Hardcover, 1008 pages
English language
Published April 1, 2010 by Tor.
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 …
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.
Brandon Sanderson builts fantastic worlds and stories. The Stormlight Archives starts slow, but it is worth the time. Just trust the author, most oft the worldbuilding blossoms in the later books
I'm not sorry I read it, I liked the world-building, but I don't know if I can make it through 11 more books in this series!
Holy shit can Brandy write an action scene. And build a world.
Time taken to read: 24 hours 30 minutes
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Literally every single story line was captivating circling around the theme of honor, "the way of kings." God. What a perfecting title for this book. Every single main character exemplifies the theme of honor in some way. The way Brandon brings up "Life before death" in the book hits every single time it comes up.
If I had to choose a favorite character, it would definitely be Kaladin. His sections just hit soooo fucking hard man. God. I love everything about his story and character, his struggle, his childhood, his demons, and he even gets the badass anime transformation scene at the end of the novel that had me so fucking hyped. GOD. I loved it so much.
Kaladin's dad gave me thors vibes, very "You have no enemies" vibes.
Dalinar would be my second favorite character …
Time taken to read: 24 hours 30 minutes
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Literally every single story line was captivating circling around the theme of honor, "the way of kings." God. What a perfecting title for this book. Every single main character exemplifies the theme of honor in some way. The way Brandon brings up "Life before death" in the book hits every single time it comes up.
If I had to choose a favorite character, it would definitely be Kaladin. His sections just hit soooo fucking hard man. God. I love everything about his story and character, his struggle, his childhood, his demons, and he even gets the badass anime transformation scene at the end of the novel that had me so fucking hyped. GOD. I loved it so much.
Kaladin's dad gave me thors vibes, very "You have no enemies" vibes.
Dalinar would be my second favorite character because his struggle with "the way of kings" and conflict between culture and the right thing.
Strangely enough, my third favorite character isn't the third POV character, but is instead Jasnah because she's cool and based.
ALSO THE WORLDBUILDING. Just so good.
MY BOY HOID (who I didn't give a single shit about until this book) FINALLY GETS SOME FREAKING CHARACTERIZATION BEYOND WORLD HOPPER. Also he mentions sigzil is done being his apprentice or whatever but I looked it up and he's not in any of other cosmere books I've read so idk what the point of that was, maybe just a "Hey heads up, this guy is also going to be a worldhopper" ?
AND THE ENDING. God showing up to Dalinar was so hype. It sounded to me like he was hyping up something about the cosmere when the lights were going out across the stars and he mentioned stuff about the origin of humanity? In the context of that, it sounds like "unite them" refers to humanity spread across the stars. He mentions "Conviction" like it's another god with reminded me of "ruin" and "preservation" from mistborn.
God there were so many hard hitting quotes in this book.
“Life before Death.
Strength before Weakness.
Journey before Destination.”
“And so, does the destination matter? Or is it the path we take? I declare that no accomplishment has substance nearly as great as the road used to achieve it. 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.”
“Somebody has to start. Somebody has to step forward and do what is right, because it is right.”
“Death is the end of all men! What is the measure of him once he is gone? . . . The end is the same. It is the path that separates men. When we taste that end, we will do so with our heads held high, eyes to the sun.
“This world, it is a tempest sometimes. But remember, the sun always rises again.”
Loved the elaborate introduction of the characters at the start. E.g. Shallan who is witty in an incredibly cringe way - extremely well written!. The world is weird/ novel - but Sanderson doesn't use the trope of the wide eyed ignorant hero - but instead lets the reader discover tidbits on their own. Like there is no soil or grass - except in a small country in the far west. Plants move and react to people (and storms).
Story is solid - character development believable.
Very long but very enjoyable read. Best fantasy novel I've read in a long time. Story is not rounded though - continued in the next book in the series.
The Way of Kings is a worldbuilding masterpiece. Its characters are rich and internally complex, their stories are fascinating, and their motivations compelling (even when you disagree with them). The single exception to this is the Shallan arc.
This is not because Shallan is a bad character, but because she's a decent character surrounded by great ones, and because it takes too long for her arc to connect to the main story.
I highly, highly recommend reading this book, and most of this author's other works.
Amazing! I enjoyed this book so much, from world building to climatic twists. I am so excited to read the next in the series
The entire story felt carefully engineered, and I kept seeing parallels to tropes in fantasy I've been familiarized with. As something that's as well regarded as this is, I kept expecting to have all these tropes turned on their head and have them slap me on the face, but they just kept coming. The characters especially felt like they were heavily inspired by fantasy tropes, and in the end they're mostly just kind of archetypal. In general, it lacks spice. But that's quite possibly due to non-spicy stories selling better.
But the engineering worked. After about 1/3rd of the story I was drawn in, and I'm going to buy the next one.
Slow getting started. Lots of world building setting up the rest of the books in the series.
August 2020 Reread:
Three years have passed and some chapters are so clear in my mind, and others were brand new and a rush to live again. Each time I reread the books I connect something that comes up later, see a bit of Sanderson foreshadowing and, most importantly, still enjoy it.
Sometimes we find it hardest to accept in others that which we cling to in ourselves
Each time I start this book I tell myself that it won't be as good as I remember, it will be a slog, etc., and each time I am proven wrong and love being back in the Stormlight Archive series.
That smile forced back the gloom, made the aches and soreness fade. Kaladin's father had described that kind of smile. Those smiles weren't why Lirin had become a surgeon, but they were why he'd remained one.
Syl was silent for a …
August 2020 Reread:
Three years have passed and some chapters are so clear in my mind, and others were brand new and a rush to live again. Each time I reread the books I connect something that comes up later, see a bit of Sanderson foreshadowing and, most importantly, still enjoy it.
Sometimes we find it hardest to accept in others that which we cling to in ourselves
Each time I start this book I tell myself that it won't be as good as I remember, it will be a slog, etc., and each time I am proven wrong and love being back in the Stormlight Archive series.
That smile forced back the gloom, made the aches and soreness fade. Kaladin's father had described that kind of smile. Those smiles weren't why Lirin had become a surgeon, but they were why he'd remained one.
Syl was silent for a moment. "Do you want to be a miracle?" "No," Kaladin whispered. "But for them, I will be."
There is so much of the series left (Rhythm of War releasing November) and I will be reading this book half a dozen times over those years/decades and I hope I continue to enjoy it as much as I have over the last five years.
October 2017 Reread: Yup, still good!
We fight here because we understand. The end is the same. It is the path that separates men. When we taste that end, we will do so with our heads held high, eyes to the sun.
The creation of the world and characters in this story is unbelievable. With the exception of a few Kabsal/Shallan moments each POV was brilliant. I was surprised with how much I remembered over the last two years however a summary of the book wouldn't do those moments justice.
On to Words of Radiance!
We fight here because we understand. The end is the same. It is the path that separates men. When we taste that end, we will do so with our heads held high, eyes to the sun.
Epic. That's the only word I can use to describe Way of Kings. As a standalone book it was epic. You are cast down in to a world with a volatile political landscape, a war that has lots its meaning and a hint of something greater to the east.
As the starting point to a ten book magnum opus the world of the Stormlight Archive will be epic. Sanderson writes such vivid characters that the men of Bridge Four have unique voices and become instant favorites. Somehow Sanderson creates another complex magic system that is easy to grasp but takes time to master and learn the intricacies of.
The shift of POV's on the Shattered Plains was fascinating. As you understand the futility of a life as a bridgeman being used as a disposable piece in war the words of the Radiants, life before death, and have the epiphany that Dalinar and Gavilar both encountered.
Way of Kings pleasantly concludes the conflict but sets the stakes up for Words of Radiance, which I was happy to easy transition in to after finishing this. I know there could be decades to wait until this series is finished, but even at the conclusion of Way of Kings I immediately wanted to reread it to pick up details I missed earlier, and as this series unfolds, I expect there will be a lot of payoff in rereading instalments.
A man's emotions are what define him, and control is the hallmark of true strength. To lack feeling is to be dead, but to act on every feeling is to be a child.
This book deserves five stars but is almost more deserving because Sanderson was able to prove that an introduction to a long series doesn't have to be tedious or boring, it can be exciting and engaging as you drop the reader in to the middle of a world they know nothing about.
dnf @ ~30%
Wow! It really was just as good as everyone said it would be. It's been a long time since I have read a "so good you can't put it down" book. I loved the story. I LOVED the lore. I loved the characters. I had some trouble with the pacing at times, it was a very long book and there were moments in the middle that felt very "filler" but I never felt bored. The last hundred pages were the most exciting, and I almost wish some of that excitement was peppered in throughout the slower parts. I have already picked up the next two. Looking forward to them!
I don't often write reviews, but I'd like to at least to keep some rough notes on what I read, and this is as good a place to start as any.
This is a pretty long book, the first 2/3s or so of which are mostly slow-paced, with lots of worldbuilding, character introductions and general table setting. That isn't really a negative, the straightforward writing and thorough explanations really helped my immersion and kept me from feeling overwhelmed with the intricate lore, which is often a concern of mine when reading through long fantasy epics.
The last third of the book delivers on what the rest of the book has built up towards in a very satisfying and rewarding way. The pace also picks up and it all ends with the right mix of closure and excitement for what comes next. I'll be reading the second book for sure.
Other …
I don't often write reviews, but I'd like to at least to keep some rough notes on what I read, and this is as good a place to start as any.
This is a pretty long book, the first 2/3s or so of which are mostly slow-paced, with lots of worldbuilding, character introductions and general table setting. That isn't really a negative, the straightforward writing and thorough explanations really helped my immersion and kept me from feeling overwhelmed with the intricate lore, which is often a concern of mine when reading through long fantasy epics.
The last third of the book delivers on what the rest of the book has built up towards in a very satisfying and rewarding way. The pace also picks up and it all ends with the right mix of closure and excitement for what comes next. I'll be reading the second book for sure.
Other notes:
- I found all characters genuinely interesting, there wasn't a particular point of view I couldn't wait to go back to, nor one I thought was weaker than the others.
- Some really interesting ideas in the worldbuilding, the lore is fascinating and I'm excited to learn more about the mythology and magic system in the other books.
- Action scenes are really well written, just the right mix of dynamism without being hard to follow.
- There was a lot of repetition when certain terms or characters came up. This could be considered a negative for those that are really good at remembering details after reading them once, but I appreciated the constant reminders and made the 1000+ pages book quite approachable.
An enjoyable war story mixed with intrigue and magic. A bit thick on the fantasy-babble, but the story is in a well developed and detailed world that is fun to explore.
I tried, but I couldn´t get interested. The start is too surreal for my taste.
