slavery parts for a bit. and, to preface this: comparing racism in castes through light and dark eyes isss… an incomplete metaphor to say the least. HOWEVER - as far as stakes go, this book has some pretty high ones. kaladin’s journey as a slave is the most compelling part of the story, and i’m glad that we spend the most time with him. i think what really drives fantasy is reality - oppression, faith, love, and loss. kaladin bears such a HUMAN attitude throughout his chapters. one of my favorite quotes: “to be human is to want that which we cannot have.” of course this quote came from a dalinar chapter, but i think it applies most beautifully to kaladin. maybe it’s because i have such an affinity with kaladin that i actually couldn’t stand some of the other characters (who all mean well). dalinar’s and adolin’s chapters strung me up bro. i could not stay AWAKE! shallan’s chapters were better, but the shining star is kaladin and his journey through slavery, apathy, depression, hatred, and leadership.

as for the actual heart of the story, the actual, real plot: the knights radiant, the heralds, the stormfather! listen i needed a character map to keep it all straight. i appreciated the nuance between old wives tales and superstition and genuine, world shaping religion, but i could definitely use a cheat sheet for vorinism, that’s for sure. it all smacks of something cyclical, something cosmic and fated, which i love in a fantasy book.

the way the epithets at the beginning of every chapter become relevant towards the end… INCREDIBLE?! this book was a masterpiece of planning, and must have taken years upon years of thought and execution. BRANDON SANDERSON is a revelation of a writer - my favorite by far.

the changes that we see in kaladin as the story progresses are amazing - he develops, he loves, he hurts, and he falls apart in such human ways. every time he runs a bridge, we see it wear him down: every time he gains the loyalty of a new bridgeman, we see him stand back up stronger.

i won’t even talk about the end, because spoilers, but WOW. this was an incredibly well crafted story, one thousand pages of BUILDUP leading to the second installment. did it need to be as long as it was? hmmmm probably not, but the length leads you to care more and more as the pages turn. reading THE WAY OF KINGS is kind of like exiting the world you know and entering an entirely new continent - one made of stone, blood, and faith. show less