September 2020 Reread:
You turned an attack in to a promise. The wisest of men know that to render an insult powerless, you often need only to embrace it.

I remembered more from this book than my last reread in 2017. There is still a wagon full of tidbits, insights and references I either missed, forgot or became relevant with later knowledge that made this a very enjoyable read.

Jasnah had once defined a fool as a person who ignored information because it disagreed with desired results.

My previous comment indicated that the Shallan/Veil sessions were a bit tiresome but I didn't find that to be the case on the third go around...but I still can't justify bumping the star rating up from four to five. The book has some amazing sequences and highlights that stand out in the series but it lacks the cohesion or wonder that makes Way of Kings reside a step higher.

Still a great book, excellent development of Shallan (her and Kaladin discussing their pain in the chasm prior to the storm hit the harder than it has previously) and the accelerated activity in the end of the book makes this hard to put down once the climax approaches.

November 2017 reread: A re-read of this book was necessary because I forgot a lot. I remembered a bit of Words of Radiance but that last half of the book felt like I was reading it again for the first time. How does Kaladin get out of this? What's up with Pattern? What is the Everstorm?

Progress was taking nature and putting a box around it

I stand by my 4/5 rating only because parts of Shallan acting as Veil was a bit drawn out. Learning how to manipulate Lightweaving isn't as epic as Kaladin and Szeth flying around but taking time with Shallan's character is necessary because of her significance in the story.

There are a lot of revelations in the end of the book and maybe that's why I forgot everything on the 'march to center' of the Plains because there is so much happening in a short time. In a 10 book opus complaining about reveals and plot development is bad form but everything came to a closure very quickly.

Re-reading the Stormlight books has been fantastic and with a week to go for Oathbringer I will fill my time with Edgedancer and be all set for the 14th.

Original review from 2015:
...the sky and the winds are mine. I claim them, as I now claim your life.

This was a solid successor to Way of Kings, but it lacked something to make it truly stunning, to give it that five star rating. I have no immediate complaints about the story. Words of Radiance built on the story created in Way of Kings, expanded the magic system and history, but it just missed something.

Is Sanderson better at creating a world than building on one? Was the enjoyment of Way of Kings being exposed to everything for the first time and not as amazing as the cast in Radiance understanding Stormlight and their powers?

As this is book two in a 10 book series I imagine this book will be made better by knowing the entire story so on subsequent rereads I may revise this rating. For now Words of Radiance stood as a really incredible story and the wait for the series to finish will be my equivalent of the Weeping.