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The Way of Kings (2010)

by Brandon Sanderson

Other authors: See the other authors section.

Series: The Stormlight Archive (1), Cosmere (6)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingConversations / Mentions
9,177302857 (4.45)2 / 305
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 Ages
Mistborn: 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 series
The Rithmatist
Other books by Brandon Sanderson

The Reckoners

Steelheart
Firefight
Calamity

.… (more)
Recently added bysmhharp, Dvaoid, private library, AdeptArcana, Ashardin, GreteMachete, TDSmith567, Thyroots, tstephan
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Group TopicMessagesLast Message 
 Brandon Sanderson Fans: The Way of Kings6 unread / 6tess88, December 2015
 FantasyFans: Just read Way of Kings.3 unread / 3MrJon3s, March 2011

» See also 305 mentions

English (291)  Spanish (2)  Catalan (1)  French (1)  All languages (295)
Showing 1-5 of 291 (next | show all)
(EDIT 3-14-2013) This book is $2.99 in the major ebook stores for a limited time. Go get yours!

EDIT: After my re-read, once again I am blown away with how good this book was. I don't know if I will read again right before the next one comes out, but it is so good, I'm sure I will enjoy it just as much the 3rd time around.

---------------------------
This is classic epic fantasy at its best. As always, Mr. Sanderson does a great job with character and story development, and of course gives you a well-thought out world with a imaginative new magic system. IMO, this series has the potential to rival the appeal of LOTR.

As a reader I'm a little dismayed by the fact that there are supposed to be ten books in the series. So I guess that means hoping that at least a book a year gets published. I realize that you can't hurry creativity, but I REALLY hope that as readers, we don't get screwed like on the Clan of the Cave Bear or Game of Throne series. Due to Mr Sanderson's blog, I have a lot more faith in his ability to keep the ball rolling. In any case, I probably shouldn't paint this series with the failings of other series, but as a reader, my innocence is no more.

This book sort of stands on it's own. I don't consider the ending to be a cliffhanger, more of a revelation. It was totally fitting. I found the book to be a solid, and VERY good start to a series. The classic elements without being cliched, action, betrayal, religion, atheism, science, magic and mystery. Add great writing and you can't really ask for more. I'm eagerly looking for news on the next installments.

Oh, and may I suggest that you use your ereader for this series? Over 1000 pages? Way too big to carry around..... ( )
  jazzbird61 | Feb 29, 2024 |
It was very long, but entertaining all the way through. I highly enjoyed it and am looking forward to reading the rest of the series. ( )
  Gadfly82 | Feb 16, 2024 |
well barnacles ( )
  salllamander | Feb 11, 2024 |
Read a second time as preparation for Oathbringer. Still very good. ( )
  dolfor | Jan 30, 2024 |
An epic fantasy novel with three main protagonists: a slave soldier assigned to be arrow fodder, an honorable lord struggling with war and politics, and an apprentice scholar with a secret mission. I thought the story was slow and confusing early on, where the book introduces a whole new fantasy cosmology, culture, and other alien details; I also found the many flashbacks to the slave's tragic back story to be a little tiresome. But the world-building actually set things up for a good second half of the book, and a terrific ending that resolved a lot of the earlier mysteries. I enjoyed it overall, will be checking out the next book.
( )
  yaj70 | Jan 22, 2024 |
Showing 1-5 of 291 (next | show all)
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» Add other authors (6 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Brandon Sandersonprimary authorall editionscalculated
Call, GregIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Green, SamCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Kramer, MichaelNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
McSweeney, BenIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Reading, KateNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Stewart, IsaacIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Whelan, MichaelCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.
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Canonical title
Original title
Alternative titles
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Related movies
Epigraph
Dedication
For Emily,

Who is too patient
Too kindly
And too wonderful
For words
But I try anyway.
First words
(Prelude) Kalak rounded a rocky stone ridge and stumbled to a stop before the body of a dying thunderclast.
(Prologue) Szeth-son-son-Vallano, Truthless of Shinovar, wore white on the day he was to kill a king.
(Chapter one) “I'm going to die, aren't I?”
Quotations
“We chose this burden willingly. Well, we can choose to drop it if we wish.”
As for his praise of her supposed beauty, she took that for what it was.
“Too many of us take great pains with what we ingest through our mouths, and far less with what we partake of through our ears and eyes.”
Bitterness is repaid more often than kindness.
He'd met this kind of man before, a lesser sergeant with no hope of advancement. His only pleasure in life came from his authority over those even sorrier than himself.
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
Editions with ISBN 0575097361 are the first part only of this book and should not be combined with the full work.
GraphicAudio productions of these books are more akin to Radio Plays and should not be merged to standard audiobook editions. Additionally, this is part 1 of 5 of the Way of Kings not the entire book.
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Original language
Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (3)

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 Ages
Mistborn: 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 series
The Rithmatist
Other books by Brandon Sanderson

The Reckoners

Steelheart
Firefight
Calamity

.

No library descriptions found.

Book description
Widely acclaimed for his work completing Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time saga, Brandon Sanderson now begins a grand cycle of his own, one every bit as ambitious and immersive.

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.
Haiku summary
Slave must now fight, again.

A woman must be a thief.

King sees the world's past.
Something is coming
A dark something is coming
Something is coming

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